As part of Aylesbury Waterside Theatre’s commitment to accessibility and theatre for all, the venue has announced they will be co-hosting their first S.E.N.D Night Club Experience on Sat 6 Nov with award-winning DJ, Dan Blaze.
The party night for teens & adults aged 15+ with learning difficulties / disabilities will give partygoers the chance to dance, sing & practice life skills in a controlled, safe and fully accessible environment.
Guests can expect music old & new with plenty of sing-along classics on the big screen, there will be a bar and soft drinks station with sweets, snacks & glow sticks, lots of UV Lighting perfect for the neon face painting, plus a photo booth & more! All disco effects will be specially programmed to be safe for those with photosensitive epilepsy. The event will be volume monitored and won’t be too loud with a chill out space with sensory activities available anyone who needs a break
Theatre Director, Sophie Denney said of the event: ‘We are incredibly lucky to have a fully accessible venue, and this is a great way to showcase it whilst inviting members of the community to enjoy an experience that otherwise may not be readily available to them. We continue to offer equal access for everyone and proudly support the Sunflower Lanyard initiative enabling those with a hidden disability who may require additional help to be easily recognised and assisted as needed. We hope this will be the first of many S.E.N.D party nights, a very welcome addition to our packed programme of shows this Autumn.’
DJ Dan Blaze was recently honoured with a ‘Lockdown Hero Award’ by the Mayor of Aylesbury for his online broadcasts throughout lockdown both on radio and online TV. It was such a wonderful service helping to keep people connected in care homes and others in isolated situations across Buckinghamshire, most importantly, the broadcasts kept spirits high in a fun, friendly and safe atmosphere.
DJ Dan said: ‘I’m very excited to be back partying in public and even more so that we can host this event in such a wonderful venue! Many of us took our teens for granted, being able to go out to the pub on a weekend with our mates whenever we felt like it. These events offer a controlled environment so teens and adults with learning difficulties / disabilities can enjoy a night out ‘clubbing’ with their friends in a way they simply could not do in a regular bar or club. The night club experience events offer guests a way to gain vital life skills in a fun & safe way.’
Tickets are on sale now from atgtickets.com/Aylesbury* (*booking fees apply).
Listings
DJ Dan Blaze’s Night Club Experience
Sat 6 Nov
Doors open 7pm Tickets – £12 (& include 1 carer)
Supported by Bucks Radio
A carer must accompany guests who require additional support – 1 carer receives a free ticket alongside each paying guest (if required)
T H E B O O K O F D U S T – L A B E L L E S A U V A G E
AT THE BRIDGE THEATRE
New performance dates have released for Nicholas Hytner’s production of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage to run at The Bridge in a new stage adaptation by Bryony Lavery. Taking place twelve years before Pullman’s epic His Dark Materials trilogy, performances are now from 30 November 2021 – 26 February 2022
The cast comprises Julie Atherton, Holly Atkins, Wendy Mae Brown, Pip Carter, Samuel Creasey, Ella Dacres, Ayesha Dharker, Heather Forster, Naomi Frederick, Richard James-Neale, John Light, Dearbhla Molloy, Tomi Ogbaro, Sid Sagar, Nick Sampson and Sky Yang.
Co-Directors are Emily Burns and James Cousins with designs by Bob Crowley, puppetry by Barnaby Dixon, lighting design by Jon Clark, sound by Paul Arditti, video designs are by Luke Halls and Zakk Hein and music by Grant Olding. James Cousins is also movement director, Kate Waters is fight director and illusions are by Filipe Carvalho.
Two young people and their dæmons, with everything at stake, find themselves at the centre of a terrifying manhunt. In their care is a tiny child called Lyra Belacqua, and in that child lies the fate of the future. And as the waters rise around them, powerful adversaries conspire for mastery of Dust: salvation to some, the source of infinite corruption to others.
La Belle Sauvage was published in 2017 and was followed by The Secret Commonwealth in 2019. His Dark Materials, a ground-breaking production sixteen years ago directed by Hytner at the National Theatre, was also adapted for broadcast on BBC One in 2019 with the second series in 2020.
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Address: Bridge Theatre, 3 Potters Fields Park, London, SE1 2SG
Combining cast members from Sh!t-faced Showtime and Sh!t-faced Shakespeare, A Pissedmas Carol is the all singing, all boozing alternative Christmas knees-up we all so desperately needed after the last year and a half of Zoom calls, Tiger King and bloody banana bread. Miserly Scrooge and his classic coterie of employees, relatives and ghosts travel through time having the night of his life – but will Scrooge be merry before the end? Or will it be the spirits that have had too many spirits? With one genuinely drunk cast member in every performance, A Pissedmas Carol is the ultimate “You’ll never guess what happened to me last night” story – despite having heard it all these last 2 years!
So how does it work? Each performance has a cast of actors who all arrive 4 hours before the start of the show for a ‘party’ – however this particular Christmas work social is dry for all but one performer, who gets, yes, you’re starting to catch on – Sh!t-faced. The rest is a delicate tight rope between performing songs and reciting Dickens all within the parameters of our strict improvisation rules, which are stated as thus: Go with WHATEVER the drunk actor decides to do. Unless it’s illegal. But even that’s a grey area we prefer to let our lawyers wade through. Every single show is a one-off. Every single performance has a different drunk actor. Every single time they are genuinely inebriated.
Sh!tfaced Shakespeare was launched in 2010, by a bunch of idiots who loved creating chaos at music festivals such as Secret Garden Party and Glastonbury. Sh!tfaced Showtime joined the Sh!tfaced family in 2015 and have previously presented Oliver with a Twist and Alice through the Looking Glass. Sh!t-faced Shakespeare and Showtime have performed all across the UK, USA and Australia and regularly sell-out the Edinburgh and Brighton Fringes.
Producer and performer James Murfitt said “We know you all missed not having Tiny Tim’s not-so-tiny endowment and Scrooge’s expletive laden tirade on the working class bandied about the Christmas table last year, so we’ve decided to charitably stuff an extended 90 minute show with all new songs, scenes, dance sequences and even an extra trick or two into your stockings this year! Don’t say we’re Scrooge’s this Christmas! Bar, Rum, Glug!
Running Time: 90 minutes | Suitable for ages 16+ (may contain nudity and strong language)
Company information
Directed by Katy Baker Written by Lewis Ironside, Issy Wroe Wright & James Murfitt
Musical Direction Charlotte Brooke Produced by James Murfitt & Issy Wroe Wright
Photography by Rah Petherbridge Original production concept by Dora Rubinstein, Issy Wroe Wright
Cast
Katy Baker, James Murfitt, John Mitton, Issy Wroe Wright, Hal Hillman, Will Seaward, Daniel Quirke, Charlotte Brooke, Nick House.
Listings information
Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, London WC2H 7BX
6 Dec 2021 — 15 Jan 2022 (except 24-26 and 31 Dec, and 1 Jan)
Wicked, the West End and Broadway musical phenomenon that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, is pleased to announce that an additional 500,000 new tickets are now on sale, with booking extended to Sunday 27 November 2022.
Following its “triumphant return to the London stage” (Independent) on 15 September 2021, Wicked will also play Wednesday matinees at 2.30pm beginning this week (27 October 2021) and has added six extra Christmas shows: Tuesday 21 December 2:30pm, Friday 24 December 2.30pm, Monday 27 December 2:30pm & 7:30pm, Thursday 30 December2:30pm and Friday 31 December2.30pm 2021.
Now in its landmark 16th year, Wicked plays Tuesday-Saturday evening performances at 7.30pm with matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2.30pm. Visit www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk for information and tickets.
Wicked currently stars Laura Pick (Elphaba), Sophie Evans* (Glinda), Alistair Brammer (Fiyero), Kim Ismay (Madame Morrible), Andy Hockley (The Wizard), Carina Gillespie (Nessarose), Nicholas McLean (Boq), Simeon Truby (Doctor Dillamond), Amy Webb (Standby for Elphaba), Charli Baptie** (Standby for Glinda), Meg Astin, Rebecca Botterill, Lauren Brooke, Grace Chapman***, Michael Colbourne, Conor Crown, Lewis Easter, Nolan Edwards, Joseph Fletcher, Fraser Fraser, Rebecca Gilliland, Lucie Horsfall, Nick Len, Will Lucas, Nicole Lupino, Stuart Maciver, Carl Man, Rhidian Marc, Jessica-Alice McCluskey, Stacey McGuire, Emmie Ray, Natalie Spriggs, Scott Sutcliffe, Genevieve Taylor, Samantha Thomas****, Grant Thresh, James Titchener, Libby Watts, Chiarina Woodall and Tom Woollaston. Cast subject to change from 1 February 2022.
*Maternity cover for Helen Woolf. **Maternity cover for Lisa-Anne Wood. ***Maternity cover for Maggie Lynne.
****Maternity cover for Joanna Sawyer.
Already the 9th longest running West End musical of all time, Wicked has been “wowing London audiences for 15 years” (Sky News) and has now been seen by more than 10 million people in London alone (and 60 million worldwide). “The global sensation”(Independent) is the winner of over 100 major international awards, including three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, a Grammy Award and ten theatregoer voted WhatsOnStage Awards (including ‘Best New Musical’ and three for ‘Best West End Show’).
Wicked imagines a beguiling backstory and future possibilities to the lives of L. Frank Baum’s beloved characters from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reveals the decisions and events that shape the destinies of two unlikely university friends on their journey to becoming Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
Wickedhas music and lyrics by Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy Award winner Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, The Prince of Egypt, Disney’s Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Enchanted and its forthcoming sequel Disenchanted). It is based on the bestselling novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and written by Emmy and Tony Award nominee Winnie Holzman, creator of the landmark American television series My So-Called Life. Musical staging is by Tony Award-winner Wayne Cilento with direction by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello.
Wicked is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone. Executive Producer (UK) Michael McCabe.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire is published in the UK by Headline (the book is recommended for readers aged 16+). Wicked: The Grimmerie, a behind-the-scenes look at the musical by David Cote, is published in the UK by Hyperion.
Audience Protocols
The Apollo Victoria Theatre, owned and operated by the Ambassador Theatre Group, maintains stringent public health and COVID-secure audience protocols throughout the venue. On arrival, as well as showing an eTicket, audience members over 18 will be required to show an NHS COVID Pass* detailing either Full Vaccination, a Negative PCR/LFTest OR Natural Immunity. The venue also operates cashless payments (including Apple Pay and Google Pay) and at-seat ordering/delivery as well as enhanced cleaning practices and increased air flow. Sanitation stations are available throughout the theatre, including at entry doors.
All theatre staff wear face coverings, and, for the safety of all patrons, it is expected that audience members wear face coverings when entering and moving around the venue and while seated.
*Or equivalent documentation issued in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or Non-UK.
The producers of Harry Potter and the CursedChild – Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions – recently confirmed full casting for the production which resumed performances at the Palace Theatre in London on 14 October 2021.
Jamie Ballard plays Harry Potter with Susie Trayling as Ginny Potter and Dominic Short who plays their son Albus Potter. Thomas Aldridge plays Ron Weasley with Michelle Gayle as Hermione Granger and Phoenix Edwards as their daughter Rose Granger-Weasley. James Howard plays Draco Malfoy with Luke Sumner as his son Scorpius Malfoy. They are joined by Lola Adaja, Samson Ajewole, David Annen, Valerie Antwi, Sue Appleby, Phil Cheadle, Craig Connolly, Morag Cross, Robert Curtis, Tim Dewberry, Jim Fish, Thomas Gilbey, Jemma Gould, Rachel Hinds, Jordan Lang, Ronnie Lee, Katrina Lopes, Lucy Mangan, David Mara, Lucia McAnespie, Kathryn Meisle, Gordon Millar, Ian Redford, Thomas Royal, Tom Sturgess, Joshua Talbot, Mark Theodore, Emma-May Uden, Madeleine Walker and Wreh-asha Walton who complete the 43-strong company playing a variety of characters including seven children – Noah Alexander, Tom Quinn Alexander, Abby Barnes, Harley Barton, Chase Collard, Samuel Newby and Cici Smith – who alternate two roles.
Tickets for the original two-part multi award-winning production in the West End are now available for performances at the Palace Theatre until 23 October 2022. Tickets remain priced from £15 per part. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child partners with TodayTix for The Friday Forty,the production’s Lottery for Patrons to apply for some of the very best seats in the theatre priced at £40 (£20 per part) which will secure a seat for both Part One and Part Two on consecutive performances.
The regular performance schedule is now as follows – Monday, Tuesday and Thursday – no performance; Wednesday, Friday and Saturday – 2pm Part One & 7pm Part Two; Sunday – 1pm Part One & 6pm Part Two.
The original production ofHarry Potter and the Cursed Child, one play presented in two parts, is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The critically acclaimed production received its world premiere in July 2016 at the Palace Theatre in London. The most awarded new play in theatre history, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has won 24 major theatre awards in the UK and is the most awarded play in the history of the Olivier Awards, winning a record-breaking nine awards including Best New Play. The production has also won 25 major US awards with six Tony Awards including Best Play.
Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Childis a new play by Jack Thorne, directed by John Tiffany with movement by Steven Hoggett, set by Christine Jones, costumes by Katrina Lindsay, music & arrangements by Imogen Heap, lighting by Neil Austin, sound by Gareth Fry, illusions & magic by Jamie Harrison,music supervision & arrangements by Martin Lowe, and casting by Julia Horan CDG.
Harry Potter and the CursedChild is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions.
In addition to the return of the original London production, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is currently playing at the Princess Theatre Melbourne. Performances plan to resume in November 2021 at the Lyric Theater, New York followed by productions at the Curran Theater, San Francisco in January 2022, the Mehr! Theatre, Hamburg in December 2021, the Ed Mirvish Theatre, Toronto in the summer of 2022 and the TBS Akasaka ACT Theater in Tokyo in the summer of 2022. The New York, San Francisco and Toronto productions will be returning in a newly staged, one show experience. Details of all productions of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child can be found at HarryPottertheplay.com
See videos of the studio session recordings of Probly here and Sixteen here
The National Theatre has today released studio recordings of three songs and confirmed the full cast for its upcoming new musical Hex, a vividly original retelling of Sleeping Beauty that will open in the Olivier theatre for previews on 4 December.
Hex goes beyond the kiss that woke the Sleeping Beauty and tells the story from the fairy’s perspective as she tries everything in her power to make things right after placing the hex on the baby. Rosalie Craig plays the fairy in this mythic, big-hearted new musical.
The three songs released today are Probly, Sixteen and In the Middle:
Probly is sung by Fairy (Rosalie Craig). After Fairy has been invited to the Palace to bless the new baby, Rose, she questions whether she should go or whether she will be forever on the outside.
Sixteen is sung by Rose (Kat Ronney). On the eve of her 16th birthday our soon-to-be sleeping beauty dreams of breaking free from her over-protective parents and the confines of her palace life.
In The Middle is sung by Fairy (Rosalie Craig) and Queenie (Tamsin Carroll). After the birth of Bert, the Prince, Fairy tries to teach Queenie to trust her maternal rather than her ogre instincts, and to feed the baby.
Songs From Hex – The Studio Sessions will be released by Broadway Records and available on all major digital music retailers from today.
The cast is led by Tamsin Carroll as Queenie, Rosalie Craig as Fairy, Michael Elcock as Bert and Kat Ronney as Rose, alongside Christopher Akrill, Delroy Atkinson,Esme Bacalla-Hayes, Madeline Charlemagne, Ebony Clarke, Sonya Cullingford, Hanna Dimtsu, Tamsin Dowsett, Joe Foster, Ben Goffe, Eleanor Kane, Daisy Maywood, Kody Mortimer, Joseph Prouse, Shaq Taylor and Sargon Yelda.
Rufus Norris directs with music by Jim Fortune, book by Tanya Ronder, lyrics by Rufus Norris, designs by Katrina Lindsay and choreography by Jade Hackett.
Orchestrations by Simon Hale, music supervision by Marc Tritschler, music direction by Tarek Merchant, lighting design by Paul Anderson, choreography by Jade Hackett with consultant choreography by Bill Deamer, sound design by Simon Baker and video design by Ash Woodward.
Probly, Sixteen and In The Middle were recorded at Konk Studios in September 2021, performed by Rosalie Craig, Kat Ronney and Tamsin Carroll (vocals), Marc Tritschler (piano), Nick Pynn (mandocello, guitar), Joley Cragg (drums) and Flo Moore (bass). Recorded by Julian Simmons and Matt Jaggar with Assistant Engineer Andy Whyte.
Hex begins performances in the Olivier theatre on Saturday 4 December. It is recommended for ages 8+
Supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation through the Weston Culture Fund. The reopening of the Olivier theatre is generously supported by Areté Foundation / Betsy & Ed Cohen.
The development of new music theatre is supported by the Genesis Foundation through the Genesis Music Theatre Programme.
Wilshire Creative today announces the cast for Snow White and the Happy Ever After Beauty Salon at Salisbury Playhouse. Gareth Machin directs GregBarnett (King), Rebecca Cooper (Queen), Jake Mitchell (Federico), Martha Pothen (Trish) and Consuela Rolle (Snow), with all actors also multi-rolling alongside their main roles. This festive family show, which puts a contemporary spin on the classic story, features music by Tayo Akinbode, lyrics by Mike Akers, and additional songs by Christopher Peake. The production opens on 8 December, with previews from 3 December, and runs until 31 December.
Snow White and the Happy Ever After Beauty Salon sees Greg Barnett return to Salisbury Playhouse for another festive season, following his starring role as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood in 2019. Rebecca Cooper and Jake Mitchell also return to Salisbury Playhouse after appearing in Her Naked Skin and The Tailor of Gloucester, respectively.
In a magical 1950s fairy-tale wonderland, young apprentice Snow is working hard in her Aunt Trish’s Beauty Salon. She curls the tails of the three little pigs, sharpens the teeth of the Big Bad Wolf, and perfectly sets Prince Charming’s quiff. But, suddenly stumbling upon Aunt Trish’s magic mirror puts Snow’s life in peril.
Will she be able to survive as she heads underground and attempts to carve her own path to a happily ever after?
With toe-tapping live music, dazzling design, puppetry and laugh out loud entertainment, the show will delight the whole family this Christmas.
Greg Barnett returns to Salisbury Playhouse to play the King and other roles – he previously appeared in Robin Hood. His other theatre credits include The Duchess of Malfi, The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich, Miss Littlewood (Royal Shakespeare Company), Fantastic Mr Fox (Nuffield Theatre/Lyric Hammersmith/UK tour), This Little Life of Mine, Thérèse Raquin (Park Theatre), Not Moses (Arts Theatre), A Christmas Carol (The Castle Theatre), These Trees Are Made of Blood (Southwark Playhouse), Making a Scene (National Theatre), The School for Scandal (Theatre Royal Bath), Swallows and Amazons (Vaudeville Theatre), 20th Century Boy (New Wolsey Theatre), Pushing up Poppies (Theatre503), Spend Spend Spend (Watermill Theatre/UK tour), Marry Me a Little (Everyman Cheltenham), Zorro (Garrick Theatre), White Liars (The Etcetera), Twelfth Night (Theatre Royal and Derngate), Sweeney Todd (UK tour), The Plantagenets Club (Young Vic) and Fiddler on the Roof (Courtyard Theatre). For television his work includes Jesus: His Life, Fleabag and Undercover; and for film, Bonobo, Hot Property and Common.
Rebecca Cooper returns to Salisbury Playhouse to play the Queen and other roles – she previously appeared in Her Naked Skin. Her other theatre credits include Lucid (Norwich Puppet Theatre), The Miracle (National Theatre), The Waltz of the Toreadors (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Shakespeare for Breakfast (Edinburgh Festival). For or television, her credits include Birds of a Feather, Being Human and Little Britain;and for film, Forget Me Not.
Jake Mitchell returns to Salisbury Playhouse to play Federico and other roles – he also appeared in The Tailor of Gloucester. His other theatre credits include Flat Out (Ovation Productions) and Alice in Wonderland (Immersion Theatre). His credits for television include Episodes and Doctors as featured character Sean Parsons.
Martha Pothen plays Trish and other roles. Her theatre credits include The Visit (National Theatre), Cold Feet and Bacon Sandwiches (Hampstead Theatre), Predrinks/Afterparty (Drayton Arms Theatre), Third Wheel (Deadpan Theatre/Bloomsbury Theatre), Privates on Parade (Union Theatre), Twilight Robbery (Barn Theatre Cirencester), Jew You Love Me? (Lion and Unicorn Theatre) and Love’s Labour’s Lost (Hackney Empire). For television, her credits include, The Diary of My Broken Vagina.
Consuela Rolle plays Snow. Her theatre credits include The Worst Witch (Vaudeville Theatre/UK tour), Can’t Wait for Christmas (Orange Tree Theatre), The Wizard of Oz (Storyhouse Theatre) and The Wind in the Willows (Sixteenfeet Productions). For television, her credits include Ball and Boe Back Together.
Mike Akers is a writer, dramaturg and early years’ specialist. He has had more than thirty plays commissioned and produced by companies including Bristol Old Vic, Salisbury Playhouse, Travelling Light, Polka Theatre, Green Ginger, Sixth Sense, Myrtle Theatre Company, Theatre West and Kazzum. He has worked regularly as a dramaturg with renowned director Sally Cookson on shows including Boing! (Winner of the 2017 Offie for best production for young people) and a trio of highly successful Bristol Old Vic productions: Treasure Island, Peter Pan and Jane Eyre, the latter two of which have both enjoyed huge critical acclaim on their transfer to the National Theatre. Akers has worked extensively as a dramaturg supporting theatre companies in devising new work and acting as a mentor to other writers. He has a long history of working with young people, both as a writer, a teacher and in the pioneering work he has done with Sandra Barefoot and Sarah Moody exploring non-verbal storytelling in Early Years settings.
Gareth Machin is the Artistic Director of Wiltshire Creative. Previously, he was studio associate at the National Theatre, artistic director of Southwark Playhouse and associate director at Bristol Old Vic.
LISTINGS
SNOW WHITE AND THE HAPPY EVER AFTER BEAUTY SALON
Salisbury Playhouse, Wiltshire Creative
Malthouse Lane, Salisbury, SP2 7RA
Ticket Sales: 01722 320333
SNOW WHITE AND THE HAPPY EVER AFTER BEAUTY SALON
3 December – 31 December 2021
Tickets: £12, £16, £21
SALISBURY PLAYHOUSE FULL PROGRAMME:
HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES
15 November – 20 November
A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING
3 – 19 February 2022
FASCINATING AIDA
4 March 2022
SNOWFLAKE/TORNADO
5 March 2022
A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED – A MISS MARPLE MYSTERY 7 – 12 March 2022
Your current booking will automatically transfer to 2022/2023 with no action needed.
We are also offering ticket holders Membership benefits of priority booking for SnowWhite and the Happy Ever After Beauty Salon and 10% discount off up to 2 tickets.
Group Bookers will be contacted directly by the box office team to make revised arrangements with you.
New bookings, credit or refunds can be arranged through the box office.
In person at Salisbury Arts Centre, Bedwin Street Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 3pm.
To arrange group or access bookings please phone 01722 320 333 Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 12pm.
Thank you for your patience as we are operating with a reduced box office team.
SEE IT SAFELY -We have been granted the use of Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre’s See It Safely mark. The mark certifies that we are complying with the latest Government and industry COVID-19 guidelines, to ensure the safety of our staff and audiences. You can find out more here https://officiallondontheatre.com/see-it-safely/ about the measures we have been putting in place ready for your visit, and what you will need to know beforehand.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
WILTSHIRE CREATIVE
Wiltshire Creative brings together Salisbury Arts Centre, Salisbury International Arts Festival and Salisbury Playhouse. Salisbury Playhouse is one of Britain’s leading producing theatres, with a national reputation for home-grown work of the highest quality that attracts audiences from across Wiltshire, Hampshire, Dorset and beyond. Recent theatre productions include the world premieres of Blood Wedding by Barney Norris and The Mirror Crack’d by Rachel Wagstaff. Recent audio and digital productions includes the world première of Making Massinger by Simon Butteriss, the British première of Call Cutta at Home by Rimini Protokoll and Shift a significant youth led project amplifying young voices.
London Horror Festival at The Pleasance – 21 October
3***
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
With Rachael Bellis as a horror film virgin, Eloise Jones as a mad scientist, Fiona Tong as a vampish vampire and Kat Da Bra as a demon queen, a fun filled hour of horror themed musical theatre numbers comes unstuck and ends in bloody revenge as Bellis can’t bring herself to share the spotlight with the other cast members.
The interplay between the performers is great fun as their frustration with Bellis’ diva behaviour grows, with Kat Da Bra being killed off twice in the hour-long show. THAT moment in Carrie isn’t quite enough to stop Bellis, so another scheme is plotted.
Directed by Fergus Rattigan, numbers from Mean Girls, Heathers, Little Shop of Horrors and many more are belted with glee. The Worst Pies in London, ending with death by jam tart, is a highlight, as is In His Eyes, where Bellis insists on singing to a skull while Eloise Jones flirts and sings with as many audience members as possible. Of course, there MUST be a singalong, and Kat Da Bra’s visual aids to help with Science Fiction – Double Feature were inspired. Eloise Jones’ version of In Short is comedy gold, while Fiona Tong brings a little gravitas to the show with her solo. The finale, a horror style She Had It Coming was an excellent way to finish the show – giving all the talented cast a chance to shine.
Accompanied by Ella Jean, the cast’s voices worked well together, and it is hard to not join in with the songs as the atmosphere was so relaxed.
A hectic hour of comedy and great music, Revenge is lots of fun.
London Horror Festival at The Pleasance – 20 – 21 October 2021
4****
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
Willa hasn’t left her home for 30 years, as her parents have kept her safe from the bad outside. Surrounded by papers, books and boxes, Willa searches for “evidence” while an unknown man questions her at intervals over a tannoy system. She talks of the old house, the new house and “this place”, which is eventually confirmed to be a question room for children and vulnerable adults.
Written and performed by Gabrielle MacPherson, Willa’s a grown woman but has the energy and emotional outlook of a child after constant abuse and gaslighting in her family home, still keeping her kit ready for when she needs to be safe in the dark. She talks of the marks on her skin, always in places covered by clothes during the short time she attended school, almost poetically, and clings pitiably and desperately to the memory of art classes and making her teacher laugh. The “people with clipboards” who came to inspect their home when the school raised its concerns only trigger a swift move and an even more isolated life for Willa, and her narrative flits, birdlike across the years.
Having seen Outside online, I was intrigued to see whether the unsettling atmosphere would translate live on stage. As part of London Horror Festival, with a quick turn around between shows, the set cannot be as detailed and technical, but MacPherson’s performance becomes more intimate and personal as she looks audience members in the eye and reacts to their responses. Are we part of her fantasy world and the dreams she has now that she is an adult and can go out alone?
The details of Willa’s abuse are horrific, but never described in gratuitous detail, and this feels completely appropriate for Willa’s state of mind, brushing over them as she tries to prove “it wasn’t her fault”. The darkness in her seeps through when we see her satisfaction as her abuser harms the parent that always looked the other way. Recordings of her family and how they fight and demean each other add more clues to what is coming, but although the ultimate reveal about why Willa is in the room feels inevitable, the gory details will give you a jolt.
Gabrielle MacPherson is magnetic as Willa – portraying her damaged soul and mental instability brilliantly without ever becoming a caricature. Her writing is equally sympathetic and dynamic, with Rudzani Moleya’s movement direction adding to a deeply unsettling performance. Laurel Mark’s astute direction in this small space allows the dark tale to unfold at its own pace, never letting the tension dip in this deeply disturbing and mesmeric production.
Part of Park Theatre’s Say it, Women double bill, Sold tells the story of Mary Prince. Mary’s account of her life was the first by a black woman to be published in the UK.
In Bermuda, Cup Weekend is a huge celebration that takes place at the end of July. The Thursday is Emancipation Day, and the Friday was Somers Day, named after the admiral who founded Bermuda. In 2020 Somers Day was renamed Mary Prince Day – after seeing this play, you’ll want to give her a whole month.
Kuumba Nia Arts’ production of Amantha Edmead’s play is brutally beautiful – portraying the inhumanity shown to slaves and Mary’s strength to endure.
Directed by Euton Daley, Edmead plays all the characters in Mary’s story, accompanied by Angie Amra Anderson on drums. Mixing dance and spoken word with the drama, Mary’s life, from her birth in Bermuda and her innocent happiness at being a little girl’s slave/pet to violent masters and mistresses in Turks & Caicos and Antigua. Edmead slips between characters seamlessly, with there never being a doubt of who she is portraying each time. The beatings and lashings are performed magnificently by Edmead, with her physicality breath-taking at times. The drumming becomes almost unbearable during these scenes, but happier beats and moments are found by Mary amongst the violence and exhaustion.
Mary joining the Moravian Church is a wonderfully uplifting scene, with her joking that she didn’t know how much of a sinner she was until she joined, and then Anderson leading the audience in singing hymns. Mary’s marriage to Daniel James, a freed slave, isn’t accepted by her owners, who do not want a black man on their property, or thinking he has rights to their property – Mary. Their refusal to let Mary buy her freedom continues cruelly as they move to London, taking Mary with them despite her illness and separating her from her husband. Mary’s scribe is full of well meaning but condescending outrage at the plight of the slaves – tellingly insisting it is a horror perpetrated by English men living in the West Indies, not in good old Blighty.
Horrifying but uplifting, and performed with infectious passion, Sold is a story that needs to be shared.
