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CABBAGE-CRUNCHING MASTER-MIND GANGSTA GRANNY

IS COMING TO THE LYCEUM!

The acclaimed producers of Horrible Histories and George’s Marvellous Medicine bring the world premiere of David Walliams’ Gangsta Granny to the Lyceum Theatre from Wednesday 9 – Saturday 12 March, as part of a national tour.

It’s Friday night and Ben knows that means only one thing – staying with Granny! There will be cabbage soup, cabbage pie and cabbage cake and Ben knows one thing for sure – it’s going to be sooooooooo boring! But what Ben doesn’t know is that Granny has a secret – and Friday nights are about to get more exciting than he could ever imagine, as he embarks on the adventure of a lifetime with his very own Gangsta Granny!

Based on the amazing book by the UK’s best-selling children’s author, David Walliams’ GangstaGranny is laugh-out-loud funny and a must for all families – and their grannies!

Gangsta Granny is at the Lyceum Theatre from Wednesday 9 – Saturday 12 March.  Tickets can be purchased from Sheffield Theatres’ Box Office in-person, by phone on 0114 249 6000 or online at sheffieldtheatres.co.uk and are priced from £12.00 – £22.00 (a transaction fee of £1.50 (£1.00 online) applies to all bookings made at the Box Office, excluding cash).  Family tickets and discounts are available.

Nominees for this year’s Olivier Awards have been announced in a ceremony at the Rosewood London in Holborn.

Hosts Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton revealed the nominations, which recognise excellence in theatre, from noon this afternoon, Monday February 29. Ball and Staunton both won an Olivier in 2013 for their part in the West End run of Sweeney Todd.

The best actor category is particularly notable for the number of high-profile stars up against each other: Mark Rylance (Farinelli And The King), fresh from his Oscars win, is competing with Benedict Cumberbatch (Hamlet), Kenneth Branagh (The Winter’s Tale), Adrian Lester (Red Velvet) and  Kenneth Cranham (The Father).

Other notable nominations included Nicole Kidman for her turn in Photograph 51 and Gemma Arterton for Nell Gywnn at the Apollo Theatre.

SONIA FRIEDMAN PRODUCTIONS CELEBRATES WITH 20 OLIVIER AWARD NOMINATIONS

Sonia Friedman Productions is today celebrating as the full Olivier Awards Nominations list included 20 potential winners for productions the company is behind.

Sonia Friedman said: “It is extraordinary. I want to take the chance to congratulate all the writers,  performers, composers, directors, designers, lighting designers, sound designers, musicians, co-producers, investors and of course my team at SFP. I also want to say a very big thank you to all the immensely talented artists involved in all the productions we produced and co-produced in 2015 /2016. Today I am feeling very proud.”

Full list of SFP nominees:

Best Revival
Hamlet at Barbican Theatre

Best New Comedy
A Christmas Carol at Noel Coward Theatre

Virgin Atlantic Best New Play
Farinelli and the King at Duke of York’s Theatre

Mastercard Best New Musical
Bend It Like Beckham at Phoenix Theatre

Best Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch for Hamlet at Barbican Theatre
Mark Rylance for Farinelli and the King at Duke of York’s Theatre

Best Actress
Lia Williams for Oresteia at Almeida Theatre

Best Director
Robert Icke for Oresteia at Almeida

Best Actress in a Musical
Natalie Dew for Bend It Like Beckham at Phoenix Theatre

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Melody Grove for Farinelli and the King at Duke of York’s Theatre

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Preeya Kalidas for Bend It Like Beckham at Phoenix Theatre

Best Costume Design
Jonathan Fensom for Farinelli and the King at Duke of York’s Theatre
Katrina Lindsay for Bend It Like Beckham at Phoenix Theatre

Blue-I Theatre Technology Award for Best Set Design
Hildegard Bechtler for Oresteia at Almeida Theatre
Es Devlin for Hamlet at Barbican Theatre
Jonathan Fensom for Farinelli and the King at Duke of York’s Theatre

White Light Award for Best Lighting Design
Natasha Chivers for Oresteia at Almeida Theatre

Best Sound Design
Christopher Shutt for Hamlet at Barbican Theatre

Autograph Sound Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music
Bend It Like Beckham – Music by Howard Goodall, Lyrics by Charles Hart and Orchestrations by Howard Goodall and Kuljit Bhamra at Phoenix Theatre
Farinelli and the King – Claire van Kampen for Musical Arrangements, the Musicians and Iestyn Davies and the singers who alternated the singing role of Farinelli at Duke of York’s Theatre

Punching the Sky a play about the Internet, parenting & peer pressure, at Live Theatre in March

Written by Lizi Patch

Directed by Mark Hollander

Designed by Scott Thompson

Composition / Sound Design by Aron Kyne, Alex Turner, Rich Huxley, James Hamilton

Animations by James Taylor & Nick Lewis Arcus Animation Studios, Gateshead

Punching the Sky at Live Theatre at 7.30pm on Wednesday 9 March is writer Lizi Patch’s personal response to discovering her 11 year old son had been shown graphic online images.

The play tells the true story of a young boy’s experience of stumbling across online pornography. This very personal account, written and performed by his mother, shines a light on the extraordinary public and media response to a blogpost she wrote about the experience in her attempt to reach out and make sense of what felt like a monumental failure as a parent.

“He told me how he could never ‘unsee it’, and, very significantly, he talked about how he felt his childhood was effectively finished. He experienced an instant and brutal loss of innocence – and whilst there is much to be salvaged, there is a lot of work to do.”

The show combines live performance, an original score and animation.  The animation has been created especially for the show by Gateshead based animation studio Arcus Animations, who first met Lizi when they were both commissioned to produce work for Enchanted Parks in 2011. Lizi created Echo Funnel in which visitors could speak to a tree and receive a reply and Arcus The Loop, a projection of snowmen inside a wooden shelter. They liked each’s other’s work and their first collaboration is the animation in Punching the Sky.

Coming to Live Theatre, Newcastle as part of a new national tour, Punching the Sky explores the complexities of our relationship with online pornography, the dangers and redemptive qualities of the Internet, the power of the media and the contradictory nature of our feelings about sex, censorship and parenthood.

Gez Casey, Literary Manager, Live Theatre, said:

“Punching The Sky is an engaging, funny and thought-provoking piece of theatre. It examines some prickly and morally complex issues in a sensitive and entertaining way. It also asks some grown up questions about how quickly our young people grow up.”

Punching the Sky is one of three pieces of visiting theatre coming to Live Theatre in March, all with strong female leads. In award-winning play Iphigenia In Splott on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 March Effie’s life spirals out of control, in a mess of drink and drugs. Memoirs of a Bunny Boiler on Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 March is a hilarious debut one woman show about a girl’s desperate attempt to find ‘the one’.

To find out more about Live Theatre’s visiting theatre programme and to buy tickets call Live Theatre’s box office on (0191) 232 1232 or see www.live.org.uk.

Etcetera Theatre 26 February – 19 March.  Reviewed By Claire Roderick

August Strindberg’s claustrophobic tale of illicit passion and class divide is a perfect choice for this intimate theatre, allowing the audience to share in the feeling of being “trapped” below stairs in designer Carla Goodman’s stunningly evocative kitchen set.

It is Midsummer’s Eve and as the master of the house is absent, the servants are celebrating raucously, along with Miss Julie, the master’s wayward daughter. When Julie follows valet Jean to the kitchen, she unleashes passions, resentments and a struggle for power that leads to tragedy. Although the characters’ morals and choices now seem archaic, the ever growing class divide between rich and poor keeps this play relevant, and Strindberg’s revolutionary tendencies still strike a chord today. Who doesn’t want to strive for a better life for themselves and their family?

Laura Greenwood is remarkable as Miss Julie – beginning as a breathless, arrogant madam and unravelling throughout the play to end as a frightened, desperate child. When she emerges, physically and emotionally dishevelled, from Jean’s bedroom – her near silent portrayal of self-disgust and horror is the stand-out moment of the night. As Jean, Charlie Dorfman just didn’t hit the right tone for me. He is a fine actor and, once I’d accepted his interesting accent, he showed glimpses of the overbearing, bitter and troubled soul, but mostly came across as a petulant child. Jean is an unlikeable character anyway, but Dorfman’s portrayal made me doubt that Miss Julie would risk everything for this man. Jean’s moments of verbal brutality were more of a petty tantrum when compared to the female characters’ emotional outbursts. Danielle Henry played the tricky character of Kristin with great soul. The quiet tears as she listened to Julie’s plans were beautiful, showing the strength, heart and dignity of this seemingly docile and accepting character.

This is a classy production of a great play, marking a promising debut for Buckland Theatre Company.

Park Theatre  23 February – 19 March.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Telling the story of the relationship between Phillippe Petain and Charles de Gaulle in 2 hours is a challenge, but Jonathan Lynn has managed it brilliantly.

Sitting in his prison cell awaiting the jury’s verdict, Petain reminisces about his first meeting with de Gaulle before the great war, followed by the pivotal moments in their army and political careers that led to Petain being on trial for treason as a Nazi collaborator. Contradictory remarks from de Gaulle help to balance the narration and highlight the touching relationship between the men, as well as their ridiculous pomposity. Both men were self-important and unyielding in their beliefs, and when Petain believed he could be “the saviour of France” for a third time by signing an armistice with Hitler, his pragmatic view was too much for the idealistic de Gaulle to bear, with both men considering each other to be a traitor to France.

There is a lot of historical fact thrown rapidly at the audience and there is not much action, but the writing is so precise and witty, and the performances so entrancing, that the time flew by.

Tom Conti is remarkable as Petain, with little physical nuances signalling his ageing throughout the play, and some gentle moments when you aren’t quite sure if Petain is fully lucid. Conti effortlessly shows Petain’s flaws and the steeliness under the seemingly straightforward and compassionate image he showed his men. The scenes where he describes the bloodshed and losses in battles are outstanding and deeply moving.

Laurence Fox plays de Gaulle like an Anglo-French version of Sheldon Cooper, which works remarkably well. He is delightfully awkward and portrays de Gaulle’s social discomfort and unbelievable arrogance with great comic effect. The two actors appear at first like the classic comedy double act – one stiff and spiky, and one cuddly and bumbling, but add more and more layers to their characters throughout the play ensuring that the audience can empathise with each man. Their drunken scene is a delight, and because of the clever writing building up the audience’s investment in their friendship, the fracturing of that relationship, even though we know it’s coming, has a lot more impact.

With ideas about the meaning of nation, and keeping status and power in Europe and the wider world, this play is a timely reminder that nothing is ever new in politics. A wonderful, bitter-sweet story, expertly written and performed, and very funny.

FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR THE WORLD PREMIÈRE OF

FLOWERS FOR MRS HARRIS AT THE CRUCIBLE

Daniel Evans today announces the full cast for the world première of Flowers for Mrs Harris (Wed 18 May – Sat 4 June).  Based on the novel by Paul Gallico, the new musical by Richard Taylor and Rachel Wagstaff will the final production he will direct as Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres. 

Joining the previously announced Clare Burt (This Is My Family, A Streetcar named Desire) in the title role of Mrs Harris, Moyo Akandé (White Christmas) makes her Sheffield debut as Flower Girl/Juanita.  Returning to the Crucible stage, Anna-Jane Casey, last seen acting alongside Daniel Evans in Company, plays Violet Butterfield, with Rebecca Caine (Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera) as Lady Dant/Mme Colbert.  Luke Dale (Holby City) takes the role of Terry with David Durham (Jesus Christ Superstar, The Lion King) as Mayor/M. Armand.  Familiar to audiences from his role in the award-winning My Fair Lady and the UK tour of West Side Story, Louis Maskell plays Bob/Andre.  Also returning to the Crucible, Mark Meadows (High Society) plays Albert Harris/Marquis de Chassagne with Laura Pitt-Pulford (Oliver!, The Sound Of Music, Piaf) as Pamela/Natasha.  Nicola Sloane, who also appeared in My Fair Lady and Me & My Girl, completes the cast, in the role of Sybil Sullivan.

1947. London. Mrs Harris spends every day cheerfully cleaning for her clients. She wants for nothing. Or so she thinks… One day, she happens upon something that takes her breath away – a Christian Dior dress. And something deep within her awakens.

She sets out on an unthinkable quest to have a Dior dress of her own. On her incredible journey, Mrs Harris realises that she can finally let go of her past.

This is the story of one woman’s dream of achieving the impossible. This is the story of the extraordinary Mrs Harris.

Tickets for Flowers For Mrs Harris can be purchased from Sheffield Theatres’ Box Office in-person, by phone on 0114 249 6000 or online at sheffieldtheatres.co.uk and are priced from £17.00 (concessions available).  A transaction fee of £1.50 (£1.00 online) applies to all bookings made at the Box Office (excluding cash).

Teenagers from The Northumberland Church of England Academy, Ashington have the Write Stuff

Six young writers aged 13 and 14 years old from The Northumberland Church of England Academy in Ashington, will have plays that they have written performed at Live Theatre on Friday 4 March.

The plays are part of Write Stuff, an eight week programme of practical drama and writing workshops between Live Theatre and The Northumberland Church of England Academy, which gives young teen voices a platform through theatre. This is the first time that Live Theatre has run its innovative play writing project with a school in Northumberland.

Twenty young people from the school were initially involved in the workshops that developed characters, setting, genre and improvisation.  Six of those that pitched their idea were then chosen and then supported by professional dramaturgs over a weekend residency to produce their short plays that will be performed for the very first time as script-in-hand readings by professional actors in Live’s Studio Theatre.

The plays are Casting Out by Tamzin-Mae Butler, Flight Path by Emily Robson, The Trial by Ben Stoughton, I’ll always be with you by Lauren Ballentine, Mystery and Memories by Bethany James and The End by Jack Calender.  The plays cover themes of loss and memory with post-apocalyptic survival, plane-crashing, fly fishing and alternative gaming dimensions.

Write Stuff features actors, many of whom are well known to theatre audiences in the north east, having starred in productions at Live Theatre and other theatres in the region: Dean Bone (Rendezvous & Nativities), Sam Neale (Present Tense & Nativities), Sam Bell (Cyrano De Bergerac, Northern Stage & former Youth Theatre member), Sarah Boulter (The Cinder Path at The Customs House), Judi Earl (Turning Pages), Chris Connell (The Pitman Painters, Wet House), Kylie Ford (Cyrano De Bergerac,Northern Stage), Zoe Hakin (Letters Home), Ruth Johnson (The Wind in the Willows, Northern Stage) and Michael Blair (Rendezvous).

Resident Drama Worker, Jonluke McKie at Live Theatre said:

 “It’s been amazing to see the varied and insightful ideas of these young writers, grappling with really mature themes with brilliant humour and energy. Live Theatre is committed to nurturing new talent in the region and we’ve been delighted to work with The Northumberland Church of England Academy on such an in-depth project.”

Graeme Waterston, Head of Drama at Northumberland Church of England Academy, added:

“The Write Stuff project has provided students with a once in a lifetime opportunity. We have witnessed first-hand the development in student confidence and creativity. An altogether inspirational experience for all involved”. 

Write Stuff, is at Live Theatre, Newcastle on Friday 4 March at 7.30pm.  Tickets which cost £8 and £6 concessions are available from Live Theatre’s box office on (0191) 232 1232 or online at www.live.org.uk

FULL CAST ANNOUNCED FOR

THE 2016 NATIONAL TOUR OF

TORBEN BETTS’S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED

INVINCIBLE

Casting has been announced for the first ever national tour of Torben Betts’s INVINCIBLE, directed by Christopher Harper. The full cast includes Alastair Whatley as Oliver,

Emily Bowker as Emily, Graeme Brookes as Alan and Kerry Bennett as Dawn. The tour will begin at the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds on 30 March.

Alastair Whatley most recently played Teddy Graham in the 2015 UK tour of Flare Path and Evans in the UK tour of Birdsong (Birdsong Productions/ Original Theatre Company). Other recent theatre roles include Jerome in Three Men in a Boat and The Reverend Lionel Toop inSee How They Run (both for Original Theatre Company), and the title role in Henry V (South Hill Park). Alastair is also the Artistic Director of the Original Theatre Company.

Emily Bowker is currently appearing at Salisbury Playhouse in Up Down Man, the sequel to the internationally acclaimed Up Down Boy by Brendan Murray (A Myrtle Theatre Company/Salisbury Playhouse). Emily’s recent roles include Isabelle Azaire in the 2015 UK tour ofBirdsong (Birdsong Productions/ Original Theatre Company), A Bunch of Amateurs (The Watermill), What the Women Did (Two’s Company/Southwark Playhouse) and London Wall (Two’s Company/Finborough and St James Theatres).

Graeme Brookes most recently appeared in The Tempest (Teatr Modrzejewskiej/Colchester Mercury), A View from a Bridge, The Rivals; A Slight Ache/The Lover, King David – Man of Blood (Colchester Mercury Theatre), Transmissions (Birmingham Rep), Tanika’s Journey (Frantic Assembly/Deafinitely Theatre) and The Police (Battersea Arts Centre).

Kerry Bennett recently finished playing Jess Cranham in the BBC One drama Casualty. Kerry’s theatre work includes Celia and Cora in Calendar Girls (National Tour), Cassandra in One for All (Finborough Theatre) and Natalie in The Queen is Dead (The Lowry).

With the recession biting hard, Emily and Oliver have decided to downsize and shift their middle-class London lifestyle to a small town in the north of England. One night, they open their doors to their next door neighbours, Dawn and Alan. Over the course of a disastrous evening of olives, anchovies, Karl Marx and abstract art, class and culture collide, resulting in consequences that are both tragic and hilarious.

INVINCIBLE had its world premiere at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond in 2014 and transferred later that same year to St James Theatre, London. It received great critical acclaim.

Torben Betts was born in Lincolnshire and studied at Liverpool University. He became the resident dramatist at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre in 1999. Poet and dramatist Liz Lochhead said Betts “is just about the most original and extraordinary writer of drama we have.” His play The Unconquered won Best New Play 2006/07 at the Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland. 2015 saw a revival of his acclaimed 2012 play Muswell Hill at London’s Park Theatre, his latest work, What Falls Apart, opened at Newcastle’s Live Theatre, and his version of Chekhov’s The Seagull was staged at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. He has adapted Get Carter for Northern Stage in Newcastle, which opened in February this year, before embarking on a major national tour.

Director Christopher Harper is an Associate of the Original Theatre Company and directed their 2011 production of See How They Run. As an actor, he recently finished playing Benedick on a world tour of Much Ado About Nothing for the Globe, and starred as Victoria Wood’s son, Cliff Last, in the television film Housewife 49.

INVINCIBLE will be designed by Victoria Spearing, with sound by Dominic Bilkey. The national tour is produced by Tom Hackney for The Original Theatre Company and Adrian Grady for Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds.

Website: www.originaltheatre.com / www.theatreroyal.org

Facebook: TheOriginalTheatre 

Twitter: @OriginalTheatre @TheatreRoyalBSE

2016 TOUR SCHEDULE

30 March – 2 April                     Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds                                             

                                                www.theatreroyal.org                                         01284 769505

5 – 9 April                                 Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford                              

                                                www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk                                 01483 440000

12 – 14 April                              Hull Truck Theatre

                                                www.hulltruck.co.uk                                           01482 323638

19 – 23 April                              New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich              

                                                www.wolseytheatre.co.uk                                   01473 295900

26 – 27 April                              South Hill Park, Bracknell

                                                www.southhillpark.org.uk                                   01344 484 123

28 – 30 April                              Mercury Theatre, Colchester                            

                                                www.mercurytheatre.co.uk                                 01206 573948

2 – 4 May                                  Gala Theatre, Durham

                                                www.galadurham.co.uk                                      03000 266600

6 – 7 May                                  Stamford Arts Centre

                                                www.stamfordartscentre.com                             01780 763203

10 – 14 May                              Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne

                                                www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk                           01323 412000   

17 – 21 May                              Birmingham Repertory Theatre                      

                                                www.birmingham-rep.co.uk                                0121 236 4455 

23 – 24 May                              Theatre Royal Winchester                                

                                                www.theatreroyalwinchester.co.uk                      01962 840440

26 – 28 May                              Key Theatre, Peterborough

                                                www.vivacity-peterborough.com                         01733 207239

7 – 11 June                               Exeter Northcott Theatre                                  

                                                www.exeternorthcott.co.uk                                 01392 726 363

14 – 18 June                             Festival Theatre, Malvern                                            

                                                www.malvern-theatres.co.uk                               01684 892277