Author: FairyPoweredProductions

Leicester Square Theatre – until 2nd September 2018

Reviewed by Elizabeth J Smith

4****

THE BEST WEDDING EVER
The Scarecrows Wedding follows a farmer who narrates the tale of his two scarecrows Harry O’ Hay and Betty O’ Barley, on their quest to fill their wedding list to have “the best wedding yet, no scarecrow will ever forget”.

The show opens with the characters meeting the audience and follows with a lively song. The music is provided by the cast members playing a variety of instruments throughout including the violin, banjo, guitar, accordion, box drum and mouth organ.

The farmer, Mark Kane, tells the tale and also provides the characters that the scarecrows encounter on their journey around the farm collecting the things on their list. The imagination in creating theses characters was genius, sock hand puppet for the geese, a space hopper for the toad and a ruck sack for the very slow and hilarious snail. Reginald Rake, the Spanish lothario, who tries to steal Betty’s heart, brings a great energy to the stage. With great expressions for all
the characters you could see the transformation from one to the other and the children laughed out loud, especially the snail.

The two scarecrows, Phillippa Hogg and Mathew Burns, were played to perfection expressing their true love for each other and their excitement at getting married, all while playing their instruments.

The scenery gave you the impression of open fields and farm yard chaos, with minor changes to create each new scene, even a pond.

My reviewing partner was my 7 year old niece who laughed, clapped and said the wedding dress was the best bit!

Highly recommend for an afternoon school holiday trip.

DELFONT MACKINTOSH THEATRES’ AMBITIOUS PROGRAMME OF STRUCTURAL IMPROVEMENTS AND RENOVATION CONTINUE.

Having recently completed the spectacular reinvention and restoration of the VICTORIA PALACE, which reopened with the smash hit musical HAMILTON, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres (DMT) are continuing the upkeep of their buildings by turning their attention to implementing a recommended programme of restorative works which will include strengthening and extending the life of the ceilings of its other theatres and completing the restoration of its auditoriums.

All but two of Delfont Mackintosh’s London theatres are now in their second century of continuous operation as public buildings and they contain some of London’s finest plaster work.  Over the past few years our theatres, along with many others in the West End, have been subjected to extensive surveys of their original fabric.  The results of our survey, undertaken by leading historic plaster and paintwork conservationist Richard Ireland and structural engineer Chris Boydell of Conisbee, have shown that work is now required to ensure these unique historic buildings will last another 100 years. This will necessitate that four of our five playhouses, all designed by the great Edwardian architect William Sprague, will each need to close for a period of two to four months to complete the necessary works within the next three years.

The first theatre to undergo these improvements will be the Wyndham’s commencing early next month. It will be followed by the Noel Coward and the Gielgud in 2019 and the Queen’s in 2019/20. At the Novello over 50% of the required work has already been completed and the remainder can be achieved without any loss of performances. The two other musical houses, the Prince of Wales and the Prince Edward, built in the 1930’s have both already had major reconstruction during the last 15 years and don’t require immediate works and will be dealt with at a later date when the hugely successful productions of THE BOOK OF MORMON and ALADDIN eventually complete their runs.

These theatre closures will take place between scheduled productions apart from the Queen’s, where LES MISERABLES, the world’s longest running musical continues to play to 95% capacity in its 33rd year. This Theatre also requires a major renovation backstage.  It has had little refurbishment since reopening in 1959 after bomb damage from the Second World War destroyed the entire Front of House and rear Auditorium.  As the extraordinary run of LES MISERABLES looks set to continue for many years to come, the closure will also allow an opportunity to restore Sprague’s original boxes and loges as well as improving other facilities.

Plans are being finalised to ensure that this legendary musical success will continue its run in the West End during the Queens Theatre closure and an announcement with these arrangements will be made in the autumn.

Cameron Mackintosh said, “Having just completed the hugely rewarding but very expensive restoration of the Victoria Palace, news of the timing of these works which are necessary to ensure that my other theatres will be in tip top condition for actors, producers and audiences, long after the final curtain has dropped on me, was not the most welcome.   There are major financial consequences, not just the considerable cost of the capital works, but the knock on costs of closing these theatres for several months will run into many millions of pounds. However, I love these buildings and luckily my success as a Producer has given me the resources to preserve their life for another 100 years – so that the show can go on and on and on!”

ROSS NOBLE

‘EL HABLADOR’

UK TOUR 2018

Q&A

Ross Noble likes to keep his fans on their toes. For more than 20 years the Geordie comedy wonder has been spinning spontaneous stand-up, regularly touring the globe and playing to packed houses.

In a Ross Noble show, the mischievous comic takes his audience on a meandering journey full of ridiculously funny stories, whimsical tangents and offbeat observations – and his unique brand of semi-improvised stand-up has won him a legion of fans.

But just when it feels like the 42-year-old comic’s career is becoming predictable, he steers into completely new territory. Quite literally, in the case of his Dave TV shows – ‘Freewheeling’ and ‘Off Road’ – that follow him on motorcycle adventures. But more recently in Mel Brooks’s West End musical, ‘Young Frankenstein’, which saw him nominated for an Olivier and win a WhatsOnStage Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical.

Now, Noble’s ditched the choreography and is back on the road with a brand new stand-up tour, ‘El Hablador’. I talked to him about Christmas albums, giant skulls and working with Mel Brooks.

This is your 16th UK tour, with 68 dates announced so far. After 20 years on the road, do you still enjoy travelling the country?

‘It would be hard work if I didn’t! Is that how many shows it is? That seems like a daft number – I’ll put on two extra dates, just to make it up to 70. But, yeah, I do still love it. The great thing about stand-up is you’re face-to-face with real people.’

You’ve said that when you started touring you ‘didn’t really live in the real world’. Has that changed?

‘When I started all I did was tour – I was just a vessel. I’ve got more of a balanced life now, but I can still retain the essence of being in the moment. I realised quite early on that stand-up can teach you everything you need to know about life, which is: have one eye on the future, and have one eye on the past, but live in the present.’

How would describe what your stand-up now compared to your early days?

‘When I started people said I was “surreal”, and that’s a bit of a lazy description, because it sort of implies that anyone could do it. Now, I think I take the building blocks of the real world and then stretch and manipulate them. It’s more like “magic realism” than “surrealism” – that’s the way I see it… And that’s the most pretentious thing I’ve ever said!’

You recently recorded a spoof magazine show for Radio 4. How did you find writing that compared to stand-up?

‘I enjoyed the discipline, and creating something that is incredibly detailed and precise. Some people get writer’s block, whereas once I get an idea of something I want to do, I just got for it.’

In your Dave TV show ‘Ross Noble: Off Road’, you put yourself and your motorbike through the gruelling Scottish Six Days Trial. Did you take much convincing to do it?

‘That was something that I was doing anyway! We went to the channel and said, “We’re doing this, shall we film it?” and they went, “Definitely!” Hopefully we can do another series. I’d like to, but we can only really do it if we can up the ante.’

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you recently showcased your singing talents in ‘Young Frankenstein’.

‘And my dancing! I was Olivier nominated, you know? But I don’t like to talk about it… [Laughs]’

How did you find working with a living comedy legend, Mel Brooks?

‘Mel was phenomenal. He constantly tinkers with everything, changing punchlines around, cutting entire scenes…’

He’s 92 now. Did he show any sign of approaching retirement?

‘Not at all. The last time I spoke to him he was talking about projects that he passionately wants to do. Even though he’s got this incredible body of work – and he’s aware of that, because he keeps reminding you that he’s a living legend – he’s not hung up on the big picture, he’s all about the detail. He’s just as bothered about the nuance of it all.’

After singing and dancing, how have you found transitioning back to solo stand-up?

‘It is nice to be doing it again, because I feel like I’m exercising different muscles – still comedy muscles, but different types of comedy muscles. On stage the transition’s been fine, but off stage it’s been a bit weird.’

Because you’re no longer part of an ensemble?

‘Yeah, but not just an ensemble, a real world-class team. Going back to being just me, making all the decisions – in one way it’s the ultimate freedom, but sometimes giving yourself a restriction can be quite liberating in itself.’

After an Olivier nom, have you thought about incorporating any songs into your other work?

‘What, like releasing a Christmas album? I’d like to do more musicals, if the right thing came along – I enjoy it. But just because you enjoy singing doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Though I do have a couple of ideas for things that are not quite musicals, but sort of musicals, which I’m working on, but I won’t say what because it’ll jinx it or something!’

That sounds wise. Something you can talk about, then, is ‘El Hablador’. What do you have in store?

‘I’ve got a giant inflatable skull on stage: its mouth fills up with smoke and I walk out of it!’

Outlandish inflatable sets have become a trademark of your stand-up shows. How did they start?

‘The sets have always been a bit “Spinal Tap”, there’s no need for them, it’s just funny to have these big, over-the-top creations on stage. People turn up and go, “Woah!” and then I don’t really mention it.’

Can you see yourself still working at 92, like Mel Brooks?

‘Having spent time working with Mel, I can, actually. Sure, he’s had more success than any other comic on the planet, so you could say, “Of course he’d still be going!” But I do look at him and think: there really is no reason to slow down.’

Ross Noble: El Hablador is on tour, Sep 9-Dec 14. www.rossnoble.co.uk.

Interview by Ben Williams.

LISTINGS INFORMATION:

September – December 2018

Recommended 15+

ROSS NOBLE EL HABLADOR TOUR SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2018

SEPTEMBER

SUNDAY 9TH GLASGOW THEATRE ROYAL 0844 871 7647

WEDNESDAY 12TH EXETER CORN EXCHANGE 01392 665938

THURSDAY 13TH YEOVIL OCTAGON THEATRE 01935 422 884

FRIDAY 14TH SALISBURY CITY HALL 01722 434434

SATURDAY 15TH SHANKLIN, IOW SHAKLIN THEATRE 01983 868000

SUNDAY 16TH BOURNEMOUTH PAVILLION 0844 576 3000

TUESDAY 18TH SWANSEA GRAND THEATRE 01792 475715

WEDNESDAY 19TH BARNSTAPLE QUEENS THEATRE 01271 324242

THURSDAY 20TH SHREWSBURY THEATRE SEVERN 01743 281281

FRIDAY 21ST SHREWSBURY THEATRE SEVERN 01743 281281

SATURDAY 22ND CHELTENHAM EVERYMAN THEATRE 01242 572573

MONDAY 24TH NORWICH THEATRE ROYAL 01603 630000

TUESDAY 25TH SWINDON WYVERN THEATRE 01793 524481

WEDNESDAY 26TH SWINDON WYVERN THEATRE 01793 524481

FRIDAY 28TH BELFAST ULSTER HALL 028 9033 4455

SATURDAY 29TH DUBLIN OLYMPIA THEATRE 353 818 791 330

OCTOBER

TUESDAY 2ND CRAWLEY THE HAWTH 01293 553636

WEDNESDAY 3RD CARDIFF ST DAVIDS HALL 029 2087 8444

THURSDAY 4TH BASINGSTOKE THE ANVIL 01256 844244

SATURDAY 6TH OXFORD NEW THEATRE 0844 871 3020

SUNDAY 7TH STAFFORD GATEHOUSE THEATRE 01785 619080

WEDNESDAY 10TH BUXTON OPERA HOUSE 0845 127 2190

THURSDAY 11TH HULL CITY HALL 01482 300306

FRIDAY 12TH LINCOLN ENGINE SHED 0844 888 8766

SATURDAY 13TH LOUGHBOROUGH TOWN HALL 01509 231914

TUESDAY 16TH BRISTOL HIPPODROME 0844 847 2325

WEDNESDAY 17TH HIGH WYCOMBE WYCOMBE SWAN 01494 512000

THURSDAY 18TH NORTHAMPTON ROYAL & DERNGATE 01604 624811

FRIDAY 19TH HARROGATE ROYAL HALL 01423 502 116

SATURDAY 20TH SHEFFIELD CITY HALL 01142 789 789

SUNDAY 21ST YORK GRAND OPERA HOUSE 0844 871 3024

TUESDAY 23RD DONCASTER CAST 01302 303 959

WEDNESDAY 24TH HALIFAX VICTORIA THEATRE 01422 351158

THURSDAY 25TH COVENTRY WARWICK ARTS CENTRE 024 7652 4524

FRIDAY 26TH COVENTRY WARWICK ARTS CENTRE 024 7652 4524

SATURDAY 27TH COVENTRY WARWICK ARTS CENTRE 024 7652 4524

SUNDAY 28TH DERBY THEATRE 01727 844488

TUESDAY 30TH ST ALBANS ALBION ARENA 01727 844488

WEDNESDAY 31ST ST ALBANS ALBION ARENA 01727 844488

NOVEMBER

FRIDAY 2ND CARLISLE SANDS CENTRE 01228 633766

SATURDAY 3RD EDINBURGH FESTIVAL THEATRE 0131 529 6000

TUESDAY 6TH PORTSMOUTH GUILDHALL 0844 847 2362

WEDNESDAY 7TH TUNBRIDGE WELLS ASSEMBLY 01892 530613

FRIDAY 9TH LONDON PALLADIUM 020 7087 7747

SATURDAY 10TH LONDON PALLADIUM 020 7087 7747

SUNDAY 11TH BIRMINGHAM BIRMINGHAM ALEXANDRA 0844 871 7660

TUESDAY 13TH KINGS LYNN ALIVE CORN EXCHANGE 01553 764864

WEDNESDAY 14TH IPSWICH REGENT THEATRE 01473 433100

THURSDAY 15TH LEICESTER DE MONTFORT HALL 0116 233 3111

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THURSDAY 22ND NEWCASTLE CITY HALL 08448 11 21 21

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WEDNESDAY 28TH CREWE LYCEUM 0127 036 8242

THURSDAY 29TH CREWE LYCEUM 0127 036 8242

FRIDAY 30TH MANCHESTER APOLLO 0844 477 7677

DECEMBER

SATURDAY 1ST NOTTINGHAM ROYAL CONCERT HALL 0115 989 5555

SUNDAY 2ND SCARBOROUGH GRAND HALL 01723 357869

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THURSDAY 13TH LEEDS TOWN HALL 0113 224 3801

FRIDAY 14TH LEEDS TOWN HALL 0113 224 3801

Guy Slater in association with Tara Arts presents the World Premiere staging of

Eastern Star

By Guy Slater

A powerful play about the tortuous relationship between two men during a momentous time in Myanmar that questions

Who writes history – the activist or the journalist

11^th – 29^th September 2018 | Tara Theatre

Ahead of the 30^th anniversary of the 1988 student uprising against the military dictatorship in Burma (now Myanmar) on 8^th August, Guy Slater in association with Tara Arts is proud to announce the World Premiere production of Eastern Star, to be performed at Tara Theatre from 11^th – 29^th September.

Eastern Star is based on the true story of the relationship between a BBC World Service journalist, Christopher Gunness and a Burmese human rights lawyer, U Nay Min, with the latter acting as the ‘architect’ of the revolution, and the former serving as its ‘voice’.

After the revolution was brutally suppressed Chris went on to comparative fame and fortune (he is currently director of communications with UN in the Middle East) while U Nay Min was arrested, imprisoned for 16 years and tortured. Set around their fraught and painful reunion 25 years after the revolution, Eastern Star examines the responsibility of global news corporations towards their sources, touching on the theme of news manipulation and fake news. The piece shines a light on what happens when a journalist walks away from the subject of their story. At its heart, the play questions who writes history – the activist or the journalist?

Eastern Star is written and directed by Guy Slater, who was struck by Chris’ story after hearing him speak at a fund-raising event, and with his permission set about adapting this fascinating story for the stage. Guy has had a long and successful career in theatre and television. He ran the Horseshoe Theatre Company, mainly operating out of the Haymarket Theatre, for seven years. He has directed plays in many parts of the world – London, California, Edinburgh, New York and India. Actors he has worked with include Derek Jacobi, Gwen Watford, Timothy West, Paul Scofield, Zoe Wanamaker, Wendy Hillier, George Cole and David Morrissey.  He has also written many plays for radio and television.

Guy Slater said:

“Christopher and U May Min’s story is a moving and resonant one. I am delighted to be bringing it to the stage for the 30^th anniversary of the 1988 student uprising. People rarely stop to think about the relationship between a reporter and his/her subject. Its been a challenge and a delight to look at the story from both – very complex and painful- perspectives.”

Christopher Gunness said:

“It’s surreal to have started a revolution by mistake without even realising it, but as a cub reporter at the BBC that’s just what I did. I never imagined that my reporting would play a part in shaping the fate of a nation and writing the first draft of its history. And with the Rohinga crisis deepening, that history is still being written. The true hero of this story is U Nay Min, and I am delighted that this story is being brought to the stage on this momentous anniversary.” 

Casting will be announced in due course.

www.tara-arts.com/

Box office: 020 8333 4457

LISTINGS

Eastern Star

Venue: Tara Theatre

Dates: 11 – 29 Sept 2018

Performances: Tues 11 to Sat 29 Sept, 7.30pm, Matinees Sat 22 & 29 Sept 3.30pm; and Thurs 27 Sept 3.30pm

Prices: £13.50 (concessions) and £17.50 (standard)
Booking: www.tara-arts.com / 020 8333 4457

POST SHOW DISCUSSIONS

Wednesday 19 September: The Reporter & The Activist with Lyse Doucet (BBC Chief International Correspondent) and Christopher Gunness

Wednesday 26 September: Myanmar Today: How did the student uprising of 1988 change history with Martin Smith (Project Burma)

LORDS WARN UK CULTURAL SECTOR MAY SUFFER AFTER BREXIT WITHOUT RECIPROCAL VISA AGREEMENTS WITH THE EU

Without effective reciprocal arrangements for movement of people between the UK and EU, the UK may see a decline in skilled cultural sector workers coming to the country. Such a development would be to the detriment of the sector, and represent a significant loss to the audiences that enjoy seeing talent from across Europe performing in the UK.

In its report published today, Brexit: movement of people in the cultural sector, the House of Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee highlights that bringing EU cultural workers under the same restrictions as currently apply to third country nationals could harm the sector, because existing visa rules require a minimum salary in excess of what many cultural organisations can offer. As a result, the UK may struggle to attract talent.

The ability to move between the UK and EU27 at short notice is integral to the business model of many cultural sector organisations, which are often built on the services of consultants and freelance workers working on a project basis, or working on multiple projects at one time.

The Committee suggests the Government consider two possible visa options that would recognise the two-way benefits that accrue from allowing artists, entertainers and other cultural sector workers to move freely between the UK and EU:

• Extending the permitted paid engagement and permit-free festival arrangements to EU citizens;
•  Offering a multi-country, multi-entry short-term ‘touring visa’ for EU citizens, and seek a reciprocal commitment for UK citizens travelling to the EU.

The Government’s recent White Paper acknowledges that “the UK and the EU will … need provisions that allow for mobility” to facilitate the proposed “cooperative accord” with the EU on culture and education. However it is unclear how this accord would relate to wider immigration policy, or the existing visa system. Given the cultural sector’s concerns about how it will be affected by any agreement with the EU on migration, the Government should urgently provide more detail on this proposal.

Lord Jay of Ewelme, Chairman of the Committee, said:

“Individuals working in the UK cultural sector are highly mobile, and have thrived on collaboration with people from all over the world. The country benefits enormously from the sector’s contribution to its economy and society, and it makes  an important contribution to the UK’s international image and influence.

“If the Government is to achieve its wish to establish an immigration system that meets the needs of the post-Brexit economy, the UK’s negotiators will need to be flexible. This means recognising that any restrictions on EU citizens wishing to enter the UK to work may be matched by reciprocal restrictions on UK workers in the EU.”

Bradford Alhambra – until Saturday 28 July

5*****

I was lucky enough to see the start of the Titanic tour in Southampton and thought it was magnificent then, but seeing it again, as it makes its penultimate stop in Bradford, I see just how magnificent it has really become.

The original cast have grown into their roles, adding nuances, emotions and real personalities to their characters.  These are real people, who really suffered and you care about the fate of every single one of these people.

This is one of the best examples of an ensemble piece, and it’s hard to single any one person out for praise when all are outstanding.  But I must mention Jacinta Whyte, who is newly playing my favourite character Alice Beane. Alice wants excitement and to rub elbows with millionaires.  Her self prophetic exclamation that getting in to the First Class salon maybe the last thing they ever do is heartbreaking.

Watching Kieran Brown fall apart as William Murdoch, and his needless suicide pulls at the heartstrings too.  Although I must admit I love this show and I tend to start crying from the opening bars of In Every Age to the standing ovation of the reprise of Godspeed Titanic due to Maury Yeston’s highly emotive music and lyrics played by the band under the direction of Mark Aspinall

Danielle Taranto has produced a masterpiece of musical theatre and I can only hope and wait for the West End transfer that this undoubtedly deserves

Lowry, Salford – until 28 July 2018

Reviewed by Lottie Davis Brown

5*****

March 2019 will mark the tenth anniversary of the tragic death of 60’s legend Dusty Springfield – another international icon gone far too soon.

I may not have been around in the sixties but I remember my parents playing Springfield’s records in the eighties and me then being able to spot her on TV in 1987 when she featured on the hit single What Have I Done To Deserve This? with the Pet Shop Boys which became a favourite song of mine for decades to come.

Johnathan Harvey’s musical adaptation of the life and biography of Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien aka Dusty Springfield as she was professionally known as (afterall, even on a 12” record it would be difficult to squeeze her full real name on!) opens not at the birth of Dusty, but at the start of her solo career in the Sixties, following her departure from pop-folk trio The Springfields (with her brother Tom Springfield and Tim Field) stating that she wanted to explore other types of music than folk. It’s 1963 and Dusty is about to launch her solo career with I Only Wanna Be With You on TV’s “Ready, Steady, Go”, however she suffers terribly with stage fright and as the audience early count down to her debut solo performance, Dusty is nowhere to be seen – she’s hiding out in the bathroom and has to be calmed down and pursuaded to go on stage by her two best friends Pat (Esther Coles) and Ruby (Ella Kenion) to perform.

Having had a strict Catholic upbringing, witnessing the constant bickering of her parents (which drove Dusty to outburst of anger and self harm) and being a self-confessed perfectionist, even when her records were at the top of the charts, Dusty was filled with self-loathing and doubt, aspiring to be like Mowtown sensations such as Aretha Franklin and never feeling she was quite good enough. This was only made worse by her mothers constant digs at her. However by 1965, Dusty was the best selling female singer with international success and soon embraced on a tour, where she was went down in history for refusing to sing in front of a segregated audience, resulting on being asked to leave that country.

Katherine Kingsley captures the sultry vocals, peroxide beehive and kohl-eyed persona of Springfield with ease, showing the “behind-the-scenes” less-seen side of Dusty – the insecure, perfection driven icon who soon became addicted to drugs and alcohol, being at the brink of self-destruction until the opportunity to reboot her career in the late 1980’s when following Pat and Kay going grovelling to her old manager Billings (Rufus Hound) which led to the recording with the Pet Shop Boys. Whilst act one is centred around her rise to fame as an international solo artist, act two shows the steady decline of her long term relationship with Lois (Joanna Francis), the impact this had on her drink and drugs addiction and her music career hiatus and leads up to her tragic death from breast cancer in early 1999.

The stage set, along with the lighting and video production take the audience through the swinging psychedelic Sixties London to the groovy “free love” Seventies, electro Eighties (with a fabulous homage to the PSB and Dusty collaboration of What Have I Done To Deserve This? in a mock electro discotheque-esque music video (which took me back to my childhood era and first memories of Dusty in the charts – which reached no.2 in the UK charts to the nineties with ease, so much so the show really did feel as if one was watching a television documentary of old Dusty footage to mark her career, even the funeral recordings from 1999 were played on video screens as the audience shed several tears as Kingsley gave a moving performance of Dusty’s final hour, surrounded by friends Pat, Ruby and ex-lover Lois.

A full standing ovation with raucous applause soon followed. Dusty Springfield may be gone but she certainly isn’t going to be forgotten in a hurry. Although the production features some darker moments, the wit is fast-flowing and there’s plenty of laugh out loud moments. There is literally nothing I can fault on this production.

Award-winning Antic Disposition present the
largest theatrical tour of English Cathedrals
UK Cathedral Tour: 8th October – 10th November 2018
Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon: 12th – 16th November 2018

Returning for its fourth year to delight audiences around the UK, Antic Disposition’s critically acclaimed production of Shakespeare’s Henry V will embark on a historical tour of ten of the most beautiful and significant cathedrals. Coinciding with the centenary of the First World War Armistice on 11th November, Henry V will conclude with a special run at William Shakespeare’s burial place, Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon

As the largest theatrical tour of English cathedrals ever undertaken, this will be Antic Disposition’s longest and most wide-ranging UK tour to date. By the end of 2018, the production will have visited twenty of England’s forty-two cathedrals, from Durham in the north to Winchester in the south, Norwich in the east to Exeter in the west

Antic Disposition’s reimagining is set in a French military hospital in 1915 – 500 years after the Battle of Agincourt – where two groups of wounded French and British soldiers decide to raise their spirits by staging their own production of Henry V. Performed by an international cast of twelve British and French actors, this production celebrates the rich and often turbulent historical relationship between England and France, from the Hundred Years War to the Entente Cordiale

In a powerful tribute to the young soldiers caught up in conflicts five centuries apart, Antic Disposition’s Henry V moves effortlessly between 1415 and 1915. This adaptation combines Shakespeare’s epic history play with original songs and live music inspired by the poetry of A E Housman, specially composed by Christopher Peake. This production also features an arrangement of Housman’s The Lads in their Hundreds by George Butterworth, a young English composer who was himself killed in the Battle of the Somme in 1916

Directors Ben Horslen and John Risebero comment: Over the last four years this production has been a constant feature in our lives, and as the centenary of the Great War comes to a close, it feels fitting that we revive it once more to mark the end of the conflict. Henry V has been a very special project, not least the experience of working with the amazing ͚band of brothers͛ – and sisters – who have joined us on the journey. We are very excited to be sharing the production with new audiences across the UK on our largest tour to date, and hugely grateful to our cathedral hosts for the opportunity to be part of their commemorative programmes

Antic Disposition’s production of Henry V was first staged in August 2015, marking both the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt and the centenary of the First World War. The production was performed in ten open-air locations in France, followed by a run in Temple Church in London. Henry V was revived in spring 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, where it was performed in Middle Temple Hall in London followed by a tour of eight cathedrals and major churches around the UK. A second cathedral tour took place in February 2017, visiting a further eight cathedrals around the UK. Additionally, in January 2018 Antic Disposition’s Henry V was performed at the Théâtre National de Nice in France, as part of the annual ShakeNice! Festival – one of only a handful of productions of Shakespeare’s play ever
to be performed in a major French theatre

Antic Disposition͛s Henry V deserves its revival tour of British Cathedrals. It is a slick theatrical operation, well-acted, well-designed and well-conceived (★★★★★, British Theatre)

Performance Dates
8th – 9th October Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire – 7.30pm

11th – 13th October Leicester Cathedral, Leicestershire – 7.30pm

15th – 16th October Durham Cathedral, County Durham – 7.30pm

18th – 20th October Chester Cathedral, Cheshire – 7.30pm

22nd – 24th October Manchester Cathedral, Greater Manchester – 7.30pm

26th – 27th October Wells Cathedral, Somerset 7.30pm

29th – 31st October Exeter Cathedral, Devon – 7.30pm

5th – 7th November Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire – 7.30pm

8th – 10th November Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford – 7.30pm

12th – 16th November Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon 7.30pm