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FULL CAST ANNOUNCED FOR STEPHEN SHARKEY’S ADAPTATION OF ZADIE SMITH’S WHITE TEETH

KILN THEATRE PRESENTS

WHITE TEETH

By Zadie Smith

Adapted by Stephen Sharkey

 

26 October – 22 December 2018

 

Director: Indhu Rubasingham; Designer: Tom Piper, Lighting Designer: Oliver Fenwick

Sound Designer: Carolyn Downing; Composer: Paul Englishby; Video Designer: Lizzie Pocock

 

With Holy Sh!t – the inaugural production in the newly refurbished theatre – in rehearsals, Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham today announces the full cast for the world première of Stephen Sharkey’s adaptation of Zadie Smith’s White Teeth – Ayesha Antoine (Irie Jones), Michele Austin (Mad Mary), Philip Bird (Des/Marc Perret/Marcus Chalfen), Ayesha Dharker (Alsana Iqbal), Naomi Frederick (Ruth/Poppy/Joyce Chalfen), Tony Jayawardena (Samad Iqbal), Richard Lumsden (Archie Jones), Karl Queensborough (Anthony /Denise/Josh Chalfen), Sid Sagar (Magid Iqbal), Amanda Wilkin (Rosie Jones), Assad Zaman (Millat Iqbal), and actor-musicians Matthew Churcher, Nenda Neurer (also Clara Jones) and Zoe West. The production opens on 5 November, with previews from 26 October, and runs until 22 December.

 

‘You’re in Kilburn. Melting pot where nothing’s actually melted it’s all just kinda stuck together at the bottom in a gooey mess, know what I mean?’

 

Rosie Jones, the Iqbal twins, their parents, their grandparents, Mad Mary and an avalanche of other characters who make up the everyday chaos of Kilburn High Road come together in an extraordinary revelry of NW6. An epic comedy with music and dance, this theatrical rollercoaster takes us on a fast-paced journey through history, different cultures and chance encounters.

Zadie Smith’s breakthrough novel is adapted for stage by acclaimed playwright Stephen Sharkey and directed by Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham in a major world première.

Ayesha Antoine returns to the theatre to play Irie Jones – she previously appeared in Red Velvet (Garrick Theatre), A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes and The House That Will Not Stand. Her other theatre work includes Hamlet (Garrick Theatre), Life of Galileo, Trade (Young Vic), Dirty Great Love Story (Arts Theatre), The Suicide(National Theatre), The Ghost Train (Royal Exchange/Told By An Idiot), We Are Proud to Present… (Bush Theatre), Tartuffe (Birmingham REP), Absurd Person Singular, My Wonderful Day, Surprises (Stephen Joseph Theatre/ 59E59), One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show (Sheffield Crucible/Eclipse Theatre Company tour), Carrot(Theatre503), The Mountaintop (Derby Playhouse), Blue/Orange (Tiata Fahodzi/Arcola Theatre), Madblud, Family Man, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Big White Fog (Almeida Theatre) and The Firework Maker’s Daughter (Lyric Hammersmith/Told By An Idiot tour). For television her work includes Thunderbirds are Go!, Chewing Gum, Pompidou, Doctor Who, Holby City, Bellamy’s People, Mongrels, Mouth to Mouth, and Grange Hill.

 

Michele Austin returns to the theatre to play Mad Mary – she previously appeared in The House That Will Not Stand and The Riots. Her other theatre work includes Instructions for Correct Assembly, Breath Boom, Been So Long (Royal Court Theatre), The Seagull (Lyric Theatre Hammersmith), Medea (Almeida Theatre), Pride and Prejudice (Sheffield Theatres), I Know How I Feel About Eve, Out in the Open (Hampstead Theatre), To Kill a Mockingbird (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Sixty-Six Books (Bush Theatre), Generations (Young Vic), and Our Country’s Good (Out of Joint/Young Vic). For television, her work includes Dark Heart, The Coroner, Casual Vacancy, Death in Paradise, Harry & Paul, Secret Life, The Canterbury Tales and Gimme Gimme; and for film, The Children’s Act, What We Did on Our Holidays, Parking Wars, Another Year, The Infidel, Valentine’s Day, All or Nothing and Secrets and Lies.

 

Philip Bird plays Des/Marc Perret/Marcus Chalfen. His theatre credits include Cell Mates, Labyrinth (Hampstead Theatre), Sunny Afternoon (Harold Pinter Theatre/Hampstead), The Potsdam Quartet (Jermyn Street Theatre), Wild Oats (Bristol Old Vic), The Cherry Orchard (Royal Lyceum), In The Club (Rho Delta), Sweet Panic (Duke of York’s Theatre), Abigail’s Party (Whitehall Theatre), Semi-Detached (Chichester Festival Theatre), Family Viewing (King’s Head Theatre), The Marriage of Figaro (The Watermill Theatre), and The Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It, A New World, The Merchant of Venice, Holding Fire!, The Winter’s Tale, Troilus and Cressida, Cymbeline, King John (Shakespeare’s Globe). For television, his work includes Emerald City, My Shakespeare, The Fades, My Family, Diamond Geezer II, Silent Witness, Murder City, Feather Boy, Into The Void, Murder In Mind, The Glass, and The Wild House; and for film, Blessed, Imagine Me and You, In The Dark, andVirtual Sexuality.

 

Matthew Churcher is an actor-musician. His theatre work includes The Great Gatsby (Theatre Clwyd and Halifax), Jane Eyre (National Theatre and UK tour), All or Nothing (UK tour), War Horse (New London Theatre and National Theatre), Ignition: 60 Hugs (Frantic Assembly), and Loaded (Out of Inc). His short films include Ken Loach’s Star Wars. He is also a professional drummer/percussionist and has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, BBC and toured both nationally and internationally.

Ayesha Dharker plays Alsana Iqbal. Her theatre credits include The Island Nation (Arcola Theatre), Arabian Nights, Othello, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC), Anita and Me (Birmingham REP and Theatre Royal Stratford East), Dr Faustus (Bristol Old Vic), Bombay Dreams (West End and Broadway) and The Ramayana (National Theatre/Birmingham REP).  For television her credits include Indian Summers, Critical, The Indian Doctor, Little Crackers, Coronation Street (as series regular Tara Mandal), Doctor Who, Bodies, Waking the Dead, Life Isn’t All Ha Ha Hee Hee and A Mouthful of Sky; and for film, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Anita and Me, Arabian Nights, Red Alert: The War Within, Mad Sad & Bad, Loins of Punjab Presents, Outsourced, Colour Me Kubrick, The Mistress of Spices.

Naomi Frederick plays Ruth/Poppy/Joyce Chalfen. Her theatre work includes Agnes Colander, The Mentor and Hobson’s Choice (Theatre Royal Bath), The Heresy of Love, Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s Globe), Made in Dagenham (Adelphi Theatre), Emil and the Detectives, Mrs Affleck, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, The Mandate (National Theatre), The Winslow Boy (The Old Vic), The Master Builder (Chichester Festival Theatre) and Measure for Measure (National Theatre and Complicité – Ian Charles Award 2^nd Prize). For television, her work includes Inspector George Gently, Virtuoso, My Family, On Expenses, and The Trial of Tony Blair; and for film, The Aftermath and The Children’s Act.

 

Tony Jayawardena returns to the theatre to play Samad Iqbal – he previously appeared in The Invisible Hand. His theatre credits include Young Marx (Bridge Theatre), Lions and Tigers, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare’s Globe), Bend It Like Beckham (Phoenix Theatre), The Roaring Girl, The Arden of Faversham, The White Devil, The Empress, Twelfth Night (RSC), Dick Whittington, Love and Stuff (Theatre Royal Stratford East), The Wind In The Willows (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Wah! Wah! Girls (Sadler’s Wells/ Kneehigh), Great Expectations (English Touring Theatre), The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (Royal and Derngate, Northampton), London Assurance, All’s Well That Ends Well, England People Very Nice (National Theatre). For television his recent work includes Ackley Bridge, The Tunnel, The Windsors, Strike Back, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby; and for film, his work includes Towerblock, Trance and A Cat Named Bob.

 

Richard Lumsden plays Archie Jones. His theatre work includes It’s All Made Up (Royal Court), Uncle Vanya, Our Town (Almeida Theatre), Fall and Rise of Lenny Smallman (Arts Theatre, Mill Theatre), We Could Be Heroes(Bridewell Theatre) and Glory of the Garden (Duke of York’s Theatre). For television, his extensive credits include Shakespeare and Hathaway, Doc Martin, Millie Inbetween, Crazyhead, Father Brown, Trollied, Remember Me, All at Sea, Vexed, Life of Riley and Garrow’s Law; and for film, Darkest Hour, The Heart of Lightness, Downhill, City Slackers, Silent Cry, Room to Rent, The Avengers and Sense and Sensibility.

 

Nenda Neurer is an actor-musician and also plays Clara Jones. She represented Rose Bruford at the 2017 Sam Wanamaker Festival, playing Vittoria in The White Devil. Her other theatre credits include Jerusalem, The Borrowers (The Watermill Theatre) and Romeo and Juliet (Orange Tree Theatre).

Karl Queensborough returns to the theatre to play Anthony/Denise/Josh Chalfen – he previously appeared in A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes. His other theatre work includes Sylvia (Old Vic/ Zoo Nation), The Little Matchgirl (Shakespeare’s Globe/ Bristol Old Vic), The Machine Stops (Theatre Royal York/ Pilot Theatre), Only the Brave (Soho Theatre/ Wales Millennium Centre/ Bird Song), Aladdin, Cinderella, Dick Whittington, Jack and the Beanstalk (Lyric Theatre Hammersmith), Dayglo, Mind the Gap, (Y Touring); Morning (Lyric Theatre Hammersmith/Traverse Theatre), 365 (National Theatre of Scotland), and Ignition Out of Reach (Frantic Assembly).

Sid Sagar returns to the theatre to play Magid Iqbal – he previously appeared in The Invisible Hand. His other theatre credits include Julius Caesar (Bridge Theatre), Queen Anne (RSC/Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Tempest, Cymbeline, The Oresteia, The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare’s Globe), Treasure (Finborough Theatre), The History Boys (UK tour), True Brits (HighTide/ Edinburgh/Bush Theatre), and Eternal Love (Shakespeare’s Globe & English Touring Theatre). His television work includes Press, Strike: Career of Evil,The Hollow Crown and The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies; and for film, Eaten By Troll, Murder on the Orient Express, Karma Magnet.

 

Zoe West is an actor-musician. Her theatre work includes The Lost Ones (Bush Theatre), Sleeping Beauty(Theatr Clwyd), Creatives (The Pleasance, Edinburgh) and Constance and Sinestra (The Ugly Duck, London Bridge). She is also a singer songwriter and played at Billy Bragg’s Left Field at Glastonbury in 2017.

Amanda Wilkin plays Rosie Jones. Her theatre work includes The Grinning Man (Trafalgar Studios), The 306: Day (National Theatre of Scotland), La Ronde (Bunker Theatre), Pilgrims (Theatre Clwyd/ HighTide Festival/The Yard Theatre), Emilia, Hamlet, Gabriel, The Tempest (Shakespeare’s Globe), Hopelessly Devoted (Paines Plough & Birmingham REP), Arabian Nights (The Watermill Theatre), The Bacchae, Blood Wedding (Royal and Derngate), Marat/Sade, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC), Stamping, Shouting and Singing Home (Nuffield Southampton Theatres), and The Twits (Duke’s Theatre). Television includes Berlin Station and Gavin and Stacey; and for film, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!.

 

Assad Zaman plays Millat Iqbal. His theatre credits include Coriolanus, Salome, First Encounters Julius Caesar(RSC), I Wanna Be Yours (Paines Plough), Arms and the Man (Watford Palace), A Midsummer Night’s Dream(New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich), East is East (UK tour for Jamie Lloyd Productions/ATG), Behind the Beautiful Forevers (National Theatre), Beats North (Northern Stage/Curious Monkey), Tyne (Live Theatre and Theatre Royal Newcastle) and Grimm Tales (Northern Stage). For television, his work includes Vera, Apple Tree Yard and Cucumber.

 

Zadie Smith was born in north-west London in 1975. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has twice been listed as one of Granta’s 20 Best Young British Novelists. Her first novel, White Teeth, was the winner of The Whitbread First Novel Award, The Guardian First Book Award, The James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, and The Commonwealth Writers’ First Book Award. Her second novel, The Autograph Man, won The Jewish Quarterly Wingate Literary Prize. Zadie Smith’s third novel, On Beauty, won the Orange Prize for Fiction, The Commonwealth Writers’ Best Book Award (Eurasia Section) and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Her fourth novel, NW, was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize and the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her most recent novel, Swing Time, was published in November 2016 and has been shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. She published an essay collection, Changing My Mind, in 2009; a second collection, Feel Free, was published in 2018.  Zadie Smith writes regularly for the New Yorker and the New York Review of Books and is a tenured professor of creative writing at New York University.

Stephen Sharkey has translated and adapted a wide variety of classic and classical stories for the stage, including works by Euripides, Aristophanes, Wilde, Defoe, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Dostoevsky, Dickens and Goncharov. His most recent work includes Inkheart – adapted with Walter Meierjohann for HOME, a version of Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and Feydeau’s Sex and the Three Day Week, both commissioned by Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, and an adaptation of A Christmas Carol (Northern Stage). He wrote three further Christmas shows for Northern Stage: Hansel and Gretel, Peter Pan and The Glass Slipper. His translation of Ion by Euripides was produced by the Gate Theatre, London, and he reworked Birds by Aristophanes as a musical comedy for children called Cloudcuckooland which toured the UK. His play The May Queen was produced by Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse. He has also written plays for BBC Radio 4: the first of these All of You on the Good Earth won the Society of Authors’ Richard Imison prize for best radio debut.

Artistic Director of Kiln Theatre Indhu Rubasingham directs. She is currently in rehearsals for Holy Sh!t – the world première of Alexis Zegerman’s new play which will be the opening production in the refurbished theatre.Her work for the company includes Red Velvet (which transferred to New York and later to the Garrick Theatreas part of the Kenneth Branagh Season) and Handbagged (Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre – also West End, UK tour and Washington DC). Other productions for Kiln Theatre include The Invisible Hand, A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes, Multitudes, The House That Will Not Stand, Paper Dolls, Women,Power and Politics, Stones in His Pockets, Detaining Justice, The Great Game: Afghanistan, Fabulation and Starstruck. Other theatre credits include The Great Wave,  Ugly Lies the Bone, The Motherf**cker with the Hat(Evening Standard Award for Best Play), The Waiting Room (all National Theatre), The Ramayana (NationalTheatre/ Birmingham REP), Belong, Disconnect, Free Outgoing,  Lift Off, Clubland, The Crutch and SugarMummies (Royal Court Theatre), Ruined (Almeida Theatre), Yellowman and Anna in the Tropics (HampsteadTheatre), Secret Rapture and The Misanthrope (Minerva, Chichester), Romeo and Juliet (Chichester Festival Theatre ), Pure Gold (Soho Theatre), The No Boys Cricket Club and Party Girls (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Wuthering Heights (Birmingham REP), Heartbreak House (Watford Palace Theatre), Sugar Dollies andShakuntala (Gate Theatre), A River Sutra (Three Mill Island Studios), Rhinoceros (UC Davis, California) and ADoll’s House (Young Vic).

www.KilnTheatre.com

Twitter: @KilnTheatre / @KilnCinema

ALEXANDRA BURKE

RETURNS TO THE STARRING ROLE OF

RACHEL MARRON

 IN THE FORTHCOMING TOUR

OF THE SMASH HIT WEST END MUSICAL 

THE BODYGUARD

OPENING AT GLASGOW THEATRE ROYAL
ON MONDAY 3 DECEMBER 2018

Producers, Michael Harrison and David Ian are delighted to announce that Alexandra Burke will return to the starring role of ‘Rachel Marron’ in the forthcoming tour of the international smash hit production of the award-winning musical THE BODYGUARD opening at Glasgow Theatre Royal on Monday 3 December 2018 where it plays until Saturday 29 December 2018 before visiting Hull New Theatre(8 – 19 January 2019), Southend Cliff’s Pavilion (22 January – 2 February 2019), Grand Opera House Belfast (6 – 16 February 2019)  Liverpool Empire (26 February – 9 March 2019), Milton Keynes Theatre (12 – 23 March 2019), Bristol Hippodrome (26 March – 6 April 2019), Wales Millennium Centre Cardiff (16 – 27 April 2019), Norwich Theatre Royal (30 April – 11 May 2019) and Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury (14 – 25 May 2019).

 

Alexandra Burke returns to the role of ‘Rachel Marron’ following her triumphant run in the show in both the West End and the subsequent sell out 2015/2016 tour. She first rose to fame after winning the fifth series of The X Factor and her debut number one single Hallelujah sold over one million copies in the UK, a first for a British female soloist. She most recently appeaed as ‘Svetlana’ in “Chess” at the London Coliseum and will soon appear as ‘Roxie’ in “Chicago” at the West End’s Phoenix Theatre. Last year she reached the final of “Strictly Come Dancing”. Her other theatre credits include ‘Deloris Van Cartier’ in the national tour of the musical “Sister Act”. 

Alexandra Burke will perform the role of ‘Rachel Marron’ at all evening performances only.

Based on Lawrence Kasdan’s 1992 Oscar nominated Warner Bros. movie starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, THE BODYGUARD, directed by Thea Sharrock with book by Oscar winning (Birdman) Alex Dinelaris, had its world premiere at the Adelphi Theatre in London’s West End in 2012 and was nominated for four Olivier Awards. A sell out 18 month UK and Ireland tour followed, before the show returned to the West End at the Dominion Theatre. THE BODYGUARD has also played in the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, Canada, Italy, Australia, Madrid, France, and on tour throughout the US and can currently be seen in Stuttgart.

Former Secret Service agent turned bodyguard, Frank Farmer, is hired to protect superstar Rachel Marron from an unknown stalker. Each expects to be in charge; what they don’t expect is to fall in love. A romantic thriller, THE BODYGUARD features a host of irresistible classics including Queen of the Night, So Emotional, One Moment in Time, Saving All My Love, Run to You, I Have Nothing, I Wanna Dance with Somebody and one of the biggest hit songs of all time – I Will Always Love You.

THE BODYGUARD – UK TOUR 2018 – 2019

MONDAY 3 DECEMBER – SATURDAY 29 DECEMBER 2018

GLASGOW, THEATRE ROYAL www.atgtickets.com/glasgow

TUESDAY 8 JANUARY – SATURDAY 19 JANUARY 2019

HULL NEW THEATRE www.hulltheatres.co.uk

TUESDAY 22 JANUARY – SATURDAY 2 FEBRUARY 2019

SOUTHEND CLIFFS PAVILLION www.southendtheatres.org.uk

WEDNESDAY 6 – SATURDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2019

GRAND OPERA HOUSE BELFAST www.goh.co.uk

TUESDAY 26 FEBRUARY – SATURDAY 9 MARCH

LIVERPOOL EMPIRE www.atgtickets.com/liverpool

TUESDAY 12 MARCH – SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2019

MILTON KEYNES THEATRE www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes

TUESDAY 26 MARCH – SATURDAY 6 APRIL 2019

BRISTOL HIPPODROME www.atgtickets.com/bristol

TUESDAY 16 APRIL – SATURDAY 27 APRIL 2019

CARDIFF, WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE www.wmc.org.uk

TUESDAY 30 APRIL – SATURDAY 11 MAY 2019

NORWICH THEATRE ROYAL www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk

 

TUESDAY 14 – SATURDAY 25 MAY 2019

MARLOWE THEATRE, CANTERBURY www.marlowetheatre.com

DAISY GREENWOOD WINS LAMBERT JACKSON COMPETITION TO PERFORM IN THERE’S NOTHIN’ LIKE A DAME

Lambert Jackson announces Daisy Greenwood as the winner of its competition to find a future musical theatre star. Greenwood will perform in the company’s debut show There’s Nothin’ Like a Dame – 100 Years of Women in Musical Theatre, a celebration of women in musical theatre, at Cadogan Hall on Thursday 30 August.

Louise Dearman, Ria Jones, Alexia Khadime and Rachel Tucker come together to perform songs from some of the most famous female roles over the past century, from classics like Rogers and Hammerstein to modern smash hits, from Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Schwartz.

Greenwood joins this incredible group of leading ladies to perform a solo to an audience of up to 950 people at the beautiful, historic Cadogan Hall.

Daisy Greenwood said today, ‘I am absolutely over the moon to have been given the opportunity to perform alongside women who have inspired me to want to work in musical theatre.’

Lambert Jackson said, ‘We are absolutely thrilled to have Daisy joining our fabulous cast of incredible performers for this wonderful show. Daisy, whilst young, displayed a level of maturity in her performance far beyond her years. We were transfixed from the moment we watched her. She is a future star, and exactly what this competition was all about.’

Daisy Greenwood is 17 years old and currently studying UAL Extended Level 3 Musical Theatre at Colchester Institute near her home town of Tiptree. She is also a student of Michael Xavier Masterclass in the West End and Tomorrows Talent in Chelmsford. Her recent credits include being a featured vocalist in the Jack Petchey Glee Club Grand Final at the O2 where her group won the Artistic Award. She has also performed in London’s West End Live twice with MXM. As a member of WOW youth company Greenwood appeared as ‘Demeter’ in Cats and Leia in Loserville. She played the role of ‘Carmen Diaz’ in Fame at the Civic Theatre, Chelmsford. She also appeared at the Palladium with Collabro as a member of the MXM choir and in the West End Stars at ChristmasConcert at St Pauls Actors Church. Throughout senior school Greenwood was the lead vocalist in the Soul Band and was also a featured vocalist in the Rugby World Cup Opening Ceremony in 2015.

Twitter: @daisygreenwood_

Instagram: @daisygreenwood

 

There’s Nothin’ Like a Dame – 100 Years of Women in Musical Theatre 

Cadogan Hall

5 Sloane Terrace, London SW1X 9DQ

 

Box Office: 020 7730 4500 

www.cadoganhall.com

               

Thursday 30 August, 7.30pm

 

Tickets: from £28

FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR THE

WORLD PREMIÈRE OF WOMEN IN POWER

A Nuffield Southampton Theatres production in association with Oxford Playhouse

The World Première production

WOMEN IN POWER – A MUSICAL COMEDY

Based on The Assemblywomen by Aristophanes

Written by Wendy Cope, Jenny Eclair, Suhayla El-Bushra, Natalie Haynes, Shappi Khorsandi,

Jess Phillips MP and Brona C Titley

 

Director: Blanche McIntyre; Dramaturg: Clare Slater; Composer: Tim Sutton;

Designer: Jasmine Swan

Director of Nuffield Southampton Theatres (NST), Samuel Hodges, today announces full casting for the world première of Women in Power. NST Associate Director Blanche McIntyre directs Lydia Bewley, best known for The Inbetweeners, Plebs and E4’s comedy Drifters, Elizabeth Boag, Anna Fordham, Lisa Kerr, Anne Odeke and Alicia Mckenzie. The production, in association with Oxford Playhouse, sees some of the UK’s most influential female voices, Wendy Cope, Jenny Eclair, Suhayla El-Bushra, Natalie Haynes, Shappi Khorsandi, Jess Phillips MP and Brona C Titley, come together to write this musical comedy based on the Greek classic, The Assemblywomen. The production opens on 13 September at NST City, with previews from 6 September and runs until 29 September. It will then run at Oxford Playhouse from 3 – 6 October.

The country is in political turmoil. Recent wars and alliances have left Athenians no option but to take the most extreme action. The most radical: a government of women!

Strategia masterminds and leads a daring coup d’état, outlining her utopian vision of total equality to her crowd of cross-dressing collaborators. A world where power imbalance is eradicated and with it debt, greed and theft. But this has unintended and hilarious consequences.

Women in Power is a raucous new musical comedy, and a reimagining of the original, by a team of leading female writers from the world of poetry, broadcasting, theatre and stand up. Combined with an exceptional comic cast and led by NST Associate Blanche McIntyre, Aristophanes’ Women in Power is turned into a celebration of sketches with songs, dance, music and women taking the lead.

Women in Power will open the Bungalow Café Festival – a new arts festival in Southampton to celebrate 100 years since the first British Women won the right to vote.

Lydia Bewley’s theatre credits include The River Line (Jermyn Street Theatre). Her television credits include Plebs, Drifters, The Royals, Top Coppers, Code of a Killer, I Live With Models and Drunk History; and for film, The Inbetweeners Movie and The Inbetweeners 2.

Elizabeth Boag’s theatre credits include Break of Noon (Finborough), Invincible, Hero’s Welcome, Confusions, Arrivals and Departures, Farcicals (UK and US tour), Roundelay (UK tour), Private Thoughts in Public Places (Oval House), Lilies On The Land (Arts Theatre), Stella (Southwark Playhouse) and The 24 Hour Plays (The Old Vic). Television credits include Joe’s Palace and Stuart: A Life Backwards; and for film, Chasing Robert Barker and Scrawl.

Anna Fordham returns to the theatre following Fantastic Mr Fox (NST/Curve/Lyric Hammersmith/UK tour). Other theatre credits include The Borrowers (Watermill Theatre), Foreverland (Theatre503) and Urinetown (Stratford Circus) and for television as a series regular in The Athena.

Lisa Kerr’s credits for theatre includes The Dog Show (Kandinsky Theatre/New Diorama), Far From The Madding Crowd (The Watermill Theatre), Lionboy (Complicité /Tricycle Theatre/world tour), The Magic Flute (Complicité / Festival d’Aix-en-Provence), Cinderella (Olivier nominated co-production, St James Theatre/Tobacco Factory), Our Country’s Good (St James Theatre/Out Of Joint), Top Girls(Trafalgar Studios / Chichester Festival / Out Of Joint), Andersen’s English (Hampstead Theatre/Out Of Joint). Television credits include the upcoming Spoof or Die; and for film, The Unfolding and Reuniting the Rubins.

Anne Odeke’s theatre credits include The Secret Keeper (Oval House and UK tour), Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Storyhouse), Winnie and Wilbur (Birmingham Rep), Night Must Fall (UK tour), The Crucible (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh), Next Lesson (Pleasance Theatre), You Should Be So Lucky (Above the Stag), The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare’s Globe), Women of Troy (The Scoop), and Finian’s Rainbow (The Union Theatre/Charing Cross Theatre).

Alicia McKenzie’s work in theatre includes Whisky Galore (Oldham Coliseum, Hull Truck, New Vic and UK tour), A Christmas Carol (Stephen Joseph Theatre), Fuse (Crucible, Sheffield), Macbeth(Infinite Jest – London and Holland), The Life and Death of Martin Luther King (TNT – European tour),The White Witch of Rose Hall (Broadway Theatre), In a Pickle (Royal Shakespeare Theatre and UK tour), and Ring a Ding Ding (Unicorn Theatre, UK tour and New York); and for film, You Can Do Better, Asylum and In a Rush.

 

Wendy Cope is an award-winning poet. Her first collection of poems, Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis, were published in 1986. Titles include Serious Concerns, If I Don’t Know, Two Cures for Love: Selected Poems 1979-2006, Life, Love and the Archers and Family Values. Her most recent collection, Anecdotal Evidence, was published earlier this year.

 

Jenny Eclair is an award-winning comedienne and has most recently been seen touring the UK with her new show How to be A Middle Aged Woman (Without Going Insane). As a writer her novels include Moving, Camberwell Beauty, Having a Lovely Time, Life Death and Vanilla Slices. Television credits include Storage Hunters UK Celebrity Special, Alan Davies as Yet Untitled, QI, Battlechefs, Fifteen to One, Celebrity Masterchef, It was Alright In the 80’s, Countdown, The Joan Rivers Positionand Room 101. For theatre her credits include Steaming (Piccadilly Theatre), Mum’s the Word(Albery Theatre) and The Vagina Monologues (Wyndhams Theatre).

 

Suhayla El-Bushra is a screenwriter and playwright. Recent stage work includes Arabian Nights(Royal Lyceum Theatre), The Suicide (National Theatre), The Iphigenia Quartet (Gate Theatre, London). Pigeons (Royal Court Theatre), Cuckoo (Unicorn Theatre) and The Kilburn Passion (Tricycle Theatre). She is currently under commission from Out Of Joint, English Touring Theatre, The National Theatre and The Bridge Theatre. She has been a core writer on C4 shows Ackley Bridge and Hollyoaks and has just made a short with Film4. She has various film and TV projects in development.

 

Natalie Haynes is a writer and broadcaster. Her first novel, The Amber Fury, was published to great acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, as was The Ancient Guide to Modern Life, her previous book. Her second novel The Children of Jocasta, a reimagining of the tales of Oedipus and Antigone, was published in 2018. She is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4, reviewing for Front Row and Saturday Review and has appeared as a team captain on three seasons of Wordaholics. A second series of her show, Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, will be broadcast on Radio 4 next year. Her documentary on the Defining Beauty exhibition at the British Museum, Secret Knowledge: The Body Beautiful aired in 2015 on BBC4 in the UK and on BBC World News everywhere else.

Shappi Khorsandi quickly established herself as one of the country’s finest comedians in 2006 with her sell out Edinburgh show, Asylum Speaker, and, in 2007 went on to win Best Breakthrough Act at the Chortle Awards. That same year, she took her show Carry on Shappi to the Fringe and then on to  Soho Theatre. Her television credits include I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, Mock The Week, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Have I Got News For You, QI, Live At The Apollo & Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow.  Her screenwriting debut was in the form of Sky’s Little Crackers.

Jess Phillips was elected the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley in 2015 and has since been re-elected in 2017. Before this, she worked with victims of domestic violence sexual violence and human trafficking, and continues to speak out on behalf of those who struggle to have their voice heard, most recently on the subject of abortion and online trolling. She has worked with the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Communities and Local Government on issues of Violence Against Women and Girls. Phillips was one of the women who launched the #NotTheCost campaign to combat the violence faced by politically active women, and the Recl@im The Internet campaign, which challenges online abuse. Her first book, Everywoman: One Woman’s Truth About Speaking The Truth, was published to great acclaim in 2017.

 

Brona C Titley is an award-winning writer and is currently Head Writer on Next Week’s News with Merman, whilst also writing on Tracey Breaks the News for BBC and a new series for Nickelodeon. She has most recently been working on The Mash Report, 8 Out of 10 Cats and with Disney on several projects including The Lodge, for which she wrote a newly broadcast episode. Further television writing includes Harry Hill’s Alien Fun Capsule, Host the Week, Dave Gorman’s Modern Life is Goodish, Newzoids and Off Their Rockers, along with the script for the BAFTA Television Awards.

Blanche McIntyre directs. Previous credits for Nuffield Southampton Theatres include Noises Off, Tonight at 8.30 and The Nutcracker. Other theatre credits include The Norman Conquests(Chichester Festival Theatre), Titus Andronicus and The Two Noble Kinsmen (RSC), Welcome Home Captain Fox! (Donmar Warehouse), The Oresteia (HOME Manchester), As You Like It and The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare’s Globe), Arcadia (Ambassador Theatre Group), The Seagull(Headlong), Accolade (St James Theatre), Repentance/Behind the Lines (Bush Theatre), Ciphers (Out of Joint), The Birthday Party (Manchester Royal Exchange), Foxfinder, Accolade and Moliere or The League of Hypocrites (Finborough Theatre), Liar Liar (Unicorn Theatre), The Only True History of Lizzie Finn and Open Heart Surgery (Southwark Playhouse), The Seven Year Itch (Salisbury Playhouse), When Did You Last See My Mother? (Trafalgar Studios); and for film as a writer, The Hippopotamus.

Clare Slater is the Literary Manager at the Donmar Warehouse in London. She also works as a freelance adaptor and dramaturg. Credits include Becoming: Part One (Donmar Warehouse), The Unknown Island, Here’s How It All Began, Idomeneus (Gate, Notting Hill), The Last Mermaid, Man To Man (Wales Millennium Centre), Lotty’s War (UK tour), We Have Fallen (Theatre 503/Underbelly). Slater previously worked as Executive Director of the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill and, prior to that, she was the Assistant Literary Manager at the National Theatre and worked in TV and film development with Rare Day. She is currently serving on the Board of the Royal & Derngate, Northampton and sits on the Creative Council of Shakespeare’s Globe.

Tim Sutton is a musical director and composer for theatre and choir. He was the Musical Supervisor for Dusty the Musical, and Musical Director of the 10th anniversary tour of War Horse. He will compose music for Kim Sykes’ production of As You Like It for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2019 season. Recent projects includeTitus Andronicus and The Two Noble Kinsmen (RSC), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (National Theatre) and Alexei Sayle’s Imaginary Sandwich Bar Series 1 & 2, (BBC Radio 4). He collaborated with poet Ian McMillan on the community opera Cycle Song, which won the Royal Philharmonic Society Learning & Participation Award 2012. He was the recipient of the Stiles and Drewe Best Song Prize in 2013. Musical Direction includes The Frogs(Jermyn Street Theatre), Just a Minute Does Panto (BBC Radio 4), Memphis (Shaftesbury Theatre) and The Amen Corner (National Theatre). Other scores for theatre include August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone(Young Vic), The Secret Garden (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Dreamfighter (Lichfield Festival), The Bacchae(National Theatre of Scotland), As You Like It (Wyndham’s Theatre), and As You Desire Me (Playhouse Theatre). He is currently writing Victory, a new musical, with playwright Juliet Gilkes-Romero. He is also an Associate Member of the Inner Magic Circle.

Jasmine Swan was a finalist in the Linbury Prize for Stage Design 2017, working with Phoenix Dance Theatre based in Leeds. She is currently the Laboratory Associate Designer for Nuffield Southampton Theatres 2017/18. Her theatre credits include Much Ado About Nothing (Nuffield Southampton Youth Theatre), Son Of Rambow Workshop Production (NST at The Other Palace), Sleuth (Zoielogic Dance Theatre), Hanna (Regional Tour starting at The Arcola, Papatango), The Passing of the Third Floor Back (Finborough Theatre), Hyem (Theatre503 and Northern Stage), Scene Change Presents: Coming of Age (Liverpool Playhouse Studio), Who’s Afraid Of The Working Class?(Unity Theatre), The Wonderful World of Dissocia (Liverpool Playhouse Studio), Next Door but One(Cornerstone Theatre). Site Specific work includes co-designing the immersive performance art event Subterrania (Palm House, Liverpool) and Fiesta Bombarda (Constellations, Liverpool).

Age recommendation 12 +

Listings 

Nuffield Southampton Theatres

NST City, Above Bar Street, Guildhall Square, Southampton, SO14 7DU

Women in Power – A Musical Comedy

NST City

6 – 29 September

 

 

www.nstheatres.co.uk

Box Office: 023 8067 1771

                      Monday – Friday: 10am – 6pm

      Saturday: 10am – 4pm

Twitter: @nstheatres

Facebook: /nstheatres

Public voting has begun today (7 August) to find the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre 2018, ahead of the annual UK Theatre Awards. Votes can be cast at uktheatre.org/vote until 12:00 on Tuesday 18 September 2018, giving audiences across the country the chance to celebrate their local theatre and its impact on the community.

This year, more than 175 venues across the country – from Bolton to Belfast, Cardiff to Cumbria, Pitlochry to Penzance – are competing to take home the coveted title. The 12 Regional and National winners of the vote will be announced on 28 September 2018, and the overall winner at the UK Theatre Awards, which take place at London’s historic Guildhall on Sunday 14 October.

In 2017 the winner was The Mill at Sonning.

Julian Bird, Chief Executive, UK Theatre, said:

‘Most Welcoming Theatre is a chance for audiences to celebrate their local theatre and for venues to shout about the incredible work they are doing day in day out. Theatres are the backbone of communities across the country and this campaign highlights the vital work they do.’

The UK Theatre Awards are the only nationwide Awards to honour outstanding achievement in theatre throughout the United Kingdom. The Awards are supported by White Light, Q-Park, Theatre Tokens, John Good, Harbottle & Lewis and Integro in association with Chubb.

For more information on the UK Theatre Awards and to book tickets to the ceremony visit the UK Theatre Awards website.

The UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre Award 2018 is sponsored by Theatre Tokens

A selection of production images for Little Shop of Horrors at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre have been made available

Little Shop of Horrors

 

Now extended until 22 September 2018

 

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

 

For the misfits of Skid Row, life is full of broken dreams and dead ends. But there’s hope on the horizon for flower shop assistant, Seymour, when he discovers a mysterious new plant with killer potential. Will his newfound fame and fortune win the attention of kind, sweet, delicate Audrey? Can he finally break free and be happy…whatever the consequences?

Marc Antolin and Jemima Rooper (Death in Paradise, Trauma) play Seymour and Audrey, with Forbes Massonin the role of East Side florist Mr Mushnik. Matt Willis (Busted) takes the role of sadistic dentist Orin, and the plant, Audrey II, is played by U.S. drag queen Vicky Vox.

www.OpenAirTheatre.com | 0844 826 4242

THE NATIONAL THEATRE PRODUCTION OF NETWORK WILL TRANSFER TO BROADWAY IN NOVEMBER 2018

It is announced today that the National Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of NETWORK, adapted by Lee Hall from the Academy-Award winning film by Paddy Chayefsky, directed by Ivo van Hove, and featuring Bryan Cranston as news anchor Howard Beale, will transfer to Broadway this autumn for a limited 18 week run.

NETWORK will begin performances at the Cort Theatre on Saturday 10 November 2018 and officially open on Thursday 6 December. Further casting will be announced shortly.

NETWORK is produced on Broadway by David Binder, the National Theatre, Patrick Myles, David Luff, Ros Povey and Lee Menzies.

Howard Beale (Bryan Cranston, in the performance that won him the 2018 Olivier Award for Best Actor in Play), news anchor-man, isn’t pulling in the viewers. In his final broadcast he unravels live on screen. But when ratings soar, the network seizes on their newfound populist prophet, and Howard becomes the biggest thing on TV. NETWORK depicts a media landscape where opinion trumps fact. Hilarious and hair-raising by turns, the iconic film by Paddy Chayefsky won four Academy Awards in 1976.

NETWORK received its world premiere at the National Theatre on 13 November 2017. The NT’s recent Broadway transfers include ANGELS IN AMERICA, winner of three Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Play, THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, which won five Tony Awards including Best Play, ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS, WAR HORSE, the winner of six Tony Awards including Best Play, and THE HISTORY BOYS, winner of six Tony Awards including Best Play. PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS transferred to St Ann’s Warehouse for a limited run in October 2017. THE JUNGLE, a co-production with Good Chance Theatre and the Young Vic set in the sprawling refugee camp in Calais, France, will transfer to St Ann’s Warehouse in December 2018.

The original creative team will return for the Broadway run of NETWORK, with scenic and lighting design by Jan Versweyveld, video design by Tal Yarden, costume design by An D’Huys, and music and sound design by Eric Sleichim.

Lisa Burger, NT Executive Director said: “We’re thrilled that NETWORK will transfer to Broadway in November, following its ground-breaking run here at the National Theatre. It’s particularly exciting for the NT to continue the theatrical dialogue with audiences in New York following Angels in America’s recent Broadway run. We look forward to the production – and Bryan’s incredible performance – astonishing and galvanising audiences in New York, just as it did in London this year.”

The producers of NETWORK at the Cort Theatre said: “We are excited as hell to bring Ivo van Hove’s brilliantly innovative and electrifying production of NETWORK to Broadway this fall. The incomparable Bryan Cranston brings Howard Beale to brilliant life and we are so thrilled for American audiences to have the opportunity to experience his masterful performance and this spectacular new play.”

Lee Hall’s credits include Billy Elliot, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, and The Pitmen Painters. Ivo van Hove is the Artistic Director of Toneelgroep Amsterdam. His credits include Hedda Gabler(National Theatre), Lazarus, A View From The Bridge and The Crucible on Broadway. Bryan Cranston previously appeared on Broadway in All the Way, for which he won the Tony for Best Actor, on television in Breaking Bad and the film Trumbo for which he was nominated for an Oscar.

American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets from Wednesday 5 September at 10am (EST) until Wednesday 12 September at 9.59am (EST) by visiting www.Telecharge.com or calling (00) +1 212-239-6200. Presale tickets are available to Audience Rewards members from Wednesday 12 September at 10am (EST) to Friday 14 September at 9.59am (EST) www.audiencerewards.com.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Friday 14 September at 10am.

For more information visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk or www.NetworkBroadway.com
Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube at @NetworkBway and @nationaltheatre

Not Dead Yet is on at Space on North Bridge as part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2018 @ 14:40 daily until 11th August 2018. For further information, please visit edfringe.com

4 stars for a very good show

Reviewed by Debs Baird

@debschebbs

Starring: Peter Cockerhill

Director: Andrew Harrison

Playwright: Rob Wilson

Technical: Lex Woodhouse

Production Manager: Sylvia Wilson

Woolly Sheep Theatre Company are back at Edinburgh Fringe with their new play ‘Not dead yet’

Alzheimers affects an increasingly large section of the population, and its Dementia’s most common disease.

Not Dead Yet is one man show which guides you between Diego’s coffee emporium and the life and mind of ‘your loving Dad, Tom’. Music and memories are often strongly linked, Diego plays you a variety of tracks throughout and invites you to consider the link between the tracks. Tom spends his days writing emails to his son in sunny South Carolina about Gran and her worsening dementia. What is memory loss like for the sufferer and is it worse for the loved ones looking on? With an ageing population this disease is set to rise dramatically, the more we know and understand about it the better.

Not Dead Yet is a sad yet humorous tale that so many of us can relate to and is on daily at Space on North Bridge until the 11th Aug.

Park Theatre, London – Until 1st September 2018.

Reviewed by Heather Chalkley

3***

This is a predictable, not unfamiliar storyline. The benefit of that is believable characters. Kevin Tomlinson’s Mark, slipped in and out of good guy bad guy effortlessly. He was the epitome of victim become perpetrator. Abigail Hood portrayed Leah’s vulnerability and quiet optimism beautifully. Her character was taught to be a victim early on in life, desperate for a father figure, smart enough to want something more and didn’t know how to do that. Tom (Adam Morris), a Dad torn apart by the disappearance of his beloved daughter, is trying to make sense of a bad situation. Morris plays him convincingly as a lost soul that cares too much. Gill (Tracey Wilkinson), a mother who is wounded to the core, has lost trust even in her own judgement. Wilkinson overplayed the part but gave welcome relief to an otherwise bland dialogue. Tom and Leah find in one another the missing parts, father and daughter, that helps begin to heal their lives, and somehow things make more sense when they are around each other. Unfortunately it makes absolutely no sense to anyone else, who all believe the worst of their relationship.

The minimal props gave just enough detail to build the picture of living room, sea front, cafe etc

The moving about of the stripped back set was a little clumsy at times. The boxes could at least have grip handles for easier repositioning.

There is a fine balance between producing a play that is believable, realistic and over simplifying the dialogue. Abigail Hood has done a good job of bringing the characters to life, however some of the richness has been taken out of the dialogue by keeping it too real. The audience knows this story, it has been repeated many times over. That doesn’t detract from the necessity to keep telling it, but it does mean you have got to give people a reason to see this version.

Brunel Tunnel, Rotherhithe, London  – until Saturday 11th August 2018.

Reviewed by Antonia Hebbert

2**

In 1843 you could pay a penny to descend a 50 foot shaft into the first tunnel under the Thames. Scraped out by miners dodging methane flames and sewage, it was the ‘eighth wonder of the world’, designed by Marc Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel – who nearly drowned when the Thames broke through and roared up the shaft.

Now the tunnel shaft is a deep, dry, bare concrete performance space, where shows are eerily accompanied by the rumble of subterranean trains. You might think there would be lots of potential here to evoke the deep, dark Indian jungle, for an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. But you would be disappointed: the potential is lost in this uninventive production, directed by Jessica Jane, and oddly lacking in theatrical magic. On the good side, the cast are very enthusiastic and throw themselves into their roles. Joe Newton is sleek and authoritative as Bagheera, Maximilian L’Olive is convincingly crazed as Tabaqui the jackal, and Joanna Harker achieves a fine roaring tone as Shere Khan, a role she stepped into at the last minute. There are some moments: singing, chanting and other music are atmospheric in this resonant space. But there is an awful lot of naturalistic talking that is hard to hear and hard to follow. The script (Joe Newton) is sometimes very faithful to Kipling’s book (where interactions between jungle animals are rather formal and serious), and sometimes wildly different and sentimental – more like the Walt Disney version but without the colour, coherence or fun. It gets clunkier towards the end, when Tabaqui’s life is saved – what?? That sound you hear isn’t a train, it is Kipling spinning in his grave.

The Brunel’s had many false starts, and perhaps deep in this play there is the making of something good. But the miners need to get back to work with their little spades, and do a lot, lot more digging.