Month: April 2022

The Alexandra, Birmingham – until Saturday 30th April 2022

Reviewed by Amarjeet Singh

4****

Catch Me If You Can is a slick and surprisingly funny thriller which is based on a French play by Robert Thomas. This adaptation is written by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert and directed by Bob Thornton. With a small but superb cast, this play pulls of a rip-roaring romp with a deeply thrilling plot containing more twists than the winding roads of the Catskills, which is where the ominous story opens.

Away in an Alpine style honeymoon cabin, several days after the disappearance of his wife Elizabeth, Daniel Corben is visited by a local priest, who brings home Daniel’s wife. Daniel, however, is convinced that this woman is an imposter, but no one seems to believe him, and he doesn’t seem to be able to prove he is telling the truth. Things start to take a sinister turn for the worst and Daniel not only has to protect his sanity but also his life.

Why is this happening? What is the truth? With the help of a detective, a sandwich maker and a moose, all is revealed…or is it?

Catch Me If You Can, in a word, is brilliant. It’s a well thought out and clever story that keeps you guessing up until its gripping climax. There is such great synergy between the cast leads, Patrick Duffy, Linda Purl and Gray O’Brien who work seamlessly together to deliver excellent performances which lift the production to another level. The writing punches, the humour is on point and importantly, the pace and movement of the piece is timed so you can keep up with the sleuthing.

Catch Me If You Can is compelling, engaging and genuinely funny. If you’re looking for some real, old-school entertainment in the truest sense of the word, I would urge you to catch it if you can.

Forum Theatre, Malvern – 24th April 2022

Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau

5*****

Since Covid had most of us sitting in our nowhere lands making all our nowhere plans, I’ve been eagerly anticipating this rescheduled show. It’s been a long, long, long time but we’ve finally got to get back to rock and roll music. Given the pedigree of The Bootleg Beatles (in its 43rd year) playing history’s most celebrated songbook a splendid time was guaranteed for all. In anticipation, I was praying hey dudes, just make me glad, take some fab songs and make life better – well they certainly please pleased me!

The lights dimmed, the video screen set the scene with some classic contemporary newsreel and music footage, the boys let fly with “She Loves You” and for the next couple of hours the hits never let up! It was also lovely to hear some genuinely surprising additions to a live Beatles set such as “Another Girl” (from the “Help!” Soundtrack), “Hey Bulldog” and “I Me Mine”.

The attention to detail was awe inspiring with the clothes, guitars, accents, mannerisms (John’s “going mad” at Shea Stadium for instance or Paul’s stuttering, breathless song introductions) all astonishingly accurate. It was like watching newsreel footage of the actual Fabs, but live in front of you. George’s guitar solos were especially impressive; playing them more faithfully than the original did live!

They also totally nailed the irreverent humour – whether recreating the skits of the originals (the live at Blackpool post “Yesterday” bouquet gag) or in adding new layers of modern humour in the same vein (John’s jokey “phase one, in which Doris gets her oats” becoming “…in which Boris gets a fine”.

With a little help from their friends in the orchestra, the band could also regale us with songs such as “Lady Madonna” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” with authentic sonic precision and pay fitting homage to George Martin, the fifth Beatle always present in spirit. Special mention also to Max (I hope I heard that right, there was a lot of cheering and clapping during the introductions) adding percussion and various keyboard parts like Billy Preston’s fine additions or Martin’s piano on “In My Life” being particular highlights.

By the encore we were all on our feet and singing like it was the Last Night of the Proms with “All You Need Is Love” and “Give Peace A Chance” proof positive of how relevant the Beatles still are in these perilous times. Finally “Hey Jude” raised the roof, joyously shredding the last vestiges of my own vocal chords.

Total Guitar Magazine once called them “the toppermost of the copymost” and I couldn’t agree more (or put it better myself). Not only was it the closest thing to seeing the Beatles it actually was seeing (and experiencing) them. There was everything to enjoy about this evening’s entertainment. A total triumph which I couldn’t recommend highly enough to anyone who loves The Beatles, music in general or just a great night out. Life affirming perfection!

One Cartridge Place, London – booking until 4 December 2022

Reviewed by Alun Hood

4****

You never forget your first Punchdrunk. Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle’s epoch-making shows have transformed expectations of what immersive, site-specific theatre can achieve, in terms of scale, production values, all-encompassing design and attention to detail, and audience engagement. To experience one – you can’t just watch a Punchdrunk production, not least because you’ll be on your feet and on the move pretty much the whole time – is to go on a complete sensory journey, one where you decide which story arcs and characters to watch and follow, which of the stunningly realised sets to explore, and to be utterly transported. With The Burnt City, their biggest show to date, they take on Greek myth, although the aesthetic is anachronistic: boho chic meets old school Hollywood glamour meets monochrome starkness: there’s not a floaty tunic in sight, although there is a fair bit of blood and gore.

Part of the fun comes at the end, seeing the disorientation of audience members/participants removing their masks and readjusting to being back in the “real” world, as opposed to the elaborately curated one the Punchdrunk collective have manifested. For the uninitiated: everybody is provided with a rigid, bone-white mask for the duration, and the effect is curiously liberating while at the same time impeding peripheral vision and spatial awareness in ways that some may find discomfiting. Indeed, one of the enduring images I’ve taken away from each Punchdrunk show I’ve been to, is of distant flotillas of these pearlescent white masks moving at speed through the gloom as a host of audience members pursue their chosen character to a different part of the vast space and the next instalment of that particular plot strand.

Linear storytelling isn’t the point here, each gargantuan production being a distillation of it’s source material (their last big London project, 2014’s The Drowned Man, performed across multiple transformed floors of a disused Paddington post office was inspired by Buchner’s Woyzeck, while their ongoing NYC long runner Sleep No More is a riff on Macbeth, turning a dilapidated Manhattan warehouse into an elegant but demonically possessed 1930’s hotel) rather than a straightforward adaptation. As each show is virtually wordless (the Punchdrunk language is an intoxicating combination of atmosphere, music, mime and modern dance), it may be worth doing a bit of research on the background before you set out. I certainly found myself wishing I’d boned up on Greek drama, specifically Aeschylus’s Agamemnon and Euripides’s Hecuba which are the basis for The Burnt City, housed in Punchdrunk’s new HQ, a pair of former military arsenal buildings near the Thames.

Certain moments from the stories – Agamemnon’s sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia to appease the Gods of War, Clytemnestra’s revenge and her dalliance with Aegisthus – are fairly clear but there are times when it’s pretty impossible to work out what’s going on. Plus if you stay in one spot for too long you’ll experience the same sections more than once, as though on a loop. There’s a danger of FOMO setting in – it’s impossible to take the whole thing in on one visit – also a sense of ennui and disbelief that you’ve just spent minutes watching somebody make a cup of tea or a soldier climb a ladder in slo mo, or witnessed a plastic-clad pair cavort with what looks like offal. Whether or not that bothers you depends on the extent to which you surrender to the overall Punchdrunk vision. If it all takes itself very seriously, well, Greek Tragedy was never a barrel of laughs.

Technically, it is astounding: from Stephen Dobbie’s doomy, overwhelming score, drawing on everything from trance to Charleston to a lush Hans Zimmer-like orchestral swell, to David Israel Reynoso’s costume designs and the gorgeous, if occasionally too dim, lighting (by FragmentNine, Ben Donoghoe and Felix Barrett), everything pretty much takes the breath away. Maxine Doyle choreographs and her jagged, adrenalised creations for the humans in distress contrast tellingly with the fluid, other-worldly dynamism of the Fates, plus it’s an authentic thrill to experience dance at such close quarters. The cast are a sinewy, beautiful bunch, with presence and athleticism to spare, but they rotate parts so, unless you’re a clued-up regular, you don’t know who you’re watching in which role.
Designers Felix Barrett, Livi Vaughan and Beatrice Minns have divided the vast area into two very specific worlds. Greece is austerely, chillingly magnificent: on a mezzanine, Agamemnon’s Mycenae palace combines brutality and luxury while below a wide open space suggests a battlefield and wasteland, with massive wrought iron structures scattered about like the prows of abandoned ships, and the two levels are connected by an epic staircase, the like of which hasn’t seen so much action since Sunset Boulevard. By contrast, Troy is a funky, grungy, densely packed neon-edged city, full of weird but colourful shops, bars, hotels, and a kind of desperate, apocalyptic energy. There’s even a night club, complete with fully stocked bar, where a glorious Black diva belts out a version of New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’. There is an all-pervasive sense though, in the astonishingly detailed installations and tableaux vivants, of urban lives being abandoned in a panic, and of grim resignation from the humans left behind to face an oncoming storm of the Greek invasion, and it’s hard not to contextualise this with the current events in Ukraine.

If I came away from The Burnt City impressed rather than moved, I am still, a day later, haunted by individual images: Iphigenia’s broken body splayed across the top of a gantry, a pile of bones in front of a makeshift altar, Agamemnon processing up the epic staircase in a never-ending blood red cloak, or the ghostly contortions of the nearly naked company processing back down it at the conclusion before exploding into a whirring, trance-like ritualistic circular dance as snow falls from above. Shatteringly powerful moments sit next to sections that are frustratingly elliptical. The best approach is to let it just wash over you…and wear comfy shoes. Punchdrunk are back, and it’s epic.

Grand Opera House York – until Saturday 30th April 2022.

Reviewed by Michelle Richardson

4****

Calendar Girls is based on a true story of middle-aged women, centring around the Women’s Institute, Yorkshire, grief, and friendship. After the husband of one of the members dies from cancer, a group of women decide to raise money for the local hospital and its family room. This endeavour proved to be such a success that a movie followed, before being adapted to stage, and now Gary Barlow and Tim Firth have turned it in to a musical. York Stage, under the direction of Nik Briggs, has bought the tale back to Yorkshire and the Grand Opera House in York.

Before I even start, I need to give a huge shout out to young Louie Theaker who stepped in to play Tommo with just an hours’ notice. He did a fabulous job and is a natural on stage, well done for putting a smile on all our faces.

Straight from the opening number, Yorkshire, where we have our first introduction to the cast, you just know you are going to be in for a treat. We are drawn into the gorgeous Yorkshire Dales and life of the ladies of the WI in the fictitious village of Knapley. The ladies all have one thing in common, the WI, with their meetings involving baking, lectures from the local community and knitting, real nail-biting stuff, though some members were quite naughty, rebelling against the traditional, quintessential British institution.

There’s a cake making competition with other WIs, where the best Victoria Sponge is what everyone wants to win. Chris (Julieann Smith) is a rubbish cook and enters an M&S shop bought one, which then goes on to win. Chis comes up with the idea to do a WI calendar, but not your traditional one, no, a nude one instead, to raise money. The husband, John (Mick Liversidge) of her best friend Annie (Jo Theaker) is struck down with cancer and the families room desperately needs a new sofa. After the initial shock, these madcap pair cajole and persuade other members of the organisation to join in, and we are taken on a journey of self-discovery.

The famed photo shoot is hilarious from start to finish. A somewhat embarrassed Lawrence (Finn East) has been roped in to stage the photos, tastefully of course, whilst averting his eyes, but are the buns big enough? This was done very tastefully with great props. Huge credit to the ladies here, yes, they took their clothes off.

Both Theaker and Smith, stalwarts of York Stage, have great chemistry together, your really believe they are best of friends, getting up to all sorts of mischief. Theaker has an amazing voice and really hits the heart strings, struggling through grief, with her portrayal, very powerful. Smith is another strong singer, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She was a blast and very feisty.

The other ladies were the icing on the cake. Cora (Rosy Rowley) resplendent with her very curly hair and superb voice. Celia (Tracey Rea) great bust and comedic timing. Jessie (Sandy Nicolson) is full of warmth as the former headmistress, still revered by former pupils, I only wish I had a head like her. Ruth (Juliet Waters) and her baking, too timid to try and change, until her “Russian Friend” gets involved, her portrayal of letting her hair down was very funny.

The husbands gave solid performances as good old Yorkshire men but were very much supporting roles to the women. Sam Roberts as Danny, Izzie Norwood as Jenny, and Louie, as the teenagers, bought a wonderful comedic element to the production and I hope to see them performing on stage again. The whole ensemble were a joy to watch, bringing so much energy to the stage. Everyone should be proud of what they achieved on the stage.

Whilst the WI may appear to be very middle class, dominated by the more mature woman, you cannot fault the camaraderie and support that it offers. And not forgetting all the money it has raised for charity.

Once again, York Stage has hit the mark. This depiction was truly hilarious, a rollercoaster of emotions, truly uplifting. Make sure you go and see this heart-warming and heart wrenching show. It is a joy to watch, you will not be disappointed.

York Theatre Royal – Saturday 23rd April 2022

Review by Zoe Giles

5*****

To be honest I really didn’t think I would enjoy this show having: no script, no theme, no idea of songs etc. How wrong could I have been, we absolutely LOVED it. The evening starts with the audience shouting out ideas which are then voted on, and the loudest cheer is the main “Theme” for the evening with the other ideas fed in, our winner was a party hosted by Boris Johnson, with the addition of a bouncy castle and a holiday let in Matlock.

Next, we were asked to come up with a name for our play, the clear winner was “you’ve let us all downing street”

The final part of our improvised play was to which musicals we would like our play to be set, the audience came up with Jesus Christ Superstar, Rent, Annie get your Gun and Hamilton.

And, we were off on our adventure for the evening with the skills of these amazing improvisation actors who from the first moment had us in stitches and I knew we were in for a treat, there is no fancy set design just basic props set against a black background with red highlights and because the actors are so good, they didn’t need anything fancy to make us believe what they were doing we were so mesmerised by their performances nothing else was needed.

And so, we found ourselves at a “meeting” at Downing Street where cheese and wine were being served and the fun and games really started as they made up a script ,then a song to the suggested musicals, and time just raced by as the actors took on different roles and characters while feeding off each other and taking a lead from each other which was so impressive it was hard to believe that this was all being made up right before us. During the interval we were asked to tweet ideas for how the second act should begin and so we were treated to a march on downing street to the musical Les Misérables and with the sound of music a very close second, we were then treated to the

Vontrap children singing the Bing Bong song, which for me was the highlight of the evening you had to be there!

It’s no wonder they have been awarded an Oliver award and been invited back for a 13th year to the Edinburgh fringe festival, if you get the chance to see this show, I would strongly recommend you do I can’t obviously tell you what it will be about or the theme but what I can say is you’ll have a great time!!!!!

 FESTIVAL THEATRE, EDINBURGH – UNTIL 23rd  APRIL

 REVIEWED BY RACHEL FARRIER 

5*****

This is a visually stunning ballet production of the classic early twentieth century novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, staged by Northern Ballet and choreographed by David Nixon. I was intrigued (and perhaps a little sceptical) to see how the novel would translate into this format, but this production does it magnificently. 

The score, by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett and performed here by the Northern Ballet Sinfonia, is achingly beautiful and brilliantly incorporates the tone and style that we now associate with the 1920s. This is mirrored by the incorporation of ballroom dances (such as the Charleston) into the already stunning ballet choreography, and gorgeous costumes which convey the decadence of the monied classes of that era. 

The beautiful and clever set design and lighting underpin the production, in particular the use of large ‘windows’ across the stage which enable flashbacks and memories of the main characters to be conveyed, as well as creating an effective inside/outside.

The entire ensemble impressed with energy and accuracy, but the performances in particular from Saeka Sharai as Daisy Buchanan and Riku Ito as Jay Gatsby are simply outstanding, in particular the scenes in which they dance alone together. There is skill and precision to their performance of the beautiful choreography, but also some impressive acting – the audience feels the full range of emotions along with the characters as they swing from joyous and passionate to anxious and tragic. Harris Beattie also delivers a stand out performance as garage mechanic George Wilson – he conveys the frustration and heartbreak of his character with a rare physicality and energy. There is something spell binding about a seemingly stereotypical macho character dancing across the stage with a tender violence, using a tyre as a graceful prop. 

Whether you are a ballet aficionado or not, this is a captivating ballet with an outstanding ensemble, which will both entertain and move you.

CAST ANNOUNCED FOR

BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL

A Made at Curve production directed by Nikolai Foster

Billy Elliot to be performed by

Leo Hollingsworth, Alfie Napolitano, Samuel Newby and Jaden Shentall-Lee

Sally-Ann Triplett as Mrs. Wilkinson

Joe Caffrey as Jackie Elliot

Luke Baker as Tony Elliot

Jessica Daley as Dead Mum

Curve has announced the cast and creative team for its upcoming Made at Curve production of Billy Elliot the Musical.

The first new UK production is directed by Nikolai Foster (A Chorus Line, Sunset Boulevard – At Home, West Side Story) and will run at the Leicester theatre for six weeks only from Thursday 7 July to Sunday 14 August. Press night will take place on Thursday 14 July.

The titular role of Billy Elliot, the miner’s son with a passion for ballet, will be performed by Leo Hollingsworth from Nottinghamshire, Alfie Napolitano from Northamptonshire, Samuel Newby from Hertfordshire and Jaden Shentall-Lee, whose family live in Leicestershire.

Billy’s dance teacher Mrs. Wilkinson will be played by West End and Broadway legend Sally Ann Triplett, whose iconic roles include Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes (National Theatre and Theatre Royal Drury Lane) and Young Phyllis in Follies (Shaftesbury Theatre), as well as Martha in the recent Made at Curve UK tour of White Christmas.

Michael, Billy’s best friend will be performed by Bobby Donald, Lucas Haywood, Ethan Shimwell and Leicester’s Prem Masani, who will make his stage debut in the production.

All hailing from the East Midlands, Pearl Ball, Caitlin Cole, Lola Johnstone and Ellie Copping – who returns to Curve’s stage having previously appeared as Susan Waverly in the 2018 Made at Curve production of White Christmas – will share the role of Debbie, Mrs. Wilkinson’s daughter.

Joe Caffrey, who previously performed in the West End production of Billy Elliot the Musical, will join the cast as Billy’s Dad Jackie, while Broadway and West End sensation Rachel Izen will play Billy’s Grandma Edna. Luke Baker (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, the Made at Curve UK tour of Grease) will play Billy’s older brother Tony and Jessica Daley (recently seen in Made at Curve productions of White Christmas and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber) will play Billy’s Dead Mum.

The adult company will be completed by Craig Armstrong as George, Minal Patel as Big Davey, Cameron Johnson as Mr. Braithwaite, Micky Cochrane as Scab, Robin Paley Yorke as Lesley, Christopher Wright as Mr. Wilkinson, Michael Lin as Pit Supervisor, Jonathan Dryden Taylor as Posh Dad, Tori McDougall as Clipboard Woman, Louie Wood as Glaswegian Dancer, and Steph Asamoah and Anna Rossa as community members.

The young company of ballet dancers and boxers, most of which are Midlands-based or have local family connections, will feature Willow Adamson, Maddie Seren Ashley, Oliver Back, Aneeka Kaur Bains, Ella-Rose Blackburn Price, Harvey Clarridge, Lily Corkill, Miley Dalton, Matisse Didier, Isabelle Francis, Ethan Galeotti, Rahul Gandabhai, Isla Granville, Uzziah Gray, Orlaith Rae Hunt, Ava Rose Johnson, Ava Mia Komisarczuk, Kyrelle Lammy, Lienna-Jean Langdon, Tahlia Maddox, Lorcan Murphy, Nesisa Mhindu, Hayden Polanco, Sophie Pirie, Gopal Thacker and Mirabelle Varakantam.

The Made at Curve production of Billy Elliot the Musical will by choreographed by Lucy Hind, with Musical Supervisor and Musical Director George Dyer. The set will be designed by Michael Taylor with costumes designed by Edd Lindley. Also joining the creative team are Lighting Designer and Curve Associate Ben Cracknell, Sound Designer Adam Fisher, Props Supervisor Lizzie Frankl, RYTDS Resident Assistant Director Lilac Yosiphon, Birkbeck Trainee Director Thyrza Abrahams, Associate Choreographer James Berkery, Dialect Coach Elspeth Morrison, Fight Director Kev McCurdy and Head Chaperone Helen ‘H’ Mclaren-Frost.

Children’s casting is managed by Jo Hawes, with adult casting led by Curve Associate Kay Magson CDG.

Curve’s Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai Foster said:

“We are beyond excited to share our extraordinary cast for Lee Hall and Elton John’s astonishing musical Billy Elliot, ensuring this summer in Leicester is truly memorable.

“Billy Elliot is a musical filled with incredible characters, epic ideas and at its heart, the story of a young boy who has the passion and courage to dance down a different path from the one prescribed for him. We are thrilled to be working with our four Billys – Alfie, Leo, Jaden and Sam – and the entire young company – all hugely talented, brimming with energy and representing the very best young talent in the UK today.

“And leading the entire company, theatre legend Sally Ann Triplett takes on the role of the inspirational teacher we all need in our lives, Mrs. Wilkinson. Joining Sally, we are proud to welcome a first-class company to Curve, totally 55 performers! This is by far the most ambitious show we have staged at Curve and there is no better time to present this musical which recognises the value of culture in our society, the importance of expressing your truest self and gives a voice to the courageous working-class communities who are depicted in Lee Hall’s astonishing play. All beautifully framed by Elton John’s electrifying score.”

Based on Stephen Daldry’s BAFTA-winning 2000 film starring Jamie Bell and Julie Walters, Billy Elliot the Musical features music from Elton John and book and lyrics by Lee Hall. The musical first premiered at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre in 2005 and went on to win a host of international awards, including four Olivier Awards and ten Tony Awards.

It’s the mid 80s. Thatcher is at her most powerful. Men mine and boys box. Until, in a small town in County Durham, a young boy falls in love with ballet.

Set amidst the increasingly bitter 1984/85 miners’ strike, Billy Elliot the Musical is a tale of determination, acceptance and daring to be different. In a close-knit community where family and tradition means everything, can Billy forge a new destiny and follow his passion?

Based on Stephen Daldry’s acclaimed 2000 film, with music by Elton John and book and lyrics by Lee Hall, this electrifying musical features incredible songs such as Solidarity, The Letter, He Could Be a Star and the show-stopping Electricity.

Tickets for Billy Elliot the Musical at Curve be purchased on Curve’s website www.curveonline.co.uk, over the phone by calling 0116 242 3595 or in-person at Curve’s Box Office.

Billy Elliot the Musical is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International: www.mtishows.co.uk 

THE MORMONS ARE COMING TO NEWCASTLE!

The Book of Mormon, Broadway’s smash-hit musical written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez, is coming to Newcastle Theatre Royal for a three week run Wed 15 Jun – Sat 9 Jul 2022.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone are the creators of the Emmy and Peabody award-winning television show, South Park, which has run for more than 20 seasons and the feature films South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and Team America: World Police.

Robert Lopez co-created the Broadway musical Avenue Q and co-wrote the songs for Disney’s Frozen and Coco. He is one of only fifteen artists to win all four major entertainment awards – Emmy®, Grammy®, Oscar® and Tony® Awards.

The Book of Mormon follows a pair of Mormon boys sent on a mission to a place that’s a long way from their home in Salt Lake City.

Since making its world premiere in March 2011 at New York’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre, where it won nine Tony® Awards, including Best Musical, The Book of Mormon has been performed on three continents and won over thirty international awards. The musical has smashed long-standing box office records in New York, London, Melbourne, Sydney and cities across the U.S.

The London production opened in February 2013, winning four Olivier Awards® including Best New Musical, and breaking the record for the highest single day of sales in West End history. It has sold out every one of its 2735 performances to date at the Prince of Wales Theatre.

Book, Music and Lyrics are by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone. Directed by Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon has choreography by Casey Nicholaw, set design by Scott Pask, costume design by Ann Roth, lighting design by Brian MacDevitt, sound design by Brian Ronan, orchestrations by Larry Hochman and Stephen Oremus and music supervision and vocal arrangements by Stephen Oremus.

The Book of Mormon is produced by Anne Garefino, Scott Rudin, Important Musicals and Sonia Friedman Productions.

The Book of Mormon plays at Newcastle Theatre Royal Wed 15 Jun – Sat 9 Jul 2022. Tickets are priced at £17.50 and can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 0191 232 7010.

FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR POLITICAL THRILLER BRITANNICUS, ON FROM 26 MAY TO 25 JUNE

• It’s a Sin’s Nathaniel Curtis to star in the title role of Britannicus with William Robinson as Nero, Sirine Saba as Agrippina, Hanna Khogali as Albine, Helena Lymbery as Burrhus, Nigel Barrett as Narcissus and Shyvonne Ahhmad as Junia      

• Jean Racine’s Roman tragedy is translated and adapted by Timberlake Wertenbaker and directed by the award-winning Atri Banerjee

• Britannicus runs at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre from 26 May to 25 June, with opening night on 01 June. Tickets at www.lyric.co.uk

Full casting is announced today for Jean Racine’s Roman tragedy Britannicus, translated and adapted by Timberlake Wertenbaker and directed by award-winning director Atri Banerjee,in a thrilling, new production exploring monarchy, succession, dictatorship and depravity, set in modern day Rome. Britannicus runs at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre from 26 May to 25 June 2022, with opening night for press on 01 June.

The production features Shyvonne Ahhmad, seen asAsh Majee in UKTV series Annika, as Junia; Nigel Barrett,from the award-winning Edinburgh Festival hit Pops,plays Narcissus; Nathaniel Curtis, best known for playing Ash Mukherjee in the hit Channel 4 series It’s A Sin, in the title role of Britannicus; Hanna Khogali, seen in Paines Plough’s You Bury Me,is Albine; Helena Lymbery,recently seen in Measure for Measure at Shakespeare’s Globe, plays Burrhus; Sirine Saba, who was recently seen as the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare’s Globe, plays their mother Agrippina; and William Robinson, direct from Bacon at Finborough Theatre, as Emperor Nero.

Jean Racine’s tragedy is translated and adapted by Timberlake Wertenbaker, the Olivier and New York Drama Critics Award winning writer of Our Country’s Good. This enthralling adaptation of Britannicus marks the first major London production in 10 years and is directed by Atri Banerjee, winner of The Stage Debut Award for Best Director and recently named in their list of top theatremakers to look out for in 2022.

Atri Banerjee, Director, said: “I’m so thrilled to be directing this new production of Britannicus and to be working with brilliant collaborators across cast and creative team to bring Racine’s epic political thriller to life. From antiquity to the present day, we’ve always felt the corrosive effects of unchecked authoritarianism. Right now, we feel them in war in Ukraine; election in France; parties in our very own seats of power as the country is ravaged by pandemic. Britannicus dramatises the point when a “good” leader turns bad and so has never felt more relevant. Racine drew upon the political landscape of 17th century France to tell a story of 1st century Rome: in it, we see 21st century Britain.

Britannicus makes the political personal and the personal political. It’s an honour to work with the legendary Timberlake Wertenbaker on her bold, muscular adaptation. I’m so excited by the vision and scope of our production, and I have no doubt that audiences will be gripped by what we have in store for them.”

Timberlake Wertenbaker, Translator and Adaptor, said: “I was actually translating Racine’s Phedre when I caught a production of Britannicus in Paris. I hadn’t known the play well before and I was stunned by its analysis of ambition and the corruption of power. I was intrigued by the complex and changeable relationships between the characters, something Racine does brilliantly.  It’s a very political play and seems to speak to times of political turmoil.”

Rachel O’Riordan, Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Atri Banerjee to direct on our main stage at the Lyric as part of our continuing 2022 season. His extraordinary vision and talent willno doubt elevate another essential work from the always impressive Timberlake Wertenbaker. Britannicus is a historical story of political power and self-interest yet proves ever more poignant today.”

‘Tyranny always promises good things.’ Power and succession are in the very bones of Rome. Agrippina – desperate to cling onto power – has ensured her son, Nero, is the Roman Emperor, in place of his half-brother and the rightful heir, Britannicus. But the corridors of power and Nero’s own obsession turn a once virtuous ruler into an oppressive tyrant. This noble tragedy explores monarchy, dictatorship and depravity.

Britannicus is written by Jean Racine, translated and adapted by Timberlake Wertenbaker, directed by Atri Banerjee, set and costume design by Rosanna Vize, lighting design by Lee Curran, composition and sound design by Jasmin Kent Rodgman, movement direction by Jennifer Jackson and casting by Nadine Rennie CDG.

REGENT’S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE’S MOREoutdoor SUMMER 2022 EVENTS ANNOUNCED

·       COMEDIANS DANIEL KITSON, GAVIN OSBORN and TIM KEY CONFIRMED

·       BERK’S NEST and CANNED LAUGHTER PRESENT TWO COMEDY FUNDRAISERS IN SUPPORT OF THE TRUSSELL TRUST

·       BATTERSEA ARTS CENTRE and BAC BEATBOX ACADEMY PRESENT FRANKENSTEIN: HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER

·       SPECIAL EVENTS INCLUDE AUSTENTATIOUS and LE GATEAU CHOCOLAT

·       THE LUNA CINEMA PRESENT OUTDOOR SCREENINGS OF STAR WARS: EPISODE IV – A NEW HOPE and SPIELBERG’S WEST SIDE STORY

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre have today announced MOREoutdoor events as part of their 90^th anniversary season.

Daniel Kitson returns to the stage for the first time in two years with three gigs (Sunday 19 June, 24 July, 21 August). Performing with or near Gavin Osborn, it’s entirely unclear what the “thing” is they’ll be doing. It may involve them both being on stage at the same time, winking at each other, giggling or taking turns to do a nice little dance for everyone. Lovely.

Following sold-out gigs in 2020 and 2021, Berk’s Nest and Canned Laughter present two all-star comedy fundraisers in support of The Trussell Trust’s London food banks (Sunday 12 June). Suzi Ruffell hosts a 5pm early show, which also includes Sukh Ojla and Brett Goldstein, with Chloe Petts hosting an 8.30pm late show, featuring Ria Lina and Kerry Godliman. Full lines-ups to be announced in due course.

Tim Key (Alan Partridge, The Witchfinder) brings his 5-star show Mulberry to the Open Air Theatre (Sunday 19 June), with ruminations about the great indoors and a bit of stamping around. Oh, and a velour tracksuit, continental lagers and some “poetry”.

Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel, is the award-winning smash-hit comedy – as seen in the West End and heard on Radio 4. Inspired entirely by a title from the audience, a new Jane Austen novel will be performed in period costume with live musical accompaniment. Swooning guaranteed (Sunday 31 July).

From Battersea Arts Centre the BAC Beatbox Academy present Frankenstein: How To Make A Monster (Monday 8 August). Part electrifying gig, part thrilling theatre this powerful and poetic show pushes the power of the human voice to its expressive, musical and rhythmic limits. Reimagining a world of modern monsters and taking musical inspirations from Pachelbel to The Prodigy, Frankenstein will leave you asking: Who are the monsters we fear? Who created them? And how the hell did they just do that with their voices?

Le Gateau Chocolat makes his Open Air Theatre debut with his delicious Raw Cacao (Sunday 14 August). Sitting at the profound intersection of William Shakespeare and Maya Angelou, Raw Cacao is an exploration of intimacy; an invitation into the most hallowed of spaces – the chamber where one transitions from performer to person, asking “who are we when no one is watching?” Lurching from pop to opera via folk song, musical theatre, disco and more, this is a mixtape of who Gateau was, who Gateau is, and who Gateau hopes to become.

An annual Open Air Theatre favourite, The Luna Cinema present two incredible outdoor cinema events, both classics in their own right. With the night sky the backdrop to the galactic civil war, experience George Lucas’s Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (Sunday 26 June) in a 45^th anniversary screening, followed by Steven Spielberg’s multi-award-winning new take on West Side Story (Sunday 18 September). With an epic score featuring ‘America’, ‘Maria’, ‘Tonight’ and ‘Somewhere’, this phenomenal movie musical is one not to miss in the glorious surroundings of a Royal Park.

Priority booking opens 11am, Friday 22 April 2022

Public booking opens 11am, Thursday 28 April 2022

For more information about Priority Booking, visit openairtheatre.com/join

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s 90^th Anniversary season also includes Legally Blonde (13 May – 2 July) directed by Lucy Moss and 101 Dalmatians (12 Jul – 28 Aug), a newly commissioned musical written by Douglas Hodge (music and lyrics) and Johnny McKnight (book), from a stage adaptation by Zinnie Harris, based on the book by Dodie Smith. In a second commission from the theatre in 2022, Antigone (3 – 24 September) by Barber Shop Chronicles writer Inua Ellams after Sophocles, is directed by Max Webster and co-directed by Jo Tyabji.