WILTON’S MUSIC HALL ANNOUNCE JANUARY – APRIL 2023 SEASON
· London Premiereof The City and The Town, by Anders Lustgarten
· New Reinvigoration of Gilbert and Sullivan’s, Ruddigore directed by Peter Benedict
· Sell-out Return of Charlie and Stan from Told by an Idiot as part of LIMF
· New Show Jarman from Mark Farrelly
· New Distillation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth from The Faction
· Edinburgh Fringe transfer for Paris from Piaf to Pop
Wilton’s Music Hall are delighted to announce their 2023 spring season, following on from a stellar year of world class theatre and music productions. Next year’s January-April season is no different, as the oldest surviving grand music hall teams up with several prestigious production companies to host a range of exciting theatre, music, opera, spoken word, and cabaret.
Kicking off the 2023 season smash-hit produced by Seabright Productions Ltd Buffy Revamped [9-13 January] returns to Wilton’s. This show is the perfect parody for Buffy aficionados and those who never enrolled at Sunnydale High alike bringing the entire 7 seasons of the hit 90s TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer in just 70 minutes, as told through the eyes of the one person who knows it inside out…Spike. Highly satirical and bursting with pop-culture references, its creator Brendan Murphy recently won Best Play at the Worldwide Comedy Awards for Friend: The One with Gunther.
Next up a rather magical comedy musical inspired by real life events, Told by an Idiot’s acclaimed production of Charlie and Stan [18January-04 February]. This is the remarkable story of the greatest double act that nearly was and is a hilarious, charming, and deeply moving homage to two men Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, who changed the world of comedy forever. The enticing live piano score is by composer Zoe Rahman and is aided by the odd ditty (song arrangements by Sophie Cotton) and clever projected captions will take the audience back to the heydays of Victorian music hall and Hollywood silent pictures. There couldn’t be a more perfect venue for this glorious show.
Making its UK premiere at Wilton’s Music Hall (following previews at Hull Truck and Northern Stage) is a new play by Anders Lustgarten, The City and The Town [21–25 February]. Directed by Dritero Kasapi this funny and eclectic production is a uniquely political piece of theatre that brings a fresh perspective to some of the political divides and problems facing our country today. When Ben returns home to his father’s funeral after 13 years away, he is confronted with uncomfortable truths about the past, present, and future of the community and the family he grew up in and left behind. A poignant must-see amid our current political climate.
Dead Poets Live returns to Wilton’s for three nights of An Evening of Sylvia Plath [07-09 February], starring the award-winning actor, Denise Gough. Sixty years on from Sylvia Plath’s death, this show retraces the exhilarating, breath-taking, and nail-biting ascent that Plath made, with her most authoritative and riveting poetry, some of which was written in her final months.
Multi award-winning and critically acclaimed ensemble The Faction bring their reputation for bold, innovative reimagining of the classics to create a dazzling and new distillation of Shakespeare’s fast paced tragedy Macbeth [14-18 February]. Performed entirely by two actors, Macbeth / Partners of Greatness presents Shakespeare’s play from the perspective of the Macbeths themselves. Bound by an unspeakable loss, the inseparable pair share their ambition to take what they feel life owes them. Together, they experience the joy and terror of doing the unthinkable.
For one night only, one of the most well-loved movies BUSTER KEATON in Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) [28 February] plus shorts is presented by The Lucky Dog Picturehouse with a live piano score by the incredible Tom Temple Marlow. More music-filled nights are provided by Carradine’s Cockney Sing-along [01 & 04 March], which celebrates seven years of sell-out performances at Wilton’s with piano-playing host Tom Carradine returning for two uproarious evenings of song. Tom will lead in a traditional East End sing-along, for a good old-fashioned knees-up. And OneTrackMinds [02-03 March] makes a welcome return to Wilton’s with another vibrant selection of writers, thinkers, and musicians, each presenting a thought-provoking story about a transformational piece of music that has made a difference to their life changed their life. A life storytelling event that is a fascinating fusion of Desert Island Discs, The Moth Radio Hour and TED Talks.
Wilton’s is thrilled to be welcoming back the extraordinary genius that is writer and actor Mark Farrelly, with his vibrant new play Jarman [07,09 & 10 March]. In it he tells the story of filmmaker, painter, gardener, gay activist, and writer Derek Jarman, one of the most extraordinary lives ever lived. The play pays tribute to one of the UK’s most iconoclastic artists is an enthralling and at times distressing, but honest journey of Jarman’s life, from Prospect Cottage in Dungeness to deepest, brightest Soho. Mark Farrelly will also bring his masterful and uplifting play Naked Hope [08 and 11 March] giving the audience at Wilton’s Music Hall another chance of an up-close encounter with the original Englishman in New York, and one of the most memorable figures of the twentieth century, Quentin Crisp.
Not to be missed Oracle Productions presents a brand-new reinvigoration of Gilbert and Sullivan’s surreal comedy meets spooky melodrama Ruddigore [14–25 March]. Directed by Peter Benedict (Mapp & Lucia – The Musical and Terry Pratchett’s Guards! Guards!), expect all the familiar Gilbert and Sullivan’s elements: cheeky social satire, comic pathos and people singing faster than humanly possible – but with a seasoning of sinister spectres and splattering of visual surprises.
And the season will conclude with the smash-hit sell out show at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Paris from Piaf to Pop [28 March- 01 April] from award winning chanteuse, Christine Bovill, who is one of Europe’s finest interpreters of French song and no stranger to Wilton’s. This show offers a sexy and delicious celebration of the Golden Age of French song and how it evolved during the Swinging Sixties. With her effortless vocals, singing in both French and English, Christine honours Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Serge Gainsbourg and Francoise Hardy, with a golden selection of musical numbers which will undoubtedly take the audiences breath away.