Month: August 2021

NOEL SULLIVAN, BEN LAMB, 

KRISTIN ATHERTON & CHRISTINE GOMES 

STAR IN THE UK PREMIERE OF ROMANTIC COMEDY 

HOW TO SURVIVE AN APOCALYPSE  

WRITTEN BY JORDAN HALL & DIRECTED BY JIMMY WALTERS 

AT FINBOROUGH THEATRE FROM 28 SEPTEMBER – 23 OCTOBER 2021  

Noel Sullivan, Ben Lamb, Kristin Atherton and Christine Gomes will star in the UK premiere of Jordan Hall’s hit comedy How to Survive an Apocalypse. The play opens at Finborough Theatre, directed by Jimmy Walters for a four-week limited season, running from Tuesday 28 September – 23 October 2021.  

Noel Sullivan, best known for his part in the record-breaking pop group Hear’Say, has gone on to forge a prestigious acting career with numerous West End credits to his name. Noel most recently appeared in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s award-winning musical School of Rock in the lead role of Dewey Finn at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. He also recently appeared in the BBC hit show Years and Years.  

Ben Lamb most notably starred in Netflix’s highly successful film series A Christmas Prince, as well as box office hits Now You See Me 2, Divergent and TV mini-series The White Queen. Ben’s stage work includes productions at the Young Vic and Shakespeare’s Globe. 

Kristin’s screen credits include the highly successful BBC shows Shakespeare & Hathaway and Waterloo Road. How to Survive an Apocalypse also reunites Ben and Kristin on stage following their critically acclaimed portrayals of Mary and Percy Shelley in Shared Experience’s production of Mary Shelley at the Tricycle Theatre in 2012.  

After only graduating from the London Academy of Dramatic Art in 2018, Christine Gomes has since gone on to star as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Orange Tree Theatre and Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice for the Stafford Shakespeare Festival. 

“You start planning for the end and you have to start thinking— if you wind up trapped in a 300 square foot fallout shelter, is this really the guy you want to see every day?” 

A romantic comedy for the end of days. 

Jen and Tim are a young and successful millennial couple who become convinced that their urban party lifestyle is coming to an end. They start preparing for the end, hoarding supplies and learning to hunt. But their obsession takes its toll, and both are forced to imagine the apocalypse without the love of their life. 

A tender, hilarious, and touching story about dreams, love and the desire to survive. 

How to Survive An Apocalypse premiered at the Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver, where it broke all box office records. It was shortlisted for a Tom Hendry Award in Comedy, was an official selection of the La Mama International Playwrights Retreat, and was the winner of the 2016 Flying Start Competition.  

How To Survive An Apocalypse, presented by Proud Haddock in association with Finborough Theatre, has design by Ceci Calf, lighting by Adam King and music and sound by Julian Starr. Further casting will be announced in due course.

COMEDIAN PATRICK MONAHAN TO JOIN FAYE TOZER IN DARLINGTON HIPPODROME PANTOMIME

This Christmas Darlington audiences shall go to the ball as the Hippodrome’s pantomime just got even bigger!

The Parkgate venue has announced that Middlesbrough-raised funny man Patrick Monahan will star as Buttons in their magical family pantomime Cinderella.

A frequent star on the comedy club and festival circuits, Patrick regularly tours the UK with his unique blend of audience interaction, animated story-telling and quick wit, which has solidified his reputation as one of the nation’s best-loved comedians. In 2011 Patrick entered the ITV stand-up comedy contest Show Me the Funny, beating off stiff competition to be crowned the winner, which led to the release of his debut DVD Patrick Monahan Live, and appearances on Let’s Dance for Comic Relief and the ITV celebrity diving show Splash!

Patrick joins Faye Tozer, who the theatre announced earlier this year will play The Fairy Godmother. Faye is best-known as part of the multi award winning pop band Steps.

The theatre has also confirmed that actor and musician Pete Peverley and TV Actor Phil Corbitt will play The Ugly Sisters in the productions which marks the return of pantomime to the Hippodrome after a year’s absence.

Cinderella will be produced by Crossroads Pantomimes, the world’s biggest pantomime producer, and will be packed full of the magical ingredients Darlington audiences have come to expect from their annual festive production, including special effects, hilarious comedy and plenty of audience participation,

Heather Tarran-Jones, Programming and Development Director of Darlington Hippodrome said “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Patrick back as part of our festive Pantomime. Patrick produced fabulous reactions from audiences back in 2018 and, alongside the dream team of Phil and Peter as the ugly sisters, will be another great hit with audiences of all ages.”

Cinderella runs at Darlington Hippodrome from Friday 10 to Friday 31 December 2021. Tickets are on sale now, with early booking advised. For full details and to book visit www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk or call 01325 405405.

Original Theatre Company and Octagon Theatre Bolton present the 2021/22 tour of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Adapted for the stage by Steven Canny and John Nicholson for Peepolykus

Directed by Tim Jackson

Original Direction Lotte Wakeham

Cast: Jake Ferretti, Serena Manteghi and Niall Ransome  

The award-winning Original Theatre Company and Octagon Theatre Bolton present the 2021/22 tour of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated adventure, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Adapted for the stage by Steven Canny and John Nicholson for Peepolykus, in a production which was first performed at the Octagon Theatre this summer, the classic detective ta​le gets a brilliantly farcical overhaul in Lotte Wakeham’s acclaimed production.

The whodunnit for all ages will tour to Cambridge Arts Theatre (16-18 Sept),Theatr Clwyd (21-25 Sept), Exeter Northcott Theatre (28 Sept-2 Oct), Malvern Theatres (5-9 Oct), York Theatre Royal (19-23 Oct), Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne (26-30 Oct), Richmond Theatre (2-6 November), The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich (9-13 Nov), Salisbury Playhouse (15-20 Nov), Theatre Royal Bath (24-28 Jan), The Lowry (31 Jan – 5 Feb) and Belgrade Theatre, Coventry (8-12 February). Further 2022 tour venues are to be announced.

A hit in the West End, this ingenious adaptation combines an exhilarating collision of farce, theatrical invention and wonderfully comic performances to offer a brand-new twist on the greatest detective story of all time.

Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound… World-renowned detective Sherlock Holmes and his colleague Dr. Watson are asked to unravel the mystery surrounding the untimely death of Sir Charles Baskerville. With rumours of a cursed giant hound loose on the moors, they must act fast in order to save the Baskerville family’s last remaining heir.

The cast of The Hound of the Baskervilles is Jake Ferretti (The Kitchen, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, The Understudy) as Sherlock Holmes, Serena Manteghi (Welcome To Iran, To Build a Rocket, Mrs Wilson) as Sir Henry and Niall Ransome as Dr. Watson (Mischief Movie Night, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery, Fcuk’d).

Original Direction is by Lotte Wakeham, Artistic Director of the Octagon Theatre Bolton who has directed sell-out productions in London, New York, and throughout the UK. The UK Tour is directed by Tim Jackson (The Season, Royal & Derngate, New Wolsey, Treasure Island, Bolton Octagon). Frankie Tennant is Associate Director. The Designer is David Woodhead, Lighting Designer is Derek Anderson, Sound Designer is Andy Graham, Costume Supervisor is Chrissy Maddison and Production Manager is Tammy Rose.

Lotte Wakeham said: “I’ve been blown away by the wonderful response to this production of The Hound of the Baskervilles; it’s been a real joy to have audiences back in the theatre, laughing uproariously every night. I’m absolutely thrilled to be teaming up with Original Theatre Company so that this production can now embark on a national tour and be enjoyed even more widely. I think it’s exactly the sort of joyful, energetic and entertaining show that audiences will be hungry for and I’m delighted to be sharing the Octagon’s work across the UK. Our top-notch cast and superb creative and technical team are raring to go, and we’re looking forward to giving our audiences a fantastic night out.”

Alastair Whatley, Artistic Director of Original Theatre Company, said: “We are delighted to be teaming up with Lotte and her team at the Octagon to bring her superb production of The Hound of Baskervilles to audiences all over the UK. After the year we’ve all had, the production is a tonic sure to make theatres buzz with the sound of laughter. It’s a show for all ages to enjoy and we cannot wait to share it with audiences up and down the country.”

For further information, visit the Original Theatre Company website: https://www.originaltheatre.com/our-productions/the-hound-of-the-baskervilles/about-the-show.

Theatres Trust Director Jon Morgan comments on the rule changes for self-isolation that come into effect today, 16^th August and their impact on the theatre industry:

We welcome the news that from today fully vaccinated people will no longer have to isolate if they are ‘pinged’. Although many younger theatre workers may not have yet had their second vaccination, we hope that this news will see far fewer productions close their doors in the coming weeks which will help reboost the industry and keep shows running without further cancellations.

FULL CAST ANNOUNCED FOR

WEST END PRODUCTION OF NOËL COWARD’S CLASSIC COMEDY

BLITHE SPIRIT

STARRING JENNIFER SAUNDERS

& DIRECTED BY SIR RICHARD EYRE

HAROLD PINTER THEATRE

16 SEPTEMBER – 6 NOVEMBER 2021

Tickets on sale via www.atgtickets.com

It was announced today that Madeleine Mantock will make her West End debut to play Elvira to complete the cast of the upcoming West End production of Blithe Spirit which stars Jennifer Saunders.  Madeleine recently played ‘Macy Vaughn’; a series lead in Charmedfor CBS Studios and ‘Miss Clara’, in the BBC adaptation of Andrea Levy’s novel The Long Song.  Other TV credits include: Casualty, The Tomorrow People,  Age Before Beauty and Into the Badlands.  Films include: Edge of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise, Breaking Brooklyn and The Truth Commissioner

Jennifer Saunders, one of the UK’s most popular comic actors, will revive her role as the preposterous clairvoyant Madame Arcati. She is joined by original cast members Geoffrey Streatfeild who will star as Charles Condomine, Lisa Dillon as Ruth Condomine, Simon Coates as Dr Bradman, Lucy Robinson as Mrs Bradman, and Rose Wardlaw as Edith. The production brings together a distinguished and multi-award-winning creative team, directed by former National Theatre director Sir Richard Eyre with design by Anthony Ward, lighting by Howard Harrison, sound by John Leonard and illusions by Paul Kieve.

Written in 1941, Coward’s inventive, witty and meticulously engineered comedy proved light relief and a popular distraction at the height of World War II when it was first staged. The show had a record-breaking run in the West End and on Broadway and remains one of the playwright’s most popular works.

Novelist Charles Condomine and his second wife Ruth are literally haunted by a past relationship when an eccentric medium inadvertently conjures up the ghost of his first wife, Elvira, at a séance. When she appears, visible only to Charles, and determined to sabotage his current marriage, life – and the afterlife – get complicated.

Noël Coward was an English playwright, composer, actor, producer and director. His dramas include Hay Fever and Private Lives. For film, he wrote and directed the Academy Award- winning In Which We Serve and the screenplay for Brief Encounter.

Jennifer Saunders is well known as one half of the comedy duo French and Saunders, for which she and Dawn French received a BAFTA fellowship in 2009, and for the hit comedy series and subsequent film, Absolutely Fabulous, which she also wrote and starred in. She has received numerous awards including two Emmys, five BAFTAs and four British Comedy Awards.

Geoffrey Streatfeild has appeared on TV in Spooks, The Hollow Crown, The Thick of It and The Other Boleyn Girl, and on film in Making Noise Quietly, The Lady in the Van, Kinky Boots and A Royal Night Out. Stage credits include the Histories Cycle (RSC), Cell Mates (Hampstead), The Beaux Stratagem (National Theatre) and My Night with Reg (Donmar).

Lisa Dillon starred as Mary Smith in the BBC series Cranford. Her stage credits include Richard Eyre’s Private Lives in the West End,the RSC’s The Roaring Girl and The Taming of the Shrew, A Flea in Her Ear and Design for Living at the Old Vic and The Knot of the Heart and When the Rain Stops Falling at the Almeida.

Simon Coates’s stage credits include Richard III (Almeida), 1984 (West End), The Cherry Orchard (Royal Exchange, Bristol Old Vic), King John (Shakespeare’s Globe). He has also toured the UK with Regeneration, The Misanthrope, Romeo & Juliet and The Hypochondriac.

Lucy Robinson’s stage credits include Waste, The Hard Problem (National Theatre), Handbagged (Vaudeville), Sweet Bird of Youth (Old Vic), In the Next Room (Theatre Royal Bath). Her many TV credits include Cold Feet, Coronation Street, Call the Midwife, Doc Martin, Doctor and Pride and Prejudice.

Rose Wardlaw recently performed in Outlying Islands at the King’s Head. She has previously appeared in Eyam, The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare’s Globe), Jubilee (Lyric Hammersmith) and Great Expectations (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and, for television, Call the Midwife and Doctors.

Sir Richard Eyre was at the helm of the National Theatre for 10 years and is the winner of five Olivier Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award. His numerous hugely-acclaimed productions include Guys and Dolls, The Invention of Love and Private Lives. His award-winning film and television work includes Iris, Tumbledown and The Children Act.

Anthony Ward has designed numerous productions including the Tony Award-winning Mary Stuart, the Olivier Award-winning Oklahoma! and What’s on Stage Award winner Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Howard Harrison is a two-times Olivier Award-winning lighting designer whose recent works include Impossible and Mamma Mia! (London, Broadway and worldwide).

John Leonard is an award-winning sound designer and has worked extensively across the UK including at the National Theatre, Almeida, Royal Court, Chichester Festival Theatre, Birmingham Rep and Manchester Royal Exchange.

Paul Kieve is an internationally renowned illusionist whose recent theatre credits include Matilda (West End and UK tour) and Groundhog Day (Broadway). He is the co-creator of David Blaine Live and Dynamo’s international tour and consultant on the live shows for David Copperfield, Penn & Teller in Las Vegas and Derren Brown.

Blithe Spirit is presented by Theatre Royal Bath Productions, Lee Dean and Jonathan Church Theatre Productions.   The show had a sell-out run at Theatre Royal Bath as part of its 2019 Summer season, a UK tour and a short run of just 12 performances before the country’s first lockdown curtailed its six week run at the Duke of York’s Theatre in March 2020.

COMPLETE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM

ANNOUNCED FOR HAMLET

Further tickets to be released:

Members Priority 6 September 12 noon / Public Booking 8 September 12 noon

Hamlet

By William ShakespeareDirected by Greg Hersov

Main House

From 25 September – 13 November 2021

Cush Jumbo (The Good Wife, The Good Fight) make her YV debut as a new kind of Hamlet, reuniting with her long-time collaborator Greg Hersov, to bring us this tale of power, politics and desire.  

Joining Cush Jumbo as Hamlet, the full cast includes Jonathan Ajayi (Laertes), Joana Borja  (Guildenstern/Osric), Adrian Dunbar (Claudius/The Ghost), Tara Fitzgerald (Gertrude), Norah Lopez Holden (Ophelia), Jonathan Livingstone (Horatio), Joseph Marcell (Polonius), Adele Oni (Bernardo), Taz Skylar (Rosencrantz/Fortinbras/Marcellus) and Leo Wringer (Fortinbras Captain/Player/Gravedigger).

With Hamlet, the Young Vic is delighted to introduce a Jerwood Assistant Designer, who will work with Anna Fleischle on the set and costume design process for the show. This new opportunity represents a shared ambition between the Young Vic and Jerwood Arts to create a greater range of paid opportunities for creatives to develop their craft as part of a production. The Assistant Designer role is in addition to the Jerwood Assistant Director (an opportunity established in 2010), and Boris Karloff Trainee Assistant Director role (established in 2011); two further examples of how the Young Vic Directors Program supports and nurtures theatre makers with paid opportunities.  

Hamlet is Directed by Greg Hersov, with Set and Costume Design by Anna Fleischle, Lighting Design by Aideen Malone,Sound Design by Emma Laxton, Video Design by Nina Dunn, Movement Direction by Lucy Hind, Casting by Sophie Holland CDG, with Casting Assistants Faye Timby and Finnian Tweed, Voice and Text by Barbara Houseman and Fight Direction by Kev McCurdy, withJerwood Assistant Director Zoe Templeman-Young, Boris Karloff Trainee Assistant Director Kirk-Ann Roberts and Jerwood Assistant Designer Jida Akil.

Audio Described performance: 19 October, 7.30pm

Relaxed performance: 2 November, 7.30pm

Captioned performance: 4 November, 7.30pm

Hamlet is currently sold out. Further Hamlet tickets to be released:

Members Priority Booking 6 September 12noon / Public Booking 8 September 12noon

Vaudeville Theatre – until 12 September 2021

Reviewed by Donna Easton

4****

Ah, after not setting foot in a theatre since March last year, the anticipation for this production replaced my usual butterflies of excitement with whacking great flapping birds that consumed my body and when I flipped down the red velvet seat (oh the feeling), I was fit to burst and the energy of the audience was palpable. I had a flash of a thought, ‘Oh please don’t let this be an anti-climax’ and in the safe hands of the Donmar Warehouse production team, I needn’t have worried. In fact, it was more than I could have wanted. 

We meet Manuel (Omari Douglas) and Roland (Russell Tovey) in this delicious two-hander housed in the buzzing, pulsating and flickering world where the actors pulled the audience through a quantum multiverse world of possibilities where “every choice, every decision you’ve ever and never made exists in an unimaginably vast ensemble of parallel universes.” Pow! 

Douglas is just a dream to watch with Manuel’s dialogue seemingly coming from the depths of his soul with just the most sublime physical storytelling whilst Tovey’s Roland cuts a steady contrast that makes the pairing utterly compelling. 

Nick Payne’s writing transports us from giggly, light and fizzy dialogue to the dark shades of terminal illness and euthanasia as we see multiple journeys not ending in the not inevitable….I think….*reaches for Quantum Physics for beginners​*. 

With the dialogue moving at such pace the moment that packed a firm punch was a scene played purely in BSL. Now, I cannot sign or understand sign language, but every word of this scene was possibly the loudest and clearest of the entire production and as I felt the whole audience pull in as a collective energy, the tears started to flow.    

Needless to say, this play did not disappoint for my first trip back to the theatre and as I was revelling in my gratitude for a world where we are able to watch live action again, I started to daydream of a parallel me watching a play in a world that had never even heard of Covid-bastard-19. 

The Pleasance Theatre London. On demand from 6th – 30th August. In person at The Pleasance Theatre London from 7th – 11th September.

Reviewed by Aimee Liddington.

4****

Written and performed by Marcus Hercules, Prison Game is a monologue which tells the story of an innocent young man who finds himself in prison for a crime that he did not commit. Once there, he soon learns the tricks of the trade and despite his attempts to stay lawful upon his release, his life takes a turn for the worse and he ends up in and out of prison and eventually becoming a drug addict.

Mike’s parents came to England from Jamaica in the 1950’s and Caribbean culture is integral to the telling of the story. The first character we meet is the dynamic, Jamaican, carnival-loving narrator who returns throughout the performance to debrief the audience on each step of Mike’s journey into adulthood. Despite the darkness and gravity of the themes discussed, you cannot help but smile at the narrator’s energy which is accompanied by carnival music each time he appears on the stage.

Marcus Hercules’ ability to shift shape and form in order to clearly differentiate between each of the characters is commendable. His use of repeated phrases and mannerisms to signal character change is flawless and allows the audience to seamlessly follow the storyline without confusion. Hercules switches to and from Jamaican Patois and Manchester slang with ease as he performs roles of a stark contrast (Nana May to the drug dealer TQ). His energy, commitment and physical dynamism helps us transform the bare stage into Mike’s world which we are able to imagine in full.

At the beginning of the performance Mike is a naïve, respectful and ambitious young man and although at the end of the story we can see a glimmer of the young boy he once was, it is clear that he has been changed forever by what he has seen whilst playing the prison game

Vann Garden, Godalming – until 15 August 2021

Reviewed by Antonia Hebbert

3***

An enchanting garden, a summer evening and a Shakespeare comedy full of playfulness. What more could you want? (Apart from midge repellent, which would have been handy as it got dark.) This is a production by Troubadour Stageworks, who put on shows in non-theatre spaces, such as gardens, village greens and churches. They’re young, enthusiastic, and confident with the text. I took along a 23-year-old who said he struggles with Shakespeare, but these actors made it easy to understand. He loved the show.

All’s Well That Ends Well is tricky, because its clever and resourceful heroine Helena (Jasmine Silk) seems far too good for Bertram, the dim plonker (he really is) that she loves. The shenanigans that bring the two together for a happy ending are potentially nauseating. Then there’s a subplot involving Bertram’s loudmouth friend Parolles, whose unscrupulousness shadows Bertram’s own. But this production manages to find the happiness and fun. Bruce Allinson’s Bertram is gullible rather than horrible, and Megan Good’s Parolles is positively lovable. The second half bounced along as the cast seemed to find extra energy in the different characters they played. Sophy Taylor Lafeu and Dan Nash especially had fine comic timing and big voices.

It helps to be watching in the lovely setting of Vann Garden, beside a beautiful old house. The actors are on the lawn, with the audience all around. The scene setting consisted of a large chair being moved, which was super-simple but effective. It was sometimes difficult to hear when the actors turned away, and sometimes they just talked too fast (at least for me). If you don’t know the play, you should definitely prepare by getting a rough idea of the plot, and read the brief synopsis in the programme. And take chairs, blankets, picnic and midge repellant for the evening show.

Burnt Lemon Theatre in association with MAST Mayflower Southampton and
Birmingham Hippodrome
Incredible cast announced for UK
tour of Tokyo Rose
16th September – 30th October 2021

The highly anticipated tour of the Edinburgh Fringe hit Tokyo Rose has announced their all female cast, starring Kanako Nakano (Miss Saigon, West End; Priscilla Queen of the Desert, West End). The production, winner of the coveted Les Enfant Terribles Stepladder Award, will also feature Maya Britto (Tokyo Rose, New Diorama Theatre/Edinburgh Fringe; Arabian Nights, Hoxton Hall) in the titular role, Lucy Park (Tokyo Rose, New Diorama Theatre/Edinburgh Fringe; Game Face, Q Theatre/Tristan Bates Theatre), Yuki Sutton (Tokyo Rose, New Diorama Theatre/Edinburgh Fringe; Satanic Panic ’87, Channel 4), Amy Parker (Ride, Vault Festival; Dancing By Myself, King’s Head Theatre), and Cara Baldwin (The Marathon Project, online; The Half Moon Shania, Zoo Venues/Vault Festival).

Tokyo Rose is an electrifying new musical about one of America’s most controversial trials, examining a real-life story of scaremongering and scapegoating. New Diorama Theatre and Underbelly first commissioned this exciting project as part of the Untapped Award, and its potential was realised following a sold out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019.

A nickname given to the female broadcasters spreading Japanese propaganda to the Allied Forces during the Second World War, ‘Tokyo Rose’ became a symbol of the enemy. So when Iva Ikuko Toguri D’Aquino was accused of being the original notorious ‘Tokyo Rose’ she became the seventh person in US history to stand trial for treason. This musical foregrounds the voice of the individual, so often drowned out by rabble-rousing discourse, which Iva herself struggles to hold on to during a journey of self-acceptance.

A figure referenced across popular culture, from Joni Mitchell to The Golden Girls, Tokyo Rose provides a female-centric view of a male dominated period of history. Now in a new two-act full length format, this thought-provoking production is a timely examination of xenophobia and anti-Asian sentiment, unfortunately still relevant today. This production celebrates a community whose point of view is not only overlooked in history, but also underrepresented on stage and screen.

Co-writer Maryhee Yoon says, The most important part of Tokyo Rose is that Iva Toguri D’Aquino lived. She was here. I hope to tell Iva’s story in a way that she would have wanted, honouring her heartbreaks, her fight, her family, and her joys to honour our collective fight and radical joy. Just like Iva, our community is here and it is thriving. I hope that Tokyo Rose can serve as a love letter to this vibrant community.

Co-writer Cara Baldwin comments, The cast and creative team have gone on such an incredible journey together, shining a light on a side of history some would rather forget. While Iva Toguri survived a tidal wave of turmoil, the greatest thing we’ve learnt is that Iva’s life is not one to lament, but celebrate.