Royal & Derngate relaunches Singing 4 Pleasure sessions with a focus on musicals
As a new term is due to start for Royal & Derngate’s Singing 4 Pleasure initiative, the project is being relaunched with a new focus on musicals. The weekly daytime singing project for members of the local community, which restarts on Wednesday 4 March, is for people from all walks of life who want to come along to sing and socialise.
Singing is widely recognised as being good for your well-being and these daytime sessions, run by a professional music tutor in a relaxed and friendly setting, provides a great opportunity to develop vocal skills while making new friends. There is no audition process and no experience is required.
This term the sessions will be led by local music practitioner Lucie Barnes who specialises in Musical Theatre and will be working on a wide variety of good old-fashioned sing-a-long songs as well some great contemporary numbers
Lucie has been teaching singing and music for the past 10 years, both with children as part of Glee4Kidz and with individuals and adult groups as part of The Voice Within, and has been Musical Director for a number of choirs with a mix of abilities. Lucie explains: “As musical director, my role is to ensure my singing groups are friendly and fun-packed, enjoying a range of popular songs. Everyone is welcome.”
The emphasis will be on fun and pleasure, allowing participants to explore their singing ability through vocal warm-ups and learning a fun mix of accessible music.
The newly relaunched Singing 4 Pleasure sessions will take place at Royal & Derngate on Wednesdays, starting on 4 March, at the new time of 12.30pm to 1.30pm, and will run during term-time only. The sessions will cost £6 a week, payable termly. For more information or to book a place, contact Royal & Derngate’s Audience Development Co-ordinator Janet Gordon on 01604 655733 or email [email protected].
An additional preview is announced today for the upcoming Birmingham Hippodrome season of The Book of Mormon on Tuesday 3 March 2020 at 7.30pm. This will be the first chance for fans to see the much-anticipated Broadway smash hit in Birmingham.
Over 1,500 tickets for this first Birmingham preview will be priced at just £15 each and will be available to purchase in person only via the Birmingham Hippodrome Box Office, located on Thorp Street, from 10am on Monday 24 February 2020. Tickets will be issued as a maximum of two per person on a first come first served basis
The Tony®, Olivier® and Grammy® award-winning show plays at Birmingham Hippodrome through to Saturday 28 March 2020 with tickets available via www.thebookofmormonmusical.com and www.birminghamhippodrome.com.
The cast of The Book of Mormon in Birmingham will be led by Robert Colvin as Elder Price and Conner Peirson as Elder Cunningham. 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, Tom Dickerson, Jordan Lee Davies, Jemal Felix, Olivia Foster-Browne, Patrick George, Isaac Hesketh, Evan James, Alex James-Hatton, Nicole Louise, Fergal McGoff, Jesus Reyes Ortiz, Lawrence Rowe, Lukin Simmonds, Chomba S Taulo, 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 2857 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.
The Book of Mormon comes to Birmingham Hippodrome from Tuesday 3 – Saturday 28 March 2020. Visit birminghamhippodrome.com or call 0844 338 5000 (4.5p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge) for more information and to book.
Conner Peirson is appearing with the support of UK Equity, incorporating the Variety Artistes’ Federation, pursuant to an exchange programme between American Equity and UK Equity.
NEW PRODUCTIONS OF CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF AND A CHRISTMAS CAROL TO RECEIVE LONDON PREMIERES AT ALEXANDRA PALACE – TICKETS ON SALE TODAY
Alexandra Palace’s restored Victorian Theatre will present the London premieres of two new productions later this year; Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (30 September – 11 October) and a new adaption of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol by Mark Gatiss (27 November – 10 January). Tickets for both productions are on sale at www.alexandrapalace.com/whats-on/
A co-production between Alexandra Palace, Curve, Rose Theatre and English Touring Theatre, and supported by grant funding from the Royal Theatrical Support Trust (RTST), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will be directed by Anthony Almeida, winner of the 2019 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award with set and costume design by Rosanna Vize.
On a sweltering Mississippi night, the lies are as stifling as the heat.
Maggie has fought up from poverty, only to find herself in a passionless, burning marriage. Her husband Brick, a former pro footballer, drinks to drown out the hurt he has bottled up inside.
When the entire Pollitt family meet for Big Daddy’s 65th birthday, the claws are out. As shattering truths threaten to spiral out of control, the family set out to protect themselves, and each other, from falling apart.
This bold new revival of Tennessee Williams’s lyrical Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece is a blazing portrayal of what it takes to survive in a society where we’re all desperate to feel free. The production will open at Curve from 11 – 26 September before playing Alexandra Palace on the 30 September – 11 October and Rose Theatre ahead of a UK tour.
Over the festive period, a brand-new adaptation of Dickens’ classic Christmas tale, written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Adam Penford, will play the Alexandra Palace Theatre. Produced by Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Nottingham Playhouse, A Christmas Carol will premiere at Nottingham Playhouse, prior to its London premiere at the Palace with opening night on 3 December.
It’s a cold Christmas Eve and mean-spirited miser Ebenezer Scrooge has an unexpected visit from the spirit of his former business partner Jacob Marley. Bound in chains as punishment for a lifetime of greed, the unearthly figure explains it isn’t too late for Scrooge to change his miserly ways in order to escape the same fate, but first he’ll have to face three more eerie encounters…
Following his acclaimed performance as the king in Nottingham Playhouse’s award-winning production of The Madness of George III in 2018, also directed by Adam Penford, Mark Gatiss (Dracula, The League of Gentlemen, Doctor Who) leads an ensemble cast, in his own retelling of Dickens’ classic winter ghost story, filled with Dickensian, spine-tingling special effects.
Audiences will also have the opportunity to join Mark in conversation with broadcaster and historian Mathew Sweet at the Alexandra Palace Theatre for ON: SCREEN: IN PERSON on the 23 March, a new series of exclusive Q&As featuring major figures in television and film, presented by Big Screen Live.
Hidden for over 80 years the Alexandra Palace Theatre was reopened to the public in December 2018 following a multi-million-pound restoration project which saw the space reawakened and its Victorian features restored. Originally built in 1875 the theatre was home to some of the most advanced stage machinery and mechanics of the age, delighting audiences with a broad array entertainment from pantomime to opera and drama to music hall.
Since reopening just over a year ago, the multi-award-winning space has hosted a wide range of events from theatre to fashion, jazz to opera and stand-up comedy to cinema. The restoration of the theatre, celebrates Alexandra Palace’s enduring story of innovation and entertainment as the charity continues repairing, restoring and maintaining the Park and Palace for public recreation and enjoyment.
GŴYL Y LLAIS CANOLFAN MILENIWM CYMRU BELLACH YN FLYNYDDOL
· Mae’r ŵyl gelfyddydau rhyngwladol yn dychwelyd i Fae Caerdydd ar y penwythnos 29 Hydref-1 Tachwedd 2020
· Cate le Bon fydd y curadur gwadd ar gyfer rhan o ŵyl yn 2020
· Fformat newydd yn cynnwys bandiau garddwrn am un diwrnod neu benwythnos cyfan
· Tocynnau penwythnos cyntafi’rfelin ar werth am 9am heddiw
Bydd Gŵyl y Llais – gŵyl gelfyddydau rhyngwladol arbennig Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru – yn dychwelyd i Fae Caerdydd ar benwythnos olaf mis Hydref 2020 gyda fformat newydd.
Am bedwar diwrnod, bydd cynulleidfaoedd yn cael mwynhau gwledd o berfformiadau a digwyddiadau yn arddangos popeth y gall y llais ei wneud, a pha mor bwysig yw cael un. Bydd ganddynt y dewis o brynu bandiau garddwrn ar gyfer un diwrnod yn unig neu ar gyfer yr ŵyl gyfan, fydd yn rhoi mynediad i dros 60 o berfformiadau yng Nghanolfan Mileniwm Cymru a Portland House, sydd o fewn ychydig funudau ar droed oddi wrth ei gilydd.
Bydd Cate Le Bon yn ymuno â’r ŵyl eleni fel perfformiwr ac fel curadur gwadd ar gyfer rhan o’r rhaglen – a bydd yn dod â detholiad eclectig o leisiau o bob rhan o’r byd gyda hi.
Mae’r perfformiadau – cyhoeddir rhestr lawn ohonynt yn yr haf – yn cynnwys cerddoriaeth fyw anhygoel, perfformiadau fydd yn procio’r meddwl, a sgyrsiau ysbrydoledig, gan drochi’r gynulleidfa mewn corws byd-eang o leisiau.
Mae’r cyhoeddiad heddiw yn nodi newid sylweddol i’r ŵyl, sydd wedi ei chynnal bob dwy flynedd ers ei lansio yn 2016. Mae digwyddiadau yn y gorffennol wedi arddangos rhai o leisiau mwyaf nodedig y byd o bob rhan o’r sbectrwm cerddorol, gan gynnwys Patti Smith, Van Morrison, Femi Kuti, Laura Marling, Candi Staton, Elvis Costello, Hugh Masekela, Rufus Wainwright, Fatoumata Diawara, John Grant ac Angélique Kidjo.
Wrth galon yr ŵyl mae yna bob amser gydweithrediadau un-tro sy’n cyfuno lleisiau a genres. Yn 2016, cafodd cynulleidfaoedd gyfle i fwynhau noson unigryw lle roedd John Cale, aelod o The Velvet Underground, yn rhannu’r llwyfan gyda Charlotte Church a’r actor Michael Sheen. Ac yn 2018, cyflwynodd Gruff Rhys berfformiad cyntaf ei albwm Babelsberg ar lwyfan Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru, i gyfeiliant 72 aelod o Gerddorfa Genedlaethol Gymreig y BBC.
Wrth gyhoeddi gŵyl eleni ar ei newydd wedd, dywedodd Graeme Farrow, Cyfarwyddwr Artistig Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru: “Rydym wrth ein boddau fod Gŵyl y Llais, o eleni ymlaen, yn dod yn ganolbwynt rhyngwladol yng nghalendr blynyddol, ac yn ymrwymiad Caerdydd i roi cerddoriaeth wrth galon datblygiad y brifddinas. Mae Gŵyl y Llais yn llawer mwy na gŵyl gerddoriaeth; mae’n archwiliad o’r hyn y gall y llais wneud a pha mor bwysig yw hi i gael un. Mynnwch docyn nawr ac ymunwch a ni ym mis Hydref – mae’n addo bod yn benwythnos hir bythgofiadwy.”
Dywedodd Cate le Bon, y curadur gwadd: “Mae’n wirioneddol fraint i guradu rhan fach o’r ŵyl anhygoel yma. Mae’n annog curaduron i daflu’r rhwyd yn bell a dod â lleisiau ystyrlon i ddinas Caerdydd. Mae’n beth hyfryd i roi sylw i leisiau sy’n dod â llawenydd, sy’n arwain, yn ysbrydoli, yn herio, yn lleddfu ac yn ein huno ni tra bod rhaniad gwleidyddol a digysylltiad yn cael eu hannog.”
Mae’r bandiau garddwrn penwythnos Cyntaf i’r Felin ar gyfer Gŵyl y Llais 2020 ar werth yn wmc.org.uk/llais o 9am ddydd Mercher 19 Chwefror 2020.
Wales Millennium Centre’s [wmc.org.uk/voice]festival of voice goes annual
· International arts festival returns to Cardiff Bayacross the weekend of 29 October–1 November 2020
· Cate Le Bon guest-curates part of 2020’s festival
· Now an annual, four-day event, the festival’s new format includes day and weekend-longwristbands
· Early bird weekend passes on sale 9am today
Festival of Voice – Wales Millennium Centre’s flagship international arts festival – is returning to Cardiff Bay across the last weekend of October 2020 with a new format.
Across four days, audiences will be treated to a wealth of performances and events exploring everything the voice can do and how important it is to have one. They’ll have the option of buying day or full weekend wristbands, giving access to more than 60 performances in Wales Millennium Centre and Portland House, located within a few minutes’ walk of each other.
Cate Le Bon will join this year’s festival as both a performer and a guest curator for part of the programme – bringing her own eclectic selection of voices from around the world.
The line-up – which will be announced in full in the summer – will include incredible live music, thought-provoking performance and inspirational talks, immersing the audience in a global chorus of voices.
Today’s announcement marks a significant shift for the festival, which has been biennial since launching in 2016. Previous iterations showcased some of the world’s most recognisable voices from across the musical spectrum including Patti Smith, Van Morrison, Femi Kuti, Laura Marling, Candi Staton, Elvis Costello, Hugh Masekela, Rufus Wainwright, Fatoumata Diawara, John Grant and Angélique Kidjo.
Always at the heart of the festival are one-off collaborations that merge voices and genres. In 2016, audiences were treated to a unique evening that saw The Velvet Underground’s John Cale share the stage with Charlotte Church and actor Michael Sheen. And in 2018, Gruff Rhys premiered his album Babelsberg on the Wales Millennium Centre stage accompanied by the 72-piece BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Announcing this year’s new-look festival, Wales Millennium Centre’s Artistic Director Graeme Farrow said: “We’re thrilled that, as of this year, Festival of Voice will become an international centrepiece of Wales’ annual calendar, and of Cardiff’s commitment to placing music at the heart of the capital’s development. Festival of Voice is much more than a music festival; it’s an exploration of what the voice can do and how important it is to have one. Grab your wristband now and join us in October – it promises be an unforgettable long weekend.”
Guest curator Cate Le Bon said: “I’m truly honoured to curate a small pocket of this extraordinary festival. It encourages its curators to cast a wide net and bring the voices that mean something to the city of Cardiff. It’s a beautiful thing to champion voices that bring joy, that guide, inspire, challenge, soothe and unite us whilst political division and disconnection is being peddled.”
Early Bird Weekend Passes for Festival of Voice 2020 are on sale at wmc.org.uk/voice as of 9am on Wednesday 19 February 2020.
National Theatre Announces New Work For 2020 – 2021
The National Theatre today announces nine productions that will play on the South Bank in 2020-2021 alongside previously announced shows. These run alongside our international touring productions, three plays that will tour to multiple venues across the UK and a West End transfer. The NT also announces today that it will increase the quantity of low-price tickets on the South Bank by 25%, with 250,000 available across the year at £20 or less.
In the Olivier Theatre the critically acclaimed production of Andrea Levy’s epic novel Small Island directed by Rufus Norris returns following a sold-out run in 2019. Adapted for the stage by Helen Edmundson, the revival will run from late October 2020 with casting to be announced. Standing at the Sky’s Edge, a co-production with Sheffield Theatres in association with Various Productions will transfer to the Olivier in January 2021 following a return to the Crucible this autumn. Directed by Sheffield Theatres’ Artistic Director, Robert Hastie, this soaring musical, featuring songs by Richard Hawley, with book by Chris Bush, tells the story of three families living in Park Hill, Sheffield’s concrete utopia.
NT associate director Dominic Cooke returns to the National Theatre with a new production of Welsh classic The Corn is Green by Emlyn Williams. Performed in the Lyttelton Theatre from 17 June the cast is led by Nicola Walker alongside Adam Baker, Jordan Bamford, Saffron Coomber, Gareth David-Lloyd, Iwan Davies, Jonathan Hawkins, Richard Lynch, Alice Orr-Ewing, Sophie Stanton, Garyn Williams and Rufus Wright. Also in the Lyttelton, Alice Birch adapts Rachel Cusk’s acclaimed trilogy Outline. Transit. Kudos. for the stage in a powerful landmark production directed by Katie Mitchell. Mitchell’s unique use of film and audio will be used to recount the stories and encounters of writer and divorced mother of two, Faye. In repertoire from October.
Simon Stone makes his National Theatre debut in the Lyttelton in December directing his new adaptation of Phaedra after Euripides, Seneca and Racine. Kristin Scott Thomas makes her NT debut as a British politician, alongside Assaad Bouab. Phaedra will be broadcast worldwide via NT Live. Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre, Lynette Linton also makes her National Theatre debut with a new production of American writer Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky in the Lyttelton from February 2021. A startling play set in 1930 during the Harlem renaissance, about four friends whose lives and passions collide when a newcomer from Alabama arrives. Cast includes Giles Terera.
Following a sell-out run last year The Chichester Festival Theatre production of Roy Williams’ Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads will play in the Dorfman Theatre from September. Nicole Charles makes her NT directing debut with this funny, and disturbing play which takes aim at what it means to be black, white and English in twenty-first century Britain. Cast to be announced. Also, in the Dorfman Theatre is the world premiere of April de Angelis’ new play Kerry Jackson directed by Indhu Rubasingham opening in November. Set in a Hackney restaurant on the front line of the gentrification wars, this comedy casts a shrewd eye on a city and country in the grip of profound change. In January 2021, Headlong and the National Theatre co-produce After Life a new play written by Jack Thorne and created by Jack Thorne, Jeremy Herrin and Bunny Christie. Adapted from the film by Hirokazu Kore-eda After Life takes place somewhere between life and death and asks the people passing through it to pick one memory that they will live in for eternity.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, adapted by Joel Horwood and directed by Katy Rudd transfers to the Duke of York’s Theatre from 31 October. Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel is brought to life in this modern myth, where the power of imagination and storytelling transports audiences on a spellbinding and spectacular adventure. Beginning, presented by Lee Dean in association with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, by David Eldridge and directed by Polly Findlay, will be revived at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch in September followed by a UK tour.
The previously announced productions Welcome to Iran, Romeo and Julie and Paradise go on sale from the 24th February alongside The Corn is Green.
Based on real life testimonials, the new play written and directed by Nadia FallWelcome to Iran opens at Theatre Royal Stratford East in April before transferring to the Dorfman Theatre in May. The company includes Moe Bar-El, Nalân Burgess, Souad Faress, Karina Fernandez, Nicholas Karimi, Serena Manteghi, Maimuna Memon, Isabella Nefar, Kareem Samara and Joplin Sibtain. Romeo and Julie a new play by Gary Owen, directed by Rachel O’Riordan, and a co-production with Sherman Theatre, opens in the Dorfman on 14 July running until 29 August. The cast includes Callum Scott Howells and Rosie Sheehy as Romeo and Julie with Anita Reynolds and Paul Brennen also joining the cast. The company tour the UK from June to October to four of the NT’s Theatre Nation Partner venues; Salford, Doncaster, Hornchurch, Wolverhampton before finishing the tour at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff. Paradise by Kate Tempest is a new version of Philoctetes by Sophocles starring Lesley Sharp, Lorna Gayle and Danielle Vitalis opening in the Olivier in June, directed by Ian Rickson.
Emma Rice’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights, a co-production with Wise Children in association with York Theatre Royal will open in the Lyttelton Theatre in September, performing at the Lowry in Salford before a UK tour including Canterbury, York and Bristol with further venues to be announced. John Pfumojena is cast as Heathcliff and Lucy McCormick as Cathy.
The National Theatre also announced today that, beginning with the shows going on sale this month, it will offer 250,000 tickets across the year at £20 or less – increasing the quantity of low-price tickets available on the South Bank by 25%. There will be 50,000 £10 tickets available to everyone through Friday Rush and to young people under-26, whilst state schools will have the opportunity to buy tickets for £10 per student.
Productions internationally include The Lehman Trilogy, which previews from March at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway before visiting the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles in the autumn, with cast to be announced. Also playing in New York are The Jungle, a co-production with Good Chance Theatre and the Young Vic, at St Ann’s Warehouse and Hadestown, winner of the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album 2020, which also embarks on a tour of the USA later this year. War Horse is playing at the Lyric Theatre, Sydney before touring to the Crown Theatre, Perth; Esplanade Theatre, Singapore; and Blue Square Theatre, Seoul, with further international dates to be announced.
NT Live cinema broadcasts for 2020 include Cyrano de Bergerac live from the Playhouse Theatre on 20 February with James McAvoy, Lucy Kirkwood’s The Welkin with Maxine Peake live on 21 May and the new play by Richard Bean and Oliver ChrisJack Absolute Flies Again based on Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s The Rivals directed by Thea Sharrock live in cinemas from the 23rd July. Romeo & Juliet and Phaedra will also be broadcast live, dates to be announced.
River Stage, the free outdoor festival on London’s South Bank returns for five weekends from 3 July – 2 August, with confirmed partners The Glory, HOME Manchester, Hofesh Shechter Company, Hackney Empire Young Producers and the National Theatre closing the festival on the final weekend.
281 youth theatre companies and over 6,000 young people from every corner of the UK are taking part in NT Connections this year, one of the UK’s largest celebrations of youth theatre. New plays by some of the UK’s most exciting contemporary playwrights are being staged and performed by young people at 31 leading regional theatres from 17th March – 9th May, with the Connections Festival taking place on the South Bank from 29th June – Friday 3 July.
CAST ANNOUNCED FOR RSC’S EUROPEANA, PEER GYNT AND BLINDNESS AND SEEING, PART OF PROJEKT EUROPA
Europeana based on the book by Patrik Ouředník Adapted by Maria Åberg and Judith Gerstenberg
Directed by Maria Åberg Swan Theatre, 9 April – 25 July 2020
Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen
From a translation by John Northam Adapted by Barbara Frey and Judith Gerstenberg Directed by Barbara Frey Swan Theatre, 1 May – 23 September 2020
Blindness and Seeing based on the novels by José Saramago
Adapted by Tiago Rodrigues Translated by Daniel Hahn
Directed by Tiago Rodrigues
Swan Theatre, 1 August – 26 September 2020
Casting details are announced for Europeana, Peer Gynt and Blindness and Seeing, three productions that are part of PROJEKT EUROPA, a season of work at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon, exploring, celebrating and interrogating our relationship with Europe.
The company will comprise sixteen actors, most of whom will appear in two or three of the productions, which run in the Swan Theatre between April and September 2020. In most cases roles will be decided upon during the rehearsal process. The company includes: Nandi Bhebhe, Hannah Bristow, Jacqui Dubois, Rina Fatania, Sandy Foster, Georgia Frost, Richard Hope, Miles Jovian, Richard Katz, Robert Luckay, David Luque, Barbara Marten, Ako Mitchell, Chris New, Bathsheba Piepe and Brigid Zengeni.
PROJEKT EUROPA is co-curated by RSC Associate Artist Maria Åberg, and Judith Gerstenberg. Maria will direct Europeana, following her acclaimed productions of The Duchess of Malfi in 2018 and Doctor Faustus in 2016. Born in Hamburg, Judith has worked as a dramaturg in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Maria and Judith will be joined by a number of other leading European theatre artists for the season, including Barbara Frey, who directs Peer Gynt and Tiago Rodrigues, who directs Blindness and Seeing.
Maria Åberg said: “From directors to designers, costume designers to dramaturgs, composers to video designers, PROJEKT EUROPA offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to see world class European theatre, made in Stratford. I’m hoping the season will excite and inspire, spark curiosity and debate, and that we can truly offer our Stratford audience the very best of European theatre making right now. The majority of the artists involved are making work for a British audience for the very first time, so the season really does present a unique opportunity to experience a genuine theatrical experiment at a landmark moment in our shared history.”
PROJEKT EUROPA also includes Voices from The Edges of Europe, a series of newly commissioned monologues from prominent European writers to be presented in The Other Place; Decameron 2020, a unique collaboration between the RSC’s Next Generation ACT young company and Mattias Andersson, one of Europe’s most exciting directors of theatre for young people; and a rich and varied feast of talks, debates, exhibitions and events, all designed to explore, interrogate and celebrate our relationship with Europe.
PROJEKT EUROPA
Europeana opens the season from 9 April to 25 July 2020 – a new adaptation from the book by Patrik Ouředník by Maria Åberg and Judith Gerstenberg, directed by Maria Åberg. This playful theatrical experiment based on the satirical Czech novel of the same name compresses a hundred years of European history into a fast-paced and eclectic narrative which collides the invention of the bra with the tragedy of the Holocaust, Barbie with dictators and fleeting human moments with epic events.
Company: Nandi Bhebhe, Hannah Bristow, Jacqui Dubois, Sandy Foster, Georgia Frost, Miles Jovian, Robert Luckay, David Luque, Ako Mitchell and Chris New.
Joining Maria Åberg on the creative team are Ana Inés Jabares-Pita (Designer), Richard Howell (Lighting), David Ridley (Music), Claire Windsor (Sound), Ayse Tashkiran (Movement) and Judith Gerstenberg (Dramaturg).
Peer Gynt, a radical new staging of Ibsen’s epic European myth for the 21st century will follow from 1 May to 23 September 2020. The production is directed by Barbara Frey, prominent European director and Artistic Director designate for the Ruhrtriennale and adapted by Barbara Frey and Judith Gerstenberg from a translation by John Northam.
Richard Katz plays Peer Gynt, and Barbara Marten plays Aase.
Company: Jacqui Dubois, Rina Fatania, Sandy Foster, Richard Katz, Robert Luckay, David Luque, Barbara Marten, Ako Mitchell, Chris New and Bathsheba Piepe.
Joining Barbara Frey on the creative team are: Bettina Meyer (Designer), Bettina Munzer (Costume Designer), Kai Fischer (Lighting), Josh Sneesby and Gemma Storr (Music), Carolyn Downing (Sound) and Judith Gerstenberg (Dramaturg).
Blindness and Seeing completes the season from 1 August to 26 September 2020. Based on the Nobel Prize winning novels by José Saramago, Blindness and Seeing is a poetic and evocative vision for the future, adapted and directed by rising star Tiago Rodrigues, Artistic Director of the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II in Lisbon, from a translation by Daniel Hahn.
Company: Hannah Bristow, Jacqui Dubois, Rina Fatania, Sandy Foster, Georgia Frost, Richard Hope, Richard Katz, Robert Luckay, David Luque, Ako Mitchell, Chris New, Bathsheba Piepe and Brigid Zengeni.
Joining Tiago Rodrigues on the creative team are: José Capela (Set Designer), Alex Lowde (Costume Designer), Jack Knowles (Lighting), Pedro Costa (Sound), Ingrid Mackinnon (Movement) and Judith Gerstenberg (Dramaturg).
Voices from The Edges of Europe premieres in June 2020 – a series of seven newly commissioned monologues written by a range of artists including playwrights, journalists and lyricists from the outer edges of the European continent. Artists include Yıldız Çakar, Davide Carnevali, Theodora Dimova, Christos Ikonomou, Shumona Sinha, Sjón and Sivan Ben Yishai.
The seven pieces will be performed as part of the 2020 Mischief Festival in The Other Place in June and July. Full details to be announced.
Decameron 2020 The RSC’s nationwide Next Generation ACT young company will join forces with the newly appointed Artistic Director of Dramaten in Sweden, Mattias Andersson to create a new piece of work inspired by Boccaccio’s Decamerone. This performance will combine classic text with documentary material created by the young members of the ensemble. Mattias will be joined by Maja Kall as Designer. The RSC acknowledges the support of the Swedish Arts Council and the Embassy of Sweden in London in the creation of Decameron 2020.
The Next Generation talent development programme gives young people from backgrounds currently under-represented in the cultural sector the chance to explore a career in acting, directing or working backstage. This unique collaboration will premiere in July 2020 at The Other Place.
Snowflakes Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John St, Islington, London EC1V 4NJ Tuesday 31st March – Saturday 18th April 2020
Think of us like the active hand of impotent rage.
How far would you go to right a wrong? Snowflakes takes Cancel Culture a little literally to question ideas of morality, revenge and justice with gleeful, violent abandon. Combining the technological nihilism of Black Mirror with the dark comedy and horror of Inside No. 9, it lacerates modern outrage and trial by social media.
Marcus and Sarah work for a very special start-up. They do the job that so many people call out for in the comments section so outsource your rage, disgust and vitriol and let’s get to the truth before the media storm blows over. They may not based in a co-working space but they do have an app: Justice isn’t blind, it’s streamed to millions. Don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe!
Making his writing debut, Robert Boulton (False Choices, King’s Head Theatre; Baked Beans) will also star in Snowflakes as Marcus alongside Niamh Finlay (Gutted, The Marlowe Theatre and UK Tour; Everything that Rises Must Dance, Complicité) as Sarah and John MacCormick (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Windsor Castle; Room 88) as Tony.
Director Mike Cottrell comments, We speculated that it would be fascinating to delve into the darker sides of the human experience and what we realised quickly is the frightening fact that you don’t have to delve too deep to find that in the world right now. The constant flood of doubt in our politicians, in our media, in our own consciences can seem overwhelming and hard to comprehend. We wanted to take that feeling and explore what lengths people will go to find meaning and to purpose in a chaotic world.
The Lowry, Salford- until Saturday 22 February 2020
Reviewed by Joseph Everton
4****
Ghost Stories is exactly as described, a story that has you glancing over your shoulder, staring nervously into the shadows and sat braced for the next terrifying scare. Every one of your deepest, darkest fears are explored by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s petrifying production in its first ever UK tour. Even the programme advises those ‘of a nervous disposition’ to reconsider attending due to ‘moments of extreme shock and tension’. For a midweek shot of adrenaline, Ghost Stories does not disappoint.
The storyline, which I cannot reveal, seems a little irrelevant at times, with frequent terrifying moments providing a distraction. Extended monologues lull the audience into a false sense of security, a rolling baseline builds and the stage is plunged into darkness. As you peer into the blackness, searching anxiously for the next shock, sliding further into your seat, Ghost Stories James Farncombe’s subtle lighting is used expertly to conceal, cast shadows and then reveal spine-chilling scenes which set the heart racing. Each scare is followed by a nervous laughter which ripples through a shaken audience. The set design by Jon Bausor is intelligent and possesses a magical quality, making the next terrifying moment almost impossible to predict.
With expertly-crafted, supernatural special effects (Scott Penrose) and sound (Nick Manning) which ranges from delicate to deafening, Ghost Stories is perfectly designed to provide repeated jump scares. However, as the tale comes to its conclusion, the plot provides a shocking, psychological twist.
Although not for the faint-hearted, Ghost Stories is a brilliant theatrical experience, unlike any other
I did not know what to expect from this play as I hadn’t heard of it previously. I knew it had some well-known names attached, co-directed by Kathy Burke, so expected it would be a decent watch, but I did not expect to feel a range of emotions very early on. This is a play about people, how they connect and how they communicate or don’t communicate. But in a week where the news is dominated by #bekind, showing how we never really know what is going on with our closest friends and family, the issues in this play were particularly poignant.
The staging was simple but effective. A few large lightboxes that were moved by the actors on stage to create everything from a hospice to a garage reception to a nightclub. My favourite part of the staging was how they managed to show the busy working day of a nurse in a hospice by having people pass or take away simple props as she delivered her monologue. It has a small cast of 6, the play is delivered predominately as monologues with a hint of interaction, some of the characters’ lives overlap but that is not the main theme. The play shows us how we can appear to be composed and focused on the outside but is that really a side effect of demons that we are dealing with on the inside?
Every character has something going on that most of us can relate to, Chizzy Akudolu plays Josie who is trying to achieve educational greatness vicariously through her son Manny (Caleb Roberts). She feels that her father didn’t really care about her education and ‘if only he had pushed her, she could have….’ As a result, she has been more engaged in her sons’ education and perhaps pushed him into an environment that he would not have picked for himself. Chizzy has a way of making you laugh one minute and then have you on the brink of tears the next, it was an emotional rollercoaster, perfectly delivered.
Another stand out performance for me was given by Charlotte Bate, she played Ange who is a Hospice nurse. She has her own childhood demons she is dealing with which has resulted in a rift between her and her sister, Clare (Polly Frame). Clare works in HR, both jobs require skilled communication, yet they lack this skill when dealing with each other. On top of the issue they are dealing with Clare also thinks she was visited by a ghost when she was younger, this is why she doesn’t want to be on her own, the mystery is hilariously solved at the end of the play. Again, moving performances peppered with black humour.
Our other couple are Bex, (Simone Saunders) and Graham (Andrew Turner). Graham is a taxi driver, his wife Bex has cancer. This had me a little confused initially, the parts with Bex and Graham are forward and back through a short timeline. Because they are not in scenes together initially, I had not realised they were a couple. Grahams’ scenes were in the present whilst Bex’s were in the recent past and eventually they come together, or that’s how I perceived it. Graham is struggling with depression, as a taxi driver he tries to engage with his hires, but this does not relieve the feelings of loneliness as people do not always want to talk to him. A chance encounter with Josie could have ended differently for him if she had not reached out when she did. This is a stark reminder to us all that you never really know what the person next to you is dealing with, and how our actions could mean the difference between saving someone’s life in that moment or not. Bringing us right back to #bekind.
