Month: December 2021

The POD – until 19th December 2021

Reviewed By Emily Cliff

4****

With Christmas just around the corner, the theatre has never been so active and here at the POD, they have done it again with captivating stage magic and pure joy. Hidden in the magical Covent Garden, is a small tent with a big imagination. The POD truly has something for everyone, from its imaginative stage productions to its bar filled with festive snacks and drinks it really does add to the magic in Covent Garden ver Christmas. Unlike most Christmas productions this one is suitable for people of all ages, with the high energy and imagination levels for the children and a few jokes thrown in for the grownups too.

One thing this production did extremely well was capturing that last sleep before Christmas and all of the joy and excitement that goes along with it. The energy levels performed by Teddy Hinde and Sydney Hocknell were through the roof for the whole night making us feel a part of the excitement of Christmas eve. Retelling the well-loved stories these Christmas songs had to offer the pair showed the next generation the wonderful magic hidden in these songs. Clever lighting gave the illusion that the space we were in was far bigger than it was, and offered the opportunity for us the audience to really open up our imagination to the world of creativity that was going on inside the tent.

Christmas songs were cleverly woven throughout the whole play with each of them getting their very own little storyline. A favourite of mine was the one surrounding ‘I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas and without giving too much away, it’s expertly funny for both children and adults. Overall despite being crammed into an hours performance, the pacing was impeccable. Many people know that it is hard to keep a young audience captivated and engaged with certain performances, but towards the end of this show (much like Christmas) many of us didn’t want it to end. This show is a real delight to go and see, whether you are 8 or 80 this show will be a delightful addition to your Christmas itinerary this year.

Sasha Regan’s swashbuckling all-male take on W. S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan’s ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ returns to living rooms around the globe this Christmas.

Recorded Live at the Palace Theatre in London last year, just before Lockdown 2, it will stream on demand on Stream.Theatre from 23^rd December – 2^nd January 2022

Winner of Best Off-West End Production, WhatsOnStage Awards 2009

    ★★★★★ 
‘A beacon of joy in this most dark of winters’
IAN BOWKETT, MUSICAL THEATRE REVIEW

 ★★★★★
‘Joyful and unforgettable’
CLARE RODERICK, FAIRY POWERED

 ★★★★
‘A tonic in tough times’
GEORGE HALL, THE STAGE

Lock down with rum, prosecco and Twiglets this Christmas and prepare for the return of Sasha Regan’s handsome hairy pirates and their bevy of beautiful Victorian maidens.

Due to popular demand, the inventive smash hit all-male take on W. S. Gilbert & Arthur Sullivan’s ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ returns to screens from 23^rd December 2001 – 2^nd January 2022 on www.stream.theatreand will stream on demand.Recorded live at the Palace Theatre in London last December, just before Lockdown 2, the recent streaming makes a very welcome return during the festive period. 

Expect a much-needed dose of musical comedy in the comfort and safety of home.  Features gorgeous pirates and their winsome Victorian love interests! The perfect tonic to raise spirits and a show the whole family will enjoy. Packed with comedy, romance, clumsy policemen, bonkers adventures and an abundance of men in petticoats, it will put a stop to the gloomy wintery nights.  

    ★★★★★   
‘Sheer Joy’
EMMA CLARENDON, LOVE LONDON LOVE CULTURE

Frederic, a pirate’s apprentice falls in love with Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley, but will his leap year birthday prevent him from breaking with duty into the arms of his love?  Find out this Christmas!

Featuring a dazzling shipshape cast singing songs including: “I Am A Pirate King”; “Oh, Happy Day, With Joyous Glee”, and “A Rollicking Band of Pirates We”, you are sure to swashbuckle your way around your lounge sofas.

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE sees one of Gilbert & Sullivan’s best-known, much loved classic operettas recorded in a theatre founded by Richard D’Oyly Carte in the 1800s as the Royal English Opera House, now called the Palace Theatre.  D’Oyly Carte who was already producing comic operas at his Savoy Theatre decided to commission the ornate Gothic building as a home for grand operas. The Royal English Opera House opened 10 years after the Savoy Theatre which championed Gilbert & Sullivan’s well-known “Savoy operas”. Although their operettas never ran at the Royal English Opera House, in a nod to the two men, D’Oyly Carte opened in January 1891 with Sir Arthur Sullivan’s Ivanhoe. Sadly, D’Oyly Carte’s cherished opera house came under financial pressure leaving him with no alternative but to lease it and eventually sell it within one year of opening.

Throughout his life, D’Oyly Carte managed Gilbert & Sullivan and nurtured their careers including setting up the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company. Together these talented men introduced a new way of presenting light opera to families, touring these works to bring them out to the wider community.

★★★★
‘Gaiety, frivolity, vim and artistic rigour’
DOMINIC CAVENDISH, THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Sasha Regan’s production was first staged at her original 50-seater Union Theatre in Southwark over a decade ago. From day one it became a critically acclaimed overnight hit, winning Best Off-West End production in the 2009 WhatsOnStage Awards. Following several sell-out runs in the UK, the merry band of pirates toured Australia including a three-week run at the Sydney Theatre thanks to Cate Blanchett who was then co-artistic director. It enjoyed another sell-out run at Wilton’s Music Hall in 2019.

Expect plenty of hilarity from the swashbuckling crew!

How to watch:
The performance will be streamed on: https://www.stream.theatre/season/232

Performance dates and times: 23^rd December 2021 – 2^nd January 2022

Streams on demand

CAST: Tom Senior (Frederic); Oliver Savile (Pirate King); Alan Richardson (Mabel); Leon Craig (Ruth); David McKechnie (Major-General Stanley); Marc Akinfolarin (Sergeant of Police); Michael Burgen (Samuel); Lee Greenaway (Connie); Dominic Harbison (Kate); Richard Russell Edwards (Isabel); Sam Kipling (Edith); Benjamin Vivian-Jones (Ensemble); Daniel Miles (Ensemble); Jamie Chidzey (Ensemble); Joel Elferink (Ensemble); Tom Duern (Ensemble); Matthew Facchino (Ensemble); Richard Baker (piano) – Musical Director.

CREATIVES
Director and Co-Producer – Sasha Regan
Choreographer – Lizzi Gee
Designer – Robyn Wilson-Owen
Musical Director – Richard Baker
Associate Choreographer – Lee Greenaway
Lighting Design – Ben Bull
Casting – Adam Braham Casting
Marketing and Public Relations – Fiona Lockley
Co-produced by Ben De Wynter, Sasha Regan, Hilary A. Williams and Stuart Williams

SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter @allmalepirates
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/allmalepirates

The Grand Theatre, Leeds – until 2nd January 2022

Reviewed by Katie Goldsbrough

5*****

Michael Harrisons new musical version of Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a magical tale full of adventure. Based on the classic Disney film from 1971 it tells the story of the three Rawlins children who are left orphaned during world war two. They find themselves evacuated to the country and living with Miss Eglantine Price (Dianne Pilkington), who they soon discover is a witch. They work together to discover a spell to help end the war for good and ensure there are no more casualties. They find themselves travelling on an enchanted bed to the most magical places including the Island of Nopeepo, a land ruled by animals. 

Some of the songs from the original film including Portobello Road and The Age of Not Believing are included which are interspersed with new music written for the musical by the Sherman Brothers. This production is fun for all the family and an excellent alternative to the traditional panto at this time of year. 

The cast give a fantastic performance, particularly the young actors playing the youngest Rawlins children Paul and Carrie. The show is full of wondrous special effects which will leave you asking How did they do that?! Including flying beds and broomsticks and inanimate objects coming to life! The way in which things were shown to be moving was doing in a very clever and stylish way so you soon forgot there were people guiding the fish underwater, during the ballroom dance competition and moving the clouds and bushes as Miss Price flew through sky on her broomstick. 

The whole production was a magical and a very enjoyable experience, with or without children it’s a definite must see this Christmas.

Lucy Davies announced as new Young Vic Executive Director

The Young Vic today announces Lucy Davies as their new Executive Director. Lucy will join the Young Vic in late Spring 2022. Working closely with Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah, Lucy will strategically lead the theatre, including overseeing the production of its world-class slate of shows, supporting the work of the Young Vic’s Taking Part and Creators Program, and championing the theatre’s wider commitment to innovation, access and community in everything it does. She joins the Young Vic from the Royal Court, where she has been Executive Director since 2013.

Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director, said: “We are truly blessed and honoured to have Lucy join the Young Vic team. She is a person of immense talent and skill, who I have long admired. I am incredibly excited to work alongside her, to benefit from her insight, guidance and brilliance.”

Glenn Earle, Chair of the Board, said: “I am delighted, on behalf of our Board of Trustees, to welcome Lucy to the Young Vic. The future is full of exciting possibilities for our wonderful and very special theatre. We have huge ambitions for the work on and off our stages and in service to our community. I very much look forward to working with Kwame and Lucy to make these ambitions a reality.”

Lucy Davies, incoming Executive Director, said: “This is an irresistible new journey, new partnership, new work family and new home. The Young Vic is everything that matters – values-led, with a strong sense of purpose, and immense artistic, international and commercial flair. With Kwame, the Young Vic is open and ready for the possibilities and shifts that the years ahead will inspire. I will bring all of my heart, thought, spirit and energy to that adventure.”

Lucy has been Executive Director at the Royal Court Theatre since April 2013 and was previously the founding Executive Producer at National Theatre Wales. She launched NTW in 2009 with Artistic Director John McGrath and produced the first three years of work, including The Passion with Michael Sheen across the whole town of Port Talbot.

Previously, Lucy was Executive Producer at the Donmar Warehouse, Head of Studio at the National Theatre and spent the 1990s as Literary Manager at the Donmar Warehouse, where she produced an annual season of new plays, before leaving for five years in the film industry. She started her career as an Assistant Director at Kneehigh Theatre.

Lucy is the Chair of Trustees for Clod Ensemble and Co-Chair with Alessandro Babalola of Soho Theatre Walthamstow. She also sits on on the Boards of Brighton Dome & Festival and the Society of London Theatre (SOLT). She is a Creative Climate Leader and Creative Green Champion 2020 and a Fellow of the RSA.

Lucy succeeds Sarah Nicholson, who has been interim Executive Director of the Young Vic since Despina Tsatsas stepped down from the role in November 2021.

KHT:50 BARSTOOLS TO BROADWAY

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF THE KING’S HEAD THEATRE

MONDAY 14TH FEBRUARY – FRIDAY 18 FEBRUARY  2022

WITH PLAYS FROM TOM STOPPARD, STEPHEN JEFFREYS, BRYONY LAVERY AND VICTORIA WOOD

In February 2022, The Kings Head Theatre will present ‘Barstools to Broadway’, a celebration to mark the successes of the world-renowned pub theatre’s first 50 years, and it looks forward to the next 50 years in a new purpose built 220 seat Islington theatre due to open in late 2022. 

Over the course of a week from 14 – 19 February, KTH50 Barstools to Broadway will see readings of five plays that started their lives in the Upper Street theatre, many for the first time since their original productions, with creative teams with links to the playwrights and original shows. Full creative teams and casting will be announced in the new year. Ticket prices will range from £10 – £250, with funds going towards supporting and sustaining the theatre’s work in the future.

Founded by original Artistic Director Dan Crawford, The King’s Head Theatre opened its doors behind a pub on Upper Street in 1970. Over the last 50 years, playwrights, plays and creatives that have passed through its doors have gone onto great heights: spring-boarding them from the Fringe into the West-End, Broadway and beyond.

The celebration will kick off on Monday 14 February with an event at the V&A in South Kensington, including a reading of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s The Third. Timberlake Wertenbaker was part of a generation of female playwrights whose early shows, such as “The Third” (1980), were staged as part of the King’s Head Theatre’s lunchtime theatre program. [In the 70s and 80s, lunchtime theatre was not an uncommon proposition, and this programming offered a platform to a group of people – including many women – which allowed them to experiment and grow as writers, and progress to main show success.  Ten years after her lunchtime play at the Kings Head, Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good opened on Broadway.

The first of the plays to be read at the Upper Street venue will be Artist Descending a Staircase by Tom Stoppard, directed by Tim Luscombe, on Tuesday 15 February at 7.00pm. In addition to early career first chances, the theatre also maintained several long-term working relationships, such as that with Tom Stoppard. Artist Descending a Staircase (1988) began life as a radio play but Dan Crawford saw an opportunity to bring it to the stage. It also marked the return of Tim Luscombe to the venue, after working with them on a production of Noel Coward’s Easy Virtue, that had transferred to the West End. Stoppard’s play received similar acclaim and duly transferred to the West End as well, followed by a transfer to Broadway.

On Wednesday 16 February at 7.00pm, Stephen Jeffreys’ Like Dolls or Angels will be directed by Annabel Arden. Like Dolls or Angels (1977) transferred to the King’s Head Theatre after a successful run at the National Student Drama Festival. This marked Stephen Jeffrey’s first professional production, another example of the King’s Head Theatre championing early career playwrights.  Jeffrey’s 1994 play The Libertine became a film starring John Malkovich and Johnny Depp.

Bryony Lavery’s Grandmother’s Steps will play Thursday 17 February at 7.00pm. Lavery’s second play, Grandmother’s Steps (1977), was also a lunchtime production. Les Oeufs Malades, the company that Bryony co-founded alongside Gerard Bell in 1976 was created to create roles for women. Bryony is also part of an extensive line-up of LGBT theatre makers that the King’s Head Theatre has supported in their early career.  Lavery’s adaptation of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust recently opened at the Bridge Theatre.

The celebration climaxes on Friday 18 February at 7.00pm with Victoria Wood’s Good Fun. 

Dan Crawford was an early supporter of Wood, transferring this, her second play, (1980) to the theatre in 1980. She would go on to repay this early support of her career by hosting many fundraising galas that were vital to keeping the theatre afloat in the latter years of Dan’s tenure.

Co-Artistic Director Mark Ravenhill said, “It’s been fascinating to rummage in the Kings Head archives. This week of readings is a fantastic celebration of some of our best work with audiences who have fond memories of the original productions and to others who were too young to enjoy them first time around.  It’s a great way to begin the process of saying goodbye to our beloved but knackered pub theatre as we prepare for our move next door to a purpose built 220 seat theatre, a space for the next generation of theatre makers who I’m hoping will have the same cultural impact as the playwrights we’re celebrating in Kings Head 50’.

Twitter:  @KingsHeadThtr / #KHT50

Instagram: @kingheadtheatre / #KHT50

Mayflower, Southampton – until 2 January 2022

Reviewed by Emma Barnes

5*****

Director Thom Southerland’s first pantomime, brought to Southampton by Crossroads Live was a massive success with every member of our family.  There is nothing like a dose of familiar tunes, lashings of comedy, a few pinches of magic and a Fairy Godmother to get the festive season started. 

Craig Revel Horwood returns to the Mayflower Theatre as the Wicked Stepmother, Debbie McGee as the Fairy Godmother. Richard Cadell is a superb Buttons with help from Sooty and his water pistol to cause all sorts of hilarity on stage. 

Special mention must also go to Will Richardson as Prince Charming and Georgia Carr as Cinderella who gave fantastic vocal performances. 

It is clear to see why this production is so popular. True to the traditional boy meets girl plot, we join Cinderella in her journey from rags to riches, thwarting the ugly sisters and winning her dashing Prince Charming. There is the glamour, glitter and of course dancing at the ball,  the search for the owner of the slipper and the inevitable happily ever after ending.   

Craig Revel Horwood is the dastardly and villainous Step Mother and pulls off the role to perfection without scaring the younger members of the audience.  We loved the increasingly extravagant costumes,   amazing singing and the fab- u -lus dancing.  Debbie McGee is a magical and characterful Fairy Godmother ,   the odd glitch and word stumble left the cast and audience in stitches and were so well managed that we struggled to know whether it had been deliberate.   

The scene that had us howling with laughter was the ridiculously farcical slapstick routine in the woods, the timing and comedy effect of which was superbly executed.   Cinderella’s flying carriage took our breath away and impressive magic throughout added unexpected interest.   We also enjoyed the song parodies throughout. 

Cinderella was everything a pantomime should be and more.  The traditional panto aspects such as shouting “it’s behind you” , the innuendos, the gags, booing the baddies, magnificent costumes, spectacular visual effects, smoke and fireworks were all there. A family friendly panto that rekindled our love for live theatre and had every member of our family laughing from start to finish.

Six-week Southwark Playhouse extension from 14 January – 19 February 2022

“moving at breathless speed, the five performers take on a dazzling series of gender-switching roles… a Beyoncé-esque assertion of female power in the wartime…excellent performers… There are some big, blowsy shows around in the West End, but this little belter is staging its own audacious invasion plan” ★★★★★
Suzi Feay, Financial Times

“a miraculous musical that tells the entire story in a kind of accelerated farce that is part Mel Brooks, part SIX, part Hamilton with a side order of One Man, Two Guvnors.” ★★★★★

Neil Norman, Daily Mirror

“But whoof! It blew the roof clean off. Hoots and tears welcomed this ingenious, touching musical. Taut lyrics, vintage gags, a wild tale and tunes that followed me out into the night air, in hums and whistles. Perfection… An artisanal masterpiece” ★★★★★
Luke Jones, Daily Mail

“this is the musical you didn’t know you needed — until you see the expert cast of five embracing and racing through a clutch of preposterous yet endearing characters and musical styles, telling a story with delicious precision. Set firmly in the past, this is a little show with a very big future.”

David Benedict, Variety

London 15^th Dec 2021 –The Operation Mincemeat musical remains set to start its six-week extension at Southwark Playhouse on the 14^th January 2022 amidst Warner Bros. delaying their Operation Mincemeat film release starring Colin Firth from 7^th January to April 2022.

Tickets for the musical running from 14 January through to 19 February 2022 are on sale now here

The year is 1943 and we’re losing the war. Luckily, we’re about to gamble all our futures on a stolen corpse. 

Following sold-out runs at the New Diorama Theatre in 2019 and Southwark Playhouse in 2020 and September 2021, Operation Mincemeat is back. Having spent lockdown rewriting the show, weeping and eating biscuits, SpitLip have extended the run of this newer, bigger and (somehow) even better version.

Singin’ in the Rain meets Strangers on a Train, Noel Coward meets Noel Fielding, Operation Mincemeat is the fast-paced, hilarious and unbelievable true story of the twisted secret mission that won us World War II. The question is, how did a well-dressed corpse wrong-foot Hitler? 

Operation Mincemeat won The Stage Debut award for Best Composer/Lyricist, the Off-West End award for Best Company Ensemble and was listed in the Observer’s Top 10 shows of the year.  

Commissioned by New Diorama Theatre, co-commissioned by The Lowry. Supported by the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat Additional support from Avalon. 

Ticketholders will be required to wear a face mask in accordance with government guidelines.

Hull New Theatre – until 2nd January 2022

Reviewed by Catherine McWilliams

4****

After the times we have had I desperately wanted Snow White to be full of fun and laughter and all the traditional cheer that a Christmas panto provides and it delivered exactly that and more! For over two hours last night the packed Hull New Theatre forgot they were wearing masks, forgot about the last few months and their worries and laughed and cheered and loved the silliness and nonsense that is a good old-fashioned pantomime. Panto is always a joyous occasion and with all that we have been through recently Snow White gave us sparkle and joy in abundance.

You’ve got your masks on so you all need to cheer and boo louder than ever said Muddles (Neil Hurst) as Snow White began and the audience did just that, making enough noise to raise the roof. By its very nature panto is interactive, it thrives on audience participation and by heck did the audience participate! The theatre was buzzing from the start, whether it was booing Queen Lucretia (Poppy Tierney) or shouting at Muddles and his nonsense the audience were totally immersed. Towards the end when we were all up singing, I suspect the adults were having as much fun (if not more) than the children because let’s face it a good panto brings out the child in us all!

In a nutshell the story of Snow White involves an evil Queen who wants to be rid of the beautiful Snow White, some dwarfs she stays with and a prince who rescues her. In a panto of course the story often comes in second place and there are lots of additional scenes allowing for the comedy and silliness to occur.

Neil Hurst is a class act as Muddles, working the audience with consummate skill, the purveyor of some dreadful jokes and the glue that pulls the whole panto together. He clearly loves every minute of it as he bounces around the stage and his energy and joy is infectious.

Nigel Ellacott plays the dame Nurse Nigella with utter style and makes the perfect partner for Muddles, the two bouncing off one another with their nonsense and occasional corpsing. The adults in the audience were often ahead of the pair, anticipating with glee what was to come! Nurse Nigella’s costumes were unbelievable, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anyone wearing a Marmite jar before! Reading the programme, I discovered that Nigel designs and creates all his own costumes. Mention should also go to Nurse Nigella’s eyelashes, she fluttered them with style, but to see them so well from the middle of the stalls they must have been enormous.

Faye Brookes made for a sweet Princess Snow White, with just the right amount of sugar. She has a lovely singing voice.

For me Poppy Tierney was outstanding as Queen Lucretia, she was stunningly evil and had the most incredible singing voice. The lighting at times silhouetted her turning her green, making her appear even more evil.

Snow White does not have a huge cast and all of them worked so hard to ensure that the audience had the best of times. This is not a panto full of technical gadgetry but a deceptively simple production with glittering backdrops and lighting providing the magic. Music was provided by the Hull New Theatre Band (Jon Chamberlain, Lisa Featherston and Mark Knight) making enough noise to make you think the orchestra pit was full of musicians.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a very traditional panto, full of everything you would want – audience participation, bad jokes, the jokes that go over the children’s heads, music, dance, a happy ending but most of all laughter and happiness.

Watching the children’s awe and wonder, their glee as they screamed at the Queen is wonderful in itself. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a full-on traditional family pantomime providing the perfect escape from these times.

Oh, and I swear you could see the smiles on people’s faces through their masks as they left the theatre last night. Thank you, you lifted us all up.

Original Theatre Online presents  

Marcus Brigstocke’s bittersweet drama of family and addiction 

The Red 

Starring Bruce Alexander and Sam Alexander 

Film Direction by Charlotte Peters 

Online from 24 February until 24 May 2022   

Original Theatre Online presents Marcus Brigstocke’s bittersweet drama, The Red, online from 24 February until 24 May 2022 (https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/34/the-red-by-marcus-brigstocke).    

Originally commissioned for BBC Radio 4 and winner of the BBC Audio Drama Award 2018 for Best Single Drama, Marcus Brigstocke’s compelling drama of family and addiction is based on his own recovery. The 2019 stage production had acclaimed runs at Omnibus Theatre and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. 

Benedict’s dad loved wine. He loved collecting it, drinking it and found sharing it with friends and family was an act of love.  

Benedict was a teenage alcoholic. He’s been sober now for 25 years.
On the day of his father’s funeral, Benedict receives an unsettling final bequest: a bottle of exceptionally fine red wine. Will he drink one final toast to his father?

The Red stars father and son Bruce Alexander (A Touch of Frost) and Sam Alexander (Royal Shakespeare Company). It is Written and Directed by Marcus Brigstocke, Directed for film by Charlotte Peters, Designed by Alex Marker and has Sound and Composition by Max Pappenheim. 

Marcus Brigstocke is best known for his stand-up comedy and as a regular performer and writer on BBC Radio 4 including The Now Show, I’ve Never Seen Star Wars, The Brig Report and Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off. He said: “The Red is a deeply personal piece of work for me. It is in large part my story. I am so proud that it has been such a success and hugely excited that it will be seen by more people now!  Sam and Bruce are just excellent in these roles and the fact that they are father and son brings a very special dimension to it all. I am thrilled that The Red is coming back.” 

Alastair Whatley, Artistic Director of Original Theatre Company, said: “I’m delighted to be working with Marcus on his superb play alongside the real-life father and son duo of Bruce and Sam Alexander. The Red deftly explores themes which will I suspect resonate widely and I look forward to sharing the production with our audiences around the world.” 

For more information and tickets, visit: https://originaltheatreonline.com/productions/34/the-red-by-marcus-brigstocke.    

See the booking page for trigger warnings (this does contain spoilers). Age guidance: 14+. Running time: 60 minutes. The production link includes a pre-recorded Q&A with Marcus Brigstocke. Subtitles are available. 

Super Early Bird Tickets – £12 (ends 23 Jan); Early Bird Tickets – £15 (ends 24 Feb); Standard – £20; Supporter – £40 (including a digital programme and credit on the film – ends 14 Feb); Premium – £100 (including a signed script, digital programme and credit on the film – ends 14 Feb). 

HAMPSTEAD THEATRE ANNOUNCES FULL CAST & CREATIVE TEAM FOR THE WORLD PREMIERE OF FLORIAN ZELLER’S THE FOREST, TRANSLATED BY CHRISTOPHER HAMPTON, WITH DIRECTION BY JONATHAN KENT, FROM 5 FEBRUARY UNTIL 12 MARCH 2022

Hampstead Theatre is delighted to announce the full cast and creative team for the world premiere of Florian Zeller’s new play, The Forest. Running from 5 February until 12 March 2022, The Forest is translated by Zeller’s long-time collaborator Christopher Hampton, and directed by Jonathan Kent, who re-unites with Zeller after his critically acclaimed production of The Height of the Storm.

Toby Stephens (Lost in Space, Netflix; Oslo, National Theatre, West End), Gina McKee (Bodyguard, BBC One; Di and Viv and Rose, Hampstead Theatre), Paul McGann (Withnail and I, HandMade Films, Doctor Who, BBC One) and Angel Coulby (Merlin, BBC One; Good People, Hampstead Theatre) are joined in the cast by Millie Brady (Roadkill, BBC One; The Queen’s Gambit, Netflix), Silas Carson (Phantom Thread, Universal Pictures; Drawing the Line, Hampstead Theatre), Finbar Lynch (Indecent, Menier Chocolate Factory; Girl From The North Country, West End), Sakuntala Ramanee (Romeo and Juliet, RSC; East Is East, Jamie Lloyd-UK tour) and Eddie Toll (Stephen, ITV; Ivan and the Dogs, Young Vic).

Director Jonathan Kent will be joined by designer, Anna Fleischle; lighting designer, Hugh Vanstone; sound designer, Isobel Waller-Bridge; casting director, Lotte Hines andassociate designer and costume co-designer, Jasmine Swan.

Jonathan Kent, director ofThe Forest, said:

“Zeller’s mysterious and fascinating new play is unlike anything he’s written before and, in fact, unlike anything I’ve ever directed.  It demands all the creative and inventive talents of the remarkable company of actors I’ve been lucky enough to assemble.”

***

“He can’t help himself and he plunges into the forest…until the moment it dawns on him: night has fallen and he is completely lost.”

At this turning-point of his life, Pierre finds himself tormented by the conflicting demands of family, career and sexual desire.  His struggle to resolve this crisis, without fracturing his marriage or compromising his moral code, is explored in unsettling ways.

I’m telling you a story, if that’s all right by you.Apparently, you’ve no objection to telling stories yourself.Am I right?

Florian Zeller’s play The Father (Wyndham’s) has the status of a modern classic and the screen adaptation won the 2021 Academy Award for Zeller and Christopher Hampton.  His recent plays in London include The Son (Duke of York’s), The Height of the Storm (Wyndham’s), The Mother (Kiln Theatre), The Truth (Wyndham’s) and The Lie (Menier Chocolate Factory).

Multiple-award winning playwright and screenwriter Christopher Hampton won an Academy Award for his screen adaptation of his play Les Liaisons Dangereuses (as Dangerous Liaisons).  He was also nominated for adapting Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement in 2007.  Hampton has previously adapted Zeller’s The Father, The Mother and The Truth.

Jonathan Kent returns to Hampstead Theatre, having previously directed Good People (2014) and The Slaves of Solitude (2017).  Kent’s recent credits include Talking Heads (BBC and Bridge Theatre), The Height of the Storm (Wyndham’s), A German Life (The Bridge), Long Day’s Journey into Night (Broadway) and Peter Gynt (National Theatre).

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Hampstead Theatre is currently staging Alan Plater’s Peggy For You, directed by Richard Wilson and starring Tamsin Greig in the title role, until 29 January 2022.  Peggy For You is based on the life of Alan Plater’s former agent, the legendary Peggy Ramsay.  Greig is joined by Josh Finan, Trevor Fox, Danusia Samal and Jos Vantyler in this Olivier-nominated play (2001), which received its world premiere at Hampstead Theatre in 1999. 

The world premiere of Folk, Nell Leyshon’s beautifulplay with songs, will debut at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs from 18 December until 5 February 2022, with direction by Artistic Director Roxana Silbert.  Inspired by a true story and set in Leyshon’s home county of Somerset, Folk features Ben Allen, Sasha Frost, Mariam Haque and Simon Robson.