The cast of Calendar Girls – The Musical meet leaders of local Women’s Institutes
The cast of Calendar Girls The Musical with WI leaders Lynne Stubbings, Patience Broad and Sue White
Last night, at the opening night of Tim Firth and Gary Barlow’s Calendar Girls the Musical, three Midlands leaders of the WI (or Women’s Institute) headed backstage to meet the cast.
Lynne Stubbings (NFWI Chair, of Wishaw WI, Warwickshire), Patience Broad (NFWI Trainer and Trustee, Worcestershire of Wells & Wyche WI, Worcestershire) and Sue White(Vice Chairman of Worcestershire and WI Adviser, Ripple & Earls Croome WI, Worcestershire) met with cast members including Lesley Joseph and Lisa Maxwell for photos and the chance to share real life stories from the WI.
Calendar Girls The Musical is inspired by the true story of a group of ladies, who decide to appear nude for a Women’s Institute calendar in order to raise funds to buy a settee for their local hospital, in memory of one of their husbands, and have to date raised almost £5million for Bloodwise. This musical comedy shows life in their Yorkshire village, how it happened, the effect on husbands, sons and daughters, and how a group of ordinary ladies achieved something extraordinary.
Leading the cast is beloved star of stage and screen, Lesley Joseph. Although perhaps best known for playing Dorien Green in the ITV sitcom Birds of a Feather, alongside Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson, Lesley has a wealth of theatrical experience to her credit. Most recently she starred as Frau Blücher in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein at the Garrick Theatre, a role which earned her an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.
Lesley Joseph is joined by Sarah Jane Buckley (Blood Brothers and Hollyoaks) as Annie,Sue Devaney (Dinnerladies, Casualty, Coronation Street, Mamma Mia!) as Cora, Julia Hills(Broadchurch, The Archers) as Ruth, Judy Holt (Cold Feet, Scott & Bailey) as Marie andLisa Maxwell (Loose Women, Hollyoaks, The Bill) as Celia and Rebecca Storm (Evita, Les Miserables, Chess) as Chris.
Gary Barlow and Tim Firth grew up in the same village in the North of England and have been friends for 25 years. With Take That, Gary has written and co-written 14 number one singles, has sold over 50 million records worldwide and is a six times Ivor Novello Award winner. Tim has won the Olivier Award and UK Theatre Award for Best New Musical, and the British Comedy Awards Best Comedy Film for Calendar Girls.
The cast also includes Phil Corbitt as John, Ian Mercer as Rod, Sebastian Aberneri as Colin, Alan Stocks as Denis, Pauline Daniels as Lady Cravenshire, Ellie Leah as Miss Wilson, Danny Howker as Danny, Isabel Caswell as Jenny and Tyler Dobbs as Tommo.
Calendar Girls – The Musical continues at Birmingham Hippodrome until Saturday 8 June 2019, for tickets visit birminghamhippodrome.com or call 0844 338 5000 (4.5p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge).
King’s Theatre, Edinburgh – until Saturday 1 Jun 2019
Reviewed by Manetta McIntosh
5*****
Not for the Easily Offended
Songs like Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist, characters such as Lucy the Slut and also a Parental Advisory stamp on the posters, should give you some indication of the content of this show. Never assume that all things cute and cuddly are also innocent. I saw this show in London several years ago and can honestly say that it was as funny today as it was then.
The cast are a mixture of real actors and puppets, think Sesame Street for adults and you kind of get the picture. The puppeteers are visible on stage but within minutes you almost forget they are there as you become focussed on the puppets themselves. The plot is your everyday love story between Princeton – a puppet recently graduated with a BA in English and looking for his purpose in life, and Kate Monster – a kindergarten teacher who wants to start a school for Monster children… monsters are different to puppets which are different to real people…I know, everyday problems!
They are supported by puppet characters such as Trekkie Monster, who spends all of his time searching for porn on the internet…yes, he even sings a song about it. Rod and Nicky who are like the Odd Couple, Rod is obviously a closeted homosexual and Nicky is trying to get him to admit it – I was a little offended that Nicky thought Rod was ‘a bit anal’ because he ironed his underpants…don’t we all? Also supported by ‘real’ people such as Christmas Eve and Brian, a young couple who live in the same apartment building and a caricature of Gary Coleman who works as the apartment supervisor.
For those not old enough to remember Gary Coleman – he was a cute kid on a US TV show who was famous for saying to his brother ‘what you talkin’ about Willis’. He then famously did not manage the transition to adult actor as many kids of that era and had many financial issues. I believe the intention of the original show was to have him playing himself initially, but that did not transpire. In keeping with the ‘political incorrectness’ of the show they have kept the character despite Gary Coleman apparently distancing himself from the production before his untimely death, it is one of those things where you almost feel awkward for finding his stage situation funny.
While we are on the subject of things that you know you shouldn’t laugh at but just can’t help it…There is a sex scene between Princeton and Kate Monster that will have you bellowing with laughter or hiding your eyes or both. For those of you that watch it and wonder how they get in to those positions…THEY ARE PUPPETS.
The acting and singing was incredible when you think that, at times, the same puppeteer was having to sing the voice of two puppets consecutively…as well as control the puppet. There were some current and local jokes added to the script which went down a storm with the audience. I did notice that 2 people in front of me did not return after the interval, so it is not to everyone’s taste. The set was cleverly simple, one backdrop that allowed a minor adjustment to project you elsewhere in the city. If you want a belly laugh practically from start to finish and you are not easily offended…unless you iron your underpants…then you will love this show.
NUFFIELD SOUTHAMPTON THEATRES PRODUCTION OF PETER MORGAN’S THE AUDIENCE INCORPORATES THERESA MAY’S PREMIERSHIP
In the light of recent events, Director of Nuffield Southampton Theatres, Samuel Hodges, incorporates Theresa May’s premiership and resignation into his production of Peter Morgan’s The Audience, reflecting the current political landscape. Currently in previews, the production opens at Nuffield Southampton Theatres on 30 May and runs until 22 June.
Samuel Hodges, Director of Nuffield Southampton, said today, “It’s clearly an electric time to be telling this story, one which effectively charts the Queen’s response and responsibility in moments of great political crisis. We don’t know what the Queen thinks of Theresa May, but it felt urgent for our production to respond in some way to what is happening at this very moment.”
65 Years. 13 Prime Ministers. One Queen.
For 65 years, the Queen has met her Prime Minister every week in an Audience at Buckingham Palace. Both parties agree never to repeat what is said. Not even to their spouses.
What is discussed? What secrets are shared? Does her Majesty have her favourites?
Sometimes intimate, often confessional, occasionally explosive, The Audience imagines the private moments that define a changing Britain. One head of state. Endless heads of government. This play asks where the real power lies.
Nuffield Southampton Theatres Director Samuel Hodges directs an intimate and re-worked production of the smash hit play from Peter Morgan, the writer of the critically acclaimed TV series The Crown and the Oscar award winning film The Queen.
Listings Nuffield Southampton Theatres
NST City, Above Bar Street, Guildhall Square, Southampton, SO14 7DU
Jonathan Church, Artistic Director of Theatre Royal Bath’s Summer Season 2019 today announces further casting for its upcoming programme of eight plays.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (6 June – 6 July) will open the season in Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio with press night on 12 June. Mark Hadfield (The Libertine) and Rebecca Lacey(Doc Martin) will join Janie Dee, Michelle Asante, Aysha Kala and Lewis Reeves in the Tony Award-winning comedy.
Michael Byrne (Mary Stuart) completes the cast in Rupert Everett’s directorial debut production of Chekhov’s masterpiece Uncle Vanya (18 July – 3 August) in which he also stars in the title role, with Katherine Parkinson, Clémence Poésy, Ann Mitchell, John Light, John Standing and Marty Cruickshank.
Further casting is also confirmed for William Boyd’s dark comedy The Argument starring Felicity Kendal (7-24 August) who will be joined by Sarah Earnshaw (The Nightingales) Esh Alladi (Absolute Hell) and Rupert Vansittart (The Crown).
Vienna 1934 – Munich 1938, written, directed by and starring Vanessa Redgrave, and which explores the hopes and fears of the generation that confronted the rise of fascism in Europe, will see recent RADA graduate Lucy Doyle join the cast with Robert Boulter and Paul Hilton.
Theatre Royal Bath May 2019 Rehearsals Ustinov Studio Vanya&Sonia&Masha&Spike
Rehearsal images are also released today for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and for Blithe Spirit, directed by Richard Eyre and including Jennifer Saunders and Lisa Dillon among the company.
Theatre Royal Bath May 2019 Rehearsals Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward
As previously announced, the season also includes Trying It On written by and starring David Edgar in the Ustinov Studio (3 – 7 September) and, in the Main House, The Life I Lead with Miles Jupp and directed by Didi Hopkins and Selina Cadell (27 August – 31 August), and The Man in the White Suit adapted by Sean Foley and starring Stephen Mangan and Kara Tointon (6–21 September) immediately prior to a West End transfer.
VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE Thursday 6 June – Saturday 6 July
Tony Award-winning Walter Bobbie directs Christopher Durang’s comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha andSpike in the Ustinov Studio to open the Theatre Royal Bath’s Summer Season 2019 starring the newly announced Mark Hadfield and Rebecca Lacey alongside Janie Dee,Michelle Asante, Aysha Kala and Lewis Reeves.
The original production premiered at the McCarter Theatre and Lincoln Center Theater in 2012 and after a successful run it transferred to Broadway where it received six Tony Award nominations and won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play.
Vanya and his sister Sonia live a quiet life in the Pennsylvania farmhouse where they grew up. But their sister Masha escaped many years ago and became a famous movie star. When Masha returns unannounced with her twenty-something boy toy, Spike, so begins a rollicking weekend of rivalry, regret and all-too true premonitions.
Mark Hadfield played Gepetto in the National Theatre’s production of Pinocchio. His other stage credits include The Libertine (Theatre Royal Bath and Theatre Royal Haymarket), Richard III(Almeida), Painkiller (The Garrick) and The Meeting (Hampstead Theatre). Film credits include A Cock and Bull Story and A Royal Night Out.
Rebecca Lacey’s stage credits include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (National Theatre and West End), Pride and Prejudice (Regent’s Park Open Air) and Tartuffe (English Touring Theatre). For television, Rebecca has appeared in Doc Martin, Rellik, Endeavour and Bad Education.
Michelle Asante most recently performed on stage in Our Lady of Kibeho (Royal and Derngate) and previously in Things of Dry Hours (Young Vic), Welcome Home Captain Fox (Donmar), Ruined(Almeida) and Torn (Arcola). Michelle’s TV credits include Dr Who, Holby City, Casualty, Our Girl 2and Father Brown.
Janie Dee recently completed a critically acclaimed run in the title role of Linda (Manhattan Theatre Club), for which she was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play, and Follies (National Theatre), for which she was nominated for the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical Performance and the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Janie has also appeared in Channel 4’s Chimerica and Crashing as well as the BBC’s The Murder Room and Midsomer Murders.
Aysha Kala was named BAFTA breakthrough Brit of 2015. She has performed on stage in An Adventure (Bush Theatre), Obsession (Barbican), Punkplay (Southwark Playhouse), Djinns of Eidgah (Royal Court) and Much Ado About Nothing (RSC). Television appearances include Channel 4’s Indian Summers and Shameless.
Lewis Reeves’ theatre credits include My Night with Reg (West End), Our Boys (Duchess Theatre) and The Wider Earth (The Dead Puppet Society). Television credits also include DC Jake Collier inUnforgotten, Crazyhead, and Misfits.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha andSpike is produced by special arrangement with Joey Parnes, Larry Hirschorn, Sue Wagner and John Johnson.
BLITHE SPIRIT Friday 14 June – Saturday 6 July
Jennifer Saunders, one of the UK’s most popular comic actors, makes her Theatre Royal Bath debut as the preposterous clairvoyant Madame Arcati in Noël Coward’s classic comedy Blithe Spirit. She is joined by Lisa Dillon as Ruth Condomine with Emma Naomi, Geoffrey Streatfeild, Simon Coates, Lucy Robinson and Rose Wardlaw.
The production brings together a multi-award-winning creative team, directed by former National Theatre director Richard Eyre with design by Anthony Ward and lighting by HowardHarrison.
Written in 1941, Coward’s inventive comedy proved light relief at the height of World War II when it was first staged. The show had a record-breaking run in the West End and on Broadway and remains one of the playwright’s most popular works.
Novelist Charles Condomine and his second wife Ruth are literally haunted by a past relationship when an eccentric medium inadvertently conjures up the ghost of his first wife, Elvira, at a séance. When she appears, visible only to Charles, and determined to sabotage his current marriage, life – and the afterlife – get complicated.
Blithe Spirit is presented by arrangement with Lee Dean.
VIENNA 1934 – MUNICH 1938, A FAMILY ALBUM Thursday 11 July – Saturday 3 August
Theatre Royal Bath presents a Rose Theatre Kingston Production, Vienna 1934 – Munich 1938, A Family Album, written, directed by and starring Vanessa Redgrave in the Ustinov Studio. Lucy Doyle will make her professional stage debut, also joined by Robert Boulter and Paul Hilton.
In the late 1930s, the illustrious actor Michael Redgrave became close friends with the celebrated poet Stephen Spender. Through their families’ notebooks, journals and memoirs, and Stephen’s poems, Vanessa Redgrave discovers the love affairs they remembered, and the hopes and fears of a generation that confronted the rise of fascism in Europe. Among these was the German writer Thomas Mann. As Stephen’s love and respect for a young American woman studying psychology in Vienna grew deeper, he and his secretary Tony Hyndman tried to assist her in obtaining false visas and passports for socialist Jews and their families to escape from fascist Austria.
Written and directed by Vanessa Redgrave, daughter of Michael Redgrave, the play highlights the affectionate and intimate thoughts of individuals during these years of political and social disaster.
Lucy Doyle recently graduated from RADA where she appeared in productions including Mrs Klein, 3 Winters, Love and Information, Women Beware Women and The Tempest. For radio, her credits include BBC dramas The Cherry Orchard, An Ideal Husband, The Remco, Life Lines and Suspicious Minds.
Vanessa Redgrave is regarded as one of the greatest actors of her generation. She has won a plethora of awards including an Olivier Award for The Aspern Papers and a Tony Award for Long Day’s Journey into Night. She also received Tony nominations for The Year ofMagical Thinking and Driving Miss Daisy. She is a is a six-time Oscar nominee, winning for Julia. Her narration of Call the Midwife has brought her voice to millions. She recently appeared in TheInheritance in the West End for which she was nominated for a 2019 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Robert Boulter most recently appeared in the multi-Olivier Award winning The Inheritance (Young Vic, Noël Coward) and previously in Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again (RSC), The Odyssey, Karamazoo (National Theatre) and How to Curse (Bush). Screen credits include Star Wars Episode IX, Star Wars Episode VII and TV series’ Evidence and Father Brown.
Paul Hilton has also recently performed in the four-times Olivier Award winning The Inheritance (Young Vic, Noël Coward) with other stage credits including Anatomy of a Suicide (Royal Court), Mosquitoes (National Theatre), The Cherry Orchard (Young Vic), A Mad World My Masters (Shakespeare’s Globe) and All New People (Duke of York’s). Television credits include The Crown, A Very English Scandal and Silent Witness.
UNCLE VANYA Thursday 18 July – Saturday 3 August
Rupert Everett returns to Theatre Royal Bath where he last appeared in The Judas Kiss in 2012 and which went on to transfer to the West End, and following recent critical acclaim as Oscar Wilde in The Happy Prince which he also wrote and directed. Everett will direct his first stage play and lead the cast in Anton Chekhov’s theatrical masterpiece Uncle Vanya, a playful story of unrequited love, loss and misplaced dreams, in a new version by the playwright and screenwriter David Hare. Michael Byrne joins the previously announced Katherine Parkinson, Clémence Poésy, Ann Mitchell, John Light, John Standing and Marty Cruickshank.
It’s late summer, at the close of the nineteenth century. In the heart of the Russian countryside, Vanya and his niece Sonya have worked for years to manage the ramshackle estate on behalf of his brother-in-law, a retired professor. When the professor arrives with his stunningly beautiful young wife and announces his plan to sell the estate, all their lives are thrown into turmoil.
Michael Byrne has previously appeared on stage in Mary Stuart (Duke of York’s), Juliet and her Romeo (Bristol Old Vic), The Chairs (Gate Theatre), All My Sons (Liverpool Everyman) and New World Order (Royal Court). For television, Michael’s credits include Doctors, The Living and the Dead, Wallander, Midsomer Murders and Coronation Street.
Marty Cruickshank’s television appearances include Catastrophe, Call the Midwife, Line of Duty and Lewis. On stage she has performed in Richard II (RSC), London Wall (Finborough), Pygmalion (Garrick), The Tinkers Wedding (Southwark Playhouse) and Charley’s Aunt (Theatre Royal Bath and National Tour).
John Light was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role inTaken at Midnight at Theatre Royal Haymarket. Theatre credits also include Mary Stuart (Almeida),The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Blackest Black (Hampstead Theatre) and Luise Miller (Donmar). TV credits include Silk and Endeavour.
Ann Mitchell recently appeared in the film Farming, as well as Widows, Dragonfly and The Deep Blue Sea. Her many TV credits include Call the Midwife, Hetty Feather, EastEnders, Casualty, Gimme Gimme Gimme and Summer in the Suburbs. Previous stage credits include A View from Islington North (Arts Theatre), The Stock Da’wa (Hampstead Theatre), Innocence (Arcola) and a national tour of Angels in America.
Katherine Parkinson is a BAFTA-winning actress well known for starring in Channel 4’s The IT Crowd and the Olivier Award winning comedy Home, I’m Darling (National Theatre). Stage credits also include Dead Funny (Vaudeville Theatre), Before The Party (Almeida), Absent Friends (Harold Pinter Theatre), 66 Books (Bush Theatre), School For Scandal (Barbican Theatre), Season’s Greetings (National Theatre), Cock,The Seagull (Royal Court).
Clémence Poésy’s film credits include Fleur Delacour in the Harry Potter films, 127 Hours, In Bruges, Tito Il Piccolo, Final Portrait, The Ones Below and Mr Morgan’s Last Love. For TV, Clémence has also appeared in Gossip Girl, War and Peace, Birdsong and The Tunnel.
John Standing has performed extensively across theatre, television and film. TV credits include The First Churchills,Game of Thrones, NYPD Blue, In Deep and Murder She Wrote and V for Vendetta for film. Stage credits include Shadowlands (Wyndham’s), A Delicate Balance (Haymarket), Son of Man (RSC) and Plunder (National Theatre).
THE ARGUMENT Wednesday 7 – Saturday 24 August
Christopher Luscombe directs William Boyd’s The Argument, a darkly comic play that delves into what it is to dispute with those we love and offers a biting take on human dynamics, starring Felicity Kendal in the role of Chloe. The cast is completed by Sarah Earnshaw, Esh Alladi and Rupert Vansittart.
Pip and Meredith are having a disagreement about a film they’ve just seen when Pip’s phone rings and a full-scale row about their marriage breaks out. In the course of ten arguments, we follow the repercussions, as Meredith’s parents, Chloe and Frank, her best-friend Jane, and Pip’s best-friend Tony, take sides and end up embroiled in arguments of their own. Vitriolic, razor-sharp and veracious, the arguments rake over past prejudices, expose unjust judgements and reveal difficult truths.
Sarah Earnshaw recently appeared in The Nightingales (Theatre Royal Bath and UK tour). Previous stage credits include Some Mother’s Do ‘Ave ‘Em (UK tour), Travels with My Aunt (Chichester Festival Theatre), the original cast of Wicked (Apollo), Heart of Winter (Tristan Bates) and national tours of Spamalot, Jekyll and Hyde, Scrooge and Puttin’ on the Ritz. Television appearances also include Casualty and Children in Need.
Esh Alladi most recently performed on stage in Rutherford and Son at the Sheffield Crucible. He has appeared in several National Theatre productions, including Absolute Hell, The Beaux Stratagem, Dara and From Morning to Midnight. Other stage credits include Twelfth Night (RSC), Lions and Tigers (Shakespeare’s Globe) and Wit (Royal Exchange). Esh has also appeared on screen in A Confession, Apple Tree House and Houdini and Doyle.
Rupert Vansittart was recently seen in the hit Netflix show The Crown as well as Gentleman Jack, Game of Thrones, Doc Martin, Plebs and Father Brown. Stage credits include This House (National Theatre), Democracy (Sheffield Crucible/Old Vic), An Ideal Husband (Birmingham Rep. For film, Rupert has appeared in Misbehaviour, The Children Act, The Iron Lady, Braveheart and Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Felicity Kendal CBE is one of the UK’s best-loved actresses, best known for her role in the BBC sitcom The Good Life. She has appeared in previous Theatre Royal Bath productions, including A Room with a View, Hay Fever and Relatively Speaking. Her roles in Much Ado About Nothing and Ivanov at the Strand Theatre won her the 1989 Evening Standard Award for Best Actress. Other stage credits also include Waste and the Seagull (Old Vic), Indian Ink (Aldwych), Heartbreak House (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Tartuffe (Playhouse) and Arcadia, The Second Mrs Tanqueray, Othello and Amadeus for the National Theatre.
Christopher Luscombe’s (Director) recent credits include The Nightingales and Nell Gwynn,winner of the 2016 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. Other productions include Love’s Labour’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night for The RSC, The Merry Wives of Windsor andNell Gwynn for Shakespeare’s Globe and in the West End, Enjoy, When We Are Married and The Madness of George III. He is an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
William Boyd OBE (writer) is a novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. His many novels include An Ice Cream War, Restless and Sweet Caress. His works have received several awards including the Whitbread Book award and Somerset Maugham Award for his novel A Good Man in Africa. His work Any Human Heart also won the Prix Jean Monnet de Littérature Européenne and was longlisted for the Booker Prize. His stage work also includes Longing, an adaptation of two Chekhov short stories.
The Argument is presented by arrangement with Lee Dean.
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Ustinov Studio) By Christopher Durang Directed by Walter Bobbie Produced by special arrangement with Joey Parnes, Larry Hirschhorn, Sue Wagner and John Johnson Thursday 6 June – Saturday 6 July Performance schedule: Mon – Sat 7.45pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm (No matinee Thursday 6 June) Tickets: £24.50 – £29.50 (Preview Perfs and Mondays, all seats £15)
Blithe Spirit (Main House) By Noël Coward Directed by Richard Eyre Designed by Anthony Ward Lighting Design by Howard Harrison Presented by arrangement with Lee Dean Friday 14 June – Saturday 6 July Performance Schedule: Mon – Sat 7.30pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm (no matinee 15 June) Tickets: £27.00 – £41.50
Vienna 1934 – Munich 1938 (Ustinov Studio) Theatre Royal Bath presents a Rose Theatre Kingston production Written and Directed by Vanessa Redgrave Thursday 11 July – Saturday 3 August Performance schedule: Mon – Sat 7.15pm, Matiness Sat 2.30pm Tickets: £31.50 – £36.50
Uncle Vanya (Main House) By Anton Chekhov in a new version by David Hare Directed by Rupert Everett Thursday 18 July – Saturday 3 August Performance Schedule: Mon – Sat 7.30pm, Matinees Wed & Sat 2.30pm (no matinee 20 July) Tickets: £27.00 – £41.50
The Argument (Main House) By William Boyd Directed by Christopher Luscombe Wednesday 7 August – Saturday 24 August Performance Schedule: Mon – Sat 7.30pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm (no matinee 8 August) Tickets: £27.00 – £41.50
The Life I Lead (Main House) By James Kettle Directed by Didi Hopkins and Selina Cadell Tuesday 27 August – Saturday 31 August Performance Schedule: Tue – Sat 7.30pm, Matinees Wed & Sat 2.30pm Tickets: £22.00 – £36.50
Trying It On (Ustinov Studio) By David Edgar Directed by Christopher Haydon Tuesday 3 September – Saturday 7 September Performance schedule: Tue – Sat 7.45pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm Tickets: £19.50 – £24.50
The Man in the White Suit (Main House) Presented by Jenny King, Jonathan Church, Matthew Gale and Mark Goucher Adapted for the stage by Sean Foley Based on the play “The Flower Within the Bud” by Roger MacDougall and screenplay by Roger MacDougall, John Dighton and Alexander Mackendrick, By special arrangement with STUDIO CANAL Directed by Sean Foley Friday 6 September – Saturday 21 September Performance Schedule: Mon – Sat 7.30pm, Matinees Wed & Sat 2.30pm (no matinee 7 September) Tickets: £30 – £44.50
New life for LOST PLAYS from Broadway’s Golden Age
The (RADA) Studio Theatre (formerly The Drill Hall)
16 Chenies Street, London WC1
AUNTIE MAME (1956) by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (1934) by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart
THE SHRIKE (1952) by Joseph Kramm
The Lost Musicals Charitable Trust presents a unique season of long-lost plays by some of Broadway’s greatest writers, thanks to a new project housed at RADA. Director Ian Marshall Fisher, well known as the brains behind the long-running LOST MUSICALS project, presents LOST PLAYS, an innovative new season of three important plays from Broadway’s past that are all but unknown to London audiences.
“Ian Marshall Fisher’s semi staged performances are a spectacular celebration of rarely heard works by America’s most important writers” (Ben Brantley, New York Times)
The programme opens on 30th June with Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s Auntie Mame, not seen in London since its original West End production in 1958 with Beatrice Lillie. Rosalind Russell was Auntie Mame on Broadway and in the movie of the play, which in America is regarded as a classic. Based on Patrick Dennis’s best-selling novel about his own wildly eccentric aunt, the play was made into a hugely successful Jerry Herman musical, Mame, starring Angela Lansbury in New York and Ginger Rogers in London, and then a movie of the musical, which starred Lucille Ball. The swift, slashing comedy of the original play will be a revelation to those who know only the more leisurely musical.
Later in the year, from 8th September, Fisher will present Merrily We Roll Along (1934) by the Pulitzer Prize winners George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, a tragicomedy which uses the device of telling a story from end to beginning. Stephen Sondheim was so taken with it that he made it into a musical of the same name. Opening with a look at the corruption of a famous playwright, the play goes backward in time to show us how, with each false step, the former idealist came to value money over art and betrayed his two best friends.
Closing this first season of the project from 3rd November, Fisher will direct Joseph Kramm’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Shrike, an intimate psychological play that is also, as the New York Times critic wrote, “likely to scare the living daylights out of you.” Committed to a mental institution after he tried to commit suicide, the main character, a theatre director, quickly regains his sanity but finds that the doctors won’t believe him. They trust only his sweet but vindictive wife, who wants to keep him there. José Ferrer was the star of the Broadway play, and his co-star in the movie version was an actress provocatively cast against type, June Allyson. The movie could not be made without compromises (a pretty girlfriend, a hopeful ending), but now the original play can be seen in all its chilling reality.
Continuing the format of LOST MUSICALS, LOST PLAYS will be presented as semi-staged performances on Sunday afternoons. The home for the project will be the Studio Theatre (formerly the Drill Hall) in Chenies Street, London WC1, between June and November 2019.
The casts will include actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. Before each performance a celebrity guest speaker will give a brief talk on the piece.
Ian Marshall Fisher commented: “After thirty years of dusting off the neglected musicals of some of the finest writers in Broadway history, I felt the time was right to explore a new dimension. This season of three contrasting plays sheds new light on the innovation, daring and artistry of several of the leading figures from the greatest period in American theatrical history.”
Ian Marshall Fisher is an expert on the Golden Age of the American theatre, 1930-1960. He works in the USA liaising with the estates of Broadway’s major theatre writers and has directed the first revivals of musicals by leading writers including Cole Porter, Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Kaufman and Hart, Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner. These productions have played to sold-out audiences for nearly thirty years, with previous homes of the project including some of London’s leading arts venues (the Barbican, Royal Opera House and Sadler’s Wells). Among the actors taking part have been James Corden, Sara Kestelman, Daniel Massey, Louise Gold, Janie Dee, Andrew Lincoln, Anne Reid, Barry Cryer and Henry Goodman. A recognised authority on the American theatre, Fisher has lectured internationally on the topic, including at Princeton University.
He has presented revivals of over 75 neglected musicals from Broadway’s Golden Age (1930-60) under the umbrella of the LOST MUSICALS project since 1989. LOST PLAYS is a new venture that builds on that work by giving London audiences a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see some of the non-musical plays that were written and performed by many of the same creative figures.
‘LOST PLAYS’ LISTINGS INFORMATON:
Production: AUNTIE MAME (1956) by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Dates: Sunday 30th June; 7th & 14th July at 3:30 pm
Production: MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG (1934) by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart
Dates: Sunday 8th, 15th & 22nd September at 3:30 pm
Production: THE SHRIKE (1952) by Joseph Kramm
Dates: Sunday 3rd, 10th & 17th November at 3:30pm
Venue: The (RADA) Studio Theatre (formerly The Drill Hall), 16 Chenies Street, London WC1
Where We Belong June 14th – 16th 2019, Rich Mix June 17th 2019, Shakespeare’s Globe
In 2015, Mohegan theatre-maker Madeline Sayet travelled to England to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare, but her voyage across the ocean became an unexpected journey of transformation. Riding the spirit wind of her Mohegan ancestors who crossed the Atlantic in the 1700s on diplomatic missions to protect her people, Where We Belong is a search for belonging in a globalized world. It is at once a rich investigation into the impulses that divide and connect us as people, but it is also about a wolf that learns how to become a bird and fly.
Madeline Sayet is a theatre director of Mohegan heritage. She was recently named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List in the Hollywood & Entertainment category, is a TED Fellow, a MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow, and a recipient of The White House Champion of Change Award for her work as a director, writer, performer & educator
Border Crossings’ ORIGINS Festival is a multidisciplinary festival showcasing the very best artistic work from First Nations communities across the globe, including indigenous Australians, Native Americans (North and South), Maori, Pacific Islanders and Inuit. The festival will bring theatre, dance, music, ceremony, visual arts, workshops, screenings & talks, as well as an extensive programme of participation & learning to London, with a strong emphasis on reaching new, diverse participants & audiences.
DEAFINITELY THEATRE ANNOUNCE UK TOUR DATES FOR SARAH KANE’S 4.48 PSYCHOSIS
Deafinitely Theatre presents
4.48 Psychosis
By Sarah Kane
A co-production with New Diorama Theatre
Director: Paula Garfield; Designer: Paul Burgess; Lighting Designer: Joe Hornsby
Composer & Sound Designer: Chris Bartholomew; Visual Consultant: Alim Jayda
★★★★“The sheer courage and passion that has been thrown behind this intelligent production of a daringly experimental play wins out, and what lingers is its cry for love.” Time Out
Deafinitely Theatre today announce tour dates for their critically acclaimed production of Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis, a co-production with New Diorama Theatre,which enjoyed a sell-out London run last year.Artistic Director of Deafinitely Theatre, Paula Garfield’s production tours to Derby Theatre from 8 – 10 November, ahead of performances at Wales Millennium Centre from 20 – 23 November. Full cast to be announced shortly.
“I had a night in which everything was revealed to me.
How can I speak again?”
The early hours of the morning. You’re alone, with only your thoughts. How did you get here? And how do you get out? Sarah Kane’s searing, final play in a ground-breaking new production from Deafinitely Theatre.
Award-winning Deafinitely Theatre bring its celebrated bilingual approach to Sarah Kane’s lyrical and haunting final play about mental health.
Directed by Paula Garfield, 4.48 Psychosis is performed in British Sign Language and spoken English for the very first time.
In addition, Deafinitely Theatre will run a training and education programme to accompany the production, including post show talks, events and access to additional resources. Further details to be announced.
4.48 Psychosis contains strong language and explores issues of mental health, depression and suicide. Recommended age: 16+
★★★★ “A heartfelt look at what it feels like to live with a profound disability, and just how isolating that can be.” Guardian
Sarah Kane was born in 1971. Her first play, Blasted, was produced at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in 1995. Her second play, Phaedra’s Love, was produced at the Gate Theatre in 1996. In April 1998, Cleansed was produced at the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs, and in September 1998, Crave was produced by Paines Plough and Bright Ltd at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. Her last play, 4.48 Psychosis, premièred at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs in June 2000. Her short film, Skin, produced by British Screen/Channel Four, premièred in June 1997. Sarah Kane died in 1999.
Paula Garfield directs. She previously directed 4.48 Psychosis at New Diorama Theatre and Derby Theatre, for which she was shortlisted for Best Director by Broadway World UK 2018. Her other credits for Deafinitely Theatre include Horrible Histories – Dreadful Deaf, Contractions – which wonthe Off West End Award for Best Production, Two Chairs, Motherland, Children of a Greater God, Playing God, Double Sentence and Gold Dust. She also devised and directed The Boy and the Statue for Deafinitely at the Tricycle Theatre and on a London schools’ tour. Garfield has directed two productions at Shakespeare’s Globe – Love Labour’s Lost, for the Globe to Globe Festival as part of Deafinitely’s 10th anniversary, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her other directing work includes Tanika’s Journey (Southwark Playhouse) Grounded (Park Theatre). This year Garfield was the recipient of a Tonic Award for her work with Deafinitely Theatre.
An actor, director, workshop leader and organiser, Garfield has worked on a variety of television, film and theatre projects over the past fifteen years. In 2002 she established Deafinitely Theatre with Steven Webb and Kate Furby after becoming frustrated at the barriers that deaf actors and directors face across the arts and media. She has produced and directed many plays and worked extensively in TV, including Channel Four’s Learn Sign Language, Four Fingers and a Thumb, BBC’s Hands Up and Casualty, plus appearances in every series of the BBC’s deaf drama, Switch.
This production is made by possible by the generous support of:
Arts Council England, Autograph Sound Recording, Edwardian Hotels London and Wellcome.
Four stories from the wonderful world of Eric Carle
Wiggling into London this Summer
To celebrate 50th Anniversary of the book
At Troubadour White City Theatre
From Wednesday 7 August to Sunday 1 September 2019
One of the most iconic characters in children’s literature will wiggle his way to London this Summer in celebration of a major birthday. The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show will play a limited 4-week run at Troubadour White City Theatre from Wednesday 7 August to Sunday 1 September, to mark the 50th Anniversary of Eric Carle’s beloved book.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Showfeatures a menagerie of 75 enchanting puppets during a magical show that faithfully adapts four of Eric Carle’s best loved books for the stage. The 50thAnniversary production will feature a brand-new line-up of stories for 2019; Brown Bear, Brown Bear, 10 Little Rubber Ducks, the return of The Very Lonely Firefly and, of course, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Eric Carle said: “I am delighted that the 50th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar will be celebrated with such an enchanting production, and that my friends in London will be able to share the same enjoyment I felt when seeing my characters come to life on stage.”
Eric Carle’s books have captivated generations of readers with their iconic hand-painted illustrations and distinctively simple stories, introducing millions of children to a bigger, brighter world, and to their first experience of reading itself. Carle has illustrated more than seventy books, most of which he also wrote, and more than 132 million copies of his books have sold around the world.
His best-known work, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, has nibbled its way into the hearts of millions of children all over the world, and in 2019 celebrates its 50th Anniversary. Since it was first published in 1969 it has been translated into 62 languages and sold over 50 million copies worldwide,remaining one of the bestselling children’s books of all time.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Showis adapted for the stage by director Jonathan Rockefeller, whose production sees four master puppeteers weave their way through Eric Carle’s stories, bringing to life 75 magical puppets that faithfully recreate the wonderfully colourful world of Carle’s illustrations.
Jonathan Rockefeller said: “We’re excited to bring new Eric Carle stories to the London stage alongside perennial favourite ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’. ‘Brown Bear’ is another of Eric’s best loved characters embraced by our little – and very enthusiastic – audience members!”
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show firstpremiered in Australia in 2015 before opening in New York at the Acorn Theatre in January 2016. The New York production broke box office records and attracted celebrities with families including Chelsea Clinton, Emily Blunt, Neil Patrick Harris and Diane Sawyer. The show has since played two West End seasons at the Ambassadors Theatre in 2016 and 2017.
Manchester’s HOME announces 2019/2020 theatre programme in full
Featuring artists including Bryony Kimmings, Emma Rice, Lemn Sissay and Jackie Kay and partnerships with the Royal Court, National Theatre Scotland, Forced Entertainment and 1927.
Continuing HOME’s work to make theatre accessible to d/Deaf audiences with two new productions from Ad Infinitum and Told by an Idiot.
Building on HOME’s commitment to artist development with new commissions by Chanje Kunda, Javaad Alipoor, Gecko and Mind the Gap, Company Chameleon and Scottee.
The return of hugely successful Orbit and Push Festivals
HOME, Manchester has today announced its theatre programme for Autumn 2019 into Spring 2020 featuring brand-new HOME commissions, returning favourites, UK premieres and brand-new work.
Opening the season is HOME’s co-production with National Theatre Scotland: Jackie Kay’s Red Dust Road. Jackie is the Scottish national poet, or Makar, Chancellor of the University of Salford and HOME patron, and her memoir has been gloriously adapted by Tanika Gupta. The season also features the regional premiere of Debris Stevenson’s semi-autobiographical Poet in Da Corner, direct from the Royal Court, and the UK premiere of Forced Entertainment’s Out of Order. Following a sold-out run of their inaugural production, Emma Rice’s Wise Children return with new show Malory Towers, and HOME Associate Artists 1927 also return to headline Christmas at HOME with new-show Roots. More Christmas theatre fun is offer for families with Little Angel’s adaptation of David Walliams’ The Slightly Annoying Elephant.
The line-up also features work from the Young Vic, Roundhouse, Breach Theatre, Bryony Kimmings, English Touring Theatre, Brief’s Factory, Little Angel and a special guest appearance from the safari rangers from Chester Zoo at a December Family Fun Day.
Two new productions building on HOME’s work to integrate captioning alongside bilingual English and BSL performers also feature. Both Ad Infinitum and Told by an Idiot make their debut with HOME-commissioned Extraordinary Wall of Silence and The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurelrespectively.
Further HOME commissions include Manchester artists Chanje Kunda’s Plant Fetish first seen at Push Festival 2019 – and Company Chameleon’s The Shadow. Frequent collaborators Gecko team up with Mind the Gap for new commission A Little Space.These add to previously announced commissions by associate artist Scottee with his swansong production Class and Javaad Alipoor’sRich Kids. This work continues HOME’s commitment to developing distinctive new work, underlined by the recent HOME 2020 Commission announcement, and the appointment of new Associate Director Jude Christian.
Finally, rounding out the jam-packed season are two HOME calendar staples. September’s fourth annual Orbit Festival presents 10 shows in 15 days from some of the most exciting theatre companies and performers working in the UK today. Push Festival will then return in January showcasing the wealth and breadth of creative talent in north west England, across multiple art-forms and spaces.
Director and CEO Dave Moutrey said:
“This is a very exciting time for HOME’s stages as we create, collaborate and play host to distinctive work and stories that speak up for our city. Featuring old friends and new artists, our journey to reach more people, develop more ground-breaking ideas and support a new generation of artists continues as we move toward our fifth birthday year.
We are committed to creating original work that excites and engages the people of our city, and to developing the careers of artists – especially those who call Manchester home. With the recent appointment of Jude Christian as our new Associate Director, over the next few years we will increase our investment in developing new work and support even more of this exciting new generation of artists.”
LOTTERY TICKET POLICY ANNOUNCED WITH 15 TICKETS FOR £15 AT EVERY PERFORMANCE
An additional preview is announced today for the upcoming Manchester season of The Book of Mormon, on Wednesday 5 June at 7:30pm at the Palace Theatre. This will be the first chance for fans to see the much-anticipated Broadway smash hit.
1500 tickets for the first Manchester preview will cost only £15 and go on sale at 10am on Thursday 30 Mayonly at the Palace Theatre Box Office.
Tickets for this preview performance are only available in person via the Palace Theatre Box Office which will open at 10am on Thursday 30 May 2019. Up to two tickets may be purchased per customer on a strictly ‘first come-first served’ basis with coffee available at the Palace Theatre for those who get there early. Valid ID must be shown during the transaction (this ID will be used for identification on the day of the performance). All tickets are subject to availability and cannot be re-sold.
The Book of Mormon also announces details of a ticket lottery from 6 June, for which 15 tickets will be sold at £15 by ballot before each performance at the Palace Theatre, Manchester.
Entries will only be accepted in person, at the Box Office beginning two and a half hours prior to each performance. Two hours before curtain, names will be drawn at random for a limited number of tickets priced at £15 each.
“The best musical of this century.”
Ben Brantley, The New York Times
The Tony®, Olivier® and Grammy® award-winning show, has extended performances at the Palace Theatre, Manchester through to Saturday 10 August via www.thebookofmormonmusical.com and at the Palace Theatre Box Office.
The cast of The Book of Mormonin Manchester will be led by Kevin Clay as Elder Price and Conner Peirson as Elder Cunningham, recreating their roles from the Broadway and US touring productions. They are joined by Nicole-Lily Baisden as Nabulungi, Will Hawksworth as Elder McKinley, Ewen Cummins as Mafala Hatimbi, Johnathan Tweedie as Joseph Smith and Thomas Vernal as the General.
The company will include Jed Berry, David Brewis, Melissa Brown-Taylor, Chinasa, Sanchia Amber Clarke, Tre Copeland-Williams, George Crawford, Jordan Lee Davies, Jemal Felix, Patrick George, Isaac Hesketh, M-Jae Cleopatra Isaac, Evan James, Alex James-Hatton, Nicole Louise, Fergal McGoff, Jesus Reyes Ortiz, Lawrence Rowe, Lukin Simmonds, Chomba S Taulo, Brad Veitch, Tommy Wade-Smith, Sharon Wattis and Jacob Yarlett.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are the creators of the Emmy and Peabody award-winning television show, South Park, now in its twenty-second season, and the feature films South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and Team America: World Police.
Robert Lopez co-created the Broadway musical Avenue Q and co-wrote the songs for Disney’s Frozen and Coco. He is one of only fifteen artists to win all four major entertainment awards – Emmy®, Grammy®, Oscar® and Tony® Awards.
The Book of Mormon follows a pair of Mormon boys sent on a mission to a place that’s a long way from their home in Salt Lake City.
Since making its world premiere in March 2011 at New York’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre, where it won nine Tony® Awards, including Best Musical,The Book of Mormon has been performed on three continents and won over thirty international awards. The musical has smashed long-standing box office records in New York, London, Melbourne, Sydney and cities across the U.S.
The London production opened in February 2013, winning four Olivier Awards® including Best New Musical, and breaking the record for the highest single day of sales in West End history. It has sold out every one of its 2605 performances to date at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
Book, Music and Lyrics are by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone. Directed by Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon has choreography by Casey Nicholaw, set design by Scott Pask, costume design by Ann Roth, lighting design by Brian MacDevitt, sound design by Brian Ronan, orchestrations by Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus and music supervision and vocal arrangements by Stephen Oremus.
The Book of Mormon is produced by Anne Garefino, Scott Rudin, Important Musicals and Sonia Friedman Productions.
Kevin Clay and Conner Peirson are appearing with the support of UK Equity, incorporating the Variety Artistes’ Federation, pursuant to an exchange programme between American Equity and UK Equity.
