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WICKED CONFIRMS LONDON CAST

Tony & Olivier Award-winning musical resumes

performances 15 September 2021

Sophie Evans joins returning cast to play Glinda

www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk

Wicked, the West End and Broadway musical phenomenon that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, is pleased to confirm the returning cast that will lead the award-winning production back into London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre where it resumes performanceson Wednesday 15 September 2021.

Joining the returning cast willbe Sophie Evans, who previously played Glinda from 2017-2019, and will star opposite Laura Pick, who continues her acclaimed performance as Elphaba. Charli Baptie, who appeared in the UK & Ireland Tour, will be Standby for Glinda. Joining the ensemble are Nick Len (The King & I, London Palladium), Emmie Ray (a graduate of Bird College) and Natalie Spriggs (Thoroughly Modern Millie, UK Tour). Former ensemble cast members returning include Lauren Brooke (London), Grace Chapman (UK & International Tour), Conor Crown (London), Joseph Fletcher (London), Fraser Fraser (London), Will Lucas (London), Stacey McGuire (London, UK & International Tour) and Samantha Thomas (London).

The re-opening cast will include: Laura Pick (Elphaba), Sophie Evans* (Glinda), Alistair Brammer (Fiyero), Kim Ismay (Madame Morrible), Andy Hockley (The Wizard), Simeon Truby (Doctor Dillamond), Carina Gillespie (Nessarose), Nicholas McLean (Boq), 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.

*Maternity cover for Helen Woolf  **Maternity cover for Lisa-Anne Wood  ***Maternity cover for Maggie Lynne   ****Maternity cover for Joanna Sawyer

Tickets are now on sale for all performances from Wednesday 15 September 2021 to Sunday 22 May 2022. Wicked will play Tuesday-Saturday evenings at 7.30pm with matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2.30pm. Visit www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk for information and tickets.

Wicked will mark its 15^th anniversary at the Apollo Victoria Theatre on Tuesday 28 September 2021.

Wicked UK Executive Producer Michael McCabe said: 

“As we work towards the much-anticipated return of Wicked to the Apollo Victoria Theatre, where we resume performances on 15 September, we’re pleased to welcome back so many of the cast – led by the fantastic Laura Pick as Elphaba – whose time with the show was curtailed by the shutdown of the theatre industry in March 2020, and grateful that they all agreed to extend their contracts until 30 January 2022. We then look forward to welcoming many new cast members at the beginning of February next year as part of our continuing journey towards widening access to the show, platforming diverse talent and establishing a more inclusive and respectful workplace. We are also very pleased to share the news of the appointment of Christina Alexander as Wicked’s Global Director of Social Responsibility, who will be guiding us as we continue to listen and learn.”

Sophie Evans (Glinda) said:

“Playing Glinda in the West End for two years was a dream come true and I am overjoyed to be given the opportunity to play this iconic role again. To be able join all of the returning cast bringing this incredible show back to London is an absolute thrill for me.”

Sophie Evans (Glinda) returns to the London production having previously played ‘Glinda’ to huge acclaim in 2017-19. Born in Tonypandy in the Rhondda Valleys, Sophie was a finalist in the BBC’s Over The Rainbow and subsequently made her West End debut, aged 17, as the Alternate ‘Dorothy’ in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production of The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium in 2011 (from February-September 2012 she played the role of ‘Dorothy’ full-time). During this time, Sophie featured in Dare To Dream: The Sophie Evans Journey, for ITV Wales,documenting her incredible journey from Over The Rainbow to her debut at the London Palladium. She went on to play ‘Erin The Goddess’ in Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance in London, on Broadway and on North American Tour, culminating in an engagement at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. She has appeared extensively in concert around the world, most recently in The Best of the West End at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Earlier this year she released the album ‘Chasing Rainbow’s, Finding Judy’ together with Lauren Samuels (her friend and fellow contestant on Over The Rainbow). She trained at ArtsEd.

Wicked has music and lyrics by the legendary composer Stephen Schwartz (whose enduringly popular musical Godspell is currently celebrating its 50^th Anniversary) and is written by Winnie Holzman, creator of the landmark American television series My So-Called Life. It is based on Gregory Maguire’s multi-million-copy bestseller, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.

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.

Already the 9^th longest-running West End musical of all time, “the wildly popular revisionist spin on The Wizard of Oz” (Evening Standard)has been seen by over 10 million people in London alone and played almost 6000 performances. The iconic musical 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 three for ‘Best West End Show’).

Wicked has music and lyrics by multi-Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy Award winner Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, The Prince of Egypt; Disney’s Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Enchanted) and is based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and written by Winnie Holzman. 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.

The Apollo Victoria Theatre, Wilton Road, London SW1V 1LG

Official UK website: www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk

Twitter: @WickedUK  |  Facebook: /WickedUK  |  Instagram: @WickedUK

Audience Protocols

The Apollo Victoria Theatre, owned and operated by the Ambassador Theatre Group, will maintain 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/LF test OR Natural Immunity.

The venue will also be operating cashless payments, in-seat ordering and enhanced

cleaning, with Hand Sanitiser stations also available for public use.

All theatre staff will be wearing face coverings and it will be expected that audiences wear face

coverings when entering and moving around the venue and while seated.

For full information, please visit www.atgtickets.com/help/health-and-safety/

*Or equivalent documentation issued in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or Non-UK.

SHAKESPEARE IN ITALY PRESENTS 

A MERCHANT OF VENICE   

A NEW SIX CHARACTER VERSION OF THE RENOWNED SHAKESPEARE PLAY 

ADAPTED & DIRECTED BY THE MULTI AWARD-WINNING  

BILL ALEXANDER 

RUNNING AT THE PLAYGROUND THEATRE  

FROM 10 NOVEMBER – 4 DECEMBER 2021 

Bill Alexander, the critically acclaimed and award-winning Shakespearian director, well known for his tenures at the RSC and Birmingham Rep, and his Best Director Olivier Award for The Merry Wives of Windsor, has adapted and will direct an all-new version of William Shakespeare’s notable play, The Merchant of Venice.  

This new modern-day adaptation, entitled A Merchant of Venice, which focuses on the tortured nature of love at the inner core of Shakespeare’s play, runs at The Playground Theatre from 10 November – 4 December 2021, with press night on Monday 15 November. Casting and further creatives will be announced in due course. 

Bill Alexander, adaptor and director of A Merchant of Venice said, “One can get obsessed with a particular work of art and I confess that obsession is the only way to describe my relationship to The Merchant of Venice. 

I have directed it twice professionally, twice at drama schools, and taught and lectured on it often. When working on select scenes, it began to occur to me that there was an inner play about a small network of relationships that was the core of the bigger play that wrestles with huge themes of Justice and Mercy, Marriage and Money, Race and Class, and it is this inner core, essentially about the tortured nature of Love, that my production for Shakespeare in Italy at The Playground Theatre will focus on. 

My version of the play, entitled A Merchant of Venice, focuses on just six key characters whose entangled loves, desires and fortunes hinge on a better understanding of themselves and their relation to each other in the blackly comic world of a modern Venice, the sublime and terrible Serenissima.” 

York Theatre Royal- until 4 September 2021

Reviewed by Katie Goldsbrough 

5*****

Educating Rita written by Willy Russell 40 years ago tells the story of Rita (Jessica Johnson) and her search for meaning in life. She is a 32-year-old married woman with no children looking for her purpose. She decides to try education and enrols in the open university. This is how she meets Frank, (Stephen Tompkinson) who becomes her tutor. 

Coming from an uneducated, working-class background Rita begins to learn from Frank, despite his initial reluctance to teach her. Much preferring to be alone in his office drinking than really helping his students we begin to see him being won over by Rita. Frank begins to care about Rita, who we see develop as a person and gain the meaning she has been looking for throughout the play. They form a wholesome bond, which is refreshing to see in a play featuring just 2 cast members, one male and one female as their relationship remains platonic and they build a heart-warming friendship.

The sense of humour both characters possess is apparent from the start and they will have you laughing from beginning to end.  Despite this being predominantly a comedy there are also emotional moments where you really feel for the characters and what they are going through in their personal lives, helping the audience understand and empathise with them both, wanting them to be happy and successful.  The play takes place solely in the confines of Franks office, which is well utilised throughout and doesn’t leave you feeling like you need to see the characters elsewhere, this is where their relationship begins and ends. 

Stephen Tompkinson, best known for Drop the Dead Donkey, Brassed Off and much more gives a fantastic five-star performance transforming into his character. Jessica Johnson has an excellent introduction in to theatre really making the audience feel for and route for Rita. 

Overall, this is a lovely story about someone choosing to better themselves despite struggling earlier in life, it is performed extremely well and at just 1hr 35 minutes with no interval you are able to follow the story continuously without interruption.

FURTHER CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR

LOVE AND OTHER ACTS OF VIOLENCE

With the critically acclaimed Constellations by Nick Payne currently running at the Vaudeville Theatre, Michael Longhurst, Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse, today announces further casting for Cordelia Lynn’s Love and Other Acts of Violence¸ which marks the venue’s reopening following its completion of essential building works. Elayce Ismail directs Tom Mothersdale (Him/Man) joining the previously announced Richard Katz (Tatte)and Abigail Weinstock (Her/Baba). The production opens on 14 October, with previews from 7 October, and runs until 27 November.

The season continues with Rory Kinnear in Tim Price’s new stage adaptation of Ruben Östlund’s award-winning comedy film Force Majeure, directed by Michael Longhurst, 10 December 2021 – 5 February 2022. Then, 11 February – 9 April 2022, Kit Harington stars in Shakespeare’s Henry V, directed by Donmar Associate Director Max Webster; concluding with Marys Seacole by Jackie Sibblies Drury, and directed by Nadia Latif, 15 April – 4 June 2022.

Donmar Warehouse presents

The World Première of

LOVE AND OTHER ACTS OF VIOLENCE

By Cordelia Lynn

Directed by Elayce Ismail;Designer: Basia Bińkowska; Lighting Designer: Joshua Pharo

Sound Designer: Richard Hammarton; Movement Director: Yarit Dor

Casting Director Anna Cooper CDG

7 October – 27 November 2021

“There is a war coming…. A war that will last for a hundred years….

I think it is already here. I think we’ve been fighting it a long time”

A young Jewish physicist and an activist poet meet at a party and fall in love. As society splinters around them, the couple’s struggle to survive erupts into violence.

Cordelia Lynn’s new play is a subversive and intimate love story about inheritance and the cycles of politics and history.

Cordelia Lynn was commissioned by the Donmar Warehouse to write Love and Other Acts of Violence as the recipient of the 2020 Berwin Lee Award. Her playwrighting credits include Fragments, a short play for Five Plays (Young Vic), Hedda Tesman (Headlong/Chichester Festival Theatre/The Lowry), Three Sisters (Almeida Theatre), Confessions, a short play for Power Plays (Theatre Uncut/Traverse Theatre/Bristol Old Vic), Best Served Cold (VAULT Festival) and Believers Anonymous (Rosemary Branch Theatre). Her opera and vocal credits include A Photograph (Oxford Lieder Festival), Heave (IRCAM/Festival de Royaumont), Miranda (Opera Comique, Paris) and You’ll Drown Dear (IRCAM/Manifeste, Paris). In 2017, she received the Harold Pinter Commission to write One for Sorrow for the Royal Court, where her first play Lela & Co premiered in 2015, having won the Jerwood New Playwright commission.

Richard Katz plays Tatte. His theatre credits include The Soldier’s Tale (Hallé Orchestra), Blindness and Seeing, Peer Gynt, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like it, The Comedy of Errors, The Drunks, Silence, The Winter’s Tale and Pericles (RSC), Bartholomew Fair, The Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It, Hamlet, Nell Gwynn, The Golden Ass (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Divide, The Lorax (The Old Vic), The Encounter (Complicité international tour/ John Golden Theatre), Mnemonic, The Noise of Time, Measure For Measure, Master & Margarita (Complicité), 1984 (Playhouse Theatre), War Horse (National Theatre/New London Theatre), Spyski (Peepolykus) and An Oak Tree (Birmingham Rep). His television credits include MotherFatherSon, A Discovery of Witches, Taboo, Ambassadors, The Honourable Woman, Privates, Thank God You’re Here, The Omid Djalili Show, Hogfather and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby; and for film, The Infiltrator, Guardians of the Galaxy, Sixty Six and Enigma. 

Tom Mothersdale plays Him/Man. His theatre credits include Out West: Blue Water and Cold and Fresh, A Thousand Stars Explode Under the Sky (Lyric Hammersmith), The Cherry Orchard (Young Vic), Richard III, Boys, The Glass Menagerie (Headlong), Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp, The Woods (Royal Court Theatre), Dealing with Clair (Orange Tree Theatre), John, Cleansed (National Theatre) and Oil (Almeida Theatre). His television credits include War of the Worlds, A Discovery of Witches, Van Der Valk, Treadstone, Hanna, Electric Dreams, King Charles III and Peaky Blinders; and for film, Overlord.

Abigail Weinstock playsHer/Baba marking her professional stage debut. She has performed her own comedy at the Edinburgh Festival and venues including Soho Theatre and the Pleasance; she was runner up at the UK Jewish Comedian of the Year in 2017. Weinstock was recently longlisted for the Screenshot Comedy Writer/Performer Competition run by Sister Global and Olivia Colman.

Elayce Ismail directs. Her theatre credits include Shedding a Skin (Soho Theatre), Nanjing (Shakespeare’s Globe), If Not Now, When? (National Theatre), Under Milk Wood, The War of the Worlds (Northern Stage), Girls (Soho Theatre/HighTide Festival/British Council Edinburgh Showcase), The Rise and Shine of Comrade Fiasco, Chorus and Spooky Action at a Distance (Gate Theatre), The Lost Ring (Deutsches Theater, Berlin) and Stay Another Song (Young Vic). Her opera credits include, as creator and librettist, Our Dark Side and The Moon (Royal Opera House); as director, They Whisper Don’t Gaze at the Stars…(ENO) and 4:48 Psychosis (Opéra national du Rhin/ Royal Opera House). As associate/ assistant director, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier) and The Virtues of Things (Royal Opera House). She is the Artistic Associate at Music Theatre Wales and has previously been the Head of New Work (maternity cover) at the Donmar Warehouse, the inaugural RTYDS Associate Director at Northern Stage, and a Resident Director at the National Theatre as the recipient of the JP Morgan Award for Emerging Directors.

LOVE AND OTHER ACTS OF VIOLENCE LISTINGS

Donmar Warehouse, 41 Earlham Street, Seven Dials, London WC2H 9LX

7 October – 27 November 2021

Captioned: 8 November 2021 at 7.30pm

Audio-Described: 6 November 2021 at 2.30pm, touch tour at 1pm

British Sign Language Interpreted: 15November 2021 at 7.30pm 

Box Office: www.donmarwarehouse.com / 020 3282 3808

PERFORMANCE TIMES

Evenings Mon – Sat: 7.30pm

Matinees Thu & Sat: 2.30pm

TICKET PRICES

£45 | £32.50 | £20 | £10

PREVIEW PRICES – 7, 8, 9 & 11 October

£42.50 | £30 | £17.50 | £10

YOUNG+FREE

YOUNG+FREE tickets for 16-25 year olds released by ballot. Sign up at www.donmarwarehouse.com.

Generously supported by IHS Markit.

DONMAR DAILY

New tickets on sale every day at the Donmar. Allocations of tickets from £10 will be made available every day for performances 7 days later. Tickets will be available across the auditorium at every price band.

STANDING TICKETS

£10 standing tickets available from two weeks in advance 10am online, by phone and in person. (Except Press Nights. Subject to availability)

ACCESS

The Donmar Warehouse is fully wheelchair accessible. Guide dogs and hearing dogs are welcome in the auditorium. There is a Loop system and a Radio Frequency system fitted in the main auditorium and there are also hearing loops at all the front of house counters.

ASSISTED PERFORMANCES

If you require a companion to attend the Donmar, their ticket will be free. To book call 020 3282 3808 or email [email protected].

For all other access enquiries or bookings call 020 3282 3808.

SEASON AT A GLANCE:

SEARCH PARTY

21 – 25 September 2021

LOVE AND OTHER ACTS OF VIOLENCE

7 October – 27 November 2021

Captioned: 8 November at 7.30pm

Audio-Described: 6 November at 2.30pm, touch tour at 1pm

British Sign Language Interpreted: 15November at 7.30pm 

FORCE MAJEURE

10 December 2021 – 5 February 2022

Captioned: 24 January at 7.30pm

Audio-Described: 29 January at 2.30pm, touch tour at 1pm

British Sign Language Interpreted: 31 January at 7.30pm 

HENRY V

11 February – 9 April 2022

Captioned: 28 March at 7.30pm

Audio-Described: 2 April at 2.30pm, touch tour at 1pm

British Sign Language Interpreted: 26 March at 2.30pm 

MARYS SEACOLE

15 April – 4 June 2022

Captioned: 23 May at 7.30pm

Audio-Described: 21 May at 2.30pm, touch tour at 1pm

British Sign Language Interpreted: 30 May at 7.30pm

The season is presented in partnership with Wessex Grove.

FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED

FOR THE RETURN OF

SUSAN HILL’S

THE WOMAN IN BLACK

AT THE FORTUNE THEATRE

TERENCE WILTON TO STAR AS

‘ARTHUR KIPPS’

AND

MAX HUTCHINSON TO STAR AS

‘THE ACTOR’

PW Productions are delighted to announce the full cast for the return of Susan Hill’s THE WOMAN IN BLACK at The Fortune Theatre, London. Terence Wilton and Max Hutchinson will return to the show from Tuesday 7 September as ‘Arthur Kipps’ and ‘The Actor’ respectively.

The producers are thrilled that in response to the show’s enduring popularity with young people, those aged 18 and under will be able to see the West End production free of charge, alongside each full paying adult ticket.

Having previously played the role of ‘Arthur Kipps’ at the Fortune Theatre in 2017 and at the start of 2020, Terence Wilton returns to the show this year. His other West End credits include “Never So Good” at the National Theatre, “Treatment” at the Donmar and “War Music” and “Antony and Cleopatra” at the Old Vic. Terence has also performed “The Taming of the Shrew” at the Royal Shakespeare Company among many other productions with the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon, London and on tour. His television credits include BBC One’s “The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries” and “Doctor Who” and ITV’s “The Forsyte Saga”.

Returning to the role of ‘The Actor’, Max Hutchinson’s recent theatre credits also include “The 39 Steps” at the Barn Theatre and Theatre Royal Windsor, “The Hound of the Baskervilles” and “The Notorious Mrs Ebbsmith” at Jermyn Street Theatre, and the UK Tour of “Murder On The Nile”. He has also appeared in the films “Dream Horse” and “Downton Abbey”. 

In June 2019 THE WOMAN IN BLACK celebrated its 30^th Anniversary in London’s West End with a special gala performance.

Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s best-selling novel tells the story of a lawyer obsessed with a curse that he believes has been cast over his family by the spectre of a ‘Woman in Black’. He engages a young actor to help him tell his story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul. It begins innocently enough, but as they delve further into his darkest memories, they find themselves caught up in a world of eerie marshes and moaning winds. The borders between make-believe and reality begin to blur and the flesh begins creep.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK is directed by Robin Herford, with designs by Michael Holt and lighting by Kevin Sleep.

LISTINGS

THE FORTUNE THEATRE

Russell Street, London, WC2B 5HH

Performance Times:     Tuesday to Saturday at 8.00pm; Tuesday and Thursday at 3.00pm and Saturday at 4.00pm           

Currently booking until April 2022

www.thewomaninblack.com

@WomaninBlack_UK

LITTLE WOMEN

A MUSICAL BY ALLAN KNEE, MINDI DICKSTEIN & JASON HOWLAND

PREMIERES IN LONDON AT PARK THEATRE,

FROM 11 NOVEMBER FOR A STRICTLY LIMITED SEASON

Aria Entertainment, Hope Mill Theatre and Knockhardy Productions, the team that brought you RAGS The Musical, in association with Park Theatre, are delighted to announce that Little Women, the musical based on the critically acclaimed 1868 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott, will begin performances at Park Theatre, London on 11 November 2021 for a limited season until 19 December and with an official opening night on 17 November. Little Women has a book by stage and screen writer Allan Knee (Finding Neverland, The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit), lyrics by Mindi Dickstein (lyricist for Benny and Joon, book writer forToy Story – The Musical and book and lyrics for Beasts and Saints), and music by Grammy Award-winner Jason Howland (co-produced The Lonesome West, created Handel’s Messiah Rocks for the Boston Pops, arranger and music supervisor for Beautiful – The Carole King Musical and music director for Les Miserables).

Casting is to be announced.

Little Women follows the adventures of the four March sisters – Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy. Jo, the second eldest of the March daughters and an aspiring writer, receives yet another rejection from a publisher. Her friend, Professor Bhaer, tells Jo she can do better by making her stories more personal. Begrudgingly, Jo weaves the story of how she and her sisters grew up in Civil War America – a tale of self-discovery, heartache, hope and everlasting love.

Little Women was first produced on Broadway in 2005, starring Sutton Foster as Jo. The musical had its UK premiere at Hope Mill Theatre in 2017, produced by Aria Entertainment, Hope Mill Theatre and Knockhardy Productions and directed by Bronagh Lagan.

Little Women at Park Theatre is directed by Bronagh Lagan with set and costume design by Nik Corrall, musical direction by Leo Munby, orchestrations by Andy Collyer, choreography by Sarah Golding, lighting design by Ben M Rogers, sound design by Paul Gavin and casting by Jane Deitch. It is produced by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment, Hope Mill Theatre and Knockhardy Productions, in association with Park Theatre. It is co-produced by Bonnie Comley and Stewart F. Lane.

Presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International.

Bronagh Lagan said, “Little Women is a show very dear to my heart, being one of four sisters myself. It’s a real privilege bringing this show to London, one which I am very grateful for. Women are still struggling to find true equality in society, it is quite incredible to think that this tale of female empowerment was written over 150 years ago.”

Katy Lipson of Aria Entertainment said, “We are all delighted to be bringing this beautiful musical to London after its European premiere in 2017. We hope it will bring much magic and joy to London’s Park Theatre this Autumn and can’t wait to welcome audiences to see it.”

LISTINGS INFORMATION

LITTLE WOMEN

11 November – 19 December

Park200

Park Theatre

Clifton Terrace

Finsbury Park

London

N4 3JP

Box Office:  020 7870 6876*

*Telephone booking fee applies

Tickets: from £18.50

Performances:  Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm, Thursday and Saturday at 3pm*

(*Please note, there will be an additional performance on Sunday 19 December at 3pm)

Suitable for 8+

Website: www.parktheatre.co.uk

Twitter: @ParkTheatre

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ParkTheatreLondon

Instagram: @parktheatrelondon

CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR

EUROPEAN PREMIERE OF SUZAN-LORI PARKS’

W H I T E   N O I S E

DIRECTED BY POLLY FINDLAY

Suzan-Lori Parks’ White Noise will receive its European premiere at the Bridge Theatre, directed by Polly Findlay with a cast comprising James Corrigan, Ken Nwosu, Faith Omole and Helena Wilson.

Performances are from 5 October – 13 November 2021 with opening night on 12 October 2021.  Set designs are by Lizzie Clachan with costumes by Natalie Pryce, lighting by Jackie Shemesh, movement by Jade Hackett and sound by Donato Wharton. 

Thirty-somethings Leo, Misha, Ralph and Dawn have been inseparable since college.  Making their way together in the big city, they are liberal, open-minded and socially aware.  Misha is producing the hit online show ‘Ask A Black’; Ralph is waiting for tenure at his university, and as a lawyer, Dawn spends her days fighting for social justice.  Leo would be a talented visual artist – if only he could sleep.  As best friends and lovers, confident in their woke-ness, their connection with each other is stronger than anything else – until, that is, Leo is assaulted by the police in a racially motivated incident.  Shaken to the core, he brings to the group an extreme proposition.  White Noise takes an unflinching look at race in the 21st century from both a black and white perspective.

James Corrigan’s theatre credits include King Lear at Duke of York’s Theatre, Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, Antony & Cleopatra, Two Noble Kinsmen, The 7 Acts of Mercy, Wendy and Peter Pan, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare Birthday all for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Hay Fever for Kay & Mclean Australia and Bath Theatre Royal and The Big Meal also for Bath Theatre Royal. His television credits include Manhunt, The Tempest, Temple, and This Is Going To Hurt. His film credits include This Nan’s Life and School’s Out Forever. 

Ken Nwosu’s theatre credits include An Octoroon, Three Sisters and As You Like It all for the National Theatre, The Alchemist, Othello and The Merchant of Venice all for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Ghosts for Home Manchester. On film his credits include The Witches, Christopher Robin and Look the Other Way and Run. On television his credits include Sticks and Stones, Killing Eve, The Letter for the King, Upstart Crow and Catastrophe.  

Faith Omole’s theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Shakespeare’s Globe, Standing at the Sky’s Edge for Sheffield Theatres, An Ideal Husband at the Vaudeville Theatre, Bushmeat for High Tide, Twelfth Night for the Royal Exchange, The Rolling Stone for the Orange Tree and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Custody for Faith Drama Productions and Talawa Theatre Company and Walk in the Light for the National Theatre.  On television her credits include We are Lady Parts and Endeavour and on film Love Type D.

Helena Wilson’s theatre credits include The Deep Blue Sea for Chichester Festival Theatre, Measure for Measure, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Lady from the Sea all for The Donmar Warehouse, Love Me Now at Tristan Bates Theatre, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at The Old Vic, Flog for the Oxford Playhouse and Cambridge Junction and Romeo and Juliet on the Thelma Holt International Tour.

Suzan-Lori Parks is a multi-award-winning American playwright and the first African-American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her Broadway hit Topdog/Underdog.  Parks’ adaptation of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess won the 2012 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.  Her other works include The Book of Grace, Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Musical, In the Blood, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, The America Play and Fucking A.  Her project 365 Days/365 Plays – where she wrote a play a day for an entire year – was produced in over 700 theatres worldwide, creating one of the largest grassroots collaborations in theatre history.  Parks is a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow.  Her novel Getting Mother’s Body is published by Random House.  She also works extensively in film and television, most recently, as the screenwriter for The United States vs Billie Holiday and, also premiering earlier this year, as showrunner/executive producer/head writer for Genius: Aretha.  In her spare time she writes songs and fronts her band Sula & The Noise.  

Polly Findlay returns to The Bridge where she previously directed Caryl Churchill’s A Number.  Her other recent directing credits include The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Limehouse for the Donmar Warehouse, The Alchemist and The Merchant of Venice for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Rutherford and Son, Beginning and As You Like It for the National Theatre.

White Noise received its world premiere at the Public Theater in New York in March 2019 and was the winner of the 2019 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play. 

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Address:                  Bridge Theatre, 3 Potters Fields Park, London, SE1 2SG

Box Office:               0333 320 0051 or [email protected]

Access:                    0333 320 0051 or [email protected]

Website:                  www.bridgetheatre.co.uk

Twitter:                    @_bridgetheatre

Instagram:                _bridgetheatre

Facebook:                 facebook.com/bridgetheatrelondon

CLARE PERKINS TO LEAD THE COMPANY OF

ZADIE SMITH’S DEBUT PLAY THE WIFE OF WILLESDEN

TICKETS NOW ON SALE – over 3,000 tickets at just £15

With NW Trilogy by Moira Buffini, Suhayla El-Bushra and Roy Williams entering previews next week, Kiln Theatre Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham announces dates for her next production of Zadie Smith’s The Wife of Willesden, presented by Kiln Theatre in association with Brent 2020, London Borough of Culture. Clare Perkins leads the company as Alvita – The Wife of Willesden, with the production opening on 17 November, previews from 11 November, and running until 24 December. Tickets are on priority sale to Kiln Card holders now, and on general sale on Friday, 3 September 2021.

Indhu Rubasingham, said today, “I’m thrilled to announce new dates for The Wife of Willesden. For the past 18 months, the amazing freelance creative team and I have been working on redesigning and reimagining the Kiln auditorium, transporting Zadie’s larger than life characters to the Sir Colin Campbell pub. It’s going to be the perfect place for you to spend a joyous, celebratory winter’s evening with the fantastic Clare Perkins who will lead the cast as Alvita, the formidable Wife of Willesden.”

The Kiln Theatre auditorium will be transformed into the infamous Sir Colin Campbell pub, complete with some pub tables in the stalls and over 3,000 tickets available at only £15.

WORLD PREMIÈRE

Kiln Theatre presents

in association with Brent2020, London Borough of Culture

THE WIFE OF WILLESDEN

Adapted by Zadie Smith

From Chaucer’s THE WIFE OF BATH

11 November – 24 December 2021

Cast includes: Clare Perkins.

Further casting to be announced.

Directed by Indhu Rubasingham; Designed by Robert Jones; Lighting Design by Guy Hoare;Composition and Sound Design by Ben and Max Ringham;Associate Costume Designby Kinnetia Isidore; Casting by Julia Horan CDG; Movement Direction by Celise Hicks; Fight Direction by Kev McCurdy; Dialect and Voice Coach Hazel Holder; Associate Director Hannah Hauer-King.

A proper local legend. Married five times. Mother. Lover. Aunt. Friend. Alvita will tell her life story to anyone in the pub – there’s no shame in her game. The question is: are you ready to hear it? Because this woman’s got the gift of the gab: she can rewrite mistakes into triumphs, turn pain into parables, and her love life’s an epic poem. They call her The Wife of Willesden…

A play that celebrates the human knack for telling elaborate tales, especially about our own lives.

Critically acclaimed, multi-award winning, best-selling author Zadie Smith makes her playwriting debut, transporting Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath to 21st Century North West London.

Director Indhu Rubasingham invites you to take your seat at the bar, order a pint or two, and listen to this bawdy, beautiful new comedy up close, and very, very personal.

Presented by Kiln Theatre in association with Brent 2020, London Borough of Culture.

This production is supported by Dasha Epstein and The Wife of Willesden Circle.

Clare Perkins plays Alvita, The Wife of Willesden and will soon be seen in Amazon series The Offenders and fantasy series The Wheel of Time. She was recently in Netflix series Young Wallanderas well as a guest role on popular series The Crown and Flack. She recently starred in a leading role in Emilia, which played at the Vaudeville Theatre. She has multiple theatre credits under her belt at some of the most prestigious theatres ranging from Welcome to Thebes at the Royal National Theatre, Little Revolution at the Almeida, The Convert for The Gate Theatre, Mules with the Royal Court and Genesis Inc at the Hampstead Theatre. 

She is well known for playing series regular, Ava Hartman in BBC’s Eastenders. Other credits include BBC’s Death in Paradise, Damned for Channel 4, Netflix’s Been So Long. In film, Clare can be seen in Ken Loach’s Ladybird, Secrets and Lies directed by Mike Leigh and Saul Dibb’s Bullet Boy. She’s also in Censor which has just been released in cinemas. She has been a member of BBC Radio Drama Company and played Mel in Westway which ran for 8 years on the BBC World Service.

Zadie Smith is the author of the novels White Teeth, The Autograph Man, On Beauty, NW, and Swing Time, as well as three collections of essays, Intimations, Changing My Mind and Feel Free and the collection of short stories, Grand Union. Her novels have won multiple literary awards and been translated into many languages. White Teeth was adapted for the stage at the Kiln Theatre in 2018. She is a professor of fiction at New York University and writes regularly for the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books. Zadie Smith divides her time between New York and London.

Indhu Rubasingham is Artistic Director of Kiln Theatre. Her work for the company includes The Invisible Hand, Pass Over, When the Crows Visit, Wife, White Teeth, Holy Sh!t, Red Velvet (which transferred to New York and later to the Garrick Theatre as part of the Kenneth Branagh Season) and Handbagged (winner of Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre – also West End, UK tour, Washington DC and New York). Other productions for Kiln Theatre include A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes, Multitudes, The House That Will Not Stand, Paper Dolls, Women, Power and Politics, Stones in His Pockets, Detaining Justice, The Great Game: Afghanistan, Fabulation and Starstruck. Other theatre credits include The Great Wave, Ugly Lies the Bone, The Motherf**cker with the Hat (Evening Standard Award for Best Play), The Waiting Room (all National Theatre), The Ramayana (National Theatre/ Birmingham Rep), Belong, Disconnect, Free Outgoing, Lift Off, Clubland, The Crutch and Sugar Mummies (Royal Court Theatre), Ruined (Almeida Theatre), Yellowman and Anna in the Tropics (Hampstead Theatre), Secret Rapture and The Misanthrope (Minerva, Chichester Festival Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Chichester Festival Theatre), Pure Gold (Soho Theatre), The No Boys Cricket Club and Party Girls (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Wuthering Heights (Birmingham REP), Heartbreak House (Watford Palace Theatre), Sugar Dollies and Shakuntala (Gate Theatre), A River Sutra (Three Mill Island Studios), Rhinoceros (UC Davis, California) and A Doll’s House (Young Vic).

SEE IT SAFELY

Kiln Theatre has been granted the use of Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre’s See It Safely mark. The mark certifies that they are complying with the latest Government and industry COVID-19 guidelines, to ensure the safety of their staff and audiences. Ticket holders can find out more here [https://officiallondontheatre.com/see-it-safely/] about the measures that have been put in place ahead of their visit, and what they will need to know beforehand.

Kiln Theatre

Listings

269 Kilburn High Road, London, UK, NW6 7JR

Box Office: 020 7328 1000

www.KilnTheatre.com

Tickets from £15

All tickets for first preview £15

Kiln Card Priority Booking, 1 September 2021, 12pm

General Onsale, 3 September 2021, 12pm

11 November – 24 December 2021

Post Show Q&A 23 November, 7.30pm

Captioned Performance (Socially Distanced) 2 December, 7.30pm

Audio Described Performance (Socially Distanced) 9 December, 7.30pm

Gala Performance 10 December, 7.30PM

At the Gala Performance, every ticket includes a complimentary drink upon arrival, a free programme and other surprises to be announced. All proceeds from the evening are in aid of Kiln Theatre, helping them to create innovative productions, make theatre available to their local community and to connect everyone, whatever their background, through the power of performance.

Under 26 – £10 (subject to availability)

Access, Over 65, Local, Student and Group rates available, for further details, please see the website

Multi-buy – 25% off if tickets for NW Trilogy and The Wife of Willesden are bought in the same transaction.

Subsidised tickets

We offer free tickets and exclusive discounts to those who can’t afford to come. If you fit any of the below criteria, get in touch and we can help you get a ticket.

If you are homeless, out of work or receive Housing Benefits, Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance (valid ID, statements or proof universal tax credit will be required when collecting tickets).

Employees of NHS, Police Force, Fire Brigade, Armed Forces, The Coastguard, RNLI, Prison Officers or Social Care Workers (valid ID payslip and name badges will be required when collecting tickets).

Email [email protected]

FINAL DETAILS OF THE WATERMILL THEATRE’S AUTUMN SEASON ANNOUNCED

BRIEF ENCOUNTER

THURSDAY 14 OCTOBER – SATURDAY 13 NOVEMBER

WITH TWO SOCIALLY DISTANCED PERFORMANCES PER WEEK

THE JUNGLE BOOK

THURSDAY 18 NOVEMBER – FRIDAY 31 DECEMBER

ALSO WITH SOCIALLY DISTANCED PERFORMANCES, INCLUDING ONE PRESS PERFORMANCE

BOOK ONLINE AT WATERMILL.ORG.UK OR VIA THE BOX OFFICE ON 01635 46044

TICKETS ON SALE TO FRIENDS OF THE THEATRE FROM WEDNESDAY 1 SEPTEMBER

GENERAL ON SALE MONDAY 6 SEPTEMBER

Artistic Director Paul Hart and the team at Newbury’s The Watermill Theatre are thrilled to announce the final details of the 2021 autumn season, with performances scheduled through to the end of the year. These shows will follow the previously announced productions of LONE FLYER (10 – 25 September), POIROT AND ME (5 – 7 October) and LITTLE WOMEN (8 – 9 October).

BRIEF ENCOUNTER, a new production of Emma Rice’s stage adaptation of Noël Coward’s epic love story, based on the critically acclaimed 1945 film, will play at the Watermill from Thursday 14 October – Saturday 13 November, with a press night on Monday 18 October. BRIEF ENCOUNTER will be directed by Robert Kirby, with design by Harry Pizzey, Movementby Anjali Mehra, compositions and arrangements by Eamonn O’Dwyer and Lighting by Ali Hunter. Full creative team and casting will be announced shortly.

“I want to remember every minute. Always.”

A chance meeting between Laura and Alec in a train station tearoom leads to an impossible love affair. Engulfed by a sea of emotions, will they be swept ashore together, or will the tides of change pull them apart?

Based on the critically acclaimed film, Noël Coward’s timeless tale of happiness and heartache is reimagined for the stage in a dazzling new production of this epic love story. With music and movement to make your heart soar, this playful and inventive production will take you by the hand and whisk you on a journey through all of love’s beautiful complications.

THE JUNGLE BOOK – originally scheduled for Christmas 2020, and then postponed – will play this year from Thursday 18 November until Friday 31 December. Directed by Tom Jackson Greaves, full casting and creative team will be announced later in the autumn. There will be two separate press performances for The Jungle Book, both on Saturday 20 November, with the matinee at full capacity, and the evening show socially distanced.

In the depths of the Indian rainforest a child is abandoned with no possessions, no family and no home. Under the light of the full moon, the infant is discovered by a pack of wolves who decide to raise him as one of their own.

When the ferocious tiger Shere Khan comes looking for prey, the child – Mowgli – is swept to safety by a friendly bear and a wise black panther. Together they teach him the laws of the jungle. Years later, Shere Khan returns and demands the ‘man cub’ leave the jungle forever. Mowgli faces a choice… should he stay and risk further destruction? Or should he leave and accept that the home he knows isn’t the right place for him after all?

A wild and captivating musical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale full of warmth, laughter and wonder. Join Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, Kaa, King Louie and more as The Watermill Theatre is transformed into the Indian jungle for the adventure of a lifetime.

For audience members who would feel more comfortable to attend a performance with more space between themselves and other audience members there will be socially distanced performances each week during the run of both BRIEF ENCOUNTER and THE JUNGLE BOOK.

The Watermill continues to follow measures to control the risk of Covid-19. The wearing of face coverings continues to be strongly encouraged. Enhanced cleaning procedures, including regular fogging of the auditorium, and an efficient ventilation system supplying conditioned and filtered fresh air also remain in place.

To help audience members to book with confidence, The Watermill are operating a flexible booking policy. In the event that their booking is affected by Covid-19, audience members will be offered a ticket exchange, account credit or refund.

Paul Hart said, “This autumn season, as we move back inside, is all about theatricality at its most playful and inventive. I’ve loved Emma Rice’s adaptation of Brief Encounter for such a long time and can’t wait to bring it to the Watermill stage. And I’m so delighted that we can finally share our new production of Jungle Book which will be a treat for all ages. We will continue to offer some socially distanced performances alongside full capacity for these shows and I can’t wait to welcome audiences back into the theatre.”

Full company announced for:

HOME

By David Storey

Directed by Josh Roche

8 October – 6 November, Minerva Theatre

The full company has been announced for Chichester Festival Theatre’s revival of David Storey’s award-winning 1970 play HOME, running at the Minerva Theatre from 8 October – 6 November.

Josh Rochedirects Leon Annor, Hayley Carmichael, Daniel Cerqueira, Doña Croll and John Mackay.

Harry and Jack. Marjorie and Kathleen. Alfred.

In a neglected garden, small talk oscillates between the weather, the neighbours, reminiscences of friends and family, and anecdotes of past exploits in love and war.

But this quintet of characters, with their foibles and failings, are not what they seem to be, and nor is their home. And overhead, the clouds are gathering.

HOME has become a modern classic – a heartrendingly funny, haunting and deeply humane study of hearts, minds and England: islands adrift.

Leon Annor plays Alfred; his recent stage work includes As You Like It for the National Theatre, while film and television credits include Stay Close, Mister Winner and Britannia.

Hayley Carmichael (Kathleen) is co-founder of Told By An Idiot and has appeared in many of their productions, as well as working with the National Theatre, Complicite and Kneehigh. TV includes Call The Midwife, Witness for the Prosecution and Les Misérables.

Daniel Cerqueira (Harry)’s extensive theatre work includes Richard III and Game (Almeida), Birdland (Royal Court), Fortune’s Fool (Old Vic) and Table (National Theatre); his screen work includes The A Word, Pennyworth, Doctor Foster, War of the Worlds and Judy.

Doña Croll (Marjorie)’s theatre work includes Pride and Prejudice (Regent’s Park), Kate Keller in All My Sons (Talawa) and Elmina’s Kitchen (National Theatre); her many TV appearances include Death in Paradise, The Long Song, Family Affairs, Doctors and Casualty.

John Mackay (Jack)’s theatre work includes Six Characters in Search of an Author at Chichester, Richard II and Machinal (Almeida) and the title role in Richard III (Tobacco Factory): film and TV includes Black Earth Rising, The Hollow Crown and The Honourable Woman.

Director Josh Roche won the JMK Award for his production of My Name Is Rachel Corrie at the Young Vic with Erin Doherty in the title role. He has directed productions for Audible UK, BBC Arts, and has worked extensively at the RSC and Shakespeare’s Globe. He is the co-founder of OpenHire.

The production designer will be Sophie Thomas, with lighting designed by Alex Musgrave, sound designed by Sam Glossop and casting by Charlotte Sutton.

Home is sponsored by Henry Adams.