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New rehearsal images of the London premiere of ELF THE MUSICAL directed by Morgan Young and starring Ben Forster, Kimberley Walsh, Joe McGann and Jessica Martin.

ELF THE MUSICAL starts previews at the Dominion Theatre on 24 October and runs until 2 January 2016.

ELF THE MUSICAL has a book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, music by Matthew Sklar and lyrics by Chad Beguelin.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

24 October 2015 to 2 January 2016

Dominion Theatre

268-269 Tottenham Court Road

London W1T 7AQ

 

Performances: Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm*, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2.30pm**

*7.00pm on Thursday 5 November, no evening performance Thursday 24, Friday 25, Saturday 26, Thursday 31 December & Friday 1 January

**extra 2.30pm matinees on Thursday 29 October, and, in December, on Monday 21st, Tuesday 22nd, Thursday 24th, Monday 28th, Tuesday 29th & Thursday 31st

See website for ticket prices: www.elfthemusical.co.uk / www.dominiontheatre.com

Box Office: 0845 200 7982

Running Time: 2 hours 25 minutes (including interval)

 

TakeOver Festival 2015

Programme of events for York Theatre Royal’s annual festival curated by young people.

The official programme of shows for TakeOver 2015, an annual arts festival run in association with York Theatre Royal and running from Saturday 24 October to Sunday 1 November, has been announced.

Every year during TakeOver Festival, young people seize control of York Theatre Royal, taking charge of programming, preparing and producing a week of performances and activities. This year we’re having a TakeOver makeover: while York Theatre Royal is currently lodging at the National Railway Museum during its £4.1m refurbishment, the festival is following suit.

The festival team have asked every act to devise a piece that responded to and enriched the unique performance spaces of the National Railway Museum. Performances have been programmed throughout the museum – inside carriages, on bridges, and throughout the museum’s cavernous halls.

Kate Hunter, Public Events Manager at the National Railway Museum, said:

We’re very excited to be hosting this year’s TakeOver Festival at the National Railway Museum as part of our ongoing partnership with York Theatre Royal. Our staff have really enjoyed helping to mentor such a talented and enthusiastic group of young people, who have organised a fantastic programme inspired by the National Railway Museum and the wonderful items in the National Collection. We can’t wait to see their hard work pay off in October half term!

Leeds-based group Interplay Theatre’s show A Journey With Maude will be performed in the saloons and compartments of the Tri-Composite Carriage, one of the museum’s most treasured carriages. Adapted from the cult 1970s dark comedy Harold and Maude, the intensely intimate show will see Maude taking an audience of six on a time-travelling adventure through her extraordinary life.

HookHitch Theatre will be performing two shows over the festival: The Gentleman for Nowhere is based on a collection of railway-themed short stories partly written by Dickens, and was specially conceived for performance in the Gresley Buffet Car in the unique atmosphere of the museum’s Warehouse. In HookHitch’s Phantasmagoria, has-been Victorian entertainer Charles Alderdice attempts to retell Lewis Carroll’s darkest work, but starts to lose his grip on reality in a swirl of delusion and desperation, drawing audiences into his greatest fears and desires.

TakeOver’s Artistic Director Lizzy Whynes, a 22-year-old theatre practitioner, has crafted two performance pieces for the festival, both of them free to watch: Coal in the Garden is a post-war story of two sisters from the countryside whose imaginations run wild as they persuade their friend, an evacuee from the city, to stay living with them; and the Pigeon Party is a five-minute flash mob that pops up throughout the day across the museum, in which a group of defiant pigeons evade Ernie, the security guard.

Lizzy says about TakeOver Festival:

It’s fantastic that TakeOver Festival, which gives young people such an amazing opportunity to kickstart an artistic career, is forming part of the collaboration between the National Railway Museum and the theatre. It’s a first for the National Railway Museum and a first for TakeOver – they’ve never hosted an arts festival, and we’ve never taken over a museum.

None of the work we’re producing would have been possible without the constant inspiration of the museum’s collection and support of its staff. The Pigeon Party only came about after a conversation we had with a security guard at the museum about how difficult pigeons were to shoo away. We wanted to make him, the pigeons, and everything else in this brilliant museum part of the TakeOver story.

Award-winning theatre maker John Hinton is taking audiences on a whistle-stop musical excursion around some of the museum’s unusual artefacts, called The Great Train Songery; the tuneful tour blends comedy, audience interaction and a lurking sense of the unexpected. Local performance poet Henry Raby is presenting Train-spotting (not the film), a short piece on the Footbridge of the Great Hall about losing oneself in a hobby – in this case, the engrossing pastime of trainspotting.

TakeOver is producing two evening events during the week, in which audiences can relax with a drink from the museum café and experience the halls in unusual quiet. On Monday an immersive, secret cinema-style screening of the classic 1940s comedy/horror film Ghost Train will be held, in which live performers re-enact scenes from the film and treat the audience to synchronised sights, tastes and smells. A scratch night of TakeOver Shorts will take place on Tuesday evening, in which companies will perform 20-minute draft versions of their productions: the winning event, as voted for by audiences, will be commissioned for the TakeOver 2016 programme.

Four theatre workshops for young people have been arranged at the museum during TakeOver week. All Aboard!, in which 5- to 11-year-olds get the chance to create theatrical snapshots of railway life, will run for 50 minutes most mornings. In Suitcase Stories (aimed at 8- to 12-year-olds and running for a morning) and Mind the Gap (for those aged 13 to 17, running for a full day), participants will work from the museum’s own collections to create a short play, which they can perform to family and friends at the end of the workshop. And Interplay Theatre have produced the accessible and interactive A Journey With Maude Workshop to accompany their performance, aimed at young people aged 8 to 16.

Of Time and the Railway, a new film by artist Robert Davies, captures the entire train journey between Birmingham and Aberystwyth. Filmed from the driver’s cabin over the four seasons, it charts the many changes in landscape and scenery between the stations, and will run on loop in Station Hall throughout the festival week.

TakeOver audiences can get stuck in themselves with our Creation Stations, open all day throughout the week. In the Music, Story, Shadow, Art and Poetry Stations, there will be opportunities for museum visitors to create their own work of art and help produce TakeOver Festival.

Listings

A Journey With Maude

An Interplay Theatre production

Monday 26 October – Sunday 1 November

Times: 11.30, 12.15, 14.15, 15.00, 15.45

Location: Tri-Composite Carriage, Station Hall

Tickets: £5

The Great Train Songery

Created by John Hinton

Monday 26 October – Wednesday 28 October

Time: 12.00, 12.45, 14.00, 14.45

Location: Meet at the Warehouse entrance

Tickets: Pay what you can

Ghost Train

An immersive film screening

Monday 26 October

Time: 19.30 (bar and doors open 19.00)

Location: Station Hall, meet at the City Entrance of NRM

Tickets: £10 / £8 concessions

TakeOver Shorts

Scratch night to decide TakeOver 2016 programme

Tuesday 27 October

Time: 19.30 (bar and doors open 19.00)

Location: Station Hall, meet at the City Entrance of NRM

Tickets: £8 / £5.50 concessions

Phantasmagoria

A HookHitch Theatre production

Thursday 19 October – Saturday 31 October

Times: 12.30, 13.15, 14.30, 15.15

Location: Fruit Van, Platform 6, Station Hall

Tickets: £4

The Gentleman For Nowhere

A HookHitch Theatre production

Thursday 29 October – Saturday 31 October

Times: 16.30

Location: Gresley Buffet Car, Warehouse

Tickets: £4

Free events

Coal in the Garden

Directed by the festival’s Artistic Director Lizzy Whynes

Saturday 24 October, Sunday 25 October, Tuesday 27 October, Thursday 29 October, Saturday 31 October, Sunday 1 November

Times: 15.00

Location: The Garden, Great Hall

Pigeon Party

A pop-up dance event

Saturday 24 October, Monday 26 October, Wednesday 28 October, Friday 30 October

Times: Throughout the day

Location: Across the National Railway Museum

Train-Spotting (Not the Film)

Spoken-word piece by Henry Raby

Wednesday 28 October and Saturday 31 October

Time: Several times per hour from 12.00–15.30 (5-minute running time)

Location: Learning Platform, meet at the NRM Box Office

Of Time and the Railway

A film by Robert Davies

Saturday 24 October – Sunday 1 November

Time: On loop throughout the day

Location: Station Hall

Creation Stations (Story Station, Music Station, Shadow Station, Poetry Station, Art Station)

Areas for artists, performers and audience members to get creative

Saturday 24 October – Sunday 1 November

Time: Open throughout the day

Location: Station Hall and Great Hall

Workshops

All Aboard!

50-minute workshop for ages 5 to 11

Monday 26 October – Sunday 1 November

Times: 11.00–11.50 (additional workshops on Monday 26 and Saturday 31 October will start at 14.00)

Location: Learning Platform, meet at the NRM Box Office

Tickets: £5

Suitcase Stories

Morning workshop for ages 8 to 12

Tuesday 27 October

Times: 10.30–13.30

Location: Learning Platform, meet at the NRM Box Office

Tickets: £10

A Journey With Maude Workshop

90-minute accessible workshop run by Interplay Theatre, for ages 8 to 16

Tuesday 27 October

Times: 16.30–18.00

Location: Learning Platform, meet at the NRM Box Office

Tickets: £5

Mind the Gap

All-day workshop for ages 13 to 17

Friday 30 October

Times: 11.00–16.30

Location: Learning Platform, meet at the NRM Box Office

Tickets: £15

 

LAST CHANCE TO SEE F*CK THE POLAR BEARS AT THE BUSH THEATRE

• Run ends 24 October 2015

• Two weeks left to see Tanya Ronder’s world premiere, directed by Caroline Byrne

F*CK THE POLAR BEARS is a raucous new environmental comedy about a family with the world at their feet, but plagued by the everyday hypocrisies and First World Problems of a prosperous life.

The cast for this world premiere production of F*CK THE POLAR BEARS by Tanya Ronder is: Jon Foster, Salóme R Gunnarsdóttir, Susan Stanley and Andrew Whipp.  The production opened at the Bush Theatre in September 2015.

Gordon and Serena have worked hard to get where they are. He’s on the verge of a massive promotion at an energy company. She’s preparing for a move into the house of their dreams. The family appear to be cooking on gas.

But behind their perfect front door, light bulbs are blowing, the drains keep blocking, and a phone inexplicably refuses to charge. Not to mention that daughter Rachel’s adored toy polar bear is nowhere to be found.

As Gordon chases the spectres behind these mysterious events, he spirals out of control and the family are forced to ask whether the life they desire is worth its cost.

Tanya Ronder’s adaptations for theatre include Dara and Liolà (National Theatre); Macbett(RSC); Filumena and Blood Wedding (Almeida); Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, 02 and USA tour; Vernon God Little (Olivier nomination for Best New Play, What’s on Stage nom. for Best New Comedy) and Peribanez (Young Vic). Vernon God Little was revived by the Young Vic in 2011 as part of their anniversary season.  Her first original play Table (National Theatre) opened the Shed to critical acclaim in 2013. Films include the short, King Bastard (dir Rufus Norris).  Tanya is currently developing a series for BBC, Big Amy, with co-writer Deborah Bruce.

Caroline Byrne’s directing credits include Electra (RWCMD, Cardiff), Eclipsed (Gate Theatre), Gate 35 Gala (Louise Blouin Foundation), Leaving Home Party (Farnham Maltings Tour), By Mr Farquhar (UK City of Culture 2013), Text Messages (Project, Dublin), Shakespeare in a Suitcase (co-directed with Tim Crouch for RSC),The Recovery Position (Lion and Unicorn),Twizzler Soaked Ecstasy (devised, Bernhard Theatre Studio), The Children (Embassy Theatre), Attempts on her Life (Durham Theatre, Berkeley, USA). As Assistant Director: Adler and Gibb (Royal Court), Wendy and Peter Pan (RSC) and King Lear (RSC Tour). As Associate Director at the Gate Theatre (2014/15): Grounded and Purple Heart.

F*CK THE POLAR BEARS will be followed in the Bush’s autumn season by the annual festival of new writing, RADAR 2015 (11-26 November).

LISTINGS

11 September – 24 October 2015
F*CK THE POLAR BEARS
By Tanya Ronder

Mon to Sat at 7.30pm
2.30pm Saturday matinees
2.30pm Wednesday matinees

Ticket prices:

Evenings: £20

• £12.50 concessions (registered unemployed and disabled)
• £15.50 for Senior Citizens
• £12.50 for students/under 26s
• 10% off for Bush Local members

Previews: £15.50

• £10.50 concessions (registered unemployed and disabled)
• £12.50 for Senior Citizens
• £10.50 for students/under 26s
• £12.50 for Bush Local members

Matinees: £15

• £10.00 concessions (registered unemployed and disabled)
• £10.00 for students/under 26s
• £10.00 for Senior Citizens
• 10% off for Bush Local members

Season Offers*

Season 3 for 2
See 3 shows for the price of 2. Valid for top price tickets only, shows must be purchased at the same time. Not valid for previews, matinees or RADAR.

Live or work locally – Join our free local membership scheme Bush Local for £12.50 preview tickets, 10% off all other performances and a 10% discount at the Cafe Bar. For more information and to become a member, visit bushtheatre.co.uk

Educational Groups – Schools tickets are £10 (matinees) and £12.50 (evenings), plus one teacher goes free with every 10 pupils. To reserve tickets, please call the Box Office between 12 – 8pm.

Bush Connect scheme – A free membership scheme for students and under 26s, BUSH CONNECT offers its members £10-£12.50 tickets for all Bush Theatre productions, a 10% discount at the Cafe Bar, special offers, giveaways and competitions, and exclusive events and networking opportunities.

Group Bookings – Book for a group of 11 or more people and the 11th person will go for free.

*Terms and conditions apply, see the Bush website for further information.

PRINCE GUITARIST TO PERFORM AT CITY VARIETIES MUSIC HALL

ANDY MCKEE is among the world’s finest acoustic guitarists – his 200million+YouTube views underscore his emergence as one of today’s most unique and influential artists – and Leeds is getting ready to welcome the breath-taking performer next month when he rocks into City Varieties Music Hall.

To fans of virtuoso musicianship, it is Andy’s attention to song structure and melodic content that elevates him above the rest.

To fans of popular music, he entertains both the eye and the ear as he magically transforms the steel string guitar into a full orchestra via his use of altered tunings, tapping, partial capos, percussive hits and a signature two-handed technique.

Andy recently garnered prestigious exposure playing with Prince at sold our arena shows in Australia as a feature soloist and special guest member of Prince’s extraordinary live band.

Andy McKee plays City Varieties Music Hall on Tuesday November 3^rd

Tickets are on sale now priced at £19.50

Book online at cityvarieties.co.uk or call 0113 243 08 08

 

Empire Cinemas brings big stage productions to the big screen for its November line-up of arts and live performance screenings, including:

·         Royal Opera House – Carmen Quadruple Bill Live

·         National Theatre Live – Of Mice And Men

·         MET Opera – Lulu

The Empire Extra programme from Empire Cinemas, brings an eclectic mix of live performances to the big screen and this November sees an exhilarating line-up of live theatre, world-class opera and unmissable ballet. Every month, the innovative programme delivers the UK’s best theatre, feature films, music, arts and opera straight to the screens of local cinemas, offering a wide range of exciting content for customers, beyond the standard movie releases. This November, cinemagoers and arts fans can experience screenings of; Royal Opera House – Carmen Quadruple Bill Live, National Theatre Live – Of Mice and Men, MET Opera – Lulu; and finally Branagh Theatre Live – The Winter’s Tale.

Royal Opera House – Carmen Quadruple Bill Live

Released 12 November 2015

Ticket link: http://bit.ly/1FT2EzW

One of The Royal Opera’s best loved stagings, regularly revived since its opening night in 1974, is now being seen for the very last time. John Copley’s keen stagecraft and loving attention to period and dramatic detail make his production of Carmen Quadruple Bill a masterpiece of realism. Several of today’s greatest opera stars return to bid farewell to this sublime staging, notably Anna Netrebko as Mimì, and Joseph Calleja as her lover, Rodolfo. Israeli conductor Dan Ettinger conducts one of Puccini’s most emotional and melodious scores, in a revival that promises to go down in Royal Opera history.

National Theatre Live – Of Mice and Men

Released 19 November 2015

Ticket link: http://bit.ly/1RtAUTH

The hit Broadway production Of Mice and Men, filmed on stage in New York by National Theatre Live, comes to UK cinema screens. John Steinbeck’s classic play is a powerful portrait of the American spirit and a heart-breaking testament to the bonds of friendship. Viewers can expect a star studded cast including Golden Globe® winner and Academy Award® nominee James Franco and Tony Award® nominee Chris O’Dowd.

MET Opera – Lulu

Released 21 November 2015

Ticket link: http://bit.ly/1L61bTs

Acclaimed artist and director William Kentridge (The Nose) applies his unique theatrical vision to Berg’s notorious femme fatale who shatters lives, including her own. Musically, the masterful score is in the sure hands of Met Music Director James Levine. Soprano Marlis Petersen has excited audiences around the world with her portrayal of the tour-de-force title role, a wild journey of love, obsession, and death. Susan Graham joins a winning cast, including Daniel Brenna and Johan Reuter.

 

Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter’s Tale

Released 26 November 2015

Ticket link: http://bit.ly/1VEJL5A

The first season of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company Live promises an exceptional series of plays from London’s Garrick Theatre, broadcast to cinemas over the course of a year. Kicking off the season is The Winter’s Tale; Shakespeare’s timeless tragicomedy of obsession and redemption; reimagined in a new production co-directed by Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh. The Winter’s Tale will star a remarkable group of actors, featuring Dame Judi Dench as Paulina and Tom Bateman as Florizel.

Jon Nutton, Marketing Director of Empire Cinemas, said: “Empire Cinemas strives to offer an exciting and diverse range of content to our customers. Through Empire Extra, cinemagoers can experience the excitement of live events and stage productions in the comfort of their local cinema. Film fanatics and arts lovers will be treated this November to four amazing screenings of ballet, opera and theatre; with stunning performances from the likes of James Franco and Dame Judi Dench.”

 

For further ticketing information visit www.EmpireCinemas.co.uk or call 08714 714 714.

MARTIN BARRASS TO STAR AS MR PERKS IN

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN – LIVE ON STAGE

AT KING’S CROSS THEATRE IN LONDON

FROM 17 OCTOBER 2015

 

Martin Barrass will star as Mr Perks in the Olivier Award-winning production of Mike Kenny’s stage adaptation of E. Nesbit’s novel The Railway Children – Live on Stage from Saturday 17 October 2015.

Martin first played Mr Perks in the 2009 production at York Theatre Royal where he revived the role earlier this year to critical acclaim. In 2012, he appeared in the National Theatre’s production of One Man Two Guvnors as Alfie at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London. Martin has appeared in numerous television series, including Mike Conrad in Emmerdale and Ron Frost in Angels.

Louisa Clein also joins the cast as Phyllis. Louisa played the role of Phyllis in the original London production of The Railway Children in 2010 at Waterloo Station. She played Martin Shaw’s daughter, Charlie Deed, in the television series Judge John Deed. An accomplished viola player who toured with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, her sister is the cellist Natalie Clein and her mother was a professional violinist. Her cousin is the author Julia Pascal and Louisa has just starred in Julia’s play, Crossing Jerusalem, at the Park Theatre in London. Other theatre work includes The Lady from the Sea and Waste at the Almeida Theatre and The Rubenstein Kiss at Hampstead Theatre.

Also in the cast of The Railway Children are Caroline Harker as Mother, Clare Corbett as Mrs Perks, Peter Gardiner as Doctor/Butler, Jack Hardwick as Peter, Mark Hawkins as Jim/District Super, Connie Hyde as Mrs Viney, Serena Manteghi as Bobbie, Blair Plant as Father/Schepansky, Moray Treadwell as the Old Gentleman and Alex Wingfield as Train Man, plus a children’s ensemble made up of four teams of ten children aged between 9 and 15.

The Railway Children opened at the King’s Cross Theatre to critical and public acclaim on 14 January 2015, following previews from 16 December 2014.

A purpose built 1,000-seat theatre, complete with a railway track and platforms, and with a state of the art air conditioning and heating system, was specially created for this production on King’s Boulevard, behind King’s Cross Station, a site which has been loaned to the production for the duration of the run by Google. The York Theatre Royal production, which is in association with the National Railway Museum, once again features a live steam locomotive and a vintage carriage, originally built in 1896.

The production at King’s Cross Theatre is in support of the Railway Children Charity that aims to help homeless and runaway children throughout the world, with £1 per ticket donated to the charity. To date, £335,000 has been raised by the theatre production since its West End debut in 2010.

Directed by Damian Cruden, the Artistic Director of York Theatre Royal, with design by Joanna Scotcher, lighting by Richard G. Jones, music by Christopher Madin and sound by Craig Vear, Mike Kenny’s adaptation of The Railway Children was first produced by York Theatre Royal at the National Railway Museum, York, where it enjoyed two sell-out and critically acclaimed seasons in 2008 and 2009. The production then opened at Waterloo Station in the former Eurostar terminal in July 2010, where it again played two critically acclaimed sell-out seasons and won the 2011 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment, before opening in Toronto in 2011 in a temporary theatre built at the base of CN Tower in Roundhouse Park.

The Railway Children tells the story of Bobbie, Peter and Phyllis, three children whose lives change dramatically when their father is mysteriously taken away. They move from London to a cottage in rural Yorkshire with their mother, where they befriend the local railway porter, Perks, and embark on a magical journey of discovery, friendship and adventure. But the mystery remains – where is Father, and is he ever coming back?

Edith Nesbit’s much loved classic children’s book The Railway Children was first published in 1906 and has subsequently been adapted for the stage and screen, most famously in the 1970 film version directed by Lionel Jeffries and starring Jenny Agutter, Bernard Cribbins, Dinah Sheridan and Sally Thomsett.

The production is presented in London by Tristan Baker & Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Oliver Royds for BOS Productions and Sue Scott Davison, in association with York Theatre Royal and the National Railway Museum.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

THE RAILWAY CHILDREN – LIVE ON STAGE

King’s Cross Theatre

Goods Way

King’s Cross

London N1C 4UR

Currently booking until 3 January 2016

Running Time 2 hours 10 minutes (including an interval)

Box Office 0844 871 7604

Tickets £25.00-£49.50, with 25% off for Under 16s (Premium Seats available at £69.50 +Limited edition show poster)

Website www.railwaychildrenlondon.com Facebook www.facebook.com/railwaychildrenlondon

Twitter @TRCKingsCross

Google+ plus.google.com/+RailwayChildrenLondon

Performance Schedule from 17 October: Wednesday at 2.30pm* & 7.30pm

Thursday at 2.30pm

Saturday at 1pm & 4.30pm

Sunday at 2pm

*N.B Wednesday matinees will start at 1pm on 2 & 9 December

**Extra performances: 2.30pm on Monday 26 October, 1pm & 4.30pm on Tuesday 27 October 2015-16 CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Friday 18 December 2.30pm

Saturday 19 December 1pm & 4.30pm

Sunday 20 December 1pm & 4.30pm

Monday 21 December 2.30pm

Tuesday 22 December 1pm & 4.30pm

Wednesday 23 December 1pm & 4.30pm

Thursday 24 December No performance

Friday 25 December No performance

Saturday 26 December 1pm & 4.30pm

Sunday 27 December 2pm

Monday 28 December No performance

Tuesday 29 December 1pm & 4.30pm

Wednesday 30 December 1pm & 4.30pm

Thursday 31 December 2.30pm

Friday 1 January 1pm & 4.30pm

Saturday 2 January 1pm & 4.30pm

Sunday 3 January 2pm

 

The Bussey Building, Peckham October 5th – 31st.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Neil Gore’s adaptation of Stephen Lowe’s original play is small in scale, but perfectly formed.

Neil Gore and Jonathan Markwood play all of the characters in the play. This involves hats, pipes and jackets being whipped on and off and is a little confusing at first, but very quickly, the characters are distinctive, familiar, and very well played.

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is about the painters and labourers working on The Cave – the home of Mayor Sweater. The hardships and uncertainties of their work situations and their treatment by the “masters” is laid bare, while the socialist views of Frank Owen are at first mocked and then grudgingly appreciated when the company suddenly cuts the workers’ wages.

Both actors share the role of  Mr Hunter and give subtly different performances throughout the play. Gore is Faginesque and hysterical in his apoplexy at the rising costs of Owen’s work, while Markwood is slightly sinister, more of a bible bashing Gollum.

There are some lovely touches to the production – scene titles are displayed around the set evoking the old music halls, and work, folk and pub songs are sung with feeling by the actors and the audience. Gore and Markwood have a fantastic rapport and are unflappably professional when technical hitches occur – ad-libbing one liners and casting knowing looks at the audience.

The writing is top-notch and comic moments mix seamlessly with more serious themes.

Even though Noonan’s original novel was written in 1910, the plight of the workers is still relevant today in our world of minimum wage struggles and zero hour contracts. With the current austerity measures and political climate, this is a timely reminder of the chasm between the rich and those struggling to feed their families. The play is worth seeing for the “Great money trick” scene alone. This is the funniest, simplest and starkest demonstration of how compassionless capitalism can exploit and discard workers – all done with 3 slices of bread and 3 knives. Perhaps Corbyn could put it on the National Curriculum?

The production is an inspirational triumph – don’t miss it.

Newcastle Theatre Royal is celebrating this week after winning two top national awards – UK Theatre’s ‘Most Welcoming Theatre’ in the region, and the Technical Theatre Awards’ ‘Receiving Venue Team of the Year’.

 

The My Theatre Matters! Most Welcoming Theatre Award in association with Smooth Radio is presented at the UK Theatre Awards – the only nationwide awards to honour outstanding achievement in regional theatre across the UK.   Voting for the award is done solely by the public online.  There are 12 shortlisted theatres in total from the various regions/nations of the UK and the overall winner of ‘Most Welcoming Theatre’ will be announced at the ceremony on 18 October at London’s Guildhall.

 

Newcastle Theatre Royal was selected as the region’s most welcoming theatre from 11 North East nominations. It is the second time the Theatre has been shortlisted for the award.

 

Last Monday, Newcastle Theatre Royal also won Receiving Venue Team of the Year in the prestigious Technical Theatre Awards (TTA) which give credit to individuals who work behind the scenes. Nominations were made in May and the TTA Panel (a selection of experts from the industry) drew up a shortlist of candidates. Details of the lucky finalists were then released and the rest of the voting was conducted publicly online.

 

The Receiving Venue Team of the Year award highlights the excellence of one venue which stands out above all others, as voted for by touring technicians who travel to a wide range of venues throughout their careers. Nominations might be made based on the technical skill, expertise and attitude of a theatre’s backstage team and the welcoming atmosphere of a venue.

 

Newcastle Theatre Royal Chief Executive, Philip Bernays, said: “We are truly honoured to have won two such important awards back-to-back. We strive to excel in everything that we do in order to attract the biggest audiences and the best shows in what is a very competitive market, and the word ‘Welcome’ continues to be our central mantra. These wins are an outstanding achievement and true testament to the effort and dedication of our staff, who always go ‘one step beyond’.”

 

It has been a good year for the Theatre Royal – the company’s Annual Report for 2014/15 details record breaking figures for the charity despite a drastically reduced level of funding and a tough economic climate. It has been the Theatre’s best ever in terms of ticket sales, with a total of £10.3m worth of tickets sold, 44 visiting theatre, opera, ballet and dance companies welcomed and 406 performances presented to a staggering 405,681 people. The attendance for the year was also at 80% capacity, which is an astonishing 21% above the national average.

 

The Theatre is also famous for having the most generous Friends scheme in the UK and the largest arts membership scheme in the region.

 

Last month the Theatre was also shortlisted for ‘Contribution to Arts and Culture 2000-2015’ in the Living North Awards – a special one-off award for which an announcement will be made in November.

New Adventures have announced the principal casting for the first revival of Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty at Sadler’s Wells. The Christmas season runs from Tuesday 1st December 2015 to Saturday 24th January 2016.

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty is a gothic tale for all ages; the traditional tale of good vs. evil and rebirth is turned upside-down, creating a supernatural love story that even the passage of time itself cannot hinder.

Bourne’s new scenario introduced several characters not seen in Petipa’s famous Ballet or Grimm’s fairy tale. This imaginary kingdom is ruled over by King Benedict and Queen Eleanor. Princess Aurora’s romantic interest is not a Prince, but the royal gamekeeper, Leo. Representing the central forces of good and evil are Count Lilac (“the King of the Fairies”) and the Dark Fairy Carabosse. Bourne has also created the character of Caradoc, the sinister but charming son of Carabosse. Princess Aurora’s Fairy Godparents are characterised by their names – Ardor, Hibernia, Autumnus, Feral and Tantrum.

Returning to the central role of Aurora in this first revival is rising star Ashley Shaw. Ashley recently played Lana in the immensely successful revival of The Car Man, and has also played Kim in Edward Scissorhands, Sugar inNutcracker! and the title role in Cinderella. Cordelia Braithwaite made her debut with New Adventures in Swan Lake in 2013 and has subsequently appeared in this year’s revival of The Car Man, covering the role of Lana. Cordelia makes her debut as Aurora this season; her first Principal role with New Adventures.

The leading role of Leo will again be played by Dominic North and Chris Trenfield who co-created the role in 2012. Dominic has appeared in more New Adventures productions than any other dancer and was most recently seen as Angelo in The Car Man (also in the filmed version for SkyArts). He was nominated as “Outstanding Male Dancer” at The National Dance Awards for his performance as Edward Scissorhands which he re-created to considerable earlier in 2015. Chris has this year been seen as Luca in The Car Man and played the role in the SkyArts TV broadcast in August. One of New Adventures’ most versatile leading men, he has also appeared as Tony in Play Without Words, the title role in Nutcracker! and The Swan/Stranger in Bourne’s Swan Lake which he also danced at the Music Centre of Los Angeles 50th Anniversary Gala last year.

Count Lilac will be portrayed again by one of New Adventures’ most accomplished performers Christopher Marney, and in his third Principal role for New Adventures this year, Liam Mower. Christopher has appeared in the extremely successful Triple Bill, Early Adventures, as Cyril Vane in Dorian Gray (Created role), The Prince in Swan Lake and The Angel in Bourne’s Cinderella in 2010. Recently he has had a notable personal success as the choreographer of the West End hit play, McQueen. Liam Mower is the Olivier award-winning original star of the West End hit Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre. Joining New Adventures in 2011 to appear in Nutcracker!, he has also appeared in Play Without Words, as The Prince in Swan Lake (a role that he danced with the Royal Ballet’s Edward Watson at last year’s Ignite Festival) and his critically acclaimed portrayal of Edward Scissorhands earlier this year.

The twin roles of Carabosse and Caradoc will be shared by two charismatic New Adventures performers; Adam Maskell who co-created the role in 2012 returns to the Company having previously featured in Dorian Gray, Nutcracker! (title role),Play Without Words and as The Angel in Cinderella. Tom Clark makes his debut in a Principal role with New Adventures following roles in Swan Lake, The Car Man and as Jim Upton in Edward Scissorhands.

King Benedict will be played by Will Bozier (Edward Scissorhands) Glenn Graham (Swan Lake, The Angel in Cinderella andThe Car Man) and Chris Trenfield. Queen Eleanor by Pia Driver (Swan Lake, The Car Man, Edward Scissorhands), Nicole Kabera (Edward Scissorhands, Nutcracker!, The Car Man, Swan Lake) and Katie Webb (Swan Lake, The Car Man).

Completing the Sleeping Beauty Company are: Daniel Collins, Jack Jones, Mari Kamata, Phil King, Dominic Lamb, Dena Lague, Katy Lowenhoff, Katrina Lyndon, Kate Lyons, Andrew Monaghan, Leon Moran and Danny Reubens

Sleeping Beauty is directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne working again with three of his regular collaborators and New Adventures Associate Artists; Lez Brotherston (Set and Costumes), Paule Constable (Lighting) and Paul Groothuis (Sound Design). The 2015 Revival will be Directed by Matthew Bourne, Staged by Associate Director Etta Murfitt and the Resident Director is Neil Westmoreland.

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty premiered in 2012, and was the fastest selling production in the company’s history.Sleeping Beauty was created for New Adventures’ 25th birthday celebrations and completed Matthew Bourne’s trio of re-imagined Tchaikovsky ballet masterworks that started in 1992 with Nutcracker! and, most famously, in 1995, with the international hit Swan Lake. This dazzling production has won the hearts of thousands and smashed box office records across the UK and at Sadler’s Wells. Its USA premiere in 2013 prompted Joan Acolella of The New Yorker to hail Bourne as “the most popular choreographer of theatrical dance in the Western world” and The New York Times said: “This is Bourne at his best – a masterful storyteller.” The production also won three Los Angeles Drama Critic Awards and the Ovation Award for “Best Production”.

Perrault’s popular fairy tale, about a young girl cursed to sleep for one hundred years, was turned into a legendary ballet by Tchaikovsky and choreographer, Marius Petipa, in 1890. Bourne uses this date as his starting point, setting the Christening of Aurora, the story’s heroine, in the year of the ballet’s first performance; the height of the Fin-de-Siecle period when fairies, vampires and decadent opulence fed the gothic imagination. As Aurora grows into a young woman, we move forwards in time to the more rigid, uptight Edwardian era; a mythical golden age of long Summer afternoons, croquet on the lawn and new dance crazes. Years later, awakening from her century long slumber, Aurora finds herself in the modern day; a world more mysterious than any Fairy story!

 

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty at the Sadler’s Wells
Sadler’s Wells
Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN
Running Time: 2 hours
Age Restrictions: No under 5s admitted. Some scenes may be unsuitable for younger children (with the gothic, vampire theme, it is possible that some scenes may be a bit dark or scary for them).

Booking From: 1st December 2015
Booking Until: 24th January 2016
Important Info: Audio Described Performance: 16 Jan 2016 2.30pm

Ovation present Legally Blonde The Musical, at Upstairs Above The Gatehouse, by arrangement with Josef Weinberger Limited on behalf of Music Theatre International of New York. With Music & Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, Book by Heather Hach, and based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the MGM film.