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KILN THEATRE ANNOUNCES PROGRAMME

AS PART OF

BRENT LONDON BOROUGH OF CULTURE 2020

Kiln Theatre today announces their programme as part of Sadiq Khan’s wider Brent London Borough of Culture 2020. The programme includes the world première of Zadie Smith’s The Wife of Willesden directed by Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham,renewing their collaboration following the acclaimed world première stage adaptation of Smith’s White Teeth in 2018, Footholds: NW Stories;a trilogy of short plays by Moira Buffini, Suhayla El-Bushra and Roy Williams, and the fourth annual Mapping Brent project, supported by the Brent 2020 Culture Fund. Kiln Theatre will also lead The Agency, a programme for young people in Brent to workshop and pitch unique business and social enterprise ideas for funding and support.

Brent 2020 will present high profile cultural events throughout the year across the Borough exploring the spirit and creativity of Brent, with hundreds of the Borough’s local residents taking a leading role in shaping the programme.

With a population of 335,000 and embracing such well known areas of London as Wembley, Kilburn, Harlesden, Willesden, Neasden, the London Borough of Brent is perhaps one of the most diverse communities in London, and covers a huge area of the city, bordering Harrow in the north west, Camden to the east, Westminster in the south east and Kensington & Chelsea in the south. 

Brent will be the second London Borough of Culture in 2020, a major initiative launched by the Mayor of London in June 2017 inspired by the UK City and European Capital of Culture programmes. More than 20,000 people backed Brent’s bid to be London Borough of Culture 2020.

THE WIFE OF WILLESDEN

by Zadie Smith

Directed by Indhu Rubasingham

Coming to Kiln Theatre in 2020

Acclaimed author Zadie Smith will write a new work as a gift to her home borough. Smith has been praised as one of the finest chroniclers of contemporary London, presenting a vivid picture of a multicultural city through her depictions of the North West London neighbourhoods where she grew up. For Brent 2020 she has reimagined Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale as The Wife of Willesden. The work, penned 630 years after the original, will raise important questions about the place of women in society and will be performed at Kiln Theatre, directed by artistic director Indhu Rubasingham.

Kiln Theatre presents

FOOTHOLDS: NW STORIES

A trilogy of short plays by Moira Buffini, Suhayla El-Bushra and Roy Williams

Directed by Taio Lawson and Susie McKenna

Coming to Kiln Theatre in 2020

In the tradition of The Great Game: Afghanistan and Women, Power and Politics, Kiln Theatre presents a unique evening of three independent stories with common roots in Brent. Presented together, these kaleidoscopic stories re-investigate the different neighbourhoods of our local area and celebrate the important local events and people that went on to change the world.  

Kiln Theatre presents

MAPPING BRENT

The Mapping Brent Festival is a Kiln Theatre community outreach project, working with young people from every corner of the borough, giving young people a platform to tell their stories, showcase their talents, and participate in the transformative power of theatre.

This year’s Festivalis supported by the 2020 Culture Fund – a funding scheme which will support local people and organisations in Brent to produce their own cultural activities as part of the London Borough of Culture year.

THE AGENCY

The Agency at Kiln Theatre will work with young people aged 15-25 from St Raphael’s, Chalk Hill and the surrounding neighbourhoods in Brent to develop their unique ideas into business or social enterprises in the local area.

The programme will provide training, support, funding and advice from industry professionals, to develop participants’ passion into a project that benefits their local community. This could be anything from a boxing workshop, to a music festival.

Following workshops, participants will then pitch their idea to a panel of experts for the chance to win £2000 to fully develop their business idea.

The Agency runs nationwide and takes place in London, Manchester, Cardiff and Belfast.

www.KilnTheatre.com

Twitter: @KilnTheatre / @KilnCinema

FULL CAST ANNOUNCED

FOR KING’S HEAD THEATRE’S

REVIVAL OF KEVIN ELYOT’S

COMING CLEAN

PLAYING TRAFALGAR STUDIOS 2

FROM 8 JANUARY TO 1 FEBRUARY 2020

The King’s Head Theatre, Making Productions and RGM Productions are delighted to announce the full cast for the return of Kevin Elyot’s Coming Clean to Trafalgar Studios 2.

Lee Knight will star as Tony. His theatre credits include A Very Very Very Dark Matter (The Bridge Theatre), Adam & Eve (Hope Theatre) and Much Ado About Nothing (Wyndhams Theatre, West End). Film credits include Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire, The Spiritualist, Away With Me, Misrule, and The Doorman.

Elliot Hadley will play the role of William / Jurgen. He was an original cast member of the award-winning verbatim drama 5 Guys Chillin’ and, after touring with it nationally and internationally (New York’s Soho Playhouse), won the Micheál Mac Liammóir Award for Best Male Performance. Previous performing credits include Alfred Cummins in the BBC’s Preston Passion, Dark Matters for Discovery Channel USA, Thomas Kyd in The Dead Shepherd, ITV’s The Halcyon, and Far From The Madding Crowd with Michael Sheen and Carey Mulligan.

Stanton Plummer-Cambridge will play Greg. He has recently appeared in Macbeth, The Tempest (Southwark Playhouse), Queers (King’s Head Theatre), Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing (Handlebards Summer Tour), and As You Like It (Shakespeare in the Squares). His television and film credits include Black Earth Rising (BBC), The Durrells in Corfu (ITV) and Have We Met Before (BBC 4, BFI Born Digital Series).

Jonah Rzeskiewicz will play the role of Robert. He graduated from RADA only this year. Coming Clean will mark his West End and professional London debut. His previous theatre credits include Edward II (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester). He will soon appear in Kenneth Branagh’s Death On The Nile and Netflix’s The Dig, both to be released in 2020.

In 2017, Adam Spreadbury-Maher directed the 35^th anniversary production and the first London revival of Coming Clean, Kevin Elyot’s first play, which transferred to Trafalgar Studios 2 earlier this year.  The play premiered at the Bush Theatre on 3 November 1982. Coming Clean looks at the breakdown of a gay couple’s relationship and examines complex questions of fidelity and love. 

The play is set in a flat in Kentish Town, north London, in 1982.  Struggling writer Tony and his partner of five years, Greg, seem to have the perfect relationship.  Committed and in love, they are both open to one-night stands as long as they don’t impinge on the relationship.  But Tony is starting to yearn for something deeper, something more like monogamy.  When he finds out that Greg has been having a full-blown affair with their cleaner, Robert, their differing attitudes towards love and commitment become clear.

In his foreword to Kevin Elyot: Four Plays (Nick Hern Books, 2004), Elyot writes, “From 1976 to 1984 I’d acted in several productions at the Bush Theatre, and Simon Stokes, one of the artistic directors, had casually suggested I try my hand at a play.  I presented them with a script entitled Cosy, which was passed on to their literary manager Sebastian Born.  He responded favourably and, largely through his support, it finally opened on 3 November 1982 under the [new] title Coming Clean.”

Written 12 years before his most famous play, My Night With Reg, Coming Clean won Elyot the Samuel Beckett Award for writers showing particular promise in the field of the performing arts.

Theatre critic Michael Coveney wrote of Elyot in his obituary for The Guardian in 2014, “In writing about the human heart and the art of living… Elyot transcended categorisation and produced a small body of stage plays that will reward revival, and not just as period pieces.”  Coveney goes on to describe Coming Clean as “an elegiac play about sexual relationships at a time when Aids was still a barely credible rumour in Britain, but there was a sense of foreboding in the final scene.” 

Coming Clean is directed by Adam Spreadbury-Maher, with set designed by Amanda Mascarenhas and lighting by Nic Farman.

This productionis being produced in the West End by King’s Head Theatre, Making Productions and RGM Productions in association with DeVere Productions.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

8 January – 1 February 2020

Trafalgar Studios 2

14 Whitehall

London

SW1A 2DY

Performances: Monday-Saturday 7.45pm*, Thursday & Saturday 3pm (*7pm on Friday 10 January)

Previews: All £20

Monday – Thursday (& Saturday Matinees): £25 – £30

Friday & Saturday Evenings: £30 – £40

Box Office: 0844 871 7632

Website: www.atgtickets.com/shows/coming-clean/trafalgar-studios

Twitter: @KingsHeadThtr  #ComingCleanPlay

Facebook: www.facebook.com/kingsheadtheatre  #ComingCleanPlay

Instagram: @kingsheadtheatre  #ComingCleanPlay

Dennis and Gnasher are coming to Bradford!
Rory Maguire to star as Dennis
Alhambra Theatre, Bradford
Wednesday 8 – Sunday 12 July 2020
Recommended age 5+

British actor Rory Maguire will star as Dennis in Selladoor Family and Beano Studios’ new stage production Dennis & Gnasher The Musical! which opens on 23 January 2020 at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury before embarking on a UK tour throughout 2020.

Rory is currently starring as Gerard in American Idiot (UK Tour & New Zealand). His previous theatre credits include Summer Holiday (UK Tour), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Avalon, Canada), Mamma Mia! (UK Tour), Peter Pan (Greenwich Theatre & Rickmansworth), George’s Marvellous Medicine (88 London Road, Brighton), Grease (BKL), Ushers (Arts Theatre & Edinburgh Festival), Aladdin (Brighton Emporium) and Shrek (UK Tour).

The musical tells the story of the iconic duo Dennis & Gnasher who along with their best friends, Rubi, JJ and Pieface, have a mission to save Beanotown from the grips of the evil W Corps! Featuring live music, hilarious pranks, and of course, Dennis’ trademark skateboard, this brand new, high-octane musical is perfect for pranksters young and old.

The stage production follows on from the success of Beano Studios’ International Emmy-nominated TV series Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed!

BAFTA-winning writer/producer-director Will Brenton will write and direct the show which will feature Dennis and Gnasher’s imitable sense of fun and ageless humour delivered with a repertoire of songs. The creative team will also include set and costume designer Jean Chan and choreographer Kendra Horsburgh.

Please call the Box Office on 01274 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk for more information.

The British Library and Trafalgar Theatre Productions presents

Peter Nichols: A Celebration

In collaboration with the British Library and the critically-acclaimed production of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Trafalgar Studios is very excited to be presenting a celebration of Peter Nichols’ works in this special event on Wednesday 27^th November.

Directed by his grandson, George Nichols, and with special guest stars yet to be confirmed, we will take a look at Peter Nichols’ vast literary contribution with excerpts from his much loved television and stage plays including Promenade, The National Health, Forget-Me-Not-Lane and Poppy, as well as passages from his personal diaries and rare unproduced plays, kindly provided by the British Library.

George Nichols said: “Alongside the production of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, I’m delighted to be bringing a selection of my Grandfathers work to the stage at Trafalgar Studios for this special event to celebrate his life. It will forever be a great sadness to me that he’ll never see me direct any of his plays, but I’m delighted to be continuing his legacy by presenting this work to new audiences.”

All tickets are priced at £5 and are available to purchase from ATG Tickets on Tuesday 12^th November at 10am.

With thanks to the British Library Collections Trust for supporting this event. The full Archive and Oral History of Peter Nichols is accessible at the British Library for the public to view.

Peter Richard Nichols CBE, playwright, born 31 July 1927; died 7 September 2019, aged 92.

The British Library and Trafalgar Theatre Productions presents Peter Nichols: A Celebration

Wednesday 27^th November at 3pm

Trafalgar Studios 1

Box Office: 0844 871 7632

https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/trafalgar-studios/

VAULT Festival go on-sale with first shows for
2020

VAULT Festival, one of the largest curated arts festivals in the world, has launched tickets for its first round of shows for their 2020 incarnation. Every Tuesday more productions will be revealed until the full programme is released on Tuesday 3rd December. VAULT Festival will return for its eighth year with eight weeks of the best new theatre and comedy, immersive experiences, cabaret, live performance and late-night parties. Head underground from Tuesday 28th January until Sunday 22nd March 2020 for London’s biggest, boldest and wildest arts festival!

In 2020, performances will take place in 18 spaces across Waterloo and the South Bank with the central hub underground in The Vaults on Leake Street. The Cockatiel at Hello Darling is a new intimate comedy venue, and The Festival will also return to The Network Theatre and Vaulty Towers as well as hosting pop-ups in the local area. The Gift Horse Stage at The Horse & Stables pub will see half its profits support Child.org’s Team Mum Campaign, helping to fund pregnancy services in rural Kenya that offer health information and medical support for new mothers.

The VAULT Festival Directors and Producers Mat Burt and Andy George comment, This year’s festival is bigger and bolder than ever before. There is a real sense of crisis and hunger for change from the artists we’re working with. We still believe in the collective impact this festival can have on the industry, our artists, and our audiences

Over the years VAULT Festival has showcased some of the very best shows from both established and emerging artists, and at the same time has become a hotbed for brand new audience experiences that shatter the status-quo. It’s vitally important to us that VAULT Festival is providing a platform for underrepresented voices and stories to be heard.

The diversity of the Festival goes beyond the demographics of those making the works, but also looks to the style, content and formats of every piece. A welcoming, vibrant, and inviting place for people from all backgrounds, the VAULT Festival 2020 programme expands what live performance can be and who it belongs to – everyone is welcome. The Festival intends to take the temperature of what the best artists in the UK believe work should be discussing and reflect the most urgent conversations happening. This year features some of the most radical and exciting new work from the most promising new and experienced artists and companies.

At the forefront is the climate crisis and VAULT Festival are continuing their commitment to becoming more sustainable, this year partnering with Staging Change, an organisation committed to promoting environmentally sustainable practices in the theatre industry. Building on their use of paperless tickets, compostable food packaging, and removal of single-use plastics, VAULT Festival will also participate in the Green Earth Appeal’s Carbon-Free Dining campaign, which gives diners the option to donate to offset the Carbon footprint of their meal by planting trees in developing countries. All Festival posters and flyers will be printed in an environmentally sustainable way. This sustainability focus is reflected in Eco-Week in Week 4 with shows such as Matt Winning’s It’s the End of the World as We Know It and the Staging Change Award winner, the carbon-neutral musical adventure How To Save A Rock.

In 2020, VAULT will look outward to bring global stories to the heart of London. A devised piece exploring the ongoing Hong Kong protests against China’s Extradition Bill, Freedom Hi 閪 is an urgent reflection on the right to protest and the gendered experience of political resistance. Far Gone is inspired by writer John Rwothomach’s own experiences of nearly being kidnapped by Joseph Kony’s guerrilla rebel group to become a child soldier in Uganda. It explores the complexity of war and the relationship between the West and narratives of ‘Africa’. Inspired by India’s legalisation of homosexuality in 2018, Santi & Naz is a queer love story set against the backdrop of the partition of India, arguably the greatest humanitarian crisis of modern times. From across the Atlantic, Alex Edelman brings the award-winning Just For Us to London which details his astonishing encounter when, following anti-Semitic online abuse, Edelman decided to covertly attend a meeting of those same anti-Semites.

The 2020 Festival also provides a platform for championing queer identity and LGBTQIA+ communities. Lesbian student Regi and gay journalist Babs put their friendship to the test when they plan to marry to fool the authorities back home in Nigeria about who they truly love in How We Love. A comedy spoken word show about gender, the media and not fitting any of the boxes, Too Pretty To Punch is full of explosive original songs and kickass video projection. Wigs Snatched, Perceptions Destroyed is the fake TED talk that needs to go viral as Erinn Dhesi teaches how to monetise and curate your online presence while maintaining just enough of your dignity and identity. Following their sell-out run at VAULT Festival 2019, The LOL Word are back with their Coming Out Special with brand new stand-up about all things queer.

Entertaining and educating audiences on the impact of illness was at the heart of both the Pleasance and the Summerhall Award winners at the Fringe this year with shows based on personal experience. VAULT Festival’s Pick of Pleasance Award winner, Madame Ovary is about the usual struggle a 20-something has with trying to stay relevant alongside the less typical struggle of trying to stay alive following Rosa Hesmondhalgh’s ovarian cancer diagnosis. Summerhall Award Winner, First Time is a funny and heartfelt solo-performance about HIV+ theatremaker Nathaniel Hall’s experience growing up positive in a negative world. Also coming to the Festival, Supernova is the candid and hilarious pop-culture romp which explores what it’s like to date when dealing with depression. LOVE (Watching Madness) is the searingly honest show about the complexities of loving someone with mental illness and how it feels to care for someone with bipolar disorder who can’t always show that they care for you

A story about disability and the Me Too movement, Tinted tells audiences to forget the Undatables, because disabled people are cool, funny and sexy, and their bodily autonomy deserves real respect. STAGES is the interactive video game musical with an electronic soundtrack about a teenage boy with autism and what happens when the code of our lives gets rewritten. Blow: A Deaf Girl’s Fight follows Hannah: young, female and deaf, she’s used to fighting, but things get a whole lot harder when she steps into a tough 80s boxing ring.

VAULT Festival continues to stage the most innovative, off-the-wall and creative shows out there. Coming Out of my Cage (And I’ve been doing just fine) is an interactive investigation, through the medium of Karaoke, of how The Killers’ song became a cultural touchstone. The Sex Ed Show from the House of Burlesque will tickle your funnybone, challenge your mind and broaden your horizons: in safe, supportive, rhinestone-gloved hands. Dance with deities, chat with cherubim and grind heavenly bodies with Xnthony and his apostles who are ready to offer Deluxe Access into Paradise. Soho Drag Lab will showcase the best of the best in the new wave of cabaret and drag, expect avant-garde, glitzy, powerful, political and outrageous work. Beach Body Ready is a defiantly feelgood show which sticks two fingers up at the media’s beauty standards, while Fanboy is a love letter to the things we adore absolutely, unconditionally and obsessively. With pirate queens and space revolutionaries, Asian Pirate Musical explores freedom, found families, and finding fun in the face of our future. Bin Juice has got mobsters, wipe-down aprons and a gruelling interview process for a toxic waste removal company, while nobody is quite sure what it is that Tony Law has but a Dadaist, surreal and absurd hour about how he Identifies

The Free Association will bring some their acclaimed improvisation underground. With crime, justice and utter nonsense, The Badge is the riotously funny all-star cop show while The Nearly News Show offers comprehensive in-depth analysis of the audience’s biggest headlines. I’m Not Here to Make Friends is a juicy and scandalous new reality TV show; Important Art seeks to unearth lost cultural treasures to the audience, lovingly restored and entirely improvised; Starry Starry Eyes is the totally improvised singing talent show you never knew you needed. Super group sensation Sorry are back with a special guest who will prompt the show every night, while the special guest in Jacuzzi will take a one-word suggestion from the audience to inspire a monologue and RAD party is the raucously irresponsible show based on the audience’s wildest and weirdest party stories. LGBTQFA will star some of The Free Associations best queer performers and the Minority Report will be presented by exclusively BAME players.

And this is only a sampling of the first round of shows on-sale so don’t miss out on some of the most innovative work around, and make sure to check back on the website as more and more goes live! Head to vaultfestival.com over the next month for more information about the shows heading to Waterloo in the new year. VAULT Festival promises to ignite the cold winter nights of 2020.

Yvonne Arnaud – until 16 November 2019

Reviewed by Heather Chalkley

5*****

Terry Johnson, writer and director, has captured beautifully the essence of an old man’s memories as he slips into dementia. He uses to great effect the backdrop of famous films such as African Queen and a whole host of leading ladies from the golden era of Hollywood, to bring to life the scenes he is reliving in his mind. You become lost in time yourself.

Jack Cardiff (Robert Lindsay) came from a Vaudeville family, growing up around stage and film. It seems fitting that towards the end of his life, reality became a re run of scenes from his career as a cinematographer. Lindsay (Cardiff) delivers the smooth flow of dialogue like liquid gold. You believe every moment. Tara Fitzgerald (Nicola) shows the pain of an ever present, long forgotten wife with grace. Her representation of Katharine Hepburn was remarkable and clearly well studied. You like the carer Lucy (Victoria Blunt) straight away. The inner knowing that she is a good carer shines through the outward lack of confidence. As her back story unfolds you cannot help but like her a bit more. Blunt is able to take on with ease the voices and persona of distinctive characters like Marilyn Munroe and Lauren Bacall. Together with Oliver Hembrough (Mason) the cast work seamlessly as one unit.

As Jack Cardiff himself said, “The director and cameraman work together to create an atmosphere.” In this case The Director (Terry Johnson) and The Creative Team bring cinema magic to the stage, with moving pictures and scenes from that golden age. A beautiful play that will touch your heart.

LAURA WADE’S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED THE WATSONS

TRANSFERS TO THE WEST END

“A beautifully bold production. A stunning play.” ★★★★★ Guardian

★★★★★ Metro ★★★★★ The Stage ★★★★ Times ★★★★ Financial Times ★★★★ Telegraph ★★★★ Evening Standard ★★★★ Time Out ★★★★ Daily Express

Chocolate Factory Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions present

The Chichester Festival Theatre and Menier Chocolate Factory production of

THE WATSONS

A new play by Laura Wade

Adapted from the unfinished novel by Jane Austen

Director: Samuel West; Designer: Ben Stones; Lighting Designer: Richard Howell

Sound Designer: Gregory Clarke; Movement: Mike Ashcroft; Music: Isobel Waller-Bridge

Casting Director: Charlotte Sutton

Following sold-out runs at both Chichester Festival Theatre and the Menier Chocolate Factory, Laura Wade’s The Watsons transfers to the West End in 2020. The production opens at the Harold Pinter Theatre on 19 May, with previews from 8 May, and runs until 26 September. Public booking opens on 15 November, priority booking is open now.

“Laura Wade triumphs spinning Jane Austen into major theatrical gold” Variety

Directed by Samuel West, The Watsons played to critical acclaim at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2018, and completes its run at the Menier this Saturday, 16 November.

“Excellent. Jane Austen has never been quite so much fun.” The Times

Nineteen and new in town, Emma Watson’s been cut off by her wealthy aunt. She needs to marry, and fast, or be faced with a life of poverty and spinsterhood stuck in her humdrum family home.

Luckily, she has plenty of prospective suitors asking to dance, from dashing socialite Tom Musgrave to the stinking rich, socially awkward Lord Osborne. Which partner to pick?

So far, so familiar, but that’s when Jane Austen stopped writing. Two hundred years on, her forgotten heroine’s happy ending still hangs in the balance.

Picking up an unfinished novel, Olivier Award-winner Laura Wade’s ‘ingenious and triumphant’ (Evening Standard) new comedy pops the bonnet on Jane Austen’s worldand asks: what happens when a writer loses the plot and fictional characters take control of their tale?

Laura Wade is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her credits include Home, I’m Darling (Theatr Clwyd, National Theatre, Duke of York’s Theatre and UK tour – Olivier Award for Best New Comedy), Tipping the Velvet (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, adapted from the novel by Sarah Waters), Posh (Royal Court Theatre and West End), Alice (Sheffield Theatres), Kreutzer vs. Kreutzer (Sydney Opera House and Australian Tour, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Royal Festival Hall and UK tour), Other Hands (Soho Theatre), Colder Than Here (Soho Theatre and MCC Theatre New York), Breathing Corpses (Royal Court Theatre), Young Emma (Finborough Theatre), and 16 Winters (Bristol Old Vic Basement).  Film credits include The Riot Club and Britain Isn’t Eating.  

Samuel West directs. His directorial work includes After Electra (Tricycle Theatre), Close The Coalhouse Door (Northern Stage), Waste (Almeida Theatre) and Dealer’s Choice (Menier Chocolate Factory/Trafalgar Studios). As Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres he directed the first revival of The Romans in Britain by Howard Brenton, and As You Like It for the RSC’s Complete Works Festival. He also directed Money by Edward Bulwer-Lytton for BBC Radio. As an actor, work includes the title roles in Hamlet and Richard II for the RSC, Jeffrey Skilling in Lucy Prebble’s Enron (Chichester/Royal Court/Noel Coward theatres), three series of Mr Selfridge, the film Howards End, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Suffragette and On Chesil Beach. He is currently filming All Creatures Great and Small.

This production is based on the original Chichester Festival Theatre production which had its world premiere at the Minerva Theatre on 3 November 2018.

www.thewatsonsplay.com

Twitter and Instagram: @TheWatsonsPlay

Facebook: /TheWatsonsPlay

Listings Information                                                                                                                   The Watsons

Harold Pinter Theatre

Panton St, London SW1Y 4DN

Box Office: 0844 871 7622

www.atgtickets.com

Tickets from £15

8 May – 26 September

With an election coming up, what better time to remember the first woman elected to Parliament? Constance Markievicz was elected in 1918 in the first election in which women could vote, and Lynx Theatre and Poetry are bringing Jacqueline Mulhallen’s “stunning and evocative” play about Constance and her sister, Eva Gore-Booth, to the Bread and Roses Theatre in Clapham.

‘Rebels and Friends’ is directed by William Alderson and tells Constance and Eva’s story using over 500 images, poetry, Irish music, and dancing choreographed by Sian Williams, Master of Dance at the Globe Theatre and  choreographer of BBCTV’s Wolf Hall. The new production has been described as ‘Authentic, stirring and poignant’ and ‘Skilfully written, produced and performed’, and is on for two nights on 17th and 18th of November.

Jacqueline Mulhallen, herself the daughter of an Irish emigrant, said “It is staggering that this women are being erased from history. I well know that a lot of the history of Ireland’s struggle for independence is not known to people in this country, whether they have an Irish or British background, and I wanted to bring it to life through these sisters who were not only intimately involved in that struggle, but also major figures in our history.’ Constance was leader of the Dublin Easter Rising and became the first female Cabinet Minister in the World in the (illegal) Irish Dail. Eva was a poet, pacifist, trade unionist and radical suffragist who inspired Christabel Pankhurst to found the suffragettes.

William Alderson, the director, said ‘I wanted to match the rich texture of the sisters’ lives with a richness of production, so we have used archive and location images, music and dance to give the events of the time a powerful presence on the stage.’ Audiences certainly seem to like this production, with reviewers calling it ‘expertly directed’ (Morning Star), and ‘Powerful, imaginative, a tour de force duet of acting and dancing, beautifully choreographed…superb’ (Counterfire). Audiences too are regularly sending comments such as ‘excellent…lots to inspire’, ‘absolutely tremendous’, ‘a fantastic play and great performances’, and ‘imaginative and captivating’.

Rebels and Friends is at the Bread & Roses Theatre, Clapham on 17th & 18th November 97.30 p.m.) and then at the South London Irish Club on 24th (4.30 p.m.) & 25th November (8 p.m.)

CLAPPERBOARD UK TO HOST SPECIAL 10^TH ANNIVERSARY FUNDRAISER SCREENING OF ‘NOWHERE BOY’

WITH Q+A WITH ACCLAIMED WRITER MATT GREENHALGH AND LIVERPOOL ACTOR JOSH BOLT

Clapperboard UK’s Director Maureen Sinclair is delighted to announce the 10th anniversary celebration screening of Nowhere Boy,with acclaimed BAFTA nominated screenwriter, Matt Greenhalgh (Clocking Off, Control, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool) and Liverpool actor Josh Bolt (Nowhere Boy, Last Tango in Halifax, Catch 22). 

They will be joined by other cast and crew members, who will be supporting and attending the very special event on Thursday 5th December, 6pm at Picture House At FACT.  Followed by an exclusive Q+A with Matt Greenhalgh and Josh Bolt.

The evening will be chaired by award-winning Liverpool Producer Colin McKeown (Moving On, Common, Care), there will be a post-reception held at Frederiks on Hope Street.

Nowhere Boy is directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, supported by a cast which features British acting royalty Kristin Scott Thomas, Anne-Marie Duff, David Morrissey, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Josh Bolt. The film tells the incredible untold story of a young and rebellious John Lennon and what led him to starting his own band.

A lonely teenager, curious and sharp, grows up in the shattered city of Liverpool. Two women clash for his love: Mimi, the formidable aunt who raised him, and Julia, the spirited mother who gave him up. Yearning for a normal family, John Lennon escapes into music. His fledgling genius finds a kindred spirit in the young Paul McCartney. But just as John’s new life begins, the truth about his past leads to a tragedy he would never escape. Poignant and powerful, this is the untold story of the boy who created The Beatles. Nowhere Boy was adapted from the memoirs of John Lennon’s stepsister.

Sam Taylor-Johnson, Director of Nowhere Boy said: “Nowhere Boy was and still is a significant movie for me both personally and professionally.  You only get to make your first film once, after that the knowledge you gain, both enables you and disarms you of the sweet naivety you have when you step on set for the first time.  I’m so very proud of this movie, what it brought to me and what it in turn gives to the audience.”

Liverpool actor Josh Bolt said: “I can’t quite believe it’s been 10 years since we made Nowhere Boy, it’s such a wonderful film and was such a brilliant experience for me at 14 not to mention an incredible learning curve. I’m so excited to see it on the big screen again and couldn’t think of anyone better to host the evening and bring it back to its hometown than the local charity I support, ClapperboardUK”.

Clapperboard UK’s Director Maureen Sinclair said: “it’s always an honour for me to organise high profile screenings of local home-grown productions.  It’s a fantastic opportunity to showcase some of the amazing creative talent we have here on Merseyside and in the Northwest. 

Clapperboard UK has had another successful year having recently graduated a class of ambitious and talented BFI (British Film Institute) Film Academy Students who all gained a National Certificate of Film Education, level 2 in basic Film Production, some have gone on to fulfill their dream of securing employment in the creative industries .  Following another new partnership with the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) after the launch of the #MeToo Media Merseyside project, 2019 has proven to be a rewarding year for the charitable organisation.

Clapperboard UK Ltd is non-profit making and over the past 15 years, worked successfully with more than one thousand young people between the ages of 7-26 across the North West bringing creativity into their lives through film-making.

More information can be found at www.clapperboarduk.com. If you’re interested in Clapperboard youth project, how to become a partner or sponsor please contact

Maureen Sinclair on maureen@clapperboarduk.com or telephone 07973 783 140.

This year’s partners and sponsors include: PH Holt, BFI, BBFC, Lime Pictures, Liverpool Echo, Liverpool Film Studios, Liverpool Film Office,  Forward Culture, EventSinc,  Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool LJMU, Bill Elms Associates, HMWRK online magazine, The Youth Base, Frederiks, Komo digital design,  Ma Boyle’s, Hope Street Hotel, among others.

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL PANTO ‘FOOL’ KENNY DAVIES TELLS ALL

In what will be his ninth year playing ‘The Fool’ in the legendary Rock ‘n’ Roll Pantomime at City Varieties Music Hall, Leeds lad Kenny Davies reveals why he keeps coming back for more.

Kenny knew he wanted to be an actor from a very early age when his grandmother bought him a plastic guitar that he ‘played’ for family and friends. A pupil at Intake High School, he performed in most school plays and swapped his plastic guitar for a real one, also learning to play the keyboard and drums. He went on to study at Rose Bruford College, London, from where he graduated with a BA Hons Degree in Actor Musicianship. With stage and TV credits to his name, Kenny is best known in his home city for appearing in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Pantomime at The Varieties.

Q: This will be your ninth Rock ‘n’ Roll Pantomime – what keeps you coming back for more?

A: Apart from Yorkshire being the best county in the UK (!), one of the main reasons I keep coming back is because Leeds is my home town and I feel that I have a connection with The Varieties; I have been performing in shows at the world-famous venue since my first Youth Theatre appearance back in 2000. It’s a tradition now; when I think of Christmas, I think of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto!

Q: Why do you prefer Rock ‘n’ Roll Pantomime over traditional?

A: The reason I love to perform in Rock ‘n’ Roll Pantos over traditional ones is because you get two shows in one – as well as the acting and dancing, you also have the live music aspect. The thrill of being an actor-musician in a show like this is being able to play multiple instruments on stage in front of a live audience – I think this truly improves the experience as the band forms a connection with the audience; it’s organic.

Q: You always play The Fool who never gets the girl – do you not fancy playing Prince Charming to ensure your ‘happily ever after’?!

A: I love playing The Fool as I love slapstick and making people laugh. As for getting the girl, who knows, maybe this year will be my lucky year!

Q: What has been your favourite Rock ‘n’ Roll Pantomime to date? And for what reason?

A: I have loved all the Rock ‘n’ Roll Pantos, I couldn’t possibly pick a favourite.

Q: What has been your favourite part to play? And favourite song to sing?

A: I’ve enjoyed every part I’ve played over the years, but I feel like Buttons has the edge. I’ve played Buttons twice (2012 and 2018), but both times have felt completely different because I’ve worked with a different cast each time. As for my favourite song, I loved singing I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) in Robin Hood.

Q: Can you share any funny stories?

A: When I played Buttons in 2018, I had to wear a yellow wig as part of my costume. In one scene I get bashed on the head and thrown in the well. All was going fine until in one performance, when, as I was bashed, my wig flew off my head and landed in an audience members lap. It was rather embarrassing for both me and the audience member who politely passed it back to me!

Q: Can you divulge any times when things have gone wrong?

A: Due to the nature of the part I play, there are lots of times when I must fall over, walk into a wall, get bashed on the head etc. During Robin Hood there was one scene where I get hit with a mallet – due to a spacing issue, instead of the mallet missing my head, it connected with my face and bust my lip – the show still went on!

Q: Any quirky pre-show rituals?

A: No rituals but I do love pre-show as we (the cast) get the chance to interact with the audience as they are taking their seats. It gives us an opportunity to fire them up and get them excited. We also get to tell the children to shout and be loud – and it provides a great excuse to pinch the audience’s sweets!

Q: And finally, what would be your dream role in any musical?

A: I would love to play the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera; it’s a role I could really get my teeth into.

Kenny can be seen playing Ruffles/Jack Frost in this year’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Pantomime, Red Riding Hood at City Varieties Music Hall from Friday 29 November 2019 to Sunday 12 January 2020.

“One of the secrets of its success lies with its cast of actor-musicians who waste no time in developing a great rapport with the audience in the intimate atmosphere of this historic old theatre. Full of audience participation you can cheer the goodies, hiss the baddie and shout until you are hoarse and that’s what pantomime is all about.”

(YORKSHIRE EVENING POST – Aladdin, 2017).

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