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Come along and muck about at the egg this October!

MUCKERS

By Caroline Horton

Thursday 3 – Sunday 6 October

October at the egg theatre begins with MUCKERS, an equally funny and poignant play, celebrating the joy of just mucking about!

Do you remember when you stopped mucking about? Paloma and Pichon have always mucked about together. They run wild, dress up like tigers, flamenco dancers, queens, kings, rabbits and Lady Gaga. Life is fun and funny, and a little bit loopy! Until one day a blinding white light lands on Paloma and the two friends are catapulted into a strange new world…

Created with an international ensemble, Muckers is a funny, magical and captivating adventure, a quest for self-acceptance with original songs and a bit of Spanish!

“A weird and wonderful dream” Exeunt Magazine

“Gloriously knotty” Guardian

Written by Olivier award nominee  and winner of The Stage Award for Excellence, Caroline Horton, Muckers is a co-production between the egg, Oxford Playhouse, Cardiff-based children’s theatre producers Theatr Iolo, and Madrid’s cultural centre Conde Duque.

MUCKERS is at the egg theatre from Thursday 3 – Sunday 6 October. Tickets are on sale now from the egg reception on 01225 823409, the Theatre Royal Box Office on 01225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk

LISTINGS INFORMATION

The egg, Oxford Playhouse, Theatr Iolo and Conde Duque present

MUCKERS

Venue:            the egg theatre, Bath

Dates:             Thursday 3 – Sunday 6 October 2019

Times:             Thursday 7.30pm; Friday 10am & 1pm; Saturday & Sunday 11.30am & 3pm

Tickets:           £9 adults / £8 children / £7.50 schools

Box Office:      01225 448844 (Box Office) / 01225 823409 (egg reception)

Website:         www.theatreroyal.org.uk (booking fees apply)

Age guidance: 7+

This production is supported by the Medlock Charitable Trust

Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford – until 28th September 2019, and touring

Reviewed by Antonia Hebbert

3***

This play is an unusually dark take on Britain in the 1940s. We’re used to celebrations of plucky Blitz spirit, but The Night Watch reminds us that people also experienced fear and insecurity, not to mention the everyday dreariness of things like rationing. It’s based on Sarah Waters’ novel of the same name (shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2006), and the stage adaptation is by Hattie Naylor.

Like the novel, the play starts in 1947. The bombing is over, but London has yet to be rebuilt, as have the lives of the characters. Kay (Phoebe Pryce) is a sort of living ghost, trying to piece back the bits of her life – a ring that she lent a stranger, memories of a lover, and a lost sense of purpose. Duncan (excellent Lewis Mackinnon) appears broken by years in prison as a conscientious objector. Other characters – fractious couple Helen and Julia, Duncan’s cellmate and his sister, the odd old man he lives with and a faith healer – link them together. By the end of the first part of the play, Kay and Duncan have both, possibly, found the beginnings of redemption.

The second half goes back through the war years, and fills in the gaps. A bright dance routine is effective shorthand for the way the war shook up society and freed some people from the old conventions. We see Kay as a brave and admired air-raid (ARP) warden, but we also see Duncan’s horror at being dragged into this ‘old man’s war’ that seems to him to have no purpose. The lesbian love triangle of Kay, Helen and Julia is a crucial part of the story, but is oddly unelectrifying. They just don’t tug on the heartstrings in the way that Duncan does, perhaps because he seems so raw, while the women are restrained, and indeed plucky. Malcolm James treads an interesting line as Mr Mundy, both creepy and humane.

Everything is played out in a dark, rubble-heaped set with the shell of a house looming behind. It’s an atmospheric and interesting play, and worth seeing for its unusual approach to Britain at war. I have to confess I’ve missed this book by Sarah Waters (I have enjoyed others), but will definitely get hold of it now

THE NATIONAL THEATRE PRODUCTION OF

A TASTE OF HONEY
BY SHELAGH DELANEY

WILL TRANSFER TO THE WEST END IN DECEMBER FOR A LIMITED RUN
FOLLOWING A UK TOUR

A Taste of Honey
Trafalgar Studios
5 December 2019 – 29 February 2020

The National Theatre today announced that Bijan Sheibani’s (Barber Shop Chronicles, Dance Nation) production of A Taste of Honey, the remarkable taboo-breaking 1950s play written by Shelagh Delaney when she was just 19, will transfer to the West End immediately following a nine-week UK tour. A Taste of Honey will play a limited 12-week run at Trafalgar Studios from 5 December in a co-production with Trafalgar Theatre Productions, with an opening night on Monday 9 December. Tickets will go on sale to the general public from 11 October.

Jodie Prenger (Oliver!, Shirley Valentine, Annie, Abigail’s Party UK tour), leads the cast as Helen, with Gemma Dobson as Jo, Durone Stokes as Jimmie, Stuart Thompson as Geoffrey, and Tom Varey as Peter. They are joined by understudies Liam Bessell, Katy Clayton, and Claire Eden.

A Taste of Honey, which returns to the West End for the first time in 60 years, is designed by Hildegard Bechtler, who collaborated with Sheibani on the NT’s 2014 Lyttelton Theatre production. This production is reimagined in an exciting new staging featuring original compositions – influenced by blues and soul music – by Benjamin Kwasi Burrell, and rearranged songs from the jazz era, performed live by an on stage three-piece band.

A Taste of Honey offers an explosive celebration of the vulnerabilities and strengths of the female spirit in a deprived and restless world, against the backdrop of working-class life in post-war Salford.

When her mother Helen runs off with a car salesman, feisty teenager Jo takes up with Jimmie, a sailor who promises to marry her, before he heads for the seas. Art student Geof moves in and assumes the role of surrogate parent until, misguidedly, he sends for Helen and their unconventional setup unravels.

The lighting designer is Paul Anderson, the movement director is Aline David, the sound designer is Ian Dickinson for Autograph, and Company Voice Work is by Joel Trill.

Shelagh Delaney wrote her first play, A Taste of Honey in ten days after seeing Rattigan’s Variation of a Theme in Manchester. She sent the script to Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop and the play opened at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East in 1958 before transferring to the West End in 1959. It was later made into a BAFTA-winning feature film with Rita Tushingham, Dora Bryan and Murray Melvin. The play’s Broadway transfer featured a cast including Joan Plowright and Angela Lansbury. Delaney’s other work includes The Lion in Love. For television she wrote The House That Jack Built and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Lisa Burger, Executive Director of the NT said, ‘We opened the NT tour of A Taste of Honey at The Lowry in Salford last week and it was very special to be able to take Shelagh Delaney’s beloved play home. It now feels very fitting to return this important play to the West End for the first time in 60 years, following its tour around the UK. After the success of Nine Night at Trafalgar Studios, we look forward to partnering with Trafalgar Theatre Productions to introduce new audiences in London to this classic.’

A Taste of Honey opened at The Lowry, Salford and is playing at the Kings Theatre, Edinburgh this week before visiting the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury (1 – 5 October); Richmond Theatre (7 – 12 October); Grand Opera House, Belfast (15 – 19 October); Leicester Curve (22 – 26 October); Theatre Royal, Bath (28 October – 2 November); Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton (5 – 9 November); and the Norwich Theatre Royal (12 – 16 November) before arriving in the West End.

Bijan Sheibani is an award winning theatre and opera director. His work for the National Theatre includes Barber Shop Chronicles, A Taste of Honey, Emil and the Detectives, The Kitchen, and Our Class (Olivier Nomination for Best Director). Other theatre includes Dance Nation and The House of Bernarda Alba (Almeida Theatre); Circle Mirror Transformation (Home, Manchester); The Brothers Size (Young Vic, Olivier Nomination); Giving (Hampstead Theatre); Moonlight (Donmar Warehouse); Gone Too Far (Royal Court Theatre, Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre). He was artistic director of Actors Touring Company from 2007 to 2010, and an associate director at the National Theatre from 2010 to 2015.

Hildegard Bechtler is an Olivier Award-winning theatre and opera designer whose designs for the NT include Consent, Sunset at the Villa Thalia, Waste, A Taste of Honey, Scenes from an Execution, After the Dance, Harper Regan, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, The Hothouse, Thérèse Raquin, Exiles, Primo, Iphigenia at Aulis, The Merchant of Venice, Richard II, and King Lear. For the RSC she has designed The Crucible and Electra. In London’s West End her designs include Oresteia (also Almeida Theatre), Top Hat, Passion Play, Old Times, The Sunshine Boys, Arcadia, The Lady from Dubuque, By the Bog of Cats, The Master Builder, Footfalls, Hedda Gabler, The Misanthrope, The Goat or Who is Sylvia?, The Crucible. On Broadway she has designed Primo, Arcadia, and The Seagull.

A Taste of Honey is produced in the West End by the National Theatre and Trafalgar Theatre Productions.

A Taste of Honey is supported by American Express, the NT’s preferred card partner.

Booking information

A Taste of Honey
5 December 2019 – 29 February 2020
Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, Westminster, London SW1A 2DY

Tickets from £18
Book via nationaltheatre.org.uk / 020 7452 3000 or http://www.atgtickets.com/venues/trafalgar-studios / 0844 871 7632 from 11 October.

Social media

Twitter: @TasteofHoneyNT
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ATasteofHoney
#ATasteofHoney

CINDERELLA OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED AT THE EPSTEIN THEATRE

SAMMY WINWARD AND FULL CAST ATTEND PANTO LAUNCH

Christmas arrived early in Liverpool this week at the press launch for Epstein Entertainments’ debut panto Cinderella, which comes to The Epstein Theatre this Christmas.

Audiences are guaranteed to have a ball when the greatest rags to riches tale opens from Fri 6 Dec ’19 – Sun 5 Jan ’20

The paparazzi were out in full force to snap this year’s all-star cast at the lunchtime launch, which took place at the Hanover Street venueand had been decoratedby The Festive Decorators.

Press and guests were greeted with mince pies and mulled wine upon arrival to set the yuletide mood, before The Guide’s Jay Hynd hosting the event started off proceedings by introducing the full cast.

Emmerdale’s Sammy Winward will lead this year’s star-studded cast in the title role.

She will be joined by Benidorm’s Crissy Rock; Brookside’s Sarah White; Shameless’ Warren Donnelly; Andrew Geater; Samantha Palin; and Lewis Devine.

Sammy Winward trained at the Academy of Classical Dance and Stage and is most notable for playing Katie Sugden in ITV’s Emmerdale, a role she played for 14 years.

Her other TV credits include Lucy Murdoch in Prey and Siobhan Murphy in Fearless for ITV. 

It is certain to be a White Crissy-mas, with Brookside’s Sarah White and award-winning actor and comedian Crissy Rock as the Ugly Sisters.

Crissy’s screen career began with an award-winning performance in Ken Loache’s 1994 film drama Ladybird, Ladybird.

The Liverpool native is also renowned for her role as Janey York in ITV’s Benidorm, and most recently took part in The All New Monty: Ladies Night which saw a group of celebrities strip-off to raise awareness of the importance of early health checks in preventing breast cancer.

Crissy’s stage credits include Escorts: The Musical, Dirty Dusting, Rita, Sue and Bob Too! and Achy Breaky Bride, and panto credits include Ugly Sister in Cinderella at St Helens Theatre Royal and Fairy Godmother in Sleeping Beauty at The Brindley.

Whilst Sarah White is best known for her character Bev McLoughlin in Brookside, where her controversial and dramatic storyline saw her have a baby with her boyfriend’s son.

Her theatre credits include Margy in The Morris at the Liverpool Everyman, Rita in three UK tours of Naked Truth, and Sheila in The Salon at both The Epstein Theatre and St Helens Theatre Royal.

Most notable for playing Stan Waterman in the Channel 4 series Shameless, Liverpool actor Warren Donnelly will play Dandini. No stranger to the stage, Warren’s previous panto credits include King Rat in Dick Whittington and Abanazer in Aladdin both at Liverpool’s Empire Theatre.

Also joining the cast is the talented Andrew Geater as Prince Charming.

Andrew has recently played the Pharoah in the UK tour of Bill Kenwright’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. His impressive vocal talents have seen him perform all over the world including as member of the world-renowned group The 12 Tenors. Other theatre credits include Jesus Chris Superstar, Guys and Dolls and South Pacific.

Bringing a sprinkling of magic to the show and making all of Cinderella’s dreams come true will be Samantha Palin as the Fairy Godmother, whose theatre credits include the UK tour of Forever Dusty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at The Kings Theatre and Cinderella at St Helens Theatre Royal.

Completing the cast is the hilarious Lewis Devine who will playButtons.

Lewis’ career started from an early age when he appeared on the first series of ITV’s Kids Stars in Their Eyes which he won with his impersonation of Donny Osmond. His panto credits include Muddles in Snow White and the title role in Peter Pan, both at St Helens Theatre Royal, and French Frank in Beauty and The Beast at Stockport Plaza.

Throughout the afternoon guests got to hear from the cast during a Q+A, with a first glimpse as to what to expect from Epstein Entertainments’ magical production coming to The Epstein Theatre this festive season.

Cinderella is produced by Epstein Entertainments Ltd, a joint venture between Chantelle Nolan and Jane Joseph from Regal Entertainments Ltd and producer Bill Elms.

Producer Chantelle Nolan said: “The countdown to Christmas has officially begun! It was great to bring all the cast together today; everyone got in the festive spirit and it has made us all that more excited to bring the show to audiences of Liverpool.

“We have a spectacular production in store this Christmas and are delighted to be able to bring even more magic to the production with the introduction of an interactive 3D scene which will make the action jump off the stage. With just 10-weeks until we open be sure to book your tickets early to guarantee the best seats!”

Epstein Entertainments’ debut production at the venue promises to be a festive extravaganza, featuring – in a first for the venue, a magical interactive 3D scene bringing the panto magic to life like never before!

Cinderella tells the story of a beautiful girl who is reduced to a life of servitude by her two ugly stepsisters. That is all set to change when an invitation to a grand ball at the palace arrives.

With a bit of magic and some help from her friend Buttons, Cinderella is transformed into the belle of the ball. But what will happen at the stroke of midnight?

Enchanted pumpkins, glass slippers, a sparkling fairy-tale carriage – Epstein Entertainments’ version of this classic tale has something for the whole family.

Be sure to book your tickets early and get ready to be whisked off to the most lavish panto in all the land.

LISTING INFORMATION

Cinderella

Date: Fri 6 Dec ’19 – Sun 5 Jan ‘20
Time: Various Times

Tickets: From £11

To book tickets please call 0844 888 4411* or go online at www.epsteinliverpool.co.uk * or in person at The Epstein Theatre Box Office from 12pm – 6pm, Monday – Saturday.

*Subject to booking fee. All prices include a £1 per ticket venue restoration levy

For more details check out www.epsteinliverpool.co.uk and join our mailing list. Follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/EpsteinTheatre and twitter @EpsteinTheatre.

StoryHouse Live, Chester – 22 September 2019

Reviewed by Julie Noller

4****

Personally it’s rather unfair for me to rate this show, it’s generally a look back over 50 years of broadcasting, some of which I haven’t been alive for. I confess to not being an avid listener to Radio 4, hands up who thought all Radio 4 was only good for was the shipping forecast? Yes me too. But here on stage are presenters, some of we may have heard of but all of whom are household names. Each sitting cosily as if welcoming us into their sitting rooms for coffee, cake and a chat. Here is a show reminding us that people and real life are just as amusing and witty as comedians and their stories. Currently visiting theatres across the country for a series of one night performances, make sure you book your ticket it won’t disappoint. So who graced the StoryHouse stage?

Leading the way is Garry Richardson who having been a regular on The Today Show since 1981 is the longest serving member of the team. Charlotte Green who can include being voted as Britains favourite voice by readers of the Radio Times. Both have a tremendous wealth of stories many from behind the scenes, all making me giggle. It would be wrong for me to spoil the fun if your are thinking of going along by retelling them now, but the radio clips will have new meaning when you listen and look at the person themselves. Then there’s quite possibly Britain’s most famous vicar, Reverend Richard Coles who we had seen earlier on whilst we sat eating taking a pre-show stroll around Chester; he happily waved to us. Nice to hear he has conversations with fellow Strictly contestant Debbie Magee and can look at a complete stranger and tell you the shade of their spray tan even if it is to his boss; future mastermind topic perhaps? He only mentioned belonging to a band a couple of times, his tales of popstar to priesthood are thrilling and entertaining. Alistair McGowan is a well known name, star performer and writer, he dazzled us with impressions of not only his friends on stage but those in current affairs such as John Humphrys who recently announced his departure from The Today programme and how could he leave out Boris Johnson? All in all the humour was tongue in cheek, designed to amuse and not to offend. There were plenty of mentions of Brexit on stage indeed Alistair does have a stab at a little satirical comedy although he does admit to not being very good so we’ll forgive him. On the night there were in fact 2 special guests, Richie Webb who not only works on many of Radio 4’s comedy programmes but contributes towards many of sketches included in the award winning Horrible Histories (I would have loved to hear some of his stories from this time). He played some well known tunes from years gone by, many in the audience joined in with. His quip about not being well known as he fills the coveted after 11pm slot, was one repeated, perhaps in the hope we’ll remember his name but was also designed to amuse us. Alistair McGowan’s wife the accomplished performer Charlotte Page joined the cast on stage a few times with her wonderful voice.

There were a few times we wondered if the night was scripted, gone off track or was deliberately designed to show how not everything is polished. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t a seasoned listener of Radio 4 or if you recognise the names. It is a pleasant entertaining evening, one you could take your Parents or even Grandparents to and you would all enjoy. There are witty stories, little secrets to share (some of which are fascinating), radio clips, singing. In fact I can’t decide if it’s a night with Radio 4, a homage to old fashioned music halls with jokes and comedy sketches or I’m watching a group of friends read through a script before a performance. But it’s definitely fun and relaxed exactly as theatre should be.

Fiona Allan and Professor Carl Chinn MBE Ph.D have unveiled a special Giant Playbill installation as part of Birmingham Hippodrome’s 120^th birthday celebrations.

Measuring 10 metres in length, the Giant Playbill was installed in the main foyer on September 20 and takes inspiration from the posters that hung outside the theatre a century ago announcing the acts for each week.

As well as some of the more unusual variety acts from the theatre’s history, the playbill features a selection of some of the most famous artists who have tread the Hippodrome’s boards over the last 120 years, such as The Beatles and Julie Andrews.

Fiona Allan, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Birmingham Hippodrome said:  “This commemorative artwork is another way for the Hippodrome to mark our 120^th anniversary, and we hope it prompts visitors to recall some of the great performers they have seen here over the decades.”

The Giant Playbill is completely free to visit and is situated in the main Hippodrome foyer, near the Coffee Bar.

Allan added: “Now that we are open all day, visitors can drop by anytime to see the giant Playbill, and our autumn art exhibitions on Levels 2 and 3- and take some time out for coffee and cake whilst they are here!”

Professor Carl Chinn MBE Ph.D is a celebrated champion of Birmingham, especially noted for his work as a campaigner and social historian. On unveiling the special installation, Chinn said: “The Hippodrome has been at the heart of cultural activity in the city for many decades and is a landmark theatre in Birmingham, and the UK. It was an honour to reveal this stunning artwork that celebrates the rich history of Birmingham Hippodrome.”

The Giant Playbill was launched as part of Heritage Open Days, England’s largest festival of history and culture and will be on display until the end of the year.

Full casting announced for the Claybody Theatre premiere of Deborah McAndrew’s new play The D-Road

Claybody Theatre are delighted to announce full casting for the premiere of The D-Road, Deborah McAndrew’s new play about one of Stoke-on-Trent’s most significant cultural and economic landmarks– The A500 dual carriageway.

The production’s cast will feature Angela Bain ( Brighton Rock, Pilot Theatre; Made in Dagenham (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch and New Wolsey Ipswich) and the films Mary Queen of Scots (Working Title Films) and London Road ( BBC/Cuba Films); Michael Hugo (Around The World In 80 Days (Kenny Wax Family Entertainment and Simon Friend and Royal Exchange and 2019 U.S.A tour); The 39 Steps, The Lady Killers (co-production with Hull Truck); The Borrowers, Far From the Madding Crowd, Alice in Wonderland, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, The Wicked Lady and Great Expectations, all at New Vic Theatre); Jack Wilkinson (Island Town, Sticks & Stones and How To Spot An Alien, Paine’s Plough Roundabout Season; Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s Globe; King Lear, Northern Broadsides/UK Tour; David Copperfield, Oldham Coliseum (Nominated for Best Actor at MTA Awards) and DeadKidSongs, Theatre Royal Bath) and Riana Duce (Leeds Lads, Red Ladder Theatre)

A house stands marooned on a forgotten island of land somewhere between the railway, the Trent and Mersey Canal, and the D-Road. It’s where Liam lives with his Nana. 

Liam and his girlfriend, Lois, dream of the bright lights of Manchester, but how can they leave Nana, with her very peculiar phobia? 

Then a charismatic stranger turns up at the door. Who is he? What does he want? And why is he so interested in the Nana’s back garden? 

Playwright Deborah McAndrew said:

“I’m thrilled that the cast includes two actors I love writing for – Angela Bain and Michael Hugo. They both have terrific charisma and are very popular with our audience. Jack Wilkinson is an actor I greatly admire, and I’m delighted that he is coming to play a part I created for him. It’s also a huge pleasure to welcome Riana Duce to the Claybody ensemble. She is an exciting young talent, and I’m sure audiences will love her in the role of Lois.”

Director Conrad Nelson added:

“I always aim to build a vibrant company around old friends and new. Our charismatic cast is complemented by an amazing creative team. Dawn Allsopp designs her fourth show for the company and, together with our lighting designer John Slevin, and our brilliant production team she will transform the iconic industrial site of Spode with a bespoke design and installation. This year we’re thrilled to have commissioned a new composition by Scott Ralph, whose work includes writing songs for Robbie Williams. Choreographer Beverley Norris-Edmunds, fresh from the West End, will create a fun opening musical sequence with our professional cast and community company.

Claybody Theatre is a Stoke-on-Trent based company whose work is inspired by the lives and experiences of local people. Founded by playwright Deborah McAndrew and director Conrad Nelson, the company’s work includes the highly successful Ugly Duck, first performed at the Burslem School of Art and then at the New Vic Theatre; Digging In, a play for schools about children of mining families during the 1984-5 Miners’ Strike; and Dirty Laundry, a domestic thriller presented in Spode last year (2017) and last year’s Hot Lane.

Written and directed by award-winning husband and wife team of Deborah McAndrew and Conrad Nelson, The D-Roadwill premiere from the 16-26 October at the Spode Works in Stoke-On-Trent. 

For tickets and further information visit http://claybodytheatre.com/

Acclaimed choreographer Sir Richard Alston announced as new patron for Northampton’s Royal & Derngate

Royal & Derngate is thrilled to announce that the acclaimed choreographer Sir Richard Alston is to become a patron of the Northampton-based theatre.

Founder of the renowned Richard Alston Dance Company and Artistic Director of The Place for the last 25 years, Richard Alston is internationally recognised as one of the most inspiring and influential choreographers in dance. Over the past 50 years, he has played a major role in the world of contemporary dance, developing a unique and distinct dance language and shaping the art form in this country. Perhaps more than any other choreographer, Richard is known for his instinctive musicality and his very close relationship with music, taking inspiration for his work directly from the music he uses, to use the music as a point of departure for the choreography.

Richard is deeply committed to nurturing the talents and interests of children and young people, and this has led to him offering incredible opportunities over the years for many young people in Northamptonshire to get involved in dance projects supported by him and his company.

Richard Alston Dance Company has been a regular feature on the Derngate stage for many years, and the company will be performing in Northampton for the last time on Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2 October, as part of its final tour before the company closes in April 2020. The programme will include a group of young dancers from across the region, aged 14 to 18, performing a new piece of work developed over a weeklong residency during the summer, as part of a project with Richard Alston Dance Company and Two Thirds Sky

Richard Alston commented: “I am truly delighted to be asked to become Patron of Royal & Derngate theatres. Northampton has been a part of my touring life for decades and over all those touring years the stage of the Derngate has always remained one of my favourites on which to present my dances. I am, yes, delighted to be Patron but also very proud.”

Jo Gordon, Chief Executive of Royal & Derngate, said: “We’re delighted that we are going to be able continue our association with Richard Alston into the future. Richard has always been incredibly generous with his time, building activities around his company’s visits to Royal & Derngate that can engage the whole community. As such he has developed really strong relationships in the county across the years and his continued support of the venue, through becoming our patron, will be greatly valued.”

Born in Sussex in 1948, Richard Alston was educated at Eton where he discovered his passion for music in the school gramophone library, listening to Bach and Billie Holliday, or blasting Wagner’s Ring at the cows grazing outside. He then studied fine art and theatre design at Croydon College of Art in 1965, before becoming one of the very first students at the newly established London Contemporary Dance School in 1968, where he first started to choreograph under the ground breaking teaching of Robert Cohan and leadership of Robin Howard at The Place.

In 1975 Richard Alston went to New York to study with Merce Cunningham at the Cunningham Studios. He returned to the UK to take on the post of Artistic Director at Ballet Rambert from 1986-1992 before returning to his artistic home The Place as Artistic Director in 1994 – the same year he launched his Richard Alston Dance Company. 

He was made an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy (in Dance) at Surrey University (1992), received an Honorary MA from University College Chichester (1993), made an Honorary Doctor of the Arts by the University of Kent (2015), an Honorary Doctor of the Arts by Kingston University (2016) and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (2017). Alston was made Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France (1995) and received the CBE in the New Year Honours list (2001). Alston received the De Valois Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards (2008). He was presented with the Award for Excellence in International Dance by the International Theatre Institute (2012). 

Alston was Chair of Youth Dance England, a position he held from 2009 until March 2016 when he became U.Dance Champion and is a Trustee of the Dance Professionals Fund. Alston was knighted in the 2019 New Year Honours list. 

Royal & Derngate hosts a diverse programme of dance, drama, music, comedy and film and is one of the major producing venues in the country, well-known for its acclaimed Made in Northampton drama productions. For more information about the theatre and its programme, visit www.royalanderngate.co.uk.

WHAT’S THE FUZZ ALL ABOUT

AVENUE Q RETURNS TO MANCHESTER

Guess Q’s back! The naughtiest puppets in town will be coming to Manchester as comedy musical Avenue Q returns to the Palace Theatre 21-26 October with all of your favourite fuzzy friends.

Following five years in the West End, sell-out runs worldwide and smash hit tours in 2014, 2015 and 2016 (packed with mischief, bad behaviour and political incorrectness!) Tony Award-winning Musical, created by Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez, Co-creator of Book of Mormon and writer of the songs for Disney’s Frozen, is an irresistibly charming tale of the loveable characters on a downtown New York street trying to make sense of life’s burning issues.

Meet Princeton, a bright-eyed graduate who comes to New York City with big dreams and a tiny bank account. Brian the out-of-work comedian and his therapist fiancée Christmas Eve; Nicky the good-hearted slacker and his closet gay Republican roommate Rod, an Internet ‘sexpert’ called Trekkie Monster, Lucy the Sl*t (the name says it all!) and a very cute kindergarten teacher named Kate Monster. Featuring hysterically funny songs including The Internet is for Porn and Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist, Avenue Q is a hilarious musical with a warm (and very fuzzy) heart.

Cast includes Megan Armstrong, Jasmine Beel, Ellis Dackombe, Chloe Gentles, Nicholas Mclean, Robbie Noonan, Saori Oda, Cecily Redman, Lawrence Smith, Oliver Stanley and Tom Steedon

Avenue Q first opened Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre in 2003, before transferring to Broadway later that year where it won three Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. In 2006 it transferred to the West End where it ran for five years before touring the UK. It has appeared in more than ten countries all over the world.

Avenue Q is produced by Selladoor Worldwide (producers of Footloose, Little Shop of Horrors, Flashdance –  The Musical and Fame –  The Musical), Showtime Theatre Productions and in association with Richard Darbourne Limited – Avenue Q is directed and choreographed by Cressida Carré, designed by Richard Evans, Lighting Designed by Charlie Morgan Jones and Sound Designed by Chris Bogg.  Puppets are designed by Paul Jomain of Q Puppets with Puppet Coaching by Nigel Plaskitt.

Hilarious, cheeky and uproariously entertaining, with a cast of 11 hugely talented performers and puppets, Avenue Q is the musical like no other.

Don’t let your life suck – book your tickets today! (Suitable for audiences 14+)

CAST ANNOUNCED FOR WEST END TRANSFER OF

Professor Goodman will visit the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End to confirm the supernatural is PURELY a trick of the mind… or is it?

Watch a special message from Andy and Jeremy here: https://we.tl/t-oaAEHnHijW

Casting is today announced for Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson’s worldwide cult phenomenon Ghost Stories which is set to play a strictly limited engagement at The Ambassadors Theatre from Thursday 3rd October 2019 until Saturday 4^th January 2020. Simon Lipkin, performing as Professor Goodman, Garry Cooper playing Tony Matthews, Preston Nyman, appearing as Simon Rifkind and Richard Sutton, playing Mike Priddle, allreprise their celebrated Lyric Hammersmith Theatre roles in Ghost Stories most terrifying West End transfer.

WARNING

Please be advised that Ghost Stories contains moments of extreme shock and tension. The show is unsuitable for anyone under the age of 15. We strongly advise those of a nervous disposition to think very seriously before attending.

There’s something dark lurking in the theatre. Enter a nightmarish world, full of thrilling twists and turns, where all your deepest fears and most disturbing thoughts are imagined live on stage. A fully sensory and electrifying encounter, Ghost Stories is the ultimate twisted love-letter to horror, a supernatural edge-of-your-seat theatrical experience like no other.

Simon Lipkin plays Professor Goodman. Theatre credits includes: Ghost Stories (Lyric Hammersmith Theatre); All In A Row (Southwark Playhouse); Nativity! The Musical, The Wind In The Willows (The Palladium); Guys And Dolls (Phoenix Theatre); Miss Atomic Bomb (The Other Palace); Oliver! (Grange Park Opera); Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory);  I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (The Arts Theatre); The Lorax (The Old Vic, London); As You Like It (Southwark Playhouse); I Can’t Sing, Rock Of Ages (Shaftesbury Theatre); Spamalot (UK Tour); Alice In Wonderland (Nuffield Theatre); Footloose, The Wedding Singer (UK Tour); Austentatious (Landor Theatre); Avenue Q (Noel Coward); Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Gillian Lynne Theatre); Never The Sinner (Kenneth Moore Theatre). Television Includes: The Amazing World Of Gumball, Ricky Zoom, Dr. Who, Casualty, The Bill, No Strings Attached, Harry Hill’s Tea Time. Film Includes: Show Dogs, Nativity Rocks!, Nativity iii, The Muppets Most Wanted, The Harry Hill Movie. Concerts: Honeymoon In Vegas (The Palladium).

Garry Cooper plays Tony Matthews. Theatre credits includes: Ghost Stories (Lyric Hammersmith Theatre); The White Devil, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Henry VI trilogy (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Liverpool Everyman); The Last Days of Troy (Royal Exchange Theatre); Brassed Off (Derby Theatre); King Lear (The Old Vic & Tour); The New Statesman (Trafalgar Theatre & Tour).Television includes: New Tricks, Zen, Criminal Justice, Midsomer Murders, Charles II, In A Land of Plenty, Taggart, The Vice and the upcoming Gangs of London. Film includes: Quadrophenia, Caravaggio, Prick Up Your Ears, An Ungentlemanly Act, P’Tang Yang Kipperbang, 1984, Beautiful Thing, Biblioteque Pascal and Universal Soldier: Regeneration.

Preston Nyman plays Simon Rifkind. Theatre Include: Ghost Stories (Lyric Hammersmith Theatre), George’s Marvellous Medicine (Curve/Rose Kingston/UK Tour). Film Includes: Agatha Christie’s Crooked House. Television Includes: Stath Lets Flats, Catch 22, Silent Witness, This Country, Doctors, Doc Martin, Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom.

Richard Sutton plays Mike Priddle. Theatre credits Includes: Ghost Stories (Lyric Hammersmith Theatre); The Cow Play (Brighton Theatre Festival); Transmissions (Birmingham Rep Theatre); Tall Phoenix (Coventry Belgrade Theatre); Confusions (Canal Café Theatre); Romeo & Juliet (Jamaican Tour); Albert Make Us Laugh(Birmingham Library Theatre); The Libertine (Birmingham Library Theatre); Charley’s Aunt (Stoke Repertory Theatre). Television Includes: The Crown, Line Of Duty, The Terror, Gigglebiz, Sherlock, Humans, Boomers, Silent Witness, Jekyll And Hyde, Dunkirk, Doctors, Mr Selfridge, Our Girl, The Missing, Hollyoaks, The Tunnel, One Night, Titanic, Eastenders, Miranda, Come Fly With Me, Hustle, Beautiful People, Sugar Rush, The Bill, Dalziel & Pascoe, Derailed, Courtroom, Making Waves, Nuzzle & Scratch, Holby City, Chucklevison.

Having exhilarating audiences across the globe with record breaking, sell-out productions and a smash hit film, Ghost Stories returns to the West End this autumn, following a smash-hit extended run at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. More spine-tingling and terrifying than ever, the Olivier Award-nominated show’s strictly limited transfer opens at The Ambassadors Theatre on Thursday 3rd October 2019, where it runs until Saturday 4^th January 2020. Ghost Stories first ever UK Tour opens at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre on 7^th January 2020. 

                                                                                                                                     CREATIVE TEAM

Directed by Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman and Sean Holmes

Design by Jon Bausor

Lighting by James Farncombe

Sound by Nick Manning

Special Effects by Scott Penrose

Ambassador Theatre Group Productions, Smith and Brant Theatricals and the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre present the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre’s production of Ghost Stories.

For more information, please see:

www.ghoststorieslive.co.uk

LISTINGS INFORMATION – GHOST STORIES

THE AMBASSADORS THEATRE

West St, London, WC2H 9ND

TICKETS

Box Office: (t) 020 7395 5405 | (W) www.atgtickets.com/venues/ambassadors-theatre/

Ticket prices start from £18.25

SEASON DATES

Thursday 3^rd October 2019 – Saturday 4^th January 2020

PERFORMANCE TIMES

Monday – Thursday: 7.30pm

Friday: 7.00pm & 9.30pm

Saturday: 7.00pm & 9.30pm

Halloween Performances: 7.30pm – 9.30pm

CHRISTMAS PERFORMANCES

Christmas Eve: 2.30pm only

Christmas Day: No performance

Boxing Day: 7.30pm only

SOCIAL MEDIA

Website: www.ghoststorieslive.co.uk

Facebook: @ghoststories

Twitter: @ghoststoriesUK

Instagram: @ghoststoriesLDN

LISTINGS INFORMATION – GHOST STORIES

Birmingham, New Alexandra Theatre                              0844 871 3011  

Tue 7^{th –}  Sat 11^th Jan                                              www.atgtickets.com

Bath,Theatre Royal                                                01225 448 844                                               

Tue 14^th – Sat 18^th Jan                                                           www.theatreroyal.org.uk

Nottingham, Theatre Royal                                 08448 11 21 21

Tue 21^st – Sat 25^th Jan                                                           www.trch.co.uk

Woking, New Victoria Theatre                                           0844 871 7645

Tue 28^th Jan – Sat 1^st Feb                                      www.atgtickets.com

Aylesbury, Waterside Theatre                                            0844 871 7627

Tue 4^th – Sat 8^th Feb                                               www.atgtickets.com

Brighton, Theatre Royal                                                       0844 871 3011

Tue 11^th – Sat 15^th Feb                                                         www.atgtickets.com

The Lowry, Salford                                                 0843 208 6000

Tue 18^th – Sat 22^nd Feb                                                         www.thelowry.com

Cardiff, New Theatre                                                            029 2087 8889  

Tue 25^th – Sat 29^th Feb                                                          www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk

The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury                     01227 787787

Tue 3^rd – Sat 7^th Mar                                              www.marlowetheatre.com

York, Grand Opera House                                     0844 871 3024  

Tue 10^th – Sat 14^th Mar                                                         www.atgtickets.com

Richmond Theatre, Richmond                                            0844 871 7651

Tue 17^th Feb – Sat 21st Mar                                 www.atgtickets.com

Liverpool Playhouse                                                            0151 709 4776

Tue 31^st Mar – Sat 4^th Apr                                  www.everymanplayhouse.com

Glasgow, Theatre Royal                                                       0844 871 7647

Tue 7^th  – Sat 11^th  Apr                                                           www.atgtickets.com

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh                                     0131 529 6000

Tue 14^th – Sat 18^th Apr                                                          www.capitaltheatres.com

Sheffield Lyceum, Sheffield                                  0114 249 6000                  *on sale soon

Tue 21^st – Sat 25^th Apr                                                          www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

Nuffield Southampton Theatres City                 023 8067 1771                  *on sale soon

Tue 27^th Apr – Sat 2^nd May                                   www.nstheatres.co.uk