Kings Head Theatre Pub  8 March – 2 April.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Oh dear.

There are some good thing in this show, but they are scattered about between long periods of indescribable nonsense. I really wanted to like it, but found myself just waiting for the whole mess to end. And then, the last 20 minutes were great!

With book and lyrics by John Myatt, music by Simon Arrowsmith, and directed by Dan Phillips, the plot (if you can call it that) involves Vee and Della rehearsing for their show when they are interrupted by bar owner Dan and barboy Jay. A chair has been delivered from Dan’s ex and he goes into meltdown and, after lots of histrionics and faffing about, ends up strangling Jay. THAT’S where the show comes to life. Jay’s corpse stands up and begins a wonderfully bitter and twisted cabaret act as we are all now inside Dan’s head for the vital 8 seconds between Jay’s life and death. The songs now all have coherence and the interaction between the cast and the audience is brilliant. Why oh why couldn’t they have killed Jay in the first five minutes?

Yes, there were some funny lines and decent physical comedy –especially from Valerie Cutko as Vee, prowling around the stage like the lovechild of Patsy from Ab Fab and Jack Skellington. The cast all have great voices, and Daisy Amphlett (also musical director) truly shines in her multi instrumental duel with Jay (Daniel Cech-Lucas). Ralph Bogard is wasted as Dan – just wandering around with weepy eyes in a vile purple paisley dressing gown until the last section, where he gets to let rip and strut his fantastic stuff.

There is a germ of a good idea here, but as it is, this show was not for me.

Old Red Lion   8 March – 2 April.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

It’s Spring 2011, and as the UK prepares for the royal wedding, 16 year old Ben’s interest in the protests in Syria grows to dangerous proportions. His Syrian friend on X Box live has stopped contacting him, so Ben runs away to Syria to find him and help the anti-government cause.

Lucinda Burnett’s thoughtful and sympathetic portrayal of mental illness gives this story of unlikely friendship and politics an innocent sense of warmth and optimism. She has written characters that are easily recognisable and likeable in their flaws, and who respond to their situations in believable ways.

The set is simple, with a large circular structure centre stage acting as bed, seat, bush and anything else that’s required. As the audience settles, Ben (Joe Atwell) is seated on this holding his games console and playing one of those horrible warfare games. His conversations with Jibreel (Ali Ariaie) as they play are sweet and funny, with Jibreel just trying to improve his English and avoid thinking about what is going on around him in Deraa, and Ben becoming more and more curious about Syria. What begins as an interview for the school magazine soon escalates into an obsession for Ben and the use of lighting and sound – flashes and increasingly erratic and frantic rhythms – as his psychosis develops is cleverly done, never going too over the top.

Atwell gives a moving performance as Ben, beginning as a slightly geeky seeming lad and gradually showing the obsessive behaviour and delusions of his character with a subtle and unnerving touch. His scenes with bully Harriet (Jill McAusland) are wonderfully written and played – their bonding over his “mad” idea to bunk off to Syria evolves into touching, and terrifying, scenes in Syria when she finally realises that Ben is unwell and she tries hopelessly to help him. McAusland’s performance is feisty and funny, giving Harriet a blunt and accepting view towards her lot that is the complete opposite to Ben’s parents.

Joanna Croll and Mark Extance play the recently divorced parents with great humour. She is aware of Ben’s possible problems but cannot cope, and he is in complete denial – celebrating when he thinks Ben has finally rebelled! Croll‘s scene trying to leave phone messages for Ben is wistfully funny, she shows her helplessness and unconditional love for her child brilliantly and bravely.

The realistic approach to Ben’s recovery and treatment is a breath of fresh air – there may not be a happy ending, but the play ends with hope, for both Ben and Jibreel, and gives Ben the chance to finally help his friend.

Correspondence is well worth seeing – mental illness needs to be discussed and this play brings it into focus with heart and hope.

Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in
No Man’s Land
Written by Harold Pinter
Directed by Sean Mathias

• Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will reunite in Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land and will tour the UK prior to the West End.

• UK tour to include the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield from 3 August, Theatre Royal, Newcastle from 15 August, Theatre Royal, Brighton from 22 August and New Theatre, Cardiff from 29 August.

• Wyndham’s Theatre in London’s West End from 8 September to 17 December with opening night for press on 20 September.

• For the West End run, over 100 tickets per performance will go on sale for £20 or less with prices starting from £10. All tickets now on sale HERE.

Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are to reunite on stage this year in Harold Pinter’s masterpiece, No Man’s Land which will embark on a UK tour, opening in Sheffield from 3 August, followed by dates in Newcastle, Brighton and Cardiff. The production will then head into London’s West End where it will play a limited 14 week engagement at the Wyndham’s Theatre from 8 September with opening night for press on 20 September. No Man’s Land was first performed at the iconic Wyndham’s Theatre in 1975 with Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, following its premiere at the National Theatre.

Directed by Sean Mathias, this production of No Man’s Land received highly acclaimed reviews at the Cort Theatre in New York whilst in repertory alongside Waiting for Godot, also starring stage and screen friends, McKellen and Stewart and directed by Mathias. The production ofWaiting for Godot had transferred from London where it celebrated a sell-out run at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, the last time these masters of British theatre shared a West End stage.

One summer’s evening, two ageing writers, Hirst and Spooner, meet in a Hampstead pub and continue their drinking into the night at Hirst’s stately house nearby. As the pair become increasingly inebriated, and their stories increasingly unbelievable, the lively conversation soon turns into a revealing power game, further complicated by the return home of two sinister younger men. 

Patrick Stewart (Hirst) says: “I saw the original production of No Man’s Land three times in one week at Wyndham’s Theatre and would have seen it more if I could have afforded the tickets. I made a promise to myself that one day I would play Spooner or Hirst but to be doing it back at Wyndham’s with Ian McKellen was a fantasy I never entertained.”

Ian McKellen (Spooner) says: “Playing Spooner to Patrick’s Hirst on Broadway was a constant joy, which is why I am delighted to be back with him in the West End.”

Further casting has yet to be announced for No Man’s Land which will have set and costume design by Stephen Brimson Lewis and lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski.

Multi award-winning Ian McKellen has had a 55 year long career on stage and on screen. For the Royal Shakespeare Company he has played Romeo, Macbeth, Iago and King Lear and at the National Theatre, in productions of Coriolanus, Richard III, Uncle Vanya and The Seagull. He gained his first Oscar nomination for Gods and Monsters and his second for Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He is Magneto to Patrick Stewart’s Xavier in the X-Men movies, Richard IIIand most recently Mr Holmes.

Multi award-winning Patrick Stewart has numerous notable stage credits to his name includingAnthony and Cleopatra, The Tempest, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, The Master Builderand his acclaimed solo adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Known world-wide as Captain Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor X in the X-Men franchise, his additional film and TV credits include the 2009 TV movie adaptation of Hamlet alongside David Tennant, Ahab in Moby Dick, Ricky Gervais’ Extras, the new US comedy series, soon to be seen on UK TV,Blunt Talk, the soon to be released thriller Green Room as well as Wilde Wedding with Glenn Close and John Malkovich.

British film and theatre director, writer and actor, Sean Mathias has been a long-time collaborator with McKellen having directed him in numerous theatre roles including Uncle Vanya, Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads, August Strindberg’s The Dance of Death, Waiting for Godot (alongside Stewart) and Bent which he later directed on film, winning the ‘Prix de la Jeunesse’ award at the Cannes Film Festival. Other notable West End and Broadway theatre credits include Design for Living, Anthony and Cleopatra, The Elephant Man, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, A Little Night Music, Company and Les Parents Terribles which went on to be nominated for nine Tony Awards on Broadway under the title Indiscretions.

This production of No Man’s Land is produced by Stuart Thompson, Flying Freehold Productions and Playful Productions.

 

LISTINGS

Website: www.NoMansLandThePlay.com

Instagram: instagram.com/nomanslandplay

Twitter: twitter.com/NoMansLandPlay

Facebook: www.facebook.com/No-Mans-Land-358999847603550/

Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield

First performance Wednesday 3 August 2016
Last performance Saturday 13 August 2016

Performances
Monday to Saturday at 7.45pm
Thursday at 2pm and Saturday at 3pm
(No matinee on Thursday 4 August 2016)

Prices
From £19

For full details either visit www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk or call: 0114 249 6000

Theatre Royal, Newcastle

First performance Monday 15 August 2016
Last performance Saturday 20 August 2016

Performances
Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm
Thursday at 2pm and Saturday at 2.30pm

Prices
From £16

For full details either visit www.theatreroyal.co.uk or call: 0844 811 2121

Theatre Royal, Brighton

First performance Monday 22 August 2016
Last performance Saturday 27 August 2016

Performances
Monday to Saturday at 7.45pm
Thursday and Saturday at 2.30pm

Prices
From £25

For full details either visit www.atgtickets.com/brighton or call: 0844 871 7650

New Theatre, Cardiff

First performance Monday 29 August 2016
Last performance Saturday 3 September 2016

Performances
Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm
Thursday and Saturday at 2.30pm

Prices
From £11

For full details either visit www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk or call: 02920 878889

Wyndham’s Theatre, London

First performance 8 September
Last performance Saturday 17 December
Opening Night for Press on Tuesday 20 September

Performances
Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm
Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm
(Wednesday matinee performances at Wyndham’s Theatre begin from 28 September)

Prices
From £10 (No booking fee on all tickets at the Wyndham’s Theatre)

For full details either visit www.NoMansLandThePlay.com or call: 0844 482 5120

Full casting announced for Brideshead Revisited.

 

York Theatre Royal and English Touring Theatre present Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, adapted by Bryony Lavery and directed by Damian Cruden.

 

 The full cast is announced today for the first ever large-scale stage production of Evelyn Waugh’s classic novelBrideshead Revisited, adapted by Bryony Lavery. Damian Cruden directs Christopher Simpson as Sebastian, Brian Ferguson as Charles Ryder and Rosie Hilal as Julia. Nick Blakeley, Caroline Harker, Samantha Lawson, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Christopher Simpson, Paul Shelley and Shuna Snow complete the company. The play, a co-production between English Touring Theatre and York Theatre Royal, opens at York on 26 April, with previews from 22 April, before touring to Bath, Southampton, Cambridge, Malvern, Brighton, Oxford and Richmond.

 

It’s 1943 and, finding himself in familiar territory within the English countryside, Charles Ryder confronts memories of his first youthful encounter with Brideshead Castle and its assortment of eccentric inhabitants.

In acclaimed playwright Bryony Lavery’s sparkling new reimagining of the classic novel, the past and the present blur as Charles recalls those heady days at Brideshead and Lord and Lady Marchmain, along with their offspring, Julia, Cordelia, Bridey and Sebastian Flyte re-emerge…

 

Nick Blakeley plays Anthony Blanche, Father Mackay and Samgrass. His theatre credits include A Woman Killed with Kindness, 13 and Damned By Despair (National Theatre), The Sunshine Boys (Savoy Theatre),Hapgood (Hampstead Theatre), I Heart Catherine Pistachio (Soho Theatre), The Last of the De Mullins (Jermyn St Theatre), Happy Never After (Pleasance), Hard Feelings (Finborough Theatre), 24 Hour Plays (Old Vic) andMillennium (Vineyard Theatre, New York, Old Vic New Voices). His television credits include The Old Bailey.

Brian Ferguson plays Charles Ryder. His theatre credits include The Broken Heart, The Changeling (The Globe), Hamlet (Citizens Theatre), Adler & Gibb (Royal Court). Threeway (The Invisible Dot at Edinburgh Festival Fringe), The Game Show, (Bush Theatre). The Aztec Trilogy, Richard III, Dunsinane, Shakespeare In A Suitcase(RSC), Money (The Arches), Earthquakes In London (National Theatre), The Dark Things, The Guard (Edinburgh Traverse), Fall (Edinburgh Traverse), Black Watch and Rupture (National Theatre Of Scotland) and Snuff(Glasgow Arches/National Theatre Of Scotland). His television credits include Line Of Duty, Our World War, Field Of Blood: The Dead Hour, One Minute Drama: The Prayer and River City, Taggart: Island. His film credits includeImagine That King, Voices, The Woods and Residue.

 

Caroline Harker plays Lady Marchmain & Nanny. Her theatre credits include The Railway Children (York Theatre Royal at The Kings Cross Theatre), Pride And Prejudice (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), The Village Bike (Sheffield Crucible), Tusk Tusk, The Strip, The Editing Process (Royal Court), All Mouth (Menier Chocolate Factory), Entertaining Angels (Chichester Festival Theatre and National Tour), Present Laughter (National Tour),Battle Royal (National Theatre), Falling (Hampstead Theatre), Things We Do For Love (Duchess Theatre). Her television credits include New Tricks, The Commander, Head Cases, Margaret, Murder In Suburbia, Foyle’s War, Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Hans Christian Andersen, I Saw You, Armadillo, Keeping Mum, 6 series of A Touch of Frost, Kavanagh QC, , A Dance To The Music Of Time, Holding On, Moll Flanders, Harry Enfield and Chums, Honey For Tea, Middlemarch, Covington Cross, Riders, Growing Rich, and Chancer. Her film credits include Lady Godiva: Back in the Saddle, A Woman Of The North and The Madness Of King George.

 

Rosie Hilal plays Julia. Her theatre credits include The Oresteia, Measure For Measure, Anthony and Cleopatra, Holy Warriors (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Hypochondriac (Shakespeare’s Globe, The Wannamaker Theatre), The Hard Problem (National Theatre), All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, Hamlet (RSC) and Occupied(Theatre 503). Her film credits include London Road.

 

Samantha Lawson plays Cara & Celia. Her theatre credits include Julius Caesar (RSC / BAM / Moscow Arts Theatre), Peer Gynt (Nationalteatret, Norway), The Changeling (ETT & Nottingham Playhouse), His Dark Materials (National Theatre), Red Noses (Bristol Old Vic Theatre), Asylum Dialogues (Tricycle Theatre). Her television credits include Occupied and for film, credits include Generation Mars, Julius Caesar, Poverty, The Dark Is Rising, Random Acts, Understanding Slavery, Hong Kong, Ladies Cross Knowledge and Abolition of Slavery.

 

Kiran Sonia Sawar plays Cordelia. Her theatre credits include Cyrano De Bergerac (Southwark Playhouse), Aladdin (Oxford Playhouse), The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Unicorn Theatre), My Name Is… (Arcola Theatre & UK tour), Unspeakable Crimes (Ice&Fire/Actors for Human Rights), 2050: The Future We Want (United Nations, Geneva) and Defining Moments Of Truth & Deception (Soho Theatre). Her television credits include Legends and Murdered By My Father and for film credits include Forced Marriages. 

 

Christopher Simpson plays Sebastian. His theatre credits include Forests (international tour), The Ramayana  (National Theatre), Leaner Faster Stronger  (Cultural Olympiad at Sheffield Theatres), The Knowledge and Little Platoons (Bush Theatre), Pericles (RSC/Cardboard Citizens), Fragile Land (Hampstead Theatre). His television credits include Shameless, All about George, State of Play, Second Generation and White Teeth. His film credits include Sixteen, The Day of the Flowers, It’s A Wonderful Afterlife, Brick Lane, Mischief Night, Chromophobia and Code 46.

 

Shuna Snow plays Bridey, Kurt & Rex. Her theatre credits include Twelfth Night (The Rose, Bankside),Aftershakes (Marlowe Theatre Canterbury, Oxford Playhouse), Palindrome (Arcola), Separate Tables (Royal Exchange Theatre), A Shoemaker, A Gentleman (Shakespeare’s Globe), Cymbeline, Kenneth’s First Play, Little Eyolf and Much Ado About Nothing (RSC).

 

Paul Shelley plays Lord Marchmain & Mr Ryder. His theatre credits include All My Sons (National Tour), The Secret Rapture, The Crucible, Hedda Gabler, Lady in The Dark (National Theatre), Les Liaisons Dangereuses,The Winter’s Tale, The Twin Rivals, Dingo, Bingo (RSC), Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare’s Globe), The House That Will Not Stand (Tricycle), King Lear (Royal Theatre, Bath), Medea (National Tour), The School for Scheming and The Conquering Hero (Orange Tree Theatre), Earthquakes in London (National Tour), Moonlight (Donmar Warehouse), Macbeth (Chichester, West End, New York), The Merchant of Venice, Absurd Person Singular, The Invention of Love, A Man For All Seasons (West End). His television credits include Paradise Postponed, Titmus Regained, A Tale of Two Cities, Morse, Secret Army, Revelations, Dr Who, Blake’s 7. His film includes Oh! What a Lovely War, Polanski’s Macbeth, Macbeth, Caught in the Act, It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet.

Bryony Lavery’s recent work includes an adaptation of Treasure Island for the National Theatre and a new playQueen Coal which ran at the Sheffield Crucible Studio in 2014.  Her other plays include The Believers, Thursday,Beautiful Burnout, Last Easter, Stockholm, Yikes, A Wedding Story, Ophelia, Nothing Compares To You andFlight.

 

Damian Cruden has been Artistic Director of York Theatre Royal for the past 18 years.  He has directed many productions including: The Railway Children, In Fog and Falling Snow, The Restoration of Nell Gwyn, Blithe Spirit,The Legend of King Arthur, The Guinea Pig Club, The York Mystery Plays 2012, Laurel and Hardy, 40 Years On,Peter Pan, My Family and Other Animals, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Wind in the Willows, Up the Duff, The Homecoming, The White Crow (Eichmann in Jerusalem), Death of a Salesman, Patient No. 1, Enjoy, Bouncers 2007 Remix, The Dumb Waiter, The Hare and the Tortoise (in York and Japan), Pygmalion, Broken Glass, East Is East, Hay Fever, Macbeth, A Cloud in Trousers, Brassed Off, Caitlin, A Taste of Honey, Habeas Corpus,Up‘n’Under, Frankenstein, Noises Off, Little Shop of Horrors, Othello, Closer, The Turn of the Screw, Bedevilled,A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kafka’s Dick, Man of the Moment, Having a Ball, Romeo and Juliet, Getting On, The Three Musketeers, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, All My Sons, Piaf, Dead Funny, Educating Rita, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Neville’s Island, Multiplex,Abandonment and Private Lives. He has co-directed the last 17 York Theatre Royal pantomimes with Berwick Kaler.

Theatre Royal Bath Productions and The James Grant Group present

Amanda Holden, Angela Griffin, Nicola Stephenson in

STEPPING OUT by Richard Harris

Directed by Maria Friedman

Theatre Royal Bath Productions and The James Grant Group are delighted to announce the pre-West End dates of STEPPING OUT by Richard Harris, starring Amanda Holden, Angela Griffin and Nicola Stephenson. Directed by Maria Friedman, the production opens at the Theatre Royal Bath, 12^th – 22^nd October followed by Richmond Theatre and Cambridge Arts Theatre (additional date to be announced).

Amanda Holden is an English actress, singer and presenter. Amanda became a household name when she played the part of Mel in hit comedy ‘Kiss Me Kate’ (1998 – 2000) and in 1999 she went on to star as Miss Titley in ITV’s popular comedy series ‘The Grimleys’ which cemented her reputation as one of the nation’s favourite actresses. Between 2006 and 2008 she played the role of Sarah Trevanion in ‘Wild at Heart’ and from 2002 until 2005 Amanda starred in BAFTA winning BBC show ‘Cutting It’, alongside Sarah Parish and Angela Griffin. She also starred in BBC1’s ‘Hearts and Bones’, ‘Mad About Alice’ and ITV’s ‘Marple’.

 

In 2003 she took the title role in the stage version of Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award and in 2011 she played the role of Princess Fiona in the original West End production of Shrek the Musical. More recently she has presented various television shows for ITV including ‘Superstar’ (2012), ‘This Morning’ (2014–present) and is best known as a judge on ITV’s ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ since its first series in 2007.

 

The cast also includes Angela Griffin and Nicola Stephenson. Further casting to be announced.

 

Angela Griffin appeared in ‘Coronation Street’ from 1993 to 1998. Subsequently, she joined the original cast of the BBC medical drama series ‘Holby City’. She has also appeared in the BBC dramas ‘Cutting It’, ‘Down to Earth’, ‘Waterloo Road’ and ‘Lewis’. From November 2009 to July 2010, Griffin hosted her own live daytime show on Sky1 called ‘Angela and Friends’. Her theatre credits include Dolly in One Man, Two Guvnors at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 2013 and Caroline in Breeders at the St James Theatre in 2014.

 

Nicola Stephenson’s television credits include Margaret Clemence in Channel 4’s ‘Brookside’; ITV’s ‘Christmas Lights’/’Northern Lights’/’City Lights’, ‘Safehouse’ and ‘Emmerdale’; BBC’s ‘Holby City’, ‘Clocking Off’, ‘The Chase’ and ‘All at Sea’. In 2012, Nicola played Louise, a series lead in the ITV drama ‘Homefront’ and in 2014 she joined the regular cast of ‘Waterloo Road’ for 11 episodes. Her theatre roles include A Patriot for Me at the Royal Shakespeare Company, His Girl Friday and Edmund at the National Theatre, and War Horse at the New London Theatre.

Maria Friedman is best known as a four-time Olivier Award-winning star of the musical stage. She has played Dot in Sunday in the Park with George at the National Theatre, Fosca in Passion at the Queen’s Theatre, Mrs Lovett in Sweeny Todd at the Royal Festival Hall with Bryn Terfel, and Mary in Merrily We Roll Along at the Leicester Haymarket.

 

She made her directorial debut with her highly acclaimed production of Merrily We Roll Along which opened at the Menier Chocolate Factory and subsequently transferred to the West End, winning Best Musical at the Evening Standard Awards 2013, the Oliver Awards 2014, and the Critics’ Circle Award 2013.  She went on to direct High Society at the Old Vic in 2015.

 

A prolific writer for television and stage, Richard Harris’ credits include ‘Outside Edge’, ‘Shoestring’, ‘A Touch of Frost’ and ‘The Last Detective’.

 

 

LISTINGS INFORMATION:

Venue:                 Theatre Royal Bath, Sawclose, Bath BA1 1ET

Dates:                  12^th – 22^nd October, 2016

Times:                  Monday – Wednesday, 7.30pm; Thursday – Saturday, 8pm

                Wednesday & Saturday matinees, 2.30pm (not 13^th October)

Press Night:      Thursday 20^th October, 7pm

Box Office:        01225 448844

Venue:                 Richmond Theatre, Little Green, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1QJ

Dates:                  W/c 24^th October

Box office:         0844 871 7651

Venue:                 Cambridge Arts Theatre, 6 St Edward’s Passage, Cambridge CB2 3PJ

Dates:                  W/c 31^st October

Box Office:        01223 503333

An additional pre-West End date to be announced.

LWL Investments and Entertainment in association with Theatre N16 present:

IAN MCKELLEN AND PATRICK STEWART RETURN TO TREAD THE BOARDS IN NEWCASTLE

 

Following their sell-out appearances in Waiting for Godot in 2009, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are set to return to the North East’s leading theatre to star in Sean Mathias’ acclaimed production of No Man’s Land, which comes toNewcastle Theatre Royal from Mon 15 – Sat 20 Aug.

 

The Harold Pinter masterpiece will embark on a UK tour in August before heading into London’s West End, where it will play a limited 14 week engagement at the Wyndham’s Theatre.

 

Directed by Sean Mathias, this production of No Man’s Land received highly acclaimed reviews at the Cort Theatre in New York whilst in repertory alongside Waiting for Godot, also starring stage and screen friends, McKellen and Stewart and directed by Mathias. The production of Waiting for Godot had transferred from London where it celebrated a sell-out run at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, the last time these masters of British theatre shared a West End stage.

 

One summer’s evening, two ageing writers, Hirst and Spooner, meet in a Hampstead pub and continue their drinking into the night at Hirst’s stately house nearby. As the pair become increasingly inebriated, and their stories increasingly unbelievable, the lively conversation soon turns into a revealing power game, further complicated by the return home of two sinister younger men.

 

Patrick Stewart (Hirst) said: “I saw the original production of No Man’s Land three times in one week at Wyndham’s Theatre and would have seen it more if I could have afforded the tickets. I made a promise to myself that one day I would play Spooner or Hirst but to be doing it back at Wyndham’s with Ian McKellen was a fantasy I never entertained.”

Ian McKellen (Spooner) says: “Playing Spooner to Patrick’s Hirst on Broadway was a constant joy, which is why I am delighted to be back with him in the UK.”

 

The pair starred together to critical acclaim at Newcastle Theatre Royal in Waiting for Godot in 2009 and McKellen said: “It’s a wonderful city with wonderful audiences. When the RSC in the 1970s were looking for a third home beyond Stratford and London, I said to Trevor Nunn “have you considered Newcastle?” And partly as a result of that conversation the RSC did go to Newcastle and I went with them. So I feel like it’s going home to go to Newcastle.”

 

Further casting has yet to be announced for No Man’s Land which will have set and costume design by Stephen Brimson Lewis and lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski.

 

Multi award-winning Ian McKellen has had a 55 year long career on stage and on screen. For the Royal Shakespeare Company he has played Romeo, Macbeth, Iago and King Lear and at the National Theatre, in productions of Coriolanus, Richard III, Uncle Vanya and The Seagull. He gained his first Oscar nomination for Gods and Monsters and his second for Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He is Magneto to Patrick Stewart’s Xavier in the X-Men movies, Richard III and most recently Mr Holmes.

 

Multi award-winning Patrick Stewart has numerous notable stage credits to his name including Anthony and Cleopatra, The Tempest, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, The Master Builder and his acclaimed solo adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Known world-wide as Captain Jean Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor X in the X-Men franchise, his additional film and TV credits include the 2009 TV movie adaptation of Hamlet alongside David Tennant, Ahab in Moby Dick, Ricky Gervais’ Extras, the new US comedy series, soon to be seen on UK TV, Blunt Talk, the soon to be released thriller Green Room as well as Wilde Wedding with Glenn Close and John Malkovich.

 

British film and theatre director, writer and actor, Sean Mathias has been a long-time collaborator with McKellen having directed him in numerous theatre roles including Uncle Vanya, Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads, August Strindberg’s The Dance of Death,Waiting for Godot (alongside Stewart) and Bent which he later directed on film, winning the ‘Prix de la Jeunesse’ award at the Cannes Film Festival. Other notable West End and Broadway theatre credits include Design for Living, Anthony and Cleopatra,The Elephant Man, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, A Little Night Music, Company and Les Parents Terribles which went on to be nominated for nine Tony Awards on Broadway under the title Indiscretions.

 

This production of No Man’s Land is produced by Stuart Thompson, Flying Freehold Productions and Playful Productions.

Full casting announced for AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE

Hugh Bonneville is joined by Abigail Cruttenden, Jonathan Cullen, William Gaminara and Adam James

 

22 April – 21 May, Festival Theatre

Hugh Bonneville returns to the stage in AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE by Henrik Ibsen, in a version by Christopher Hampton, directed by Howard Davies, running at Chichester Festival Theatre from 22 April – 21 May, with a press night on 4 May. He is joined by a distinguished company which also includes Trevor Cooper, Jim Creighton, Abigail Cruttenden (as Mrs Stockmann), Jonathan Cullen (as Aslaksen), Michael Fox, William Gaminara (as Peter Stockmann), Adam James (as Hovstad) and Alice Orr-Ewing.  A local community company will also take part in the play.

The brilliant Dr Stockmann, Chief Medical Officer of the Baths, has made a shocking scientific discovery about the standards of sanitation at the popular local spa. Luckily technology has a ready solution: the polluted baths must close immediately, so cleansing and rebuilding work can be carried out. But not everyone sees things quite so simply. What about the impact of closure on tourism, property and commerce? What about the town’s wider image and reputation?

Dr Stockmann’s brother, the Mayor, has one drastic response. The local tradespeople and property owners have another. Now it is up to the liberal press. Dare they print the facts Dr Stockmann has uncovered, and let the public make up their own minds?

Ibsen’s play is a searing examination of the intricate workings of power and influence, and an investigation into who holds real authority in society.

Hugh Bonneville returns to the stage to play Dr Stockmann. Known to a worldwide TV and film audience for the multi-award-winning Downton Abbey, Twenty Twelve, W1A and Paddington, he last appeared at Chichester in The Handyman (1996). His earlier theatre work for the National Theatre included School for Wives, Yerma, Entertaining Strangers, Juno and the Paycock, Charles Surface in The School for Scandal and title role in The Devil’s Disciple; and for the RSC, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Alchemist, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, The Virtuoso, Amphibians and Laertes to Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet. Other theatre includes Habeas Corpus (Donmar Warehouse), My Night with Reg (Criterion and Playhouse), Us and Them (Hampstead), Cloaca (The Old Vic) and seasons at Colchester and Leicester Haymarket. His extensive television work also includes The Cazalets, Take a Girl Like You, Armadillo, Daniel Deronda, The Commander, The Gathering Storm, Love Again, The Robinsons, The Vicar of Dibley, Freezing, Rev, Getting On, Mr Stink, Galavant, Diary of a Nobody, Tsunami – The Aftermath, Miss Austen Regrets, Five Days, Hunter, The Silence, Doctor Who and the forthcoming The Hollow Crown. His films include Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Notting Hill, Mansfield Park, Stage Beauty, Asylum, The Monuments Men, Paddington, Iris, French Film(Monte Carlo Film Festival Best Actor Award), and the forthcoming Viceroy’s House.

Abigail Cruttenden has previously appeared at Chichester in A Marvellous Year for Plums and inThe Rivals; her television work includes Not Going Out, Benidorm and Sharpe.

Jonathan Cullen’s theatre work includes The Master and Margarita, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Seagull and Nathan the Wise at Chichester and numerous appearances at the National Theatre and in the West End.

William Gaminara is best known to TV audiences as Leo Dalton in the BBC series Silent Witnessand, on radio, as Richard Locke in The Archers. His recent stage work includes Oppenheimer for the RSC and in the West End.

Adam James regularly appears on stage in the West End and on Broadway, most recently in Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III for which he won the Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actor. His stage work also includes Chimes at Midnight and The Glass Menagerie at Chichester.

Howard Davies directed the lauded production of For Services Rendered for Festival 2015; he has received numerous Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards for his many productions for the RSC, the National Theatre, in the West End and on Broadway.

 

AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE will be designed by Tim Hatley, with lighting by Mark Henderson, music by Dominic Muldowney and sound by Mike Walker.

The production is sponsored by Conquest Bespoke Furniture, Harwoods Group and Jackson-Stops & Staff.

 

Booking information

An Enemy of the People is at the Festival Theatre, Chichester from 22 April – 21 May. Evenings at 7.30pm (except for Press Night, 4 May at 7pm), matinees at 2.30pm.

Tickets: previews/press nights £10 – £30, all other performances £15 – £40.

Box Office 01243 781312

Online cft.org.uk

 

Prologue: £8.50 tickets for 16 – 25s

An allocation of tickets for 16 – 25 year olds priced at just £8.50 are available for all performances ofAn Enemy of the People. Tickets go on sale on 17 March;  bookings 01243 781312, online at cft.org.uk/prologue or in person.

KEN DODD is one of Britain’s funniest comedians.

He’s a comedy legend, icon and national treasure who has been entertaining audiences for a lifetime of happiness and laughter.

Come and enjoy his famous ‘Happiness Show’ and you’ll be absolutely discumknockerated (that’s Knotty Ash for ‘over the moon’) by a truly tattifelarius (fun-filled) evening of laughter and songs presented by a comedy genius.

Enjoy a fun-filled variety show for all the family, with non-stop gags and a selection of songs in Ken Dodd’s unique ‘Happiness Show’.

Ken Dodd is much more than a comedian. He is a comedy genius and showbiz legend whose humour has made him one of Britain’s best-loved entertainers. For his Diddymen, jam-butty mines and black pudding plantations, the Professor of Giggleology and Master of Applied Tickleology has been awarded The British Comedy Awards highest accolade – the Lifetime Achievement Award. Come and join the King of Comedy for more quick-fire gags than you can shake a tickle-stick at!

Approximate runtime 300minutes.

Grand Opera House York

Sunday 10 July at 7pm

Tickets from £20, to book call box office on 0844 871 3024 or go online atwww.atgtickets.com/york

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT

 

OPENS THE NEW SEASON AT LEEDS GRAND THEATRE

 

X Factor winner Joe McElderry and Britain’s Got Talent’s Lucy Kay will together take to the Leeds stage later this month when Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat arrives at The Grand Theatre.

 

The vibrant, exciting retelling of the biblical story of Joseph, his eleven brothers and the coat of many colours has a score that’s crammed wall to wall with hits, including Jacob and Sons, Close Every Door and the iconic Any Dream Will Do.

 

Joe McElderry, who takes the lead as Joseph, was just 18 when he won the sixth series of The X Factor beating off fierce competition from Olly Murs and Stacey Solomon. Joe then soared to number one on the UK Singles Charts with his rendition of Miley Cyrus’s The Climb and his debut album Wide Awake went straight in at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart. He has since gone on to have two more top ten albums, and has become the first X Factor star to release four albums, with a fifth in the making.

 

Lucy Kay, who takes the role of Narrator, scored her first number one album in 2014, after her stunning debut  ‘Fantasia’ shot straight to the top of the Classical Album Chart. The singer from Leicestershire shot to fame and captured the country’s hearts as runner up on Britain’s Got Talentin 2014.

 

Having garnered sensational reviews and standing ovations at every performance since its inception almost 35 years ago, Bill Kenwright’s production of this sparkling family musical continues to delight family audiences everywhere.

 

Joseph… kick-starts The Grand’s new season; hot on its tail is firm favourite Blood Brothers starringLyn Paul, Ray Mears, Tales of Endurance, Breakfast at Tiffiany’s with Pixie Lott and Matt Barber,Alan Bennet’s Single Spies, Riverdance and Sean Lock to name but a few.

For more information on The Grand’s coming season, and to buy tickets, visit leedsgrandtheatre.com.

 

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is at Leeds Grand Theatre

from Tuesday 22^nd to Saturday 26^th March

 

Tickets are on sale now priced from £19 to £33.50

 

Book online at leedsgrandtheatre.com or call box office on 0844 848 2700