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Theatre503, The Latchmere, 503 Battersea Park Road, London SW11 3BW Wednesday 31st May – Saturday 24th June 2017

You want me to have full penetrative sex with your son, right? I just wanted to, you know, check.

Punts is a hilarious and moving new play by Sarah Page about a young man’s sexual awakening and its effect on those who orchestrated it. Drawn from the playwright’s interviews with sex workers, Punts – produced by Kuleshov Theatre (BU21, Cans) – explores love in all its complex and contradictory forms.

Jack, a young man with a learning disability, lives at home, cared for by his devoted parents. Like most men in their twenties, he has needs – his mates at the rugby club talk about nothing but getting laid, whilst Jack’s most erotic experience to date is the time he was winked at by the pretty cashier in Lloyds. Desperate for their son to not feel left out, his parents Alastair and Antonia decide that they should to bring in a professional. But Julia, the prostitute they hire, has a far more profound impact on the whole family than they could ever have imagined.

Writer Sarah Page comments, In researching Punts I interviewed a number of prostitutes, ranging from women on the streets, those employed in Soho walk-ups, to a retired dominatrix who used to earn an annual income higher than our Prime Minister. All of the women had, at some point in their career, worked with clients with disabilities. This production explores the question of whether sex is a human right – which should be accessible to all, whether disabled or able bodied

Punts investigates the tensions of familial love, the excitement generated by erotic attachment, the jealousy of finding yourself loved less than another and the paradox of wanting to look after those you love while also wanting them to be free.

Punts was selected from over 1,200 entries as a finalist for the international Nick Darke Writers’ Award 2016.

Trainspotting on stage.

A no-holds barred immersive show
where the audience are literally
a part of the action.

Tue 6 – Sat 10 June 2017

James Seabright presents the King’s Head Theatre and In Your Face production of Trainspotting. Based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, adapted by Harry Gibson. Directed by Adam Spreadbury-Maher and Greg Esplin.

Fresh from its phenomenal success on a world tour, the smash hit immersive theatre production of Irvine Welsh and Danny Boyle’s iconic, generation defining Trainspotting comes to The Lowry Tue 6 – Sat 10 June.

Choose us. Choose life. Choose mortgage payments; choose washing machines; choose cars; choose sitting on a couch watching mind-numbing and spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fuckin junk food intae yir mooth. Choose rotting away, pushing and shiteing yersel in a home, a total fuckin embarrassment tae the selfish, fucked-up brats ye’ve produced.
Choose life.

The production captures the passion and the controversy of the famous novel, then globally successful film, and repackages it into a no-holds barred immersive show – the audience are literally part of the action, including the notorious “Worst Toilet in Scotland” scene.

In Your Face Theatre’s Scottish cast have created a snappy and vibrant affirmation of the power and humour of the piece. Against a dynamic soundscape of 80s dance music, the stories of a group of friends living through the Edinburgh heroin scene – Renton, Tommy, Sick Boy, Begbie and Alison – are brought to life with humour, poetry and provocatively graphic scenes.

Directed by Kings Head Theatre artistic director Adam Spreadbury-Maher in collaboration with Greg Esplin – the tour follows an eleven-week run at the Vaults and two sold-out seasons at the King’s Head Theatre.

The cast are Rachael Anderson (June), Chris Dennis (Begbie), Calum Barbour (Mother Superior), Greg Esplin(Tommy),Michael Lockerbie (Sickboy), Erin Marshall (Alison) and Gavin Ross (Renton)

AS REHEARSALS BEGIN FOR THE WEST END PRODUCTION OF

A N N I E

OPENING AT THE PICCADILLY THEATRE MAY 2017

FULL CASTING IS ANNOUNCED INCLUDING THE THREE YOUNG ACTORS

WHO WILL PLAY THE TITLE ROLE

Rehearsals began today (24 April 2017) for the West End production of Annie at the Piccadilly Theatre. Joining the previously announced Miranda Hart who will play Miss Hannigan are Alex Bourne as Daddy Warbucks, Holly Dale Spencer as Grace Farrell, Jonny Fines as Rooster and Djalenga Scott as Lily.

 

The title role of Annie will be shared by Madeleine Haynes, 13-years old from Hadley Wood, Barnet, Lola Moxom, 12-years old from Rochester, Kent and Ruby Stokes, 12-years old fromHampshire. They will be joined by three teams of young performers who will play the girls in Miss Hannigan’s orphanage (see below).  Amber, a 4 year-old Labradoodle, will play Annie’s dog Sandy.

Completing the company will be ensemble members Keisha Atwell, Sophie Ayers, Bobby Delaney, Nic Gibney, Patrick Harper, Ben Harrold, George Ioannides, Megan Louch,Benjamin Mundy, Ben Oliver, Heather Scott-Martin, Anne Smith, Kate Somerset How,Katie Warsop and Russell Wilcox.

 

Annie begins previews at the Piccadilly Theatre on 23 May 2017 with opening night on 5 June 2017.  The production is initially booking to 6 January 2018.  Children’s tickets will be half price for Monday to Thursday performances (see listings information below).  The production, directed by Nikolai Foster, is produced by Michael Harrison and David Ian. 

 

Set in 1930s New York during The Great Depression, brave young Annie is forced to live a life of misery and torment at Miss Hannigan’s orphanage. Her luck changes when she is chosen to spend Christmas at the residence of famous billionaire, Oliver Warbucks. Meanwhile, spiteful Miss Hannigan has other ideas and hatches a plan to spoil Annie’s search for her true family…

 

Annie has book by Thomas Meehan adapted from the comic strip Little Orphan Annie, music byCharles Strouse and lyrics by Martin Charnin.  The West End production will have sets and costumes designed by Colin Richmond, choreography by Nick Winston, lighting by Ben Cracknell, sound design by Richard Brooker and orchestration and musical direction byGeorge Dyer. 

 

Miranda Hart is best known on television for her hugely successful, semi-auto-biographical and multi award-wining BBC sitcom Miranda which ran from 2009 for 3 series and 2 specials.  She was the recipient of a BAFTA nomination, an NTA Award and two TV Choice Awards for her performance as Chummy in the BBC television drama Call the Midwife.  In 2014 she completed her first sell out stand-up arena tour My, What I Call, Live Show culminating in five shows at London’s 02 Arena.  As a best-selling author her first book Is It Just Me? was the biggest selling non-fiction hardback of 2013 winning Non-Fiction Book of the Year at The National Book Awards. She followed this in 2014 with The Best of Miranda and last year released her third book Peggy and Me.  Her theatre credits include Cruising for The Bush Theatre,Come Out Eli for Battersea Arts Centre, All About Me for Soho Theatre as well as multiple appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her film credits include Spy, The Infidel, Magiciansas well as upcoming The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018).   

 

Alex Bourne’s (Daddy Warbucks) theatre credits include Mama Mia! and Rocky Horror Show on tour in the UK, Midsummer Songs at the New Wolsey Theatre, Kiss Me Kate for the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, The Witches of Eastwick at the Watermill Theatre, We Will Rock You and Beauty and the Beast at the Dominion, Chicago at the Adelphi, Grease at the Cambridge Theatre,Showboat for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Opera North and Annie on tour in the UK.

Holly Dale Spencer’s (Grace Farrell) theatre credits include Sweet Charity at the Royal Exchange Theatre, White Christmas for West Yorkshire Playhouse, American Psycho at the Almeida Theatre, the title role in Holly Golightly for Sadler’s Wells, Kiss Me Kate for Chichester Festival Theatre and the Old Vic and Annie on tour.

Since graduating from the Guildford School of Acting in 2010, Jonny Fines’ (Rooster) theatre credits include roles in Nikolai Foster’s production of Grease at the Curve, The Sound of Music on UK tour, I Love You, You’re Perfect…Now Change!  at The Union Theatre, Avenue Q and Annie on tour.

Djalenga Scott’s theatre credits include Grease and An Officer and a Gentleman both directed by Nikolai Foster at the Curve, West Side Story and Annie on UK tour, Batman Live on tour in the US,Chicago at the Garrick Theatre.

The role of Molly will be alternated by Aurelia Borrelli, eight years old from Saunderton, Buckinghamshire, Ellicia Simondswood, eight years old from Lower Morden, Surrey and Nicole Subebe, seven years old from Romford, Essex.  The role of Tessie will be alternated by Jessica Cartledge, ten years old from Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, Scarlet Grace, fourteen years old from Northaw, Hertfordshire and Dora Yolland, ten years old from Southend-on-Sea, Essex. The role of Kate will be alternated by Shani Roberts, nine years old from Braintree, Essex, Emily-May Stephenson, ten years old from Swadlincote, Derbyshire and Maisie Thorn, ten years old from Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex. The role of Pepper will be alternated by Drew Hylton, eleven years old from Loughton, Essex, Eva MacLaughlan, ten years old from Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire and Charlotte Ross Gower, fourteen years old from Sittingbourne, Kent.  The role of July will be alternated by Nancy Allsop, fourteen years old from Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, Carla Dixon, thirteen years old from Wimbledon, London and Isabelle Methven, thirteen years old from Harpenden, Hertfordshire.  The role of Duffy will be alternated by Kya Davis, nine years old from Slough, Berkshire, Nicole Dube, twelve years old from Colchester, Essex and Kathryn Whetter, ten years old from Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey.

Foster’s production arrives in the West End 40 years after the original Broadway production opened in 1977 and received seven Tony awards including the Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book.  The last West End production of Annie opened at the Victoria Palace Theatre in 1998. In 1982, Annie was adapted for the big screen directed by John Huston with a cast including Carol Burnett, Bernadette Peters and Albert Finney and in 2014 a further feature film was released, directed by Will Gluck, with a cast including Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx.  The much-loved score includes the classics It’s A Hard Knock Life, Tomorrow and Easy Street.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Theatre:                  Piccadilly Theatre, 16 Denman St, Soho, London W1D 7DY

Dates:                    Booking from 23 May 2017 to 6 January 2018

Performances:          Tuesday 23 May at 7.30pm, Wednesday 24 May at 7.30pm, Thursday 25 May at 7.30pm, Friday 26 May at 7.30pm, Saturday 27 May at 3pm and 7.30pm.

Then Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7.30pm, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm

Miranda Hart will be performing the role of Miss Hannigan until 17 September 2017

Prices:                    Tickets from £20 which include a restoration levy of £1.75.  No booking or transaction fees through official sales outlets

Children Go Half-Price (Monday to Thursday performances, top price only, subject to a maximum of 2 children aged 16 or under with each full paying adult, and subject to availability)

Box Office:              0844 871 7630

Twitter:                   @AnnieMusicalUK

Facebook:               AnnieMusicalUK

Instagram:              anniemusicaluk

Website:                 www.AnnieWestEnd.com

 

 

BANANARAMA ARE BACK

 

Siobhan Fahey re-joins Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward for one time only Tour coming to Newcastle City Hall Wednesday 15 November 2017

 

The girl group that defined the 80s are back to their original, record-breaking line up for a tour this November in the UK. This will be the only time they tour in the original line up.

 

This will be the first time Sara, Keren and Siobhan have ever toured together. Tickets go on sale Wednesday 26 April at 9am.

 

“Keren and I have toured as a duo for years, but we never toured or played live with Siobhan,” explains Sara. “We’ve been talking about this idea for a while and now the moment has finally arrived it’s incredibly exciting! Lots of fans have often asked ‘please just do one tour with Siobhan,’ so now their wishes have come true.”

 

“We’ll be performing all the hits and some surprises too, I really can’t wait it’s gonna be an amazing party every night!” says Keren

 

“These were my formative years,” adds Siobhan. “I never thought it would happen again. It’s like going back down the road to find a piece of myself that I left back then. The older I get, the more I realise it was pretty magical.”

 

Since their unforgettable last performance as a trio on The Brits in 1988, Keren and Sara have continued as Bananarama, releasing records and touring to global audiences. Siobhan went on to have hit singles and albums around the world as part of Shakespears Sister before becoming a solo artist.

 

Bananarama made it into the Guinness Book Of Records as the most successful female group of all time on account of the fact they’d had more hit singles than any other girl band ever. To date they have had 30 chart hits. They hit the top of charts around the world. In the US, Venus became their first #1 single on the Billboard chart. Their combined record sales were over 40 million.

 

Bananarama plays Newcastle City Hall on Wed 15 Nov 2017. Tickets are from £51.00 and can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box office on 08448 11 21 21 (Calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge).

Status Quo

The Aquostic 2017 Winter Tour

at Newcastle City Hall Wed 6 Dec 2017

 

Britain’s best-loved rockers Status Quo will undertake a full UK Winter Tour, performing hits from across a five decade career, in their celebrated Aquostic style. This tour once again allows the band to explore and redefine the songs that made their name.  With the band having just sold out an Aquostic show at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall on 1st July, demand for tickets is sure to be high!

 

These shows will be fully acoustic and feature additional musicians, including female backing vocalists. This 2017 Winter Tour will be the second such set of dates to take place without guitarist Rick Parfitt, whose tragic death at the end of last year shocked and saddened Quo and their fans, but left the band newly motivated to perform and honour these songs to a fan base that remains equally enthused. Francis Rossi said, “Things are not the same, nor should they be, but the show goes on because band and fans alike still love this amazing music.”

 

Packed with hits taken from their unbelievable back catalogue and comprehensively reworked, the now seriously road-tested ‘Aquostic’ approach has indeed represented something of a new dawn for the band.  This inventive approach frees the arrangements but retains the potency of the songs.

 

Status Quo plays Newcastle City Hall on Wed 6 Dec 2017. Tickets on sale Fri 28 Apr from 9am and can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box office on 08448 11 21 21 (Calls cost 7pm plus your phone company’s access charge).

Trafalgar Studios 20 April – 22 July.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

The Philanthropist starts with a wonderfully distasteful bang, but Simon Callow’s production doesn’t consistently deliver the laughs it should.

Christopher Hampton’s response to Molière’s The Misanthrope, set in the cosy bubble of academia in the early 70s follows Philip, a bland and affable philology lecturer whose idea of a good night’s entertainment is anagram games and carpet bowls. After his fiancée Celia’s dinner party, Philip’s need to not upset people, coupled with his stunning lack of empathy, results in him spending the night with the university man-eater, Araminta.

The young cast do a fine job, but considering Simon Callow’s less than restrained acting style, under his direction their performances are slightly muted. This play needed Matt Berry declaiming in full Toast bellows; as it stands, the pompous Braham is slick and suitably slimy, but some of his more outrageous lines fall flat when delivered so mildly. The loudest thing about Berry was his suit. Unfortunately, a lot of the jokes fall flat in the dinner party scene, which feels overlong, awkward and very stilted. (This may, of course be the realistic feeling of being stuck in social hell that Simon Callow intended to create?) The second act is much better, with the characters showing more emotion and becoming more 3 dimensional.

Philip is too close to Simon Bird’s Inbetweeners character to allow the actor to do anything different to his usual shtick, which mostly works, while Tom Rosenthal has a ball as Don, the laziest lecturer in the university. Lily Cole looks gorgeous and prowls around as Araminta, but brings a wonderful sadness and strength to her broken character as she opens up about her past to Philip. Charlotte Ritchie holds the play together as Celia, giving a wonderful performance as her exasperation with Philip turns into despair.

Libby Watson’s stylish white set evokes a powerful sense of time and space, rooting the play firmly in the 70s, when the assassination of the Tory front bench was something to laugh about. The characters’ opposing views on socialism and art are still relevant, but this play is definitely a period piece. Interesting, and with some fine performances, especially from the female cast, but the first act needs sorting out before The Philanthropist can be wholly satisfying.

Cahoots Theatre Company in association with Simon Fielder Productions present

TWITSTORM

 

FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR

THE WORLD PREMIERE OF A BRAND NEW COMEDY

WRITTEN BY CHRIS ENGLAND

DIRECTED BY JONATHAN LEWIS

 

JASON MERRELLS, CLAIRE GOOSE AND JUSTIN EDWARDS

The team behind Park Theatre hits Dead Sheep, An Audience with Jimmy Savile, Deny Deny Deny and The Roundabout, will return to the theatre with the world premiere of a brand new comedy, TWITSTORM, playing from 31 May – 1 July, with a press night on 1 June.

 

Guy Manton is a national treasure, the much-loved host of a caustic television panel show, until a throwaway remark is inadvertently shared with the whole world, and before Guy knows what is happening he is being battered by the Twitstorm. A hilarious exploration of what can happen when the self-righteousness of social media gets out of hand.

 

Directed by Chris England, author of the hit comedy Breakfast with Jonny Wilkinson, and co-author of the acclaimed An Evening with Gary Lineker, Twitstorm is directed by Jonathan Lewis, and will star Jason Merrells as ‘Guy Manton’, Claire Goose as ‘Bex Manton’, Justin Edwards as ‘Neil’, Chris England as ‘Rupert’, and Tom Moutchi as ‘Ike’.

 

Chris England said, “Twitstorm grew out of a fascination with tales of how quickly the anonymous self-righteousness of social media can blow up into a proper old-style torch-and-pitchfork witch hunt, actually laying waste to people’s real lives. It’s about how a complicated situation can be definitively branded a simple matter of right and wrong by whoever shouts the loudest. And if the election of Donald Trump has shown us anything, it is that a seemingly harmless bit of everyday phone fun can be used to bypass the rationality of traditional debate.”

 

Jason Merrells has worked extensively on both stage and screen. Theatre credits include: A Princess Undone (UK Tour), How The Other Half Loves (Haymarket/Duke of York’s), Five Finger Exercise (Print Room), Twelve Angry Men(UK Tour), Measure for Measure (UK Tour), Twelfth Night and Comedy Of Errors (RSC), The Pleasureman (Glasgow Citizens), Saved (Bolton Octagon), The Long and the Short and the Tall (Sheffield Lyceum) and OutCry (Cheek By Jowl). TV credits include: Midsomer Murders, Agatha Raisin, Safe House, Emmerdale, Waterloo Road, The Hitch, Death In Paradise, Lark Rise To Candleford II, The Project, Cutting It, Inspector Lynley, Clocking off, Fat Friends, Queer As Folk and Casualty. His film credits include: The Jealous God, Do Not Disturb and A Small Obsession.

 

Claire Goose recently starred in the titular role for BBC’s The Coroner and in Unforgotten for ITV. She has also appeared in critically acclaimed dramas such as: Exile (BBC), Undeniable (ITV), Waking The Dead (BBC), Casualty(BBC), Hustle (BBC), Secret Smile (ITV), The Bill (ITV), New Tricks (BBC), and Death in Paradise (BBC). Her theatre credits include: The Perfect Murder (UK Tour), Hiding (Watford Palace) and When We are Rich (Nuffield, Southampton).

 

Justin Edwards’ theatre credits include: The Rivals (Arcola), I Killed Rasputin (Edinburgh), Art (Holders Festival),Jeremy Lion Goes Green (Menier Chocolate Factory & Edinburgh), Comedy Of Errors (Rude Mechanicals), Breakfast with Jonny Wilkinson (Menier Chocolate Factory & Edinburgh) and The Good, The Bad and The Queen (No.1 Tour). His television credits include: From Cradle To Grave, In and Out of the Kitchen, Space Ark, Puppy Love, Man Down, Harry & Paul’s History of the 2’s, W1A, Veep, Father Brown, The Hollow Crown, The Thick Of It, Skins, Black Mirror, Mount Pleasant, Pram Face, The Trip, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Perrin and Black Books. His film credits include: The Man Who Invented Christmas, Love and Friendship, Paddington Bear, Thor 2, Albatross, The Duchess, The Decameron.

 

Social media star Tom Moutchi’s theatre credits include Anansi & The London Girl (Lost Theatre), and his screen credits include: Ventrilo Kissed, Balance, Warrior and Snapped.

 

Twitstorm is directed by Jonathan Lewis, with Set and Costume design by Anthony Lamble, Lighting Design by Tim Mitchell, Composition by Matthew Strachan and casting by Denise Silvey.

 

www.parktheatre.co.uk

Box office: 02078706876*

Adapted from one of the most celebrated works of the writer often hailed as the successor to Agatha Christie, Ruth Rendell’s A Judgement In Stone is at Leeds Grand Theatre next week for one week only.

We spoke to one of its stars – Ben Nealon

Q: You’ve known Bill Kenwright for a while, nice to be part of one of his productions again?

A: Absolutely!

Q: You’ve done a few thrillers with Bill – what is about this role that attracted you?

A: It’s great to finally get the chance to play a policeman and one that the writer has made a little more interesting than your run of the mill detective. I also really liked the relationship he builds with the other investigating officer played by Andrew Lancel – something we built on in the rehearsals.

Q: A Judgement in Stone is widely considered to be Ruth Rendell’s greatest work – why do you think that is?

A: It’s a great story with beautifully drawn three dimensional characters.

Q: Had you read the book before you were cast in the show – what did you love about the story?

A: Yes I did, and I thought “how the hell will we be able to tell this story on stage?!” I love the way it has been adapted.

Q: Did you know or have you worked with any of your cast mates before?

A: Yes. I have worked with Sophie, Deborah and Mark on stage and with Andrew on television.

Q: This production has been on the road since January – what are the nicest things about being on the road?

A: The chance to catch up with friends and family all over the country.

Q: Are there any dates on this tour you’ve not played, any cities you’re looking forward to visiting?

A: Buxton – and it was wonderful….now one of my favourite theatres to play.

Q: You’ve done a couple of Bollywood films – how did that happen?

A: I auditioned for Lagaan as they were looking for English actors who could play cricket. After they saw me bat and bowl down at the Paddington Rec they asked me to screen test for one of the leads and in Hindi…….Lagaan went on to be nominated for an Oscar and four years later the same producer and star, Aamir Khan, asked me to screen test for another colonial epic set during the build up to the Indian Mutiny – a lot nastier character and with more facial hair! They remain two of the happiest experiences of my career.

Q: You’re an OBE for your charity work with Pump Aid – tell us more about that.

A: I helped set up the charity Pump Aid in 1998 while filming Soldier Soldier in Zimbabwe. Since then the organisation has delivered sustainable water solutions to over 9,500 communities in rural Sub-Saharan Africa. Today 1.35 million people have access to safe water supplies and improved sanitation as a direct result of our work. The OBE was really a recognition of all the hard work everyone involved in the charity has put in since 1998.

Q: Finally, without giving too much away, why should audiences come and see A Judgement in Stone?

A: It’s a great story told by a really talented group of actors!

For those new to the concept of improv, it’s essentially theatre without any scripts or predetermined plans of what scenes are going to be about! It’s entirely made up on the spot.

Simprov started getting together 12 weeks ago, and the first ‘act’ will take audiences on a whistle-stop tour of some of the games the team has been playing in that time. Then, following a pit stop at the bar (hurrah!), audiences are invited back to watch a few Armandos; a long form type of Improv that will be based on real life experiences.

Come and discover what we’ve been working on; making bold choices, jumping in, and finding ‘The Game’. Who knows, maybe you’ll want to join the team and be part of our second show in November?

We need you! SupercalifragilisticexpialiSIMPROV requires audience participation to make it work! Don’t worry, we won’t ask you to get onstage (well, we don’t plan to), but we will be looking to the audiences for suggestions of places, scenarios and characters.

We’re performing Sunday 7th May at 3pm and Monday 8th May at 7.30pm. So, it’s either the perfect thing to enjoy after a leisurely roast dinner, or something to look forward to after the first day back in the office.

About Simprov:
Simprov is a team of 15 new improvisers who’ve been learning the art and science of improv for the past 3 months. Simprov is formed of members of Sedos, London’s premier amateur theatre company. Simprov is being presented at The Bridewell Theatre where Sedos is the resident theatre company.

LISTINGS DETAILS

Sedos presents
SupercalifragilisticexpialiSIMPROV! an improvised comedy show

7-8 May 2017
Sunday at 3pm and Monday at 7:30pm
Bridewell Theatre, Bride Lane, London EC4Y 8EQ

Box office: sedos.co.uk
Tickets: £5-6 No booking fee.

Twitter: @sedos   Facebook: facebook.com/sedostheatre