Month: October 2020

CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR

LONE FLYER – THE LAST FLIGHT OF AMY JOHNSON

HANNAH EDWARDS AND BENEDICT SALTER TO STAR IN SECOND SOCIALLY DISTANCED SHOW AT THE WATERMILL THEATRE

THURSDAY 22 OCTOBER – SATURDAY 21 NOVEMBER

BOOK ONLINE AT WATERMILL.ORG.UK OR VIA THE BOX OFFICE ON 01635 46044

Casting has been announced for LONE FLYER – THE LAST FLIGHT OF AMY JOHNSON at Newbury’s The Watermill Theatre – the second in the autumn season of work featuring shows with smaller cast sizes, reduced capacity inside the auditorium and socially distanced seating.

Hannah Edwards (most recently seen in the West End as ‘Myrtle Wilson’ in the Immersive Great Gatsby) will play ‘Amy Johnson’ and Benedict Salter (whose previous Watermill credits include The Importance of Being Earnest and A Little Night Music) will support her, playing a series of other roles. Directed by Watermill Associate Lucy Betts, Ade Morris’ powerful play about one of the most inspirational women of the twentieth century was first staged at the Watermill in 2001.

LONE FLYER – THE LAST FLIGHT OF AMY JOHNSON will play from Thursday 22 October to Saturday 21 November.

Lucy Betts said, “I’m delighted to be back at The Watermill directing Lone Flyer. We explore the life of a young woman overcoming the constraints placed upon her to achieve extraordinary things. Amy Johnson’s story of hope and adventure is a joy to tell at this unusual and unpredictable time.”

To ensure the safety of all, strict social distancing measures have been implemented, and this includes significantly reducing the number of audience members that can be welcomed in the theatre at any one time. The auditorium has been reconfigured to allow for social distancing between audience members. Seating bubbles will be able to accommodate groups of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, with all seats in a bubble purchased in one transaction. Social distancing between bubbles will be observed in the auditorium. Audience members will be required to wear face masks. There are hand sanitiser stations, a one-way system for accessing the toilets and signage to indicate routes and procedures. To enhance audience safety, a fogging machine will be used to regularly sanitise all public areas at The Watermill, and to avoid recirculating air in the auditorium, the theatre will be heated before audience members arrive and then fresh air will be continuously fed through the theatre during performances.

The Watermill Theatre will be operating in accordance with government guidance at the time of the performance and will be constantly reviewing and adapting to the government’s guidelines. In the event that a show is unable to go ahead i.e. because of a local lockdown for example, patrons will be contacted as soon as possible via email or phone and offered a transfer or a refund for their tickets.

Created by Grande Exhibitions, Van Gogh Alive is a digital art experience using stunning projections, classical music and scent gives you the unique opportunity to step on to the Hippodrome’s main stage and truly venture into Van Gogh’s world.

The Hippodrome has been transformed for the new experience and it marks the first time the venue has been open to the public since March.

Van Gogh Alive is now open until 31 December and tickets can be booked at https://www.birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/van-gogh-alive-the-experience/

THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER, AS STRICTLY

ANNOUNCES NEW TOURS FOR 2021 & 2022

Strictly Come Dancing fans are in for a FAB-U-LOUS treat once live entertainment venues re-open, as over the next 18 months there will be not one, not two, but THREE incredible live Strictly shows touring the UK to keep the country dancing

2022 will see the return of the magnificent Strictly Come Dancing Live Arena Tour. Kicking off in Birmingham on 20 January 2022, a host of the celebs and professional dancers from the BBC One TV series will waltz around the country performing 33 shows in some of the UK’s biggest arenas in Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool, Glasgow, Nottingham and London. As a result of Covid-19 restrictions – and to keep everyone safe – the 2021 arena tour will not go ahead, but tickets for the 2022 arena tour will be available this year and will go on general sale at 10.00am on Friday 16 October at strictlycomedancinglive.com.

For those with itchy feet who just can’t wait until 2022 to see their favourite Strictly stars hit the dance floor, Summer 2021 will see two stunning productions touring the country, featuring an array of magnificent Strictly professional dancers and some very special guests.

Following the huge success of the 2019 tour, Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals will return with another amazing line-up. This month-long tour will open on 7 May at the Brighton Centre and then play London, Liverpool, Nottingham, Birmingham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Plym-outh, Bournemouth, Cardiff, Salford, Hull, Sheffield, Glasgow, Blackpool and Newcastle, before finishing on 4 June in Edinburgh.

The show will feature a stunning line-up of pro dancers full of glitz and glamour: Australian Open Champion and 2018 finalist Dianne Buswell; two-time Ballroom and Latin World Champion Nadiya Bychkova; Italian Latin Champion Graziano Di Prima; Professional World Mambo Champion and former Strictly finalist Karen Hauer; 2017 Strictly Champion Katya Jones; un-defeated four-time British National Champion Neil Jones; 2017 Strictly finalist Gorka Marquez; four-time Italian Dance Championship winner Luba Mushtuk, two-time Strictly Come Dancing South Africa finalist Johannes Radebe and Dancing With The Stars Ireland professional dancer Kai Widdrington. Tickets are on sale now from strictlytheprofessionals.com.

2021 will also see a brand-new show from the Strictly Come Dancing family touring the UK – Strictly Presents: The Power of Dance. Featuring the spectacular professional dancers Janette Manrara, Dianne Buswell, Amy Dowden and Neil Jones, together with two special guest stars who will be announced soon.

Directed and choreographed by former Strictly professional dancer Trent Whiddon and his wife and dance partner Gordana Grandosek, this tour will give each of these incredible performers the opportunity to tell something of what it is to be a dancer via stunning choreography and beautiful storytelling. This tour will open in June next year, with tickets going on sale on Friday 23 October. The tour schedule and Box Office information will be announced very soon.

David Hendon’s critically acclaimed play exploring early onset dementia 

Banana Crabtree Simon 

starring CJ de Mooi and directed by Dan Phillips 

will play The Back Room of the Star Inn, Guildford 

from Thursday 12 – Saturday 14 November 2020 

David Hendon’s critically acclaimed one-man play Banana Crabtree Simon, exploring one man’s struggle with early onset dementia and the way it affects those around him, will play the Back Room of the Star Inn, Quarry Street, Guildford from Thursday 12 – Saturday 14 November 2020.  

Directed by Dan Phillips and starring CJ de Mooi as Alan, this emotional and honest piece of theatre is based on a subject that touches so many lives. 

CJ de Mooi, whose previous acting credits include The Lonely Walk Home, The Taming of the Shrew, The Renata Road, International Stud, Safe Sex and On Tidy Endings, said: “As I was reading David Hendon’s script for Banana Crabtree Simon, it was clear he had written something unique. I was so excited to be cast as Alan but also nervous because of the immense responsibility! Guildford has always been very special to me so I’m delighted to bring this play, the best I’ve ever performed in, to the wonderful Fringe.” 

Banana Crabtree Simon is written by renowned playwright and snooker commentator David Hendon (The D-List, Eyes to the Wind, Home Time), a finalist in the Kenneth Branagh Drama Writing Awards. It was first performed at the Drayton Arms in March 2018, receiving 5-star reviews and Offie Award (Off West End Theatre Award) nominations for Best New Play and Best Actor. This is a rare chance to catch the production again.  

The play is directed by Dan Phillips whose previous credits include Jekyll and Hyde (German tour), The View from Nowhere (The Park Theatre, London), April in Paris (The English Theatre, Hamburg), Something Something Lazarus (The King’s Head Theatre, London) and Safe Sex/On Tidy Endings (Tristan Bates Theatre, London). 

The Back Room of the Star Inn will be operating at a reduced capacity to allow for social distancing measures, and face coverings will be mandatory. For full details of health and safety measures in place, visit the Guildford Fringe website (www.GuildfordFringe.com).  

To book tickets for Banana Crabtree Simon, call the Box Office on 01483 361101 or visit the Guildford Fringe website https://www.guildfordfringe.com/events-archive/banana-crabtree-simon/. Performance time: 8pm. Tickets: £15. Running time: approx. 1 hour (no interval).  

ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCES ADDED

DAVID HARE’S

B E A T   T H E   D E V I L

PERFORMED BY RALPH FIENNES

AND

INUA ELLAMS’ AND FUEL’S

A N   E V E N I N G   W I T H   A N   I M M I G R A N T

PLUS VISITS OF THREE ALAN BENNETT

T A L K I N G   H E A D S 

TO SHEFFIELD THEATRES AND LEEDS PLAYHOUSE

As part of the current season of one-person plays, The Bridge is presenting the now sell-out runs of David Hare’s Beat the Devil and Inua Ellams’ and Fuel’s production of An Evening with an Immigrant.  Today additional performances will go on sale for both as the season is extended to 7 November 2020.  Next month two of Alan Bennett’ Talking Heads – Imelda Staunton in A Lady of Letters and Maxine Peake in Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet – will visit Sheffield Theatres and Leeds Playhouse.  In addition, Rochenda Sandall will perform Outside Dog also at Leeds Playhouse.

The Bridge’s programme beyond 7 November 2020 will be announced shortly.

BEAT THE DEVIL

Ralph Fiennes made his Bridge Theatre debut performing David Hare’s Beat the Devil, a new play written as a response to the author’s experience of contracting coronavirus.  Nicholas Hytner directs with designs by Bunny Christie, lighting by Jon Clark, sound by Gareth Fry and music by George Fenton. 

On the same day that the UK government finally made the first of two decisive interventions that led to a conspicuously late lockdown, David Hare contracted Covid-19. Nobody seemed to know much about it then, and many doctors are not altogether sure they know much more today. Suffering a pageant of apparently random symptoms, Hare recalls the delirium of his illness, which mix with fear, dream, honest medicine and dishonest politics to create a monologue – performed at The Bridge by Ralph Fiennes – of furious urgency and power.

AN EVENING WITH AN IMMIGRANT

Inua Ellams’ and Fuel’s production of An Evening with an Immigrant is written and performed by Ellams, also making his Bridge Theatre debut, with music selection by DJ Sid Mercutio. 

Born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother in what is now considered by many to be Boko Haram territory, Inua Ellams left Nigeria for England in 1996 aged 12, moved to Ireland for three years, before returning to London and starting work as a writer and graphic designer. Littered with poems, Born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother in what is now considered by many to be Boko Haram territory, Inua Ellams left Nigeria for England in 1996 aged 12, moved to Ireland for three years, before returning to London and starting work as a writer and graphic designer. Littered with poems, stories and anecdotes, Ellams will tell his ridiculous, fantastic, poignant immigrant-story of escaping fundamentalist Islam, directing an arts festival at his college in Dublin, performing solo shows at the National Theatre and drinking wine with the Queen of England, all the while without a country to belong to or place to call home. 

TALKING HEADS

Following the television broadcast in June this year and the current run at the Bridge Theatre, two of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads monologues, performed in a double bill, will play at Sheffield Theatres (9-11 November 2020) and Leeds Playhouse (12-14 November 2020).  In addition, on 7 November 2020 Rochenda Sandall will perform Outside Dog also at Leeds Playhouse.

Imelda Staunton will perform A Lady of Letters directed by Jonathan Kent and Maxine Peake will perform Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet directed by Sarah Frankcom.  The original Bridge Theatre productions were designed by Bunny Christie, with lighting by Jon Clark, video designs by Luke Halls, sound by Gareth Fry and music by George Fenton.

The Bridge re-opened last month with a capacity of 250 seats and thorough safety measures presenting a season of one-person plays in repertory.  Eight of the actors (Monica Dolan, Tamsin Greig, Lesley Manville, Lucian Msamati, Maxine Peake, Rochenda Sandall, Kristin Scott Thomas and Imelda Staunton) from the series of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads which the London Theatre Company made for BBC One this summer reprised their performances on The Bridge stage. 

For the performances at the Bridge and in Sheffield and Leeds Alan Bennett has generously waived his royalties. 

Earlier this summer, he and the actors, directors, producers and senior crew of the new BBC1 series of Talking Heads donated their fees to NHS Charities Together – generating over £1m that will be used to support NHS staff, volunteers and patients as they continue to tackle the Covid crisis and its aftermath.

Three one-person plays – An Evening with an Immigrant, Quarter Life Crisis and Nine Lives – from Inua Ellams, Yolanda Mercy and Zodwa Nyoni run alongside them, the first two played by their authors, the third by Lladel Bryant. 

CARLY MERCEDES DYER JOINS THE TOURING CAST OF SIX THE MUSICAL
PLUS BRAND NEW DATES ANNOUNCED FOR JANUARY 2021
AT MAYFLOWER THEATRE, SOUTHAMPTON

The international smash hit musical SIX by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, today announces Carly Mercedes Dyer will be crowned the new Jane Seymour in the touring cast of SIX, joining the production at The Lowry on 27 November 2020. Additionally, SIX today announces brand new tour dates for January 2021 at Mayflower Theatre, Southampton.
Playing for two weeks from 20th to 31st January 2021 with socially distanced seating, tickets go on public sale from 10am, Tuesday 13 October.

Carly Mercedes Dyer recently starred as Anita in the Leicester Curve production of West Side Story and Henri in The View Upstairs at Soho Theatre. Her many other musical theatre credits include: Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Colchester and Southwark Playhouse), Fate in Hadestown (National Theatre), Dreamgirls (Savoy Theatre original cast), The Lorax (Old Vic Theatre), Memphis (Shaftesbury Theatre original cast), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Royal Festival Hall), Rock of Ages (Shaftesbury Theatre and Garrick Theatre original cast), Dirty Dancing (Aldwych Theatre) and Chicago (Cambridge Theatre).

SIX producers Kenny Wax, Wendy & Andy Barnes and George Stiles say, ‘We are delighted to welcome Carly into the SIX family while at the same time thanking Lauren Byrne for her wonderful service to the show and we wish her well in the future. We are so pleased to be following our Christmas run at the Lowry with a fortnight at the Mayflower.
And we also look forward to bringing SIX back to Southampton in August, hopefully without social distancing.’

Audience capacity at Mayflower Theatre has been reduced from over 2200 to approximately 950 seats (depending on the booking number in each party), to comply with Covid-19 Secure guidelines allowing socially distanced spaces in between household parties in the auditorium. Safe measures will also be in place including enhanced cleaning,
hand sanitation, face coverings and track and trace. Other measures will include contactless tickets and temperature testing.

SIX has become a global phenomenon since its early days as a student production at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Nominated for five Olivier Awards including Best New Musical, SIX won the BBC Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical at the Whatsonstage Awards and performed on the results show of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’. As the pandemic struck, SIX was playing to sold out houses in London’s West End, on tour across the UK and Australia, and had its opening night in New York on Thursday March 12 cancelled when the New York Governor shut down Broadway three hours before the show was due to open. SIX will be the first West End musical to resume performances post lockdown, moving from the Arts Theatre to the larger Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue for a limited 11-week run from 14th November to 31st January 2021. The touring production will restart at The Lyric Theatre at The Lowry in Salford, opening on 27th November and playing through to 10th January 2021.

SIX will return to Mayflower Theatre for its scheduled week in August 2021, subject to government guidelines.

The touring cast includes: Lauren Drew (Catherine of Aragon), Maddison Bulleyment (Anne Boleyn), Carly Mercedes Dyer (Jane Seymour), Shekinah McFarlane (Anna of Cleves), Jodie Steele (Katherine Howard) and Athena Collins (Catherine Parr), with Alternates Jennifer Caldwell, Cassandra Lee and Harriet Watson. The Queens are backed by the show’s all female band The Ladies in Waiting.

SIX is co-directed by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage, featuring choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, set design by Emma Bailey, costume design by Gabriella Slade, sound design by Paul Gatehouse, lighting design by Tim Deiling, orchestrations by Tom Curran with music supervision and vocal arrangements by Joe Beighton. Associate Choreographer Freya Sands and casting by Pearson Casting. SIX is produced by Kenny Wax, Wendy & Andy Barnes and George Stiles.

NEW SPINE-CHILLING GHOST STORY

WHEN DARKNESS FALLS

TO BE STAGED WITH A SOCIALLY DISTANCED AUDIENCE

AT THE UNION THEATRE, LONDON

FROM 23 NOVEMBER TO 12 DECEMBER 2020

TICKETS ON SALE TODAY – 10:00 THURSDAY 8 OCTOBER

“Seat Out to Help Out” Offer: 20 seats on sale at £15 each for the first three performances (23 – 25 November)

A new spine-chilling ghost story, WHEN DARKNESS FALLS, will play a limited season, from 23 November to 12 December 2020, at The Union Theatre in London.  Written by James Milton and Paul Morrissey and directed by Paul Morrissey, Will Barton will play John Blondel and Alex Phelps The Speaker.  The audience will be socially distanced.

Set on the island of Guernsey, John Blondel, a history teacher, runs the local Historical Society.  Tonight, as part of the Society’s weekly vlog, a young paranormal expert has been invited to give a talk on the island’s paranormal history. As John films, the Speaker’s stories – many of which are based on true events – unfold and delve into dark pasts, revealing disturbing truths and unforgettable terrors.

Director and co-writer, Paul Morrissey, says, “In many ways, maybe we’re all haunted. By the past. By regret. By shame. By things that have embedded themselves deep within us. A kind of trauma, that we relive. As we ‘see’ these events unfold, again and again, it’s quite clear that ghosts are very real. When Darkness Falls is a spine-chilling new play about the power of stories. Perhaps most importantly, the ones we tell ourselves.”

The producers added, “We are thrilled to welcome live audiences back to the theatre with this brand new ‘edge-of-your’ seat thriller. It has been a tough time for everyone, and so we couldn’t be more excited to be one of the first shows to get up and running in London.  Our seating capacity has been reduced and arranged to comply with government social distancing regulations, but this won’t stop us from giving audiences the most incredible night out.

“We are also delighted to be able to offer our own ‘Seat Out to Help Out’ subsidy to get people back into the theatre.”

Will Barton’s most recent theatre includes the title role in The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson (Park Theatre & National Tour), The Libertine (Theatre Royal Haymarket) and Toast (Park Theatre and New York).  He played Boris Johnson before, in the 2017 BBC 2 drama Theresa V Boris.  Other television includes A Confession, Vanity Fair and two series of How Do You Want Me?.

Alex Phelps’s theatre work includes Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night and Reynaldo/Priest and understudy Hamlet in Hamlet (both Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre), Raleigh in Journey’s End for Mesh Theatre Company, and Dennis Dutton in The Vertical Hour, Bob Acres in The Rivals and Orestes in Elektra (all at Theatre By The Lake).  He was due to appear in The Importance of Being Earnest for Say It Again, Sorry? at The Pleasance for this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

In 2004, Paul Morrissey and producing partner James Milton were awarded The Stage One Bursary for New Producers. Together, they produced a number of UK and International theatre productions including Cats, Chess the Musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and The West End Men, which toured China, Europe and the UK before playing a six-week season at the Vaudeville Theatre, London.  As a solo producer, Paul’s shows have included Saturday Night Fever, South Pacific, Les Misérables in Concert, The Phantom of the Opera in Concert and the European premiere of the Broadway musical Brooklyn.  WHEN DARKNESS FALLS is James Milton’s first full-length play.  Paul Morrissey’s other writing includes the play Bingo! and the new musical Toys.

The show’s illusions will be designed by John Bulleid, an Associate of the Inner Magic Circle with Silver Star, whose other theatre credits include Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (Palace Theatre, London – current Magic & Illusion assistant), The Ocean At The End Of The Lane (The National Theatre – Associate to Jamie Harrison) and The Prince of Egypt (Dominion Theatre, London – Associate to Chris Fisher).

Lighting design is by Ben Bull and sound design by Tom Marshall.

WHEN DARKNESS FALLS is produced at the Union Theatre by Paul Morrissey Ltd, Christopher Wheeler and Molly Morris.

Website: whendarknessfalls.com

LISTINGS INFORMTION

WHEN DARKNESS FALLS

23 November – 12 December 2020

Union Theatre

229 Union Street

London SE1 0LR

Box Office:  020 7261 9876

Tickets:  All seats £25 (+ £1 booking fee)*

*Seat Out to Help Out offer: 20 seats at £15 on 23, 24 & 25 November

Performances:  Mondays to Saturdays at 7.30pm

Approximate Running Time: 80 minutes (no interval)

This production may not be suitable for those under the age of 15

Website: uniontheatre.biz

Twitter & Facebook: @TheUnionTheatre

Instagram: @theuniontheatre

Pleasance Islington embraces the new normal
with redesigned auditorium and exciting season
of cabaret and theatre
Pleasance Theatre, Carpenters Mews, London N7 9EF
Wednesday 11th November – Thursday 17th December 2020

The Pleasance is reopening their London venue to bring some theatrical joy back for a 7-week winter season! Embracing the new normal, the venue has transformed its main house into London’s most exciting, socially distanced comedy, theatre and cabaret space. The new three-tier auditorium will welcome 100 people a night, bringing the spirit of the Fringe back to London.

The venue will follow up-to-date safety regulations with e-ticketing, enhanced cleaning and table service using the app Butlr to provide drinks as well as new pizzas from neighbours The Depot. The auditorium will open one hour before each performance to give audiences time to settle in and enjoy some pre-show drinks ensuring you can spend your whole evening at the venue in style. A trip to the Pleasance promises to be a fun and safe night out.

The reopening season will kick off with Godot is a Woman, the show that was in tech in the
Downstairs studio when the venue was forced to close in March. The Pleasance’s commitment to their artists means this fantastic show from Associate Artists Silent Faces will now grace their Main House stage. Next Charles Court Opera, ‘The masters of Gilbert & Sullivan in small places’, are returning with Express G&S and will be making up for lost time by staging the complete works of Gilbert & Sullivan in just over an hour!

Following on from two acclaimed residencies with Sink The Pink, this year the Pleasance is
welcoming the crème de la crème of London’s most acclaimed queer cabaret groups for a festive celebration of London’s drag, cabaret and performance scene. December gets off to a bang with acclaimed pan-Asian collective The Bitten Peach who are guaranteed to enchant with their Bedtime Stories, before all-female and non-binary theatre and cabaret company Pecs Drag Kings visit Pleasance for the first time with Pecs: Christmas Queer. Finally, the one and only Cocoa Butter Club close out the season and promise to decolonise and remoisturise in a brand-new Christmas revue, Gifted.

Anthony Alderson, Director of Pleasance Theatre Trust, comments, I’m thrilled that we are reopening the London space and managing to bring theatre back to London audiences. We have put strict hygiene and cleanliness protocols in place and are making sure that your visit to the Pleasance is as safe as possible. The artists we work with are at the heart of what we do and so it feels particularly important that the season will commence with Silent Faces who were deep in rehearsals when Covid-19 hit. This re-opening season is all about bringing back that undefinable Fringe spirit that embodies all of us.

The programme is as follows (with exciting comedy to be announced soon):

Silent Faces and Pleasance Theatre present
Godot is a Woman
By Silent Faces
11th – 15th November 2020

In 1953 a man wrote a play about waiting
In 1988 he sued five women for trying to perform it
In 2001 Madonna released ‘What it feels like for a girl’

It’s 2020; we all know what it’s like to wait. Waiting for banana bread, waiting for Boris Johnson’s announcements, waiting for permission from male playwrights to perform plays about the human condition. Today Ariana Grande tells us ‘God is a Woman’ and we decide we are done waiting. Samuel Beckett? Thank u, next.

Back with their trademark style of playful and political physical theatre following the critically acclaimed A Clown Show About Rain (‘Delightful’, The Scotsman) and Follow Suit (‘Marvellously comic and compelling’, The Stage), Pleasance London Associates Silent Faces make ensemble-led devised theatre and are proud to be an integrated company of disabled and non-disabled artists.

Charles Court Opera presents
Express G&S: The Complete Works of Gilbert & Sullivan – in 75 minutes!
Devised by John Savournin and David Eaton
17th – 22nd November 2020
All aboard the G&S express for the very model of a modern major mash up!
“The masters of G&S in small spaces” are coming out of lockdown with this brand new, inventive production that is sure to put a huge smile on your face. Get ready to be swept away from Penzance to Titipu, from Venice to the Tower of London, from Portsmouth to Fairyland, as Charles Court Opera takes on the ill advisable challenge of performing the complete works of Gilbert & Sullivan – in one night!
‘An irresistible staging’ (★★★★★ The Stage).

Bitten Peach presents
Bedtime Stories
as part of the Pleasance Queer Christmas Cabaret Season
1st – 2nd December 2020

2020 might be a total nightmare, but this December you’ll be having some sweet dreams as you dive into The Bitten Peach Bedtime Stories!

London’s Premiere Pan-Asian Cabaret Collective comes together to present a special winter season showcase, featuring some of your favourite fairytales with a queer twist and the Bitten Peach’s signature Asian flavours.

Pecs Drag Kings present
Pecs: Queer Christmas
as part of the Pleasance Queer Christmas Cabaret Season
10th – 12th December 2020

The Kings of Pecs have been queerantined up in our castle but now it’s time to Pec the halls because we’re back in town and we want to spread the Christmas Queer.

Join us in our cosy cabaret grotto while we bring you some of our greatest festive hits, queermas tales and sexy socially distanced dances.

Put some Christmas Queer in your stocking filler!

The Cocoa Butter Club presents
Gifted
as part of the Pleasance Queer Christmas Cabaret Season
15th – 17th December 2020

Ooo-wee, what did you wish for?

The Cocoa Butter Club presents Gifted – an exquisite cabaret evening of excellence; delivering dreams, desires and demands to the most deserving – that’s you!

Wrapped in your favourite RnB, Neo Soul and Old Skool jams, expect a homecoming feeling, as our family reunites to ‘decolonise and re-moisturise’! Issa generous serving of multi-skilled and highly melanated talent, boasting burlesque, drag, music, spoken word, circus arts and more!

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR SHOW

Four stories from the wonderful world of Eric Carle

Wiggling back to the stage this Autumn/Winter

For socially distanced runs in London and Hertford

One of the most iconic characters in children’s literature will wiggle back to the stage this Autumn/Winter! Following multiple seasons in London and New York, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show will return for two socially distanced runs, at London’s artsdepot from 24-27 October 2020, and at Hertford Theatre from 12 December 2020 – 3 January 2021.

A theatrical recreation of Eric Carle’s beautifully imaginative stories, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show has become a global sensation.Four master puppeteers weave their way through Eric Carle’s stories, bringing to life a menagerie of 75 enchanting puppets in a magical show that faithfully recreates the wonderfully colourful world of Carle’s illustrations.

Audiences will be socially distanced, and all the latest government advice will be followed to make The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show as safe and enjoyable as ever. 

The artsdepot run will feature the classic line-up of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, 10 Little Rubber Ducks, The Very Lonely Firefly and, of course, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The Hertford Theatre run is a never-before-seen Christmas Show which replaces The Very Lonely Firefly with the festive tale Dream Snow.

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 celebrated its 50^th Anniversary. Since it was first published in 1969 it has been translated into 62 languages and sold over 43 million copies, remaining one of the top ten bestselling children’s books of all time.

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 had its West End premiere at the Ambassadors Theatre in December 2016 and has since played multiple seasons in London and across the UK.

www.HungryCaterpillarShow.com

Facebook.com/HungryCaterpillarShow

Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Website

TALL STORIES TO PRODUCE LIVE-STREAMED TOUR OF

IN OCTOBER HALF-TERM

Tall Stories will present its acclaimed stage reimagining of ‘The Snail and the Whale’ in a series of livestreamed performances this October. The production, inspired by the much-loved book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, will be available to audiences around the world to watch from home.

Join an adventurous young girl and her seafaring father as they reimagine the story of a tiny snail’s incredible trip around the world on the tail of a great big, grey-blue humpback whale. Live music, storytelling and audience participation via chat and other functions will bring the story vividly to life in this heart-warming adventure for everyone aged four and up.

The ‘virtual tour’ will run from 24 October to 1 November, with each performance linked to and marketed by a regional UK venue. Audiences can purchase tickets for any performance but are encouraged to support the performance linked to their local theatre, which will receive a share of the ticket revenue. Partner theatres include The Lowry, Salford; Derby Theatre; Hertford Theatre; New Theatre, Cardiff; The Belgrade, Coventry; Theatre Royal, Nottingham; Birmingham Town Hall; Eden Court, Inverness; Brighton Dome; Dundee Rep and Plymouth Theatre Royal; The Pleasance, London; Curve, Leicester and the Town House, Hamilton and Lanark Memorial Hall.

The production will be broadcast live from Tall Stories’ own brand new studio and performance space in Islington Central Library, London.

Tall Stories are partnering with TicketCo who will be providing the booking system and streaming platform. Families will be encouraged to join in with the action at home through games and songs and can interact with the performers through the platform’s chat function.

‘The Snail and the Whale’, written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, was first published by Macmillan Children’s Books in 2003. Sales across all editions are now over 5.5 million copies worldwide and the story is translated into 32 languages. Winner of the 2005 Blue Peter Award for ‘The Best Illustrated Book to Read Aloud’ and the 2007 Giverny Award in the USA, Author Julia Donaldson has called it “Probably my favourite of all the books I have written for Axel Scheffler to illustrate.” It was adapted into an animated feature by Magic Light Pictures which premiered on BBC One on Christmas Day 2019.

Tall Stories’ stage production was created in 2012 and has since regularly toured the UK and the world, including Canada, the USA, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UAE. Most recently it ran at the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End over Christmas 2019.

The cast includes Hannah Miller (Daughter), Tim Hibberd (Dad), Charlotte Mafham (Narrator/Viola Player – certain performances) and Rachel Benson (Narrator/Viola Player – certain performances).

Director: Toby Mitchell
Creative Producer: Olivia Jacobs
Designer: Isla Shaw
Composer: Richard Heacock
Lighting Designer: James Whiteside