Home

AMBASSADOR THEATRE GROUP APPOINTS GENERAL MANAGER FOR NEW MUSIC AND COMEDY VENUE, SWANSEA ARENA

THEATRE DIRECTOR VACANCY ANNOUNCED AT THE ALEXANDRA THEATRE, BIRMINGHAM

The world’s leading operator of live entertainment venues, Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) today announces the appointment of Lisa Mart as General Manager at the new, state-of-the-art venue, Swansea Arena.

The appointment comes as ATG also announces a number of key roles for its new 3,500 capacity indoor Arena currently being built within the city’s new Copr Bay development including Head of Sales and Marketing, Building and Technical Manager and Conference and Events Manager which will open for applications in the coming weeks, with more to follow.

Successful applicants will be part of a team that is expected to host 160 performances across music, comedy, esports, sport and conference events for an estimated 230,000 visitors each year.

Lisa Mart (The Alexandra, New Wimbledon Theatre) comes to Swansea Arena with nine years of experience within ATG; initially based at New Wimbledon Theatre in 2012, working in Customer Experience Management before working her way up through the company to the role of Theatre Director.

Lisa moved to her most recent post at The Alexandra in Birmingham in 2016 and managed the refurbishment and re-launch of the prominent 1,400 seat venue in the UK’s second city, with a history reaching back to 1901. Lisa oversaw its transformation into a welcoming, bright and sleek venue which has been upgraded internally and externally to match the incredible productions which play on its stage, whilst still staying true to its rich history and art deco styling.

This project included £650k worth of investment, a full re-brand, and a re-positioning of the theatre within the industry, culminating in a Relaunch Gala Event in October 2018, the venue went on to achieve the most successful year in its history in 2019. In her time at The Alexandra, Lisa won the ATG Leadership Award in 2019 and the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce People Development Award in 2020.

Lisa Mart says “I am incredibly pleased and excited to be starting as General Manager of the Swansea Arena; to be given this huge and rare opportunity of not only opening a brand-new venue but also being a part of the wider regeneration of Swansea and its transformational project of Copr Bay is a real honour. This is an important and exciting time for the city, and a great excuse for me to be able to relocate to such a gorgeous part of the country!

“The arena has been beautifully designed and will really be able to provide the local community and visitors with a variety of spaces and options to fit any size and scale of meeting or event; I can’t wait to start talking to and working with businesses to really discover how best to support their needs in this area.”

With Lisa making the exciting move to Swansea, the role of Theatre Director at The Alexandra will imminently be open to applicants; the successful candidate will have the opportunity to guide the venue through its post pandemic re-opening strategy whilst re-engaging with its audiences and ensuring they are supported as they start to attend shows again.

The Alexandra is accustomed to hosting much loved musicals including The Rocky Horror Show, Chicago and 9 to 5, and the new Theatre Director will give them a warm welcome back, as well as introducing brand-new productions such as My Best Friend’s Wedding and Bedknobs and Broomsticks as they continue to build the reputation of the venue on a local and national level.

Lisa Mart continues “Working at The Alexandra has been the absolute highlight of my career so far. The team is passionate and hardworking and it has been a real pleasure working alongside each and every one of them to achieve so much for the venue.

“I have also really fallen in love with Birmingham itself during my 6 years in the city. It has been an honour to work alongside world class arts organisations who all share the common goal of moving the city forward and creating an engaged and inclusive community. Participation in city wide events has also been a real highlight – such as Birmingham Pride, Birmingham International Dance Festival and Birmingham Weekender.

“The next person to step in to the role of Theatre Director will have an incredible opportunity to bring the venue back with a bang and I can’t recommend the role enough.”

The process of appointing a successor to the role of Theatre Director at The Alexandra will start imminently, with Lisa Mart continuing to oversee the venue in the interim.

A number of exciting opportunities will be coming up at ATG. To find out more, please sign up to https://careers.atg.co.uk

Cast announced for digital festival Talking Gods
Digital Festival: Monday 5th – Friday 9th April 2021

The incredible cast has been announced for Talking Gods, a digital season of five reimagined Greek myths by Arrows & Traps. Nicolle Smartt (Good Omens and Doctor Who, BBC; Upon the Edge, DeCantillon) will star in tale of sisterhood Persephone, the first play in the Talking Gods series.

Appearing in Orpheus, the second play which delves into control and toxicity, will be Christopher Neels (They Built It. No One Came, Fledgling Theatre; Crooks, Colab Theatre; Bazaar, Arcola) and Charlie Ryall (The Toys That Built America, History Channel; The Biograph Girl, Finborough Theatre; NewsRevue, Canal Café). Richard Baker (The Pirates of Penzance, Palace Theatre; Secret Garden, Ambassadors Theatre; Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Mischief Theatre) and Gabrielle NellisPain (The Strange Case of Jekyll & Hyde, UK tour; You & I, York Theatre Royal; The Unspoken Project, Soho Theatre) will lend their voices to Pygmalion, which will see Edward Spence (The Signal-Man, Arena Theatre; The Frontline, Curve Theatre; Equus, Attenborough Arts Centre) star in this intriguing tale, which looks at the role of artificial intelligence in an ever-more isolating world.

Aphrodite, which explores gender identity and acceptance, will see Buck Braithwaite (Nefarious; Ash Mountain Films; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Phoenix Theatre; Tender Red, Daedalus Pictures) and Benjamin Garrison (The Elder Brother and Every Man Out of his Humour, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse; The Recruiting Officer, Old Red Lion) perform.

The final play in the digital series will be Icarus, starring Adam Elliott (Anna Karenina and Othello, Arrows & Traps; The Hound of the Baskervilles, Jack Studio Theatre) and Lucy Ioannou (Chaplin: Birth of a Tramp and Gentleman Jack, Arrows & Traps; Julius Caesar, Fourth Monkey).

These moving reworkings of classic Greek tales will examine vital contemporary issues, some of which have become heightened during the pandemic. During the week-long digital festival, one play will premiere every night, and each play will be followed by a live Q&A on Zoom and then remain online for free. Talking Gods will be rehearsed and recorded at Jack Studio Theatre, where the award-winning Arrows & Traps are the associate company.

Artistic Director Ross McGregor says, After almost an entire year since Arrows & Traps last
performed on stage, it gives me great pleasure to be able to announce our Talking Gods cast. We’ve assembled an exceptional group of talented performers for the season, and working with them on these pieces continues to be a delight. As the artistic director of a repertory company, I’m so pleased that we are drawing from our current core contingent of actors, as well as welcoming back some members from previous seasons, and introducing you to some new faces. We were honoured to receive so many thousands of applications from all over the UK, Europe and USA, the interest in this project was overwhelming. We look forward to releasing the final pieces, as a testament and showcase of all the hard work that this incredible group of people are putting into the Talking Gods online season.

THE WORLD PREMIERE OF CRUISE – A NEW ONE-MAN PLAY WITH LIVE MUSIC, WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY JACK HOLDEN AND PRODUCED BY ARIA ENTERTAINMENT AND LAMBERT JACKSON PRODUCTIONS IN ASSOCIATION WITH SHOREDITCH TOWN HALL.

16 PERFORMANCES OF THIS NEW FILMED PLAY WILL BE AVAILABLE TO WATCH AT STREAM.THEATRE FROM 15 APRIL – 25 APRIL 2021.

SET IN 1980’S SOHO AND INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY, ‘CRUISE’ IS A CELEBRATION OF QUEER CULTURE AND A MOVING TRIBUTE TO THE VETERANS OF THE AIDS CRISIS.

FEATURING A PULSATING 80’S SOUNDTRACK PERFORMED LIVE BY JOHN ELLIOTT.

Written and performed by Jack Holden (War Horse, West End; Ink, Almeida Theatre), CRUISE  is an urgent, moving and inspirational new play with live music and spoken word. Bringing to life 1980’s Soho, this one-man show is a celebration of queer culture; a kaleidoscopic musical and spoken word tribute to the veterans of the AIDs crisis. Directed by Bronagh Lagan and filmed at Shoreditch Town Hall, it features an uplifting 80s electronic soundtrack performed live by John Elliott. This new filmed play will be available to watch from 15 April – 25 April at Stream.Theatre with tickets at £12.

Jack Holden said:

“CRUISE is based on a true story I was told while I was a volunteer for Switchboard, the LGBTQ+ Listening Service. I was in a weird, unstable, self-destructive part of my early 20s. This story, among others, taught me my gay history, put my life into perspective, and helped me to grow up. The names and a lot of the events have been changed, and a hell of a lot of material has been imagined. This play is a tribute to a generation decimated by HIV and AIDs, a memorial for the old days of Soho, a celebration of electronic music, and an excuse to dance.”

Katy Lipson said: “When you discover a script like Jack Holden’s CRUISE during a time when our beloved sector is closed it reminds you why it must re-open again. Making the decision to film CRUISE is just another way of adapting and ensuring this important story has a chance to reach audiences in a new and innovative form before we can bring it to the stage later this year for a live audience.” 

Lambert Jackson said: “‘We’re delighted to be collaborating with Aria and Jack to introduce and begin the life of this incredible story through the powerful medium of film. Stories like this need to be told, and until we can present it in a theatre to a live audience, our intention is to reach as many people as possible across the globe with this powerful piece of theatre.”

~ February 29th, 1988. Soho, London. ~

CRUISE is the true story of what should have been Michael Spencer’s last night on Earth.  When Michael is diagnosed with HIV in 1984, he’s told he’ll have four years to live – at most. So, with the clock ticking, he and his partner, Dave, decide to sell their house, flog the car, spend everything they have and party like it’s the last days of Rome. When Dave dies two years later, Michael doubles down on his hedonistic ways, spending what little he has left and drowning himself in drink and drugs. 

On the last night of his four-year countdown – the 29th February, 1988 – Michael decides to go out with a bang. He puts on his favourite jacket, heads for Soho, and embarks on a long night of farewells. He says his goodbyes to friends, enemies and strangers; old haunts, dive bars, cafes, clubs and pubs; his brothers, sisters, allies and exes. He dances, sings, and says yes to everything and everyone. Then, with all his affairs taken care of, Michael promptly… survives.  Michael got lucky, and he goes on to live to a ripe old age. Michael has been given the gift of life; but what kind of life can he now live?

The full creative team includes Jack Holden (writer and performer), John Elliott (Music and Sound Design), Bronagh Lagan (Director), Jack Hextall (Videography), Nik Corrall (Designer), Jai Morjaria (Lighting Designer) Sarah Golding (Movement) and Max Pappenheim (Additional Sound Design).

Initial development supported by Help Musicians Fusion Fund and Shoreditch Town Hall.

Arch 468 announce £10,000 commission
for play offering vision of hope
Deadline: Monday 29th March 2021

Offering a £10,000 commission, the Arch 468 Hope Prize is now open for submissions for a new play that offers a vision of hope. Hope is the fuel that drives every innovation, every attempt to advance the sum of human knowledge, every revolution and every leap of faith. Arch 468 are working to ensure that hope is not allowed to fade from public discourse.

The past few years have felt pretty challenging: from economic crisis, political polarisation and rampaging climate change to the global pandemic that has changed life as we know it. Many people have been struggling in the dark; it’s been hard to imagine a future bright with promise. But hope is important. It keeps people going, it helps imagine a better way of being and creates the curiosity needed to find ways to get there. Hope is what prompts us to make friends and fall in love, to make art, to have children, to protest, to vote, to learn. It is the lifeblood of life itself.

Arch 468 are looking to commission a new piece that offers a vision of hope for now and the future. The commission is for a full rehearsal draft for a new mid-scale play which Arch 468 will commit to produce in a fully-staged professional production. They will also offer dramaturgical support and creative friendship, supported by R&D resources as needed.

Submissions are open for a broad spectrum of forms and subject matter that challenge habitual assumptions about the world and people within it. Arch 468 is a project funded touring company that works across the small and mid-scale – the play must be something that can realistically be produced on those terms in both the live and digital realms. As a company, they are most excited by plays that are more than simple naturalism. They like the unusual, unsettling and uncanny and value theatrical experiences that speak to human instincts and emotions above the purely cerebral.

Rebecca Atkinson comments, We want to be surprised and inspired by a work that gives us a new vision of what our world might look like. That doesn’t mean some naïve Panglossian
fairytale; we want to be truly convinced that the future can be bright and we want to share that hopeful surety with our audiences in a way that sticks. We want authentic feeling stories in dialogue with the world we live in now. We believe in the power of brilliant leaps of writerly imagination.

To apply, submit:
• A 1 page (500 words) outline of the play you want to write. What’s the story, why do you
care about it and why should we?
• A first rough draft of the first ten pages of that play to give a sense of your voice as a writer.
• Your CV, including contact details and the name, phone number and email address of two
referees who have a sense of your work. Don’t worry about picking ‘notable’ referees, Arch 468 would rather speak to people who know and love your work.
• A completed Equal Opportunities monitoring form.

All documents should be emailed in word or PDF format to elodie@arch468.com with the
subject line “Arch 468 Hope Prize 2021”.

Arch 468 will host a Zoom Q&A for writers interested in applying at 6pm on 17th March. To book your place please fill in the form here: Arch 468 Hope Prize 2021 Commission Call Out —Arch 468.

Please note: You must be free to write a full rehearsal draft of the play, incorporating a
minimum of two sets of notes within 12 months of the application deadline.

CURVE AND DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY CONTINUE STRATEGIC CULTURAL PARTNERSHIP WITH NEW PROJECTS FOR 2021

UNIVERSITY SPONSORS THE COLOR PURPLE – AT HOME
Streaming 16 Feb – 7 Mar

DMU PRIDE FEATURING PREMIERE DIGITAL PRODUCTION OF CONVERSATIONS BY ROB WARD
Available online 22 – 27 Feb

CO-PRODUCTION OF FEDERICO GARCIA LORCA’S BLOOD WEDDING
Available online 27 – 31 May

Cultural Leicester powerhouses Curve and De Montfort University (DMU) have announced plans to continue their strategic partnership throughout 2021 with a host of new projects.

Since the theatre was forced to close its doors to audiences in March 2020, DMU has remained supportive of Curve and the arts, including sponsorship of the Made at Curve production of The Color Purple – at Home, which is now streaming onlineuntil Sun 7 Mar, in association with Birmingham Hippodrome.

During LGBTQ+ History Month in February, the university’s annual DMU Pride events are taking place virtually, with a series of talks, networking sessions and quizzes for staff, students and members of the public. As part of this programme Emmerson & Ward, Curve and De Montfort University present Conversations, a premiere digital production by award winning writer and performer Rob Ward (Away From Home, Gypsy Queen). Conversations is the second Emmerson & Ward production to premiere as part of DMU Pride following 2020’s The MP, Aunty Mandy and Me – also written and performed by Ward.

Directed by Julia Thomas (Burning Books, Curve), this new drama features performances from Ryan Anderson (West Side Story, Curve), Darren Bennett (West Side Story, Curve), Rosie Fleeshman (Narcissist in the Mirror, UK tour), Reece Lyons (Overflow, Bush Theatre), Londiwe Mthembu (Extremisim, Soho Theatre), Corinna Powlesland (Grease, Curve) and Esme Sears (The Wizard of Oz, Leeds Playhouse). Available now to stream on demand for free until 27 Feb, Conversations takes a fresh look at the challenges of 2020 and the new battle lines drawn in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality.

2020.

Well that was a bit rubbish wasn’t it!

Whilst we locked ourselves down and watched the world burn, we turned to zoom to keep conversations and community alive.

From awkward zoom dates to exasperating online rehearsals, Harry Potter fanatics and middle aged keyboard warriors, this new digital production tells four stories playing out over our new favourite platform.

Throughout spring, professional teams at Curve will work with DMU performing arts students to stage Federico Garcia Lorca’s poetic tragedy Blood Wedding. Directed by Curve’s Birkbeck Trainee Director Jennifer Lane Baker, Blood Wedding will be staged remotely by a company of Drama BA (Hons) students from DMU. The co-production will be recorded and available to stream online between 27 and 31 May, with tickets on sale now.

In the hills of rural Spain, a Mother grieves the loss of her husband at the hands of the rival Felix family. Violent and long-standing community tensions re-emerge when she learns her son – The Groom – is due to marry an ex-lover of the hot-blooded Leonardo Felix, who later steals The Bride away from the wedding celebrations. As historic conflicts erupt around the doomed couple, the stage is soon set for this tale’s arresting climax.

Curve’s Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai Foster said:

“De Montfort University’s support of Curve has always been phenomenal and even as our theatre doors have remained closed for almost a full year, our partnership with DMU is as strong as ever. We are proud to be partnered with an institution which shares our commitment to our communities, enhancing educational experiences and providing unique opportunities for everyone to create and access culture.

“We’re thrilled to be uniting this year for a diverse range of work, from The Color Purple – at Home to Rob Ward’s new play Conversations (part of this year’s digital DMU PRIDE programme) and our annual co-production – this year Tanya Ronder’s stirring adaptation of Lorca’s Blood Wedding – featuring a talented cohort of students. Whilst we still can’t be together in person, it’s inspiring to see such innovative responses to the challenges of these times. Theatre is all about collaboration and we proud to work alongside DMU, one of this country’s greatest educational institutions.”

Sarah Thomson, Director of Social Impact and Engagement at De Montfort University, said: “We are pleased to be continuing our partnership with Curve, a theatre which does great things with the community and offers incredible hands-on experiences for our Dance, Drama and Performing Arts students.

“So many people in Leicester have turned to the arts during lockdown for their entertainment and Curve’s offerings online have really been second to none.

“Needless to say, we are proud to be sponsoring their latest production of The Color Purple – at Home, and working on so many other projects at a time when arts in the community is proving to be a vital way of people connecting with each other during the pandemic.”

Tickets for productions of The Color Purple – at Home, Conversations and Blood Wedding are available to purchase online now at www.curveonline.co.uk

Streaming online 22 February – 7 March – book via https://barntheatre.org.uk/secret-society-of-leading-ladies

4****

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

The Barn Theatre’s short but sweet treat for musical theatre fans lets the viewer choose the characters that sing each number to create their own show. The Secret Society of Leading Ladies sees 14 West End performers take on the personas of divas, princesses, dreamers and villains from shows including The Wizard of Oz, Anastasia, Mean Girls, Fame and Chicago.

Directed by Ryan Carter, each show sees 5 singers arrive in a mysterious venue and sing their character’s standout number. There are short scenes where the women chat between the “Choose your character” screens, which work brilliantly whatever combination you choose.

Every member of the company (Jocasta Almgill, Lauren Byrne, Kayla Carter, Aoife Clesham, Allie Daniel, Abbi Hodgson, Aisha Jawando, Claudia Kariuki, Natalie Kassanga, Emma Kingston, Kayleigh McKnight, Ellie Mitchell, Jarnéia Richard-Noel, Kelly Sweeney) delivers a wonderfully fresh and polished performance, with the three villains in particular relishing every second of their time in the spotlight. The brevity of the show and the chance to be in control should appeal to fans who have always wanted to take the reins of a production, and also serve as an innovative introduction to musicals that will ignite a passion for musical theatre.

After the five solos, the finale gives us a big finish with all fourteen performers taking part, giving the audience a glimpse of what they’ve missed in their version of the show. Tickets are available to watch a single show, but a multi-show pass allows multiple viewings, and you can then see all fourteen performances – this would take three views of the show. Die-hard fans may want to try out as many of the 150+ different show combinations as they can.

Packed with stunning performances, this is an exciting and very sociable approach to a streamed concert – I can see a few family arguments developing in homes around the country over which character to choose next! The Secret Society of Leading Ladies is a delight from start to finish, over and over again.

Jon Morgan, director of Theatres Trust, the UK national advisory body for theatres, has responded to the Prime Minister’s lockdown easing announcement this afternoon:

Theatres Trust welcomes the Prime Minister’s announcement of a ‘not before’ date of 17 May for theatres to reopen with social distancing and capacity limits, but we recognise that this will be subject to the Covid data nearer the time. We also recognise that this means that many theatres, who cannot operate viably with lower audiences under social distancing, will need to wait longer before reopening.

Theatres Trust supports the government’s cautious approach to easing lockdown restrictions. We want to play our part in helping keep people safe and we do not want to be in a situation where theatres reopen too early only to be forced to close again after a short period.

The Job Retention Scheme and the Culture Recovery Fund have provided vital support for the sector so far. We are pleased to hear that the government is committed to continued support to protect jobs. It is important that this is targeted to reflect the differing realities for different sectors depending on where they are on the reopening roadmap.

The theatre sector continues to work with the government to establish as clear a pathway as possible to reopening and to identify any mitigating measures that would allow a return to full audiences.

Following today’s announcement with the roadmap out of lockdown, Josephine Burns, Chair of Without Walls, has provided a comment about the Outdoor Arts sector. Without Walls is a consortium of over 30 festivals and arts organisations that bring fantastic outdoor arts to people in towns and cities across the UK. She comments:

We welcome the news of a cautious lockdown exit plan and gradual reopening of the economy, but Without Walls and its 35 partner organisations now appeal for the government to outline clear guidelines for the Outdoor Arts to return to business.

Outdoor Arts are a thriving part of the UK cultural landscape that are more important now than ever. Our work is particularly well placed to bring vibrancy and connection back to public spaces and Without Walls is committed to getting our work back on the streets and in front of audiences in ways that are safe, responsible, and celebratory for everyone.

Without Walls’ partners are all working together to ensure that public safety is paramount at our events and we have developed a range of resources on how to present work safely in outdoor settings during the pandemic. We are at a critical point in the development of our work and now need adequate notice and time to plan.  This year we are investing over £650k in our largest programme ever, to support artists to create and tour 20 new ambitious projects across the country. Without clear guidance for our industry, this network of events, experts and freelance workforce remains under threat.

To move forward, Without Walls urges the government to recognise the adaptability and expertise of the UK Outdoor Arts sector which prides itself on making extraordinary things happen in a huge range of contexts, spaces and places. We believe that Outdoor Arts are essential to support cultural recovery and to bring communities back together following the trauma of the pandemic. We are confident that our events are viable, as safe as outdoor exercise and can bring tremendous value to the health and wealth of our nation and wider economy. We eagerly anticipate further information to help us move forward.

ORANGE TREE THEATRE ANNOUNCES INSIDE/OUTSIDE

– A COLLECTION OF SIX WORLD PREMIÈRE PLAYS

Orange Tree Theatre today announces Inside/Outside; a collection of world première short plays by six emerging and established writers, performed and livestreamed from the Orange Tree Theatre’s auditorium. The first three plays, written by Deborah Bruce, Joel Tan and Joe White, focus on the theme of Inside, and will be streamed live 25 – 27 March 2021. The final three playsby Sonali Bhattacharyya, Zoe Cooper and Kalungi Ssebandeke explorethe theme of Outside, streamed live 15 – 17 April 2021.

The collection, directed by Anna Himali Howard and Georgia Green, cover stories of estrangement and loneliness; of connection and redemption; of despair in confinement to hope found in life outdoors.

Paul Miller, Artistic Director, said today, “As we emerge from a bleak Winter, it’s appropriate that the OT commits to new talent and new initiatives. Literary Associate Guy Jones has curated a beguiling and moving series of short plays from some writers familiar to the OT and some new to us, to reboot our theatre. And these will also be our first venture into live-streaming: we want to live-stream all our work in the future and this is our first step towards that. We want to be back to full-scale productions that welcome audiences when it is safe. Until then I am proud to present this new play project as the best possible way of platforming the new and emerging talent that’s vital for the future.”

Inside/Outside is part of OT On Screen, the Orange Tree Theatre’s digital project launched in January 2020 with Maya Arad Yasur’s play Amsterdam, watched by over 25,000 people worldwide. The productions, filmed in collaboration with The Umbrella Rooms, mark the company’s first live-streamed project, and the first live performances at the Orange Tree Theatre since lockdown began on 16 March 2020.

All rehearsals and filming will be conducted in a Covid secure environment in line with current government guidelines.

Sonali Bhattacharyya was 2018 Channel 4 writer in residence at the Orange Tree, where she wrote Chasing Hares, winner of the Sonia Friedman Production Award. Her credits include Megaball (National Theatre Learning for ‘Let’s Play’), Slummers (Bunker Theatre), 2066 (Almeida Theatre), The Invisible Boy (Kiln Theatre) and White Open Spaces (Pentabus Theatre – South Bank Show award-nominated). She was one of three playwrights selected for the inaugural Old Vic 12, and is currently under commission to Fifth Word and Kiln Theatre, writer in residence at National Theatre Studio and recently shortlisted for the Woman’s Playwriting Award for her play Deepa the Saint.

Deborah Bruce’s theatre credits include The House They Grew Up In (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Distance (Sheffield Theatres/Orange Tree Theatre – finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize), Joanne (Latitude Festival/Soho Theatre), The Light (Live Theatre), Same (National Theatre) and Godchild (Hampstead Theatre). As a director, her credits include Pride and Prejudice (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre).

Zoe Cooper’s Out of Water had its world première at the Orange Tree in 2019 and was a finalist in the 2020 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. She was also shortlisted for the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Awards 2019, and nominated for the Best New Production of a Play Award in the Broadway World UK Awards. Her playwrighting credits include Jess and Joe Forever (Orange Tree Theatre/Traverse Theatre/UK tour – Off West End Award for Most Promising Playwright Award 2017, longlisted for the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award) and Nativities and Utopia (Live Theatre).

Joel Tan is a Singaporean playwright based in London. His credits include Love in the Time of the Ancients (Shortlisted for the 2019 Papatango Prize), Tango (Pangdemonium Theatre – nominated for Life Theatre Award’s Best Original Script), Café (The Twenty-Something Theatre Festival), The Actors Tour (international tour), Mosaic (M1 Festival) and The Way We Go (Checkpoint Theatre). He is part of 503 Five, Theatre503’s residency scheme and an associate artist with Chinese Arts Now and Singapore’s Checkpoint Theatre

Kalungi Ssebandeke was selected for the BBC Writersroom London Voices, and Soho Theatre’s Writers Lab. He was also selected for the Lyric Hammersmith Ten Week Writers Programme and has written for the Young Vic, Bush Theatre and Talawa, his credits include Assata Taught Me (Gate Theatre). As an actor, his credits include Blood Knot (Orange Tree Theatre).

Joe White’s debut play Mayfly premièred at the Orange Tree in 2018, for which he won Most Promising New Playwright at the OffWestEnd Awards and was nominated for Best New Writer at The Stage Awards. He has written work for The Old Vic, Lyric Hammersmith, Bush Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, Birmingham REP and BBC Radio 3. In 2014, he was selected for the BBC Writersroom 10 and won the Channel 4 Playwriting Award. In 2015, he was the Writer in Residence at Pentabus Theatre Company, and in 2017, he was selected for the Orange Tree Writers Collective and the Old Vic 12. In 2019, he was selected for the BBC TV Drama Writers Programme, through which he is developing a pilot with STV. He is currently under commission with Sheffield Theatres, Audible and Carnival Films.

Georgia Green directs. Her previous credits include The Mikvah Project (Orange Tree Theatre/BBC Radio 4) for which she was nominated for Best Director at The Stage Debut Awards. 

Anna Himali Howard directs. Her forthcoming work as a director I STAND FOR WHAT I STAND ON (Strike A Light). Past work includes I Wanna Be Yours (Paines Plough/Bush Theatre), A Small Place (Gate Theatre), and Albatross (RWCMD/Paines Plough/Gate Theatre). Howard was Associate Director for Fleabag (Soho Theatre, international tour). She was Paines Plough’s Trainee Director in 2016 and is an alumnus of the Birmingham REP Foundry. She was recently a Staff Director at the National Theatre, London.

Orange Tree Theatre Listings

1 Clarence Street, Richmond, TW9 2SA

INSIDE/OUTSIDE

Box Office: 020 8940 3633

orangetreetheatre.co.uk

Inside:                  Thursday 25 – Saturday 27 March 2021

Outside:              Thursday 15 – Saturday 17 April 2021

Performance Times: 7.30pm (Evenings) & 2.30pm (Saturday Matinees)

Tickets: from £10 on sale 23 February to OT Members and 25 February public sale

Audio described performances

Inside:                  26 March at 7.30pm and 27 March at 2.30pm

Outside:               16 April at 7.30pm and 17 April at 2.30pm

Captioned performances
Inside:                  27 March at 2.30pm
Outside:               17 April at 2.30pm

Thomas Hopkins & Michael Quinn for Ginger Quiff Media, Amy Hart, Guy Chapman,
and Bailey Harris-Kelly with Stream.Theatre
Shane Richie to star in digital revival of
Scaramouche Jones or the Seven White Masks
Streaming: Friday 26th March – Sunday 11th April 2021

Much-loved and multi-talented stage and screen actor Shane Richie (EastEnders; The Entertainer; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here) will take on the role of the titular tragic clown in the digital revival of Justin Butcher’s absorbing solo show, Scaramouche Jones. Filmed in a London theatre, and available to stream on Stream.Theatre from Friday 26th March to Sunday 11th April, this is the latest production from Ginger Quiff Media – the OnCom award-winning team behind the acclaimed revivals of Martin Sherman’s Rose starring Dame Maureen Lipman, and Little Wars (The Guardian and New York Times top picks) featuring Juliet Stevenson and Linda Bassett.

Richie swaps the I’m A Celeb Welsh castle for the digital stage, taking on the role made famous by the late great Pete Postlethwaite. Directed by Olivier Award-nominee Ian Talbot (The Pirates of Penzance, Regents Park Open Air Theatre; The Mousetrap, West End), this bizarre, comic, and heartfelt piece tells of a clown unmasked. Butcher’s magical storytelling bursts with exoticism and lyrical prose as Scaramouche finds himself caught in the riptides of a cruel and changing world.

This powerful one-man drama recounts an epic and mesmerising tale of a life shaped by extraordinary misfortunes, from the shores of Trinidad to England by way of slave ships, Italian royalty, and Croatian concentration camps. A witness to pivotal moments of the 20th century, Scaramouche finds himself at the dawn of a new millennium, marking his own centenary and preparing for death.

Shane Richie comments, I am honoured to walk in the footsteps of the legendary actor Pete Postlethwaite and take on the role of Scaramouche Jones in Justin Butcher’s amazing play.

Thomas Hopkins and Michael Quinn of Ginger Quiff Media add, We’re thrilled to continue to expand our digital portfolio, with what we consider to be one of the greatest British plays. It’s exciting to be working with Shane to bring the character of Scaramouche Jones to life on stage and straight into your living rooms.