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BAT OUT OF HELL – THE MUSICAL ANNOUNCES ANDREW POLEC’S DEPARTURE FROM LONDON

Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical‘s lead Andrew Polec, who plays the character of ‘forever young’ Strat, is leaving the West End production of the show. Polec, who won the ‘Joe Allen Best West End Debut’ in the Stage Debut Awards 2017 for his performance as Strat, has been involved in the show since the beginning. He commented: 

“Bat Out of Hell – The Musical has changed my life – it’s a true gift. I’ve never felt so warmly welcomed and loved by so many thoughtful, generous people who hold Jim Steinman and Meat’s music so close to their hearts. It’s been an honour being part of this show, and phenomenal to work with this amazing cast and team. Plus – I get to sing this brilliant music night after night for the best fans in the world!

“During the Dominion’s first preview, we were met with a full standing ovation. As I walked onto the stage, I thought the roof of the theatre was going to blow off. As Steinman says ‘I was lost, till you were found’. ‘For Crying Out Loud’, I love you all and I’ll miss you dearly. I’m eternally grateful, thank you. Keep rocking and loving – I will always carry you in my heart.” – Andrew Polec

Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical wowed critics and public alike when it played limited seasons at Manchester Opera House, London Coliseum and Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre in 2017, and has been seen by over 650,000 people to date. It began previews at its latest home the legendary Dominion Theatre on Monday 2 April, with a gala performance on 19t April 2018. It is now booking through to 5 January 2019.

Andrew Polec’s final show starring in the UK version of the musical at The Dominion, London will be on Saturday 1 September 2018. Tickets are available here: https://batoutofhellmusical.com/london/tickets-london/ . More exciting news about Andrew will be announced shortly and his replacement will be announced in the coming days. 

Bat Out Of Hell became one of the best-selling albums in history, selling over 50 million copies worldwide.  16 years later, Steinman scored again with Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which contained the massive hit ‘I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)’. For the stage musical, the legendary and award-winning Jim Steinman has incorporated iconic songs from the Bat Out Of Hell albums, including You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, Bat Out Of Hell, I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) and Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad, as well as two previously unreleased songs, What Part of My Body Hurts the Most and Not Allowed to Love.

Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is a romantic adventure about rebellious youth and passionate love, set against the backdrop of a post-cataclysmic city adrift from the mainland.  Strat, the forever young leader of The Lost, has fallen for Raven, daughter of Falco, the tyrannical, ruler of Obsidian.  It scooped the ‘Evening Standard Radio 2 Audience Award’ for Best Musical in 2017. 

Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical has book, music and lyrics by Jim Steinman, direction by Jay Scheib, choreography by Emma Portner, with musical supervision and additional arrangements by Michael Reed, set design by Jon Bausor, costume design by Jon Bausor and Meentje Nielsen, video design by Finn Ross, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound design by Gareth Owen, orchestration by Steve Sidwell, casting by David Grindrod CDG, fight direction by Stuart Boother and musical direction by Robert Emery.

Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is produced by David Sonenberg, Michael Cohl, Randy Lennox & Tony Smith.

Website:  www.BatOutOfHellMusical.com

Twitter & Facebook:  @BatTheMusical

 

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical

 

Dominion Theatre

268-269 Tottenham Court Road

London W1T 7AQ

Performances:  Mon-Sat at 7.30pm, Wed & Sat matinee at 2.30pm (N.B.  Performances will be at 2.00pm & 8.00pm on Saturday 8 September)

 

Tickets:  from £15.00

Box Office:  0845 200 7982

Current Booking Period:  to 5 January 2019

Running Time:  2 hours 40 minutes (including interval)

Christmas 2018/19 Performance Schedule

Mon 17 December – 7.30pm

Tue 18 December – 7.30pm

Wed 19 December – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

Thurs 20 December – 7.30pm

Fri 21 December – 7.30pm

Sat 22 December – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

 

Mon 24 December – No Show

Tue 25 December – No Show

Wed 26 December – 7.30pm

Thurs 27 December – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

Fri 28 December – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

Sat 29 December – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

 

Mon 31 December – 7.00pm

Tues 1 January – 7.30pm

Wed 2 January – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

Thurs 3 January – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

Fri 4 January – 7.30pm

Sat 5 January – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

HORRIBLE HISTORIES

Two Shows Live on Stage!

 

Grand Opera House York

Tuesday 30^th – Saturday 3^rd November

 

We all want to meet people from history. The trouble is everyone is dead!

 

The auditorium seems fit to combust spontaneously in an explosion of joy and excitement!
The Times * * * *

 

 

So it’s time to prepare yourselves for two amazing shows with Horrible Histories live on stage! Using actors and ground-breaking 3D special effects, these two astounding shows are guaranteed to thrill you and your children. Historical figures and events will come alive on stage and hover at your fingertips!

 

TERRIBLE TUDORS
From the horrible Henries to the end of evil Elizabeth, hear the legends (and the lies!) about the torturing Tudors. Find out the fate of Henry’s headless wives and his punch up with the Pope. Meet Bloody Mary and see Ed fall dead in his bed. Survive the Spanish Armada as it sails into the audience!

AWFUL EGYPTIANS

From the fascinating Pharaohs to the power of the pyramids, discover the foul facts of death and decay with the meanest mummies in Egypt. Are you ready to rumble with Ramesses the Great? Dare you enter through the Gates of the Afterlife? It’s the history of Egypt with the nasty bits left in!

 

Wholly accessible, educating, entertaining and enjoyable, HORRIBLE HISTORIES live on stage is a tour de force!

BBC.co.uk * * * * *

Tickets from £14

Box Office: 0844 871 3024

Online Booking: www.atgtickets.com/york

Sarah Keyworth wins renowned Herald
Angel Award

Sarah Keyworth has today been awarded a Herald Angel Award for her debut show Dark Horse. The Nottingham-born rising star’s new show at the Pleasance is a semi-autobiographical tale about discovering her own sexuality and gender identity.

Exploring how young girls are raised and the expectations placed on them, the show is an hour of honest hilarity and social interrogation. This refreshingly insightful journey about expectations, gender and self-acceptance makes her debut hour one of the most thought provoking and entertaining at the Fringe.

In her five star review of Sarah Keyworth’s show Dark Horse for The Herald, Gayle Anderson comments, Her debut hour, Dark Horse is a beautifully-crafted and exciting thing. All angst and angles, she hunches over the mic in the style of an asthmatic 1970’s social club MC. The material is fresh, razor-sharp and wonderfully off-kilter. […] Powerful, poignant and achingly funny stuff.

Sarah Keyworth says, I’m so proud and excited to have written a show about something I truly care about and it’s such a joy to have won a Herald Angel for that.

Director of Pleasance, Anthony Alderson adds, We’re over the moon that, not one, but two Pleasance shows have been acknowledged in this morning’s Herald Angel Awards. Teatr Biuro Podróży were awarded a Herald Archangel Award. And Sarah Keyworth has been awarded a Herald Angel for her new show Dark Horse. This may be her debut hour in Edinburgh but Sarah is certainly a familiar face from our screens. This poignant show talks about what it means to be a girl. This morning she spoke beautifully about the support network involved in the show and how
much this means to her. Huge congratulations from everyone at Pleasance to this very worthy recipient.

Since their inception in 1996, The Herald Angel Awards have been an integral part of the Edinburgh Festival scene, celebrating and rewarding the diverse range of talent from the various festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Jazz & Blues Festival and the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Sarah’s deadpan wit has got her far on the comedy scene. After being a semi-finalist in both the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year and Amused Moose Laugh Off, a finalist in the Comedy Knights Fresh Comedian of the Year awards, first runner-up at the Funny Women Awards in 2015 and appearing in the BBC New Comedy Awards, Sarah has gone on to be the tour suppor for Kerry Godliman, Dane Baptiste, Tez Ilyas and Stewart Francis. She was also chosen to be a part of the CKP’s Lunchtime Special, showcasing some of the best upcoming comedians on the circuit. Sarah has also recorded The Big Questions and A Pie and a Pint for Comedy Central and can be heard on the new Helen Lederer BBC podcast Knock Knock.

Sarah Keyworth: Dark Horse performs at Bunker Two, Pleasance Courtyard until Sunday 26 August at 17:30.

Teatr Biuro Podróży win prestigious
Herald Archangel Award

In recognition of their sustained and valued connection with the Edinburgh Fringe, Teatr Biuro
Podróży have today been awarded the Herald Archangel Award. After first performing at the
Fringe in 1995 with Carmen Funebre, it is especially fitting that the award comes to the company
this year as they return with the piece to the Pleasance at EICC alongside its new partner piece
Silence.

Teatr Biuro Podróży have a sterling reputation for breath-taking and haunting large-scale
productions. Using pyrotechnics, stilt-walking and stunning physicality, they have created
extraordinary images of refugees caught up in a spiral of violence and their dreams of escape.

Teatr Biuro Podróży are at the Pleasance this summer with their spectacular outdoor double bill
which considers the refugee experience and the impact of war on civilian populations. The
multi-award-winning show Carmen Funebre will be staged for only four performances to
accompany the new sequel Silence which runs for the full festival.

In her five star review of Silence for The Herald, Mary Brennan comments, It’s twenty-three years since the Polish company, Teatr Biuro Podróży, unleashed the hectic fire, ear-splitting cacophony and Armageddon-on-stilts of Carmen Funebre on an awestruck Fringe. […] They provide a spectacular framework for a collage of evocative images that reach back into history – but are at their most harrowing when echoing our own conflicted times. […] Callous violence, valiant beauty and plaintive humanity over-lap and collide as history repeats in a fiercely physical Silence that asks troubling questions. A viscerally memorable experience for those who stand and watch.

Artistic Director Pawel Szkotak says, we are delighted to receive this award at this Festival, Edinburgh has always been special for us, it was here that we first performed in 1995, in the rain, to a tiny audience in a school playground and ended up winning a Fringe First and the Critics’ Award. Since then we have toured all over North America, India and Europe but we keep coming back here. Our Company is thirty years old this year and this is the most wonderful birthday present. We want to thank the Herald newspaper and especially its performance critic Mary Brennan, who’s seen our work from the beginning and is one of the most perceptive, intelligent and enlightened writers in the world. We also want to thank our first host Richard Demarco, our longstanding friend, and our manager for many years Jane Frere, and our friend and supporter Tomek Borkowy of Universal Arts. Thank you.

Director of Pleasance, Anthony Alderson adds, We’re so thrilled that Teatr Biuro Podróży have been awarded a Herald Archangel Award in recognition of their amazing work at the Fringe over the years. It’s fantastic having them as part of the Pleasance programme this year – not just with Silence but also reviving the inspirational Carmen Funebre. What a perfect tribute to an wonderfully bold company.

Since their inception in 1996, The Herald Angel Awards have been an integral part of the Edinburgh Festival scene, celebrating and rewarding the diverse range of talent from the various festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Jazz & Blues Festival and the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Teatr Biuro Podróży performs Silence and Carmen Funebre at the Fringe in 2018, presented by Universal Arts in conjunction with Pleasance Theatre Trust and Assembly Festival. Silence runs until 26th August (not 16th – 19th) at Pleasance at EICC at 21:30; Carmen Funebre runs 16th – 19th August at Pleasance at EICC at 21:30.

Rehearsal images for the first revival of Alan Bennett’s THE HABIT OF ART, which opens at York Theatre Royal on 30 August 2018. The National Tour will then continue through to 1 December 2018

Starring Matthew Kelly as Fitz (W. H. Auden) and David Yelland as Henry (Benjamin Britten), the cast also includes Veronica Roberts as Kay, the Stage Manager, Robert Mountford as the Author, Neil, John Wark as Donald (Humphrey Carpenter), Alexandra Guelff as George, the Assistant Stage Manager and Benjamin Chandler as Tim (Stuart). 

Centered on a fictional meeting between poet W. H. Auden and composer Benjamin Britten, THE HABIT OF ART is written as a play-within-a-play – actors Fitz, Henry, Tim and Donald are rehearsing a play called Caliban’s Day under the direction of stage manager, Kay, and in the presence of the playwright, Neil. In Caliban’s Day, a fictitious meeting occurs in 1973 in Auden’s (Fitz) rooms at Oxford not long before he dies. Britten (Henry) has been auditioning boys nearby for his opera Death in Venice, and arrives unexpectedly – their first meeting in 25 years after falling out over the failure of their opera Paul Bunyan.

THE HABIT OF ART is directed by Philip Franks and is produced by The Original Theatre Company, York Theatre Royal, and Ghost Light Productions

2018 TOUR SCHEDULE

30 August – 8 September Theatre Royal York 01904 623568 www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

11-15 September Theatre Royal Brighton 0844 871 7650 www.atgtickets.com/venues/theatre-royal-brighton

17-22 September Salisbury Playhouse 01722 320 333 www.salisburyplayhouse.com

24-29 September Oxford Playhouse 01865 305 300 www.oxfordplayhouse.com On sale soon

3-6 October Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford 01483 44 00 00 www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk On sale soon

8-13 October New Wolsey, Ipswich 01473 295900 www.wolseytheatre.co.uk

15-20 October Richmond Theatre 0844 871 7651 www.atgtickets.com/venues/richmond-theatre

23-27 October Liverpool Playhouse 0151 709 4776 www.everymanplayhouse.com

29 October – 3 November Cambridge Arts Theatre 01223 503333 www.cambridgeartstheatre.com On sale soon

6-10 November Belgrade Theatre, Coventry 024 7655 3055 www.belgrade.co.uk

12-17 November The Lowry, Salford 0843 208 6000 www.thelowry.com

19-24 November Palace Theatre, Southend 01702 351135 www.palacetheatresouthend.co.uk

27 November – 1 December Malvern Theatres 01684 892277 www.malvern-theatres.co.uk

Angry Alan wins Fringe First Award and
announces extra dates

Angry Alan, by multi-award winning playwright Penelope Skinner, has won a prestigious Scotsman Fringe First Award. Widely regarded as one of the UK’s most significant feminist playwrights, Skinner’s darkly comic and provocative new play explores masculinity in crisis

After stumbling across the Men’s Right’s Movement, Skinner began writing Angry Alan, a story about a man being radicalised online by an extremist movement. Searing, timely and achingly funny, this play explores how any extreme political viewpoint can take root in someone’s consciousness if they are vulnerable, and how those who propagate such extreme views aren’t necessarily all they are presenting themselves as

The Scotsman’s world-famous Fringe First awards have been recognising outstanding new writing premiered at the festival since 1973. In their review of Angry Alan, Tim Cornwell writes, Angry Alan marks playwright Penelope Skinner’s welcome return to the Fringe with a brand-new show after nearly a decade. Skinner discovered the Men’s Movement in 2016; her American
partner Donald Sage Mackay, playing Roger, lends an American verisimilitude to the piece. He is perfectly cast, adroitly capturing the character in the simplest staging, with YouTube videos on a screen behind, (the real thing, we’re told). …like the best work, helped by Mackay’s dead-straight portrayal, this piece asks plenty of questions

Having already sold out its Edinburgh run, extra shows will today go on sale for Monday 13th August at 14:00 and 15:20 and Tuesday 14th August at 16:40

Penelope Skinner comments, Making Angry Alan has been a joyful collaboration and audience reactions to the show have been amazing. We hope the play offers an opportunity to engage in conversation and action. We are so excited, pleased and grateful to receive a Fringe First, and to be here in Edinburgh telling this story

Angry Alan is at Underbelly Cowgate (Big Belly) every day until Sunday 26th August at 15:20. It is presented by Francesca Moody Productions and Popcorn Group in association with Underbelly and SEARED

Churchill Theatre Summer Youth Production – until 11 August 2018

Reviewed by Elizabeth J Smith

4****

The 1920’s New York. Two rival gangs of hoodlums are at war. Dandy Dan, the smooth, sophisticated head of one gang has a new weapon, the splurge gun, that has revolutionised “taking care of business”. Fat Sam, head of the other gang, only has pies to take down his opponents, and is losing his team rapidly. He needs help and calls in Bugsy Malone, a smooth city slicker to assist. Bugsy is distracted by his pursuit of would be singer Blousy Brown and when Fat Sam offers him £400 dollars to take care of business he sees away to win Blousy’s heart by taking her to Hollywood. Blousy is unsure how sincere Bugsy is as she always finds him with Tallulah, the sassy night club singer, hanging off him. As Fat Sam has no gang members left Bugsy must find help to take down Dandy Dan and finds the solution by rallying the “down and outs” to take on the fight.

The curtain rises on a simple, effective set, as the piano begins to play its iconic staccato notes, the stage fills with a very full cast of enthusiastic actors and dancers.

Fat Sams singers, Abigail Assock, Kayleigh Weaver and Nadia Pettit-Johnson, sing harmoniously carrying some difficult melodic lines.

The narrators, Alex Valder and Adam Reggio, give an account of the state of play with the two gangs with clear diction and accents.

Fat Sam, Eleanor Butler, gives a commanding performance of the gang leader who can see her empire being taken from under her nose. Conveying her irritations with her somewhat inept gang. Especially Knuckles, played by Jess McKenzie-Phillips, and her irritating knuckle crunching. All four gang members are believable clowns.

Bugsy Malone, Joshua Williams-Ward, carries this suave character with confidence.

Dandy Dan, Anders Coode, gives the air of success and money.

Tallulah, Lucy Piper, nonchalant about her position as the head liner at Fat Sams and a little bitchy to the new comer Blousy.

Blousy Brown, Rebecca Seed, conveyors the despair she feels at chasing her dream of stardom and sings with passion and feeling.

There are many memorable scenes in this production but the ones that stood out for me were the auditions for Lena Marelli replacement. The opera singer, magician, ventriloquist, trio twins, street dancers and Shakespearean actor were hilarious and Lena herself, Evie McKale, the precocious brat. The bumbling keystone cops and their slapstick comedy and the ingenious car chase.

Congratulations to the production team, Glenn Tillin, director, Daniel Beach, MD, and Larrissa Webb, choreographer, for putting on a professional, imaginative performance. Capturing the essence of the original film and seamlessly incorporating a very large cast.

As a youth production you don’t need to have a child in the show to enjoy this production.

Thoroughly enjoyable night out.

AUDIENCES INVITED TO SING ALONG AT

CERTAIN PERFORMANCES OF

JIM STEINMAN’S AWARD-WINNING     

BAT OUT OF HELL – THE MUSICAL

PLUS TWO SPECIAL COSTUMED SINGALONG SHOWS

ON HALLOWEEN AND NEW YEAR’S EVE

The producers of Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical are delighted to announce five special performances when the audience will be able to sing along with the cast to the classic hits.  These performances will take place on Tuesday 28 August, Tuesday 25 September, Wednesday 31 October, Tuesday 27 November and Monday 31 December.  On Halloween (31 October) and New Year’s Eve (31 December), the audiences will also have the option to come dressed as their favourite character from the show or from one of Meat Loaf’s iconic videos.  The best dressed audience member on each night will go home that evening with a Bat Out Hell – The Musical poster signed by Meat Loaf himself.

The show is providing a surtitle screen that will allow everyone who wants to, to sing along with the show.  

Nick Evans, the Associate Director of the London and German productions, said, “Bat Out of Hell – The Musical has brought the legendary music of Jim Steinman to the heart of the West End.  It’s become clear just how much these songs mean to people.  Our Singalong Nights will be a celebration of that; a chance for our energetic, passionate audiences to be a step closer to our talented cast.  These unique performances promise to become very sought after ….a night at the theatre, a party and a rock concert all in one!”

The winner of the Evening Standard Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical 2017 began previews at the Dominion Theatre on Monday 2 April, with a gala performance on 19 April 2018.  It is now booking through to 5 January 2019.

Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical wowed critics and public alike when it played limited seasons at Manchester Opera House, London Coliseum and Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre in 2017, and has been seen by over 650,000 people to date.  A new production opens in Toronto for a three-week engagement this autumn as the first stop in a multi-city North American tour.

In April 2018, Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical announced a wide-ranging global partnership to support the Invictus Games Foundation, the governing body of the Invictus Games, a global sporting event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women, both serving and veterans.

Bat Out Of Hell became one of the best-selling albums in history, selling over 50 million copies worldwide.  16 years later, Steinman scored again with Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which contained the massive hit I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).

For the stage musical, the legendary and award-winning Jim Steinman has incorporated iconic songs from the Bat Out Of Hell albums, including You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, Bat Out Of Hell, I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) and Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad, as well as two previously unreleased songs, What Part of My Body Hurts the Most and Not Allowed to Love.

Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is a romantic adventure about rebellious youth and passionate love, set against the backdrop of a post-cataclysmic city adrift from the mainland.  Strat, the forever young leader of The Lost, has fallen for Raven, daughter of Falco, the tyrannical, ruler of Obsidian.  

Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical has book, music and lyrics by Jim Steinman, direction by Jay Scheib, choreography by Emma Portner, with musical supervision and additional arrangements by Michael Reed, set design by Jon Bausor, costume design by Jon Bausor and Meentje Nielsen, video design by Finn Ross, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound design by Gareth Owen, orchestration by Steve Sidwell, casting by David Grindrod CDG, fight direction by Stuart Boother and musical direction by Robert Emery.

Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is produced by David Sonenberg, Michael Cohl, Randy Lennox & Tony Smith.

Website:  www.BatOutOfHellMusical.com

Twitter & Facebook:  @BatTheMusical

 

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical

 

Dominion Theatre

268-269 Tottenham Court Road

London W1T 7AQ

Performances:  Mon-Sat at 7.30pm, Wed & Sat matinee at 2.30pm (N.B.  Performances will be at 2.00pm & 8.00pm on Saturday 8 September)

 

Tickets:  from £15.00

Box Office:  0845 200 7982

Current Booking Period:  to 5 January 2019

Running Time:  2 hours 40 minutes (including interval)

Christmas 2018/19 Performance Schedule

Mon 17 December – 7.30pm

Tue 18 December – 7.30pm

Wed 19 December – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

Thurs 20 December – 7.30pm

Fri 21 December – 7.30pm

Sat 22 December – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

 

Mon 24 December – No Show

Tue 25 December – No Show

Wed 26 December – 7.30pm

Thurs 27 December – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

Fri 28 December – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

Sat 29 December – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

 

Mon 31 December – 7.00pm

Tues 1 January – 7.30pm

Wed 2 January – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

Thurs 3 January – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

Fri 4 January – 7.30pm

Sat 5 January – 2.30pm & 7.30pm

DAMSEL PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCE LONDON TOUR DATES AND WORKSHOP PROGRAMME FOR ABI ZAKARIAN’S FABRIC

 

Damsel Productions presents

Fabric

By Abi Zakarian

 

Director: Hannah Hauer-King; Designer: Anna Reid; Lighting Designer: Jess Bernberg

Sound Designer: Anna Clock

Soho Theatre

11 September – 22 September 2018

 

London tour

24 September – 6 October 2018

Damsel Productions today announces the London tour dates for Abi Zakarian’s Fabric, a new production in support of Solace Women’s Aid. Following a run at Soho Theatre, the production tours to non-traditional theatre spaces – Hammersmith Town Hall, Kingsgate Community Centre, Goodinge Community Centre and Draper Hall, located in four boroughs identified by Solace Women’s Aid as target areas. Directed by Hannah Hauer-King and starring Nancy Sullivan as Leah, Fabric opens at Soho Theatre on 13 September, with previews from 11 September, and closes on 22 September before touring from 24 September to 6 October.

“I’m revolting. According to his mum. According to everyone.”

Leah is smart, kind, recently promoted, and finally seems to ‘have it all’ when she gets to be the Mrs to Mr Ben Cavendish. But she finds herself revolting; revolting against a society and a judicial system that just won’t listen. Fabric gives voice to one woman’s experience of sexual violence and trauma. Through Leah we bear witness to how grey areas seep into everyday life, and how a million small things – some seemingly harmless – can result in one terrible act.

Each performance during the tour will be accompanied by an opportunity to learn more and get involved. The first performance at each venue will be followed by a Q&A session with a specialist panel. The second and third performances will be preceded by active workshops on bystander intervention; the first for young people aged 16-25 and the second for people of all ages and genders.

Post-show Q&A with specialist panel for everyone

24 September, 27 September, 1 October & 4 October

A post-show panel discussion focussing on what’s next in the battle to end violence against women, with writer Abi Zakarian alongside representatives from Solace and their partner organisations.

Open to 16+

WORKSHOPS

Sexual harassment can be difficult to identify, and even more difficult to respond to. This session will help participants learn how to recognise sexual harassment and equip them with different strategies to safely respond and challenge behaviours, when it is happening to them and to someone else.

Workshop on bystander intervention for young people (16 -25)

25 September, 28 September, 2 October & 5 October

Workshop on bystander intervention for everyone (16+)

26 September, 29 September, 3 October & 6 October

Please find link to image here: https://we.tl/3b7bwGmjST

Abi Zakarian is an award-winning playwright and currently a member of the RSC’s writers group and the Dangerous Space collective. Her plays include I Have A Mouth And I Will Scream (VAULT Festival – winner of the People’s Choice VAULT Award), The Best Pies In London (Shakespeare in Shoreditch Festival), This Is Not An Exit(The Other Place/Royal Court Theatre), LULU7 (Drayton Arms Theatre), Swifter, Higher, Stronger (Roundhouse) and A Thousand Yards (Southwark Playhouse).

Nancy Sullivan plays Leah. Her theatre credits include, The Country Wife (Southwark Playhouse),  My Fair Lady (Naples Opera House, Teatro San Carlo), The Beggar’s Opera (Storyhouse), Gutted (Marlowe Theatre), The Rise and Fall Of Little Voice (Birmingham REP/West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Fastest Clock in The Universe (Old Red Lion), The Good Person Of Sichuan (Colchester Mercury Theatre), Les Miserables (Queen’s Theatre), Judy The Righteous (Trafalgar Studios), Never Forget (UK tour), The Wizard of Oz (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and The Likes of Us (Sydmonton Festival). Her television credits include Harry Price Ghost Hunter; and for film, Les Miserables.

 

Hannah Hauer-King is Artistic Director and co-founder of all-female theatre company Damsel Productions. For Damsel, Hannah has directed Grotty (Bunker Theatre), Lilith (Damsel Develops, Bunker Theatre), Fury, Brute (Soho Theatre) and Dry Land (Jermyn Street Theatre). Other directing credits include Breathe(Bunker Theatre), Witt ‘n Camp (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Alginate (Bunker Theatre), Dead Playwright (Old Red Lion), Clay (Pleasance Theatre), and Hypernormal (Vaults Festival).  Her Associate/Assistant Director credits include Romeo & Juliet (Shakespeare’s Globe), Radiant Vermin (Soho Theatre) and Daytona (Theatre Royal Haymarket).

 

 

Fabric

Listings

 

SOHO THEATRE

21 Dean Street, London W1D 3NE

11 – 22 September 2018

Post-show discussion led by Solace: Thursday 20 September, following 3:15pm performance

Gala Performance in aid of Solace: Thursday 20 September, 8:30pm

Tickets for the Gala will be priced at £40; all profit from the evening will go to Solace.

Tickets for Soho Theatre:

Box office: 0207 478 0100

www.sohotheatre.com

 

LONDON TOUR                                                                                               

Hammersmith Town Hall

King Street, Hammersmith, London W6 9JU

24 – 26 September

Kingsgate Community Centre

107 Kingsgate Road, Camden London NW6 2JH

27 – 29 September

Goodinge Community Centre

Islington, London N7 9EW

1 -3 October

Draper Hall

1 Howell Walk, Southwark, London SE1 6TL

4 – 6 October

Tickets for London tour:

www.damselproductions.co.uk

 

Fabric describes events related to sexual violence and trauma; please contact Soho Theatre if you would like to know more before booking, or Damsel Productions if booking for the tour. At each show information and support will be available from Solace.

Casting announced for THE MIDNIGHT GANG by David Walliams

Adapted by Byrony Lavery

Music & Lyrics by Joe Stilgoe

13 October – 3 November, Festival Theatre

Suitable for ages 7+

 

Full casting has been announced for David Walliams’s THE MIDNIGHT GANG, adapted by Bryony Lavery with music and lyrics by Joe Stilgoe, which premieres at Chichester Festival Theatre from 13 October – 3 November, directed by Dale Rooks.

This inventive tale of fun, friendship and the importance of kindness, about a gang of children who each night escape from their hospital beds to make their dreams come true, is adapted from David Walliams’s biggest-selling children’s book of 2016. It’s recommended for everyone aged 7 and upwards.

Jennie Dale, currently playing ‘Parchester’ in Chichester’s hit musical Me and My Girl and known to a huge CBeebies’ TV audience as ‘Captain Captain’ in Swashbuckle, Shakespeare and The Snow Queen, plays the Matron. Dickon Gough makes his Chichester debut as the Porter; currently appearing in The Addams Family musical on UK tour, his credits also include The Pirates of Penzance at Regent’s Park. They are joined by Matthew Cavendish (Peter Pan Goes Wrong, The Play That Goes Wrong), as Dr Luppers, Marilyn Cutts (Funny Girl, Wicked, Fascinating Aida) as Nelly, Tim Mahendran (Spring Awakening) as Raj and Lucy Vandi (School of Rock, Guys and Dolls) as Tootsie.

Playing the children of ‘The Midnight Gang’ will be Rafi Essex, Cerys Hill, Fibian McKenzie, Cody Molko, Tumo Reetsang, Jasmine Sakyiama, Anjali Shah, Albie Stisted, Cooper Snow and Felix Warren.

A bang on the head during a cricket match at his boarding school has landed twelve-year-old Tom in the children’s ward of the spooky Lord Funt Hospital. Luckily, he’s not on his own with the child-hating Matron and the scary-looking Porter. George, Amber, Robin and Sally are in there too, and they’re not taking things lying down. When the lights go out and the clock strikes twelve, they’re off. But will they let new boy Tom join their forbidden midnight adventures through the hospital’s labyrinthine realm?

This new stage version is by Bryony Lavery, whose adaptations include Chichester’s hit family shows The Hundred and One Dalmatians (2014) and A Christmas Carol (2015), and the forthcoming world premiere adaptation of Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones which tours the UK this autumn. Music and lyrics are by renowned musician and composer Joe Stilgoe, whose work also includes the songs for the 2017 theatrical adaptation of The Jungle Book.

Director Dale Rooks’s production of Michael Morpurgo’s Running Wild (Festival 2015) won the UK Theatre Award for Best Show for Children and Young People; she later co-directed the play for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and a UK tour. Her most recent production at Chichester was Beauty and the Beast.

The Midnight Gang will be designed by Simon Higlett, with lighting by James Whiteside, sound byGregory Clarke and movement by Georgina Lamb.

 

The Midnight Gang is sponsored by Jackson-Stops and Kenwood.

EVENTS

Pre-Show Talk with Bryony Lavery & Dale Rooks  Tuesday 16 October, 5.15pm

Free but booking essential.

 

Post-Show Talk                                             Tuesday 30 October

Stay after the performance to ask questions, meet company members and discover more. Free.

Midnight Adventure                                      Saturday 3 November, 3pm

Explore what might happen beyond bedtime in a fun and practical workshop through craft, storytelling and character-based activities. Ages 5+ and their families.

Free but booking essential.

Joe Stilgoe & Friends                                   Thursday 1 November, 7pm

Join Joe Stilgoe and some special friends for a celebratory evening of music including songs fromThe Midnight Gang. Pyjamas welcome. Tickets £10, under 16s £5.

 

BOOKING INFORMATION

Box Office 01243 781312

Online cft.org.uk

 

Tickets £10 – £30. Family tickets: half price for up to four Under 16s attending with every full priced paying adult (excludes £10 & £15 tickets and Saturday evenings). Prologue tickets for 16 – 25 year olds for £5.