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Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Pleasance 2 – until 31 August

5*****

Buzz – The Musical is like an adult’s only episode of Horrible Histories, telling the history of the vibrator through songs and sketches.  Intertwined with the story of Angie, newly dumped and on her journey of self-discovery to self- love.

Allie Munro captures a sweet naiviety in her role as Angie.  Her boyfriend Mark (George Lock) was her “first” and she’d never been into an Ann Summers, she is more M&S than S&M.  Her best friends Chrissy (the exceptionally talented Robyn Grant who also wrote this fabulous show) and Simon (Andrew Dillon – the leggiest Aphrodite ever) set her off to find out how to empower the female – holding her hand at the beginning but following in her wake by the end.

And we are joined on stage by Roman Soldiers and Cleopatra who tell of her bee filled gourd.  Victorian Ladies queuing up for a cure for hysteria from a Doctor, Land Girls who did it for themselves and various medical professionals who lost their jobs due to trying to do research on female sexuality.

Directed by Cat Robey and choreographed by Matthew Ives, this incredibly young and talented company give us the audience, a wonderful, hilarious and educational look at women and how to embrace their sexuality.



The Lowry Theatre, Manchester – until Sunday 27th August.  Reviewed by Alison Fearon

The production is an adaption of the best-selling book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler by theatre company Tall Stories, it is 55 minutes long without an interval and recommended for children aged 3+ years.

From the minute you enter the theatre the curtains are open and the children’s imaginations start to unfold about how the story is going to come to life. The production starts with the theatre lights up and the four cast members walking around the audience, talking to the children, explaining they are on a camping trip. The audience are already hooked by this point and when the actors snoring and pretending to sleep, you can hear children giggles around the theatre.

The lights are then dimmed to indicate the start of the performance; the story unfolds about the witch and her faithful companion the cat, they meet the other animals along the way as the witch loses various items from the sky including her Hat, Bow and Wand. The bird, frog and dog are all eye-catching puppets which are mesmerising to watch, each of them having a personality to keep the young ones imaginations captivated.

Once all the characters are together on the broom they are off to find the dragon, but when the broom breaks in two, out comes the dragon to have his ‘witch with chips’. At this stage I was a little concerned the dragon may scare some of the children (including my three year old who was with me). This certainly was not the case, the dragon was a fun, dancing dragon that played the character to the age appropriateness of the audience. The dragon is then defeated by the other animals that transform into a monster from the muddy bog and scare the dragon away.

This is where audience participation of creating a new broom draws the children’s attention back again, chanting the witches spell and with a puff of smoke out appears the new broom.

The production then carefully changes back to the friends camping and once again the issue with snoring is wiped out through a magic spell.

A fantastic performance which kept the audience engaged throughout, with humour, puppetry and audience participation.

Selladoor Productions in association with The Marlowe Theatre present

Drama returns to New Wimbledon Theatre in 2018 with the great American classic Of Mice and Men from Selladoor productions in association with The Marlowe Theatre Canterbury, as part of a 10-week UK Tour opening at Marlowe Canterbury on 22 January 2018.

Selladoor productions in association with The Marlowe Theatre Canterbury, announce a 10-week Uk Tour of the landmark Steinbeck classic Of Mice and Men opening at Marlowe Canterbury on 29 January 2018.

Written by Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck and based on his own experiences in the twenties, Of Mice and Men tells the story of George and Lennie, two migrant ranch workers who dream of owning their own ranch. With nothing but the clothes on their back and a dream, the wily and bright George aspires to independence, to be his own boss and most importantly to be ‘somebody’. Gentle Giant Lennie aspires to be with George and join him in his Eden, but as the saying goes – the best laid schemes of mice and men, often go awry

Set in the trying times of the Great Depression, when millions were forced to travel in search of a job and their dreams, Of Mice and Men is a powerful portrait of the American spirit and a heart-breaking testament to the bonds of friendship and what it means to be human.

Considered a challenging and controversial play this brand-new adaptation promises to bring to the stage a magical and imaginative story about trying to hold on to your dreams and friendships during fiercely tough times and a faceless destiny. A tale still relevant to modern times.

Guys Unsworth, Director says:

‘Of Mice and Men is one of the great American stories that has stood the test of time. It’s not only about the Great Depression in 1930s rural America but a timeless tale of loyalty and the struggles for survival in a cruel and competitive world. For me it is also one of the most beautiful stories ever told – both heart-warming and breaking at the same time. I fell in love with it when I studied it as a teenager, so it’s always been on my bucket list to direct, and when I mention the title, so many people have a great fondness for it too. I can’t wait to bring it back to the stage’

David Hutchinson, Executive Creative Producer of Selladoor Productions says:

‘We are delighted to be bringing this timeless classic on a brand-new tour across the UK alongside such an exciting creative team. Giving people the chance to revisit this unforgettable story whilst also bringing it to the stage for a whole new generation of theatre goers’

Directed by Guy Unsworth with design by David Woodhead, with cast still to be announced, discover Of Mice and Men at a theatre near you visit www.selladoor.com for more information and full tour details. Find us on Twitter: @MiceMenPlay and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Of-Mice-And-Men-2018-482633915421246/

NOW IN ITS 29^TH YEAR

NEW CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR

SUSAN HILL’S

THE WOMAN IN BLACK

AT THE FORTUNE THEATRE

FROM 29 AUGUST 2017

TERENCE WILTON TO STAR AS

‘ARTHUR KIPPS’

JAMES BYNG TO STAR AS

‘THE ACTOR’

PW Productions are delighted to announce that from Tuesday 29 August 2017, Susan Hill’s THE WOMAN IN BLACK at The Fortune Theatre, London will star Terence Wilton as ‘Arthur Kipps’ and James Byng as ‘The Actor’.

Terence Wilton’s recent theatre credits include ‘Lord Lonsdale’ in “William Wordsworth” (Theatre By The Lake); “Cat On A Hot In Roof” (Theatre Royal Northampton) and “The Sound of Music” (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre). For the RSC he recently played ‘Baptista Minola’ in “The Taming of the Shrew”. His television credits include “Revelations – End Of Days”, “The Crusades: The Crescent and the Cross”; “The Forsyte Saga”; “Inspector Alleyn Mysteries”; “Henry VI part 1”; “Some Distant Shadow”; “Dial M for Murder”; “Vanity Fair” and “Doctor Who”.

James Byng’s previous theatre credits include ‘Toulouse-Lautrec’ in “Moulin Rouge!” (Secret Cinema); ‘Edgar Rychenkov’ in “Noël” (National Opera House, Ireland); “Philip Pullman’s Grimm Tales” (Bargehouse, South Bank); ‘Group Captain Mandrake’ in “Dr Strangelove” (Secret Cinema); ‘Nick Willow’ in “Carries War” (UK Tour); ‘Posner’ in “The History Boys” (West Yorkshire Playhouse/Theatre Royal Bath UK Tour); ‘Frodo’ in “The Lord of the Rings” (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); “Les Misérables” (Palace Theatre); “Oliver!” (London Palladium); “Hey! Mr Producer” (Lyceum).

Now in its 29^th year, Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s best-selling novel, THE WOMAN IN BLACKtells the story of a lawyer obsessed with a curse that he believes has been cast over his family by the spectre of a ‘Woman in Black’. He engages a young actor to help him tell his story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul. It begins innocently enough, but as they delve further into his darkest memories, they find themselves caught up in a world of eerie marshes and moaning winds. The borders between make-believe and reality begin to blur and the flesh begins creep.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK is directed by Robin Herford, with designs by Michael Holt, lighting by Kevin Sleep and sound by Gareth Owen.

LISTINGS

 

THE FORTUNE THEATRE

Russell Street, London, WC2B 5HH

Performance Times:     Tuesday to Saturday at 8.00pm; Tuesday and Thursday at 3.00pm and Saturday at 4.00pm

Tickets:                         Prices are from £19.50 to £49.50 (Premium Seats are also available)

Box Office:                   0844 871 7626

Currently booking until 3 March 2018

www.thewomaninblack.com

@WomaninBlack_UK

Deadline Day

August 30th – September 16th, 7.30pm, Theatre N16

 

BAFTA Rocliffe winning writer John Hickman and Steve Robertson’s new play about class, the North-South divide and the beautiful game premieres at Theatre N16 this Autumn, directed by Theatre N16 associate director Sarah Chapleo.

“The thing about football – the important thing about football – is that it is not just about football” Terry Pratchett

It’s the last day of the transfer window. United, the North East’s biggest club, have put their star player up for sale, and a super-rich London club have bid. You’re United’s biggest fan and the driver transporting the player down south. What do you do?

Deadline Day will star an all Northern cast, including Middlesbrough football club chairman’s daughter Victoria Gibson.

John Hickman is a screenwriter, director and author based in Newcastle upon Tyne. As well as being selected for this year’s prestigious Guiding Lights mentor scheme, he has successfully completed a BBC Drama shadow scheme, and is now writing for a number of BBC series. His children’s television script The Things was a winner of the BAFTA Rocliffe and BBC Writersroom children’s writing competitions and his children’s book Freaks United was shortlisted for the James Reckitt Children’s Book Award. Formerly a social worker, John has an MA in Creative Writing as well as a PhD with a focus on the onscreen fictional depiction of children.

Theatre N16 is a trailblazing London fringe venue, focused on producing and programming top quality new writing and selected existing works. Theatre N16 is proud of their commitment to the welfare and development of creatives, operating under an Equity Fringe Agreement. This promoting and nurturing of talent means that Theatre N16 is a bastion for development within the context of a society in which the arts are increasingly struggling to stay afloat.

 

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company present William Shakespeare’s

HAMLET

• RADA PRESIDENT KENNETH BRANAGH DIRECTS TOM HIDDLESTON IN HAMLET TO FUND RAISE FOR MAJOR CAPITAL APPEAL 
• LIMITED THREE WEEK ENGAGEMENT RUNS 1-23 SEPTEMBER 2017 AT RADA’S JERWOOD VANBRUGH THEATRE
• TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE VIA A BALLOT, WHICH WILL OPEN AT MIDDAY ON TUESDAY 1 AUGUST UNTIL SUNDAY 6 AUGUST AT 6PM AT WWW.RADAHAMLET.COM

Kenneth Branagh’s Olivier Award-winning theatre company will join forces with RADA for a co-production of Hamlet, to support the transformation of RADA’s Chenies Street site in London, further developing the Academy as a world-leader in dramatic arts training.

The production will feature RADA alumnus Tom Hiddleston in the title role and will play a strictly limited three week run at RADA’s 160-seat Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre from 1-23 September 2017.

All funds raised will support the RADA Attenborough Campaign, which aims to raise £20 million, enabling the regeneration of the Academy’s Chenies Street premises.

RADA’s new premises will provide RADA’s first on-site accommodation for students. RADA already supports 70% of students on its core programmes financially, and such new accommodation will further remove financial barriers to training.

The regeneration, which will also include a new library and enhanced archive, will convert the listed Drill Hall to become a flexible, 250 seat public theatre, named the Richard Attenborough Theatre.

The acting company and creative team are made up from members of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company and RADA.  They are Ayesha Antoine (Rosencrantz / Bernarda), Lolita Chakrabarti (Queen Gertrude), Nicholas Farrell (King Claudius), Sean Foley (Polonius / Osric), Tom Hiddleston (Hamlet), Ansu Kabia (King Hamlet / Player King / Gravedigger),Caroline Martin (Horatia), Eleanor de Rohan (Guildastern / Marcella / Priest), Irfan Shamji (Laertes / Player Queen) and Kathryn Wilder (Ophelia). Hamlet will be designed by James Cotterill with lighting design by Paul Pyant (both RADA graduates) and sound design by Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid. Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann are casting directors for the production.

RADA and the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company are also delighted to work with colleagues from many other parts of the industry, as well as current RADA Technical Theatre Arts Students.

To ensure that the ticket release is fair, a ballot will open at midday on 1 August, which can be entered online until 6pm on Sunday 6 August, and by phone from midday on 1 August until 5pm on 5 August (lines are open daily 10am – 5pm). Successful applicants shall be notified by or on 8 August and will then have 48 hours to book their tickets on 9-10 August.

Selected at random, all successful ballot applicants are guaranteed the opportunity to purchase a maximum of two tickets within the allotted 48 hour booking window. Tickets for specific dates however cannot be guaranteed and all dates are available on a first-come-first-served basis.

Purchases will be limited to a maximum of two per person across all performances. No tickets to be sold by third parties and resale of tickets is strictly prohibited. To help prevent the chance of resale, customers will only be able to collect their tickets on the day of the performance (60 mins before the show begins). Bookers must bring relevant documentation to collect their tickets, and photo identification will be required for under-25s bookers to gain access to the auditorium.

Additionally, no returns shall be offered for the production. Consequently there will be neither a returns queue, nor day tickets available to purchase for Hamlet at the RADA box office in person or online.

Twenty percent of tickets will be priced at £15 and are only available to audiences aged 25 and under. A further twenty percent will be priced at £45, with the remaining tickets at £95.

As this is a fundraising event, the decision has been taken to offer no free tickets to media. Any journalist wishing to purchase a ticket will be able to enter the ballot. This is in an attempt to create a level playing field and to raise as much money as possible for the RADA Attenborough Campaign.

Edward Kemp, Director of RADA, said: “We’re thrilled that Kenneth Branagh returns to RADA to work with graduates of the Academy in support of our capital campaign. At RADA our close links with the industry are a vital part of the training, and we’re committed to maintaining these links in an ever-changing industry. This is a wonderful opportunity for actors from our graduating third year, as well as our current technical theatre and stage management students, to work alongside immensely talented professionals – forming a collaboration of artists that brings together a wealth of experience and exuberant young talent.”

Kenneth Branagh said: “I believe Shakespeare and RADA are very good things. This production celebrates both. We bring actors, writers, directors and technicians from last year’s KBTC Garrick season, and team them with RADA graduates past and present, together with artists from the larger creative world to explore Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The play speaks as loudly as ever to our volatile world and we are proud to have Tom Hiddleston lead an exciting group of actors, as he plays the title role for the first time. This work has been in discussion and planning over a period of years. To find its expression at, with, and for RADA, is a privilege.”

Tom Hiddleston said: “Hamlet presents almost limitless possibilities for interpretation. I can’t wait to explore them, with this great cast, at RADA. Kenneth Branagh and I have long talked about working on the play together, and now felt like the right time, at the right place. To be guided through it by him as a director, an expert and a friend, is our great good fortune. The performing arts exist to bring people together, not to break or keep them apart. I hope the funds raised by the production will help RADA continue to provide a wider field of equal opportunity to train actors, stage managers and technical theatre artists, from every background, to a standard of excellence and professionalism. We need to keep the doors open for everyone.”

 

LISTINGS

HAMLET
By William Shakespeare

Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre
Malet Street
London
WC1E 7JN

Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm from 1 – 23 September
Matinees at 2.30pm on 2, 9, 16, 23 September

www.radahamlet.com
Box Office (Cambridge Live) 01223 357 851

Tickets £95, £45 and £15 for under-25s
No credit card or booking fees

Accessible seating is available at all performances.

The run will also include accessible performances, details of which will be announced shortly; patrons are encouraged to provide access requirements when registering for the ticket ballot.

The Wipers Times Q and As – with writers Ian Hislop and Nick Newman

 

What first sparked your interest in The Wipers Times, Ian?

(Hislop) I was presenting a documentary about the First World War and I came across a reference to The Wipers Times and there was a joke quoted from one issue. I followed it up and I could see that it made the most brilliant story which was much too good to be used in a mere documentary.

(Newman) I’d never heard of The Wipers Times but what was so extraordinary about it was that the fact that it was original source material, written on the frontline by troops on active service. What stood out was that it was genuinely funny and that the jokes had survived the test of time. We wanted to revisit the material in some way so we wrote a three page document about how we’d recreate the theatre of war. We put the idea of making a film about The Wipers Times to the BBC and we then heard nothing – for ten years!

 

Why did you have such trouble trying to sell the idea?

(Hislop) Even our wonderful producer David Parfitt thought that nobody was interested in the First World War.

(Newman) David was quite honest about it. In the current climate – this was in 2003 or so, nobody was interested in the subject. Then during the following years, along came Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, War Horse at the National and then the West End and then the Spielberg film. Even David produced Parade’s End which was set at the time of the First World War. Paradoxically this revival of interest in the period worked against us. Who’d want to put on a play or make a film set in World War One when Birdsong and War Horse had been so successful? Then, completely out of the blue, we got a commission to make a drama documentary about The Wipers Times for the BBC as one of the programmes marking the centenary of the war.

 

Do you think that you had such trouble because you were concentrating on a very different aspect of the First World War?

(Newman) That’s exactly right. The whole experience of World War One has been coloured by the poets publishing in the 1920s and the memoirs and dramas written in the 1930s. Audiences had seen things explode before and they were looking for a different experience. What The Wipers Times was doing at the time was putting a smile back on people’s faces.

(Hislop) Sometimes you get the impression that nobody ever laughed during the period between 1914 and 1918. The soldiers fell on The Wipers Times like thirsty men finding water in the desert.

 

How would you describe the material in The Wipers Times?

(Hislop) It’s a very good mix. I’d say that the material written by other ranks lacked the elegance of the pieces submitted by the officers. You get the sense from the images of two very different worlds, of different versions of what was happening. On the face of it, it is all jolly poems and spoofs but it is also very subversive. There is a letter from a reader, asking for advice. Is it permissible, he asks, to shoot a superior officer? He receives the reply that it is, given extenuating circumstances. I feel as if Nick and I are kindred spirits of the editors, Jack Pearson and Fred Roberts. They are our heroes, eking out this wonderful newspaper under incredibly difficult circumstances.

(Newman) The war is treated in a quintessentially British way. There are jokes about the Germans—about the Kaiser’s little Willie (i.e. the Crown Prince) and so on. But there’s no malice in it. If anything the soldiers reserve their malice for their own superior officers and for the pointlessness of it all.

 

You eventually got your film made. Why did you then want to adapt this story for the stage?

(Hislop) All the way through the process, we’d always thought of it as a play.

(Newman) The film got such a fantastic response that we felt that it wasn’t going to represent the end of the story, after all. We’d written our first play, A Bunch of Amateurs, as our first attempt at writing for the stage which had been produced at the Watermill Theatre near Newbury. That had gone down so well that the Watermill told us that if there was anything else we wanted to do, they’d be interested in seeing it. So we suggested joining forces on The Wipers Times.

 

What happened to your two heroes, Fred Roberts and Jack Pearson?

(Newman) During the period after the film came out, we were sent much more material, including a memoir by Roberts. But what had happened to Pearson was a complete mystery.

(Hislop) I was convinced that he’d disappeared but I happened to mention what I was looking for to a member of the amazing team who’d worked on my Who Do You Think You Are? and within a day she’d found Jack. He’d survived the war and worked as a civil engineer. He had travelled out to Argentina on a P&O ship where he’d got married and then settled down.

(Newman) We then heard from Pearson’s granddaughter who sent us a piece he’d written about the experience of Ypres but which was too late for inclusion in the film.

 

How did the families react to the play?

(Hislop) I was the initial contact and I spoke to Roberts’ grandchildren when they saw the play at the Watermill. They told us that we’d got “Pops” off to a tee. Pearson’s granddaughter was very moved. She said that the play helped her gain a better understanding of her grandfather. When as a child she’d ask him about his experience of the war, he joked that he had such long legs, he could easily run away from the Germans.

 

There were a number of other trench journals, apart from The Wipers Times. What made it so special?

(Hislop) It was funnier – and ruder! I have a friend who is a Captain in the Royal Engineers and she brought a party of her sappers to see the show. I was a little worried about how it would go down with the men but she reassured me. She said that the way the guys were represented was exactly how the guys behaved. And that’s the same now.

 

Which injustice has been righted as a result of The Wipers Times?

(Newman) When the film was shown, an email arrived from John Witherow, the editor of The Times, congratulating us. I then took the opportunity to point out to John that neither Pearson nor Roberts had received the proper recognition of an obituary in The Times. A fortnight later we received an e-mail with the brief instruction to look in the next day’s newspaper. And there they were. It had been a travesty of justice that they had been overlooked and now justice had been done. Sometimes satire can do something good.

COMEDY AT LEEDS GRAND THEATRE AND CITY VARIETIES

 

** JOE PASQUALE ** ANDY PARSONS ** PHIL JUPITUS** JON RICHARDSON** DARA Ó BRIAIN

 

In-keeping with their history as reputable comedy venues, Leeds Grand Theatre and City Varieties Music Hall (CVMH) bring several notable names to Leeds in September and announce two new acts for 2018.

September 2017 at CVMH will see Joe Pasquale take to the stage on Saturday the 2^nd in his one-man show, The Devil in Disguise, that apparently ‘defies description’. Andy Parsons urges people to put on their lucky pants and party shoes, and get out for the night to see his show, Peak Bullsh*t, on Wednesday 20^th, and comedian, poet, improviser and TV stalwart Phill Jupitus, will entertain crowds with tales, laughs and diversions on Thursday 28^th. Audiences are encouraged to watch in delight and/or horror as the experienced funny man drags laughs out of the chaos of his own life and the uncertain world that surrounds it in Juplicity.

2018 will see comedy giants Jon Richardson and Dara Ó Briain take to the Leeds Grand Theatre stage.

Jon Richardson, British Comedy Award nominee and star of Live At The Apollo and 8 Out Of 10 Cats, is embarking on a nationwide tour to complain about the state of the world and offer no solutions. Since Jon’s last show he has become a husband and father, seen the UK vote to leave the EU and watched the rise of Donald Trump, all of which leaves him asking one question, why does it seem that no one else alive can correctly load a dishwasher?

 

Jon will be appearing at Leeds Grand Theatre in The Old Man on Sunday 8th April 2018. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 2^nd August 2017.

 

Dara is one of the most recognisable faces on British TV as host of the hugely successful Mock The Week, Star Gazing Live, Robotwars and Go8Bit. Catch one of the most charismatic, intelligent, fast-talking and downright funny live performers On Sunday 6^th and Monday 7^th May 2018 in his new stand-up show, Voice of Reason. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 2^nd August 2017.

For more information about all shows, comedy or otherwise, at Leeds Grand Theatre and City Varieties Music Hall visit leedsgrandtheatre.com or call Box Office on 0844 848 2700 / cityvarieties.co.uk or call Box Office on 0113 243 08 08.