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BOUNDLESS THEATRE ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS FOR THE

BOUNDLESS ACCELERATOR BURSARY

Boundless Theatre today announces the four recipients of the inaugural Boundless Accelerator Bursary funded by the Garfield Weston Foundation. Aimed specifically at supporting the co-creation of new work with teenagers, this year the bursary focuses on mental health and wellbeing with the project culminating in a showing on 4 December 2019 in London. The four chosen recipients, who will be provided with £2500 for the year, are actor and theatre-maker Ryan Gilmartin with Barbarians, actor and theatre-maker Natalya Martinwith Carnival, digital theatre company Produced Moon with Run Code and arts production company Nouveau Riché with For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Was Too Heavy.

Rob Drummer, Artistic Director of Boundless, said today,“The Accelerator Bursary is our way of getting extraordinary artists and teenagers together to co-create with a theme set by our Advisory Group, meaning the whole process is led by young adults.  We had almost 50 applications from across the UK and could have awarded many more bursaries, the quality was that high.  We can’t wait to share the first stage of development later this year and hope that many more young adults will be inspired by what is created.”

Produced Moon’s

RUN CODE

Inspired by Games for Change, the movement that uses digital games as a tool for social change, Produced Moon will collaborate with young people in Bermondsey to create games exploring aspects of mental health. Experimenting with the emerging genre of game theatre, alongside video and board games, game mechanics will be used to explore strategies for building resilience and self-care. Through collective game-play, Produced Moon aims to find honest and open ways of talking about what we can do together to change conversations around mental health.

Produced Moonare an interactive, digital theatre company working at the intersection of theatre and gaming, based between London and Glasgow. Recent work includes Switchboard, The Inventors Squad and Electric.

Natalya Martin’s

CARNIVAL

Carnival is created for young people with disabilities, collaboratively developed by actor and theatre-maker Natalya Martin. The piece will creatively explore how issues around mental health and emotional wellbeing affect the lives of teenagers and young adults with disabilities today.

Set on a fictional island surrounded by a body of water, Carnival explores live music, dance and a multitude of multi-sensory experiences.

Natalya Martin is an actor, multi-sensory practitioner and theatre-maker. Her goal is to make work that is fully accessible, relatable and of quality, for and with people with disabilities. She is the co-founder of theatre company FEEL Theatre, which specialises in creating sensory stories, shows and experiences. 

Nouveau Riché’s

FOR BLACK BOYS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE HUE WAS TOO HEAVY

For Black Boys… articulates the heartache, confusion, rage, and desires of young black men. The play explores how the pressures placed on black men contribute to emotional and mental trauma, and the threat of additional black suicides.

The affirmative resolution of For Black Boys… is to signify the collective community of Brotherhood, that calls for men to first love themselves, then learn to love one another.

Winners of the 2018 Edinburgh Stage Award and The Untapped Award, Nouveau Riché is a multi – disciplinary arts production company. Previous theatre credits include Queens of Sheba, Chateau Marmont and Book of Actions. Their objective is to discover, nurture and produce unique stories that are culturally inclusive, with a keen scope on work that is both educational and entertaining. 

Ryan Gilmartin’s

BARBARIANS

Developed by Ryan Gilmartin and James Monaghan, Barbarians queries the experiential differences between rural and urban living.

Barbarians: a member of a people not belonging to one of the greats (Ancient Rome, Modern London).

The common myths and stories that we tell each other are breaking up locally and digitally.

In a world getting smaller yet further apart, Ryan will return to his hometown in Spalding, Lincolnshire with James to investigate the differences between living ‘in the sticks’ and cities. 

Is there a link between physical isolation and the mental health of young people?

We don’t know what we’ll find or what we’ll do; but whatever it is, we’ll bring it to London.

Ryan Gilmartin is a multi-disciplinary actor, theatre maker and video DJ. He has made work for the National Theatre, Royal Exchange Theatre and Sheffield Theatres.

The Lowry, Salford – until 19^th May 2019. 

Reviewed by Sarah Cockerill

4****

Theatregoers of The Lowry, Salford, reversed back in time to 1950s London and were introduced to the ominous Monkswell Manor Guest House, where murder is the chilling topic everyone is talking about.

The plot begins with newlyweds and now co-business owners Mollie Ralston (Harriett Hare) and Giles Ralston (Nick Biadon) who, in the midst of a snow storm, have opened the doors of their manor to guests – Mrs Boyle (Gwyneth Strong), Mr Paravacini (David Alcock), Christopher Wren (Lewis Chandler), Major Metcalf (John Griffiths), and Miss Caswell (Saskia Vaigncourt-Strallen).

A heinous crime has been reported in the capital and as each character is interrogated by Sargent Trotter (Geoff Arnold), it quickly becomes apparent that everyone is a suspect, and anyone could be the next victim.

Gwyneth Strong’s portrayal of the uptight Mrs Boyle was excellent and was a far cry from her character in the much-loved Only Fools and Horses. The highlight though, had to be the outstanding performance from Lewis Chandler as the peculiar Christopher Wren, who had the audience in stitches all night.

Press pause on the TV criminal dramas and documentaries, and head out to The Lowry, Salford this week to see this deliciously macabre classic piece of theatre that’s become the longest running performance of any kind around the world. Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap will be at The Lowry until this Saturday 19^th May before continuing its UK-wide tour.

This Agatha Christie whodunit isn’t the kind of show you would go and see again and again, but I would urge everyone to see it once and become part of theatre’s best kept secret….

FULL CAST ANNOUNCED TO JOIN

SERGEI POLUNIN & JOHAN KOBBORG

IN A NEW MIXED BILL

AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM

OPENING 28 MAY 2019

The full cast has been announced for Sergei Polunin’s new mixed programme at the London Palladium from 28 May to 1 June 2019.

Programme 1:  28, 29, 30 May

Fraudulent Smile

Sergei Polunin

Johan Kobborg

Alexey Lyubimov

Dejan Kolarov 

Liam Morris

Chloe Reveillon

Ionut-Andrei Dinita

Oscar Ward 

Laurine Muccioli

Paradox

Alexey Lyubimov

Dejan Kolarov

Sacré 

Sergei Polunin

Programme 2:  31 May & 1 June

Rasputin 

Sergei Polunin – Grigori Rasputin

Johan Kobborg – Prince Felix Yusupov (31 May)

Semyon Velichko – Prince Felix Yusupov (1 June)

Alexey Lyubimov – Tsar Nicholas II 

Elena Ilinykh – Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna

Djorjde Kalenic – Tsesarevich Alexey

Polunin is also delighted to announce that haute couturist, Ulyana Sergeenko, will be designing the costumes for the world premiere of Rasputin.  Her gowns have been worn by Madonna, Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie and Rihanna, to name a few.

Fraudulent Smile is choreographed by Ross Freddie Ray to music by KROKE.  Paradox and Sacré have both been choreographed by Japanese dancer and choreographer Yuka Oishi. Paradox is performed to music by Stravinsky (Soldier’s Tale) and Chopin.  Sacré is a piece of tanztheater set to Stravinsky’s iconic The Rite of Spring.  Both Paradox and Sacré explore aspects of the life of famous dancer Vaslav Nijinsky in his 130^th birthday year, with Sacré reinterpreting his infamous ballet Le Sacre du Printemps, originally created for Ballets Russes in 1913. The ballets are inspired by Nijinsky’s demand for a “feeling, not thinking Human”, by masterpieces of the Art Brut – the movement of the outsider art, by the essence of rebellion.

The world premiere of Rasputin is also choreographed by Yuka Oishi, with a new score by Russia’s most prominent representative of the neoclassical music scene, Kirill Richter, and set design by Otto Bubenicek. Rasputin, a two-act dance drama, explores the life of the Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Tsar Nicholas II.Website: www.poluninink.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sergeipolunin.dancer
Twitter: @SergeiPolunin_
Instagram: @poluninink

LISTINGS INFORMATION

28 May – 1 June 2019

London Palladium

Argyll Street

London W1F 7LA

Running time for Programmes 1 & 2: 90 minutes (including interval)

Performances: Tuesday-Saturday at 7.30pm and Saturday matinee at 2:30pm

Tickets:  from £20 (subject to booking fees)

Box Office:  020 7087 7757

www.educationplay.co.uk
Twitter @EduPlayLondon
Facebook @EducationPlayLondon

A co-production between The Wardrobe Ensemble, Royal & Derngate, Northampton, and Shoreditch Town Hall
Presented in the West End by Trafalgar Theatre Productions and Eilene Davidson

REHEARSAL IMAGES RELEASED AHEAD OF WEST END PREMIERE OF THE WARDROBE ENSEMBLE’S HIT COMEDY EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION

With just over two weeks until the production begins previews at the Trafalgar Studios, rehearsal pictures have today be released for acclaimed theatre company The Wardrobe Ensemble’sproduction of Education, Education, Education, in co-production with Royal & Derngate, Northampton and Shoreditch Town Hall.  The Scotsman Fringe First Award and The Stage Edinburgh Award winning, smash-hit production will play a strictly limited four week run in London’s West End this summer.

“We in Germany, and Europe, have been watching somewhat envious as your country’s been undergoing a resurrection… Your newfound pride in your culture and your heritage… It’s so wonderful to see a country wearing its identity so proudly on its sleeve”

It’s May 1997. The iPhone doesn’t exist, no one knows who Harry Potter is, Titanic is on the shelves of every Blockbuster and we have just won Eurovision. Britain is the coolest place in the world.

 “First a Eurovision win and now Tony’s our new Prime Minister. I can barely recognize this country; you know I actually saw people smiling on the train this morning.”

At the local secondary school it’s a different story. It’s the last week of term and Tobias, the new German language assistant has just arrived in the UK. While political change occurs outside of the classroom, a revolution slowly starts to take place within it. Tobias is greeted by a group of eccentric schoolteachers just trying to make it through the day, including Miss Belltop-Doyle who can’t control her year 10s and Mr Pashley who is trying to keep a confiscated Tamagotchi alive.

This whip-smart show is a love letter to education in the 90s and is jam-packed with more hits than ‘Now That’s What I Call 1997’ including Oasis, Katrina and the Waves, The Spice Girls. Crammed with Teletubbies references, jokes about Take That and the Macarena, Education, Education, Education plays a strictly limited  four week season at the Trafalgar Studios.

The Wardrobe Ensemble uses its singular style of irreverent humour and inventive theatricality to dissect education and responsibility at the dawn of Blair’s Britain in 1997. In Education, Education, Education audiences are thrown back to the 90s; the music, the fads and the icons as well as issues that remain pertinent to the twenty-first century experience.

The cast of Education, Education, Education will include: Tom Brennan (Paul McIntyre), Ben Vardy (Tim Pashley), Jesse Meadows (Susan Belltop-Doyle), Emily Greenslade (Emily Greenslade), James Newton (Tobias) and Tom England (Hugh Mills) with Hanora Kamen and Kerry Lovell sharing the role of Louise Turner. Education, Education, Education has been devised by The Wardrobe Ensemble and directed by Jesse Jones and Helena Middleton. 

​Education, Education, Education is a co-production between The Wardrobe Ensemble, Royal & Derngate, Northampton, and Shoreditch Town Hall, presented in the West End by Trafalgar Theatre Productions and Eilene Davidson.

LISTINGS

Education, Education, Education
Trafalgar Studios 1, 14 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY
31 May – 29 June 7.30pm, matinees at 2.3opm on Thursdays and Saturdays*
Press Night: 5^th June
Box Office: 0844 871 7632/ www.educationplay.co.uk
*No matinee performance on Sat 22 and Thu 27 June

Directed by Jesse Jones and Helena Middleton
Written by The Wardrobe Ensemble
Design: Lucy Sierra
Lighting Design: Katharine Williams
Sound Design: Ben Grant
Dramaturg: Bea Roberts 
Associate Sound Design: Daniel Balfour
Wardrobe Supervisor: Felicity Jones

Cast List:

Tom England- Hugh Mills
Emily Greenslade- Emily Greenslade
Jesse Meadows- Susan Belltop- Doyle
James Newton- Tobias
Tom Brennan- Paul McIntyre
Ben Vardy- Tim Pashley 
Hanora Kamen – Louise Turner (until 15 June)
Kerry Lovell – Louise Turner (from 17 June)

YORKSHIRE’S VERY OWN SNOW WHITE HAS BEEN FOUND

Three Bears Productions has been bringing pantomimes to Grand Opera House York since 2016, they made their debut with Aladdin in 2016, followed by Beauty And The Beast in 2017 and Cinderella in 2018.  This year they have been seeking a local actor for the principal girl role in Snow White. From all the applications, 30 were invited to take part in the auditions held at the theatre, from which a dozen were shortlisted for the afternoon second session.  We are delighted to announce that Knaresborough born Louise Henry was finally chosen for the role.

Director and co-Producer Chris Moreno, who had the difficult job of selecting a winner says:  

“I was really surprised at the calibre of talent we had auditioning for us for the part of Snow White”

There was some very good and experienced talent at the audition to choose from. However, amongst this talent was Louise, who is just starting her career. She has a wonderful talent, not only is she a fabulous singer but she has that exciting natural  instinct when she acts.  It really excites me to be at the beginning of Louise’s career.  She will be a wonderful addition to our star cast and I hope that the people of York will come and see her so that in future years, when she is a big star they will be able to say they saw one of her first performances.”

Louise says:  “I’m so thankful to have been chosen to perform as Snow White in this year’s panto!  I honestly couldn’t believe it when Anne rang me with this amazing news, I felt like I was in a state of shock and did not expect it at all.  I’ve been beaming all weekend whenever I am reminded that I’ll be signing my first professional contract. 

I’m really looking forward to getting into the theatre and putting the show together, performing is all I have ever wanted to do and I feel so lucky that my Christmas this year will be doing just that.”

Rehearsals for Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs will start in early December, when the successful auditionee will join regular dame Steve Wickenden, who will play the part of Nurse May Brexit, and Australian soap star, comedian and presenter Mark Little as the villain, The Evil Sorcerer. The rest of the cast will be announced at a later date.

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs will run from December 13 to January 4 2020, 

Tickets on sale on 0844 871 3024, or at www.atgtickets.com/york. 

STETSONS AT THE READY AS COMEDY MUSICAL ACHY BREAKY BRIDE COMES TO TOWN

HILARIOUS NEW COUNTRY JUKE BOX MUSICAL COMES TO ST HELENS THEATRE ROYAL NEXT MONTH

From the producers that brought audiences Rita, Sue and Bob Too! and The Salon, Regal Entertainments are back with brand-new comedy musical, Achy Breaky Bride next month.

An hilarious jukebox country musical, written by Emma Culshaw and David Paul and directed bySylvie Gatrill, it comes to St Helens Theatre Royal from Tuesday 4 – Saturday 8 June.

This brand-new comedy includes all the biggest classic country hits to sing along to, including: Crazy, Jolene, Rhinestone Cowboy, Rose Garden, Achy Breaky Heart and many more!

The shows stellar cast includesRadio City’s Leanne Campbell; Blood Brothers’ Daniel Taylor;Benidorm’s Crissy Rock; BBC All Together Now’s Divina De Campo; and Rita, Sue and Bob Too! starOlivia Sloyan.

The Ruby Slippers’ Emma Vaudrey; The Salon’s Jenna Sian O’Hara; and St Helens Theatre Royal newcomer Joshua Ford complete the line-up.

It’s never a dull day in Dolly’s Dream Dresses, St Helens’ boutique Bridal shop run by A Boy Named Sue (Taylor) and his sister Jolene (Campbell).

Radio City breakfast host Leanne Campbell is always an audience favourite. She is well-known to audiences through her many panto appearances and other stage roles, including CarolinThe Salon at St Helens Theatre Royal in 2016 and The Epstein Theatre in 2017.

Joining Leanne is Blood Brothers and West End star Daniel Taylor.

Actor, producer and director, Daniel Taylor has previously starred in the title role of Lennon: Through a Glass Onion, a role for which he received critical acclaim. He is also well known for playing Sammy in West End and national tour of Blood Brothers, and Mickey in Alan Bleasdale’s 40th anniversary production of Down the Dock Road at Liverpool’s Royal Court. Daniel also produces and plays the title role in The Tommy Cooper Show.

Also in the line-up is national treasure Crissy Rock. An award-winning actress, stand-up comedian and best-selling author, she is perhaps best known for playing Janey York in hit ITV sitcom Benidorm and jungle campmate in I’m A Celebrity: Get Me Out Of Here. Her theatre credits include Escorts: The Musical and Dirty Dusting.

Fresh off the judging panel of BBC’s All Together Now, one of the UK’s biggest drag artists Divina De Campo also joins the cast. Divina played Destiny in the acclaimed comedy The Ruby Slippers which visited Theatre Royal in 2016.

Emma Vaudrey is a successful stage and screen actress with credits including Lady Killers andSpringhill. She recently appeared in psychological thriller Blood Runs Deep at The Unity Theatre,and starred with Divina De Campo in 2016’s The Ruby Slippers.

No stranger to St Helens Theatre Royal stage, Olivia Sloyan returns. Her theatre credits include Sue inRita, Sue and Bob Too, Tia in The Salon, Princess Jasmine in Aladdin, and both Linda and Brenda inBlood Brothers.

Audiences may recognise Jenna Sian O’Hara from 2017’s production of The Salon, and completing the cast is St Helens Theatre Royal newcomer Joshua Ford whose previous theatre credits include productions of Amadeus and West Side Story.

St Helens Theatre Royal Manager, Chantelle Nolan said: “We can’t wait to bring St Helens audiences this hilarious musical comedy – it will have you singing and dancing in the aisles one minute and rolling in the aisles laughing the next! It is promises to be a night to remember!”

Watch all the Crazy antics unfold as Sue and Jolene work non-stop from 9-5 to help these blushing brides-to-be prepare for their big days!

Will they make it down the aisle without a hitch? Will they stand by their man proclaiming I Will Always Love You? Don’t count on it!

Grab your Stetsons and put on your Cowboy Boots as they are made for walking down to St Helens Theatre Royal this June. You’ll have an Achy Breaky Heart if you miss it!

For more information, please visit: www.sthelenstheatreroyal.com

Like us on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/St-Helens-Theatre-Royal

Follow us on Twitter: @TheatreRoyalStH

LISTING DETAILS

ACHY BREAKY BRIDE

Date: Tuesday 4 – Saturday 8 June

Time: Tue-Thu 7:30pm/ Fri & Sat 8pm/ Sat Matinee 3pm

Tickets: From £18

*All prices are inclusive of a £1 per seat booking fee. On-line bookings are subject to an additional 50p per seat on-line processing fee.

THEATRE ROYAL BOOKING DETAILS

Book in person at the Theatre Royal Box Office, Corporation Street, St. Helens, Merseyside WA10 1LQ (Mon–Sat 10am–5pm). Alternatively, call 01744 756 000 or log on to:www.sthelenstheatreroyal.com.

Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford – until 18 May 2019

Reviewed by Antonia Hebbert

3 ***

It was hard to get into this play to begin with. There’s a devout mother, Luda, chopping onions and talking to God. She has three daughters, factory worker Tina, schoolgirl Francesca, and Vita, who is shut up in a convent for reasons that are obscure to begin with. They’re an Italian migrant family, living in Brooklyn in 1960. They’re all struggling in different ways, but you wonder how these different threads are going to be pulled together. Then Nic, the father of the family appears and suddenly the play hits a different stride.

He is played by Robert Cavanah, who is positively alarming as a man who expresses his unhappiness as cruelty to his family. The sense of rage just under the surface (and sometimes exploding) sets the drama alight. All the other actors seem to respond to this and become more three-dimensional as we see just how hard it is to stand up to someone so manipulative. He regrets having left Naples for New York, and his misery is holding back the rest of the family. Madeleine Worrall is convincing as Luda, the wife and mother with torn loyalties. Georgia May Foote sparkles as Vita, the daughter who has ended up in a convent with broken bones. Hannah Bristow (Francesca) and Laurie Ogden are sweet (maybe too sweet) as the teenage friends who want to run away together, and Bristow comes into her own when she finally lets rip. The growing friendship between Tina (Mona Goodwin) and her workmate Celia (Gloria Onitiri) is very well conveyed. Stephen Hogan is charming and kindly as the shopkeeper who offers Luda kindness and a possible way out.

The pivotal moment of the play is a plane falling out of the sky, which really did happen in Brooklyn in December 1960. Playwright Meghan Kennedy remembers her mother talking about the event, and has based the play around it, and her family’s struggle to survive as immigrants. It feels authentic. There’s an appealing, very simple set of kitchen table and bed, which tips up to become a backdrop for factory and outdoor scenes. (They could maybe have tried a bit harder with the factory – I got distracted by the inefficiency of loading a cardboard box on a chair). After slightly wobbly start, this became a very intense, moving and absorbing drama.

SIX

THE ROYAL TOUR

At theatres nationwide from 24 October 2019 – Summer 2020

Nominated for five 2019 OIivier Awards, including Best New Musical, Best Choreography and Best Costume Design, the West End smash hit SIX, written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, today announces its plans for a nine-month Royal Tour visiting theatres across the Queendom. Opening at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford on Thursday 24 October 2019, SIX will visit over 33 venues nationwide, including a Christmas season at The Lowry Quays Theatre from Tuesday 3 December 2019 to Sunday 5 January 2020. The cast, yet to be announced, are backed by the show’s all-female band, The Ladies in Waiting. 

★★★★★

‘THE MOST UPLIFTING NEW BRITISH MUSICAL I HAVE EVER HAD THE PRIVILEGE TO WATCH’ The Evening Standard

From Tudor queens to pop princesses, SIX sees the six wives of Henry VIII take to the mic to tell their own personal tales, remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak into a 75-minute celebration of 21st century girl power. The songs from the show have proved to be a chart storming sensation with weekly streams totalling more than 1.5million. These Queens may have green sleeves, but their lipstick is rebellious red. Think you know the rhyme, think again… Divorced. Beheaded. LIVE!

SIX is the phenomenon everyone’s losing their head over. The show’s 2018 debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe hastened its West End transfer which opened in January 2019. The production is currently enjoying an open-ended run at the Arts Theatre playing to sold out houses. And now the Queens are going global. Tonight sees the North American premiere of SIX at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, where it runs until 30 June 2019. Meanwhile, further international voyages are in discussion for Canada, Japan, Australia and South Korea.

SIX writers Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss said:

“We are SOOOO excited and thrilled and grateful that we get to share the story of these badass Queens – and the UNREAL talents of these women – with so many more people all over the UK! We’ll see you there!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!” 

SIX is written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, with Direction by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage, Choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, 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, Musical Supervisor Joe Beighton, Associate Choreographer Freya Sands, Musical Director Katy Richardson, Associate Musical Director Arlene McNaught. SIX is produced by Kenny Wax, Global Musicals and George Stiles.

WINNER! BEST ENSEMBLE IN A PLAY OR MUSICAL The Broadway World Awards 2018
WINNER! BEST COSTUME DESIGNER The Broadway World Awards 2018
WINNER! BEST UK CAST RECORDING The Curtain Up Show Album of The Year Awards 2018
WINNER! MUSICAL OF THE YEAR The Spy in the Stalls Awards 2018
WINNER! BEST OFF WEST END PRODUCTION WhatsOnStage Awards 2019
NOMINATED FOR SIX WHATSONSTAGE AWARDS 2019 Best New Musical Best Off-West End Production Best Original Cast Recording Best Choreography Best Lighting Design Best Costume Design
NOMINATED FOR FIVE LAURENCE OLIVIER AWARDS 2019 Best New Musical Outstanding Achievement in Music Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical (The Queens) Best Theatre Choreographer Best Costume Design

www.sixthemusical.com@sixthemusical

Tour Listings Information:

SIX THE ROYAL TOUR 2019 / 2020

GUILDFORD Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Millbrook, Guildford, Surrey GU1 3UX Thu 24 – Sun 27 October  Eves: Thu – Sat 8pm, Sun 7pm Mats: Sat & Sun 2pm  Box Office: 01483 44 00 00 Website: yvonne-arnaud.co.uk

MALVERN Theatres Grange Rd, Malvern WR14 3HB  Tue 29 Oct – Sun 3 November Eves: Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat 8pm; Fri 6pm & 8.30pm Mats: Sat & Sun 2.30pm Box Office: 01684 892277 Website: malvern-theatres.co.uk

GLASGOW Theatre Royal 282 Hope Street, Glasgow G2 3QA Tue 5 – Sun 10 November Eves: Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat 8pm; Fri 6pm & 8.30pm Mats: Sat 2.30pm & Sun 2pm Box Office: 0844 871 7648 Website: atgtickets.com/glasgow

KINGSTON Rose Theatre 24-26 High Street, Kingston KT1 1HL Tue 12 – Sat 16 November Eves: Tue, Thu 8pm; Wed & Fri 6pm & 8.30pm; Sat 5pm & 8pm [Sing-Along Performance Wed 6pm] Box Office: 020 7174 0090 Website: rosetheatrekingston.org

OXFORD Playhouse Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2LW Mon 18 – Sat 23 November Eves: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat 8pm; Fri 6pm & 8.30pm Mat: Sat 2pm Box Office: 01865 305305 Website: oxfordplayhouse.com

MILTON KEYNES Theatre 500 Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 3NZ Mon 25 – Sat 30 November Eves: Mon – Sat 8pm Mats: Wed 2.30pm & Sat 3.30pm Box Office: 0844 871 7652  Website: atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes

SALFORD QUAYS The Lowry Quays Theatre Pier 8, Salford Quays M50 3AZ Tue 3 December – Sun 5 January Various times during the Christmas season, see website for details Box Office: 0843 208 6000  Website: thelowry.com

CARDIFF Wales Millennium Centre  Bute Pl, Cardiff Bay CF10 5AL Tue 21 – Sat 25 January Eves: Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat 8pm; Fri 6pm & 8.30pm Mat: Sat 2.30pm Box Office: 029 2063 6464 Website: wmc.org.uk

EDINBURGH Festival Theatre 13-29 Nicolson St, Edinburgh EH8 9FT  Tue 4 – Sun 9 February Eves: Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat 8pm; Fri 6pm & 8.30pm Mats: Sat & Sun 2.30pm Box Office: 0131 529 6000 Website: capitaltheatres.com

BATH Theatre Royal Sawclose, Bath BA1 1ET Mon 17 – Sun 23 February Eves: Tue – Sat 8pm, Fri 6pm & 8.30pm Mats: Sat 2.30pm, Sun 2pm Box Office: 01225 448844   Website: theatreroyal.org.uk

SOUTHAMPTON Mayflower Theatre 22-26 Commercial Rd, Southampton SO15 1GE Wed 1 – Sun 5 July Eves: Wed – Sat 8pm, Sun 7pm Mats: Sat & Sun 4pm Box Office: 02380 711811  Website: mayflower.org.uk

Further dates for 2020 to be announced!

Cast announced for Exchange Theatre’s
The Flies
The Bunker, 53A Southwark Street London SE1 1RU
Tuesday 11th June – Saturday 6th July 2019

Taking the lead in Exchange Theatre’s thrilling political adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s classic The Flies is French actress Meena Rayann (Game of Thrones, HBO; Hilda, Odds On Productions 2019; multi-award winning No Love Lost, Intelligent Ink Films) as the downtrodden Electra and in his professional debut Samy Elkhatib will appear as vengeful brother Orestes.

Exchange Theatre co-founders, Mauritius-born French actor, David Furlong (Offie-nominated productions of The Doctor in Spite of Himself and The Misanthrope, Exchange Theatre) will play the tyrannical Aegisthus and Fanny Dulin, originally from Bordeaux, (The Misanthrope, Exchange Theatre; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Mystery Plays) will perform both as the traitorous mother Clytemnestra and as a fate-led Fury.

Also taking to the stage are Mozambique-born Swiss actor Raul Fernandes (Dangerous Liaisons; Don Juan; Quartier des Banques, RTS) as the God of Flies, Belgian Juliet Dante (award-winning St Joan, Julia Pascal; The Dybbuk, Off-Broadway) as The Tutor, with Paris-born Jonathan Brandt (Much Ado About Nothing and Nell Gwynn, Tower Theatre Company; The Learned Ladies, Exchange Theatre) as The Anonymous. Completing the Greek chorus as The Woman/Fury is Soraya Spiers (Thursday, Southwark Playhouse; The Penelopiad, Jackson’s Lane Theatre; critically-acclaimed Made Up, Arts Theatre) and Chris Runciman (NewsRevue, Canal Café Theatre; Broke Britannia, Bridewell Theatre; Gaga V. Assange, Adelaide Fringe) as the High Priest/Fury.

Exchange Theatre pride themselves in their multi-cultural heritage and are excited to have a diverse and international cast for The Flies. This topical re-telling of the Oresteian Greek tragedy comes at a turbulent political time which questions belonging and identity, and makes this truly global production all the more poignant.

The play will be performed in alternating French and English, and all the cast members are bilingual. Electra, Orestes, and their troubled family will be joined on stage by a live band to transform this tragedy into a modern, tense and thrilling rock opera.

Artistic Director David Furlong comments, Some of the most interesting challenges have been raised in this casting process: how do we represent diversity, gender-parity, equity, and disability on stage? All of these questions, in keeping with the current public debates, are part of our responsibility. We’re also incredibly proud to be joined by amazing talents and recognisable faces. The diversity, high profiles and quality of the fully bilingual cast we’ve assembled this year is a testimony to Exchange Theatre establishing itself as a meaningful player

REGENT’S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE ANNOUNCE FULL CASTING FOR A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

• AMBER JAMES AND KIERAN HILL PLAY THE ROLES OF HIPPOLYTA/TITANIA AND THESEUS/OBERON
• SUSAN WOKOMA PLAYS BOTTOM
• MYRA McFADYEN PLAYS THE ROLE OF PUCK
• DIRECTED BY DOMINIC HILL, THE PRODUCTION OPENS 28 JUNE

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre have today announced full casting for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (28 June – 27 July). Directed by Dominic Hill, Artistic Director of Citizen’s Theatre, Glasgow, the production features Amber James as Hippolyta/Titania, Kieran Hill (Theseus/Oberon), Susan Wokoma (Bottom) and Myra McFadyen (Puck).

Also featuring: Remy Beasley (Helena), Gabrielle Brooks (Hermia) Michael Elcock (Lysander) andPierro Niel-Mee (Demetrius), the cast also includes: Liz Crowther (Starveling), Joshua Miles(Flute), Lee Mengo (Snout), Tomi Ogbaro (Snug) and Gareth Snook (Qunice/Egeus), with Matthew James Hinchliffe, Mei Mac, Simon Oskarsson, Yana Penrose and Emily Rose-Salter (Fairies).

Shakespeare’s fantastical fable of desire, confusion, jealousy and growing up. Through live music, playful adventure and physical invention, see the lovers’ world transformed into a place of magic, laughter and healing, as we journey into the woods.

Joining Director Dominic Hill are Rachael Canning (Designer), Emily-Jane Boyle (Movement Director), Paddy Cunneen (Composer), Ben Ormerod (Lighting Designer) and Simon Baker andJay Jones (Co-Sound Designers). Casting is by Vicky Richardson, and Barbara Houseman is the Season Associate Director (Voice and Text).

Amber James (Hippolyta/Titania) has previously appeared in Troilus And Cressida, Dido, Queen of Carthage (RSC), Titus Andronicus and Antony and Cleopatra (RSC/Barbican). Other theatre credits include: A Streetcar Named Desire (English Touring Theatre) and Two Gentlemen of Verona(Shakespeare’s Globe/International Tour).

Kieran Hill (Theseus/Oberon) recently appeared in Votes for Women (New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme). Other recent credits include: Worst Wedding Ever (Salisbury Playhouse), To Dream Again (Theatr Clwyd) The Shepherd’s Life (Theatre by the Lake), Edmund in King Lear (Citizen’s Theatre, Glasgow) and numerous appearances at Bolton Octagon, including: Long Day’s Journey Into Night, An Inspector Calls, Piaf, The Glass Menagerie, Tull and Of Mice and Men.

Susan Wokoma (Bottom) has previously appeared in Labour of Love (Noel Coward), A Raisin in the Sun (Sheffield Crucible), Game, Dream Pill (Almeida), Hotel (National Theatre), Julius Caesar andHenry IV (Donmar Warehouse/NYC) and Three Birds (Royal Exchange, Manchester/Bush) for which she received an Offie Award nomination for Best Female Performance. Television credits include:Chewing Gum, Crazyhead (for which she was selected by BAFTA as a Breakthrough Brit), Portersand the forthcoming Channel 4 comedy series, Year of the Rabbit.

Myra McFadyen (Puck) recently appeared in A Christmas Carol (Old Vic). Other theatre credits include: Rhinoceros (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh), Hay Fever and The Choir (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow), and her numerous credits for National Theatre of Scotland include Macbeth, also Lincoln Centre, New York. On film credits include: The Sopranos, The Kid Who Would be King, Mamma Mia!: Here We Go Again and Mamma Mia!         

The 2019 season at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre also includes Our Town (16 May – 8 June), the opera Hansel and Gretel (14 – 22 June) in a co-production with English National Opera, and Evita (2 August – 21 September). Their award-winning production of Jesus Christ Superstar plays a 60-performance season at the Barbican Theatre (4 July – 24 August).