Month: November 2017

The World’s Biggest Pantomime Presents

PETER PAN – An Awfully BIG Arena Adventure

starring

BRADLEY WALSH & MARTIN KEMP

ARENA BIRMINGHAM & THE SSE ARENA WEMBLEY

EXTRA SHOWS ADDED FOR CHRISTMAS 2017

DUE TO OVERWHELMING POPULAR DEMAND!

Tickets on pre-sale 15 November, general sale 17 November

 

Due to huge demand for tickets, the World’s Biggest Pantomime is delighted to announce additional shows in Birmingham and London for PETER PAN – An Awfully BIG Arena Adventure, a stunning new spectacular super-sized Christmas show. The new shows are at 11am on Saturday 23 December at the Arena Birmingham and 11am on Saturday 30 December at The SSE Arena, Wembley.

 

These extra performances are in addition to the seven existing performances at the Arena Birmingham from 20 to 24 December, and four performances at The SSE Arena, Wembley on 29 and30 December. Tickets for the new shows are available by pre-sale Wednesday 15 November and on general sale Friday 17 November.  Tickets are selling fast – book now!

 

PETER PAN – An Awfully BIG Arena Adventure stars Bradley Walsh as Mr Smee, Martin Kemp as Captain Hook and Matt Knight as Peter Pan.

 

Bradley said: “I’m so excited to be appearing in PETER PAN. It really is an extraordinary production, the like of which has never been seen before!  It has a life-size galleon, a 25 foot crocodile, plus a cast of over 100!  It’s a big, bold arena extravaganza and a festive treat with something for everyone.”

 

J.M. Barrie’s original story and characters will be brought to life in PETER PAN – An Awfully BIG Arena Adventure, by a cast of over 100 performers, including a thrilling team of BMX riders, stuntmen and trapeze artists, along with a seven metre long animatronic crocodile! 

 

This amazing new show will be performed across three arena stages on a stunning movie-style Neverland set.  The Jolly Roger Galleon will sail around the arena in front of a 10,000-gallon water wall.  From any position in the audience, you are close to the action, with a giant 60 feet-wide LED screen, computer graphic imagery and a live close-up TV-relay ensuring never a moment is missed.

 

PETER PAN – An Awfully BIG Arena Adventure is directed by Jon Conway, designed by Wellington Scenic, with lighting design by Jamie Corbidge and sound design by Dave Shepherd, and is presented by arrangement with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity & Samuel French Ltd.

 

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Arena Birmingham performances:

20 December 7pm

21 December 11am & 7pm

22 December 7pm

23 December 11am, 3pm & 7pm

24 December 1pm

 

The SSE Arena Wembley performances:

29 December 3pm & 7pm

30 December 11am, 3pm & 7pm

 

Tickets from £25.00

 

Website:  www.worldsbiggestpanto.com

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/biggestpanto

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Biggest_Panto

DARCEY BUSSELL, SUSAN CALMAN

& JONNIE PEACOCK

TO JOIN THE STRICTLY LIVE TOUR

STRICTLY COME DANCING LIVE TOUR

19 JANUARY – 11 FEBRUARY 2018

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

 

 

Strictly Come Dancing fans will be thrilled to learn that TV judge Darcey Bussell, comedian Susan Calman and Double Paralympic Champion Jonnie Peacock will all be taking to the road from January next year for the Strictly Come Dancing Live UK Tour.

 

The 2018 live shows will mark the first time that Darcey has appeared as a judge on the tour and she will join fellow judges Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli. 

 

Comedian Susan Calman has wowed fans of the TV series every Saturday night with her dancing, including her Quickstep to ‘Bring Me Sunshine’.  Jonnie Peacock, the first Paralympian to take to the floor in Strictly history, has blown viewers away with his impressive Jive and Paso Doble.

 

The tour will also see the welcome return of reigning Strictly Champion Ore Oduba as host. More celebrities and professional dancers from the hugely popular 15^th series of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One TV will be donning their dancing shoes as they take to the floor for the highly anticipated tour.  Further names will be announced in the coming weeks.

Darcey Bussell said: “I had great experiences touring around the UK as a professional dancer…quite a few years ago now! I am really excited to be able to tour again, this time with the wonderful Strictly company. I can’t wait to meet the fantastic audiences that make Strictly the phenomenon we know and love. See you soon!”

 

Susan Calman said: “This is an absolute dream come true, I can’t wait to continue my Strictly adventure and visit these legendary arenas across the country.  Roll on January!”

 

Jonnie Peacock said: “It’s been an honour to be the first Paralympian on Strictly.  I’m excited to take to the road and meet the fans who have supported me during the TV shows and of course, to keeeeeep dancing!”

 

The tour will open at the Arena Birmingham on 19 January 2018.  It will then visit some of the biggest entertainment venues across the UK, including a return to Belfast at the SSE Arena, following huge public demand.   Other venues the tour will visit include Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena, First Direct Arena Leeds, Manchester Arena, The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena and The SSE Arena Wembley.  The tour culminates at The O2 Arena in London on 11 February.

  

What the critics said about Strictly Come Dancing The Live Tour:

  

“An irresistible feast of colour and style built solidly on familiar pleasures.

Revel Horwood’s production is slick”

DAILY TELEGRAPH ★★★★

January 2017

“Get a ticket and you will never be the same, it’s a life changer”

SUNDAY EXPRESS  ★★★★★

January 2017

“It’s a 10!”

DAILY MIRROR

January 2017

THE MAIL ON SUNDAY ★★★★

January 2017

 

 

STRICTLY COME DANCING THE LIVE TOUR 2018

19–21 January                        Arena Birmingham                            www.arenabham.co.uk

(Friday 19^th at 7.30pm, Saturday 20^th at 2.30pm & 7.30pm, Sunday 21^st at 1.30pm & 6.30pm)

23-24 January             Newcastle: Metro Radio Arena        www.metroradioarena.co.uk

(Tuesday 23^rd at 7.30pm, Wednesday 24^th at 2.30pm & 7.30pm)

25-26 January             Leeds: First Direct Arena                   www.firstdirectarena.com

(Thursday 25^th at 7.30pm, Friday 26^th at 7.30pm

27-28 January             Manchester Arena                             www.manchester-arena.com

(Saturday 27^th at 2.30pm & 7.30pm, Sunday 28^th at 1.30pm & 6.30pm)

30-31 January             Belfast: SSE Arena                             www.ssearenabelfast.com

(Tuesday 30^th at 7.30pm, Wednesday 31^st at 2.30pm & 7.30pm)

2-4 February               Glasgow: SSE Hydro                          www.thessehydro.com

(Friday 2^nd at 7.30pm, Saturday 3^rd at 2.30pm & 7.30pm, Sunday 4^th at 1.30pm)

6-7 February               Nottingham: Motorpoint Arena   motorpointarenanottingham.com

(Tuesday 6^th at 7.30pm, Wednesday 7^th at 2.30pm & 7.30pm)

8-9 February               London: SSE Arena Wembley                       www.ssearena.co.uk

(Thursday 8^th at 7.30pm, Friday 9^th at 7.30pm)

10-11 February           London: The O2 Arena                      www.theo2.co.uk

(Saturday 10^th at 2.30pm & 7.30pm, Sunday 11^th at 1.30pm & 6.30pm)

Tickets: £35 – £65 (bands venue dependent)

The O2 prices are £36 – £66 (Inclusive of a £1 per ticket venue facility fee)

All ticket prices are subject to a booking fee

 

 

To book tickets please contact the venue or call 0844 875 8758

For online bookings visit www.ticketzone.co.uk or www.ticketmaster.co.uk

For more information visit: www.strictlycomedancinglive.com

Twitter: SCD_Live_Tour

Facebook: @strictlylive

A Christmas Carol at Windsor Castle

Casting is today announced for Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol at Windsor Castle. Due to popular demand additional performances have been added for the sell-out run, which will be staged in the Castle’s magnificent State Apartments. Tickets for the new performances are now on sale.

Presented by theatre company Watch Your Head, the family-friendly evening performances of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol will take place in the Castle’s two largest rooms, where the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret performed Christmas pantomimes during the Second World War.

The full cast will include John Kay Steel as Jacob Marley, Edward Halsted as Ebenezer Scrooge, Eleanor Brown as Belle, Charlie Ward as Tiny Tim, Oliver Hamilton as Fred, Michelle Hodgson as Mrs Cratchit, Molly Hanson as Belinda and Marlon Moore as Bob Cratchit.

Tailor-made for Windsor Castle and using Dickens’s own words from his public readings of the classic tale, the production will feature live music and immersive elements, transporting the audience into a Victorian Christmas.  Visitors will accompany Ebenezer Scrooge from the Castle gates to the Waterloo Chamber, where Jacob Marley awaits to conjure his haunting dreams of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.  The cast of actors and musicians performing all around will transform the colossal space into Dickensian London, before the audience follows Scrooge into St George’s Hall to celebrate his new-found festive spirit beneath the Castle’s spectacular Christmas tree.

Monarchs have been celebrating Christmas at Windsor Castle since the 12th century, but it was Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who introduced many of the Christmas traditions that we know today.  Prince Albert is credited with popularising the German tradition of Christmas trees while enjoying the festive season at the Castle, and the Queen and Prince Albert were often seen ice skating and enjoying winter sleigh rides in the Castle grounds.

It was during this period that Dickens first published A Christmas Carol in 1843, and it has remained a festive classic ever since.  The work can be seen in miniature in the library of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House, built in the early 1920s as a perfect replica of an aristocratic Edwardian residence and housed ever since at Windsor Castle.

Their third collaboration with Royal Collection Trust, Watch Your Head’s latest production follows their recently staged immersive performances of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Castle’s Moat Garden.

A Christmas Carol is directed by Sasha McMurray with an original score by Joseph Reuben, costume design by Annina Pfuel, choreography by Edwin Ray and puppetry design by Jeremy Hamway-Bidgood.

Updated Listings information

A Christmas Carol Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 1NJ

Dates 16 December – 4 January

Press performance 20 December

Performance schedule 16–17, 20–23, 27–30 December, 3–4 January
Entry from 18:00, performance starts 19:00. Performance lasts 90 minutes including a 20-minute interval

Ticket prices  Adults: £30.00; Children (Under 17s): £25.00; Family (2 adults, 3 children): £110.00

Book online www.royalcollection.org.uk/christmascarol

Book by phone +44 (0)303 123 7340

Website www.watch-your-head.co.uk | www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/windsorcastle

Social media Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, #followscrooge

PETER KAY

ANNOUNCES RETURN TO STAND-UP WITH FIRST LIVE TOUR IN EIGHT YEARS

One of Britain’s best loved comedians, the multi award winning actor, writer, director, author and producer Peter Kay, is finally returning to his most successful hobby, stand-up.

His last tour in 2010, which still officially ranks with the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest selling comedy tour of all time, played to over 1.2 million people. So why a return to stand-up now?

Peter says: ‘I really miss it. I know how lucky I am to be making television series and have really loved these past few years working on Car Share but I miss doing stand-up. As terrifying as it is, when it works there’s nothing more fun and exciting. Plus, a lot has happened in the last eight years, with Trump, Twitter and my Nan getting her front bush trimmed at the age of 96. I can’t wait to get back up on stage’

Tickets will go on sale 10.00am Sunday 19th November and are available online or from the booking hotline number. Please note venue facility and booking fees will apply. There will be no Box Office counter sales on Sunday 19th November. Tickets are limited to persons 15 years old or over. Tickets are limited to 8 per person.

2018

Saturday 21 April: Birmingham Genting Arena

Sunday 22 April: Birmingham Genting Arena

Monday 14 May: Glasgow The SSE Hydro

Tuesday 15 May: Glasgow The SSE Hydro

Monday 4 June: Manchester Arena

Tuesday 5 June: Manchester Arena

Wednesday 6 June: Manchester Arena

Saturday 9 June: Manchester Arena

Thursday 13 September: London The O2

Friday 14 September: London The O2

Saturday 15 September: London The O2

Thursday 20 September: London The O2

Tuesday 2 October: Leeds First Direct Arena

Wednesday 3 October: Leeds First Direct Arena

2019

Sunday 13 January: Belfast SSE Arena

Monday 14 January: Belfast SSE Arena

Wednesday 23 January: Nottingham Motorpoint Arena

Thursday 24 January: Nottingham Motorpoint Arena

Friday 1 February: Dublin 3 Arena

Saturday 2 February: Dublin 3 Arena

Monday 11 February: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena

Tuesday 12 February: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena

Monday 4 March: Sheffield FlyDSA Arena

Tuesday 5 March: Sheffield FlyDSA Arena

Monday 18 March: Liverpool Echo Arena

Tuesday 19 March: Liverpool Echo Arena

Visit www.ticketmaster.co.uk or www.peterkay.co.uk to buy tickets.

NEW SHOWS FOR 2018

JERSEY BOYS
UK & Ireland Tour
From 16 December 2017 to 30 March 2019.
JERSEY BOYS is the remarkable true story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons and their rise to stardom from the wrong side of the tracks. Starring Michael Watson as Frankie Valli, Simon Bailey as Tommy De Vito, Declan Egan as Bob Gaudio and Lewis Griffiths as Nick Massi, the show is packed with hits, including Beggin’, Sherry, Walk Like A Man, December, 1963 (Oh What a Night), Big Girls Don’t Cry, My Eyes Adored You, Let’s Hang On (To What We’ve Got), Bye Bye Baby, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Working My Way Back to You, Fallen Angel, Rag Doll and Who Loves You. JERSEY BOYS is the winner of 57 major awards worldwide including Broadway’s Tony, London’s Olivier and Australia’s Helpmann Awards for Best New Musical.
Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes
www.jerseyboysuktour.com

STRANGERS IN BETWEEN
Trafalgar Studios 2
10 January to 3 February 2018
The West End transfer of the King’s Head Theatre’s production of Tommy Murphy’s coming-of-age dark comedy, which tells the story of Shane, a timid 16 year-old who has fled his rural hometown for the glitz and glamour of Sydney’s King’s Cross, in order to escape his troubled past and attempt to establish an urban family. Directed by the King’s Head Theatre’s Artistic Director, Adam Spreadbury-Maher, STRANGERS IN BETWEEN looks at the importance of friendship and the highs and lows of growing up gay in modern Australia. The cast includes Roly Botha as Shane, Dan Hunter as Will and Stephen Connery-Brown as Peter.
Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes
www.atgtickets.com/venues/trafalgar-studios

ALL OR NOTHING – THE MOD MUSICAL
Arts Theatre
6 February to 11 March 2018
Based on the story of the Small Faces, ALL OR NOTHING is written and directed by the award-winning actress Carol Harrison. It follows the story of four charismatic young kids from East London with humour, attitude, passion and, above all, talent. They became the Small Faces and were rocketed into the big time, only to discover the path to success is paved with exploitation, betrayal and, ultimately, tragedy. Starring Carol Harrison as Kay Marriott and Chris Simmons as the older Steve Marriott.
Duration: 2 hours 35 minutes
www.allornothingmusical.com

ART
UK & Ireland Tour
From 14 February to 9 June 2018
UK & Ireland Tour of the Old Vic production of Yasmina Reza’s Olivier, Tony and Moliere award-winning comedy ART, translated by Christopher Hampton. Starring Nigel Havers, Denis Lawson and Stephen Tompkinson as Serge, Marc and Ivan respectively. Based on the original production by Matthew Warchus, ART will be directed by Ellie Jones, with design by Mark Thompson.
Duration:  100 minutes (no interval)
arttheplay.com

SOME MOTHERS DO ‘AVE ‘EM
UK Tour
From 21 February to 28 July 2018
Joe Pasquale stars as the lovable but accident-prone Frank Spencer in the first ever stage production of the classic 1970s TV comedy, SOME MOTHER DO ‘AVE ‘EM. Also starring Sarah Earnshaw (Nativity – The Musical, Travels With My Aunt, Spamalot and Wicked) as his long-suffering wife Betty and Susie Blake (ITV’s Coronation Street and BBC1’s Mrs Brown’s Boys) as his disapproving mother-in-law, Mrs Fisher. Based on the original TV series by Raymond Allen, the stage adaptation is written and directed by Guy Unsworth, with design by Simon Higlett.
www.somemothersdoaveem.com

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
UK Tour
From 24 February to 28 April
Starring Gwen Taylor  as Lady Bracknell and Susan Penhaligon as Miss Prism in Oscar Wilde’s greatly admired and much loved comedy, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, which follows Jack Worthing’s endeavours to marry Algernon’s cousin, the beautiful Gwendolen. But first he must convince the fearsome Lady Bracknell of his respectability. Directed by The Original Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, Alastair Whatley.
www.originaltheatre.com

BRIEF ENCOUNTER
Empire Cinema Haymarket, London from 2 March to 2 September 2018 (preceded by a two-date tour from 2 to 24 February 2018)
Kneehigh’s award-winning production of Noël Coward’s BRIEF ENCOUNTER, adapted and directed by Emma Rice, returns to London’s West End, following short runs at Birmingham Repertory Theatre and The Lowry, Salford. Switching between live action and film, Brief Encounterstars Jim Sturgeon as Alec and Isabel Pollen as Laura in one of the most haunting and heart-breaking love stories ever told.
Duration: 90 minutes (no interval)
www.briefencounterwestend.com

MONOGAMY
UK Tour from 2 to 26 May 2018
Park Theatre, London from 6 June to 7 July 2018
The world premiere of Torben Betts’s new play MONOGAMY, starring Olivier Award-winning actress, Janie Dee (Follies, Carousel, Comic Potential) as Caroline Mortimer, the nation’s favourite TV cook, who has it all. But beneath the immaculate furnishings and studio lighting and away from the glare of the ever-present cameras, Caroline must face the looming collision of living a private life in the public eye. What happens when the cameras turn off and the truth comes out? Directed by the Original Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, Alastair Whatley.
www.originaltheatre.com

THE RINK
Southwark Playhouse
25 May to 23 June 2018
The first London revival in 20 years of THE RINK by the Tony and Olivier Award-winning John Kander (music) and Fred Ebb (lyrics), the creators of musicals such as Chicago, Cabaret, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and The Scottsboro Boys, and a book by Tony Award-winning Terence McNally (Ragtime, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Master Class). THE RINK is the story of Anna, an Italian housewife who runs a roller-skating rink on the Eastern seaboard, is about to sell it to developers until her estranged daughter, Angel, returns after a long absence, hoping to save the rink and patch things up with her mother. Directed by Adam Lenson and choreographed by Fabian Aloise.
southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

CURRENT SHOWS

THE BAND
UK Tour
Currently touring until 14 July 2018, further dates to be added
The new British musical by Tim Firth with the music of Take That, starring Rachel Lumberg, Alison Fitzjohn, Emily Joyce and Jayne McKenna, along with AJ Bentley, Nick Carsberg, Curtis T Johns, Yazdan Qafouri and Sario Solomon, collectively known as Five To Five, winners of BBC’s Let It Shine, and Faye Christall, Katy Clayton, Rachelle Diedericks, Sarah Kate Howarth, Lauren Jacobs, Martin Miller and Andy Williams. THE BAND is a musical about what it’s like to grow up with a boyband. For five 16 year-old friends in 1992, ‘the band’ is everything. 25 years on, we are reunited with the group of friends, now 40-something women, as they try once more to fulfil their dream of meeting their heroes.
Duration: 2 hours 20 minutes
www.thebandmusical.com

MAMMA MIA!
Novello Theatre
Current booking period: 20 October 2018
From West End to global phenomenon, MAMMA MIA! is Judy Craymer’s ingenious vision of staging the story-telling magic of ABBA’s timeless songs with an enchanting tale of family and friendship unfolding on a Greek island paradise. To date, it has been seen by over 60 million people in 50 productions in 16 different languages grossing more than $2 billion at the box office. In 2017 the show celebrated its 18th London Birthday. The current cast stars Sara Poyzer as Donna Sheridan, Kate Graham as Tanya, Jacqueline Braun as Rosie and Georgina Castle as Sophie Sheridan.
Duration: 2 hours 35 minutes
http://www.mamma-mia.com/

York Theatre Royal – until Saturday 18th November.  Reviewed by Michelle Richardson

3***

Out of Joint, Octagon Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre brings Andrea Dunbar’s Rita, Sue and Bob Too to York Theatre Royal. Having seen this iconic film several times many years ago I was looking forward to this stage adaptation and seeing their take on such a gritty but well-loved story.

The play follows two fifteen-year-old school girls Rita (Taj Atwal, a former York College student) and Sue (Gemma Dobson), being seduced and falling for a slimy, older married man, Bob (James Atherton), after they babysit for him and his wife Michelle (Samatha Robinson).

The opening scene is quite a shocker and shows their first sexual encounter. On the drive home Bob decides to show the two girls the moors where he then parks and asks them if they know what a Durex is and how to put one on. This leads to an awkward threesome with the girls taking it in turns in the cramped confinements of his car. We are “treated” to Bob’s naked jiggling bottom and such talk as about whether to take trousers off, or just one leg out. This becomes a regular occurrence and while illegal because of their age, the girls are more than willing. This was certainly an eye opener and a bit uncomfortable at times. The way it was played out with the great reactions from whichever girl is not currently participating, you couldn’t help but laugh. The frequent casual underage sex is treated casually and if anyone feels abused or traumatised, it is from the limitations of their situation with YTS and little prospects.

Once the news of their shenanigans gets out, it is Rita and Sue who get all blame, labelled as sluts whilst Bob claims it’s his wife’s fault because she doesn’t want him enough and has driven him to go elsewhere. This results in a foul-mouthed exchange in the street involving the whole cast, including Sue’s parents (Sally Bankes and David Walker). Rita and Sue do not deserve the injustice of it all whilst Bob seems to come out of it scot free, his actions excused.

Atwal and Dobson, in her stage debut, bring an innocence to their roles, which highlights their characters age and immaturity. Atherton play his chauvinistic role well and at times is almost like a naughty little boy doing things he knows are wrong but can’t help himself.

The staging was simple but effective, with two tower blocks on either side with a view of Bradford and the moors in the middle. Reclining car seats are wheeled on and off the stage by the lip synching actors as and when needed, along to an 80’s soundtrack, thankfully just my kind of music.

At only 80 minutes, with no interval, it is a short and at times shocking play, but funny at the same time. Once you get over the nudity and foul language, there is a lot, it is a tale that resonates strongly today.

 

Edinburgh Playhouse – until 18 November 2017.  Reviewed by Linda McLaughlan

5*****

This was the first time I had seen Cabaret in the theatre and was unsure of what to expect from the evening. With Will Young and Louise Redknapp headlining I knew I was in for an exciting and exhilarating performance however did not expect the outstanding show I was privileged to watch. The audience was full of a varied mixture of generations with a wide variety of people dressing for the occasion in various bright Cabaret attire.

From the moment the curtain was raised Will Young as Emcee welcomed everyone in song and also dressed in leather shorts and stockings which was an indication of the racy evening ahead. Will Young’s character comes across on a variety of levels, solemn, cheerful and on occasions cheeky which raised a number of laughs from the audience.

During Act 1 we are introduced to Louise Redknapp as Sally Bowles, a well spoken dancer and entertainer who has the audience in the palm of her hand with her dance moves and voice.

Charles Hagerty (Clifford Bradshaw) is introduced as an aspiring writer trying to find the inspiration for that one blockbuster that will set off his career. Hence his trip to Germany to find that story and unknown to him the start of event s that would change history for everyone he meets.

As the story unfolds we meet more key characters with Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz two lonely people trying to get by running a house with rooms to rent and a Fruit and Veg shop respectively and not being able to tell each other how they feel.

Celebrating New Year’s Eve we meet the performers from the Kit Kat Club as they sing, dance and perform in raunchy attire which leaves nothing to the imagination. As relevant to the times the hedonistic performances highlighted the freedom that people felt to be themselves and enjoy what life had to offer, regardless of the risks or consequences. Women and men used their bodies, and drugs to thrill and entice and prostitution was the norm.

In Act 2, the atmosphere changes as the realisation that Nazis are looming in and making changes throughout Germany

Although introduced in Act 1, Ernst Luwig (Nicholas Tizzard) really begins to show his true colours as we discover more about his business with sending Clifford on trips to Paris and his association with the upcoming chancellor Hitler and his feelings towards Jews and their place in Germany.

The theme tune to the show Cabaret is well received and recognised by the audience as well as the famous Money Song.

Overall I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the show and would recommend people go this out-standing performance as they will not be disappointed . Will and Louise showcase how multi-dimensional their talents are as both give award winning performances . A night not to be missed which leaves you considering how the lives of numerous people changed forever.

Outstanding!!!

 

Presented by Time Productions
Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ
Tuesday 9th January – Saturday 3rd February 2018
Press Night: Friday 12th January, 7.30pm

When memory takes hold, when chaos takes over and when the electricity between us becomes overwhelming – an impossible love story is given a second chance and three scorched characters are about to learn that lightning does strike twice

Tiny Dynamite, by award-winning playwright and screenwriter Abi Morgan, returns to London for its first professional revival in 15 years. This play, one of her early works, explores how tiny events from our pasts can have explosive effects on our futures.

Tiny Dynamite follows the story of two childhood friends, eternally bound by a traumatic event from their pasts, that has left them incapable of moving on with their lives. But during their annual pilgrimage to the countryside, the pair encounter a beautiful stranger who couldn’t possibly exist, someone who threatens to uncover a truth long since buried.

Morgan described Tiny Dynamite as about ‘knowing when to take responsibility for your life and those moments when you have to just step back and let a miracle happen.’ Pertinently, taking personal responsibility for our actions is making daily headline news. The play asks whether we can truly shed the experiences, memories and people that ultimately shape who we are – or whether we all, eventually, have to face a personal and collective truth.

The production merges qualities of a love story with those of a ghost tale and psychological thriller, presenting a fierce pressure cooker of memory and trauma which Morgan described as formally being akin to ‘a domino effect’, with the tension constantly building throughout.

Director David Loumgair comments, I’m absolutely thrilled that we’re bringing Tiny Dynamite to the stage, since Abi’s plays are so rarely produced here. It’s also a huge honour, if not a little daunting, to be directing it after Vicky Featherstone’s, original production in 2001. The play speaks to the ways trauma impacts on our lives and shapes the people we become, how it binds us to others through collective experience whether we like it or not. I think Tiny Dynamite explores the bravery it takes to confront these experiences, asking how can we heal and move forward with our lives, not just on our own, but together.

Since writing Tiny Dynamite, Morgan has written critically-acclaimed screen-plays including Shame, starring Michael Fassbender and directed by Steve McQueen, The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep and directed by Phyllida Lloyd and Suffragette, starring Carey Mulligan and directed by Sarah Gavron

Bristol Old Vic and Fiery Angel present
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT 
by Eugene O’Neill

• MATTHEW BEARD, RORY KEENAN AND JESSICA REGAN WILL JOIN JEREMY IRONS AND LESLEY MANVILLE IN THE WEST END TRANSFER OF RICHARD EYRE’S ACCLAIMED BRISTOL OLD VIC PRODUCTION 
• U.S. DATES ANNOUNCED TODAY. LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT WILL PLAY BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC (8-27 MAY) AND THE WALLIS ANNENBERG CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS (8 JUNE – 1 JULY)
• EUGENE O’NEILL’S ICONIC PLAY WILL HAVE A STRICTLY LIMITED 10 WEEK SEASON AT WYNDHAM’S THEATRE FROM 27 JANUARY TO 7 APRIL 2018

Full casting and U.S. dates for Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night are announced today. Jessica Regan will return to the role of Cathleen, having played her in the 2016 Bristol Old Vic production. Matthew Beard and Rory Keenan will join the company as Edmund Tyrone and James Tyrone Jr alongside the previously announced Jeremy Irons and Lesley Manville, who will play James and Mary Tyrone in Richard Eyre’s acclaimed Bristol Old Vic production.

Considered one of the most powerful American plays of the 20th century, the production will play a strictly limited 10 week West End season at Wyndham’s Theatre from 27 January to 7 April before transferring to Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Harvey Theater (8-27 May) and theWallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Los Angeles (8 June – 1 July).

The Tyrones’ summer home, August 1912. Haunted by the past but unable to face the truth of the present, the Tyrones and their two sons test the bonds of a family caught in the cycle of love and resentment. As day turns to night and the family indulge in their vices, the truth unravels leaving behind a quartet of ruined lives.

Matthew Beard will play Edmund Tyrone. With credits across stage and screen, Matthew is best known for his work in film, including the roles of Guy Bellingfield in The Riot Club, Peter Hilton in The Imitation Game, Howard Raymond in The Look of Love and a young Blake Morrison in And When Did You Last See Your Father? Other screen credits include One Day, Chatroom, Acid Burn, An Education, Panic Buddy and Singularity. Matthew made his stage debut as Edward in Skylight(Wyndham’s Theatre) starring Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award when the production transferred to Broadway.

Jeremy Irons plays James Tyrone. A Bristol Old Vic Theatre School graduate, he began his professional career on the Bristol Old Vic stage in 1969. After years of success in the West End, Irons made his Broadway debut in 1984 opposite Glenn Close in The Real Thing, which won him a Tony Award. An internationally renowned actor, he is well known not only for films such as The French Lieutenant’s Woman, The Mission, Being Julia, Lolita and Reversal of Fortune for which he won an Oscar, but also for the variety of his work – everything from The Lion King to The Borgias. He is one of only a handful of actors to have won an Oscar, a Tony and an Emmy for his body of work.

Rory Keenan will play James Tyrone Jr. Keenan has a rich list of television credits, best known for the role of Bilibin in the latest BBC adaption of War and Peace, Simon in Stan Lee’s Lucky Man and Donal in Peaky Blinders. Other screen credits include Primeval, Birdsong, The Clinic, Aristocrats, Dear Dilemma, a leading role in two series of On Home Ground, Intermission, Ella Enchanted, Reign Of Fire, Close, Gun and Benedict Arnold. As well as his extensive credits in film and television, Rory has starred in a variety of stage shows including Welcome Home Captain Fox directed by Blanche McIntyre (Donmar Warehouse), Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me directed by Michael Attenborough and Liola directed by Richard Eyre (National Theatre).

Lesley Manville plays Mary Tyrone. An award-winning actress, she is a frequent collaborator with director Mike Leigh, winning the London Film Critics’ Circle Award for British Actress of the Year for her work in both his 2002 film All or Nothing and his 2010 film Another Year, for which she also won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress. Manville’s extensive stage career includes roles in Top Girls (Royal Court 1990), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (RSC 1986), His Dark Materials (National Theatre 2005), Pillars of the Community (National Theatre 2005) and Six Degrees of Separation (Old Vic 2010). In 2012, she was nominated for an Olivier Award for her role in Leigh’s play Grief (National Theatre 2011), before going on to win the 2014 Olivier Award for Best Actress for her role in the revival of Ghosts (Almeida 2013) directed by Richard Eyre.

Jessica Regan will reprise the role as Cathleen from the 2016 Bristol Old Vic production. Until recently, Jessica played regular Niamh Donoghue in Doctors for the BBC, for which she has won Best Newcomer at the British Soap Awards. Other theatre credits include Henry V (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Liola for the National Theatre (directed by Richard Eyre), Stars In The Morning Sky for Belgrade Coventry; The Kitchen, The Cherry Orchard and Blood And Gifts, all at the National Theatre, and The Flags at the Royal Court Liverpool.

Director Richard Eyre is widely considered to be the UK’s greatest living director. Eyre was director of the National Theatre between 1987 and 1997. His most noted theatre productions include Hamlet (twice), with Jonathan Pryce at the Royal Court in 1980 and Daniel Day-Lewis in 1989; Richard III with Ian McKellen; King Lear with Ian Holm; Henrik Ibsen’s John Gabriel Borkman with Paul Scofield, Vanessa Redgrave and Eileen Atkins; and numerous new plays by David Hare, Tom Stoppard, Trevor Griffiths, Howard Brenton, Alan Bennett, Christopher Hampton and Nicholas Wright. He also directed the musical Mary Poppins in London and on Broadway. He has been the recipient of numerous directing awards including five Olivier Awards, including an Olivier Lifetime Achievement Award, and awards from The Directors’ Guild of Great Britain, the South Bank Show, the Evening Standard and the Critics’ Circle. In November 2013, he once again won the Evening Standard Award for Best Director for Ibsen’s Ghosts starring Lesley Manville at the Almeida Theatre. This production transferred to the West End and to Broadway.

Richard Eyre is joined by set and costume designer Rob Howell who has designed sets and costumes for numerous plays and musicals in the UK, in London and on Broadway over a 20-year period. Howell has won three Olivier Awards for Best Set Design. The most recent of these was for his work on the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda the Musical, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award.

International Lighting Designer Peter Mumford has been working in theatre for over 40 years. He is a two-time Olivier Award winner, with work in the West End including Top Hat, Much Ado About Nothing, An Ideal Husband, The Lion in Winter and Absent Friends. He has recently worked with Chichester, Sheffield Crucible, Royal Court, Almeida and the Peter Hall Company.

Sound Designer John Leonard ran the sound department at Bristol Old Vic from 1970 to 1976. He went on to join the Royal Shakespeare Company and in 1984 he was made the company’s first head of sound and an associate artist of the company. He works regularly for the Almeida Theatre in London, for whom he is Sound Associate, as well as the National Theatre and in the West End.