Month: January 2018

Terry Johnson’s Ken
The Bunker, 53A Southwark Street London SE1 1RU
Wednesday 24th January – Saturday 24th February 2018

Marking the ten year anniversary of the death of the truly original and unclassifiable Ken Campbell, Terry Johnson’s Ken will be opening The Bunker’s bold spring season this year. This production follows a highly successful run at Hampstead Downstairs and pays tribute to the maverick writer and theatre director.

Olivier and Tony Award-winning writer Terry Johnson (Prism, Hampstead Theatre; Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick, National Theatre; Dead Funny, Hampstead Theatre and West End) and Jeremy Stockwell (Playtime, Derby Playhouse; Milligan, Madness & Me, Pleasance Theatre; Spitting Image, Channel 4) will be reprising their roles in this joyful production.

1978, London. A 23-year-old aspiring playwright in a rundown flat-share off the North End Road is wrestling with his masterpiece for the Royal Court. The house phone rings, the young man answers… it is a call for the person who used to occupy his room who has recently moved to Amsterdam. But even once this information is imparted, the man at the other end doesn’t hang up. He’s called Ken. And he’s about to change the young man’s life forever.

Terry Johnson comments, Ken Campbell was a true original – a theatrical maverick, unique comedic thinker, legendary practical joker and an inspiration to many of us. He was also my friend, champion, and occasional nemesis. 2018 is the tenth anniversary of his death. Following our enjoyable and cathartic run at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs in 2016, I’m so proud to have the opportunity to present our tribute to a wider audience at The Bunker. For those who knew him, I hope we’ve evoked his spirit as you remember him. For those who never met him; hold on to your seats. Our show is an enjoyable, unpredictable, slightly bonkers journey in the company of the most influential man I ever met. Please join us.

Directed by Theatre503’s Artistic Director Lisa Spirling (In Event of Moon Disaster, Theatre503; Jumpy, TheatreClwyd; Deposit, Pine and Fault Lines, all Hampstead Theatre Downstairs), Ken is the retelling of an extraordinary friendship from beginning to end, replete with wickedly funny anecdotes, magnificent hoaxes, and general chaotic lunacy – all infused with the spirit of the great man…

The Bunker’s Spring Season sees the venue truly celebrate its place as a playground for ambitious and adventurous audiences, just over a year after it first opened its doors. The exciting season highlights the venue’s commitment to work with brilliant playwrights, both established and emerging.

Silk Road (How To Buy Drugs Online)

January 24th – January 28th, VAULT Festival

Alex Oates’ Silk Road, the first play to be funded by cryptocurrency Bitcoin, returns after a triumphant Edinburgh Fringe Festival with its London premiere, opening at VAULT Festival 2018, before touring to Live Theatre, Newcastle in February.

★★★★★ “new writing at its best, well-staged and brilliantly acted” The Reviews Hub

“How is it delivered? That’s the best bit! Royal Mail. Postman Pat brings your smack to your door with a smile and his black and white cat is none the wiser”

Bruce is nineteen, unemployed and living with his Nan. A struggling young Geordie tech-head, he’s the unlikeliest international criminal mastermind you can imagine. But sucked into an underworld dark web of new-age pirates, local gangsters and tea-cosies, it isn’t long before Bruce discovers how easy it is to buy narcotics online.
Following a call-out on the real Silk Road forums for contributions to the original production’s crowdfunding campaign, an anonymous donor donated two bitcoin. Bitcoin value has since gone up, and plummeted, and gone up again. Two bitcoin are currently worth $29,078 (about £21,405), and playwright Alex Oates will now be funding the entire production with cryptocurrency.

★★★★★ “theatre at its very best (…) smart, humorous and powerfully touching” FringeGuru

Shrapnel Theatre returns to VAULT Festival following two smash-hit years with Underground and The Litterati, with the former transferring to Brits off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters in June 2017.

Alex Oates has been shortlisted for both the Old Vic 12 and long listed for the Bruntwood Prize, and Papatango Prize with previous work including Pig and Rules for Being a Man (UK tours). Dominic Shaw is a director from Jersey, and currently associate director for Kinky Boots in the West End. Previous directing work includes A Memory for Forgetting (Arcola) and Fan Fiction (Other Palace).

Actor Josh Barrow is a member of the National Youth Theatre and has worked on the Royal Court Theatre’s Open Court Project 2016, and is TriForce’s Monologue Slam National Champion 2017

FIRST LOOK images from rehearsals for The ToyBoy Diaries, a new British musical comedy that receives its World Premiere at Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester this month.

The production, adapted from the best-selling memoirs by Wendy Salisbury, runs from Thursday 18 January to Saturday 10 February 2018 and is the first of five in-house musicals this year from the successful collaboration between Joseph Houston and William Whelton, co-founders of Hope Mill Theatre and producer Katy Lipson, of Aria Entertainment.

This new musical comedy charts the hilarious and sometimes heart-breaking sagas of mid-life dating.

When twice-divorced Lily inadvertently finds herself under a much younger man, it opens the door to a wild new world of inappropriate relationships. From Tom the Tender to Sam the Submissive, via Paul the Policeman, Hat Trick Patrick and Matt the Monstrous (with Old Willy and Philandering Phil mixed in along the way) Lily finally finds Ben the Bountiful.

The ToyBoy Diaries has a book by Simon Warne, music and lyrics by Andy Collyer and is based on the best-selling memoirs of Wendy Salisbury. Directed by Tania Azevedo.

The lead role of Lily will be played by Johanne Murdock.  Recent stage roles include Brutus in Julius Caesar and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (Guildford Shakespeare Company), Anne Hathaway in The Other Shakespeare (Pitchfork Productions). Film and television credits include Chameleon and Holby City.

The production also features Olivier Award-nominee Nicola Blackman (Destiny Rides Again, Babe the Sheep Pig, Gilgamesh and Just to Get Married ) as Lily’s best friend Penny. Matt Beveridge (The Frontier Trilogy, Titanic – Toronto and House of Therapy – Off Broadway) plays ToyBoy 1. Sharif Afifi (Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, Wonderland – UK Tour) is ToyBoy 2. Alistair Higgins (Dreamboats and Petticoats – UK Tour, Sweeney Todd – Brighton, Charlotte’s Web) plays ToyBoy 3.

The ToyBoy Diaries has music and lyrics by Andy Collyer (Little Women and Pippin Orchestrations – Hope Mill Theatre, The Verb, ‘To Love’ – Old Red Lion Theatre, Claus – Landor Theatre) and a book by his regular collaborator Simon Warne (Claus – Landor Theatre, Truth Talks – Southwark Playhouse, Double Effect – Finborough, and Original Spin – New End Hampstead.)

Director Tania Azevdeo’s recent credits include Tenderly (New Wimbledon Theatre) XY (Page to Stage – The Other Palace) Paper Hears (Edinburgh Fringe and International Tour), Hello Again – Hope Theatre.)

The ToyBoy Diaries has musical direction by Andrew Griffiths, choreography by Sam Spencer-Lane, design by Jason Denvir, lighting design by Ben M Rogers, sound design by Calum Robinson,

Following The ToyBoy Diaries at Hope Mill Theatre is a new revival of the acclaimed modern Broadway hit Spring Awakening (Thursday 29 March to Thursday 3 May 2018) and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic Aspects of Love (Thursday 5 July to Thursday 9 August 2018). Two more yet-to-be announced productions will follow in Autumn/Winter.

Pop-Up Opera: Spring Season 2018
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel
Thursday 1st February – Sunday 11th March 2018

For Spring 2018, after its huge successes in 2017, Pop-Up Opera are reviving Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, giving one of the most popular operatic fairy tales a magical twist that will both enchant and thrill

Continuing to challenge the way opera is traditionally performed, Pop-Up Opera will bring Humperdinck’s dark and atmospheric opera to unusual and unique spaces across the UK. Sung in German (with Pop-Up Opera’s signature ‘silent movie’ captions in English), the wonderful combination of music and drama brings the exciting relationships between characters to life.

Brother and sister Hansel and Gretel are drawn into the idyllic yet dangerous world of the forest, where they encounter the Sandman, the Dew Fairy and, most frightening of all, the Witch. In the dizzying excitement of the Witch’s Ride and the serene beauty of the children’s evening prayer, Humperdinck’s music magically evokes the contrasting worlds of the story

Director James Hurley comments, Hansel and Gretel is the perfect fairy tale opera experience, packed full of humour, suspense, and danger. It offers some unique theatrical challenges – how to create an enchanted forest, build a gingerbread house, or burn a witch! This production will conjure up an ingenious, fully-integrated scenic world, which stays true to Pop-Up’s immersive charm

The cast conjure plenty of magic… mops become broomsticks or trees in the dark forest, strips of cardboard a songbird… a performance that leaves rival fringe companies in their icing-sugar dust. (Alexandra Coghlan, The Arts Desk)

Tour Dates
Thurs 1st Feb Ugly Duck, London, 7.30pm
49 Tanner Street, London SE1 3PL

Fri 2nd Feb Wiltshire Music Centre, 7.30pm
Ashley Road, Bradford-on-Avon, BA15 1DZ

Sun 4th Feb V&A Museum, London, 2pm
Cromwell Road, Knightsbridge, London, SW7 2RL

Tues 6th Feb London Museum of Water and Steam, 7.30pm
Green Dragon Lane, Brentford, London, TW8 0EN

Sat 10th Feb Spirella Ballroom, Letchworth. 7.30pm
Spirella Building Bridge Road, Letchworth Garden City, SG6 4ET

Tues 13th Feb Harrow School, Harrow, 7.30pm
5 High Street, Harrow HA1 3HP

Thurs 15th Feb St Mary in the Castle, Sussex, 7.30pm
7 Pelham Cresent, Hastings TN34 3AE

Fri 16th Feb Chichester Minerva Theatre, 7.45pm
Oaklands Park, Chichester PO19 6AP

Fri 23rd Feb Cheltenham Ladies College, 7.30pm
Bayshill Road, Cheltenham GL50 3EP

Thurs 1st March Winchester Planetarium, 7.30pm
Telegraph Way, Winchester SO21 1HZ

Sat 3rd March Shaftesbury Arts Centre, 7.30pm
13 Bell Street, Shaftesbury SP7 8AR

Sun 4th March Teignmouth Festival, Teignmouth United Reform Church, 7pm
Dawlish Street, Teignmouth TQ14 8TB

Wed 7th March Royal Free Hospital, Hampstead, 7.30pm
Pond Street, Hampstead, London NW3 2QG

Sun 11th March Asylum, Peckham, 5pm
Caroline Gardens Chapel, Asylum Road, London SE15 2SQ

 

VALENTINES DAY ANTIDOTE AT THEATRE ROYAL WITH FIERCE NEW HEDDA GABLER

National Theatre blockbuster to send romantic notions into disarray

 

The National Theatre’s breath-taking new version of Henrik Ibsen’s masterwork Hedda Gabler is set to arrive at Newcastle Theatre Royal next month.  Fresh from a sell-out run in London, it will thrill and unsettle Valentine’s week audiences 13 – 17 February 2018.

 

Written by Olivier and Tony Award^®-winning playwright Patrick Marber (Closer) this vital new version of Ibsen’s 19^th century realism masterpiece is also directed by one of the world’s most exciting directors Ivo van Hove.

 

Hedda and Tesman have just returned from their honeymoon and the relationship is already in trouble. Trapped but determined, Hedda tries to control and manipulate those around her, only to see her own world unravel. Reimagined in a contemporary world for a modern audience, the play retains all its trademark power and vitality.

 

Lizzy Watts (The Durrells; Midsomer Murders and BBC Radio 4’s Home Front) plays the title role of free-spirited and unstable Hedda, one of the greatest dramatic parts in theatre and regarded as the female Hamlet.

 

The production follows an unprecedented run of critically acclaimed National Theatre visits to Newcastle Theatre Royal over the past five years including multi-award winning The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Jane Eyre.

 

 

Set and lighting design for Hedda Gabler is by Jan Versweyveld, with costume design by An D’Huys and sound by Tom Gibbons.

 

Director Ivo van Hove ‘s acclaimed production of A View from the Bridge recently played to sold out houses in London and on Broadway and Obsession starring Jude Law played last year at The Barbican.

 

Writer Patrick Marber said:  ‘It has been a huge honour to work with the great Ivo van Hove on this version of Hedda Gabler at the National Theatre. I am thrilled that this tour will enable more people to see his incredible production.’

Hedda Gabler plays Newcastle Theatre Royal Tues 13 to Saturday 17 February 2018. Evening shows are at 7.30pm, matinees on Thu 2pm and Sat 2.30pm. Tickets from £14.50.  Tickets can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (Calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge) or book online at www.theatreroyal.co.uk

THE FIRST EVER CONTEMPORARY DANCE TO COMMEMORATE WINDRUSH

  

Windrush: Movement of the People: a major new dance piece for 2018 by Phoenix Dance Theatre

 

Marking the 70^th anniversary of the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush, the ship that brought the first large group of immigrants from the Caribbean to the UK

 

 

Internationally-acclaimed, Leeds-based Phoenix Dance Theatre will present a World Premiere at West Yorkshire Playhouse next month as 2018 marks the 70^th Anniversary of the arrival of SS Empire Windrush to the UK.

Windrush was the ship that brought the first large group of immigrants from the Caribbean and famously began the post-war immigration boom that was to radically change British society.

Artistic Director of Phoenix Dance, and choreographer of Windrush, Sharon Watson said: “I want to capture both the excitement and the upset of this significant event. Windrush will highlight both the struggles and the good times the Jamaican community experienced during those early years. It is an uplifting dance production but it shines a light on an important era of the history of black people in the UK.’

 

The production begins in Jamaica showing the response to the newspaper adverts for the SS Empire Windrush; busy and excited scenes are juxtaposed with personal stories – family farewells and people left behind. The 492 immigrants were invited by the UK government, but were not always welcomed  and the production will capture the daily exclusion and racism the newcomers faced.

“We know people were excited to come to the UK on the promise of work and a better life but we also know it was not the case for all. Britain was recovering from the war and needed help to rebuild the country, but the stories they told were of a bittersweet experience.” Sharon continues.

 

“My family were not on the SS Windrush but did come to the UK as part of that first wave of people that were to become known as the ‘Windrush Generation’.

Dancers will create unforgettable characters that take the audience from Jamaica to the UK celebrating how the Windrush generation began to create their own opportunities, setting up churches, introducing their own music and dance and establishing a ‘black culture’.

“When I was undertaking the research for this project, I was delighted to discover that Calypso musicians Lord Kitchener, Lord Beginner, Lord Woodbine and singer Mona Baptiste were among the ship’s passengers; these major musicians were part of the story! What greater gift for a choreographer than to be practically handed a part of the soundtrack?”

From 1948 to the present day; from Calypso to RnB via Blues, Ska and Reggae, composer Gary Crosby OBE with Christella Listras from Caution Collective support the story with an uplifting soundtrack to the lives of the Caribbean British people and wider Black British Communities.

Windrush: Movement of the People fuses music and dance to create an inspiring production that uses a multi-cultural cast to tell an international story, and celebrates a culture that is now part of the country’s fabric.

The World Premiere of Windrush: Movement of the People is at West Yorkshire Playhouse

7 – 10 February 2018 at 7.30pm

 

Tickets are on sale now priced from £13.50 to £31

 

Book online at wyp.org.uk or call Box Office on 0113 213 77 00

 

It then tours to:

Theatre By The Lake, Keswick; Cast, Doncaster, Curve, Leicester; Schrittmacher, Aachen, Germany;

The Peacock Theatre, Sadler’s Wells London; Northern Stage, Newcastle

 

LISTINGS:

 

Theatre By The Lake, Keswick

Tuesday 20^th February 2018 at 7.30pm

Tickets: £10 to £18

Box Office: www.theatrebythelake.com  / 017687 74411

The Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham

Tuesday 27^th February 2018 at 7.30pm

Tickets: £19

Box Office: www.everymantheatre.org.uk / 01242 572573

Cast Doncaster

Wednesday 7^th March 2018 at 7.30pm

Tickets: £16.50 U26: £14.50 Schools: £10

Box Office: www.castindoncaster.com / 01302 303 959

Curve Leicester

Friday 9^th and Saturday 10^th March 2018

Tickets: Not yet on sale

Box Office: www.curveonline.co.uk / 0116 242 3595

 

Schrittmacher, Aachen, Germany                   

22 – 25 March 2018

Startseite

 

The Peacock Theatre, Sadler’s Wells London

Thursday 26 – Saturday 28 April 2018 at 7.30pm

Tickets onsale from 6 November, 10am

Box Office www.sadlerswells.com / 020 7863 8000

 

Northern Stage, Newcastle

Wednesday 9^th and Tuesday 10^th May 2018 at 7.30pm

Tickets: From £10

Box Office: www.northernstage.co.uk / 0191 230 5151

Tinder artwork gets vocal: Best quips to ‘Lady Chatterley’ to feature in spoken word performance at The Lowry.

An artwork that captured conversations on Tinder between unsuspecting users of the dating app and D. H. Lawrence’s ‘Lady Chatterley’ is being brought to life – and new audiences – in a spoken word performance at The Lowry.

The artwork used an algorithm to automatically pair ‘matched’ profile users’ opening gambits with lines from the novel and then judged the sentiment of the replies to decide how to continue the conversation.

And now, artist, Libby Heaney and actor, Sarah Emmott are to read a selection of exchanges in Pier Eight Bar at The Lowry this Saturday (13 January) at 5pm

Commenting on the work, Heaney said: “The replies ranged from the inquisitive and confused to the downright horny. It was fascinating to see, in a digital world – where anonymity is a very real and popular option – how human beings choose to interact.”

‘Lady Chatterley’s Tinderbot’ is on display at The Lowry as part of the humansbeingdigital exhibition, which runs until Sun 25 February.

Listing information:

Lady Chatterley’s Tinderbot – A Reading
Saturday 13 January 2018, 5pm (45mins)
Pier Eight Bar, The Lowry, Salford Quays, M50 3AZ
Admittance: FREE

‘Lady Chatterley’s Tinderbot’ was produced with the kind co-operation of the Estate of Frieda Lawrence Ravagli.

In July 2014, The Lowry galleries were renamed The Andrew and Zoe Law Galleries in recognition of the couple’s £1m donation to the arts centre, which is a registered charity.

A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer and accompanying documentary film The Little c

Complicité will stage a reimagined version of A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer, its collaboration with performance artist Bryony Kimmings. Kimmings will lead the company in this reworked production touring the UK before performances in Australia.

A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer

Complicité Associates and Bryony Kimmings

Written by Bryony Kimmings and Brian Lobel with Kirsty Housley
Music by Tom Parkinson
Directed by Kirsty Housley

Originally a Complicité Associates co-production with the National Theatre in association with HOME Manchester.

When performance artist Bryony Kimmings was approached by Complicité to create a new show, the invitation came from producer Judith Dimant – who had just received a cancer diagnosis. Never one to shy away from creating art from life, Bryony asked Judith if she wanted to make a production about cancer. What followed was a baptism of fire, and an unexpected journey into the ‘Kingdom of the Sick’ – following patients, meeting doctors and learning from world experts. What Bryony didn’t know is how far into the Kingdom she would fall.

First seen in 2016 at HOME, Manchester, Exeter Northcott and the National Theatre, the production will be revived and re-worked for UK and Australian touring in 2018. Kirsty Housley, Co-Director of The Encounterand long-term Complicité collaborator will direct, with writer Bryony Kimmings performing in the production.

A Pacifist’s Guide… will blow everything you think you know about cancer out of the water. This funny and moving show will look behind the poster campaigns and pink ribbons at the reality of cancer: newfound friendships, pain and death, mundane treatment cycles, hairlessness and scars…with songs.

Bryony Kimmings said “This musical began as a seed in 2014. So much has happened since its inception. A four year labour of love. It begins with Judith the producer of Complicité having breast cancer, it moves through two years following beautiful patients, me having a baby, Judith going into remission, some deaths and some huge life changes. All the time writing music! I wasn’t able to be in the original production for tragic personal reasons so I am over the moon that I am able to step into it for this tour. We are thrilled to have had the time to reimagine and develop the musical since its first incarnation at the National Theatre, which we can’t wait to share with audiences across the UK and Australia.”

A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer,Complicité’s collaboration with performance artistBryony Kimmings will embark on a UK tour to Liverpool Playhouse, Northern Stage Newcastle and the Belgrade Theatre Coventry before touring to Australia.

www.complicite.org/APacifistsGuide

The Little c documentary film:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-zjKY4wIwc&list=PLLEx0tB8K9bQ3GXLYEslY-7AUJIyWe2xA&t=21s&index=7

#APacifistsGuide

2018 Tour

Liverpool, UK – Playhouse: 26 January – 3 February
2018
https://www.everymanplayhouse.com/whats-on/a-pacifists-guide-to-the-war-on-cancer

 

Newcastle, UK – Northern Stage: 7 – 10 February 2018

https://www.northernstage.co.uk/Event/complicit-a-pacifists-guide-to-the-war-on-cancer

 

Coventry, UK – Belgrade Theatre: 14 – 17 February 2018

http://www.belgrade.co.uk/event/a-pacifists-guide

 

Canberra, Australia – Canberra Theatre Centre: 28 February – 3 March 2018

https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/a-pacifists-guide-to-the-war-on-cancer/

 

Melbourne, Australia – Malthouse Theatre: 7 – 18 March 2018

http://malthousetheatre.com.au/whats-on/a-pacifists-guide-to-the-war-on-cancer

 

Sydney, Australia – Seymour Centre: 22 – 29 March 2018

https://www.seymourcentre.com/events/event/a-pacifists-guide-to-the-war-on-cancer/

 

Credits

Complicité Associates and Bryony Kimmings

Written by Bryony Kimmings and Brian Lobel with Kirsty Housley
Music by Tom Parkinson
Directed by Kirsty Housley

Originally a Complicité Associates co-production with the National Theatre in association with HOME Manchester. Age guidance: 14+.

Performers

Eva Alexander

Bryony Kimmings

Gemma Storr

Lottie Vallis

Lara Veitch

Elexi Walker

 

Set and Costume Design   Lucy Osborne

Choreography                      Sarah Blanc

Lighting Design                   Marec Joyce

Sound Design                       Lewis Gibson

Assistant Director               Michal Keyamo

Production Manager           Niall Black

Sound Operator                   Neil Dewar

Stage Managers                  Adam Chesnutt, Osnat Koblenz

 

Original Costume Designer Christina Cunningham, Original Lighting Designer Paul Anderson, Original Musical Director Marc Tritschler,Original Choreography Lizzi Gee

The Little c film

The Little c documentary film tells the unexpected and untold story of cancer through the voices and stories of real-life cancer patients. It tracks these stories as they make their way from patient to stage as part of the 2016 production ‘A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer’. The film follows the show’s development from a coffee meeting in 2014 to a UK tour in 2016, and charts the creative team’s efforts to bring a fresh voice to a difficult and loaded subject.

Watch it online for free on Complicité’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-zjKY4wIwc&list=PLLEx0tB8K9bQ3GXLYEslY-7AUJIyWe2xA&t=21s&index=7

Directed & Edited by Simon Eves. Produced by PLASTIK and Complicité

Bryony Kimmings

Inspired by the taboos, stigmas, anomalies and social injustices around her, Bryony Kimmings is a performance artist creating multi-platform art works to provoke change.

 

The work centres around outlandish ‘social experiments’ that Kimmings conducts with intrigue and wholehearted fearless gusto. Kimmings sets her sights on the impossible and unconquerable, and turns the unspeakable into the years’ hottest topic – from retracing an STI to its source (Sex Idiot), to her boyfriend’s depression (Fake It ’Til You Make It – Best Theatre Award Fringe World Perth 2015, Best Theatre Award Adelaide Fringe Festival 2015, Herald Angel Award Edinburgh 2015), to her search for positive role models for her teenage niece (Credible, Likeable, Superstar, Role Model Fringe First Award winner). 

Her work has toured across the world including: Melbourne International Comedy Festival (Australia), National Theatre (UK), Southbank Centre (UK), Lisinski Operahouse (Croatia) and Fusebox Festival (Texas).

 

About Complicité

Founded in 1983, Complicité is an international theatre company based in London led by Artistic Director Simon McBurney (OBE) and Producer Judith Dimant (MBE). The company has won over fifty major theatre awards worldwide. Complicité’s recent work includes A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer, The Encounter,Beware of Pity and The Master and Margarita.Alongside its productions, Complicité runs an extensive Creative Learning programme with recent projects including Like Mother, Like Daughter and Tea.

Complicité Associates is a strand of work that commissions and produces new work from brilliant theatre makers and artists, supporting them as they explore different ways of working. Performance artist Bryony Kimmings was the inaugural Complicité Associate, and A Pacifist’s Guide to the War on Cancer was its first production. The next artists joining the Complicité Associates are The Scotsman Fringe First Award and The Stage Edinburgh Award for Best Ensemble winner, The Wardrobe Ensemble.

Simon McBurney has created and acted in more than 30 productions for the company. His directing credits with Complicité include The Encounter, Beware of Pity,The Master and Margarita, Shun-kin, A Disappearing Number, Measure for Measure, A Minute Too Late, The Elephant Vanishes, Strange Poetry and The Street of Crocodiles. Other directing credits include The Kid Stays in the Picture, All My Sons on Broadway andThe Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui with Al Pacino in New York. Opera credits include The Rake’s Progressproduced by Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and The Magic Flute and A Dog’s Heart, both produced by De Nederlandse Opera and English National Opera in collaboration with Complicité. As an actor Simon has appeared in many films and TV including: Allied, The Conjuring 2, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, The Theory of Everything, Magic in the Moonlight, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Last King of Scotland and JK Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy. 

Austen
the Musical

By Rob Winlow

Directed by Timothy Trimingham Lee

UK tour 2018

A celebration of one of the greatest British writers, Jane Austen, Rob Winlow’s
new musical AUSTEN reveals the woman behind the words, and it tours the UK
from January 11 – March 29.

Following the bicentennial of her death, this is a portrait of an icon as a human
being. AUSTEN investigates the life of an author struggling as much with affairs
of the heart as with ambitions for her art.

By turns comical, tragic, and enchanting, AUSTEN is a musical that explores the
challenges a female novelist faces in patriarchal Georgian England. As Jane
struggles to be published, she experiences the pressures, pleasures, and pitfalls
of courtship with multiple suitors. The story remains resonant and poignant in
these turbulent times as the fight for gender equality continues.

Writer Rob Winlow says, “The starting point and the question we ask, and
ultimately try to answer, in the show is how come Jane Austen wrote so
eloquently about romantic affairs when she had seemingly few loving
relationships and never married?”

Edith Kirkwood (Peculiar Distractions, York Theatre Royal) features as Jane
Austen, with Thomas Hewitt (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Lyric Hammersmith & National
Tour) playing the suitors, and Jenni Lea-Jones (The Mikado, Illyria Theatre
National Tour) & Adam Grayson (Jonathan Creek, BBC) as Jane’s parents.
Timothy Trimingham Lee (Buried Child, Upstairs at the Gatehouse) directs and
Arlene McNaught (The Good Person of Szechwan, Bridewell Theatre) provides
musical direction.

Rob Winlow wrote his first musical when he was 16 and won the All England
Song Contest in 1982. Previous writing includes Armada the Musical, which was
presented at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

AUSTEN has been presented at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Jane Austen
Festival, York New Musical Festival and on a small UK tour. It was developed
with support from York New Musical Festival and John Cooper Studio.

“Rob Winlow has created a tale that will be magical for Austen’s many fans.”
The North East Theatre Guide

Tour details:
11 – 13 January 7.30pm
Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham
www.oldjointstock.co.uk
0121 200 1892

16 – 20 January 7.30pm
The Bread & Roses Theatre, London
www.breadandrosestheatre.co.uk
020 8050 3025

22 – 24 January 7.30pm
Mirth, Marvel & Maud Theatre, London
www.mirthmarvelandmaud.com
020 8520 8636

25 January 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Stamford Corn Exchange, Stamford
www.stamfordcornexchange.co.uk
01780 766455

26 January 7.30pm, 27 January 2.00pm & 7.30pm
East Riding Theatre, Beverley
www.eastridingtheatre.co.uk
01482 874050

8 February 8.00pm
Artrix, Bromsgrove
www.artrix.co.uk
01527 577330

27 – 28 February 7.30pm
Rothes Hall, Fife
www.onfife.com/venues/rothes-halls
01592 611101

7 March 7.30pm
Harborough Theatre, Harborough
www.harboroughtheatre.com
0333 666 3366

28 – 29 March 7.45pm
Chesil Theatre, Winchester
www.chesiltheatre.org.uk
07527 471539

FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR THE

WORLD PREMIÈRE OF HOWARD BRENTON’S

THE SHADOW FACTORY

– THE INAUGARUAL PRODUCTION IN NST CITY

 

ANITA DOBSON AND SHALA NYX JOIN THE PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED DAVID BIRRELL, CATHERINE CUSACK, LORNA FITZGERALD, HILTON MCRAE AND DANIEL YORK

Nuffield Southampton Theatres present

The world première of

The Shadow Factory

By Howard Brenton

 

7 February – 3 March 2018

Press Night: 15 February 2018

Director of Nuffield Southampton Theatres, Samuel Hodges, today announces the full cast for the company’s inaugural production at NST City – the world première of Howard Brenton’s The Shadow Factory, which Hodges directs. Veteran of stage and screen Anita Dobson joins the cast as Lady Cooper/Ma (Wicked, Apollo Victoria Theatre; The Merry Wives of Windsor, RSC; Frozen, National Theatre) along with Shala Nyx who plays Polly. Dobson, known for playing the iconic role of Angie Watts in EastEnders, and Nyx join David Birrell (Fred/Hugh), Catherine Cusack (Lil/Sylvia), Lorna Fitzgerald (Jackie Dimmock), Hilton McRae (Lord Beaverbrook) and Daniel York (Len Gooch) to complete the company. The Shadow Factory opens on 15 February, with previews from 7 February, and runs until 3 March.

This world première will open Southampton’s brand-new theatre, NST City, conceived by NST’s director Samuel Hodges and 59 Productions – the Tony Award-winning artists behind the video design of the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony.

Alongside the production, the company will mount The Shadow Factory Exhibition, giving audiences the opportunity to step into the stories behind The Shadow Factory in an installation featuring the visually stunning moving set designed by 59 Productions.

NST City is part of Studio 144, Southampton’s new £30m city centre arts venue situated in the heart of the city centre. This new venue will include a flexible 450 seat main house theatre, a 133 seat studio, screening facilities, rehearsal and workshop spaces, and bar and restaurant managed by Southampton ‘s 2017 Business of the Year winner, Mettricks. NST City will transform NST’s ability to show high quality professional work from local, national and international artists and allow the programme to include dance, film and music.

The Shadow Factory tells the story of Southampton’s courage in 1940 during The Battle of Britain. Southampton is home to the country’s only hope of victory: the Spitfire. But when the Luftwaffe drops 2,300 bombs in three devastating raids, the city goes up in flames and the Woolston Supermarine Spitfire factory is destroyed. From the ashes, a story of chaos, courage and community spirit emerges.

Howard Brenton has written over 50 plays. His most recent credits include Miss Julie (The Theatre By The Lake & The Jermyn Street Theatre), Paul (National Theatre), In Extremis (Shakespeare’s Globe and tour retitled Eternal Love), Never So Good (National Theatre), Anne Boleyn (Shakespeare’s Globe, plus revival and tour, winner of the WhatsOnStage Best Play Award and UK Theatre Awards Best Touring Production), 55 Days (Hampstead Theatre), #aiww: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei (Hampstead Theatre), The Guffin (one act play, NT Connections), Drawing The Line (Hampstead Theatre), Doctor Scroggy’s War (Shakespeare’s Globe), Ransomed (one act play, Salisbury Playhouse), Lawrence After Arabia (Hampstead Theatre) and The Blinding Light (Jermyn Street Theatre). Versions of classics include The Life of Galileo and Danton’s Death (National Theatre) and Goethe’s Faust (RSC). Other adaptations include The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (Liverpool Everyman and Chichester Festival Theatre) and Dances of Death (Gate Theatre). For television, he wrote 13 episodes of the first four series of the BBC Television Drama Spooks (winner of the BAFTA Best Television Drama Series 2003).

David Birrell plays Fred/Hugh. His theatre credits include The Wind in the Willows (UK tour), The Death of King Arthur (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), Peter Pan, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ragtime (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), The Last Days of Troy (Royal Exchange/Shakespeare’s Globe), Passion, Grand Hotel(Donmar Warehouse), Spamalot (Palace Theatre), Oh! What A Lovely War (National Theatre), The Gates of Paradise, The Jewess of Toledo, The Venetian Twins, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Moby Dick, The Tempest, Murder in the Cathedral, Hamlet, Columbus, Romeo and Juliet (RSC); and for television, Holy Flying Circus, Buried andAngels.

 

Catherine Cusack plays Lil/Sylvia. For theatre her credits include A Parting from the Body, Fragile, Factory Girls (Arcola Theatre), The Seagull (UK tour), All That Fall (Jermyn Street Theatre and New York), Bingo (Chichester Festival Theatre and Young Vic), The Two Character Play (Jermyn Street Theatre/USA), What Fatima Did (Hampstead Theatre), Our Lady of Sligo (National Theatre), Measure for Measure (ETT), Prayers of Sherkin (The Old Vic), Mrs Warren’s Profession (Lyric Hammersmith) and Phaedra’s Love (Gate Theatre). For television her credits include The Last Days of Anne Boleyn, Jonathan Creek, Ballykissangel and Cadfael; and for film, Finding Neverland, Conspiracy of Silence, Boxed and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne.

 

Anita Dobson plays Lady Cooper/Ma. Her extensive theatre credits include The Merry Wives of Windsor (RSC), Budgie (Cambridge Theatre), The Three Sisters (Royal Court Theatre), Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (National Theatre), Kvetch (Garrick Theatre), Lovely Shayna Maidel (Ambassador’s Theatre), Charley’s Aunt (Aldwych Theatre), The Vagina Monologues (Arts Theatre/UK tour), Frozen(National Theatre / Olivier Award nomination), Chicago (Adelphi Theatre), Thoroughly Modern Milly (Shaftesbury Theatre), Hello Dolly! (Theatre Royal Lincoln/ UK tour), Calendar Girls (Noël Coward Theatre), Bette and Joan (Arts Theatre) and Wicked (Apollo Theatre). For television her extensive work includes EastEnders (as series regular Angie Watts),  Leave Him To Heaven, Nanny, Split Ends, The World Of Eddie Weary, Red Dwarf, Smokescreen, I’ll Be Watching You, Dangerfield, The Famous Five, Highlander, Get Well Soon, Junk, Sunburn, The Stretch, Hearts and Bones, Urban Gothic, The Last Detective, Gigglebiz, Hotel Babylon, Moving On, Pompidou, Armada, Call The Midwife and The Rebel; and for film, Seaview Knights, Beyond Bedlam, The Tichborne Claimant, The Revengers’ Comedies, Darkness Falls, Charlie, Solitary, The Rise Of The Krays, The Fall Of The Krays, London Road and the upcoming The Fight.

Lorna Fitzgerald plays Jackie Dimmock. She is perhaps best known for her role as Abi Branning inEastEnders having played this role since 1996. Other credits for television include The Golden Hour, According to Bex and Cherished. This production marks her professional stage debut.

 

 

Hilton McRae plays Lord Beaverbrook. His many theatre credits include Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Ambassadors Theatre / Broadway), 1984 (Playhouse Theatre), End of the Rainbow (Trafalgar Studios – Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor), My One and Only (Piccadilly Theatre), Mamma Mia! (Prince Edward Theatre), Les Miserables (Palace Theatre) Miss Saigon (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), Rabbit (Trafalgar Studios), Piaf (Piccadilly Theatre), Uncle Vanya (Almeida Theatre) and Timon of Athens and Caroline or Change (National Theatre). For television, credits include Injustice, Zen, Red Riding Trilogy – 1983, The Execution of Gary Glitter, Frances Tuesday, Murder City, Baby Father, Serious & Organised, Deacon Brodie, King of Hearts, First Take, To Each His Own, Roll Over Beethoven, Poppyland and Forever Young. For film, credits include Darkest Hour, Denial, The Sense of an Ending, Macbeth, Far from the Madding Crowd, Mansfield Park, Return of the Jedi, Secret Rapture, Greystoke and The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

Shala Nyx plays Polly. Her credits for theatre include Cookies (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Every You, Every Me (Oxford Playhouse), Henry Vl parts one two and three (Wales Millenium Centre), Dogtag (Theatre West), Bollywood Jack (Tara Arts), Her (one woman show for Half Moon Theatre/Brolly Productions), Love for Love, The Heresy of Love (Bristol Old Vic), Romeo and Juliet/As You Like It (GB Theatre). For television her credits include, Gregor MacGregor, Bottom Knocker Street; and for film, Knock Down Ginger, A Safe Space and Bare All.

 

Daniel York plays Len Gooch. His theatre credits include The Merchant of Venice, The Country Wife, Moby Dick, Snow in Midsummer, Dido Queen of Carthage (RSC), Welcome Home Captain Fox! (Donmar Warehouse), The World of Extreme Happiness (National Theatre), Une Tempete (Gate Theatre), Porcelain (Royal Court Theatre), The Changeling (Southwark Playhouse), Branded (The Old Vic) and Turandot (Hampstead Theatre). For television his credits include Whitechapel, Moving On, Waking the Dead, Peggy Su!, Chambers, Supper at Emmaus, A Fish Named Tao; and for film, Scarborough, The Receptionist, Rogue Trader, The Beach, Faraway, Act of Grace and Doom.

Samuel Hodges is Director of The Shadow Factory and of Nuffield Southampton Theatres (NST). His productions for NST includes Dedication – Shakespeare and Southampton, and The Glass Menagerie. Previously he founded the HighTide Festival Theatre in 2007 and was the Artistic Director for five years, during which time he produced over 25 new plays, co-producing with the National Theatre, The Old Vic and the Bush Theatre, amongst others. Between 2012 and 2014, he ran the Criterion Theatre in London’s West End, for whom he curated a late-night programme and a one-off summer season of new work to celebrate the London Olympics.

 

59 Productions is the multi award-winning company of artists behind the video design of the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games and War Horse, the design and creative direction of the record-breaking David Bowie is exhibition, and video design of Christopher Wheeldon’s celebrated stage adaptation of An American in Paris (Tony Award in 2015). Led by directors Leo Warner, Mark Grimmer, Lysander Ashton and Richard Slaney, 59 Productions are world-leading specialists in design for stage and live events. They are the go-to team for generating creative and technical ideas to realise ambitious artistic projects across a range of disciplines: from architectural projection mapping to exhibition design, VR experiences to events, theatrical design to technical consultancy. In 2017, 59 Productions began producing its own theatrical work, opening its first full scale production, Paul Auster’s City of Glass (HOME, Manchester, Lyric, Hammersmith).  Current and upcoming projects also include, Oslo (Lincoln Center, National Theatre and currently Harold Pinter Theatre), The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Santa Fe Opera), Marnie (The Met Opera & ENO), Reflections (a four-day projection-mapping event to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao) and A Perfect Harmony(specially-commissioned as the centrepiece of the weekend-long celebrations for the re-opening of Washington’s Freer|Sackler museums in October 2017).

#ShadowFactory

@NSTheatres

www.nstheatres.co.uk

 

The Shadow Factory Listings

Studio 144, Above Bar, Southampton SO14 7DU

 

Box Office: 023 8067 1771 / ww.nstheatres.co.uk

Monday – Friday: 10am – 6pm

Saturday: 10am – 4pm

THE SHADOW FACTORY EXHIBITION 

16 Feb -2 Mar 11am -4pm (excluding matinee performance days and Sundays)

Step into the stories behind The Shadow Factory in this installation featuring the visually stunning moving set designed by 59 Productions, the Tony Award-winning design team behind the London 2012 Opening Ceremony. FREE