Month: January 2020

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Carole King

Telling the story of one of the most successful songwriters of all time, the Tony, Olivier and Grammy award-winning musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical arrives at Hull New Theatre from 21 January to 25 January as part of a UK Tour following a successful two and a half year run in London’s West End and a sell-out tour in 2017/18.

King’s now iconic 1971 album Tapestry was released when she was just 29-years old, and yet by this time she already had a string of over 100 chart hits written with Gerry Goffin, her former husband and song writing partner in the 1960s, including The Loco-Motion and Will You Love Me Tomorrow. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical offers audiences the chance to peek inside Carole King’s early life and the writing process of this now legendary duo alongside their fellow songwriters Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann.

Speaking about the show, and how it feels to witness your life story being told on stage, six-time Grammy Award winner King describes the process saying, “I was actually there for an early reading of the show and it reached a climactic and emotional moment within my life. At that moment I really began to realise that yes, this show was going to be great, however I knew I couldn’t stay for the second half of the reading.”

Despite the show telling the story of Carole’s early years from teenage sensation to solo performer of iconic status, she didn’t actually see the show until several months in, “I wasn’t sure I wanted to see it initially, as it is my own past.”

However, having heard from friends and family how much they loved the production she eventually ventured into the theatre. “Gerry and my daughter, Sherry, said to me ‘Mom you’ve just gotta go see it’ so I did, and I was blown away.”

So why has Beautiful: The Carole King Musical proven so popular and resonated with audiences of all ages some 60 years since many of these songs were originally released, and nearly 50 years after Tapesty?

“Well, I suppose it’s because to many people the music you hear in the show was the soundtrack of their generation” explains Carole, “but then those people have since played these tracks to their children and grandchildren and so new generations are enjoying a sense of ownership over these songs.

“The show contains songs like You’ve Got A Friend that I wrote many years ago but are still sung today, and hopefully still connect with people. The show really is a testament to the music, but the book is so good, as well as how it all comes together with the lighting, set and sound.”

Carole King is renowned for understating her remarkable success, and despite having written her first number one hit by the time she was seventeen years old, she still didn’t anticipate becoming a performer herself.

‘We were writing enough songs to pay our mortgage’ she famously said in her 2012 autobiography, playing down the massive catalogue of hits she has written over the years. When pushed to acknowledge her immense talent.

Carole says, “Looking back on my childhood I guess you could say there was an element of being a prodigy but I like to think I was given a gift with music. But I have studied hard and I like to think that I’m smart and I use my brain. I hope that comes across when people see Beautiful on tour in the UK.”

The UK holds a special place in Carole King’s heart when it comes to Beautiful: The Carole King Musical as she was able to join the cast on their opening night. “Being at the West End premiere of the show was incredible. I didn’t attend the Broadway opening night performance, so it was particularly special to see the show in London.

“It’s always a bit surreal to see people you know, and people you knew, embodied so well by performers on stage but really wonderful at the same time. I love watching people come and see them forget about their cares and troubles for two hours and forty minutes,” she said.

“It’s a wonderful feeling. Beautiful is such a terrific show and I hope audiences will love it as it tours the UK in 2020 as much as they did when I sat in the auditorium in London with them then.”

Tickets are on sale now. Book at the Hull City Hall Box Office, call 01482 300 306 or visit www.hulltheatres.co.uk to book online.

Award-winning comedian, writer and activist brings Edinburgh hit show to the Ustinov Studio

SAJEELA KERSHI: Fights Like a Girl

Ustinov Studio, Saturday 18 January

Multi award-winning stand-up comedian and activist SAJEELA KERSHI makes her Ustinov Studio debut with her latest show, Fights Like A Girl, a reflection of everything she has fought for and against.

The show was born on the Women’s March in London, chanting against Trump, travel bans and global injustices, with Sajeela fighting to keep her prime position on the frontline, even if it meant elbowing Harriet Harman out of the way, and not allowing a man to push in at the front –who, it turned out, was the Mayor of London, Sadiq Kahn!

What and who do we fight for, and why? Join Sajeela as she puts up her dukes and picks her battles. Find out if you are fight or flight by nature, why you are to blame for Brexit and Trump and if you are ultimately failing to fight for a productive society … whilst in hysterics!

“Smart, funny with a mischievous glint” The Times

Sajeela Kershi has been performing stand-up since 2006, receiving her biggest break not on stage but as the audience ‘plant’ in Brendon Burns’s comedy award-winning show, So I Suppose This Is Offensive Now? She also appeared in a three-handed Edinburgh show, Pretty Dirty Things, following up with a two-hander, Race/Off the following year, with the solo debut Bitch Got Owned in 2009.

In 2015, Sajeela won an Asian Women of Achievement award, presented to British women of Asian descent who have made dramatic progress in their chosen field. Sajeela won the Arts and Culture award for the impact of her show and twitter feed, #ImmigrantDiaries.

“Believe in yourself even if no one else does, go with your gut, do what you want and do it your way. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you it’s too late: it’s never too late to make your dreams come true, but you need to focus and work damn hard.” Sajeela Kershi

Tickets are on sale now from the Box Office on 01225 448844 or online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk/ustinov

LONDON CLASSIC THEATRE ANNOUNCE 2020 SEASON

CELEBRATING THEIR 20^th ANNIVERSARY

London Classic Theatre today celebrate 20 years as an unsubsidised, independent production company working in the UK and Ireland. Since 2000 the company has transitioned from one of the success stories of the London Fringe to its current position as one of the UK’s leading touring companies, producing 41 tours and visiting over 250 venues. Today the company announces their 2020 season.

Kickstarting the season is Alan Ayckbourn’s comic study of social climbing, Absurd Person Singular, opening at the Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne on 25 February before touring to 24 venues, running until 19 July.

Following this is a production of Bernard Slade’s seventies rom-com, Same Time, Next Year which will open at Malvern Festival Theatre on 2 September before touring to venues including Yvonne Arnaud Guildford, Theatre Royal Winchester, Oldham Coliseum, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and the Ashcroft Playhouse in Croydon. Full details of the tour will be announced shortly.

Artistic Director Michael Cabot said today ‘This is a hugely significant milestone for us, I first decided to set up LCT as a touring company and never envisaged that we would still be going strong twenty years later. Starting the company our aim was to bring high quality classic drama to venues and audiences across the UK and Ireland. We’ve been lucky to work with some extraordinary talent over the years, many of whom are the actors and designers from our ‘core company’, they have underpinned this adventure and it’s a matter of great pride that many of them have return to work for us. We have never received any subsidy but have been determined not to let that affect the scale or ambition of the work we do. The incredible support we’ve received from a huge range of venues is what help us grow as a company, we look forward to this next chapter and the new challenges that our third decade will undoubtedly bring.’ 

UK tour

London Classic Theatre present

ABSURD PERSON SINGULAR

Written by Alan Ayckbourn

Directed by Michael Cabot;Set design by Simon Scullion; Costume design by Kate Lyons

Lighting design by Andy Grange

25 February – 19 July

Three married couples. Three kitchens. Three Christmas parties.

Sidney Hopcroft, a small-time tradesman, persuades wife Jane to throw a party hoping to find favour with a bank manager and local architect. As celebrations begin, class differences and naked ambition combine to hilarious effect as, one by one, the characters seek refuge in Jane’s kitchen.

Over the next two years, the Jacksons and Brewster-Wrights take turns to host festivities. But Sidney’s star has begun to rise and roles are increasingly reversed as the cracks in the other couples’ marriages begin to show.

Alan Ayckbourn’s comic masterpiece of social climbing in 1970s suburbia fuses a potent mix of farce and black comedy.

Alan Ayckbourn is an award-winning playwright. Theatre credits include Absurd Person Singular (Evening Standard Best Comedy Award),The Norman Conquests (Evening Standard Best Play Award and Tony For Best Revival Of A Play), Bedroom Farce, Just Between Ourselves (Evening Standard Best Play Award), A Chorus of Disapproval (Olivier Best Comedy Award and Evening Standard Best Comedy Award), Woman in Mind, A Small Family Business (Evening Standard Best Play Award), Henceforward (Evening Standard Best Comedy Award), Man Of The Moment (Evening Standard Best Comedy Award), House & Garden and Private Fears in Public Places, among others.

UK tour

London Classic Theatre present

SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR

Written by Bernard Slade

Directed by Michael Cabot; Set & Costume design by Bek Palmer; Lighting design by Andy Grange

2 September – 28 November

Doris and George meet in 1951, a chance encounter in a Californian hotel that leads to a passionate one-night stand. Both are married to other people but, aware that this might be the start of something, they promise to meet 12 months later. So begins a romantic love affair that lasts 25 years.

The play charts their lives through the ups and downs of parenthood, career highs and lows as well as the shifting fashions and morals of the passing decades.

Bernard Slade paints a bittersweet, nostalgic and very funny portrait of two likeable protagonists who find themselves in the most unusual of long-term relationships.

One of the world’s most widely staged plays, Same Time, Next Year was originally produced on Broadway in 1975. It ran for four years, winning a Tony Award for lead actress Ellen Burstyn, who later recreated her role in the successful film of the same title opposite Alan Alda.

Bernard Slade (1930 – 2019) was an award-winning screenwriter and playwright. Previous theatre credits include Same Time, Next Year, Tribute, Romantic Comedy, Special Occasions, Same Time, Another Year, An Act of the Imagination, Fatal Attraction, Return Engagements and You Say Tomatoes. His television credits include The Partridge Family, Trying Time, Good Heavens, The Girl with Something Extra, Bridget Loves Bernies, The Flying Nun, The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Bewitched and Love on a Rooftop.

LONDON CLASSIC THEATRE

London Classic Theatre is run by husband and wife team Michael Cabot and Kathryn Cabot.

Michael Cabot is the founder and Artistic Director of London Classic Theatre. He has directed all forty-one LCT productions since their touring debut in 2000, including No Man’s Land, My Mother Said I Never Should, Private Lives, Hysteria, The Birthday Party, Waiting for Godot, Absent Friends, Entertaining Mr Sloane and Equus. His freelance work as director includes three recent collaborations with award-winning playwright Henry Naylor, The Collector (Arcola Theatre), Angel and Borders (Edinburgh Festival Fringe).

Kathryn Cabot is an actress and producer. She began working as programmer and assistant producer for LCT in 2014. She has programmed the company’s tours of No Man’s Land, My Mother Said I Never Should, Private Lives and Hysteria. In 2016, she established her own independent production company, producing the first national tour of Henry Naylor’s The Collector. Absurd Person Singularis her fifth tour as producer for LCT. 

Sticky Door
VAULT Festival, The Vaults, Leake Street, London, SE1 7NN
Tuesday 11th – Sunday 16th February 2020

“The 2014 plan was a simple one, I would “Casanova” myself around our nation’s capital looking for consenting heterosexual adult males. One no-frills lover-man for every month. I was the original calendar girl. Helen Mirren plays me in the film.”

The multi-award-winning team behind Sexy Lamp and Bicycles and Fish are back with the third part in the amazing It’s a Girl! trilogy. Sticky Door by Katie Arnstein is a personal, honest and funny look at sex, dating and feminism, directed by Ellen Havard (Ad Libido by Fran Bushe, Edinburgh Fringe 2018 and VAULT 2018; Sexy Lamp, Edinburgh Fringe 2019).

Set two years after Sexy Lamp, Sticky Door sees Arnstein continue in the pursuit to become an actor whilst setting herself a new challenge to have ‘no strings attached’ sexual intercourse with consenting heterosexual adult males without getting emotionally involved.

Arnstein comments, I love Desert Island Discs. When listening to Kirsty Young speak with Dame Minouche Shafik, former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, I heard Shafik mention that she did not like the idea of a glass ceiling. That it suggested if you keep smashing your head against it then it will shatter and all other women can come through, which wasn’t her experience. She preferred the idea of a sticky door where someone on the other side helps you open it and that, once you are through, it is up to you to help the next person. This was a lightbulb moment as, for me, there has never really been a glass ceiling but a series of doors that were shut. Some of them I have got through with the help of people on the other side. Some of them have stayed firmly closed.

I hope that Sticky Door can add to the rallying cry against sexism, empower the audience to knock down the doors they want to open, be kind enough help others through and encourage confidence to build our own spaces where the doors remain closed.

From an all-female production and creative team, Sticky Door discusses everyday sexism, dating and shame, all with Arnstein’s original trademark songs on the ukulele. She asks us why women seem to be facing a series of sticky doors in work, sex and life when men aren’t encountering the same.

Excitingly, Sunday 16th February will see Arnstein perform the entire It’s a Girl! trilogy with Bicycles and Fish (about the day she became a woman), Sexy Lamp (about her experiences in the entertainment industry) and Sticky Door – a true theatre treat not to be missed.

Sticky Door is generously supported by Arts Council England, Pleasance Futures Fund and Redbridge Drama Centre

Frankie Foxstone aka The Profit: Walking Tour

VAULT Festival, January 28th – February 2nd 2020

A hit at the HighTide Festival in 2018 and at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019, Frankie Foxstone A.K.A The Profit comes to the VAULT Festival in London in this sassy, savvy Walking Tour. This is uproarious, cutting-edge, interactive, achingly hilarious, subversive, immersive satire for our chronically insatiable era.

“Unstoppable” The Guardian / The Independent’s Pick of the Fringe 2019

One of The Guardian’s Vault Festival 2020: Comedy and Theatre Shows To See

Described as the granddaughter of Margaret Thatcher, the godless daughter of Boris Johnson, and the lost twin of Ivanka Trump, property developer extraordinaire Frankie Foxstone is the darling of neoliberalism. As one audience member put it: “she’s what happens when you tell your kids they can do anything.”  

Gaulier-trained comedienne and international theatre-maker, Amy Gwilliam, has tailored this show specifically for the festival and location, and with whip-smart ad-libbing for each audience, this is a distinguished, dishevelling experience like nothing else at this year’s VAULT Festival.

“Perfectly-poised but unapologetically ruthless … the satire is sharp, with Gwilliam embodying all the greed and single-mindedness of our money-obsessed society” FEST Magazine

★★★★ “deliciously clever satire of both corporate culture & capitalist greed” The Scotsman

“You must understand I didn’t make Frankie Foxstone up. A property developer? No way! I was just flicking mindlessly through the Evening Standard property pages left on the tube and I thought Oh Wow! this copywriting is preposterous. So exclusive. Ideal for comedy. And the character hails from my bubbling rage, and pleasure to caricature. (Myself as much as any other.)”, says Amy. “Audiences really go wild for her. It’s catharsis.”

Gwilliam comes from the womb of BAFTA winning Comedy Director, Liddy Oldroyd. She was teething on the set of Not the Nine O’Clock News, potty trained on the set of Spitting Image, had her television debut aged 4 as Julian Clary’s fantasy daughter, and played the drug-dealing best friend of Tony Blair’s daughter in Drop The Dead Donkey. (Aged 13, Amy was totally unprepared for the role!) Liddy died shortly after and though Amy never intended to continue in her mother’s vein, it’s clearly a family business. The breast milk of satire was strong.

“I’m fascinated, terrified and delighted, to be following in Mum’s footsteps. I miss her. And I miss Spitting Image. I think Frankie is a bit of a rubber puppet for these times we are living in! And we need some rubber puppets now”, says Gwilliam.

When she’s not stepping into the high heels of Frankie, Gwilliam works with Clowns Without Borders and Theatre for a Change. Her teaching practice is about rigorous, rebellious theatre, empowering through laughter and creativity. As in her previous work, including Mummy, and the forthcoming StayBless, Gwilliam consistently tackles big topics with interrogative, openhearted wit and larger than life characters.

Mark Goucher and Everyman Theatre Cheltenham present
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY
By Harold Pinter

Tuesday 7 January 2020

• NATIONAL TOUR OF THE BIRTHDAY PARTY STARRING MICHELLE COLLINS, TRISTAN GEMMILL AND PAUL HICKEY TO OPEN AT EVERYMAN THEATRE, CHELTENHAM ON 2 APRIL 2020
   
• THE TOUR WILL VISIT SALFORD, OXFORD, GUILDFORD, EDINBURGH, NORWICH, CARDIFF, RICHMOND AND MILTON KEYNES

Michelle Collins will play Meg Boles, Tristan Gemmill will play Goldberg and Paul Hickey will play McCann in a national UK tour of Harold Pinter’s comedy of menace which will receive a dramatic new re-imagining from the team behind Waiting for Godot. Following a two-year celebration of the works of Harold Pinter in the West End, this is Pinter’s most popular and widely performed play. Further casting will be announced in due course.

The tour will open at Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham on 2 – 11 April (with press night on 7 April) followed by The Lowry Quays (14-18 April), Oxford Playhouse (21- 25 April), Guildford Yvonne Arnaud (28 April – 2 May), Edinburgh Kings (5-9 May), Norwich Theatre Royal (12-16 May), Cardiff New (26–30 May), Richmond Theatre (2-6 June) and Milton Keynes Theatre (9- 13 June).

Set in a dilapidated seaside boarding house the mysterious Stanley Webber receives a visit from two sinister strangers, Goldberg and McCann. They arrive on Stanley’s birthday – or is it? What do they want and why do they want to turn Stanley’s quite world upside down?

Everyman Theatre’s Creative Director, Paul Milton, brings together this fine cast to present Pinter’s classic darkly comic masterpiece with design by Dawn Allsopp, Lighting design by Michael Hall and Sound design by Steve Anderson.

Michelle Collins has worked extensively in television and theatre over the last 30 years. She has appeared in two of Britain’s best-loved soaps EastEnders and Coronation Street, the hugely popular Two Thousand Acres of Skye and The Illustrated Mum for which she received an international Emmy. 

Her other TV credits include Real Women; Dr Who; Miss Marple; Sunburn; Lloyd And Hill; Death In Paradise; Can’t Buy Me Love; Single; Hotel Babylon; Rock Rivals; Perfect; Midsummer Murders and Daylight Robbery. Michelle recently appeared in The Dumping Ground (CBBC), To Provide All People (BBC 1), Queens of Mystery (Acorn TV) and Casualty (BBC).

Michelle’s West End theatre credits include: Calendar Girls; Rattle Of A Simple Man; Daddy Cool; Vagina Monologues and Never Forget. Further theatre credits include Romeo and Juliet and The Demolition Man (Bolton Octagon); The Glass Supper (Hampstead Theatre); A Dark Night In Dalston (The Park Theatre); Thoroughly Modern Millie (UK tour); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (UK tour); My Dad’s Gap Year (Park Theatre) and How Love Is Spelt (Southwark Playhouse).

Tristan Gemmill is best known for his long running role as Dr Adam Trueman in much loved British medical drama Casualty and most recently as lead regular Robert Preston in Coronation Street. As well as his Casualty and Coronation Street roles, Tristan has starred in other TV shows including Atlantis, Cape Wrath, Where The Heart Is, Grass, Death in Paradise, and Call the Midwife.

Tristan has starred alongside Adrian Brody and Keira Knightley in the critically acclaimed film, The Jacket. Other film credits include, Flying Blind opposite Helen McCrory and The Adventurer: The Curse of The Midas Box with Michael Sheen and Sam Neill.
 
Tristan’s most recent appearance in the West End was playing the title role in The Bodyguard opposite Beverly Knight for which he received rave reviews. Further theatre credits include A Street Car Named Desire for Theatre Clwyd, Dangerous Corner for Chichester Festival Theatre and Henry V for the Royal Shakespeare Company. 

Paul Hickey’s theatre credits include Waste, Our Class, Children of the Sun, The Playboy of the Western World,  Romeo and Juliet and Peter Gynt (all at the National Theatre); Fewer Emergencies, Bang, Bang Bang, Crazyblackmuthafukinself, O Go My Man, and Who Cares at the Royal Court; Macbeth and The Deep Blue Sea at the Royal Exchange, Manchester; The Merchant of Venice for the RSC (World Tour); Incognito and Drink Dance Laugh Lie at the Bush; Little Light at the Orange Tree; In The Next Room (Or The Vibrator Play) at the Ustinov. Fred’s Diner and Wallenstein at Chichester Festival; Ghosts at the Arcola; Pentecost and In A Little World of Our Own at the Donmar Warehouse; Helen and I for Druid; Red Roses and Petrol, Lady Windemere’s Fan and The Ash Fire at the Tricycle; Dealer’s Choice and My Night With Reg at Birmingham Rep, The Last Yankee at The Print Room; The Silver Tassie and The Plough and the Stars at the Abbey Theatre.

Television includes: Catherine The Great, The Last Czars, Three Girls, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (series iv-vi), Doctor Who, Father Ted, Nuremberg, Whitechapel, Sunshine, The American, Critical, Doctors, Friends and Crocodiles, The Governor, Murder Squad, Rebel Heart and The Informant. Paul has played Johno in Red Rock (BBC/Virgin Media) for the last few years.

Films include: 100 streets, Bitter Harvest, Saving Private Ryan, War Machine, Noble, The Matchmaker, Though The Sky Falls, Nora, Spin The Bottle, Moll Flanders, The General, On The Edge and Ordinary Decent Criminal.

Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham will be producing and co-producing more work throughout 2020 including Shirley Valentine starring Claire Sweeney, directed by Ian Talbot which opens on 13 February, a 10-week national tour starting on 23 April of Ian Hislop and Nick Newman’s new comedy A Bunch of Amateurs and a co-production with Bath Theatre Royal of The Dresser staring Julian Cleary and Matthew Kelly directed by Terry Johnson which will tour nationally, opening at Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham on 10 September. For further details visit www.everymantheatre.org.uk

Creation Theatre Presents

The Time Machine

A contemporary re-imagining marking the 125th anniversary of H G Wells’

sci-fi classic

Adapted by Jonathan Holloway. Directed by Natasha Rickman.

29 Feb – 5 Apr 2020

Strap yourselves in. Leave your notions of sanity and predictability at the door

Inspired by HG Wells’ The Time Machine, Creation Theatre takes audiences on a journey through the labyrinth of the iconic London Library, to a world in which time travel has generated thousands of parallel universes.

Award-winning playwright Jonathan Holloway (BBC Audio Drama Awards, Edinburgh Fringe First Awards, Prix Italia) pulls apart this classic sci-fi novel, re-invents it, and pieces it back together to create a world in which the present is endlessly shifting, and the future is strange and uncertain. Travellers tinker with timelines causing people’s names, faces and indeed the colour of their socks to change without warning.

Directed by Natasha Rickman (The Faction Theatre Company, Associate director RSC’s A Comedy of Errors) this surreal and psychedelic adventure draws on cutting edge research from the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities, which challenges perceptions and raises important questions about the future of neuroscience, big data, genomics and global connectedness.

Small audience groups will be led by their very own Time Traveller through the Library – where H G Wells was a member for over 50 years.

Expect the unexpected and prepare to be provoked on this journey into the unknown.

The Time Machine was H G Wells’ first full-length work of fiction and was widely regarded as his finest literary achievement. The novel was first published in 1895 as a serialization in The New Review, original copies of which can be found in The London Library. Wells became a member of the London Library the following year on 9th April 1896 at an extraordinarily productive period in his life having established a position as a major arrival on the literary scene.

Creative Team:

Writer: Jonathan Holloway

Director: Natasha Rickman

Designer: Ryan Dawson Laight

Sound Designer: Matt Eaton

Cast: To Be Announced

Listings information:

The London Library, St Jame’s Square

29 Feb – 5 April 2020

Wednesday to Sunday. Performance start 7:00pm, 7:20pm, 7:40pm and 8:00pm. Sunday performances start at 5pm, 5:20pm, 5:40pm and 6pm.

Tickets: £32-£35, £28 London Library Members, £18 Previews

Please include this link in copy: https://www.creationtheatre.co.uk/whats-on/time-machine/

Venue address: The London Library, 14 St James Square, London, SW1Y 4LG

Box Office: Tel: 01865 766 266

Online: www.creationtheatre.co.uk

Twitter: @creationtheatre, Facebook: @CreationTheatre, Instagram: creationtheatre

Ad Infinitum presents:
EXTRAORDINARY WALL OF SILENCE

A new devised show tracing the oppression and ignorance faced by
the Deaf community to one pivotal point in history

With stories drawn from real-life testimonies collected through 40-hours of interviews with Deaf people from all over the UK, Ad Infinitum presents Extraordinary Wall of Silence, a new production shedding light on a relatively undocumented history of oppression experienced by Deaf people which comes to Birmingham Hippodrome’s Patrick Studio on 22 & 23 Jan.

Helen, Alan, and Graham are told they are impaired and need fixing. As they begin to question the world around them, three powerful coming-of-age stories unfold, uniting them in a struggle against violence, ignorance and oppression. Connected through a shared past, they are transported to a crucial moment in 1880 that would impair the way the world views D/deaf people for over a century. The production premiered at Bristol Old Vic in October 2019 and now tours to seven arts venues across England.

The stories of these people have largely gone undocumented as sign languages don’t exist in written form, and access to video was, until recently, not widespread. Extraordinary Wall of Silence shares these stories in a bilingual performance in British Sign Language and English, using them as a starting point to explore in-depth a culture under threat from fear, prejudice and ignorance.

In 1880, The Milan Conference banned the use of sign language in schools all over the world. The conference declared that an oral education was superior to manual (signed) education and put Deaf children through an abusive regime of speech therapy to make them speak, ‘hear’ and lip read. The decision prevailed for over a century despite decades of poor results, including the statistic that over 70% of UK Deaf children left school with a reading age of 8.

The show is performed by three Deaf actors and one hearing actor. Ad Infinitum are once again collaborating with Deaf actor Matthew Gurney, who starred in their show Light. Matthew said: “The Milan Conference had a huge impact on D/deaf people’s lives and communities; Deaf adults leaving school were left without power, authority and little ability to communicate in either English or sign language. Since the Milan Conference a slow but steady rebellion has been rising, which has gone unnoticed in worldwide and national media. We want to battle the ‘silent voices’ who continue to push for the Oralist method, and refuse to listen to us, and to fight for our D/deaf human rights in all areas of life.”

Director George Mann said, “Extraordinary Wall of Silence is the result of six years of collaboration between Ad Infinitum and a group of exceptional Deaf artists, academics and leaders. The three inter-linking stories of the piece are drawn from real-life testimonies collected through 40-hours of interviews. We hope that these stories will give audiences an insight into Deaf culture, language and history that challenge and examine more profoundly societal perspectives on Deaf people.”

Ad Infinitum is an international ensemble based in Bristol, developing new and original theatre. Founded in 2007, Ad Infinitum is led by Co-Artistic Directors, Nir Paldi and George Mann. They create shape-shifting socio-political theatre to provoke, move and inspire through innovative storytelling and bold experimental styles. Ad Infinitum’s theatre draws upon the power of the body, engages audiences with urgent issues, and ignites passionate debate. Previous shows include No Kids, Translunar Paradise, Odyssey, Bucket List, Light, and Ballad of the Burning Star. Ad Infinitum is Associate Artist at Bristol Old Vic and The North Wall. They are Associate Artist Alumni at the Bush Theatre (2011-2013), The Lowry (2011-2017) and Redbridge Drama Centre (2009-2017).Their work has won awards at the Edinburgh Fringe (including Spirit of the Fringe and multiple Stage Awards), across the UK (including the Argus Angel Award), and many awards internationally.

Extraordinary Wall of Silence comes to Birmingham Hippodrome’s Patrick Studio on 22 & 23 Jan. To book visit birminghamhippodrome.com or call 0844 338 5000 (4.5p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge). 
 

Fun facts – what it takes to bring panto
magically to life at the Alhambra Theatre!

Yorkshire’s biggest family pantomime, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, opened in December 2019 to packed houses and glowing reviews, and will run until Sunday 26 January at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford.

This year’s festive production is led by Alhambra Theatre pantomime legend Billy Pearce, Steps star and Strictly Come Dancing finalist Faye Tozer; and family TV favourite Paul Chuckle. They are joined by talented musical theatre performers: Sarah Goggin and Matthew Croke.

In order to deliver this “evening of non-stop entertainment and comedy” (Telegraph & Argus), full of “lavish sets and some impressive special effects” (The Stage) there is an army of backstage people, production crew and venue staff who work tirelessly during rehearsals and every performance to bring this magical show to life. Here’s a peek behind the scenes into what audiences might not know:

• a total of 6 wagons brought all the set, lighting, sound and special effects equipment to the Alhambra Theatre; including 50 flight cases just for the lighting equipment alone
• 15 Alhambra Theatre crew worked 12 hour days for 4 days to build the set and rig the lighting
• 256 lights are used to light this year’s panto; there are 485 lighting cues in each performance; which is a total of 34,435 for the run of panto
• 178 switches have to be turned on and off each day to activate the lights and sound; that’s a total number of 25,276 for the entire run of panto
• Paul Chuckle will have thrown 355 bags of Chocolate Buttons in to the audience over the run
• 140 tickets to the pantomime were sold on Christmas Day
• the moped that Billy rides on stage can actually go up to 40mph, has an MOT and is legally roadworthy
• a total of 213 goody bags and 284 bottles of Champagne will have been given away as prizes to our audience volunteers
• approximately 500 baubles decorate the Christmas trees in the venue; the largest bauble on the main tree in the foyer is half a metre wide, and the longest bauble is just under 1 metre long
• at the Alhambra Theatre restaurant 320 pictures have been coloured-in by diners of all ages from 2 (the youngest) to 74 (the oldest). Everyone who coloured-in a picture was offered a satsuma or an apple – strange that no one took a red apple…
• over 890,000 litres of soft drinks have been served between the start of the panto to the end of December; enough to fill at least two standard sized swimming pools!
• over 5,000 pints of beer have been served so far during the run of panto
• 5 litres of Windolene (other glass cleaners are available) are used each week to clean the Magic Mirror!
• 4 tons of dinosaur droppings are collected each week, the roses are doing well!

The annual Alhambra Theatre pantomime brings together the work of over 40 technical and production staff, 20 performers and musicians; and 20 local children as The Sunbeams. Plus there are up to an additional 160 venue staff, including bars & catering, box office, cleaning, front of house and stage-door teams, who work to ensure the venue is ready to open its doors to the public during the run of pantomime.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – Alhambra Theatre, Bradford
Ends Sunday 26 January 2020
Tickets: £40 – £16.50 (inclusive of booking fees)
Call the Box Office on 01274 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk

“For over 80 years The Alhambra has been synonymous with spectacular pantomimes and this year is no
exception.” Yorkshire Post 5/5
“The amazing talented cast is only heightened by the sumptuous set and thrilling special effects…”
Telegraph and Argus
**** (4 stars) “Superior panto offering from the Alhambra, with Bradford institution Billy Pearce on especially
entertaining form” The Stage”

ACTING FOR OTHERS ANNOUNCES

RETURN OF WEST END FLEA MARKET

Theatrical charity, Acting for Others,today announces the return of the West End Flea Market, following its hugely successful debut last year, which saw crowds of theatre fans lining up for showstopping goodies and a chance to meet West End stars, raising over £26,000 in one morning. The event will take place on Saturday 16 May 2020at St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden.

Top West End shows set up a variety of uniquely designed stalls offering theatrical memorabilia, signed posters, bric-a-brac and special items for auction. Last year, company members from The Book of Mormon, Hamilton, The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!, Les Miserables, The Mousetrap and The Royal Opera House took part with Only Fools and Horses winning Best Dressed Stall with an array of delights including Trigger’s Kissing Booth and Mischief Theatre’s The Play That Goes Wrong won the showstopper competition judged by Christopher Biggins, Celia Imrie and Wayne Sleep.

The shows hosting a stall will compete to win in a brand new theatrical challenge, with judges to be announced. The public are invited to come and cheer on their favourite show and the winner will be announced at the event. In addition, there will be signings, a theatrical tombola, auctions and all sorts of exciting theatrical memorabilia up for grabs as well as the chance to meet stars from hit shows.

West End Flea Market is organised in aid of Acting for Others, a fundraising organisation for 14 UK theatrical and welfare charities.

For those unable to attend the event, Acting for Otherscan still be supported by donating at www.justgiving.com/ctcafo

www.actingforothers.co.uk       

Twitter: @ActingForOthers

#WestEndFleaMarket

West End Flea Market

Saturday 16 May 2019 – Morning (times to be announced)

St Paul’s Church, Bedford Street, London, WC2E 9ED