Award-winning Antic Disposition present the
largest theatrical tour of English Cathedrals
UK Cathedral Tour: 8th October – 10th November 2018
Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon: 12th – 16th November 2018

Returning for its fourth year to delight audiences around the UK, Antic Disposition’s critically acclaimed production of Shakespeare’s Henry V will embark on a historical tour of ten of the most beautiful and significant cathedrals. Coinciding with the centenary of the First World War Armistice on 11th November, Henry V will conclude with a special run at William Shakespeare’s burial place, Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon

As the largest theatrical tour of English cathedrals ever undertaken, this will be Antic Disposition’s longest and most wide-ranging UK tour to date. By the end of 2018, the production will have visited twenty of England’s forty-two cathedrals, from Durham in the north to Winchester in the south, Norwich in the east to Exeter in the west

Antic Disposition’s reimagining is set in a French military hospital in 1915 – 500 years after the Battle of Agincourt – where two groups of wounded French and British soldiers decide to raise their spirits by staging their own production of Henry V. Performed by an international cast of twelve British and French actors, this production celebrates the rich and often turbulent historical relationship between England and France, from the Hundred Years War to the Entente Cordiale

In a powerful tribute to the young soldiers caught up in conflicts five centuries apart, Antic Disposition’s Henry V moves effortlessly between 1415 and 1915. This adaptation combines Shakespeare’s epic history play with original songs and live music inspired by the poetry of A E Housman, specially composed by Christopher Peake. This production also features an arrangement of Housman’s The Lads in their Hundreds by George Butterworth, a young English composer who was himself killed in the Battle of the Somme in 1916

Directors Ben Horslen and John Risebero comment: Over the last four years this production has been a constant feature in our lives, and as the centenary of the Great War comes to a close, it feels fitting that we revive it once more to mark the end of the conflict. Henry V has been a very special project, not least the experience of working with the amazing ͚band of brothers͛ – and sisters – who have joined us on the journey. We are very excited to be sharing the production with new audiences across the UK on our largest tour to date, and hugely grateful to our cathedral hosts for the opportunity to be part of their commemorative programmes

Antic Disposition’s production of Henry V was first staged in August 2015, marking both the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt and the centenary of the First World War. The production was performed in ten open-air locations in France, followed by a run in Temple Church in London. Henry V was revived in spring 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, where it was performed in Middle Temple Hall in London followed by a tour of eight cathedrals and major churches around the UK. A second cathedral tour took place in February 2017, visiting a further eight cathedrals around the UK. Additionally, in January 2018 Antic Disposition’s Henry V was performed at the Théâtre National de Nice in France, as part of the annual ShakeNice! Festival – one of only a handful of productions of Shakespeare’s play ever
to be performed in a major French theatre

Antic Disposition͛s Henry V deserves its revival tour of British Cathedrals. It is a slick theatrical operation, well-acted, well-designed and well-conceived (★★★★★, British Theatre)

Performance Dates
8th – 9th October Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire – 7.30pm

11th – 13th October Leicester Cathedral, Leicestershire – 7.30pm

15th – 16th October Durham Cathedral, County Durham – 7.30pm

18th – 20th October Chester Cathedral, Cheshire – 7.30pm

22nd – 24th October Manchester Cathedral, Greater Manchester – 7.30pm

26th – 27th October Wells Cathedral, Somerset 7.30pm

29th – 31st October Exeter Cathedral, Devon – 7.30pm

5th – 7th November Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire – 7.30pm

8th – 10th November Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford – 7.30pm

12th – 16th November Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon 7.30pm

 

MICHAEL GRANDAGE’S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED PRODUCTION OF JOHN LOGAN’S RED TO BE SCREENED IN CINEMAS IN THE UK AND NORTH AMERICA

‘A phenomenal production’ The Independent

★★★★★ The Times

MGC today announces that Trafalgar Releasing will present the company’s critically acclaimed production of John Logan’s Red with Alfred Molina and Alfred Enoch in selected cinemas across the UK and North America on 7 November 2018. Tickets will go on sale from 15 August.

“Exhilarating. A modern classic” Daily Telegraph

Filmed at the Wyndham’s Theatre, where it completes its run on 28 July, the production is based on Grandage’s original 2009 Donmar Warehouse production, that went on to win six Tony Awards including for Best Play and Best Direction of a Play.

“I am delighted that the original production of Red will be screened worldwide for all to see as part of MGC’s commitment to reach as wide an audience as possible. It has enjoyed a long life that has included the Donmar, Broadway, LA and finally the West End, so it is particularly wonderful that it will be broadcast in cinemas later this year with Alfred Molina and Alfred Enoch on stage at the Wyndham’s Theatre.” Michael Grandage

 

“To me the release of the original production of Red in cinemas feels like a natural conclusion to a run that began a decade ago in London. I’m thrilled that a wider audience will get to share in the work of these two extraordinary actors – especially the towering presence of Alfred Molina, who began this journey with Michael Grandage and me so long ago. Working on Red has always been a joy and privilege, and I’m thrilled to have this consummate production of my play preserved on film.” John Logan

 

“The richness of Red is illustrated by the fantastic acclaim from press and audiences alike and we cannot wait to bring this outstanding production starring Alfred Molina and Alfred Enoch to cinemas across the UK and USA. We are excited to collaborate with Michael Grandage and the team at MGC for the release of one of the most important theatre events of the decade.” Alice De Rosa, Director of Distribution, Trafalgar Releasing

 

Under the watchful gaze of his young assistant, and the threatening presence of a new generation of artists, Mark Rothko takes on his greatest challenge yet: to create a definitive work for an extraordinary setting.

Red reunites John Logan and Michael Grandage following Peter and Alice with Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw which formed part of MGC’s inaugural season in the West End in 2013, and their feature film Genius.

John Logan is a playwright and screenwriter. His numerous plays include Peter and Alice, Never the Sinner, Hauptmann, Speaking in Tongues, Scorched Earth and Riverview. His adaptation of The Master Builder was in the West End in 2003. He has written the book for the stage adaptation of Moulin Rouge! which is currently running at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre. For television, his work includes Penny Dreadful. As a three-time Academy Award nominated screenwriter, his work includes Alien Covenant, Spectre, Genius, Noah, Lincoln, Skyfall, Hugo, Rango, Coriolanus, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Golden Globe Award), The Aviator, Gladiator, The Last Samurai, Any Given Sunday and RKO 281 (WGA Award).

Alfred Enoch plays Ken. For theatre his work includes King Lear (Royal Exchange Manchester), Coriolanus(Donmar Warehouse), Timon of Athens, Antigone (National Theatre). For television, his credits include Troy, How To Get Away with Murder, Sherlock and Broadchurch; and for film, Enoch played Dean Thomas across seven of the eight Harry Potter films.

Alfred Molina plays Mark Rothko. His most recent theatre work includes A Long Day’s Journey into Night(Geffen Playhouse) and No More Shall We Part (Williamstown Theatre Festival). He first starred in Red at the Donmar Warehouse in 2009, which later transferred to Broadway and for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Play. His other theatre work includes Fiddler on The Roof (Minskoff Theatre – Tony Award nomination), Art (Royale Theatre – Tony Award nomination), Molly Sweeney(Roundabout Theater – Outer Circle Critics’ Award for Most Outstanding Debut Performance), The Cherry Orchard (Mark Taper Forum), The Night of Iguana, Speed the Plow (National Theatre), Serious Money (Royal Court Theatre), Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay! (Criterion Theatre), Oklahoma! (Palace Theatre) and The Taming of the Shrew (RSC). For television, his work includes I’m Dying Up Here, Angie Tribeca, Bette and Joan (Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor), Close to the Enemy, Sister Cities, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, The Normal Heart (Emmy nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor), Show Me a Hero, Monday Mornings, Roger and Val Have Just Got In, Law and Order: LA and The Life and Times of Tim; and for film, Love is Strange, The Pink Panther 2, An Education, The Lodger, Spider-Man 2, The Da Vinci Code, Silk, Frida, Chocolat, Magnolia, As You Like It, The Hoax, Anna Karenina, Boogie Nights, Species, Maverick, The Perez Family, Hideaway and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Michael Grandage is Artistic Director of the Michael Grandage Company in London. For the company he directed Henry V, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Peter and Alice and Privates on Parade, Dawn French: 30 Million Minutes Photograph 51, and the feature film Genius with Colin Firth. He was Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse (2002–2012) and Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres (2000–05). He is the recipient of Tony, Drama Desk, Olivier, Evening Standard, Critics’ Circle and South Bank Awards. He has been awarded Honorary Doctorates by the University of London, Sheffield University and Sheffield Hallam University and is President of Central School of Speech and Drama. He was appointed CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2011. His book, A Decade At The Donmar, was published by Constable & Robins in 2012. His work for the Donmar Warehouse includes directing Eddie Redmayne in Richard II, Felicity Jones in Luise Miller,Derek Jacobi in King Lear, Red (also New York, Tony and Drama Desk Awards Best Director), Jude Law in Hamlet (also Elsinore and New York), Ivanov (Evening Standard and Critics Circle Award Best Director), Madame de Sade, Twelfth Night, The Chalk Garden (Evening Standard and Critics Circle Awards Best Director), Don Juan in Soho, Frost/Nixon (also Gielgud, New York, USA tour, Tony Nomination Award for Best Director), Othello (Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Director), The Wild Duck (Critics Circle Award Best Director), Guys and Dolls (Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production), Grand Hotel (Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production and Evening Standard Award Best Director), The Cut, After Miss Julie, Caligula (Olivier Award Best Director), Merrily We Roll Along (Evening Standard Award Best Director), Passion Play (Evening Standard Award and Critics Circle Award for Best Director). For Sheffield Theatres he directed many productions including Don Carlos (Evening Standard Award Best Director). He mostly recently directed Disney’s Frozen which opened at the Buell Theatre, Denver, ahead of the current run at St James Theatre on Broadway.

For more information or to find a cinema screening Red please visit: www.redincinemas.com

Twitter: @RedThePlay

Instagram: RedThePlay

Facebook/RedThePlayLondon

ALEXANDRA BURKE TO STAR AS ROXIE HART IN CHICAGO

AT THE PHOENIX THEATRE, LONDON

FROM MONDAY 13 AUGUST 2018

JOINING MARTIN KEMP, MAZZ MURRAY, JOSEFINA GABRIELLE & PAUL RIDER

Alexandra Burke will join the West End cast of CHICAGO at the Phoenix Theatre, playing the role of Roxie Hart from Monday 13 August through to Saturday 14 October 2018. She will join Martin Kemp as Billy Flynn, Mazz Murray as Mama Morton, Josefina Gabrielle as Velma Kelly and Paul Rider as Amos Hart. Martin Kemp will be staying in the London production of CHICAGO until 1 September 2018.

CHICAGO is booking at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End until Saturday 5 January 2019.

Alexandra Burke rose to fame in 2008 after winning the 5th series of ITV’s The X Factor. Her winner’s single, Hallelujah, reached number one in the UK Christmas Chart and went on to be crowned the top-selling single of 2008 and sold over 1 million copies in the UK alone. Her theatre roles include Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard (London & UK tour), Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act (UK Tour), and, most recently, Svetlana Sergievsky in the five-week revival of Chess at the London Coliseum. In 2017, Alexandra was a finalist in BBC 1’s Strictly Come Dancing. Earlier this year, Alexandra released her third album, The Truth Is.

The multi award-winning Kander & Ebb musical CHICAGO, winner of six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy, returned to London’s West End on Monday 26 March 2018, with a press night on Wednesday 11 April at the Phoenix Theatre in London.

CHICAGO originally ran in London for 15 years, making it the West End’s longest running revival. It first opened at the Adelphi Theatre on 18 November 1997 to rave reviews and immediately became a sell-out hit. CHICAGO won the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for ‘Outstanding Musical Production’ as well as the 1998 Critics Circle Drama Award for ‘Best Musical’. CHICAGO transferred from the Adelphi Theatre to the Cambridge Theatre in April 2006, where it ran for five years until 27 August 2011. The show then opened at the Garrick Theatre on 7 November 2011, where it ran until 1 September 2012.

Since it opened in New York in 1996, CHICAGO has played in 36 countries worldwide, and been performed in English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, French, Danish, Japanese and Korean. It has grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide and has played over 32,500 performances worldwide, with an estimated 31 million people around the world having seen CHICAGO. CHICAGO continues to play on Broadway, where it celebrated its 21st birthday last year, and around the world in multiple languages. It is the world’s longest running American musical.

CHICAGO, which is based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, has a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1996 Broadway revival of CHICAGO was choreographed by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse, directed by Walter Bobbie, and produced by Barry and Fran Weissler.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Phoenix Theatre

110 Charing Cross Road

London WC2H 0JP

Box Office: 0844 871 7629 / www.atgtickets.com/shows/chicago/phoenix-theatre

Ticket Prices: From £20.00

Performances: Monday-Saturday 7.30pm, Wednesday & Saturday 2.30pm

Booking Period: Booking Until 5 January 2019

Running Time: 2 hours, 25 minutes (with interval)

Website: ChicagoWestEnd.com

Twitter: @ChicagoOnStage

Christmas 2018/19 Performance Schedule

Monday 24 December NO PERFORMANCE

Tuesday 25 December NO PERFORMANCE

Wednesday 26 December 7.30pm

Thursday 27 December 2.30pm and 7.30pm

Friday 28 December 2.30pm and 7.30pm

Saturday 29 December 2.30pm and 7.30pm

Monday 31 December 2.30pm

Tuesday 1 January 2019 7.30pm

Wednesday 2 January 2.30pm and 7.30pm

Thursday 3 January 2.30pm and 7.30pm

Friday 4 January 7.30pm

Saturday 5 January 2.30pm and 7.30pm

Leeds Grand Theatre – until 28 July

3***

Murder, intrigue and red herrings aplenty arrive in Leeds this week as Bill Kenwright’s Classic Thriller Theatre Company arrive to tell the tale of Edgar Wallace’s The Case of the Frightened Lady.

It is very dated, but the old fashioned quaintness add to the charm.  With two murders, an attempted murder, a suicide and the discovery that the Frightened Lady was someone different indeed, but if you are a fan of this genre then you will enjoy trying to solve the crime.

Deborah Grant is the aristocratic Lady Lebanon, keeping her upper lip very stiff as she tries to stop the police finding all the skeletons in the closet.  Ben Nealon is Lord Lebanon, her son, very foppish and after a good time. He doesn’t want to marry his cousin, Isla (April Pearson) but she wants to marry for love and not for some familial duty.

Denis Lill is the odious Dr Amersham, who I had down as the murderer until he became the second victim!  Simon Desborough and Callum Coates add humour as Gilder and Brook, always listening and spying.

Rosie Thomson steals all her scenes as Mrs Tilling the maid who drops some heavy hints as she goes about her duties.

Solving the crimes are Chief Superintendent Tanner, Gray O’Brien, and Detective Sergeant Totti, Oliver Phelps.

This is an ensemble piece with some acting excellence in it, but the problem with adapting huge thrillers into plays means that so much gets cut, and in order to fit The Case of the Frightened Lady into around 2 hours, the nuances, emotions and rising terror get lost leaving more cliches than suspense.

I didn’t guess the murderer or the motive – so if you fancy yourself as an amateur detective The Case of the Frightened Lady is in Leeds until Saturday and on tour around the UK

PETER JAMES – BEST SELLING AUTHOR GOES FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH!

 

NEW THRILLER ABSOLUTE PROOF TO BE PUBLISHED IN OCTOBER 2018

AHEAD OF THE UK TOUR OF BRAND NEW STAGE ADAPTATION OF HIS GHOSTLY THRILLER

THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL – BOTH STORIES BASED ON HIS OWN EXPERIENCE

 

NEARLY HALF A MILLION FANS HAVE ENJOYED HIS WORK ON STAGE – ON THE WAY TO BECOMING THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PAGE TO STAGE THRILLER WRITER SINCE AGATHA CHRISTIE!

As previously announced, the thrilling work of multi-million selling author Peter James returns to theatres in January 2019 with the world premiere production of the spine-tingling stage play The House on Cold Hill – adapted from his best-selling 2015 novel, based on the author’s own lived experience in a haunted house…

 

This is the story of the Harcourt family, who move into the house of their dreams; an old, dilapidated Georgian mansion in the remote Sussex countryside. However, their dream home quickly turns into the stuff of nightmares as they begin to realise they aren’t the only residents at Cold Hill…

 

Peter James said: ““The House On Cold Hill was inspired by a seriously haunted house, a few miles from Brighton, that my former wife and I lived in during the 1990s.  It was a manor house on the site of a former monastery, and a Roman villa before that.  When we bought it the owner said, “You’ll like this with what you write – it has three ghosts!”  He fibbed, it turned out there were four!   My mother-in-law saw an apparition on the day we moved in, and the following day I saw weird, spectral lights in the same location.  An old chap in the village told me he used to house-sit for the previous owners, until one night a woman in grey silk crinoline, with a really angry face, had materialised out a wall, glided towards him and stung his face with a flick of the edge of her dress.  We had constant strange occurrences, with subsequent house and dog-sitters that we used leaving, terrified.  One morning, a copy of my latest novel on display on an oak chest in this haunted room, spontaneously combusted! I can’t wait to see some of these experiences come to life again on stage in The House on Cold Hill!”

 

The House on Cold Hill becomes the fourth play in his box office smash hit and critically acclaimed stage franchise following the huge sell-out success of Not Dead Enough, The Perfect Murder and Dead Simple on stage. Nearly half a million fans have now seen his work on stage in 30 cities across the UK and Ireland, with stars including Les Dennis, Claire Goose, Tina Hobley, Jamie Lomas, Shane Richie, Jessie Wallace, Bill Ward, and Laura Whitmore.

The House on Cold Hill will reunite Peter James with twice Olivier-nominated theatre producer Joshua Andrews, the Olivier award winning director Ian Talbot and award-winning writer Shaun McKenna. Casting to be announced.

Joshua Andrews said of James, “Since we launched The Perfect Murder back in 2013, we’ve been thrilled at how strong the public appetite for Peter’s brilliant stories continues to be!  People tell me he’s on the way to becoming the most successful page to stage thriller writer since Agatha Christie, so who am I to disagree!”

 

James – author of the award-winning Det Supt Roy Grace series – has been acclaimed as ‘one of the most fiendishly clever crime fiction plotters’ (Daily Mail) and his brilliant international bestselling novels have been published in 37 languages and sold over 19 million copies worldwide. Earlier this year, the acclaimed author hit No. 1 again in the UK book charts for the 13^th consecutive time, with his latest page-turner, Dead If You Don’t.

 

His new thriller, Absolute Proof, will be published in hardback on 4 October by Pan Macmillan. Inspired by an unforgettable, real-life phone call received by the author nearly 30 years ago, from a mysterious but altogether credible source, Absolute Proof marks a major milestone for publishing phenomenon Peter James, as his most epic and ambitious stand-alone thriller to date.

The Nether
By Jennifer Haley
Directed by Sarah Van Parys with Falling Doors Theatre

Falling Doors Theatre Explore the Dark Side of
Virtual Reality at Liverpool’s New Hope Street
Theatre.

‘You create a realm irresistible to anyone with a longing for beauty, go there each
day, play the music, pull the strings, and force everyone to dance to your nightmare’

TITLE: The Nether by Jennifer Haley
DATES: 26th Sepember 7.30pm
27th September 7.30pm
28th September 7.30pm
29th September 7.30pm
ADMISSION: £8/£10 (On Wednesday 26th September ‘Pay what you think’ on the night)
TICKETS: 0344 561 0622 or online www.hopestreettheatre.com
WHERE:  The Hope Street Theatre, 22 Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BY
AGE GUIDANCE: 13+

American playwright, Jennifer Haley’s award winning play The Nether, is brought to the brand new The Hope Street Theatre, the former Masonic Hall on Hope Street by Liverpool’s up and coming theatre company Falling Doors Theatre, a big project taken on by a team of emerging local creatives with the support of The Hope Street Theatre.

‘Set in the year 2050, The Nether is a virtual wonderland that provides total sensory immersion. Just log in, choose an identity and indulge your every desire. But when a young detective uncovers a disturbing brand of entertainment, she triggers an interrogation into the darkest corners of the imagination.’

The Nether reveals a world in which people with fantasies and tendencies that are considered morally wrong and illegal in the real world are free to explore these tendencies within The Nether realm, it is an insight into what a Black Mirror dystopian reality could be if Virtual Reality became a normality in
our everyday lives. Parallel to the benefits of VR, we address whether the real world and the virtual world have blended to the point of there being no distinction between the two and the repercussions of this for those living in both worlds. We also ask the audience to think about the following questions;
Does something being virtual make it not real? Does there have to be a freedom of expression online? Are ideas as real as reality?

Falling Doors Theatre was set up in 2014 to work primarily with local actors and writers developing and staging both new writing and new plays. The Nether is the 4th play to be staged by Falling Doors Theatre following it’s successful run of Committed at The Blade Factory in March, Taking Care of Baby as part of the Liverpool Fringe Festival, and a return of Committed as part of the Liverpool Irish Festival later in the year. For this production we have a team of emerging creatives from across the North West, including Set Designer Christopher McCourt (LIPA Student), Lighting Designer Leonie Parkes (LJMU Graduate & Unity Theatre Technician), Sound Designer Dan Pyke (regular Sound Designer for Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre), Costume Designer Willow Hick (University of York Graduate) and Assistant Director Ben Rivers (LIPA Student and Artistic Director of Bare Water Productions).

Heading up the team, born and bred at the Young Everyman Playhouse, Directed by Falling Doors Theatre’s Artistic Director Sarah Van Parys (Young Everyman Playhouse Director’s Course Graduate and RTYDS Recipient) and produced by 2
nd Year Young Everyman Playhouse Producer Nancy Msiska. Sarah and Nancy have been regularly production theatre in the North West with Sarah having recently directed Committed by Stephen Smith at The Blade Factory and The Liverpool Irish Festival and Taking Care of Baby by Dennis Kelly as part of the Liverpool Fringe Festival 2017 whilst Nancy has recently Produced Anton Checkhov’s The Bear, and Sandi Toksvig’s Billy Boy as part of the Young Everyman Playhouse Directors Festival. Nancy is also currently co-producing final year Producers Course show The Way I See It by George Miaris at The Liverpool Everyman Playhouse supported by Arts Council England.

Cast
Catherine Devine, Lee Burnitt, Grant Ryan Lenton , Kimberley Athawes, Andrew AB

OPENING ON FRIDAY AT THEATRE ROYAL, GLASGOW

Glasgow Theatres’ Creative Learning team is proud to present this year’s Stage Experience production, Seusicall the Musical.

Following the success of last year’s performance of High School Musical, Seussical the Musical will run at Theatre Royal on Friday 27and Saturday 28 July.

Taking on the lead roles this year are:

Alastair McLeod,18, Cumbernauld as Horton the Elephant

Anna Cowen, 18, Glasgow Southside, as Gertrude McFuzz;

Laura Denton, 16, Paisley, as Mayzie LaBird

Mia Clayton, 15, Glasgow West End as Jo Jo

Shannon McGeown, 16, Glasgow North, as the Cat in the Hat

Venus Pedley, 16, Glasgow West End, as Sour Kangaroo

From the Jungle of Nool to the Circus McGurkus, the Cat in the Hat tells the story of Horton the Elephant who discovers a speck of dust containing tiny people, the Whos and sets out to protect them from a world of doubters and dangers. With a cast of bright local talent the powers of friendship, loyalty and community are challenged and ultimately emerge triumphant.

           Please note, this amateur production is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe). All authorised performance materials are also supplied by MTI Europe.

Stage Experience was launched in 2015 to give young budding performers the experience of producing a full-scale stage show with the guidance and expertise of industry professionals at Theatre Royal over a two-week period.

At the end of the summer school, participants take their work to the Theatre Royal stage for three performances.

LISTINGS

Stage Experience: Seussical the Musical

Theatre Royal, Glasgow

Fri 27 Jul, 7pm

Sat 28 Jul, 2pm and 7pm

www.atgtickets/glasgow

0844 871 7647

New Southampton Arts Festival celebrating the centenary of British Women winning the vote  

Nuffield Southampton Theatres (NST) announces The Bungalow Café Festival, a brand new festival in honour of 100 years since the first British women won the right to vote. The festival will run from 6 September to 13 October across NST’s venues City, Studio Theatre and Campus, comprising of theatre, music, comedy and film.

 

The Bungalow Café once stood on 157 Above Bar Street, Southampton, opposite the new NST City. It was the local home of women’s suffrage before it was destroyed in the Blitz.

Head of programming Katy Snelling has said: “Just as the Bungalow Café was the meeting point for the NUWSS we hope this festival and NST will be a meeting point for conversations about the power of women’s voices, 100 years after women first won the vote in Britain.”

 

The festival opens with NST’s latest production Women In Power (6-29 Sep) written by seven leading female writers including Shappi Khorsandi, Jenny Éclair, Wendy Cope and Jess Phillips MP. Other theatre highlights include a play from Proto-type Theater, The Audit (or Iceland, a modern myth) (10 Sep) a theatrical work set in Iceland, examining contemporary politics 10 years on from the 2008 financial crash; SEXY (14 Sep) which explores the conflicted relationship with our bodies and sexiness through comedy, spoken word, dance and various states of undress and Luca Rutherford’s Political Party(17 Sep) showing how politics is done, through music, dancing and eggs.

Other theatre includes Bullish (20-21 Sep), a new mythical play exploring new and ancient territories in trans-masculine gender and identity. Plus, the NT Live screening of the National Theatre’s Julie (3 Oct) starring Vanessa Kirby (The Crown, NT Live: A Streetcar Named Desire) and Eric Kofi Abrefa (The Amen Corner).

Comedy highlights include Ruby Wax, the Monk and the Neuroscientist: How To Be Human (29-30 Sep),Sara Pascoe with LadsLadsLads (14 Oct) and an all-female line up of NST’s regular The Comedy Bar: Big Gig (11 Oct) including Lucy Porter, Angela Barnes and Shazia Mirza.

Other highlights include Salon Du Cinema which celebrates the trail blazing icon, Mae West (12 Sep), RSC Live: The Merry Wives of Windsor (8 Oct), a live all female DJ set from Frau DJs (22 Sep) and talks by leading feminist speakers Dr Naomi Paxton (22 Sep) and Dr Finn Mackay (29 Sep).

The Bungalow Café Festival culminates with a new production of Medusa (11-13 October), a shocking story of rejection, redemption and revenge, created by Laboratory Creative Associates and performed by Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Elf Lyons.

Tickets and the full programme for The Bungalow Café Festival is available online at nstheatres.co.uk or from the Box Office on 023 8067 1771

 LISTINGS INFORMATION:

WOMEN IN POWER

Directed by Blanche McIntyre

Written by Wendy Cope, Jenny Éclair, Suhayla El-Bushra, Natalie Haynes, Shappi Khorsandi, Jess Phillips and Brona C. Titley

Dates: 6-29 September 2018

Venue: NST City

Tickets: Starting at £10

THE AUDIT (OR ICELAND, A MODERN MYTH)

By Prototype Theater

Written and Directed by Andrew Westerside

Dates: 10 September 2018 at 19.45

Venue: NST City Studio

Tickets: £14/£10 concessions

SALON DU CINEMA

Presented by Scary Little Girls  

Dates: 12 September 2018 at 19.45

Venue: NST City Studio

Tickets: £14/£10 concessions

 

SEXY

Performed by Vanessa Kisuule

Dates: 14 September 2018 at 19.00

Venue: NST City Studio

Tickets: £14/£10 concessions

LUCA RUTHERFORD’S POLITICAL PARTY

Directed by Alex Swift

Dates: 17 September 2018 at 19.45

Venue: NST City Studio

Tickets: £14/£10 concessions

EXPERIMENT

Dates: 17 September/29 October 2018

Venue: NST City Studio

Tickets: £5/£4 for Lab network members.

 

BULLISH

Milk Presents

Written and Directed by Lucy J Skilbeck

Dates: 20-21 September 2018 at 19.45

Venue: NST City Studio

Tickets: £14/£10 concessions

THE GATEWAY SESSION: FRAU DJS

Dates: 22 September 2018 at 19.30

Venue: NST City Studio

Tickets: £10

DR NAOMI PAXTON

Dates: 22 September 2018 at 17:30

Venue: NST Rehearsal Room

Tickets: £8 advance/£10 on night

 

WIRE WOOL TALKS: DR FINN MACKAY 

Dates: 29 September 2018 at 17:30

Venue: NST Rehearsal Room

Tickets: £8 advance/£10 on night

RUBY WAX, THE MONK AND THE NEUROSCIENTIST: HOW TO BE HUMAN

Dates: 29-30 September 2018 at 19.30

Venue: NST Campus

Tickets: £20

NT LIVE: JULIE

By Polly Stenham

Dates: 3 October 2018 at 19.00

Venue: NST City

Tickets: £17.50

FESTIVAL PANEL DISCUSSION

Dates: 4 October 2018 at 18:00

Venue: NST City

Tickets: £10

RSC: THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

Dates: 8 October 2018 at 19:00

Venue: NST City

Tickets: £17.50

THE COMEDY BAR: BIG GIG

Dates: 11 October 2018 at 20:00

Venue: NST City

Tickets: From £17

 

MEDUSA

Created by Laboratory Creative Associates

Created with Elf Lyons

Dates: 11-13 October 2018 at 19.45

Venue: NST City Studio

Tickets: £14/£10 concessions

SARA PASCOE: LADS, LADS, LADS

Dates: 14 October 2018 at 19:30

Venue: NST Campus

Tickets: £18

 

Jack Studio Theatre – until 4 August

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

5*****

I first heard about The White Rose about 15 years ago in a German pub. I had seen various Geshwister Scholl schools but had no idea who the Scholls were. That changed when I got pulled into an argument by a drunk student trying to convince his friends to sign a letter of protest – about what I can’t remember – with increasingly incoherent and sweary references to The White Rose. When I asked what The White Rose was I was met with resigned smiles and sat in awe as the (sober) students told me about their acts of resistance during WW2. I suppose their story didn’t quite fit with the Allies’ narrative about the war in the 20th century, but now it is astounding that a group so admired and revered by the youth of Germany – Alexander Schmorell is now a saint – is largely unknown in the UK. The strangely sterile German films made about the group haven’t helped, but there are some fantastic books out there, one of which “A Noble Treason” by Richard Hanser inspired Ross McGregor to write The White Rose.

Arrows & Traps have a stellar reputation from their classical productions, and this original play will hopefully introduce the company to a new, wider audience. The company are clear and confident in their vision, unafraid of taking risks, and while every production is unmistakeably Arrows & Traps style, the writer’s voice is never diluted. This cocoon of creative support has enabled McGregor to produce a beautifully framed portrayal of the core members of The White Rose.

Beginning with newsreel footage of troops and devastation accompanying one of Hitler’s ranting rallying speeches as Sophie Scholl (Lucy Ioannou) sits in an interrogation room before Robert Mohr of the Gestapo enters (Christopher Tester). After being seen distributing The White Rose’s final leaflet, Sophie and her brother Hans were arrested, and Mohr works to extract a confession. Calm, methodical and detached, Tester is truly intimidating as Mohr, making his occasional bursts of anger even more terrifying.

The formation of The White Rose is shown in flashbacks, from Sophie’s arrival in Munich to study and her introduction to her older brother Hans’s friends Christoph Probst, Willi Graf, Alexander Schmorell and Traute Lafrenz, their decision to publish and distribute their arguments against Hitler’s “total war” to their last meeting as Sophie and Hans take a suitcase of leaflets to the University. McGregor doesn’t sanctify the characters – they can all be pretty pompous and annoying – but their humanity and morality shines through. The philosophical and religious idealism of the group is in stark contrast to the ideology of the Third Reich, and McGregor manages to keep their arguments and statements pacy and passionate rather than preachy, with a lovely familial baiting sense of humour amongst the group. Alex Stevens captures Willi’s wild-eyed faith while Conor Moss is a charming, wistful Alexander. Beatrice Vincent and Pearce Sampson deliver beautifully nuanced performances as Traute and Christoph. Will Pinchin and Lucy Ioannou are sublime as Hans and Sophie – utterly convincing as siblings and making you truly care about the pair with their dynamic and passionate performances. The shifts from present to flashbacks are seamless, with magically choreographed movement that highlights the energy and hope of the students and the animalistic brutality of the Nazis.

There are many warnings from history in this play, with many phrases from the Third Reich horrifyingly familiar today, and the students’ glee at finding grammatical errors in Hitler’s statements brings a big laugh of recognition, but the bravery of the students to voice their resistance when the nation lived in oppression and fear is inspiring and heart-breaking. The trial of Sophie, Hans and Christoph is swift, simple and stylish, with the three actors making the stiffest of top lips wobble when they give each other encouraging smiles. The executions of the group are described calmly and unsensationally, with an inspired framing of their last words that had me running out of tissues.

The White Rose is a stunning production that tells this inspirational story with intelligence, integrity and passion. Grab a ticket while you can.