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Global clothing brand Barbour has offered a substantial donation to Newcastle Theatre Royal to help subsidise its revolutionary actor training programme Project A.

 

The Barbour Foundation, the charitable arm of the North East-based fashion heavyweight, is backing the Theatre’s pioneering project to create a new generation of professional actors in the region.

 

Project A is the first course of its kind in the North East of England dedicated to actor training and will offer practical and theoretical training to young aspiring actors aged 18-25 years old who are looking to make a serious career as an actor.

 

The Barbour Foundation is known for its generous support for cultural organisations in Newcastle and across the wider North East, and Dame Margaret Barbour said: “It gives me great pleasure to assist the Theatre Royal in establishing its innovative and exciting Foundation Course for young people who wish to embark on a theatrical career, whether it be in acting or management.  I wish the Theatre Royal every possible success.”

 

The course, which will be offered completely free of charge for its inaugural year, will be run over three terms in an academic year and will include vocal, physical and performance skills training as well as specialist training including Meisner technique, improvisation, acting for screen and stage combat.  These areas will be developed alongside the students’ continuous training in character development and text analysis. The training will be provided by a selection of leading UK professionals.

 

A proportion of the Barbour donation will also be applied to the expansion of the Theatre’s Learning Department, which is going from strength to strength following a major reinvention over the past couple of years and the soaring popularity of its formal education work and public programmes.

 

Theatre Royal Chief Executive Philip Bernays, said: “We are extremely grateful to Dame Margaret and the Foundation for their generous support and also very proud of our longstanding association with Barbour, one of the most important and influential fashion brands in the world.

 

“We are very excited that this generosity will bring Project A to life as we know there is both need and demand for a course like this and it has real potential for growth in the future.  Our talented young people shouldn’t have to leave the region to get access to the best professionals.  This is hugely significant for us and the North East region as a whole, and we are delighted to be leading the way.”

 

After auditions in July which attracted over 160 applicants, the sixteen successful candidates for Project A have been chosen and the course will commence in September.

SHEFFIELD THEATRES APPOINT ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

Sheffield Theatres has today announced that Caroline Dyott will be joining its Senior Management Team this month in the newly created role of Associate Producer.

Caroline will lead the Production department working closely with Chief Executive Dan Bates and Artistic DirectorDaniel Evans to explore, develop and fully realise the potential of Sheffield Theatres’ productions.

Over the last three years Sheffield Theatres has won several major awards recognising the quality of the work on its stages, including Regional Theatre of the Year for two consecutive years. It has created and toured several productions including, in the last twelve months, Twelfth Night, The Absence of War, Anything Goes and This Is My Family. This strategic role will see Caroline lead the Production department, develop relationships with producers and theatre companies and oversee the planning and scheduling of the work to support the company’s ongoing resilience and sustainability.

Caroline will take up her role from Monday 17 August. She joins the company from English Touring Theatre, where she has worked since 2012. Previously, her work as a freelance producer includes Events While Guarding the Bofors Gun in 2012 and The Man in 2011.  She also sits on the advisory board of interactive theatre company non zero one.

Chief Executive Dan Bates commented: ‘I am delighted to welcome Caroline to Sheffield Theatres in this new role. Caroline’s appointment offers us the opportunity to develop new relationships with producing partners and ensure that we maximise the potential of all of our shows. Her extensive experience will enable us to embark on a range of exciting new creative projects, with a view to further developing our productivity and ultimately enhancing our success.’

Caroline Dyott commented:  ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Sheffield Theatres.  Having seen many brilliant shows here and enjoyed working with the team on several co-productions, I’m really looking forward to being part of the great work which comes out of the organisation.’

Caroline joins Sheffield Theatres at the beginning of the autumn season, which includes a new production of Romeo & Juliet (Thu 17 Sep – Sat 17 Oct) directed by Jonathan Humphreys, with Freddie Fox and Morfydd Clark in title roles.  In the Studio, Deborah’s Bruce’s sharply funny play The Distance has its regional première (Thu 29 Oct – Sat 14 Nov) and at Christmas, Daniel Evans is joined by a stellar team to direct a lavish new production of the epic American musical Show Boat (Thu 10 Dec – Sat 16 Jan).

 

SUMMER FAMILY FUN AT SHEFFIELD LYCEUM

Enjoy fun with all the family at the Lyceum Theatre this holiday with Disney favourites Anna, Elsa and Olaf in Sing-a-Long-a Frozen (Fri 21 – Sat 22 August).

Following sell out performances earlier in the year, Sing-a-Long-a Frozen returns to the Lyceum by popular demand from Friday 21 – Saturday 22 August. Introduced by a live host, audiences will each receive a free prop bag, warm up their singing voices and learn some impressive dance moves with the help of some very special princesses, ahead of a fun-packed interactive screening, complete with on-screen lyrics of Disney’s most popular film ever.  Dress up, sit back and ‘Let It Go’!

Sheffield Theatres’ café bar Crucible Corner will also be welcoming families during this period.   From 1.00pm each day, they will be offering exclusive meal deals (one free children’s meal with every adult main meal), fun party games, face painting and the chance to get creative in their ‘Craft Corner’. Any children who have chosen to dress for the occasion will also be able to take part in a grand prince and princesses parade to show off their costumes.

Sing-a-Long-a Frozen comes to the Lyceum Theatre from Friday 21 – Saturday 22 August. Tickets are priced: Adults £15.50, Children £10.50 (Family tickets also available)  and can be purchased by calling the Box Office on 0114 249 6000 or by visiting sheffieldtheatres.co.uk (a transaction fee of £1.50 (£1.00 online) applies to all bookings made at the Box Office, excluding cash).

To book a table at Crucible Corner, call 0114 273 8255

Sheffield Theatres Listings:

Crucible Lyceum Studio 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA             
Box Office 0114 249 6000 – Mon – Sat 10.00am to 8.00pm
A transaction fee of £1.50 (£1.00 online) applies to all bookings made at the Box Office (excluding cash).
On non-performance days the Box Office closes at 6.00pm.
sheffieldtheatres.co.uk
Twitter: @crucibletheatre @SheffieldLyceum

Sing-a-Long-a Frozen

Fri 21– Sat 22 August

Fri 11.00am & 3.00pm

Sat 10.30am & 2.30pm

Adults £15.50 Children £10.50

Family Ticket £48 (2 adults & 2 children), Family Ticket £33 (1 adult, 2 children)

Volta International Festival presents:
Four playwrights. Four directors. Four ground-breaking new plays.

For its first year Volta International Festival has carefully selected four award-winning writers from across the world to present four new plays, translated into English for the first time. Staged at the Arcola Theatre in Hackney, the plays will be directed by four award-winning UK based directors.

The writers are Austrian playwright Ewald Palmetshofer, American playwright Christopher Chen, Swedish playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri and German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig. The programme will also feature two staged readings by Guillermo Calderon (Chile) and Milo Rao (Switzerland), which will take place in Studio 2 every Saturday at 2pm and 4pm.

Artistic Director Andrea Ferran said: “I’m delighted to present these new plays from across the world that have most challenged and provoked us. Individually, these plays look at themes of persecution, power and abuse; guilt, memory and reconciliation. Together, they explore the challenges and responsibilities we encounter as international citizens, reflecting on how we choose to live in a diverse, cosmopolitan world.”

The cast includes: Amber Aga, Stuart Bowman, Elizabeth Chan, Nicky Goldie, Jack Gordon, Siubhan Harrison, Nabil Elouahabi, Eugene O’Hare, Kathryn O’Reilly, Richard Pryal, Rachid Sabitri, Kevin Shen and Ony Uhiara.

Hamlet is Dead. No Gravity by Ewald Palmetshofer
2 – 12 September Studio 1, 7pm (no performances 6 – 7 September)
Something’s rotten in Mani and Dani’s childhood home.  Bine and Oli got married, but did they make the right choice? Kurt has a secret, and his wife Caro knows it.  Hannes is dead, but who pulled the trigger? With cruel comedy, past recriminations and sensational revelations, Ewald Palmetshofer presents a dark vision of a family in crisis.

Caught by Christopher Chen
2 – 12 September Studio 2, 9.30pm (no performances 6 – 7 and 13 – 14 September)
15 – 19 September Studio 2, 9.00pm
Chinese artist Lin Bo’s harrowing story of imprisonment has the world standing to attention. His fame, however, is short-lived, as an American publisher begins to question the authenticity of his story. Is he telling the truth or has he been caught? Accusations fly as Christopher Chen’s inventive new play exposes the thin line between fact and fiction, where it is often difficult to tell the difference between the con artist and the conned.

I Call My Brothers by Jonas Hassen Khemiri
2 – 12 September Studio 2, 7.30pm (no performances 6 – 7 and 13 – 14 September)
15 – 19 September Studio 2, 7.00pm
A car has exploded. A city has been crippled by fear. Amor wanders the city, doing his best to blend in. He must not attract any suspicious glances. But what is normal behaviour? And who is a potential perpetrator? Over twenty-four hours, Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s explosive play explores where the lines between criminal and victim, where fantasy and reality, blur.

Ant Street by Roland Schimmelpfennig
2 – 12 September Studio 1, 9pm (no performances 6 – 7 September)
A snowstorm in a heatwave.  A mysterious package delivered forty-two years late. A young man who speaks the poetry of the Gods. And a girl who can fly. Something strange is happening in Havana. Roland Schimmelpfennig’s Cuban fantasia imagines a family gripped by a miracle and a neighbourhood seduced by dreams of the past.

www.arcolatheatre.com
Twitter: @VOLTAFestival
Facebook: /voltaplayfestival

Waving Goodbye – A brand new play by Andrew Shakeshaft. Presented by Tree Shadow Theatre Productions in association with Swan Club.

Premiere at THE PHOENIX ARTIST CLUB at 6pm on the 22nd August 2015 as part of the Camden Fringe

Waving Goodbye; Burkha or jeggings? Twisting fast-paced black comedy.
Waving Goodbye is an emotionally charged black comedy which asks fundamental questions about existence and our relationships with each other.

“All those people who died young; you’ve got their life, you’ve got the chances they never had and what are you doing with it?”

Tree Shadow Theatre put out a call for new, contemporary scripts that didn’t fight shy of exploring big issues and what it is to be a young woman in today’s world. This two-hander comedy was the outright winner. Directed by Anita Parry (What Would Helen Mirren Do?)

Cast: Louisa Wilde and Lucy Theobald
Playwright: Andrew Shakeshaft
Tickets are £8 with £6 concessions.
The Pheonix Artist Club is underneath The Phoenix Theatre on the Charing Cross Road.
Running from 22nd to the 27th August daily
22nd at 6pm. All other performances at 7pm
Running time 45minutes
website: www.treeshadow.co.uk

When the actor Benedict Cumberbatch met with fans — and the glare of flash from their cameras — after a weekend performance of “Hamlet” at the Barbican Theatre in London, he had a message to send.

He told them that while he doesn’t use social media, he would be very happy if they did, just not during his performance.

“Can I ask you all a huge favour?” the actor said to fans gathered outside the stage door. “All of this, all these cameras, all these phones,” he said pleadingly, his voice trailing off. “What I really want to do is try to enlist you.”

“I can see cameras, I can see red lights in the auditorium. And it may not be any of you here that did that but it’s blindingly obvious, like that one there, that little red light,” he said, pointing into the crowd.

He referred to a disruption during that night’s performance in which he had to stop and then resume his delivery of the soliloquy beginning “To be or not to be,” which he noted was not the easiest place to have to restart.  Cumberbatch said he could see a “little red light” near the third row during the performance. “It’s mortifying,” he said. There is “nothing less supportive or enjoyable.”

“And I can’t give you what I want to give you, which is a live performance that you will remember hopefully in your minds and brains, whether it is good, bad or indifferent, rather than on your phones.”

It was reported that Cumberbatch’s performance was halted because of a technical problem.

The actor said there would be strict rules in place on Monday, with devices that will detect audience members using their phones and cameras during the show and lead to their eviction. “I don’t want that to happen; that’s a horrible way to have to police what is a wonderful thing.”

“So this isn’t me blaming you, this is just me asking you to just ripple it out there,” he said, “with your funny electronic things.”

Cumberbatch has spoken out previously on the topic. At a “Letters Live” performance at the Freemasons’ Hall in April, he stopped his reading to ask people in the audience to stop taking pictures with their phones.

He was adding his plaint to those of a number of actors who have tried to address the scourge of cellphone use during performances — often less eloquently.

During a recent matinee, Patti LuPone’s “Shows for Days” was interrupted four times by phones. At another performance last month, she left the stage at the end of a scene and took a phone from a woman who had been texting, making Ms. LuPone a viglante heroine to those frustrated by breaches of theatre etiquette.

In 2009, she stopped a performance of “Gypsy” to berate someone who was taking photographs. The same year,  Hugh Jackman told an audience member, “We can wait” when the person’s phone rang during a performance of “A Steady Rain.”

At London’s Old Vic in 2014, the American actor Kevin Spacey told an audience member whose phone was ringing during a performance,  ” If you don’t answer that, I will, “

For ongoing ticket availability please check the Barbican website at hamlet.barbican.org.uk

This production is being broadcast LIVE – broadcast to cinemas around the world on Thursday 15th October 2015 as part of National Theatre Live. http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/

 

Hamlet
Directed by Lyndsey Turner
starring Benedict Cumberbatch
5th August to 31st October 2015

Whitley Bay Film Festival present
Payroll (1961)

Sunday 30th August 2015
7.30pm

After the huge success of ‘TOMMY’ with special guest appearance from Roger Daltrey, we are excited to announce the next instalment from Whitley Bay Film Festival will be on the 30th August in the form of the crime drama Payroll which was filmed in the Newcastle, Gateshead, Tynemouth and Seaton Sluice.

Gritty north east crime films didn’t start with Get Carter, Payroll, a superb British thriller filmed around iconic locations in Newcastle and Tynemouth from 1960. From the moment the blag starts on The Tyne bridge, the tension mounts.

Michael Craig & Billie Whitelaw star in this classic heist movie. A gang
of hoodlums carry out an audacious daytime robbery of a security van but
things go seriously amiss. The stakes are dramatically raised when a
security man is murdered.  Things rapidly spiral out of control.

Although the film is a stark and paranoid depiction of early 1960s England,
it’s delivered with perfect pace and cool. The action is nonstop and the
film is underpinned throughout by the hippest Brit Jazz score from Reg
Owen.  Payroll is a compelling ride with great local resonance.

Tickets for the film screening are priced at £5 and available to purchase now.

Tickets are available from the Box Office open Monday – Friday 10am – 4pm, Saturday 10.30am -2.30pm plus until show start on event days. Tickets can also

be purchased on the booking hotline 0844 248 1588 or online at www.playhousewhitleybay.co.uk.

Last year Newcastle Theatre Royal had its most successful year since records began – attracting a total of 405,681 customers through its doors, as revealed in the company’s Annual Report out today.

 

Newcastle Theatre Royal’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, and points to an unprecedented success story.

 

Between 1 April 2014 and 31 March 2015 the Grade 1 listed Theatre welcomed 44 visiting theatre, opera, ballet and dance companies and presented 406 performances to a staggering 405,681 people. The attendance for the year was at 80% capacity, which is an astonishing 21% above the national average.

With a turnover of £12.4 million (up £2.6m on last year), the not-for-profit Theatre supported 50 full time equivalent jobs across the North East and returned £338,652 to the Government in Tax, National Insurance and VAT.

 

The year 14/15 has been the Theatre’s best ever in terms of ticket sales, with a total of £10.3m worth of tickets sold.  This comes in the same year when it received a lower level of funding than ever before (and in 15/16 will receive no ongoing revenue funding). This success is down in a large part to shrewd management, in particular the programming of another blockbuster pantomime that smashed all previous records and a run of hugely successful musicals which did storming business in the Box Office, including Cats, Top Hat, Dirty Dancing and The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time.

Newcastle Theatre Royal Trust is an independent registered charity (No.504473) operating not-for-profit and keeping only a small percentage of the ticket price as a contribution towards the running costs of the Theatre.

 

Chief Executive Philip Bernays said: “The year 2015/16 will be the first year we  receive no funding from the City Council, so to have such a successful year in 14/15 is a hopeful indication of our strength and success in our new autonomy.

 

“We strive to excel in everything that we do in order to attract audiences in what is a very competitive market, and the word ‘Welcome’ continues to be our central mantra. We always try to give our customers the best experience without charging inflated prices – in fact the average price paid at the Theatre Royal in 2013/14 was £22.39 which is slightly below the national average for theatre tickets, and considerably lower than the price of a ticket for a Premier League football match!

 

“The report shows outstanding figures, which are testament to the quality of the programme, of the building and, most importantly, to the efforts of all our staff through the strength of teamwork and of the team.”

 

Over the course of 14/15 38,267 people bought tickets for the first time, and across the board the most popular show genre was Musicals (accounting for 32.7% of visitors), closely followed by the famous annual pantomime at 24.4%.

 

Highlights of the past year include the commencement of the Theatre’s major Back of House refurbishment – a renovation of backstage areas, including the Green Room and dressing rooms. It is the first time the backstage area has been refurbished or decorated since 1988 and represents the second act in a major facelift, ‘Act One’ being the Theatre’s award winning £4.9 million auditorium restoration which took place in 2011. The refurbishment is well on track and set to be complete by the end of August.

 

As well as proving another blockbuster of a show, our panto was once again broadcast to hospitals across the UK via Hospedia TVs.  This year it was also screened in Northern Ireland for the first time, and so reached more patients than ever before.

 

2014/15 also saw the Theatre become the first theatre in the UK to be presented with the Autism Access Award, following a year-long project to develop an all-inclusive approach in relation to the specific needs of theatre-goers with autism. Local firms ITPS and The Benfield Trust supported the Theatre’s relaxed performances, and The Monument Trust and Benfield Trust enabled them to purchase additional captioning screens for their Access performances.

 

The Theatre was also shortlisted for Most Welcoming Theatre in the My Theatre Matters awards and was presented with an Association of Building Engineers Gold Laurel Award, for the restoration of the auditorium.  Furthermore, we added a second star to our Industry Green accreditation in recognition of our further commitment to managing carbon and improving environmental performance.

 

The Learning programme has also been reinvented and reinvigorated, focusing more on the Theatre building and main stage programme, and is proving a great success – last year the Theatre engaged with 7,142 people.

 

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 year it attracted a total of 6,902 Friends & Advantage members.  It’s also a favourite among the business community and received support from a number of local businesses.

 

For more information visit http://www.theatreroyalannualreport.co.uk/

 

Sonia Friedman Productions, Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Tulchin Bartner Productions
in association with 1001 Nights, Rupert Gavin, JFL Theatricals, Scott M. Delman
Scott & Brian Zeilinger/James Lefkowitz
present the Headlong, Nottingham Playhouse and Almeida Theatre production of
1984
By George Orwell
A new adaptation created by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan

Last chance to see critically acclaimed 1984 at the Playhouse Theatre

Final performance is 5 September

More than 264,000 people have now seen 1984 across 459 performances since its original opening in Nottingham in 2013

More than a third of tickets for the run at the Playhouse sold at the accessible price of £19.84

Production embarks on an international tour following end of West End run

The Headlong, Nottingham Playhouse and Almeida Theatre five star production of 1984 must end its limited run at the Playhouse Theatre on 5 September 2015. Following hugely successful runs at the Almeida and in the West End last year, two national tours and prior to a forthcoming international tour, 1984 has been revived to continued success at the Playhouse Theatre this summer.

More than a third of the tickets for this year’s run (38%) have been sold at the accessible £19.84 price band. This ticket initiative was set up by the show’s producers to encourage new audiences. As a result, 1984 has one of the youngest audiences in the West End.

Since 1984’s first performance in 2013, 264,000 people have seen the show across 459 performances in 18 different venues across 3 countries.

1984 is adapted and directed by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan, and designed by Chloe Lamford, with lighting designed by Natasha Chivers, sound designed by Tom Gibbons and video designed by Tim Reid.

George Orwell’s 1984, published in 1949, is one of the most influential novels in recent history, with its chilling depiction of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance and incessant public mind-control.  Its ideas have become our ideas, and Orwell’s fiction is often said to be our reality.

Filtering the spirit and the ambition of the novel through the lens of contemporary culture, this radical new staging explores surveillance culture, identity and thinking two plus two can equal five.

 

 

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THE STAGE 4*

“..galvanising new production”

JONATHAN BAZ 5*

“Tommy is unmissable and up there with the very best of musical theatre on offer in London today. See it, hear it!”

PLAYS TO SEE 4*

“..this is a first rate production which deserves to be seen.”

WEST END WILMA 5*

“..a phenomenal group of talent”

LONDON THEATRE 1 5*

“So, 46 years after being first released as a concept album, does this new production of “The Who’s Tommy” deliver? You bet it does.

Pics by Claire Bilyard

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 CARNS THEATRE PASSION 4*

 

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