The cast has been announced today for Gary Owen’s play Violence and Son at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre in London (3 June to 11 July – press night 8 June). The full cast is Morfydd Clark, Jason Hughes, David Moorst and Siwan Morris.

Directed by Hamish Pirie, Gary Owen’s intimate new play is about what parents pass on and trying to do the right thing.

 

“People know, you’re my boy. And they know better than to lay a fucking finger on you.

See? You are safer here with me, than you have ever been.”

 

Liam’s 17 years old, loves Dr Who and has lost his mum. He has had to move from London to Wales, to the valleys, to the middle of nowhere, to live with a dad he doesn’t know. Whose nickname isn’t Violence for nothing.

Morfydd Clark will play Jen, Jason Hughes will play Rick (aka Violence), David Moorst will play Liam andSiwan Morris will play Suze.

The production is designed by Cai Dyfan, with lighting design by Lizzie Powell and music and sound design by Mark Melville.

Violence and Son will be accompanied by three Big Idea events Violence and Shame with psychologist and poet Jonathan Asser (10 June),  Gary Owen in Conversation

(25 June ) and Power and Consent with academics Dr Susan Hansen and Dr Jackie Gray who specialise in forensic psychology (8 July).

Welsh playwright Gary Owen makes his Royal Court debut with Violence and Son. He is winner of the Meyer Whitworth, George Devine and Pearson best play awards.  His other plays include Iphigenia in Splott, Love Steals Us From Loneliness, Crazy Gary’s Mobile Disco, The Shadow of a Boy, (winner, Meyer Whitworth Award, George Devine Award), The Drowned World (winner, Fringe First and Pearson Best Play Award), Ghost City, Cancer Time, SK8, Big Hopes, In the Pipeline, Blackthorn, Mary Twice, Amgen:Broken, Bulletproof, The Ugly Truth and Free Folk. His adaptations include Spring Awakening and Ring Ring, a new version of La Ronde for the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Dickens’ A Christmas Carol for Sherman Cymru. He is a Creative Associate at Watford Palace Theatre, where his plays We That Are Left, Mrs Reynolds and the Ruffian, and Perfect Match have been produced.

Hamish Pirie is Associate Director at the Royal Court and this will be his third production for the theatre after directing Who Cares and Teh Internet is Serious Business. His previous directing credits include I’m With The Band and Demos, Quiz Show, Love With A Capital ‘L’, 3 Seconds, Most Favoured, Bravo Figaro andThe Last Bloom at the Traverse, Edinburgh (where he was previously Associate Director) and Salt Root andRoe for the Donmar Warehouse’s Trafalgar Studio season.

 

 

The Big Idea: Violence and Son

Violence and Shame

Psychologist and poet Jonathan Asser in conversation with Royal Court Associate Director Hamish Pirieabout the impulses that drive men to commit acts of violence.
Wednesday 10 June, 6pm
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
£5 (or free with a ticket for that evening’s performance)

Gary Owen in Conversation

The playwright talks to Royal Court Associate Director Hamish Pirie

Thursday 25 June, post-show

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Free with a ticket for this performance

Power and Consent
With Dr Susan Hansen and Dr Jackie Gray academics specialising in forensic psychology at the University of Middlesex.
Wednesday, 8 July, 6pm
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
£5 (or free with a ticket for Violence and Son)

Listings Information:

Violence and Son
by Gary Owen
directed by Hamish Pirie
Wednesday 03 June – Saturday 11 July 2015
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs , Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, SW1W 8AS
Monday – Saturday 7.45pm
Saturday matinees (from 13 June) 3pm
Thursday matinees (from 11 June) 3pm
Captioned Performance Tuesday 07 July 2015, 7.45pm
Press Night Monday 08 June, 7pm
Age Guidance 14+
Tickets £20
Mondays all seats £10 (available on the day from 9am online)
Concessions £15* (available in advance until 13 June, and all matinees. For all other performances, available on a standby basis on the day)
School and HE Groups of 8+ £10  (available Wednesday – Saturday matinee, plus midweek matinee)
Access £12 (plus a companion at the same rate)
*ID required. All discounts subject to availability.

 

The Big Idea is a strand of work launched during Open Court, offering audiences radical thinking and provocative discussion inspired by the work on stage. The Big Idea seeks to foster debate and collaboration, bringing together leading thinkers and artists from all walks of life to engage with the big ideas of our times, through a series of debates and events. AlixPartners support The Big Idea at the Royal Court Theatre.

 

Are you aged 7 years or above?

Would you like to appear in this years

Grand Opera House pantomime?

NEW PANTOMIME PRODUCTIONS Ltd.

are holding

CHILDREN’S

DANCE

AUDITIONS

on

Thursday 24th September

At Grand Opera House,

Cumberland Street, York

for their production of

JACK and the BEANSTALK

4.30 pm             Boys & girls aged 7 yrs and over     Max. Height 5’2”

                                    to audition as Babes

7.00 pm             Boys & girls to audition as Seniors   Min. height 5’2”

Everybody should wear clothes which are suitable for auditions

Pantomime dates –    11^th Dec. 2015  –  3^rd Jan. 2016

 

Derek Jacobi will play Mercutio opposite Lily James as Juliet and Richard Madden as Romeo in the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company production of Romeo and Juliet at the Garrick Theatre. The production will run from 12 May 2016 until 13 August 2016.

Kenneth Branagh said: “Sir Derek Jacobi has been an inspiration to so many actors and audiences throughout his brilliant career. To see him in Shakespeare is an event in itself. It’s an honour to welcome this wonderful artist to our season of Plays at the Garrick.”

Derek Jacobi said: “It’s always a privilege to return to Shakespeare. The role of Mercutio is an exciting and intriguing challenge to take on. I’m particularly happy to tackle it in the company of Richard Madden and Lily James, with whom I had such an exciting working relationship in Cinderella.”

Derek Jacobi’s stage credits include Heartbreak House, King Lear, two productions of Twelfth Night(Olivier Award; Best Actor), The Tempest, Macbeth, Richard III and Richard II, Much Ado About Nothing(Olivier Award; Best Actor), Cyrano De Bergerac (London Critics Circle Theatre Award; Best Actor),Ivanov, Antony and Cleopatra and three productions of Hamlet (also directed). Derek has performed in many productions with both Chichester Festival Theatre and NT Old Vic Theatre including Three Sisters, As You Like It, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Othello, Love For Love, Black Comedy and Hadrian VII.

Derek’s film credits include Cinderella, Grace of Monaco, The King’s Speech, A Bunch of Amateurs, The Golden Compass, Gosford Park, The Children’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Gladiator, Joan Of Arc: The Virgin Warrior, Hamlet, Aladdin, Henry V, Three Sister and Othello.

Derek’s television credits include Last Tango in Halifax, Titanic, Joe Maddison’s War, Margot, The Old Curiosity Shop, Doctor Who: Series III, Miss Marple: Murder at the Vicarage, The Jury, Frasier, The Secret Garden, Cyrano De Bergerac, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hamlet; Prince of Denmark, King Richard The Second, Markheim and The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes.

The Winter’s Tale, Harlequinade, The Painkiller, Romeo and Juliet and The Entertainer make up the inaugural season of work for the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company. The Company presents Plays at the Garrick, a series of plays that bring together an exciting group of actors led by Rob Brydon, Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, Lily James and Richard Madden. Performances begin on 17 October 2015.

 

ROMEO AND JULIET WILL RUN FROM 12 MAY 2016 UNTIL 13 AUGUST 2016 AT THE GARRICK THEATRE

FOR TICKETS VISIT www.branaghtheatre.com

ROMEO AND JULIET
12 May 2016 – 13 August 2016
Press performance: 25 May 7pm
Captioned Performance: 31 May 7.30pm
Audio Described Performance: 7 June 7.30pm
Performances Monday – Saturday with 2.30pm matinee performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays excluding 14 May and 25 May.

With summer just around the corner, flying rehearsals are well under way at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre for their forthcoming production of Peter Pan which opens on 15 May and runs until 14 June.

Hiran Abeysekera takes off as Peter Pan using a series of wires and bungee ropes: “When you’re flying high up there” says Hiran, “it’s the most amazing feeling. But you are constantly reminded that you’re not a bird, you’re just a human. My life is totally in the hands of the counter weight, and they’re all solid – they’re brilliant guys! They have to know what the rhythm of the scene is, what the rhythm of my character is, I have to feel them as well. It’s not me flying, it’s them flying me and we have to understand each other’s bodies and rhythms to make it work. It’s quite minutely specific. But it’s really thrilling. You feel like a superhero for a bit, a little jump can take you 30 feet up in the air!”

George Llewelyn Davies, killed in action in WW1, was one of the children who inspired this iconic character. Remembering him, and a generation of lost boys, Timothy Sheader and Liam Steelrediscover J. M. Barrie’s original stage play. Alongside Hiran Abeysekera in the title role is David Birrell as Captain Hook, Beverly Rudd as Smee and George Bukhari as Nibs. Recommended for all ages 9+. Flying scheme created by Wired Aerial Theatre (@wiredaerial | wiredaerialtheatre.com)

West End stormers and multiple award winners Mischief Theatre Company are set to bring their riotous new show Peter Pan Goes Wrong to Newcastle Theatre Royal in July.  Expect lashings of slapstick and mayhem galore, oh, and a crocodile that ticks! From Wed 1 to Sat 4 July 2015

 

Mischief Theatre exploded onto the West End stage with phenomenal success last year with The Play That Goes Wrong, the first of their ‘Goes Wrong’ hit shows. Now after winning the Whatsonstage Award for Best New Comedy  2014 and Oliver Award for Best New Comedy 2015, the company is flying high and promises a barrel-full of laughs with its new show.

 

The play introduces ‘The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’ who are attempting to stage J.M. Barrie’s classic tale of Peter Pan, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong… does, as the accident prone thesps embark on a thrilling adventure to Neverland with hilariously disastrous results. A highly physical comedy packed with finely-tuned mayhem and Buster Keaton inspired slapstick, Peter Pan Goes Wrong delivers a fast-paced show with split-second timing and ambitious daring.

 

Mischief Theatre Company started at the Old Red Lion in London, then transferred their first show to the West End where it enjoyed two successive runs at the Trafalgar Studios, whipping critics, audiences and celebrity fans into a frenzy of delight. Producers Kenny Wax (of Top Hat fame) and Stage Presence Ltd picked up the show and produced a two-act version of the play, which enjoyed a sell-out UK tour and swiftly followed with a West End transfer to the Duchess Theatre, where it is currently playing to packed houses. The company have just announced an extension through until September 2015 in the West End. Peter Pan Goes Wrong first premiered with a small-scale production at The Pleasance London in December 2013. This new 2014/5 production has been developed and redesigned for a number one UK tour.

 

Triple Olivier award-winning producer Kenny Wax says: “We took a huge gamble in transferring The Play That Goes Wrong into the West End; a new comedy starring ‘no one famous’ by unknown writers. And yet our sold out show is delighting packed houses night after night. Marketeers will tell you that there is only one thing that can create such a ‘hit’ and that is great word of mouth. I have no doubt that Peter Pan Goes Wrong will be met with the same tremendous reaction.”

 

Mischief Theatre was founded in 2008 by a group of graduates of The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and began as an improvised comedy group. The recent success of The Play That Goes Wrong has put Mischief firmly in the spotlight, attracting critical acclaim and international attention from theatre producers worldwide. The company is led by Artistic Director Henry Lewis and Company Director Jonathan Sayer.

 

Co-written by Mischief Theatre company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, Peter Pan Goes Wrong is directed by Adam Meggido, with set designs by Simon Scullion, costume designs by Roberto Surace, lighting design by Matt Haskins and sound design by Ella Wahlstrom. The production will be performed by an ensemble cast of ten, featuring: Laurence Pears, Cornelius Booth, Alex Bartram, James Marlowe, Chris Leask, Leonie Hill, Naomi Sheldon, Matt Cavendish, Harry Kershaw and Rosie Abraham. The company will be casting local children at each venue to play ‘the Lost Boys’.

 

Peter Pan Goes Wrong is produced by Kenny Wax Ltd and Stage Presence Ltd. A donation from every ticket sold is given to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

 

Peter Pan Goes Wrong is at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Wed 1 until Saturday 4 July 2015. Tickets are available from £11 (save 50p per ticket by booking online) and can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 or select your own seat and book online at www.theatreroyal.co.uk

Opening Night £15 Ticket Offer! (Partial View Seats remain at £11 on Opening Night)

 

The show is billed as ‘hilarious, raunchy and insightful’

Off-Broadway show Cougar The Musical is receiving its UK premiere at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry next month.

Written by American Donna Moore, the show is billed as “a hilarious, raunchy and insightful new musical about three women of a certain age saying yes to life and learning that true happiness lies within.”

The production, which runs from 16 May to 6 June in the Belgrade’s B2 studio, will be directed by Patricia Benecke and will star Dawn Hope (The Scottsboro Boys), Suanne Braun (Mamma Mia!), Pippa Winslow (Other Desert Cities) and Barnaby Hughes.

Moore said: “When I first heard the term ‘Cougar’, I was doing stand-up comedy and writing The UnBalancing Act, a show about my divorce – and I thought, ‘How come we have to place a derogatory name on an older woman?’

“I wanted to write a play that humanised the cougar which showed that women come in all shapes and sizes and that each woman is special no matter what. My thesis statement is that a woman who dates a younger man should be called a woman.”

The score for Cougar – The Musical includes “Shiny and New”, “On The Prowl”, “I’m My Own Queen” and “Say Yes”.

Tickets for the Belgrade production are on sale now.

The UK tour of Godspell in Concert is to close two months early, producers announced this morning.

The final performance will be at the Princess Theatre, Torquay on Wednesday 6 May.

It had been scheduled to play 28 venues up to 3 July.

Russell Scott, Producer & Musical Director of the show said “It is with a heavy heart we announce the early closure of Godspell in Concert. We have had an incredible journey and despite rave reviews,audience acclaim and standing ovations, ticket sales have been disappointing, and so after five glorious weeks with the most amazing company, cast and creative team, we are announcing early closure.

“It is difficult to pinpoint exactly why ticket sales have been so poor. However, without exception, every single performance has proven just how amazing the production is – the audiences have absolutely loved it. We have done everything we can to try and keep the show alive and running as long as possible, but we are now at the point where we have no option but to announce early closure.

“We would like to thank everyone who has put so much into making the production so amazing. Everyone has given 100% all the way – we could not have asked for more. We look forward to raising the roof at the final dates this week and next.”

The UK tour followed a sold-out critically acclaimed West End charity gala at the Lyric Theatre that also reunited most of the original West End cast, including David Essex, Marti Webb and Gay Soper.

The tour was produced by Russell Scott and Mark Pettitt for Godspell in Concert UK Ltd.

WEST END PREMIERE

NOTHING IS QUITE AS IT SEEMS

BIGGEST MAGIC SHOW IN DECADES SET TO THRILL WEST END THIS SUMMER

DEATH-DEFYING ESCAPOLOGY, GRAND STAGE ILLUSIONS, STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGICAL MAGIC AND UNPLUGGED UP-CLOSE-AND-PERSONAL SLEIGHT OF HAND

IMPOSSIBLE, the biggest magic show in decades, is set to thrill audiences in London’s West End this summer at the Noël Coward Theatre. The show will feature the very best magicians and tricksters from around the world, fusing dazzling grand stage illusions, up-close-and-personal magic, cutting-edge technological tricks and death-defying escapology in a fast-paced, breath-taking spectacular for every generation.

A HOST OF WORLD-CLASS MAGICIANS TO PERFORM INCONCEIVABLE FEATS OF MAGIC AND ILLUSION

Celebrating its global premiere this July in London, where Harry Houdini and the superstars of illusion stunned Victorian audiences on stage, IMPOSSIBLE will re-establish the UK capital as the epicenter of innovation and spectacle, hosting the greatest magic show on Earth. Directed by Anthony Owen, the multi-award winning producer and magic consultant behind Channel 4’s Derren Brown, IMPOSSIBLEbrings eight world-leading performers together live on-stage for the very first time. Featuring a stunning range of magical artistry, from astonishing acts of epic proportions to dumbfounding up-close sleight of hand, be ready to be mesmerized and baffled by these incredible illusionists.

The confirmed line-up includes: modern-day Houdini, daredevil and TV escapologist Jonathan Goodwin; mind-blowing mind-reader Chris Cox; psychological trickster Katherine Mills; boundary breaking magician Ben Hart and spell-binding digital marvel Jamie Allan, with more acts still to be announced.

FOR 5 WEEKS ONLY FROM 24 JULY – 29 AUGUST 2015 AT THE BEAUTIFULLY RESTORED NOËL COWARD THEATRE

LISTINGS INFORMATION

IMPOSSIBLE
Noël Coward Theatre, St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4AU

Friday 24th July – Saturday 29th August 2015
Monday – Saturday evenings at 7.30pm
Matinee performances: Tuesday and Saturday at 3.00pm
Booking details:  0844 482 5141
Access bookings: 0844 482 5137
Press Night: TBC
Website: www.impossiblelive.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ImpossibleTheShow
Twitter: @ImpossibleShow

Ticket prices: £10, £20, £40, £60. Premium tickets are also available

ON ELECTION EVE THE ROYAL COURT THEATRE STAGES NICK GILL’S SATIRE OF POLITICAL RHETORIC

Nick Gill’s new short play: beneverunerstoost, directed by Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone, is to be given a one-off script-in-hand reading at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs on Wednesday 6 May 2015.

Playwright Nick Gill has dismantled, mangled and welded back together the words of our would-be leaders David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband to create a new play about the language of politics. It will be performed script-in-hand on the set of The Twits on the eve of one of the most closely-run elections in history.

Vicky Featherstone, Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre said:

“Even before we were drowning in the current political rhetoric and searching for the truth behind the proclamations, Nick Gill was developing this razor sharp explosion of language and promises from our party leaders. It seemed too good an opportunity to miss, putting the work of this brilliant young playwright into the election mix and giving the audience an opportunity to be part of the development of this new play and thrilling new voice.”

Commenting on the inspiration for beneverunerstoost playwright Nick Gill said:

“I wanted to look at the break between political language and political intention, whether our rulers really do think they’re working in society’s ultimate best interests, where the dishonesty starts to creep in, where the hypocrisy comes from, and what relationship political discourse has with reality.”

They want all the power they can have. What will they say to get it? And how will you react at the ballot box on Thursday?

 

In a culture of loopholes, misused statistics, and refusals to be held accountable, the words of David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband are dismantled, mangled and welded back together for your entertainment.

 

The script in hand staging of beneverunerstoost, will take place Wednesday 6 May, 5.30pm in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs. Cast to be announced.

EMILY HALL SELECTED FOR RESIDENCY TO PRODUCE BRAND NEW SITE RESPONSIVE OPERA PROJECT AT CORINTHIA HOTEL LONDON OPENING IN SEPTEMBER

Ground-breaking composer Emily Hall has been selected from eleven finalists to produce a site responsive opera piece at the Corinthia Hotel London. After entering the hotel’s Artist in Residencecompetition – a search to find a composer or company to produce a brand new opera inspired piece inside the distinguished five star hotel- Emily Hall’s idea was selected by a panel of music and arts industry leaders.

The artists had all responded to a brief for a site-responsive, opera themed work, with nowhere in the hotel off limits. The winner was chosen this morning at the Corinthia London by a panel which included opera luminaries Alex Beard CBE, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House, Joseph Calleja, internationally acclaimed award-winning tenor and James Conway, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of English Touring Opera among others.

Emily Hall’s vision,  currently titled Seek and Hide, will use recordings and live performers to weave the sound and language of the hotel into a sonic tapestry that seeps into the very fabric of the building. On receiving the prize she said: I am delighted to be able to create something that everyone here can come back and enjoy.

Alex Beard said: It has been immensely difficult to select a winner from such an experienced and exciting shortlist but a huge pleasure to see so many bold ideas and new adaptations. I hope people who experience the finished production will be as excited and surprised as I was by the vision. I very much look forward to coming back in September to see the finished piece.

Corinthia Hotel London Senior Commercial Director Matthew Dixon said: Over the last four years our Artist in Residence programme has meant the Corinthia Hotel London has found a way to support some of the best new British talent in the arts. I’m delighted to see the programme grow year on year.

Following a month’s residency over this summer in which Emily Hall will immerse herself in the workings of the hotel, the project will premiere to audiences and guests alike in September of this year.

The announcement marks the fourth Artist in Residence competition at Corinthia. Previous residencies saw winning commissions from aspiring filmmakers Zawe Ashton and David Petch (2014), immersive theatre company Look Left Look Right (2013) and photographic artist Noémie Goudal (2012).