Author: FairyPoweredProductions

REGENT’S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE ANNOUNCES

FULL CAST FOR NOUGHTS & CROSSES

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre today announce the full cast for the stage adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s much-loved novel Noughts & Crosses, adapted by Dominic Cooke, and directed by Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director, Tinuke Craig. The production runs from 28 June – 26 July 2025.

The cast includes Alec Boaden (Jude), Amanda Bright (Jasmine), Corinna Brown (Sephy), Halle Brown (Lola & Juno), Michael Cusick (Mr Stanhope & Peter), Elle Davies (Shania & Leila), Eddie Elliot (Mr Corsa & Collins & Jack), Emma Jane Goodwin (Sarah Pike), Kate Kordel (Meggie), Jessica Layde (Minerva), Wela Mbusi (Mr Pingule & Governor), Habib Nasib Nader (Kamal), Yolanda Ovide (Dionne & Clerk), Helena Pipe (Reporter & Kelanie & Joannie), Richard Riddell (Ryan), Ben Skym (Colin & Morgan), Noah Valentine (Callum) and Chanel Waddock (Lynette).

Tinuke Craig, Director, said: “I’m so excited to be working with this wonderful cast on this deeply loved story. The company is a thrilling mix of new graduates, seasoned theatre performers and accomplished television actors making their stage debut, and each actor is bringing their own unique perspective and playful energy to Malorie Blackman and Dominic Cooke’s characters. I can’t wait to get started!”

A Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production

NOUGHTS & CROSSES

Based on the novel by Malorie Blackman

Adapted by Dominic Cooke

Creatives include RC Annie (Fight Directors); Phillippe Cato (Associate Director); Tinuke Craig (Director); Hazel Holder (Voice Coach); Ingrid Mackinnon (Movement & Intimacy Director); Max Pappenheim (Sound Designer); Joshua Pharo (Lighting Designer); Colin Richmond (Set & Costume Designer); Jacob Sparrow (Casting Director); DJ Walde (Composer).

Saturday 28 June – Saturday 26 July 2025

‘All our lives criss-crossing but never really touching.

A world full of strangers living with all that fear.’

Widely considered to be one of the 21st century’s greatest novels, Malorie Blackman’s best-selling Noughts & Crosses, a bittersweet love story with echoes of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, is revived for the London stage in this brand-new production.

By a secluded beach Callum and Sephy meet in secret; life-long friends living on separate sides of a divided world. When Callum, from a Nought family, is accepted to Sephy’s prestigious Cross school, will it bring them closer, or will the hate and fear that surrounds them drive them apart?

Dominic Cooke’s ‘excellent adaptation’ (The Independent) of this epic story set against the political backdrop of a deeply divided society, is directed by Associate Artistic Director Tinuke Craig (A Raisin in the Sun) in her Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre debut.

Malorie Blackman | Novel

Malorie is one of the UK’s most popular authors and has written over 70 books for children and young adults, including the Noughts & Crosses series, Thief! and her science fiction thriller Chasing the Stars. The sixth novel in her Noughts & Crosses sequence, Endgame, was published by Penguin Random House Children’s in 2021. In 2023, Noughts & Crosses was named one of The 100 Greatest Children’s Books of All Time in a BBC Culture Poll.

Malorie wrote for the eleventh series of Doctor Who starring Jodie Whittaker, co-writing the episode Rosa with Chris Chibnall which was honoured at the inaugural Visionary Honours Awards for making ‘a positive social impact’. Her work has also been adapted for TV with the six-part adaptation of Pig-Heart Boy winning a BAFTA and a major production of Noughts + Crosses launched by the BBC in 2020. Noughts & Crosses has been adapted for the stage by Dominic Cooke for the RSC and, most recently, by Sabrina Mahfouz for Pilot Theatre. In 2005, Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the world of children’s books. In 2008 she received an OBE for her services to children’s literature and, between 2013 and 2015, she was the Children’s Laureate.

Malorie’s autobiography Just Sayin’ – My Life in Words was published by Merky Books in October 2022. Full of life lessons, this is a deeply personal and vividly compelling look at an incredible life which defied expectations and inspired a generation. In November 2023, The British Library opened a free exhibition, Malorie Blackman: The Power of Stories, exploring Malorie’s inspirations and the impact she has had on her readers, and on inclusivity and representation in publishing.

Dominic Cooke | Adaptation

Theatre incudes: Hello, Dolly! (The London Palladium), Medea (@sohoplace); Good,The Corn is Green, The Normal Heart, Follies, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Here We Go, Comedy Of Errors (National Theatre);  The Low Road, In The Republic of Happiness, Choir Boy, In Basildon, Chicken Soup With Barley, Clybourne Park, Now Or Later, Aunt Dan And Lemon, The Fever, Wig Out!, Rhinoceros, Plasticine (Royal Court Theatre); A Winter’s Tale, Pericles, The Crucible, As You Like It (RSC).

Stage adaptations include:Noughts And Crosses (RSC); Arabian Nights (Young Vic).

TV & Film includes:The Courier; On Chesil Beach; The Hollow Crown – The Wars Of The Roses.

Dominic is Associate of the National Theatre, Artistic Associate of the RSC and was Associate Director then Artistic Director and CEO of the Royal Court Theatre. In 2014 he was made CBE for services to drama.

Tinuke Craig | Director

Training: LAMDA, National Theatre Studio.

As Director includes: A Raisin in the Sun (Headlong Tour); The School for Scandal (Royal Shakespeare Company); The Big Life (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Blue (ENO, London Coliseum); Trouble in Butetown (Donmar Warehouse); Jitney (Leeds Playhouse 2021 and The Old Vic 2022); Last Easter (Orange Tree Theatre); Crave (Chichester Festival Theatre); Hamlet For Young Audiences (Dorfman and National Theatre Tour 2020 and 2022); Cinderella (Lyric Hammersmith); Vassa (Almeida Theatre); The Color Purple (Leicester Curve/Birmingham Hippodrome and UK Tour); random/generations (Chichester Festival Theatre); I Call My Brothers (Gate Theatre); dirty butterfly (Young Vic).

In 2014, Tinuke won the Genesis Future Director Award. She was the Gate’s Associate Director 2015-2016. From 2021-2023 She was Baylis Director at the Old Vic. Tinuke works extensively with Young People and with emerging artists.

Alec Boaden | Jude

Training: Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Theatre includes: Punch (Nottingham Playhouse, Young Vic).

TV includes: Masters of the Air (Apple TV).

Amanda Bright |Jasmine

For Regent’s Park:To Kill A Mockingbird.

Theatre includes: Cymbeline (Shakespeare’s Globe); Romeo and Juliet (Almeida Theatre); Never Not Once (The Park Theatre); The Snail House (Hampstead); Macbeth, Richard II, Ralegh: The Treason Trial (Shakespeare’s Globe); Meek (Headlong); To Kill A Mockingbird (The Curve) Let Me Play The Lion Too (Barbican/Told By An Idiot); The Government Inspector (Birmingham Repertory Theatre); Dragon (National Theatre of Scotland); True (Deafinitely Theatre); The 24 Hour Plays (Old Vic); Henry V (Orange Tree Theatre); Obama-ology, AchidiJ’s Final Hours (Finborough Theatre); Called to Account (Roundhouse); Bloody Sunday (Tricycle Theatre).

TV includes: The Buccaneers (Apple TV+); In From The Cold (Netflix), Breeders (Sky); Casualty, Marley’s Ghosts, Topsy & Tim, Doctors, Making it at Holb (BBC); Coronation Street (ITV);  Euphoria (HOT); Midsomer Murders (Bentley Productions); Prime Suspect 7 (Granada Television).

Film includes: Ride or Die, The Lennox Report, Dear Afro (Team Sass Productions); Christmas at the (Snow) Globe, All The World (Shakespeare’s Globe); Stripping the Illusion (Object); Silent Voices (Quick & Dirty Productions).

Corinna Brown |Sephy

Training: East 15 Acting School

Theatre includes:Coppelia (New Vic Theatre); Woman with Salad (Focal Point Galler); Sleeping Beauty, Mother Goose (Hackney Empire); The Tempest (RADA Youth Company); Macbeth (TWIST Theatre Company).

TV, Film & Multimedia includes:In Flight (Channel 4); Heartstopper (Season 1-3, Netflix); Emergency Exit; Doctors (BBC); Even More Evermoor (Disney Channel); My Murder (BBC); Dashcam; Daphne; Essex Girls (Tape Collective) ; Coppelia: A Mystery (The New Vic Theatre); Kung Fu Sue (Wingbeat Productions); The Show Must Go Online; The Open Air: Reunion Show.

Voice Over includes: The World After (The Focal Point Gallery); Profile (Fire and Iron Productions); Hands on History – Vikings (BBC).

Credits whilst training: O’Toole’s Macbeth, Dr Faustus, Troilus & Cressida.

Halle Brown |Lola & Juno

Training: Arts Educational.

Theatre includes: The Crucible (The National Theatre & The Gielgud), Home Song (The Unicorn), Dolly Parton’s Smokey Christmas Carol (Southbank Centre).

Workshops include: Pavarotti, Marie Curie, Riviera Girl, Homesong and Swag Age: K Musical.

Michael Cusick |Mr Stanhope & Peter

Training: Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama

Theatre includes:Edward II (RSC); Bedroom Farce (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch); A View From The Bridge (Theatre Royal Bath, Theatre Royal Haymarket); Noises Off (Theatre Royal Haymarket); Sleepless (Analogue Theatre, Staatstheater Mainz); Against Captain’s Orders (Punchdrunk Enrichment); The Good Neighbour (Battersea Arts Centre).

Television includes:The Sixth Commandment (BBC).

Elle Davies |Shania & Leila

Training: London Academy of Dramatic Art

Theatre includes: Twinbond (Camden People’s Theatre); Sounds Good (Audible).

Credits whilst training:Cyrano De Bergerac (LAMDA); The Angry Brigade (LAMDA).

Eddie Elliot | Mr Corsa & Collins & Jack

Training: Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts

Theatre includes: A Strange Loop (Barbican); Blues For An Alabama Sky (National Theatre); The Lion King (West End); Motown: The Musical (West End); Assassins (Watermill/Nottingham Playhouse); Drive Ride Walk (Greenwich); Dry Cleaned (Intermission); Puss in Boots (Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds); The Music Man (Chichester); A Chorus Line, The Buddy Holly Story (Gaiety Theatre); Five Guys Named Moe (Theatre at the Mill); Spamilton (Menier Chocolate Factory); South Pacific (Barbican/UK Tour); We Will Rock You (UK Tour); Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater Concert (The Other Palace).

TV includes:Riches, Doctors, EastEnders, The War Between The Land And The Sea.

Eddie is also a comedy-drama screenwriter and currently has a show in development.

Emma Jane Goodwin |Sarah Pike

Training: East 15 Acting School.

Theatre includes: The Ocean at the End of the Lane (UK & Ireland Tour & Westend), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (UK & Ireland Tour, International Tour & West End), Love Steals Us from Loneliness (Camden People’s Theatre & Chapter Arts).

TV includes:Stella, 4Stories.

Kate Kordel |Meggie

Training: Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Theatre includes:The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,Perspective (National Theatre); The Boss Of It All (Soho Theatre); Richard II, The Comedy of Errors (Tobacco Factory); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Orange Tree); Romeo and Juliet (Bristol Old Vic); He Wore A Red Hat (New Perspectives); The Voices (Warwick Art Centre).

TV includes: Sister Boniface, Doctors (BBC), What It Feels Like For A Girl (BBC3), Coronation Street (ITV), Trial By Jury (Channel 4).

Jessica Layde | Minerva

Theatre includes:All’s Well That Ends Well (RSC); Measure For Measure (Donmar Warehouse); Start (Theatre Peckham); Consensual (Arcola Theatre).

TV and Film include:Malpractice, Endeavour (ITV); The Undeclared War.

Wela Mbusi | Mr Pingule & Governor

Training: Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Theatre includes: My Brilliant Friend (National Theatre); Mansfield Park (Watermill Theatre); The Magician’s Elephant, Henry VI Parts 1-3, Richard III, Henry V (RSC); The Hound of the Baskervilles (The Lost Estate); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Insane Root); Whose Life is it Anyway (Comedy Theatre); Who Killed Mr Drum (Riverside Studios); Measure for Measure (AFTLS); Running Wild (Fiery Angel UK tour); Cymbeline (South Carolina Shakespeare Company); By the way, meet Vera Stark, A Christmas Carol, Clybourne Park (Trust Us Theatre USA); Effie May (Oval Theatre).

Habib Nasib Nader |Kamal

Training: London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art

Theatre includes: Life Of Pi (Wyndham’s Theatre, Sheffield Theatres), The Grouch (West Yorkshire Playhouse), MTME (Soho Theatre), Madinina (Old Vic).

TV includes:Heartstopper (Seasons 2 & 3, Netflix & SeeSaw Productions), Cuckoo (BBC), Law And Order UK (Kudos), Come Fly With Me (BBC), Beehive (Tiger Aspect), Little Britain (Seasons 1 – 3, BBC).

Film includes: The Golden Compass (New Line Cinema), Four Warriors (Philm Productions), Dungeons and Dragons 3: The Book Of Vile Darkness (Silver Productions), The Libertine (Odyssey Entertainment).

Habib won Best Supporting Actor at the 2022 Olivier Awards and was nominated for Best Supporting Male Actor at the 2022 Black British Theatre Awards for Life of Pi.

Yolanda Ovide |Dionne & Clerk

Training: London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.

Theatre includes:Alterations (National Theatre); Slave: A Question of Freedom (Riverside Studios & National Tour); Gangs of New York, The Importance of Being Earnest (Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre); Jitney (Old Vic); Splintered (Soho Theatre); Groan Ups (UK Tour for Mischief Theatre); Unbelievable (The Criterion Theatre).

Helena Pipe |Reporter & Kelanie & Joannie

Theatre includes: Blues For An Alabama Sky (National Theatre); What Do You See? (The Pappy Show); In This World (Theatre For Young People); The Time Traveller’s Wife (Apollo Theatre); School of Rock (UK and Korea Tour); Nativity! The Musical (UK Tour); Oklahoma! (Grange Park Opera); Bare! A Pop Opera (Neptune Theatre); The Color Purple (TROIKA Bermuda).

TV includes:Queenie (Channel 4).

Richard Riddell |Ryan

Training: Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

Theatre includes: Sing Your Heart Out For The Lads (Chichester Festival Theatre); All Who Pass, Uncle Sasha The Butcher (Royal Court);  Gabriel, Titus Andronicus, Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare’s Globe); Pastoral (Soho Theatre); After The Party (West End, Criterion Theatre); Filumena (Almeida); The Merchant of Venice, The Homecoming (RSC).

TV includes: Foundation (Apple TV); Endeavour (ITV); Curfew (Sky); Bodyguard (BBC); The Terror (AMC); Scott and Bailey (ITV); Barbarians Rising (History Channel); Doc Martin (ITV); Penny Dreadful (Showtime); Vera (ITV); Misfits (Channel 4); Merlin (BBC); Waking the Dead (BBC).

Film includes: 55 Steps (Warner Bros); Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Warner Bros); Legend (Working Title); Blitz (Lionsgate); Robin Hood (Universal Pictures); The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus (Sony).

Ben Skym |Colin & Morgan

Training: Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts

TV includes:Casualty (BBC); A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story (Silverprint Pictures/ITV).

Credits whilst training include:The Antipodes, The Last of Haussmans, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Parade.

Noah Valentine |Callum

Training: Oldham Theatre Workshop.

TV includes: Waterloo Road, Casualty, Inside No 9, Mother’s Day (BBC); The Bay (ITV).

Film includes:Good Boy.

Chanel Waddock |Lynette

Training: Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

Theatre includes:Bitter Lemons (Park Theatre, Bristol Old Vic & Edinburgh Fringe Festival); Chariots of Fire; Rock, Paper, Scissors (Sheffield Crucible); Othello (Frantic Assembly – nominated for Ian Charleson Award); Hamlet (National Theatre); Bonsai Baby (Theatre503).

TV includes:The Outlaws (Amazon); This Is Going To Hurt, London Kills (BBC); Andor (Disney+).

BOX OFFICE INFORMATION

Box Office 0333 400 3562* | openairtheatre.com                              

Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4NU

* Lines open Monday – Sunday, 10am – 4pm. A £1.80 per ticket telephone booking fee applies. 0333 numbers are charged at the same rate as calls to 01 and 02 numbers as regulated by Ofcom. Please check with your provider for further details.

Visit openairtheatre.com for latest ticket prices, concessions and discounts.

#OAT2025 / #Shucked / #DreamBallets / #NoughtsAndCrosses / #Brigadoon / #TheEnormousCrocodile / #OpenAirTheatreFestival

2025 SEASON AT A GLANCE

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre presents

SHUCKED

Saturday 10 May – Saturday 14 June 2025

Access Performances:

BSL Interpreted: Tuesday 10 June, 7.45pm

Captioned: Friday 13 June, 7.45pm                   

Audio Described: Saturday 7 June, 2.15pm

Age Recommend: 8+

Tickets from: £15

OPEN AIR THEATRE FESTIVAL: FAMILY TAKEOVER

Sunday 25 May 2025

Bach To Baby Family Concert: Flute Fantasia, 10.30am, Suitable for all ages

Comedy Club 4 Kids, 11:30am, Suitable for ages 6+

Fly-Kid, 12:30pm, Suitable for all ages

Fold Your City, From 10:30am, Suitable for all ages 3+ and all the family. All abilities and ages welcome

Play Build Play, From 10:30am, Most suitable for under 5s but all ages welcome

Day entry tickets: Adults £18, Children £15

Allie Esiri and Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre present

SHAKESPEARE FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR – LIVE!

Sunday 25 May 2025, 7.30pm

Age Recommend: 11+

Tickets from: £25

A Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s

DREAM BALLETS: A TRIPLE BILL

Thursday 19 June – Sunday 22 June 2025

Age Recommend: 5+

Tickets from: £15

A Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production

NOUGHTS & CROSSES

Saturday 28 June – Saturday 26 July 2025

Access Performances:

BSL Interpreted: Tuesday 22 July, 7.45pm

Captioned: Friday 25 July, 7.45pm

Audio Described: Saturday 26 July, 2.15pm

Age Recommend: 14+

Tickets from: £15

OPEN AIR THEATRE FESTIVAL: DANCE TAKEOVER

Sunday 20 July 2025

A Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production

Lerner & Loewe’s

BRIGADOON

Saturday 2 August – Saturday 20 September 2025

Access Performances:

BSL Interpreted: Tuesday 2 September, 7.45pm

Captioned: Friday 5 September, 7.45pm

Audio Described: Saturday 6 September, 2.15pm

Age Recommend: 8+   

Tickets from: £15

Originally co-produced by Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Roald Dahl Story Company and Leeds Playhouse

The family musical based on Roald Dahl’s

THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE

Friday 15 August – Sunday 7 September 2025

Access Performances:

BSL Interpreted: Wednesday 27 August, 2pm

Audio Described: Sunday 7 September, 2pm

Relaxed: Tuesday 26 August, 10.30am & Sunday 31 August, 10.30am

Age Recommend: 3+

Tickets from: £15

OPEN AIR THEATRE FESTIVAL: COMEDY TAKEOVER

Sunday 14 September 2025

OPEN AIR THEATRE FESTIVAL: MUSIC TAKEOVER

Tuesday 23 – Saturday 27 September 2025

WEST END/ON TOUR

David Ian for Crossroads Live and Work Light Productions present

The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

Australia Tour until July 2025

Trafalgar Theatre Productions, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and AF Creative Media

in association with the Barbican present

The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

Saturday 24 May – Saturday 19 July 2025

Barbican Centre, London

Followed by a UK & Ireland Tour until January 2026

Runaway Entertainment present

101 DALMATIANS

Reimagined from the 2022 Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production

Friday 18 July – Saturday 30 August 2025

Eventim Apollo, London

ABOUT REGENT’S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE

Established in 1932, the multi-award-winning Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is one of the largest theatres in London (at a capacity of 1,304). Passionate about producing popular, enriching and unexpected theatre that provides a lens into the here and now, the scale and ambition of our productions together with our magical outdoor setting, makes us unique in the capital’s cultural landscape. In 2024 we welcomed over 180,000 people to our 27-week summer season.

Drew McOnie assumed the role of Artistic Director in January 2024, and James Pidgeon was appointed Executive Director in 2021.

Over the last fifteen years, our productions have won ten Olivier Awards, ten WhatsOnStage Awards, and four Evening Standard Awards. We were named London Theatre of the Year in 2017 by The Stage, and received the Highly Commended Award for London Theatre of the Year in 2021. Our productions have toured the UK, and have transferred to both the West End and the United States. Our 2016 revival of Jesus Christ Superstar has just finished tours of both the UK and North America and is currently touring Australia. Our Olivier Award-winning revival of Fiddler on the Roof will transfer to the Barbican Centre this summer, followed by a UK & Ireland tour.

As a registered charity that receives no regular public subsidy, we rely entirely on earned income and charitable contributions. Nevertheless, we have maintained 36,000 tickets at £15 across the whole of 2025’s summer season, our BREEZE scheme enables those aged 18-25 to buy tickets for £10, and we regularly work with local charities. Each year, on average, we subsidise tickets for 6,000 school pupils.

Food and drink plays a significant role in the Open Air Theatre experience, with our in-house bars and restaurants including Covered Dining (certified as a Sustainably Run Restaurant), The Grill and The Pizza Oven. We also have our own picnic lawn and the West End’s longest bar!

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre has become one of the most independently sustainable and financially successful producing theatres in the country, and we’re proud to embark on the next stage of our vision with ever-increasing artistic ambition and entrepreneurial spirit.

openairtheatre.com

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Facebook: RegentsParkOpenAirTheatre

Instagram: @RegentsParkOAT

TikTok: @regentsparkoat

Hinckley Concordia Theatre – 12th April 2025

Reviewed by Amarjeet Singh

4****

Orpheus in the Underworld is a satirical comic operetta by Jacques Offenbach. It’s a spoof take on the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. In this version, by the Stanley Opera, Orpheus is a pompous violin teacher who is glad his wife is whisked away to the underworld, by Pluto, the god of Hell. He is forced by his mother, Calliope, and the villagers into rescuing Eurydice. Calliope and Orpheus set out for Mount Olympus to lodge a complaint before the Gods. The Gods are bored with Jupiter’s philandering ways and tyrannical leadership, so they decide to visit Hell to have some fun and see what Uncle Pluto has been up to. During the visit, Jupiter discovers Eurydice and, with the assistance of cupid, attempts to seduce her whilst disguised as a fly. Upon discovery, Jupiter, is chastised by Juno, Pluto is unmasked as a cad and Orpheus is set the task he is destined to fail. Eurydice is given the choice of any man she might choose and makes a rather surprising decision.

This rendition of Orpheus in the Underworld is a rip-roaring romp of a production. Brought to us by Stanley Opera which was formed in 1972 and performed in the beautiful Hinckley Concordia theatre which opened in 1973, this fresh libretto by Nick Bacon and Adam Lawrence is chock full of comedy. Doubling up as directors, they pack this piece full of imagination, locally referenced gags, panto like audience inclusion and the wholesome feel-good factor. Keeping it true to the story, they have added a wonderfully welcome twist of female empowerment.

Rick Scrine has created the most delightful set design. Staging 3 acts, simple but effective, colourful and rich in detail. Amping up the visual jokes where appropriate, with a pull-out sun, Icarus’s horse and a magnificent hot air balloon arduously pushed on by an extra, to name a few. Melanie Nute’s costume design is consistent, colourful and rich in detail. Adding oodles of comedy, from fluffy duck slippers and a shiny gold ‘Godfather’ dressing gown for Jupiter, to some awesome wigs, which deserve acting credits, it all adds to the overall hilarity of the piece. Throw in a bike and some rollerblades and it’s a riot.

The performances, as a whole are all spot on with everyone working together as a team bringing the show to life. Vicki Shirtliff as Eurydice has the most beautiful singing voice and confident stage presence. Chris Marlow plays the lothario, Pluto, to perfection, all swagger and smarm with a voice full of charm. Bravo to Sebastian Carrington for standing in as Calliope. The comedic interactions between Carrington and Chris Stocker as Orpheus is a joy to behold. Andrew Robinson as Jupiter and Marianne Duffy as Juno are the consummate comedic couple. Pete Henderson as mercury on rollerblades and Josh Robinson as Mars brought some brilliant physical comedy and some cracking one liners. The three goddesses, Alice Chambers as Cupid, Philippa Althaus as Venus and Debbie Dubberley as Diana are sensational with the most powerful and potent vocal ranges.

Stanley Opera showed exactly how this operetta should be played: full of fun, frivolity and farce. Throw in its famous ‘risqué galop infernal’, more well known as the ‘Can-Can’ and you have a sensational showstopper.

The UK Pantomime Association announces the winners of
 The Pantomime Awards 2025 
with Outstanding Achievement awarded to actress Elaine C Smith

On Sunday 13 April, the winners of The Pantomime Awards 2025,staged in partnership with Trafalgar Entertainment and ATG Entertainment, were announced by the UK Pantomime Association at a ceremony full of song and laughter at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking.

Elaine C Smith picked up the illustrious award for Outstanding Achievement in Pantomime for her exceptional contribution to the Pantomime Industry for many decades as one of Scotland’s best-loved pantomime legends. Elaine was also one of the Awards show’s trio of presenters, sharing the stage for the evening with fellow top performers, Dave Benson Phillips and La Voix.

The Special Recognition Awards, which celebrate productions and individuals representing the values that the Association seeks to promote, were given to:

• He’s Behind You! who received the award for Achievement in Inclusive Practice for celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and demonstrating that the genre has endless potential in their progressive queer pantomimes.
• Oxford Playhouse who received the award for Achievement in Innovation for their fresh and exciting re-appraisals of familiar fairytale narratives and innovative use of plot and character to create fresh and vibrant pantomimes fit for the 21st Century.
• Brick Lane Music Hall who received the Nigel Ellacott Special Recognition Award for Pantomime History, Tradition and Heritage, an accolade which was introduced this year in remembrance of the much-loved pantomime artist and historian who sadly passed away in 2024. This award was given to Brick Lane Music Hall for their commitment to the traditions and conventions of Music Hall and Victorian Pantomime and celebrating pantomime’s rich heritage throughout their venue with numerous poster displays and costumes from significant pantomime performers, including Danny La Rue.

In full, here is the list of The Pantomime Awards 2025 winners:

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Ebony Clarke: Cinderella, Royal & Derngate, Northampton (Evolution Productions)

BEST LIGHTING (sponsored by Production Light and Sound)

Andy Webb: Sleeping Beauty, Festival Theatre, Malvern (UK Productions)

CARMEN SILVERA AWARD FOR BEST MAGICAL BEING:
Danielle Jam: Jack and the Beanstalk, His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen (Crossroads Pantomimes)

BARBARA WINDSOR AWARD FOR BEST PRINCIPAL LEAD
Mia Overfield: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fairfield Halls, Croydon (UK Productions)

BEST SCRIPT:
Anthony Spargo: Dick Whittington and his Cat, Greenwich Theatre, London (In-House)

BEST SECONDARY LEAD:
Mia Welsh: Dick Whittington, Theatre Royal Windsor (In-House)

BEST VILLAIN (sponsored by Breckman and Company):
Zoe West: Rapunzel, Everyman Theatre, Liverpool (In-House)

BEST COMIC:
Steve Royle: Cinderella, Blackpool Grand Theatre (UK Productions)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:
Katie Lias: Sleeping Beauty, Salisbury Playhouse (Wiltshire Creative)

CHRISTOPHER BIGGINS AWARD FOR BEST DAME
Antony Stuart-Hicks: The New Adventures of Peter Pan, Mercury Theatre, Colchester (In-House)

BEST DIRECTION
Chris Jordan: Snow White, Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne (Eastbourne Theatres in association with Jordan Productions)

BEST ENSEMBLE
Nikki Schofield, Alanna Panditaratne, James Everest, Ariel Nyandoro, Jacob Stebbings: Peter Pan, Victoria Theatre, Halifax (Imagine Theatre)

BEST CONTRIBUTION TO MUSIC
Tayo Akinbode: Mother Goose, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto, Theatr Clwyd, Mold (In-House)

BEST SET DESIGN (sponsored by Blue-i)
Becky Minto: Mother Goose, Perth Theatre (In-House)

BEST SISTERS
Harry Howle and Steven Roberts: Cinderella, Cambridge Arts Theatre (In-House)

BEST SOUND (sponsored by Orbital Sound)
Kate Harvey: Jack and the Beanstalk, Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford (Imagine Theatre)

BEST SUPPORTING ARTIST
Marc Pickering: Snow White, Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield (Evolution Productions)

BEST NEWCOMER TO PANTOMIME
Owain Wyn Evans: Cinderella, New Theatre, Cardiff (Crossroads Pantomimes)

BEST NEWCOMER TO INDUSTRY
Emma Robertson: Snow White, Loughborough Town Hall (Little Wolf Entertainment)

BEST PANTOMIME (UNDER 500 SEATS) (sponsored by Showtime, a Howden Company)
Dick Whittington and his Cat, Greenwich Theatre (In-House)

BEST PANTOMIME (500 – 900 SEATS)
Snow White, Loughborough Town Hall (Little Wolf Entertainment)

BEST PANTOMIME (OVER 900 SEATS)
Snow White, Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield (Evolution Productions)

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN PANTOMIME
Elaine C Smith

ACHIEVEMENT IN INCLUSIVE PRACTICE
He’s Behind You!

ACHIEVEMENT IN INNOVATION
Oxford Playhouse

NIGEL ELLACOTT SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD FOR PANTOMIME HISTORY, TRADITION AND HERITAGE
Brick Lane Music Hall

The Awards ceremony featured special guest performances from entertainment legend Anita Harris, family favourite Basil Brush with award-winning comedian and cabaret performer Kevin Cruise (aka Martin Cabble-Reid) and ITV Britain’s Got Talent rising star ventriloquist Jamie Leahey. 

The evening’s In Memoriam honoured and celebrated many of the special and talented friends that the pantomime industry has sadly lost this year from both on and off stage.

Simon Sladen, Chair of the UK Pantomime Association, said: “Huge congratulations to all of the nominees and winners at The Pantomime Awards 2025! What a wonderful evening to celebrate excellence across the pantomime industry and salute the talent, skill, passion, craftsmanship and expertise that goes into each and every season.”

This year’s Awards marked a significant new sponsorship partnership with Trafalgar Entertainment and ATG Entertainment (ATGE).

Chris McGuigan, Group Commercial Director for Trafalgar Entertainment, said: “Congratulations to all the winners and nominees at this year’s Panto Awards. Trafalgar is proud to co-sponsor this gloriously glittery evening as part of our ongoing commitment to pantomime as a genre. The ‘joyful chaos’ of panto season is a vital component of the regional theatre sector – and so it’s wonderful to celebrate it alongside many of the talented artists, acts, entertainers, writers, creatives, tech teams and producers who make it all happen.  We’re already looking forward to hosting the event in 2026!”

Claire Dixon, Business Director for ATG Entertainment, said: “ATG Entertainment is honoured to co-sponsor the Pantomime Awards 2025 and extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the nominees and winners. Pantomime is a cherished tradition that brings joy to audiences of all ages, and we are proud to support and celebrate the extraordinary creativity, talent and dedication that make this artform so beloved.”

This year’s Pantomime Award nominations exemplified the breadth of on and off-stage talent, skill and enthusiasm across the country.  For the full list of nominations, visit: pantomimeassociation.co.uk/the-uk-pantomime-association-announces-the-nominations-for-the-pantomime-awards-2025-celebrating-a-wealth-of-talent-across-the-uks-theatre-industry

Founded in 2021, the UK Pantomime Association (UKPA) is a charity that explores, shares and celebrates pantomime by investigating the genre’s rich past, engaging with contemporary practice and inspiring the future. During the 2024-25 pantomime season, the fourth year in which the Awards have taken place, The Pantomime Awards’ 52 judges collectively visited 216 venues to see over 496 performances, far and wide across the United Kingdom.

CARMEL DEAN AND MINDI DICKSTEIN’S NEW MUSICAL

MAIDEN VOYAGE TO HAVE WORLD PREMIÈRE

AT SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE ELEPHANT

Mark Cortale, Dale Franzen, Jonathan Murray and Harvey Reese today announce the world première of Maiden Voyage in association with Shared Experience. This new musical, with book and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein and music by Carmel Dean, tells the story of Tracy Edwards and the first all women racing crew of Maiden who made history competing in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1989/90.

Directed by Tara Overfield Wilkinson, the productionopens at Southwark Playhouse Elephant on 26 July, with previews from 19 July- 25 July, and runs until 23 August.

Carmel Dean and Mindi Dickstein said today, “We wanted to write about women facing challenges head-on – Tracy’s inspirational story ticked all the boxes for us. And we heard music at every turn. Courage sings. Pushing yourself to the limits of your abilities and beyond sings. The ocean, sings. Tracy and her crew are the definition of doing the hard things even when no one thinks you can.”

Director Tara Overfield Wilkinson said, “As a director who has worked in the musical theatre industry for over thirty-five years, it means a lot to me to tell the story of these strong amazing women who defied the critics and naysayers to achieve such phenomenal success in the challenges they faced.”

Producers Mark Cortale and Dale Franzen added, “As producers, we are drawn to stories of unexpected heroes like Tracy Edwards who are compelled to risk everything for a dream that almost everyone thinks is impossible. We hope this story will inspire others to fearlessly take the helm and follow their dreams.”

Mark Cortale, Dale Franzen, Jonathan Murray & Harvey Reese

in association with Shared Experience present

MAIDEN VOYAGE

Book and Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein

Music by Carmel Dean

Orchestrations by Michael Starobin

Directed by Tara Overfield Wilkinson

Casting Director: Harry Blumenau

19 July – 23 August

It’s 1990, and Tracy Edwards makes history by leading the first all-female sailing crew around the globe in the Whitbread Round the World Race.

But how did a 20-something high-school dropout and galley cook end up being the skipper and navigator on such a ground-breaking race?

Was it a chance meeting with King Hussein of Jordan, who encouraged her to dare to try? Was it something that she needed to prove to herself or to her mother? 

Or is there something else that makes a person do the unexpected and extraordinary?

Charting a thrilling and unforgettable journey across oceans and horizons, Tracy and her crew’s epic true story comes to life in a sweeping, extraordinary new musical.

Maiden Voyage makes its world premiere in a strictly limited run at Southwark Playhouse Elephant, with book and lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, music by Carmel Dean, orchestrations are by Michael Starobin (Next To Normal, Suffs) and directed by Tara Overfield Wilkinson. The work was originally commissioned by New Works Provincetown.  The show is produced by Mark Cortale (Floyd Collins at Lincoln Center, Days of Wine and Roses), Dale Franzen (Hadestown, Gypsy) and Jonathan Murray & Harvey Reese (Table 17 and Here We Are) in association with Shared Experience.

Mindi Dickstein’s theatre credits include Little Women: The Musical (August Wilson Theatre, US tour, Seymour Centre, Hope Mill Theatre, Park Theatre – licensed by MTI, Original Broadway Cast album released by Ghostlight/Sh-k-boom Records), Saint Ex and the Little Prince (Katowice City of Gardens Concert Hall, Poland), Witnesses (California Center for the Arts, 2022 San Diego Critics award for Best Production), Benny & Joon, based on the MGM film (The Old Globe, California, 2017 San Diego Critics nominee for Best Musical).

Carmel Dean is an award-winning composer/lyricist and Broadway music supervisor, musical director and arranger. As composer, her theatre credits include Renascence (Abrons Arts Centre), Well Behaved Women (New York’s Town Hall, Joe’s Pub), and On Cedar Street (Berkshire Theater Group, The Unicorn Theater). As musical director and/or arranger her credits include The Notebook, Funny Girl, If/Then, Hands on a Hardbody, American Idiot, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (all Broadway),and Clueless (West End).Off-Broadway credits include Really Rosie, Everyday Rapture, Vanities and Elegies. Other international credits include Fun Home (Chicago); and 2000 Sydney Olympics Opening & Closing Ceremonies.

Tara Overfield Wilkinson directs. Her theatre credits include Allegiance (Charing Cross Theatre), Falsettos (The Other Palace – winner of WhatsOnStage Award for Best Off West End Show), The Producers (international tour, China), Little Shop of Horrors (UK tour), CATS (international tour), and Miss Saigon, Tommy and Sister Act (Gaiety Theatre, Isle of Man). As associate or resident director, her credits include Motown, Memphis, Hair, Sunday in the Park with George; Tick, Tick… Boom!; High School Musical (West End), Motown, 9 to 5, Sister Act, High School Musical, The Full Monty, and Oh! What a Night (UK tours).

MAIDEN VOYAGE

LISTINGS

Southwark Playhouse, Elephant

1 Dante Place, London, SE11 4RX

Box Office: 020 7407 0234

How to Get to Elephant Venue: The nearest stations are Elephant & Castle and Kennington

Performance Times: Mon-Sat, 7pm evening performances. Thu & Sat, 2:30pm matinees

19 July – 23 August

Ticket prices: Standard from £20 / Concessions from £16 / Previews £16 / Pioneers’ Preview (19 July) £10

Tickets are available from: https://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/productions/maiden-voyage

SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE

Southwark Playhouse is a registered charity that delivers a year-round programme of entertaining and enriching work. Southwark Playhouse operates two separate venues ‘Southwark Playhouse Borough’ and its newest theatre ‘Southwark Playhouse Elephant’ which opened in January 2023. Southwark Playhouse has always prided itself in telling stories and inspiring the next generation of storytellers and theatre makers, where support for the community has been rooted at the core of the organisation.

Website: southwarkplayhouse.co.uk 

BlueSky: @swkplay.bsky.social  Facebook: SouthwarkPlayhouse 

Instagram: @swkplay  TikTok: swkplay  YouTube: southwarkplayhouse

SIX THE MUSICAL LIVE! MAKES HERS-TORY
ON OPENING WEEKEND

FURTHER SHOWS ADDED DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND!

Following the one-day event cinema release of SIX THE MUSICAL LIVE! (April 6) across a record breaking 700 sites, Universal Pictures (UK) has reported the highest single day gross for an event cinema musical release ever. Further shows have been added due to popular demand through to 17^th April. Information on further screenings can be found here.

Filmed over multiple shows at the Vaudeville Theatre, the pop-inspired musical brings the Original West End Cast of SIX the Musical Jarnéia Richard-Noel (Aragon), Millie O’Connell (Boleyn), Natalie Paris (Seymour), Alexia McIntosh (Cleves), Aimie Atkinson (Howard), and Maiya Quansah-Breed (Parr) right into the 21st century with, empowering performances, accompanied by the on-stage band, the Ladies in Waiting.

Watched by audiences of over 3.5 million, SIX the Musical, has become a global theatre phenomenon since it’s 2017 debut at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and this Cinematical success furthers the legacy that the Queendom is building. 

Further analysis of the result with additional industry performance context:

• SIX THE MUSICAL LIVE! has broken the record for the highest opening day figure for a musical ever.
• SIX THE MUSICAL LIVE! has opened on the widest screen count in the UK for an event cinema release across 700 sites, beating TAYLOR SWIFT’s THE ERAS TOUR
• SIX THE MUSICAL LIVE! has delivered the 3rd highest single day gross for an event cinema title ever behind TAYLOR SWIFT’s opening Friday

Universal Pictures Content Group acquired UK theatrical rights for box office smash-hit and double TONY award-winning musical earlier this year. SIX the Musical Live! was recorded at the Vaudeville Theatre, London with the original West End cast reprising their roles.

Kezia Williams, MD – Universal Pictures UK & Eire said “We’re incredibly proud to have brought this empowering, joyous experience to cinemas across the UK & Ireland and to see audiences turn out in such force to crown it the new queen of event cinema. This record-breaking result shows what’s possible when bold, brilliant theatre meets the big screen”

Helen Parker, EVP – Universal Pictures Content Group said “It’s wonderful to see audiences and fans of the phenomenon that is SIX THE MUSICAL LIVE! come out in force and create history for the show in cinemas”.

Kenny Wax, Producer for SIX The Musical said: SIX’s journey from student production at the Edinburgh Fringe to London’s West End and now to cinemas is one that we are unbelievably proud of. We are thrilled that so many people across the UK and Ireland have come to experience it on their local big screen. We have no doubt that the cinema broadcast has brought SIX to audiences who may not otherwise have access to the West End or Touring production, and we hope we may have sparked a lifelong enjoyment of theatre for those who have had their first experience of musical theatre through seeing it this week.’ 

SIX is written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, with direction by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage. Choreography is by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, with set design by Emma Bailey, costume design by Gabriella Slade, lighting design by Tim Deiling, sound design by Paul Gatehouse, musical orchestration by Tom Curran, and musical supervision by Joe Beighton, and casting by Pearson Casting.

SIX is produced by Kenny Wax, Wendy & Andy Barnes and George Stiles.

Six the Musical Live! was directed for film by Liz Clare, and produced by Kenny Wax, Wendy & Andy Barnes, George Stiles. It was Executively Produced bv Kevin McCollum and Produced for film by Dione Orrom.

Winner of over 35 international awards, including two 2022 Tony Awards, four WhatsOnStage awards, and nominated for five Oliviers, SIX can also be seen live on stage worldwide: as well as London’s West End, SIX continues to tour the UK (with new 2025 dates just announced), and throughout Europe and internationally. An Australian tour launched in August 2024, whilst dates in Manila, Singapore, Japan and South Korea have recently been completed, with forthcoming dates in China.

SIX is currently playing at Broadway’s Lena Horne Theatre, the tour continues to play cities throughout the US. In 2024, the show both achieved 1.5million followers globally – across YouTube, Instagram, X, TikTok and Facebook in the UK, US, Australia, Korea and beyond – and hit another milestone achievement, with SIX the Musical (UK Studio Cast Recording) and the Grammy Award®-nominated SIX: LIVE ON OPENING NIGHT (the first Original Broadway Cast Recording ever recorded live on opening night) songs having been streamed in excess of one billion times.

Tickets to all international productions of SIX are available via sixthemusical.com  

THE BUSH THEATRE – UNTIL 17th MAY 2025

REVIEWED BY JACKIE THORNTON

4****

A flipchart, stark lighting, a few conference chairs and a sad buffet can only mean one thing: a training day.

In Olivier nominated playwright Mohamed-Zain Dada’s latest play, three speeding offenders must either complete a speed awareness and aggressive driving course run by maverick instructor Abz, played with aching sincerity – “Driving is not a human right, it’s a privilege” – by Nikesh Patel, or, lose their driving licences.

Faiza is CEO of Asia Specific, one of the biggest fashion brands in the UK, and is awaiting news of a big deal. Shazia Nicholls is superb as the self-important and ambitious entrepreneur who let her temper get the better of her in a road rage incident. Arian Nik’s comic timing as hapless but charming boy racer Samir is flawless and his delivery of some of the play’s funniest lines had the audience in stitches. The third attendee is nurse Harleen, her seething impatience and indignation wonderfully rendered by Sabrina Sandhu. She should be caring for the sick not appeasing this jobsworth Abz.

Milli Bhatia’s slick direction extracts every ounce of comedy from the absurdity of the situation as we, and the participants, gradually realise that this may not be any ordinary DVLA course and that their tutor is becoming unhinged.

Things take on a darker and altogether angrier edge as the play moves on to explore issues
of racism, racial profiling and the perpetuation of racial stereotypes. An unsettling lighting design by Jessica Hung Han Yun allows us to intermittently experience a dissociative space where time is suspended and Abz enters into a world he calls the Johari Window. In class it’s a tool to work on self-awareness and unconscious-bias but for Abz’s fizzing interior world, it becomes a window to buried emotion.

Speed is not only a clever satire of the glib way many drivers treat road safety and an honest exploration of how British-Asians see themselves but also a treatise on that all too familiar human emotion: anger.

Cast announced for huge new immersive
production, STOREHOUSE
Deptford Storehouse, Off New King Street, Grove Street, London, SE8 3AA
Wednesday 4th June – Saturday 20th September 2025

The cast has been announced for groundbreaking new immersive production, STOREHOUSE where audiences will step into a 9,000-square metre underworld where humanity’s stories have been archived since the dawn of the internet.

STOREHOUSE is the debut production from Sage & Jester, whose collective experience spans the likes of Secret Cinema, Punchdrunk, BBC Studios, and Warner Music. It promises to be one of the most artistically ambitious, large-scale immersive theatre events ever to be staged in the UK, delivering a cutting-edge and thought-provoking journey.

Leaving us questioning our role in today’s information ecosystem, a multi-award-winning cast of voiceover actors will guide us through the STOREHOUSE narrative as the four founding members. They will be joined by a cast of real-life performers in Deptford.

The voiceover actors are the multi-award-winning Toby Jones (Mr Burton; Tetris; Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny; Mr Bates vs The Post Office; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and celebrated Meera Syal CBE FRSL (Paddington 2; The Kumars at No. 42; Yesterday; The Devil’s Hour), joined by the formidable Kathryn Hunter (Black Doves; Poor Things; Harry Potter; Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead) and rising star Billy Howle (Dear Octopus; The Perfect Couple; On Chesil Beach; The Serpent).

They will bring to life a group of radical visionaries, who believed that by storing and analysing all human knowledge, they could ignite the dawn of a new digital consciousness. Fusing art, technology, and cutting-edge storytelling, this monumental production is set to be one of the UK’s most artistically daring and large-scale immersive theatre experiences, challenging how we perceive truth, trust and the narratives that shape our world.

In an era of misinformation and manipulated narratives, STOREHOUSE promises an experience that redefines the boundaries of theatre. Leading the physical company in Deptford will be Nina Smith (Britannia, Sky; Doctors, BBC), Dawn Butler (Doctors, BBC), Bonnie Adair (Here We Go, BBC; Innocent, ITV) and Zachary Pang (Disney Channel Asia; Julie: The Musical, The Other Palace). They will be joined by Nat Kennedy (Dorian, Reading Rep Theatre), Elizabeth Hollingshead (The Last Disturbance of Madeline Hynde, Maximum Effort), Chris Agha (The Marriage of Figaro, Royal Opera House) and Harriett O’Grady (Peaky Blinders: The Rise, Immersive Everywhere). As well as Rob Leetham (Little Red Riding Hood – A Trial, Alnwick Playhouse), Scott Karim (The Great, Hulu; Dracula, BBC), Grace Hussey-Burd (I’m Angry But Look At This Dog, Unbound Theatre) and Darrel
Bailey (Shadow & Bone, Netflix; EastEnders, BBC). As their surroundings crumble and secrets unfold, the true cost of controlling the narrative will become clear as audiences are urged to examine their vulnerability in the face of power.

Composer Anna Meredith will provide the musical finale for this awe-inspiring production, as audiences are thrust into a battle between the defenders of Truth and the keepers of Order. Immersed in an underworld of knowledge, audiences will explore a vast, ever-shifting digital archive, stored by an underground collective—where every news story, message, and meme ever shared has been meticulously preserved in a quest for higher collective wisdom. As the final founder fades and narratives collide, audiences will become part of the story, navigating this epic digital labyrinth, making choices, and determining the future of this precarious world.

STOREHOUSE is a production that will uniquely blend art, technology and storytelling to spark critical thinking. This isn’t just a show; it is a call to action.

Playful Productions, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Elizabeth Williams present
BORN WITH TEETH

BY LIZ DUFFY ADAMS

NCUTI GATWA as Christopher Marlowe.

EDWARD BLUEMEL as William Shakespeare.

In these dangerous times, who will burn brightest — and who will burn out?

NCUTI GATWA AND EDWARD BLUEMEL STAR IN NEW SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER ARRIVING IN THE WEST END FOR A STRICTLY LIMITED 11-WEEK SEASON FROM 13 AUGUST 2025

PLAYWRIGHTS CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE AND WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE GO HEAD-TO-HEAD IN LIZ DUFFY ADAMS’ IMAGINING OF TWO LITERARY ICONS AT ODDS WITH THEIR TIME

RSC CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, DANIEL EVANS, RETURNS TO THE WEST END TO DIRECT FOLLOWING HIS CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED PRODUCTIONS OF QUIZ, AMERICAN BUFFALO, SOUTH PACIFIC AND OUR GENERATION

2,000 TICKETS AVAILABLE AT £10 FOR 16 – 25 YEAR OLDS, SPONSORED BY TIKTOK

THE WEST END PREMIERE OF BORN WITH TEETH WILL GO ON SALE TO THE PUBLIC ON WEDNESDAY 16 APRIL WITH PRIORITY BOOKING FROM 11 APRIL

Producers Playful Productions, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Elizabeth Williams today announce the West End premiere of Born With Teeth featuring Ncuti Gatwa (Doctor Who, The Importance of Being Earnest) as Christopher Marlowe and Edward Bluemel (Killing Eve, Sex Education) as William Shakespeare.

This thrilling new play by Liz Duffy Adams imagines the relationship between two literary icons at odds with their time.

The production will see RSC Co-Artistic Director, Daniel Evans make his directorial debut for the company, following previous, critically acclaimed productions of Quiz, American Buffalo, South Pacific and Our Generation. Design is by the Olivier award-winning Joanna Scotcher and Lighting Design by Tony and Olivier award-winner Neil Austin. The Casting Director is Charlotte Sutton with further creative team to be announced.

Born With Teeth will play at Wyndham’s Theatre, a Delfont Mackintosh Theatre,for a strictly limited 11-week season until Saturday 1 November, with a first preview on Wednesday 13 August. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 16 April 2025 with priority booking from Friday 11 April. For more information visit BornWithTeethPlay.com

Winter 1591.

It is a dangerous time for artists: the country is full of conspiracy and paranoia.

In the backroom of a pub, writing sensations Kit Marlowe and Will Shakespeare are forced together in a creative union. Alone, with the table as their stage and battlefield, they sharpen their pens – and let their genius fly.

Across three secret meetings, the rivals duel and flirt like their lives depend on it – and with spies everywhere, betrayal is so tempting.

Marking its West End premiere this summer, Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth is a thrilling imagining of the relationship between two literary icons at odds with their time.

Ncuti Gatwa said: “I’m so excited to be joining Born With Teeth alongside the amazing Edward Bluemel. Liz Duffy Adams has written an exceptional play that is smart, dark, sexy, sharp and funny! There’s a lot to get one’s teeth into. This is like no version of Shakespeare and Marlowe that I’ve ever seen before, and I can’t wait for audiences to join us for the ride”.

Edward Bluemel said: “I feel incredibly proud and excited to be working with Ncuti Gatwa and Daniel Evans on the European premiere of Born With Teeth. To be stepping into the shoes of a young William Shakespeare is a huge thrill for any actor and I can’t wait to get started. When I read Liz Duffy Adams’ script, I was instantly drawn into the high-stakes world of these two rival playwrights and the incredible, creative chemistry they share. There’s a real freshness and vitality to Liz’s writing that speaks directly to our world, and I can’t wait for West End audiences to experience it for the first time”.

Matthew Byam Shaw, Nia Janis and Nick Salmon from Playful Productions said: “It is wonderful to be continuing our relationship with the RSC and Daniel Evans with whom Matthew has been collaborating for nearly 20 years. We cannot wait for the entire team to bring this brilliant play to life on stage at Wyndham’s Theatre and for audiences to join them.”

Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey, Co-Artistic Directors of the Royal Shakespeare Company said: “We’re so excited to be bringing Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth to Wyndham’s Theatre alongside our partners Playful Productions and Elizabeth Williams for Grain of Sand Productions. As our seventh production to be presented in London in 2025, we look forward to sharing more of the RSC’s work with audiences in the capital and are thrilled that two such extraordinary actors as Ncuti Gatwa and Edward Bluemel will be joining us on that journey this summer.”

Elizabeth Williams said: “It is rare in my many years as a West End and Broadway producer to read a play like Liz Duffy Adams’ Born With Teeth which from the first sentence, thrills. Our playwright seems to have channeled directly from the 1590s this story of the intersection of the contemporary lives of these two great poets, Marlowe and Shakespeare, and it is brilliant in conception and ferociously sexy.”

Ncuti Gatwa (Christopher Marlowe) is a Rwandan Scottish BAFTA award-winning actor.

In 2023 audiences saw Ncuti unveiled as the fifteenth ‘Doctor’ as he bi-generated from David Tennant’s ‘Doctor’ at the end of ‘The Giggle’, the final of the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials. Last year Ncuti was seen as ‘The Doctor’ in his first full season of Doctor Who on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK and Ireland, and across the world globally on Disney+. Ncuti won a BAFTA Cymru Award and was also nominated for a Critics Choice Award and BAFTA Scotland Audience Award for the role. Ncuti will reprise his role as ‘The Doctor’ in his second season of Doctor Who coming to the BBC and Disney+ from 12 April, where he will be joined by new companion ‘Belinda Chandra’ played by Varada Sethu, and by a host of guest stars including Jonah Hauer-King, Freddie Fox, Ariyon Bakare and Rose Ayling-Ellis. 

Last year Ncuti wrapped production on Jay Roach’s movie The Roses. A reimagining of the iconic The War of the Roses the film stars Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch and will release in cinemas worldwide later this summer. 

In 2024, Ncuti made his National Theatre debut as ‘Algernon Moncrieff’ in The Importance of Being Earnest. The play opened in November to rave reviews and was nominated for an Olivier Award in the category of ‘Best Revival’.

Ncuti is perhaps best known for his BAFTA award-winning role of ‘Eric Effiong’, one of the leading roles in Netflix’s hugely successful comedy series Sex Education. Created by Laurie Nunn the show also stars Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson and Emma Mackey. All four seasons of the show are available worldwide on Netflix. In 2023, he appeared in Barbie opposite Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, playing a version of ‘Ken’ in the film hit of the summer. He also played a guest role in the highly anticipated series, Masters of the Air for Apple TV+ opposite a cast led by Callum Turner, Barry Keoghan and Austin Butler.

In 2023 Ncuti performed at King Charles’ Coronation Concert, playing ‘Romeo’ opposite Mei Mac as his ‘Juliet’ in Romeo & Juliet for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The performance was the first ever collaboration between the royal patronages and included The Royal Ballet, The Royal Opera, The Royal College of Music & The Royal College of Art.

Edward Bluemel (William Shakespeare) trained at the prestigious Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama before making his screen debut as the lead in the British indie film Access all Areas (2017).

Most recently, Edward wrapped filming Netflix’s The Seven Dials Mystery, starring opposite Martin Freeman and Helena Bonham Carter. He was also seen as the co-lead in Amazon Prime’s My Lady Jane and starred as Levi in the hit BBC series We Might Regret This.

Edward gained widespread recognition as a series regular in Season 2 of BBC’S Killing Eve, appearing alongside Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, and Fiona Shaw in the acclaimed espionage thriller. He also played Sean in Netflix’s Sex Education (Season 1 & 4), starring opposite Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield, and portrayed Marcus Whitmore in Sky One’s A Discovery of Witches.

On stage, Edward’s theatre credits include leading roles in Trevor Nunn’s critically acclaimed Love in Idleness (West End) and Touch (Soho Theatre).

Liz Duffy Adams (Playwright) is honoured to be making her UK debut with the RSC and Playful Productions. Her neo-Restoration comedy Or, premiered Off Broadway at WP Theater and has been produced more than 80 times since. Her Born With Teeth received a Edgerton Foundation New Play Award in an earlier version that premiered at the Alley Theater, Texas.

Other plays include Dog Act (Will Glickman Award for Best New Play, over 30 productions); Witch Hunt or, A Discourse On the Wonders of the Invisible World (Contemporary American Theater Festival); and The Salonnières (Greater Boston Theater Company). Adams has received a seven-year New Dramatists residency, a Women of Achievement Award, Lillian Hellman Award, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship.

Publications include Or, in Smith & Kraus’ “Best Plays Of 2010”; Dog Act in “Geek Theater: Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy Plays”, Underwords Press 2014; Poodle With Guitar And Dark Glasses in Applause’s “Best American Short Plays 2000-2001”; and acting editions by TRW Plays, Playscripts, Inc., and Dramatists Play Service.

Adams received her MFA from the Yale School of Drama, and her BFA from New York University’s Experimental Theater Wing. She has dual Irish and American citizenship, and is based in New York City and Western Massachusetts.

Daniel Evans (Director) is Co-Artistic Director of the RSC. Previously, he was Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre (2016-2023) and of Sheffield Theatres (2009-2016).

Theatre includes, as actor, for the Royal Court: Cleansed, 4.48 Psychosis, Other People, Where Do We Live?. As director, for the Royal Court: Black Superhero.

As actor, other theatre includes: Cardiff East, Peter Pan, Candide, Troilus and Cressida, The Merchant of Venice (National Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Coriolanus, Henry V, Cymbeline, Measure For Measure, Edward II (Royal Shakespeare Company), Ghosts (ETT), Merrily We Roll Along (Donmar), The Tempest (Sheffield/Old Vic), Sunday in the Park with George (Menier/West End/Studio 54)

As director, theatre includes: Our Generation (Chichester Festival Theatre & National), South Pacific (CFT & Sadler’s Wells), Quiz (CFT & Noel Coward), Fiddler on the Roof (CFT), American Buffalo (Wyndham’s), Othello, An Enemy of the People, The Effect, Show Boat (CFT & New London), Macbeth, Flowers for Mrs Harris, My Fair Lady, Racing Demon, This is My Family (Sheffield Theatres), The Light in the Piazza (RFH, LA Opera & Chicago Lyric Opera), Esther (Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru), Lovely Evening/In The Blue (Young Vic at Theatre 503)

Awards include: Olivier Awards for Best Actor in a Musical (Merrily We Roll Along and Sunday in the Park with George), UK Theatre Awards for Best Musical Production (Show Boat and Flowers for Mrs Harris)

Joanna Scotcher (Set and Costume Designer) trained at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

As a Designer, theatre includes Love’s Labour’s Lost (RSC); The Vortex, Doubt: A Parable, Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (Chichester Festival Theatre); Black Superhero (Royal Court); Macbeth (Almeida); Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World (Theatre Royal Stratford East/UK tour); Women Beware Women (Shakespeare’s Globe); Love, Love, Love (Lyric Hammersmith); Emilia (Shakespeare’s Globe/West End); Mother Courage, Anna Karenina, The Rolling Stone (Royal Exchange/ Headlong); The Village (Stratford East); Cuttin’ It (Young Vic/Royal Court/Birmingham Rep/Sheffield Theatres); Winter, Two Endless Moments, A Harlem Dream (Young Vic); Pests (Clean Break/Royal Court/Royal Exchange); Katie Roche (Abbey, Dublin); Boys Will Be Boys (Bush/Headlong); The Railway Children (Kings Cross/Waterloo/Toronto).

Opera includes Described it to Death and Current Rising (Royal Opera House).

Joanna was awarded the Olivier Award for Best Costume Design for her work on Emilia and a WhatsOnStage Award for Best Set Designer for The Railway Children.

Neil Austin (Lighting Designer)

For the RSC: Love’s Labour’s Lost, King Lear, The Seagull (RSC/New London); Much Ado About Nothing (RSC/Novello); King John, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (RSC).

Theatre credits include Inside No.9: Stage Fright (Wyndham’s Theatre); Shifters (Duke of York’s Theatre); Midnight in the Garden of Good And Evil (Goodman Theatre, Chicago); Shifters (Bush Theatre); The Enfield Haunting (The Ambassadors Theatre); The Pillowman (Duke of York’s Theatre); The Secret Life of Bees (Almeida Theatre); Piaf (Preludio, Buenos Aires); Tammy Faye (Almeida); Medea (@Sohoplace); Frozen (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace); Company, Frost/Nixon (Gielgud); Rosmersholm, Ink, No Man’s Land (Duke of York’s); Leopoldstadt, Red, The Weir, Hamlet, Madame de Sade, Twelfth Night (Wyndham’s); The Night of the Iguana, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Labour of Love, Photograph 51, Shakespeare in Love, Henry V (Noël Coward); The Goat, Great Britain, Japes (Haymarket); Travesties, A Life in the Theatre (Apollo); Death and the Maiden, The Children’s Hour (Comedy). Other theatres: The 47th (The Old Vic); Tammy Faye: The Musical, The Hunt, Albion, Ink, The Treatment, Medea (Almeida); After Life, Translations, Three Days in the Country, Rules for Living, Dara, Liolà, Children of the Sun, The Cherry Orchard, Women Beware Women, London Assurance, The White Guard, Oedipus, Philistines, The Man of Mode, Thérèse Raquin (National Theatre); Henry IV, Julius Caesar, The Night Alive, Spelling Bee, King Lear, Passion, The Wild Duck, After Miss Julie, Caligula (Donmar Warehouse).

Broadway includes: Leopoldstadt, Company, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Ink, Travesties, Hughie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Evita, Red, Hamlet, The Seafarer, Frost/Nixon.

Awards include: 2019 Tony Award for Ink, 2018 Tony Award, 2017 Olivier Award for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, 2011 Laurence Olivier Award for The White Guard, and 2010 Tony Award for Red.

Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story heads on a
homecoming tour after conquering the world!

Awkward Productions’royal hit is back on a UK tour by popular demand, following its world tour this spring. The show, that sees Linus Karp as the People’s Princess, is heading to Manchester, London, Brighton, Bristol, Newcastle and the Edinburgh Fringe. This is the first time the show will tour the UK with special multimedia appearances from both Jeanna de Waal (Diana: The Musical) and Rob Madge (My Son’s a Queer), the latter voicing Mother Teresa.

Awkward Productions’ multiple award-winning, Edinburgh Fringe 2023 sell-out show Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story became an immediate cult hit with UK audiences for its unique audience participation and staggeringly camp portrayal of the royals. The show has won an OffFest Award for Best Play and the prestigious LAURA Award and has enjoyed two UK Tours, multi-week runs in London and, as of this year, a World Tour across four continents.

Through a comedic and unhinged lens, the show highlights Diana’s ground-breaking stances on social and queer issues and allows her to finally speak her (un)truth and break free from the monarchy. Told by Diana from heaven, Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story is “so much more than just a show. It’s an experience. It’s a lifestyle. It is the moment” (The Reviews Hub – ★★★★★)

Awkward Productions was created by Linus Karp and Joseph Martin to bring ridiculous genremixing comedy, niche pop culture references, audience participation and queer joy to the stage.

Their holy trinity of shows include Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story, Gwyneth Goes Skiing, and how to live a jellicle life: life lessons from the 2019 hit movie musical ‘Cats’. These shows have all achieved sold-out runs, toured the UK extensively, received international media coverage and won awards. An Awkward Prods shows isn’t performed for you, it’s performed with you – making each one unique. Their new show The Fit Prince (who gets switched on the square in the frosty castle the night before (insert public holiday here)) is set to premiere at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe and run at King’s Head Theatre this December.

Linus Karp, the show’s writer, director and Diana comments “Having had the most ridiculous time taking this show around the world, we knew we had to bring this latest version back home to the UK. It’s going to be diconic.”

Social media @awkwardprods #UntrueDiana
https://www.awkwardprods.com

For further press information, images or interviews please contact: [email protected]

Praise for Awkward Productions’ work:
AwkwardProds mines all the laughs – Graham Norton
An unhinged, gay fantasia – Playbill
What a hoot! – Canberra City News
★★★★★★ An endless amount of non-stop laughter – Jack The Lad
★★★★★ The most unhinged piece of theatre in existence – Broadway Baby
★★★★★ Perfectly imagined and brought to life on stage with vision and heaps of silliness – The National
★★★★ Gloriously ridiculous – The Stage

The Watermill Mill, Newbury – until 17 May 2025

Reviewed by Marcia Spiers

5*****

Whilst I had heard of Edith Piaf and knew a couple of her songs, I can honestly say I did not know much about her life. So, I came to this production with an open heart and mind.

Directed by Kimberley Sykes and written by Pam Gems this play tells the story of one of the 20th century’s most vibrant and beloved singers. Born into poverty in Paris, rising to global stardom. A woman who loved both life and men yet incredibly vulnerable constantly seeking approval and love. She died in 1963 and her music remains popular to this day.

This production is in every way amazing and a must see. The simple set design is effortlessly arranged to narrate Piaf’s life without much distraction. All credit to the design team for that achievement on what is quite a restricted stage. The costumes too reflect the period. Edith wearing an array of outfits to fit her tiny frame and in contrast her friend Marlena Dietrich adorned with clothes that show off her glamorous stature and elegance.

The music in this play is fabulous. There are nine members in the orchestra, who also serve as cast members and play various instruments including piano, brass, woodwind, strings, and percussion. I am in awe of their talent. The singing is notable, with most songs performed in French and one song in Italian, which gives a romantic and powerful impression.

Audrey Brisson gives a first-class performance as Edith. Having seen clips of Edith performing, Audrey’s powerful vocals, stature and body language give her real credibility in this role, and she absolutely nails the fun, feisty, fiery but also vulnerable personality of the famous singer through her tumultuous life. Tzarina-Nassor makes a great professional stage debut as Edith’s friend and fellow street girl Toine.

Djavan Van De Fliert plays the beautiful Marcel, the one true love of Edith’s life, Djavan has great stage presence and voice. Their love affair comes to a tragic end after which Edith’s life unravels even further. Edith has multiple affairs until she marries Theo, a younger Greek man, played by Oliver Nazareth Aston, who adored her until her death. Along the way Edith also collects proteges with whom she collaborated and helped become stars – Charles Aznavour and Charles Dumont are two such people.

Signe Larsson is instantly recognizable as the beautiful Marlene Dietrich who becomes a close friend of Edith supporting her in times where she struggles with her confidence or her loneliness. An exceptionally impressive performance. Signe also gives a reliable performance as loyal secretary and personal assistant Madeline.

Hazel Monaghan provides an inspired performance as Louis who without any experience becomes Edith’s agent for a time during which he catapults her to fame in America and globally. He does, however, exploit Edith and seeks to cover up her alcohol and drug abuse.

The rest of the cast play a variety of characters, notably Sam Pay who plays Leplee who is responsible for spotting the young Edith performing in the street and giving her a job in a nightclub. Marc Serratosa gives a solid performance as Charles and Georges; Kit Kenneth, a very competent musician but also doubles up as a nurse and other cameo roles throughout and last but no means least Jon Trenchard who is vibrant as the onstage MD and Bruno.

When you consider that this play has twenty scenes, twenty-one songs and twenty-seven characters it is no mean feat to bring this play to life with ten people! A big shout out to them all and to both Kimberley Sykes and Sam Kenyon for a truly brilliant production. I wish it all the success it deserves.