SIR PETER WRIGHT’S CLASSIC STAGING OFTHE SLEEPING BEAUTY RETURNS TO BIRMINGHAM DURING THE PRODUCTION’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR
A CAST OF 70 BIRMINGHAM AND WEST MIDLANDS DANCE TALENT TO PERFORM WITH BRB PROFESSIONALS IN SLEEPING BEAUTY DREAMS A SPECIAL NEW ADAPTATION OF SIR PETER WRIGHT’S PRODUCTION
Following a sell-out success and one of the most talked about theatrical events of 2023 with Black Sabbath – The Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet returns to Birmingham Hippodrome with SirPeter Wright’s sumptuous staging of The Sleeping Beauty in the production’s 40th anniversary year.
The Sleeping Beauty has been delighting audiences for well over a hundred years, sprinkling ballet magic on this favourite childhood story and its cast of familiar characters.
Sir Peter Wright’s The Sleeping Beauty will be performed at Birmingham Hippodrome, the company’s home theatre, from Wednesday 21 February – Saturday 2 March as part of a UK tour and will feature virtuoso dance and spectacle from the BRB company providing an enchanting experience for all the family.
Last seen on the Birmingham Hippodrome stage over six years ago, The Sleeping Beauty, continues BRB’s legacy of presenting the acclaimed heritage classics celebrating the beloved work of its founder, Sir Peter Wright.
The Sleeping Beauty is the fourth of Sir Peter Wright’s productions to be presented by the company since autumn 2022, following Coppélia, The Nutcracker and Swan Lake. The acclaimed Royal Ballet Sinfonia performs Tchaikovsky’s glorious score live, with designs by Philip Prowse and lighting design by Mark Jonathan.
Sir Peter Wright said: “I find it hard to believe that this tour marks the 40th Anniversary of The Sleeping Beauty. This has always been the most opulent of ballets, but Philip Prowse’s incredible design created a unique fairy tale world (with almost 30 fairy character tutus alone!) that allows dancers to really inhabit some of classical ballet’s most famous roles.”
Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet Carlos Acosta said “I am thrilled to be reviving Sir Peter Wright’s production of The Sleeping Beauty. The Company is excited to be delighting Midlands audiences once more with this definitive version of one of the great classical ballets, welcoming people of all ages to our performances.”
As part of the Company’s season at Birmingham Hippodrome, BRB will also present Sleeping Beauty Dreams.
Sleeping Beauty Dreams isan exciting opportunity for aspiring young dancers and passionate amateurs training at local dance schools aged from eight upwards, to experience the thrill of live performance in a professional theatre and get a taste of the workings of a professional company supported by BRB’s technical teams and wider BRB.
Sleeping Beauty Dreams, the fourth project of its kind from the Company’s Learning, Engagement, Access and Participation team, led by Rebecca Brookes Acting Head of LEAP, started in 2017 with Cinderella Dreams and highlights the depth of dance talent found in Birmingham and the West Midlands.
Each production has involved a cast of up to 65 people, ranging in age from eight to 78. This year has been the Company’s most popular yet, with over 230 auditionees attending audition days held in 2023.
This year’s chosen cast of 70, including 6 current BRB Dance Track students and 4 previous Dance Track students, will take part in a special new adaptation of Sir Peter Wright’s much-loved production, performed on the set of BRB’s own The Sleeping Beauty.
Sleeping Beauty Dreams will premiere in front of a Birmingham Hippodrome audience, with recorded music, on Sunday 25 February. It will feature two of BRB’s world-class dancers in the principal roles of Aurora and Prince Florimund. Principals will be announced on www.brb.org.uk
Tickets for The Sleeping Beauty at Birmingham Hippodrome and Sleeping Beauty Dreams are available at www.birminghamhippodrome.com
WICKED, the West End stage musical phenomenon that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, last night (Tuesday 9 January 2024) welcomed its 12 millionth visitor to London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre. Ultan Keena (pictured wearing a green jumper) and guests Samuel Spencer and Georgina Woodward attended the performance, the production’s 6639th.
“One of the most successful musicals of all time” (BBC News), Wicked opened in London in 2006 and is already the 11th longest-running theatre production in West End history. Winner of more than 100 global awards, the production has now been seen by 65 million people worldwide.
The London production currently stars Alexia Khadime (Elphaba), Lucy St. Louis (Glinda), Ryan Reid (Fiyero), Sophie-Louise Dann (Madame Morrible), Mark Curry (The Wizard), Caitlin Anderson (Nessarose), Joe Thompson-Oubari (Boq), Steven Pinder (Doctor Dillamond), Amy Webb (Standby for Elphaba), Lisa-Anne Wood (Standby for Glinda), Yuki Abe, Kofi Aidoo-Appiah, Conor Ashman, Jessica Aubrey, Joshua Clemetson, Fergus Dale, Effie Rae Dyson, Nicola Espallardo, Danny Fogarty, Ross Harmon, Kate Leiper, Jemima Loddy, Joshua Lovell, Rory Maguire, PaddyJoe Martin, Millie Mayhew, Harry Mills, Daniel Parrott, Aiesha Naomi Pease, Jeanie Ryan, Natalie Spriggs, James Titchener, Micaela Todd, Christine Tucker, Jaydon Vijn, and Taela Yeomans-Brown.
From Tuesday 12 March 2024,the London production will star Alexia Khadime (Elphaba), Lucy St. Louis (Glinda), Ryan Reid (Fiyero), Sophie-Louise Dann (Madame Morrible), Michael Fenton Stevens (The Wizard), Caitlin Anderson (Nessarose), Graham Kent (Doctor Dillamond), Joe Thompson-Oubari (Boq), Laura Harrison (Standby for Elphaba), Lisa-Anne Wood (Standby for Glinda), Conor Ashman, Jessica Aubrey, Jeremy Batt, Felipe Bejarano, Asmara Cammock, Joshua Clemetson, Effie Rae Dyson, Aimee Hodnett, Kate Leiper, Jemima Loddy, Joshua Lovell, Rory Maguire, PaddyJoe Martin, Darnell Mathew-James, Millie Mayhew, Ayden Morgan, Rishard-Kyro Nelson, Aston Newman Hannington, Aiesha Naomi Pease, Jeanie Ryan, Natalie Spriggs, Charlotte Anne Steen, James Titchener, Micaela Todd, Taela Yeomans-Brown, and Jacob Young.
London performances begin Tuesday – Saturday at 7.30pm, and Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2.30pm. The following five added shows are also now on sale: Thursday 15 February, Thursday 4 April,Thursday 1 August, Thursday 15 August and Thursday 31 October2024 all at 2:30pm. Doors open 90 minutes prior to the start of all performances.
Wicked is also touring to cities in England, Scotland, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland until January 2025. Currently at the Edinburgh Playhouse, where it opened to unanimous five-star reviews, until 14 January 2024, the award-winning production opens at the Bristol Hippodrome on 23 January 2024 and then continues to Birmingham Hippodrome; Bradford Alhambra Theatre; Southampton Mayflower Theatre; Liverpool Empire; Dublin Bord Gáis Energy Theatre; Sunderland Empire; and Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre. The tour will conclude with a 2024/5 Christmas season at the Manchester Palace Theatre, the venue that hosted the tour premiere in September 2013.
Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s celebrated stage musical is based on the acclaimed novel by Gregory Maguire and imagines a beguiling backstory and future possibilities to the lives of L. Frank Baum’s beloved characters from ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’, revealing the decisions and events that shape the destinies of two unlikely university friends on their journey to becoming ‘Glinda The Good’ and the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’.
Wickedhas music and lyrics by multi-Oscar and Grammy Award winner Stephen Schwartz (‘Godspell’, ‘Pippin’, ‘The Prince of Egypt’, Disney’s ‘Pocahontas’, ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’and ‘Enchanted’). It is based on the multimillion-copy best-selling novel ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of theWest’ by Gregory Maguire and written by Emmy and Tony Award nominee Winnie Holzman (creator of the landmark American television series ‘My So-Called Life’). Musical staging is by Tony Award-winner Wayne Cilento with direction by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello.
Wicked is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt, and David Stone. Executive Producer (UK) Michael McCabe.
Through its ‘For Good’ charitable endeavours and acclaimed Wicked Active Learning cultural and social education programme, the London production of Wicked proudly supports and champions the work of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, the National Literacy Trust, and Theatre Works!, the charity providing theatre tickets to disadvantaged children across the UK.
The Apollo Victoria Theatre, Wilton Road, London, SW1V 1LG
With Max Webster’s sold-out production of Macbeth currently running at the theatre, Donmar Warehouse Artistic Director Michael Longhurst and Executive Director Henny Finch today announce the full cast for the world première of Lucy Kirkwood’s The Human Body.
Joining the previously announced Keeley Hawes (Iris) and Jack Davenport (George) are Tom Goodman-Hill (Julian Elcock), Flora Jacoby Richardson (Laura Elcock), Audrey Kattan (Laura Elcock), Pearl Mackie (Sylvia Samuels) and Siobhán Redmond (Helen Mackeson MP) with additional characters played by members of the company. Michael Longhurst reunites with Ann Yee to co-direct his final production as Artistic Director, following their collaboration on the critically acclaimed Next to Normal which transfers to the Wyndham’s Theatre later this year. The Human Body opens on 27 February and runs until 13 April, with previews from 16 February.
The creative team is completed by Fly Davis (Designer), Joshua Pharo (Lighting Designer), Ben and Max Ringham (Sound Designers and Composers), Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom (Video Designers), Kate Waters (Fight Director), Anna Cooper CDG (Casting Director), Rimu Kwok (Assistant Set & Costume Designer), Cheng Keng (Assistant Lighting Designer), José Guillermo Puello (Assistant Sound Designer).
World première
THE HUMAN BODY
by Lucy Kirkwood
16 February – 13 April 2024
Cast: Jack Davenport, Tom Goodman-Hill, Keeley Hawes, Flora Jacoby Richardson, Audrey Kattan, Pearl Mackie, Siobhán Redmond
Directors: Michael LonghurstandAnn Yee; Designer: Fly Davis; Lighting Designer: Joshua Pharo; Sound Designers and Composers: Ben and Max Ringham; Video Designers: Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom; Fight Director: Kate Waters; Casting Director: Anna Cooper CDG;Assistant Set & Costume Designer:Rimu Kwok; Assistant Lighting Designer: Cheng Keng; Assistant Sound Designer: José Guillermo Puello
“The window for change – real change I mean – will close. It’s already closing. Very
soon it will be shut, and we shan’t be able to get it open again.”
Two worlds meet in a romantic drama which sees stars of film and TV, Keeley Hawes and Jack Davenport, make their long-awaited returns to the London stage.
1948, Shropshire: the winter is freezing, austerity is biting and Iris Elcock, GP, Socialist and Labour party councillor, is working tirelessly to implement Nye Bevan’s National Health Service Act and its revolutionary promise of free health care for all. At home she is a mother, and wife to an ex-Navy man scarred by the war. But a chance meeting with George Blythe, a local boy who has made it to Hollywood, turns her quiet, certain world upside down.
The Human Body is a story of political and private passions from multi-award-winning writer Lucy Kirkwood (The Witches, Mosquitoes, Chimerica). In his final production as Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse, Michael Longhurst directs together with Ann Yee, with whom he previously collaborated on Next to Normal and Caroline, or Change.
Lucy Kirkwood’s theatre credits include The Witches (book and lyrics), The Welkin, Mosquitoes, Hansel and Gretel and Beauty and the Beast (National Theatre), That Is Not Who I Am, Maryland, The Children and NSFW (Royal Court Theatre), Like Rabbits (Brighton Festival), Chimerica (Headlong, Almeida Theatre and Harold Pinter Theatre), Housekeeping (Southwark Playhouse and Latitude Festival), The Small Hours (Hampstead Theatre), Bloody Wimmin (Kiln Theatre), It Felt Empty When the Heart Went at First but it is Alright Now (Arcola Theatre), Psychogeography (Union Theatre), Tinderbox (Bush Theatre), Guns or Butter (Union Theatre), Hedda (Gate Theatre), Grady Hot Potato (Bedlam Theatre). Television credits include Adult Material, Chimerica, Foreign Skies, The Smoke, Skins and for film, Maryland and The Briny.
Jack Davenport plays George. His theatre work includes Enemies (Almeida Theatre), How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (Soho Theatre), Lady Windermere’s Fan (Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Servant (Lyric Hammersmith – Olivier Award nomination for Most Promising Newcomer), and Hamlet (Theatr Clwyd). For television, his work includes Dr Death, Accused, Call My Agent, The Morning Show, Why Women Kill, Next of Kin, Prototype, Life in Squares, Breathless, The Good Wife, Sea of Fire, Smash, Flash Forward, Swingtown, This Life +10, Mary Bryant, Miss Marple, Eroica, Coupling, The Real Jane Austen, Dickens, The Asylum, The Wyvern Mystery, Ultra-Violet, This Life, The Moth and Macbeth; and for film, Bonus Track, Wilde Wedding, Gernika, A United Kingdom, Americana, The Tank, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Mother’s Milk, The Key Man, The Boat That Rocked, Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End, Dead Man’s Chest and The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Libertine, The Wedding Date, 3 Men in a Restaurant, Gypsy Woman, Offending Angels, The Bunker, Not Afraid Not Afraid, The Talented Mr Ripley, Tales of the Mummy, Fierce Creatures and Career Girls.
Tom Goodman-Hill plays Julian Elcock. He returns to Donmar Warehouse having previously appeared in Limehouse, The Cosmonaut’s Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union, and The Seagull. His other theatre credits include Rabbit Hole, Darker Shores (Hampstead Theatre), The Odyssey (Almeida Theatre), The Effect, Earthquakes in London,Tartuffe (National Theatre), Death and the Maiden (Harold Pinter Theatre), Enron (Headlong, Noël Coward Theatre, Royal Court Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre), Spamalot (Palace Theatre – Olivier Award Nomination for Best Supporting Performer in a Musical), A Doll’s House (UK tour), The Danny Crow Show (Bush Theatre), The Dispute and The Critic (Manchester Royal Exchange), Bartholomew Fair, Talk of the City, Two Gentlemen of Verona (RSC) and The Wolves (Paines Plough). His television credits include Baby Reindeer, Soulmates, Cheat, Inside No.9,We Are Family, Humans, The Secret Agent, Mr Selfridge, Residue, Cardinal Burns, The Thirteenth Tale, Dead Boss, Call the Midwife, Black Mirror,Case Histories, Case Sensitive, Waking The Dead,Candy Cabs, George Gently,Free Agents, Hustle, Moses Jones, The Devil’s Whore, Grandma’s House, Clay, Lewis, Miss Austen Regrets, After You’ve Gone, Doctor Who, Never Better, Perfect Day, Fear of Fanny, Ideal and My Family and Other Animals; and for film, Homebound, The War Below, Rebecca, Where Hands Touch, The Rizen, The Truth Commissioner, Everest, The Imitation Game, Down Dog, The Hollow Crown: Richard II, The Essence of Vision, 7 Lives, The Chalet Girl, Glorious 39, Hippie Hippie Shake, Look At Me, I’m Beautiful!, Festival, Fat Slags, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The One and Only, Charlotte Gray and In Love and War.
Keeley Hawes plays Iris. Her theatre work includes Barking in Essex (Wyndham’s Theatre) and Rocket to the Moon (National Theatre). For television, her work includes Orphan Black: Echoes, Stonehouse, Crossfire, The Midwich Cuckoos, It’s a Sin (RTS Award nomination), Finding Alice, Honour, Year of the Rabbit, Summer of Rockets, The Durrells, Traitors, Mrs Wilson (BAFTA nomination), Bodyguard (BAFTA nomination), Inside No. 9, The Missing, the Hollow Crown, Line of Duty (BAFTA nomination), Fungus the Bogeyman, The Casual Vacancy, Doctor Who, The Tunnel, Ambassadors, The Lady Vanishes, Upstairs Downstairs, That Mitchell and Webb Look, Identity, Ashes to Ashes, and Mutual Friends; and for film, Scoop, To Olivia, Rebecca, Misbehaviour, Never Land, High-Rise, The Adventurer, Flashbacks of Fool and The Avengers.
Flora Jacoby Richardson plays Laura Elcock. This marks her professional stage debut. Her television credits include Anne in The Famous Five.
Audrey Kattan plays Laura Elcock. Her theatre credits include Leopoldstadt (Wyndham’s Theatre), and The Sound of Music (Chichester Festival Theatre). Her television credits include Grantchester and A Small Light.
Pearl Mackie plays Sylvia Samuels. Her theatre credits include Grenfell: In The Words Of Survivors, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (National Theatre), The Birthday Party (Harold Pinter Theatre), A Mad World My Masters (RSC), Obama-Ology (Finborough Theatre), Disnatured Rift (Shakespeare In Shoreditch), Crystal Springs (Park Theatre), The Helen Project (LOST Theatre), Home (The Last Refuge Peckham), Only Human (Theatre503), Neighbors (HighTide Festival) and Blue Blood (Riverside Studios). Her television credits include The Diplomat, Tom Jones, The Long Call, Andy and the Donald, Friday Night Dinner, and as Bill Potts in Doctor Who; and for film, Your Move, Tyger, Greed, The Deal, Horizon Line, Origami and Svengali.
Siobhán Redmond plays Helen Mackeson MP. Her theatre credits include TheStraw Chair (Finborough), Grandpa’s Great Escape (UK tour), Vassa (Almeida), Top Girls, Dido, Queen of Carthage (National Theatre), Imperium, Richard III, King John, Dunsinane, Twelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, The Spanish Tragedy (RSC), Dunsinane, Mary Stuart, The House of Bernarda Alba (National Theatre of Scotland), Talking Heads, Exit The King (Theatre Royal, Bath), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare’s Globe), U.S. and Them (Hampstead Theatre), Thon Man Molière, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, As You Like It (Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh), Perfect Days (Traverse, Hampstead and Vaudeville Theatres), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (PW Productions), Macbeth (Tron Theatre Glasgow), The Trick Is To Keep Breathing (Tron Theatre, Royal Court), An Experienced Woman Gives Advice (Royal Exchange Theatre), King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Look Back In Anger (Renaissance Theatre Company) and A Month Of Sundays (Duchess Theatre). Her television credits include The Sister Boniface Mysteries, Two Doors Down, The Scotts, Rain Dogs, Queens of Mystery, Beep, Creation Stories, Unforgotten, Lovesick, Clique, The Replacement, Code of a Killer, Case Histories II, The Town, Mindaway, Boy Meets Girl, Lift, The Smoking Room, Sea of Souls, Ed Stone is Dead, Every Woman Knows a Secret, In the Red, Wokenwell, Throwaways, Deacon Brodie, Nervous Energy, and Between the Lines; and for film, One Night In Bath, First And Only, Tupperware Party, Beautiful People, Karmic Mothers, Captives, Duet for One, and 2 Hours.
Michael Longhurst is the Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse. For the company, direction includes Next to Normal (transferring to the West End in 2024), Private Lives,The Band’s Visit (6 Olivier nominations),Force Majeure, Midnight Your Time (lockdown film), Teenage Dick, Europe, Belleville and the post-pandemic multicast revival of Nick Payne’s Constellations, which helped reopen the West End,broke box office records at the Vaudeville and won the 2022 Olivier Award for Best Revival. His production of Constellations previously ran on Broadway starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson (Samuel J Friedman Theater, for MTC), in the West End starring Sally Hawkins and Rafe Spall (Duke of York’s, Evening Standard Award Best Play) originating at the Royal Court. His Chichester Festival Theatre production of Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s Caroline, or Change transferred to Studio 54 for Roundabout Theater on Broadway, via Hampstead Theatre and the West End, with Sharon D Clarke reprising her Olivier Award-winning performance. The Broadway production received three Tony nominations including Best Musical Revival. Other theatre includes Amadeus featuring the Southbank Sinfonia (National Theatre/NTatHome), The Son (Kiln Theatre/Duke of York’s Theatre), Gloria (Hampstead Theatre), Bad Jews (Theatre Royal Haymarket/Theatre Royal Bath/UK tour & revival at the Arts), They Drink It In The Congo and Carmen Disruption (Almeida Theatre), ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore, The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare’s Globe), If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet (Off-Broadway for Roundabout), Linda, The Art of Dying, Remembrance Day (Royal Court Theatre), A Number (Nuffield Southampton Theatres/Young Vic), Cannibals (Royal Exchange Theatre), The History Boys (Sheffield Theatres), Dealer’s Choice (Royal & Derngate), The World of Extreme Happiness (NT Shed), Stovepipe (site-specific promenade with the National Theatre, HighTide and Bush Theatre), Midnight Your Time (HighTide), On The Beach (Bush Theatre), On The Record, Gaudeamus (Arcola Theatre), dirty butterfly (Young Vic – winner of the Jerwood Directors Award) and Guardians (Pleasance/Theatre503 – Fringe First Award).
Ann Yee returns to the Donmar and renews her working collaboration with Longhurst following Next to Normal. Her other work for the Donmar includes Shakespeare Trilogy – Henry IV; Julius Caesar and The Tempest. As a director, her work includes Rusalka (Royal Opera House), As You Like It (Dallas Theater Center), HoT (Goodspeed New Works), and Perpetual Sunshine and the Ghost Girls (NAMT). As choreographer/movement director her work includes Rusalka (Royal Opera House), The Seven Deadly Sins, Bluebeard’s Castle (Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires), South Pacific (Sadler’s Wells), Caroline, Or Change (Chichester Festival Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Playhouse Theatre and Broadway), Life After (Goodman Theater, Chicago), Blindness (Theatre Carre, Amsterdam), La Boheme (The Goteborg Opera), As You Like It (Dallas Theater Center), Oklahoma! (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), The American Clock, The Duchess of Malfi (The Old Vic), War Requiem (English National Opera), Sunday in the Park With George (Hudson Theatre, Broadway), The Taming of the Shrew (Public Theatre in the Park, NY), Queen Anne, Titus Andronicus, A Soldier in Every Son (RSC), Mackie Messer (Salzburg Festival), Ah, Wilderness!, After Miss Julie (Young Vic), Mr Burns (Almeida Theatre), Birdland, Oxford Street (Royal Court Theatre), Urinetown (St. James/Apollo Theatre), Blurred Lines, She Stoops to Conquer, The Comedy of Errors (National Theatre), The Commitments (Palace Theatre), Wozzeck (English National Opera),The Color Purple, Torch Song Trilogy (Menier Chocolate Factory),(RSC), God of Soho (Globe), King Lear (RSC/Roundhouse/NY), The Secret Garden, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (Birmingham Rep/West Yorkshire Playhouse), Ingerland (Operashots/Royal Opera House), Dance Radio, Mates (Latitude Festival /Drywrite), and Woyzeck (NY/Gate). Festival/Drywrite); Woyzeck (NY/Gate). For film, her work includes A Bigger Splash, and PPE: Off the Page (Royal Court short).
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PERFORMANCE TIMES
Evenings Mon – Sat: 7.30pm
Matinees Thu & Sat: 2.30pm
TICKET PRICES
The Human Body
£65 (£60) / £41 (£38) / £21 (£19)
£15 standing tickets
*Preview discounts apply to the first four performances only
Macbeth
Sold out
£69 (£64) / £48 (£43), £25 (£23)
£15 standing tickets
*Preview discounts apply to the first four performances only
For Macbeth, standing tickets will be released for purchase online from 12pm on the day of the performance. Please note you will not be able to purchase standing tickets in person or over the phone.
Every booking made online, via telephone or in person is subject to a £1.50 transaction fee
BARCLAYS UNDER 30s £10 TICKETS
To celebrate our 30th birthday and thanks to generous support from our Associate Sponsor Barclays a limited number of £10 tickets are available for under 30s for every performance.
New tickets on sale every day at the Donmar. Allocations of tickets will be made available every day for performances 7 days later. Tickets will be available across the auditorium at every price band.
ACCESS
The Donmar Warehouse is fully wheelchair accessible. Guide dogs and hearing dogs are welcome in the auditorium. There is a Loop system and a Radio Frequency system fitted in the main auditorium and there are also hearing loops at all the front of house counters.
ASSISTED PERFORMANCES
If you require a companion to attend the Donmar, their ticket will be free. To book call 020 3282 3808 or email [email protected].
For all other access enquiries or bookings call 020 3282 3808.
CAPTIONED PERFORMANCES – 7.30pm (captioned by Stagetext)
Macbeth: Monday 29 January 2024, 7.30pm
The Human Body: Monday 18 March at 7.30pm
AUDIO DESCRIBED PERFORMANCE – 2.30pm (audio-described by VocalEyes)
Macbeth: Saturday 27 January 2024, 2.30pm
The Human Body: Saturday 13 April at 2.30pm
SEASON AT A GLANCE:
MACBETH
Until 10 February 2024
Captioned performance: Monday 29 January 2024, 7.30pm Audio described performance: Saturday 27 January 2024, 2.30pm
THE HUMAN BODY
16 February – 13 April 2024
Audio Described performance Saturday 13 April at 2.30pm
Captioned performance Monday 18 March at 7.30pm
THE CHERRY ORCHARD
26 April – 22 June 2024
Audio Described performance Saturday 1 June at 2.30pm
Captioned performance Monday 3 June at 7.30pm
PRIMARY TRUST
28 June – 24 August 2024
Audio Described performance Saturday 17 August at 2.30pm
Captioned performance Monday 12 August at 7.30pm
DONMAR WEST END:
NEXT TO NORMAL
WYNDHAM’S THEATRE
18 June – 21 September 2024
With special thanks to Charles Holloway, Season Supporter
Additionally, we would like to thank MACBETH Production Supporters and the MACBETH Production Syndicate.
WhatsOnStage today announces that Melanie La Barrie and Bonnie Langford will host the24th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards, the only major theatre prize-giving decided by the theatregoers themselves. Voting for the winners of the awards closes today.
Taking place on Sunday 11 February 2024 for the first time at The London Palladium, the evening will see winners crowned across a range of categories. Theatregoers will also enjoy a host of exclusive live performances, which will be announced soon, from top stage talent, accompanied by a 25-piece orchestra. The event, co-produced with creative directors Alex Parker and Damian Sandys, is currently on sale.
Melanie La Barrie said today, “I’m thrilled to be involved with the WhatsOnStage Awards this year. I have a long and wonderful history with this ceremony and to take on this new role is very exciting. I look forward to being a part of this extraordinary landmark event in our theatrical calendar. It’s going to be a stellar evening.”
Bonnie Langford added, “I am thrilled to be hosting the 24th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards, an exciting event in the theatrical calendar! I want to wish all the nominees the best of luck and I cannot wait to celebrate with you all on 11 February at The London Palladium.”
Veteran of the stage and screen, Bonnie Langford, has just concluded a season in Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends at the Gielgud Theatre. Her other recent credits include Doctor Who and Anything Goes at the Barbican Theatre.
Melanie La Barrie has originated several roles in numerous musicals, most recently finishing her run in & Juliet on Broadway, playing the role of Nurse – a role she first originated in Manchester and the West End. She will next be seen playing Hermes in the eagerly anticipated West End premiere of award-winning musical Hadestown, which opens at the Lyric Theatre early next month.
The Bridge Theatre’s critically acclaimed smash-hit production of Guys & Dolls leads the pack this year, with 12 nominations. Also performing strongly in the musical categories are Jamie Lloyd’s production of Sunset Boulevard starring Nicole Scherzinger with 9 nominations, and Michael Longhurst’s production of Next to Normal at the Donmar Warehouse with 6 nominations.
This year was a brilliant one for the National Theatre, who receive 24 nominations in total – they lead the straight play categories with their phenomenally successful production of James Graham’s Dear England with 10 nominations. Also featuring strongly in the straight play categories are Stranger Things: The First Shadow, playing at the Phoenix Theatre, with 8 nominations, and The Effect – also directed by Lloyd, with 5 nominations at the National Theatre.
Now in their 24th year, the WhatsOnStage Awards are the only major theatre awards decided by the theatregoers themselves.
Uncovering unconscious biases in the workplace, London Zoo comes to Southwark Playhouse Southwark Playhouse Borough, 77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD Thursday 7th – Tuesday 30th March 2024
Set during the dawn of a new millennium, London Zoo explores the subtle and not so subtle prejudices of the modern workplace this Spring. Uncovering unspoken attitudes, ingrained attitudes, powerful secrets and clever manipulations, this satirical fast-paced production follows senior executive, Arabella’s journey in a typical London newspaper office. With the print crisis looming and revenues falling, the characters struggle to adapt to the new world as it falls in love with digital media. Against this backdrop, their perfect personas unravel with surprising, hysterical and shocking results.
London Zoo provides audiences with a funny but valuable insight into the exclusive world of board meetings, CEOs and the behind the scenes strategizing, typical of the 1990’s but still highly relevant today. This witty and satirical play is written and directed by Farine Clarke, who’s writing reflects her observations of people’s interactions from her early career as a doctor, through to her time in publishing, as well as Board Director roles across public and private businesses. She will be joined by renowned film, theatre, and television actress, Linda Marlowe (EastEnders, BBC; Too Clever By Half, Old Vic Theatre) as special advisor on the production.
Reviving her role as Arabella, Natalie Lauren (Close to Me, Channel 4) will be returning to the stage as leading lady after starring in the 2022 run of the production. Joining her on stage will be Harris Vaughan (The Nevers, HBO/Sky) who also returns to the role of Christian, with Simon Furness (The Beaux’ Stratagem, National Theatre; Wednesday, Netflix) who is the exciting new member of this ensemble. Also returning will be Odimegwu Okoye as Kelvin, Anirban Roy as Sunil and American actor Dan Saski performing as Alex.
UnEqual Productions is an award-winning theatre company that produces cutting-edge plays, which strive to resonate with audiences across the UK spanning social, ethnic and economic spectrums. Unafraid to use humour, wit, and irony to boldly generate active debate London Zoo reveals unconscious biases that exist in many environments to challenge established attitudes that influence how people behave and are treated.
Artistic Director and Writer Farine Clarke comments, London Zoo is a pacey parody of life… It’s set in the newspaper industry but could apply to any workplace or social situation because it’s about people: how they feel, interact and at times manipulate to get their way. Having been a doctor and worked in varied businesses at senior level, I find so many of our behaviours both extraordinary and full of irony. Overt prejudice is easy to spot and therefore to react to, but we all harbour our own subtle prejudices which we need to expose and discuss. There’s no point in doing this on a soapbox – far better to use comedy to help us laugh at ourselves while still questioning if we can change for the better. That’s London Zoo’s purpose and why audiences of all ages enjoy it to the full.
David Binder Productions and Wessex Grove today announce the release of 40 stalls seats at £40 for every performance of Thomas Ostermeier’s bold reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, originally produced at SchaubühneBerlin. The tickets are on sale from 4pm today via www.atgtickets.com.
Ostermeier directs Matt Smith (Dr Stockmann), Jessica Brown Findlay (Katharina Stockmann), Priyanga Burford (Aslaksen), Zachary Hart (Billing), Paul Hilton (Peter Stockmann), Nigel Lindsay (Morten Kiil), and Shubham Saraf (Hovstad). The production opens at the Duke of York’s Theatre on 20 February 2024, with previews from 6 February, and runs until 13 April.
David Binder Productions and Wessex Grove present
AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE
by Henrik Ibsen
In a version by Thomas Ostermeier and Florian Borchmeyer
Conceived and directed by: Thomas Ostermeier
Originally produced by Schaubühne Berlin
What is truth without power?
Doubt spreads faster than disease in Ibsen’s thought-provoking play about truth in a society driven by power and money.
When Dr Stockmann makes an unbelievable discovery about the healing waters in his local baths, he holds the future of the town in his hands, but those with everything to lose refuse to accept his word. As the battle goes beyond contaminated water, barriers are broken in this contemporary production as Ostermeier shows us why this perennial classic will be relevant forever.
Making his West End debut, celebrated director Thomas Ostermeier‘s iconoclastic production of An Enemy of the People premieres at the Duke of York’s Theatre for a strictly limited run.
Paulus and special guests will share all you need to know
to self-book a successful UK small-scale tour at the
Get Your Show on the Road workshop in London on 11 February 2024
Veteran cabaret entertainer and educator Paulus (BBC1’s All Together Now and ‘King of Cabaret’ The Stage), is holding his inaugural Get Your Show on the Road workshop on Sunday 11 February 2024 from 10.30am-4.30pm at BOLD Elephant, London SE1.
Get Your Show on the Road is open to all, and is suitable for a wide-cross section of those who might be interested in knowing how to self-book a successful UK small-scale tour – whether that be as a performer, producer, tour booker, general manager or in another capacity.
Workshop participants will be equipped with a practical touring kit and the confidence to implement it. The workshop will dispel touring myths with someone currently making it happen, show how to bypass the traditional gatekeepers of industry and do it yourself, and also how to build a support network with fellow industry professionals.
Special guests joining Paulus to share their advice will include Karl Steele of Wolverhampton Grand (and previously of Old Joint Stock) and solo theatre maker Mark Farrelly, who has no less than five shows that he tours extensively with across the UK.
Paulus, ‘The Cabaret Geek’ is perhaps best known for his appearances on BBC1’s All Together Now as a talent judge. Paulus’s musical tribute to Victoria Wood Looking For Me Friend: The Music of Victoria Wood premièred in London in 2020 and has been touring ever since.
Paulus said: “I’m excited to share the wealth of knowledge accrued during the past five years touring the UK with Looking For Me Friend: The Music of Victoria Wood, especially given the challenges that both regional theatres and artists have faced during the pandemic and through a cost of living crisis. After over thirty years as a producer and promoter of live events, it’s a privilege to be able to share what I’ve learnt with other solo theatre makers and small-scale productions and give them the confidence to get their show on the road.”
For fifteen years, Paulus had close ties to the cult London cabaret venue The Battersea Barge, producing many cabarets for them including the hugely successful talent contest Cheese ‘n’ Crackers, Diva Nite and their annual adult pantomimes. For ten years, Paulus ran the entertainment agency Excess All Areas (formerly Better Chemistry) and under this banner he spearheaded the annual Cabaret Convention and London Cabaret Awards. His expertise has been sought to judge many talent competitions including National Burlesque Awards, Drag Idol for Royal Vauxhall Tavern, Pride’s Got Talent, Musical Comedy Awards and Burlesque Idol at The Hippodrome Casino.
On Sale, Friday 26 January 2024, 10am Priority Access, 12pm General Onsale
Following an unprecedented sold-out season at Manchester Opera House in June, producers of the World Premiere of Burlesque the Musical – the first ever stage adaptation of Steven Antin’s crowd-pleasing musical sensation, Burlesque which starred Christina Aguilera,Cher, Kristen Bell and Stanley Tucci – today announced that the production will make its Scottish Premiere in Glasgow in September, and return to the Manchester Opera House in October, prior to a West End transfer.
With performances in Manchester from Thursday 13 June until Saturday 29 June 2024 already sold out, producers have confirmed a return season in the city from Thursday 3 October – Saturday 2 November 2024. Tickets go on sale on Friday 26 January. Tickets go on sale on Friday 26 January, at 10am for priority bookers and 12 midday for the general public. Sign up for advance information and priority access to tickets www.burlesquethemusical.com.
Robin Hawkes, Theatre Director of the Palace Theatre & Opera House said: “Whilst we never doubted that Manchester would react well to being the first ever city to host this hotly anticipated production, we have been completely blown away by the response so far.
I was lucky enough to attend the show’s development workshop and to see what it has already achieved since then is truly thrilling; therefore it only seems right to offer even more people the chance to see this spectacle before it heads to the West End!
Audience responses like this reinforce our city as the best place for producers to premiere these new and ground-breaking productions, and we look forward to continuing our ‘Manchester Gets It First’ programme for years to come.”
Performances at Glasgow Theatre Royal are from Wednesday 11 September – Saturday 28 September 2024. Tickets go on sale on Friday 26 January. Tickets go on sale on Friday 26 January, at 10am for priority bookers and 12 midday for the general public. Sign up for advance information and priority access to tickets www.burlesquethemusical.com.
Christina Aguilera, who will serve as the Executive Producer of Burlesque the Musical, said:
“Burlesque was my first feature film — and creating the role of Ali along with co-writing the music was a part of my career that I will always cherish. I am so happy to be reunited with Steven, this time behind-the-scenes as an Executive Producer and contributing songwriter for our new stage version. Recreating Burlesque as a live theatre experience is something I always hoped would happen, and here we are!”
Welcome to Burlesque the Musical, the glamorous, gritty and outrageously fun new musical based on the much-loved hit movie.
Discover a club like no other…a place beneath the city lights where the sequins sparkle, seduction shimmers, and a life can change in the flick of a feather boa.
When Ali heads to New York in search of her mother, she finds herself drawn into a dazzling underground world where the beat of the music and the heat of the dance moves will change her life forever. Among this unlikely family of misfits, dreamers and schemers, Ali will unwittingly find her real voice, discover her talent, and find where she really, truly belongs.
Written by Steven Antin, directed and choreographed by Nick Winston, with additional material by Kate Wetherhead, BURLESQUE THE MUSICAL is a scintillating journey of self-discovery that absolutely sizzles with songs by Christina Aguilera, Sia and Diane Warren, alongside additional songs by Todrick Hall and Jess Folley.
Burlesque is the big new musical that says life isn’t fair…it’s fabulous!
The full creative team for Burlesque the Musical is: Steven Antin (Book Writer/Producer), Music and Lyrics by Christina Aguilera, Sia, Diane Warren, Todrick Hall & Jess Folley, Nick Winston (Director and Choreographer), additional material by Kate Wetherhead, Soutra Gilmour (Set Designer), Tom Curran (Musical Arrangements and Orchestrations), Ryan Dawson Laight (Costume Designer), Phil Bateman (Musical Supervisor), Chris Poon (Musical Director), Robin Antin (Creative Co-Producer/Associate Choreographer), Harry Blumenau (Casting Director), Sarah-Jane Price (Casting Associate) and Lloyd Thomas (Production Manager). Further information about the show will be announced in due course.
Burlesque The Musical is produced by Adam Paulden & Jason Haigh-Ellery and Sue Gilad & Larry Rogowsky, Steven Antin and Christina Aguilera.
Burlesque The Musical is general managed by ADAMA Entertainment:
ADAMA Entertainment produces outstanding live theatre and events in the UK and across the world. The company has won numerous accolades for its work, including 3 Olivier awards, a South Korean DIMF award and the coveted WhatsOnStage.com award for Best New Musical.
The company offers theatrical management and programming services to other producers, promoters and companies. It also owns high-quality production sets that are available for hire, and programmes a flexible central London space for rehearsals, photo shoots and more. ADAMA is co-owner of the North East’s leading performing arts college, Musical Theatre Studio (MTS).
Founder-Managing Director: Adam Paulden
Chairman: Jason Haigh-Ellery
In Fine Company Productions (producers) are Broadway veterans Sue Gilad and Larry Rogowsky, Grammy and three-time Tony Award-winning producers. They are currently represented on Broadway by Moulin Rouge!, Merrily We Roll Along, The Who’s Tommy, and The Outsiders. More at www.InFineCompany.com
Returning to the West End after a successful run last year, Steven Moffat’s seriously silly play dispels the Winter blues with its excruciating comedy of manners.
The uptight middle class couple Peter and Debbie are now played by Lee Mack and Sarah Alexander. They meet the gregarious American Elsa (Frances Barber) on a cruise, and begrudgingly end up giving her their contact details, expecting her to do what all decent holiday acquaintances do – promise to keep in touch but never, ever make contact again. They haven’t reckoned with the force of nature that is Elsa, and she manipulates and arranges to come and stay with them. Belatedly worrying about who exactly they are welcoming into their home, Debbie googles Elsa and discovers that she has probably murdered six people, but there is lack of evidence to prosecute. However, as it is too late to “unfriend” Elsa on Facebook, Elsa arrives and the couple are too British and too polite to confront her, and their feeble attempts to broach the subject end effectively when they don’t want to upset her. Elsa’s presence in the house elicits a remarkable transformation in their two teenage children. (The couple’s relationship with their children is slightly bizarre – this is a man who has forbidden his son from farting downstairs, instead banishing him to a less public area.) Within a few days Elsa has convinced Alex (Jem Matthews) that staying upstairs playing online games is unhealthy and he begins exercising, while Rosie (Maddie Holliday) stops prowling around eavesdropping and begins to chat happily with her parents. “She’s Murder Poppins!” Elsa is written cleverly, slithering out of awkward questions with an unhinged cocktail of steeliness, homespun wisdom, some unpleasant truths, childishness and creepy sultriness that make her a force of nature sweeping everyone along with her. It’s never clear whether she means anything she says or is just manipulating everyone around her, but she soon has the children and most of the neighbours eating out if her hand.
The laughs come fast in the first act, with Barber chewing the scenery as the brash and uninhibited American and Mack squirming with increasingly maniacal energy as he deals with embarrassing and uncomfortable situations escalated by the couple’s inability to talk honestly with Elsa. The second act scene where he is trying to ascertain whether Elsa has poisoned a police officer (Muzz Khan) is a masterclass in physical comedy as Mack gurns and gestures through the excruciating situation. Mack excels in roles like this – and at times it feels like an extended episode of Not Going Out, which is probably the biggest draw for this run of the show. Another sitcom veteran, Alexander has a less showy role, but is wonderful as the equally uptight Debbie who bemoans the fact that she has never killed anyone herself. “It’s been 6 days and no murders” says Peter at one stage. The couple’s almost pathological avoidance of embarrassment and conflict (except with their children) allows Elsa to settle in and get to know the neighbour (Nick Sampson nailing the passive aggressive bore) before she finally moves on after Debbie finally speaks her mind – but not without leaving an unusual parting gift.
This isn’t a ground-breaking comedy and has the comfortable feel of a familiar sitcom thanks to Lee Mack’s assured performance. Moffat knows how to tell a story and director Mark Gatiss knows how to sell a story, making The Unfriend a sure-fire hit.
Riverside Studios, Hammersmith – until 27 January 2024
Reviewed by Phil Brown
3***
It seems as if Alan Turing may just have supplanted Stephen Hawking as Britain’s favourite mathematician extraordinaire! Such widespread recognition for this remarkable man is well overdue. And the timing of this show couldn’t be much better given Turing’s prescience regarding the new hot topic of artificial intelligence.
This musical biography has been a hit show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2022 and 2023, but in reality has been a work in progress since 2021. The idea of telling Turing’s unique story through a musical doesn’t immediately compute at first sight, but the success of the musical version of “Operation Mincemeat”, for example, demonstrates the possibilities of the format. Overall, this production makes a very commendable job of it.
The latest incarnation of “Alan Turing – a Musical ~Biography” is essentially a 90 minute, single act two hander with Joe Bishop playing Alan Turing, and Zara Cooke playing a variety of supporting characters (his mother, a schoolteacher, acquaintance Mary Peterson, fiancée and lifelong friend Joan Clark, and the infamous arresting policeman).
The play kicks off with a ticking clock and proceeds straightforwardly through a series of episodes portraying the six or so key moments in Turing’s life, – childhood/school, Cambridge, German holiday, Princeton, Bletchley/Enigma, Post war/conviction for homosexuality – whilst still managing to weave in his eccentricities. It is not widely known that he was extremely athletic – cyclist, oarsman, and Olympic standard marathon runner.
There are some very clever, creative elements to this production directed by Jane Miles. I suspect more than even a Turing fan might pick up. The writing (Joan Greening), and the songs (Joel Goodman and Jan Osborne) all impress with rich and little known detail. For example, working in Turing’s obsession with Snow White and the fact he died eating an apple he poisoned himself . The music is accomplished with some nice hooks but on occasion, maybe a little too operatically recitative. The single stage set is perforce minimalist but designed and used selectively with imagination – I particularly liked the use of the bicycle in a couple of scenes and the chalked numbers on the stage floor. The pre-recorded music (mixed by Paul Monday) – typically with piano lead and backing strings, works well, with precision timing and provides a pleasing structure to the overall story. Both actors deliver sensitive, quality performances. Acting, singing and duets all blend seamlessly. Joe Bishop captures the distracted, higher planeist air of Turing pefectly and Zara Cooke demonstrates great versatility dealing with the array of characters in her role.
While there is much to admire about this production, It seems inherently geared to small scale shows in intimate theatres. Nothing wrong with that as such, but it may slightly lack intensity and impact as a consequence. And without much variation in the tempo and instrumentation, the otherwise excellent music doesn’t contribute much to light and shade in the dynamics of the production.
I suppose a risk with a show like this is that the natural audience of Turing obsessives, as well as the rest might both view it as too superficial. I think there may be enough clever playfulness in this show to interest the former. And for anyone who doesn’t know much about Turing, it offers a gentle, unusual and entertaining introduction to this brilliant man and his tragic life.
