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Australian hit Songs For Nobodies to have its European première at Wilton’s Music Hall in 2018

·       A critically acclaimed one-woman tour de force running 21 March – 7 April

·       Written by renowned award-winning playwright Joanna Murray-Smith and directed by Priscilla Queen of The Desert, the Musical’s Simon Phillips

·       Starring the uniquely talented Australian singer and actor performer Bernadette Robinson

Wilton’s Music Hall will host the European première of Songs For Nobodies (running 21 March – 7 April), a brand new play with songs featuring music from five iconic divas; Judy Garland, Pasty Cline, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf and Maria Callas. Accompanied by live musicians, this funny and moving performance was written especially for Bernadette Robinson by Joanna Murray-Smith (Honour, Bombshells, The Female of the Species) and directed by Simon Phillips (Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the Musical).

This one-woman show is driven by the astonishing talents of singer and actress Bernadette Robinson, who takes audiences on a musical and emotional journey with five short stories following the word’s greatest divas and their extraordinary encounters with normal women – the “nobodies.”

Blurring the lines between superstardom and the everyday, Bernadette seamlessly brings each character to life as her remarkable control of tone, accent and vocal style perfectly inhabits each legendary singer.  From the smoky blues of Holiday to the thrilling soprano of Callas via Garland, Cline and Piaf,  Bernadette’s miraculous voice breathes new life into the five legendary performers and the five ordinary women whose lives were changed by their brush with fame.

Recounting intimate tale of their encounters is the heartbroken bathroom attendant who mends Garland’s hem the night she performed at Carnegie Hall, the backing singer who lives a dream with Cline the day she’s killed in a plane crash, the ambitious New York Times reporter assigned to interview Holiday, the Irish nanny who witnessed the fraying relationship between Callas and her shipping magnate and the English librarian who talks of how the ‘Little Sparrow’ rescued her father from a concentration camp during the war.

Director Simon Phillips commented: ‘Ever since I sat stunned at a Bernadette Robinson concert not believing my ears, I wanted to create a show for her, something that put her miraculous ability to reincarnate the great singing voices of the past into a rich theatrical context.  So I knocked on the obvious door.  Joanna Murray-Smith places the dramatic focus not on the stars themselves but the unknown women for whom these fragile singers were sources of strength.”

“Bernadette Robinson gives a virtuosic performance… Should not be missed” Sydney Morning Herald

“Beyond virtuosity to the sublime” The Australian

“A spellbinder” Barry Humphries

Listings Info

Dates: 21st March to 7th April

Times: 7:45pm, 6:30pm & 8:30pm Fridays, 3pm Saturday Matinee

Dates: £20 – £35 full price, £17.50 – £32.50 concessions

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED PLAY RETURNS TO THE EPSTEIN THEATRE THIS MONTH

Later this month, Last Train to Auschwitz returns to The Epstein Theatre due to popular demand. The critically acclaimed play will run for three days from Tuesday 23 – Thursday 25 January 2018 – which will coincide with World Holocaust Week.

Last Train to Auschwitz, which has played at the Hanover Street venue in 2017 and 2015, tells the story of a group of women’s journey into hell. Their final destination is the notorious concentration camp Auschwitz.

The emotional narrative will be played out on stage by an incredible selection of Liverpool’s top acting talent including Brookside star Bernie Foley, who is best known for playing Margie Shadwick in the Channel 4 soap.

Bernie is no stranger to the stage having starred in several other Liverpool productions including Brick Up: The Wirral Strikes Back, as well as the 1996 TV film Hillsborough.

Joining her on the stage are Lesley Butter and Saul Murphey, both of Red Skies and Maggie Lynch of Sunset Boulevard and The King and I. Completing the stellar cast is Lucy Gittens (If The Shoe Fits), Katie Rose (Walking In The Rain) Karen Oliver and Hollie McGann.

Auschwitz, a place where dreams die first and nightmares become a reality. Every day is a fight for survival, but through all this, bonds of love and friendships are formed. No matter what colour or creed, from the movie star to the gypsy, they band together in their fight for survival despite their inhumane treatment by the prison guards. 

In a world they no longer know or recognise, some will live to tell their story, others will perish in the ever burning ovens of the gas chambers. The memory of those who perished will stay eternal in the pages of history and be passed down from generation to generation.

Last Train to Auschwitz will take audiences on a rollercoaster of emotions; a journey of love, hope, and friendship that can never be defeated when people unite, a journey that won’t be forgotten. 

Theatre manager, Rebekah Pichilingi, said: “Last Train To Auschwitz received an incredible reception on its previous visits to The Epstein Theatre and we are truly delighted to welcome it back for another run of shows this year. The cast is full of talented Liverpudlian actors and we can’t wait to welcome them back to the Epstein stage.”

 

SHOW LISTINGS:

 

Last Train To Auschwitz

Date: Tuesday 23 – Thursday 25 January

Time: 8pm

Tickets: Standard £17, Concessions £15

 

To book tickets please call 0844 888 4411* or go online at www.epsteinliverpool.co.uk * or in person at The Epstein Theatre Box Office from 2pm – 6pm Monday – Thursday and 12pm-6pm Friday – Saturday.

 

*Subject to booking fee. All prices include a £1 per ticket venue restoration levy

 

For more details check out www.epsteinliverpool.co.uk and join our mailing list. Follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/EpsteinTheatre and twitter @EpsteinTheatre.

GIFFORDS CIRCUS

CELEBRATES THE 250^TH ANIVERSARY OF THE WONDER OF CIRCUS WITH 2018 TOUR

Giffords Circus celebrates the 250^th anniversary of circus with a UK premiere tour of their new show, My Beautiful Circus.  The show will open on Friday 4 May at Fennels Farm, Stroud with an official press night on Thursday 28 June at Chiswick House & Gardens, London.

In 1768 near Westminster Bridge, equestrian rider Philip Astley drew out a 42-foot circle and filled it with jugglers, acrobats, clowns, strong men and bareback horse riders. This spectacle was the world’s very first circus.

My Beautiful Circus will feature some of the classical acts such as: death-defying acrobatics, enchanting domestic animals and fan-favourite of Giffords Circus comedic genius, Tweedy the clown.  Circus-goers can enjoy dining at Giffords exclusive rustic restaurant, Circus Sauce that tours with them.  Circus Sauce serves a set 3-course menu that changes weekly, using seasonal produce from the surrounding area.

Founder, and producer Nell Gifford has said:

“We are so thrilled to be taking part of the celebration of the 250^th year of circus. Show director Cal McCrystal and I have been asking ourselves: What makes the circus so magnetic? What is conjured up by the word circus? Why do we want to run away with the circus? What would the most beautiful circus look like? I hope that next year’s show will answer all those questions and more.”

GIFFORDS CIRCUS – MY BEAUTIFUL CIRCUS 2018 TOUR DATES

www.giffordscircus.com

Box Office:  01242 691 181

Friday 4 May – Monday 14 May
Fennells Farm, Stroud

Thursday 17 May – Monday 21 May
Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe

Thursday 25 May – Monday 4 June
Daylesford Organic Farm, Kingham

Thursday 7 June – Monday 11 June
Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire

Thursday 14 June – Monday 25 June
Oxford University Parks, Oxford

Thursday 28 June – Monday 9 July
Chiswick House & Gardens, London

Thursday 12 July – Monday 16 July
Windsor Great Park, Berkshire

Thursday 19 July – Monday 23 July
Stonor Park, Henley on Thames

Thursday 26 July – Monday 6 August
Barrington, Burford

Thursday 9 August – Monday 13 August
Village Green, Frampton on Severn

Thursday 16 August – Tuesday 28 August
Minchinhampton Common, Gloucestershire

Thursday 31 August – Monday 10 September
Marlborough Common, Wiltshire

Thursday 13 September – Monday 24 September
Stratton Meadows, Cirencester

Thursday 27 September- Sunday 30 September
Fennels Farm, Stroud

 

To purchase tickets across the tour please visit: 
www.giffordscircus.com

Sparks: debut play by Jessica Butcher at VAULT Festival 2018

Love, Loss and Life after your mother dies of Multiple Sclerosis

Sparks is a new play by writer-performer Jessica Butcher exploring grief, loss, worth, love and fantasy. It runs during VAULT Festival 2018 between Wednesday 21 and Sunday 25 February 2018. Butcher paints a witty and entertaining portrait of dating in the modern age: our romances, our shortcomings, and how desperately we will use any distraction to shy away from grief and loneliness. After the loss of her Mother to Multiple Sclerosis, Butcher decided to explore the impact of grief and how it works in our minds and consciousness. As a universal emotion, Sparks opens the door to grief and welcomes it in for a proper conversation. Acclaimed singer and songwriter Anoushka Lucas creates an original score for the play which she performs live on stage during the show. Sparks is directed by Jessica Edwards.

” But it took fifteen years of disconnected sparks to do the damage.
To stop her beautiful fantastical brain from connecting.”

Butcher plays Lila, our guide through the story as we follow her whirlwind romance – the first meet, dates, fucks, fights, breakups. We watch as it falls apart. We are the best friend and confidante, and she leads us through her exploits with great humour. But as we navigate through the multiple realities along the way – what really happened between her and X, what might have happened and a fantasy version – we discover her grieving heart and the uncertainty of how to move on

Jessica Butcher explains: “I wrote Sparks because I wanted to talk about grief and being a woman in this world, and how the patriarchy lives in us and has been inherited from generations of misogyny. I wanted to make someone who was confronting all the different sides of herself. She is kind, funny, weird, sexy, horrible and confused. I want to explore how our minds work with fantasy and cruel reality. I want to dive into Love. This play is for my Mum.”

Jessica Butcher is an actress who most recently performed in Offside (Edinburgh Festival 2017 and UK Tour) and is known for playing Lucy Fuller in Camilla Whitehill’s award-winning play Where Do Little Birds Go?Sparks is her debut play. Her second play, Boots will also premiere in London in March 2018.

Anoushka Lucas is a multi-instrumentalist singer and songwriter and has composed an original score forSparks that forms an intrinsic thread within the story. Her music has been championed by Jazz FM (Love Supreme winter 2013) and Radio 2 (Jamie Cullum show, BBC Introducing 2017). Composing for theatre includes: Klook’s Last Stand (Book by Che Walker, Park Theatre 2014 and NAMT, Oct 2017) and The Etienne Sisters (Book by Che Walker, Stratford East 2015). As an actor, Anoushka has performed in Jesus Christ Superstar (Mary Magdalene, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival), Murder on the Orient Express (Pianist, dir: Kenneth Branagh, 20^th Century Fox), Been So Long (dir: Tinge Krishnan, BFI/Film4/Greenacre).

Jessica Edwards is a freelance director and Artistic Director of Flipping the Bird. She has associate directed for the Almeida, the Jamie Lloyd Company, the Young Vic and in the West End. She is Director of drag-girl-super-group DENIM, who are associate artists of Soho Theatre. Recent directing includes: Denim: World Tour (Soho Theatre / Underbelly); Punts (Theatre503); Revolutions (Arcola / Old Vic Lab); The Gulf (Old Vic Lab); Torch(Latitude / Edinburgh Festival 2016); Haters Make You Famous (Almeida Theatre); Queering Marlowe (Jamie Lloyd Company / Duke of York’s Theatre); White Hot & Weak (Old Vic New Voices Festival); The Box (Latitude / Theatre Delicatessen); The Itinerant Music Hall (Lyric Hammersmith / Watford Palace / GDIF / Latitude); Jekyll & Hyde (Southwark Playhouse / Assembly Edinburgh).

Sparks by Jessica Butcher at VAULT Festival 2018

The Vaults, Leake Street, London SE1 7NN

Wednesday 21 February – Sunday 25 February at 19:45

Matinee on Sunday 25 February at 16:45

Tickets: £11.50

Box office: https://vaultfestival.com or 07598 676202

Social media: #SPARKSplay / #VAULT2018 / @VAULTFestival

GRAND OPERA HOUSE, YORK, CITY OF YORK COUNCIL, AND THE NATIONAL THEATRE PARTNER TO OFFER
AUDIENCES AGED 26 AND UNDER 
£5* TICKETS FOR HEDDA GABLER

 

Passionate about making theatre accessible to everyone, the Grand Opera House, York, City of York Council and the National Theatre have partnered to offer anyone aged 26 and under the chance to see HEDDA GABLER, an unmissable production of the ultimate Scandi-noir in a version boldly retold for the 21^st-Century, for just £5 per ticket.

Following a sell-out run at the National Theatre, Hedda Gabler, an essential play for our times, is now on a UK & Ireland tour and will arrive in York for one week from 20 February 2018.

Whether young audiences are new to theatre or love seeing the latest shows, £5 tickets for Hedda Gabler will be bookable online, in person and via phone. Inspiring young people by making the highest quality theatre accessible to them backs the council’s continued support for the delivery of excellent cultural and educational opportunities and outcomes for all young people in York.

From the makers of War Horse, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Jane Eyre, this modern version of Henrik Ibsen’s masterpiece is intense, gripping and at times chillingly funny, taking the audience on a journey from laughter to the edge of their seat.

Hedda and Tesman have just returned from their honeymoon and the relationship is already in trouble. Trapped but determined, Hedda tries to manipulate those around her, only to see her own world unravel.

An outstanding 5-star production is brought to bold new life by an award-winning creative team including director Ivo van Hove (Network with Bryan Cranston, A View From The Bridge) and writer Patrick Marber (Closer).

Panto stars visit dementia unit in Darlington care home.

Residents and staff at The Grange Care Home in Darlington received a visit from the stars of Darlington Hippodrome’s smash hit pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Lee Ryan and Zoe Birkett took time out from their hectic performance schedule to officially open the new indoor garden in the dementia unit at The Grange.

Lee Ryan from the boyband Blue and the cast of Eastenders is currently wowing audiences as Prince Lee alongside West End leading lady Zoe Birkett as the evil Queen Sadista in the smash hit family pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Darlington Hippodrome.

Staged once again by Qdos Entertainment, the world’s biggest pantomime producer, and the team behind Darlington’s pantomimes since 1999, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs features all of the traditional pantomime ingredients Darlington audiences have come to expect in a fantastic new production of the well-loved fairy tale in the beautifully restored Darlington Hippodrome.

Audiences should book now for the fairest panto of them all, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which runs until Sunday 14 January 2018. To book contact the Box Office on 01325 405405 or visit www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk

Presented by Dermot McLaughlin with Mercury Theatre Colchester and
Wolverhampton Grand Theatre
UK Tour: February – May 2018

This spring sees the world premiere of a dynamic new adaptation of Turn of the Screw embark on a UK tour. This thrilling production of Henry James’ much-loved classic ghost story is faithful to the original and captures its much-celebrated ambiguity

Set in 1840, a young governess agrees to look after two orphans, a boy and a girl, in Bly, a seemingly idyllic country house. But, shortly after her arrival, she realises that they are not alone. There are others – the ghosts of Bly’s troubled past. The Governess will risk everything to keep the children safe, even if it means giving herself up to The Others. Years later, confronted by the past she is compelled to account for what actually happened to her and those under her protection.

Henry James’ original novella ends with a cliffhanger where the boy dies in the Governess’ arms and the reader is left to draw their own conclusions. The prologue is not so puzzling; James informs the reader that the Governess wrestled with these troubling experiences for most of her life until she had to write them down shortly before her death. Tim Luscombe’s brilliant new adaptation dramatises the passage of time in a thrilling and surprising way whilst remaining completely true to James’ story.

Combining a framing of a story within another and employing one of the first uses of the unreliable narrator, Henry James created a unique sense of uncertainty and ambiguity for the reader. Consequently Turn of the Screw has been much debated since its publication in 1898, having defined the genre of psychological horror. It has been the source for many adaptations on stage and screen including the film The Others.

Dermot McLaughlin comments, I was inspired by the success of the stage adaptation of Susan Hill’s much loved novel The Woman in Black and in researching the debt that Hill’s novel owes to Henry James I got lost in the intriguing world of Bly and The Governess’s psyche. I found Turn of the Screw a compelling story with fascinating female characters. The context of this troubled woman committing to paper her terrifying and inexplicable experiences so long after the event was intriguing and moving. The why’s and wherefores of that psychology seemed very interesting dramatic territory. The tension between the past and the struggle to resign oneself to past actions presents a recognisable emotional state for us all. Tim Luscombe has realised my idea brilliantly and I’m excited to be able to bring it to audiences on tour

Turn of the Screw was conceived and commissioned by Dermot McLaughlin (a Stage One alumni and recipient of a Stage One Bursary for New Productions), adapted by Tim Luscombe (The Schuman Plan, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion) and will be directed by Daniel Buckroyd (artistic director of The Mercury Theatre, credits include Spamalot, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Clybourne Park, End of the Rainbow). Originating at The Mercury Theatre
Colchester, the production will be co-produced by Dermot McLaughlin Productions, the Mercury Theatre Colchester and Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

Cast announced for The Moor
Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ
Tuesday 6th February – Saturday 3rd March 2018

Jill McAusland (Call the Midwife, BBC1; Pygmalion, English Speaking Theatre Frankfurt; Arms and the Man, Watford Palace Theatre), Oliver Britten (Walrus, The Vaults; Alice Adventures Underground, VAULT Festival; Back to the Future, Secret Cinema) and Jonny Magnanti (Three Winters, National Theatre; The Hound of the Baskervilles, Stables Theatre Hastings; Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mercatoria Theatre Company) will form the cast for the world premiere of Catherine Lucie’s The Moor, a tense psychological thriller set in a place where nothing is as it seems

Bronagh has lived at the heart of the moor for as long as she can remember, but recently she has started having the same troubling dream. Are the voices trying to tell her something? When a boy vanishes, Bronagh has to tell someone what she suspects, entangling herself and her boyfriend in a murder investigation.

Haunting and touching in equal parts, The Moor pits Bronagh against her own past and present, dragging her, her baby daughter and those closest to them into something deeper than the marsh on the moor.

Presenting a female character with nuance, depth and agency who is emotionally and intelligently charged, Lucie explores what people are capable of when isolated and under pressure, ensnaring and unsettling the audience.

Part domestic tale, part folk tale, the play will use inventive design to create an ever-changing landscape reflecting Bronagh’s shifting mental state and the shifting ground of the moor. Directed by Blythe Stewart (Skin a Cat), the play will also be supported by an all-female creative team, demonstrating the impact of women when they take the responsibility of representation into their own hands.

Director Blythe Stewart comments, I am delighted to be bringing Catherine Lucie’s thrilling and unnerving play to life – it’s an ambitious and bold work. At the heart of this play is a woman trying to make a difference in her life. I’m thrilled people will have the chance to see more than just a ‘strong female character’. Bronagh is nuanced: acute, reserved, ordinary, distinct, and changeable, and her fight is for herself. We are passionate about making work that gives a space for people usually on the edge of society and of our stories.

BARRY STEELE AND FRIENDS IN THE ROY ORBISON STORY

GRAND OPERA HOUSE YORK

THURSDAY 1 FEBRUARY AT 7.30pm

Featuring chart busting hits originally performed made famous by George Harrison, Jerry lee Lewis, The Spencer Davis Group, Jeff Lynne, Jerry Lee Lewis & The Traveling Wilburys, all backed by phenomenally talented musicians culminating in an incredible fusion of ‘60s solid gold classics and ‘80s contemporary musical genius all on one stage.

Barry has toured across the globe in his role as Roy Orbison, but it is a far cry from his time in the RAF when he was stationed at RAF Waddington, Scampton and RAF Tongeren in Belgium.  Whilst in the Forces Barry has refuelled both Vulcan Bombers  (The Ladies of the Sky) and The Red Arrows, he also drove the green goddesses during the fireman’s strike in 1977.

When Barry left the RAF he moved back to the West Midlands with his young family. He  became a long distance lorry driver, and it was during those long lonely hours out on the road that be began singing to artistes as diverse as Michael Jackson, Wet Wet Wet, and Chris Rhea.

It was on a family holiday in Cornwall that Barry took the first steps on the  road to becoming a professional singer, when his wife Lynne and their daughter Leonie entered him into a singing  competition. It was there that a fellow competitor said to him, “you know you sound just like Roy Orbison singing Robbie Williams!” so with the help of family and friends a tribute to  The Big ‘O’ was born.

Barry quickly became totally enveloped in the music and sheer magic that  was Roy Orbison, his aim was simple, his vision clear, to deliver the songs to Roy Orbison fans in the same manner in which they were originally performed.  Barry has toured across New Zealand, Holland, Germany,  Austria, Denmark and Ireland. Whilst in the United States of America Barry sang in front of Roy’s son Wesley, as well as duetting with Bill Dees the co-writer of many of Roy’s songs.

Barry is currently touring the U.K  in The Roy Orbison Story as he presents an upbeat and contemporary tribute to the Big “O”.

Tickets: From £24.50

Box Office: 0844 871 3024

Online: www.atgtickets.com/york