King’s Head Theatre to stage brand new version of Puccini’s Tosca

The King’s Head Theatre is thrilled to announce they will be staging a radical reimagining of the classic opera Tosca from 27 September – 28 October.

Paris. August, 1944. As the Second World War rages on, lovers Tosca and Cavaradossi give refuge to a political prisoner and find themselves ensnared in the machinations of the tyrannical head of the Paris Gestapo, Scarpia. As Charles De Gaulle’s liberation movement advances and US troops tighten their net around the Nazi occupiers, everything Tosca holds dear is about to be torn apart.

A searing thriller of power and passion, this modern retelling takes the timeless tale and reimagines it at the heart of the twentieth century’s defining conflict. With stirring melodies and a brand-new libretto in English by Becca Marriott and Adam Spreadbury-Maher, performed in the intimate surroundings of the King’s Head Theatre, this is Tosca as you’ve never seen it before.

The King’s Head Theatre have firmly established themselves as one of the foremost producers of accessible, small scale opera, and this new version of Tosca marks the third opera production at the venuethis year following original retellings of Madam Butterfly and The Magic Flute. Several members of the creative team from 2016’s critically acclaimed La bohème are returning to work on Tosca, including Adam Spreadbury-Maher as Director, Panaretos Kyriatzidis as Musical Director and Becky-Dee Trevenen as Designer.

Adam Spreadbury-Maher, Artistic Director of the King’s Head Theatre, says “‘I’ve always wanted to play out Tosca against the epic, romantic and devastating backdrop of Paris in the Second World War. It’s the ultimate ideological conflict, and a pertinent setting for Puccini’s masterpiece. It’s fantastic to be working with the team from La bohème on this brand-new production. We’re going all out for our final opera of 2017 with this dazzling period piece, which I hope will be captivating, provocative and unexpected to seasoned opera veterans and newcomers alike.”

Praise for La bohème at the King’s Head Theatre:

★★★★ –  ‘powerful and compelling’ – The Times

★★★★ – ‘tackles La bohème in typically quixotic King’s Head style’ – Michael Church (of The Independent)

★★★★ – ‘dramatically taut, musically satisfying’

★★★★ – ‘A knowing, witty and clever reinterpretation’ – Islington Gazette

The Bunker Theatre and Alfred Taylor-Gaunt present
Eyes Closed, Ears Covered
The Bunker, 53A Southwark Street London SE1 1RU
Wednesday 6th September – Saturday 30th September 2017

How far would you go to relive a memory, if that memory was all you had to live for?

Eyes Closed, Ears Covered by Alex Gwyther’s (Our Friends, The Enemy) tells the brutal and heartfelt story of two teenage boys as they head to Brighton with a daring plan to relive a special day from four years ago. The world premiere of this darkly funny and painfully tender play will be directed by 2015 What’s On Stage award winner, Derek Anderson (Sweeney Todd, Twickenham Theatre)

One in five children in the UK have been exposed to domestic violence. Eyes Closed, Ears Covered explores the repercussions of traumatic events at home and the direct effects these can have on mental health. EastEnders’ star Danny-Boy Hatchard, Joe Idris-Roberts (Forty Years On, Chichester Festival Theatre) and Phoebe Thomas (Hetty Feather, Vaudeville Theatre, The Rose Theatre Kingston and UK Tour), will form the original cast of this gripping thriller.

Danny-Boy Hatchard comments, Having had previous experience venturing into the mind of someone who struggles with mental health, I have gained a compassionate understanding into how such a condition can have a dramatic impact on an individual’s life. Eyes Closed, Ears Covered explores more of the same, but this time with a direct association to domestic violence, particularly in children. I believe as artists we can always afford to bring more awareness to such an important topic, and this show does just that.

Woking 1986. Monday morning. Seb and Aaron have been planning this day for weeks. They’ve written their sick notes. They’ve skimped, saved, scraped and stolen the money where they can. They’re actually doing it. They’re bunking the day off school.

The poignant play was conceived after playwright Alex Gwyther witnessed two young boys playing truant; the seed of an idea was sewn and Gwyther researched child trauma and psychology to help understand the mindsets of those who had experienced harrowing ordeals. Eyes Closed, Ears Covered aims to raise awareness of the growing scale of domestic violence against women and children and explores the failure of a child’s mind to process their past.

The ethos of The Bunker is all about nurturing a performance environment in which audiences can stay after the show to enjoy events, discussions and drinks in the auditorium. Alongside Eyes Closed, Ears Covered, there will be post-show events for every performance including dance responses, spoken word responses, music, director and producer panels. Details of the post-show events will be announced shortly.

 

The new cast of MAMMA MIA! who began performances on 12 June 2017 at London’s Novello Theatre. MAMMA MIA!’s current booking is until 3 March 2018.

The new cast includes Sara Poyzer as Donna, Georgina Castle as Sophie, Kate Graham as Tanya, Jacqueline Braun as Rosie, Richard Trinder as Sam, Alasdair Harvey as Harry, Dugald Bruce-Lockhart as Bill and Christopher Jordan-Marshall as Sky.

MAMMA MIA! is Judy Craymer’s ingenious vision of staging the story-telling magic of ABBA’s timeless songs with an enchanting tale of family and friendship unfolding on a Greek island paradise. The London production of MAMMA MIA! has been seen by nearly 8 million people, played over 7,500 performances and has broken box office records in all three of its London homes. With music & lyrics by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, MAMMA MIA! is written by Catherine Johnson, directed by Phyllida Lloyd and choreographed by Anthony Van Laast. MAMMA MIA! is produced by Judy Craymer, Richard East & Björn Ulvaeus for Littlestar in association with Universal – press release attached.

SINGING SENSATION JOE BACK ON HOME TURF FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY

 

North East heartthrob and singing sensation Joe McElderry is bringing his brand new show Saturday Night at the Movies Live!to Newcastle Theatre Royal for one night only on Sun 30 July 2017.

 

The 26-year old South Shields born pop superstar, who secured the hearts of the nation in 2009 when he won ITV’s The X factor, is currently celebrating the release of his fifth studio album Saturday Nights at the Movies.  The show will feature tracks from the album -iconic songs from stage and screen and also brand new tracks including Joe’s new hit single, Gloria written by acclaimed songwriter and 10CC frontman, Graham Gouldman.

 

Joe will be joined on stage by special guests, X Factor’s Lloyd Daniels and Any Dream Will Do runners up Keith Jack and Ben James-Ellis who have all featured in Bill Kenwright’s production of Joseph and the Technicolor® Dreamcoat.

 

Joe is probably one of the most loved young singers in the country as well as a Number 1 and platinum selling artist with four top 20 albums under his belt, two of which reached the UK top three.  His debut single The Climb went to the top of the charts and was nominated for the Best British Single BRIT award in 2010.

 

His first album in five years, Saturday Night At The Movies is inspired by Joe’s love for film and theatre, and features newly orchestrated recordings of iconic hits such as Can’t Help Falling in Love from Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii, Time Of My Life from Dirty Dancing and the inevitable Any Dream Will Do from Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, in which Joe is currently starring.

 

Joe says: “My new album is a snapshot of where I am today and I am excited about the opportunity to share some of my favourite music with my fans. I hope people will join me as I continue on this musical journey!”

 

Saturday Night At The Movies Live! will feature these iconic movie hits, along with some exciting additions, all cooed in Joe’s heartfelt and warming vocals, making listeners fall in love with these all-time classics all over again.

 

Saturday Night At The Movies Live! is at Newcastle Theatre Royal for one night only on Sunday 30 July  2017 at 7.30pm. Tickets from £17.50.  Tickets can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (Calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge) or book online at www.theatreroyal.co.uk

FIRST LOOK AT WILL YOUNG

AND LOUISE REDKNAPP

IN

RUFUS NORRIS’ ACCLAIMED PRODUCTION OF KANDER AND EBB’S MUSICAL MASTERPIECE

CABARET

FIRST LOOK photos of WILL YOUNG as the Emcee and LOUISE REDKNAPP as Sally Bowles have today been released, ahead of the UK tour of CABARET this autumn, opening at the New Wimbledon Theatre on Thursday 21 September 2017 and playing theatres in Blackpool, Malvern, Cardiff, Leeds, Milton Keynes, Salford, Edinburgh, Bromley, Dublin and Brighton.

Internationally renowned singer/songwriter, Will Young, reprises his Olivier Award-nominated performance as the enigmatic Emcee alongside musician and presenter Louise Redknapp, who makes her stage debut as Sally Bowles in Rufus Norri’ multi-award winning production of CABARET.  

 

Ever since winning the inaugural series of Pop Idol in 2001, WILL YOUNG has been one of the UK’s most popular and successful music artists. He holds the record for the fastest selling debut single in British chart history, and has enjoyed a phenomenal career in music with four No1 albums, as well as acting alongside Dame Judi Dench in the film Mrs Henderson Presents. Will made his West End debut in Cabaret and will be reprising his award winning performance.

 

LOUISE REDKNAPP rose to fame as a member of the girl group Eternal. She left the band to carve out a successful solo career achieving an impressive twelve Top 20 singles, including the hits Naked and Stuck in the Middle and selling over 5 million records with 5 albums. Since then she has rarely left our television screens and most recently wowed the nation with her dancing skills finishing ‘runner up’ in the 2016 series of BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing.

 

CABARET features show-stopping choreography, dazzling costumes and some of the most iconic songs in musical theatre including ‘Money Makes The World Go Round’, ‘Two Ladies’ ‘Maybe This Time’ and of course ‘Cabaret’. The production turns Weimar Berlin of 1931 into a sassy, sizzling haven of decadence, and at its dark heart is the legendary and notorious Emcee, who performs nightly at the infamous Kit Kat Klub.

 

Since its Broadway premiere in 1966 and the famous movie version with Liza Minnelli and Oscar winner Joel Grey, CABARET has won a staggering number of stage and screen awards including 8 Oscar’s, 7 BAFTA’s and 13 Tony’s. Norris’ production has enjoyed two smash hit West End runs and has picked up 2 Olivier Awards.

 

Rufus Norris is Director of the National Theatre and a multi-award winning theatre and opera director. For the National Theatre, he has directed The Threepenny Opera, wonder.land, Everyman, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, The Amen Corner, Table, London Road (Critics Circle Award), Death and the King’s Horseman, Market Boy. Other theatre includes Vernon God Little (Young Vic), Les Liasons Dangerouses (Broadway – five Tony Award nominations), Festen (West End and Broadway) The Country Girl (Apollo) and Afore Night Came at the Young Vic (Evening Standard Award). Film credits include London Road and Broken.

 

Choreography is by the Olivier Award-winning Javier De Frutos. In 1990, he formed The Javier De Frutos Dance Company. His work includes The Hypochondriac Bird and Affliction of Loneliness. Recently he joined forces with Sadler’s Wells and The Pet Shop Boys to create a brand new dance work based on Hans Christian Andersen’s story, The Most Incredible Thing.

 

Cabaret will play at the New Wimbledon Theatre, Blackpool Opera House, Malvern Festival Theatre, Cardiff New Theatre, Leeds Grand Theatre, Milton Keynes Theatre, The Lowry in Salford, Edinburgh Playhouse, Churchill Theatre Bromley, Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre and Brighton Theatre Royal.

 

BILL KENWRIGHT PRESENTS

Book by JOE MASTEROFF Music by JOHN KANDER Lyrics by FREDD EBB

Based on the play by JOHN VAN DRUTEN and Stories by CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD

 

CABARET – TOUR DATES 2017

Thursday 21 – 30 September                                                            Box Office: 0844 871 7646

New Wimbledon Theatre                                                         Website: ATGTICKETS.COM/Wimbledon

Tuesday 3 – 7 October                                                                Box Office: 0844 856 1111

Blackpool Opera House                                                            Website: wgbpl.co.uk

Tuesday 10 – 14 October                                                       Box Office: 01684 892277

Malvern Festival Theatre                                                      Website: malvern-theatres.co.uk

Tuesday 17 – 21 October                                                       Box Office: 029 2087 8889

Cardiff New Theatre                                                              Website: newtheatrecardiff.co.uk

Tuesday 24 – 28 October                                                       Box Office:  0844 848 2700

Leeds Grand Theatre                                                             Website: leedsgrandtheatre.com

 

Tuesday 31 October – 4 November                                      Box Office: 0844 871 7652

Milton Keynes Theatre                                                             Website: ATGTICKETS.COM/MiltonKeynes           

 

Tuesday 7 – 11 November                                                     Box Office: 0843 208 6000

Salford Quays, The Lowry                                                         Website: thelowry.com

 

Tuesday 14 – 18 November                                                   Box Office:  0844 871 3014

Edinburgh Playhouse                                                          Website: ATGTICKETS.COM/Edinburgh

 

Tuesday 21 – 25 November                                                   Box Office: 020 3285 6000

Churchill Theatre Bromley                                                       Website: churchilltheatre.co.uk

Tuesday 28 Nov – 2 December                                              Box Office: 00353 1 677 7999

Dublin, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre                                        Website: www.bordgaisenergytheatre.ie

 

Tuesday 5 – 9 December                                                       Box Office:  0844 871 7650

Brighton Theatre Royal                                                            Website: ATGTICKETS.COM/Brighton

Further dates to be confirmed

SCREENINGS AT CITY VARIETIES MUSIC HALL

 

Following the success of Hedda Gabler and the highly anticipated Twelfth Night, the City Varieties Music Hall is set to strengthen its live and encore streaming offering with productions including Angels in America, Yerma and Black Sabbath – The End of the End.

Having recently installed state-of-the-art cinema equipment, the country’s most famous music hall is able to stream live and pre-recorded events, as well as art and museum exhibitions to Leeds audiences. The programme for 2017 is as following:

 

What: NT Live presents Angels in America (Part 1 and 2 – encore screening). Saturday 19^th August and Saturday 26^th August respectively.

 

Angels in America is a complex, often metaphorical, and at times symbolic examination of AIDS and homosexuality in 1980s America. Written by American playwright Tony Kushner, Angels in America is set in two parts, each lasting approximately four hours. The cast includes Andrew Garfield, Denise Gough, Nathan Lane, James McArdle and Russell Tovey.

 

 

What: NT Live presents Yerma (live screening). Thursday 31^st August.

Award-winning actress Billie Piper stars in Simon Stone’s radical production of Lorca’s achingly powerful masterpiece Yerma. Set in contemporary London, Yerma tells of a young women’s desperation to conceive with unthinkable consequences.

 

What: John Le Carre – An evening with George Smiley (live streamed). Thursday 7^th September.

In aid of Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors without Borders (MSF)

Broadcast live from London’s Royal Festival Hall, John Le Carre, author of ‘The Spy Who Came In From The Cold’, ‘Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ and ‘The Night Manager’ (amongst others), will discuss the full breadth of his career and reflect on the continuing story of his most famous creation, spy George Smiley. The event will include readings and a rare Q&A session.

 

 

What: David Gilmour Live in Pompeii (screening of 2016 live recording). Wed 13^th September.

 

On July 7th & 8th 2016, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd fame performed two spectacular shows at the legendary Pompeii Amphitheatre in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. For one night only the recording will be streamed across the UK.

The show includes songs from David’s career, including the title tracks of his two most recent No. 1 solo albums ‘Rattle That Lock’ and ‘On An Island’. Also included are other solo and Pink Floyd classics such as ‘Wish You Were Here’, ‘Comfortably Numb’, ‘One Of These Days’ and a very special performance of ‘The Great Gig In The Sky’ from ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’, which David rarely plays as a solo artist.

 

What: Black Sabbath – The End of the End (screening of February’s 2017 live recording). Monday 2^ndOctober.

 

The End of The End chronicles the final tour of the greatest metal band of all time. After nearly 50 years together, the Birmingham band took to the stage in February 2017 for the last time in their home city, bringing down the curtain on their final tour. They performed genre-defining, generation-spanning songs in front of a sold-out arena and, in exclusive new interviews, talk frankly about how it was lived.

Tickets for the Live Streaming events at City Varieties Music Hall are on sale priced at £15 and £17

 

Book online at cityvarietiesmusichall.co.uk or call box office on 0113 243 0808

KARA LILY HAYWORTH

FIGHTS OFF THOUSANDS OF HOPEFULS TO PLAY

CILLA BLACK

IN THE WORLD PREMIERE OF

CILLA THE MUSICAL

Following weeks of open auditions at venues up and down the country – the producers of Cilla the Musical have found their star. Kara Lily Hayworth has fought off thousands of hopefuls to be named as the girl who will step into the Legend’s coveted shoes in the first ever musical about the star’s life.

Cilla – The Musical, is a spectacular and heart-warming musical adaptation of the critically acclaimed ITV mini-series based on the early life of Cilla Black, by BAFTA award winner, Jeff Pope (The Moorside, Philomena, From The Cradle To The Grave, Mrs Biggs). The new musical, opens in Cilla’s hometown at the Liverpool Empire from Thursday 7th – 16th September before embarking on a nationwide tour.

Kara queued for four hours at London’s Dominion Theatre to have her chance to audition in the first rounds. She made it through to the final 30 before being chosen to do her final audition at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.

Robert Willis said, ‘We wanted somebody who wasn’t going to impersonate my mum but someone who could capture her spirit. Kara came in with her huge personality and amazing voice – when I saw the response of the audience at the Cavern, I knew we’d found her!”

Originally from Watford, Kara trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She recently performed in Secret Cinema’s Moulin Rouge and this will be her first leading role in a big new musical…and her first time on tour!

She said “When I was 11 I was shopping out with my mum and bumped into Cilla and asked her for an autograph. I told her I wanted to be an actress – she laughed and said ‘It’s a tough industry, but if you really work hard and go for it, you’ll be just fine.’ She was a huge inspiration to me as a child; I grew up watching her on Blind Date every Saturday night with my Nan. To be chosen to play her is such an honor and I’m so excited to take on the role. To open in her hometown of Liverpool is so special and a real privilege.”

The story follows the extraordinary life of the ordinary teenage girl from Liverpool, Priscilla White, and her rocky, yet incredible, rise to fame. By the age of just 25 she was recognized as international singing star Cilla Black. By the age of 30 she had become Britain’s favorite television entertainer headlining series’ of Blind Date, Surprise Surprise and many more.

The musical score will be the ultimate soundtrack to the 60’s including Cilla’s greatest hits Anyone Who Had a Heart, Alfie and Something Tells Me, alongside a backdrop of the legendary “Liverpool Sound” including the Beatles’ Twist and Shout, and American influences like California Dreamin by The Mamas and The Papas and many more.

Cilla The Musical is produced by Bill Kenwright and Laurie Mansfield, alongside Executive Producer Robert Willis

CILLA – THE MUSICAL

WRITTEN BY JEFF POPE

DIRECTED BY BILL KENWRIGHT & BOB TOMSON

Liverpool Empire Theatre atgtickets.com/Liverpool

7 – 16 September 0844 871 3017

Edinburgh Playhouse atgtickets.com/Edinburgh

19 – 23 September 0844 871 3014

Milton Keynes Theatre atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes

26 – 30 September 0844 871 7627

Mayflower Theatre, Southampton mayflower.org.uk

3 – 7 October 023 8071 1811

New Alexandra Theatre Birmingham atgtickets.com/Birmingham

10 – 14 October 0844 871 3011

Blackpool, Opera House wgbpl.co.uk

17 – 21 October 0844 856 1111

New Theatre, Cardiff newtheatrecardiff.co.uk

31 October – 4 November 029 2087 8889

New Wimbledon Theatre atgtickets.com/Wimbledon

7 – 11 November 0844 871 7627

Regent Theatre, Stoke atgtickets.com/stoke

14 – 18 November 0844 871 7649

Palace Theatre, Manchester atgtickets.com/Manchester

21 – 25 November 0844 871 3019

Bradford, Alahambra Theatre bradford-theatres.co.uk

28 November – 2 December 01274 432 000

Dartford Orchard Theatre orchardtheatre.co.uk

16 – 20 January 01322 220 000

York, Grand Opera House atgtickets.com/York

23 – 27 January 0844 871 3024

Glasgow, Kings Theatre atgtickets.com/Glasgow

30 January – 3 February 0844 871 3024

Oxford, New Theatre atgtickets.com/Oxford

13 – 17 February 0844 871 3020

Derngate Theatre, Northampton royalandderngate.co.u

20 – 24 February 01604 624 811

Newcastle, Theatre Royal theatreroyal.co.uk

27 February – 3 March 0844 811 2121

Bristol Hippordrome atgtickets.com/Bristol

13 – 17 March 0844 871 7627

Woking, New Theatre atgtickets.com/Woking

20 – 24 March 844 871 7645

More tour dates to be confirmed soon.

Visit cillathemusical.com for all the latest tour and audition information

Twitter: @CILLAMUSICAL

A Christmas Carol at Windsor Castle

This December, for the first time, an immersive Christmas performance will be staged in the magnificent State Apartments at Windsor Castle.

Throughout the festive period, nine family-friendly evening performances of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol will be presented by theatre company Watch Your Head. The performances will take place in the Castle’s two largest rooms, where the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret performed Christmas pantomimes during the Second World War.

Tailor-made for Windsor Castle and using Dickens’s own words from his public readings of the classic tale, the production will feature live music and immersive elements, transporting the audience into a Victorian Christmas.  Visitors will accompany Ebenezer Scrooge from the Castle gates to the Waterloo Chamber, where Jacob Marley awaits to conjure his haunting dreams of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.  A cast of actors and musicians performing all around will transform the colossal space into Dickensian London, before the audience follows Scrooge into St George’s Hall to celebrate his new-found festive spirit beneath the Castle’s spectacular Christmas tree.

The event will form part of a programme of Victorian-themed activities at Windsor Castle this Christmas.  Monarchs have been celebrating Christmas at Windsor Castle since the 12th century, but it was Queen Victoria and Prince Albert who introduced many of the Christmas traditions that we know today.  Prince Albert is credited with popularising the German tradition of Christmas trees while enjoying the festive season at the Castle, and the Queen and Prince Albert were often seen ice skating and enjoying winter sleigh rides in the Castle grounds.

It was during this period that Dickens first published A Christmas Carol in 1843, and it has remained a festive classic ever since.  The work can be seen in miniature in the library of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House, built in the early 1920s as a perfect replica of an aristocratic Edwardian residence and housed ever since at Windsor Castle.

Jemima Rellie, Director of Content and Audiences, Royal Collection Trust, said, ‘Windsor Castle at Christmastime evokes images of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their young family celebrating around the Christmas tree. As part of our Victorian-themed festive programme, we are excited to be staging an immersive Christmas performance in the State Apartments for the first time, and are sure that audiences will enjoy a unique experience that they will treasure for years to come.’

Sara Langridge, Producer, Watch Your Head, said, ‘We are so delighted to continue our relationship with Royal Collection Trust in this way – A Christmas Carol really is the perfect story for this magical place and we can’t wait for audiences of all ages to share this wonderful experience at Windsor Castle.’

Their third collaboration with Royal Collection Trust, Watch Your Head’s latest production follows their recently staged immersive performances of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Castle’s Moat Garden.

A Christmas Carol is directed by Sasha McMurray, with costumes designed by Annina Pfeul and an original score by Joseph Reuben.

Ekaterina Krysanova, Semyon Chudin, Maria Alexandrova and
Vladislav Lantratov of the Bolshoi Ballet
with students of London Russian Ballet School present
Romantic Revolution
London Palladium, Argyll Street, London W1F 7TF
Monday 18th September 2017, 7.30pm

For one night only, London Russian Ballet School (LRBS) will continue its collaboration with the world-famous Bolshoi Ballet and Theatre, bringing ballet and classical music to young people in London

700 children from Lambeth, Brent, South West and West London, who have never visited a theatre to see ballet and most of whom have never heard of the Bolshoi Ballet, will join the audience at the London Palladium for free, with transport provided. Romantic Revolution is a philanthropic endeavour to engage these young children in ballet and impart the richness of this art.

Leading Bolshoi principals will present an outstanding programme with LRBS students, to include the spectacular classic Don Quixote. A new work will be premiered which has been specially created for Alexandrova and Lantratov. Accessibility is the driving force of Romantic Revolution with tickets priced affordably to enable as wide an audience as possible to see Bolshoi artists perform.

LRBS, based in Clapham, is a vocational school and charity which teaches ballet to and educates young people from widely diverse backgrounds. Its Artistic Director, Evgeny Goremykin, danced with the Bolshoi Ballet for over twenty years and founded the school on the principles of his own ballet education with a dominant ethos of opportunity and inclusivity.

The goal of the school is to give students the best of the past in order to work for the future; in this vein, students train with former artists of the great theatres and ballet schools of Russia where tradition and knowledge are passed from one generation to the next. LRBS believe that the Russian method, one of the finest in the world, may be applied to any individual with great success.

Dame Gillian Lynne comments, The London Russian Ballet School is an inspirational, tough and practical ballet school. It is extremely good and inspired by the addition of the Bolshoi’s impeccable standards. Russian ballet training has always been extremely effective and important and these children are very lucky to be able to be part of the beautiful art that ballet incorporates and also to have the chance to develop, lead and inspire the talent within their souls. I am in a unique position to talk about Russian Ballet training given that I was lucky enough to work with Vera Volkova during the war who also trained Margot Fonteyn. Dance has no barriers, it is a universal and powerful art which will always endure and should be accessible to all. This year, over 700 children have been invited to the London Palladium in September to see the LRBS pupils perform with leading principal artists from the Bolshoi Ballet, something they would otherwise never have been able to do. It will give them a chance to experience the extreme discipline of this teaching which will lead to their
enjoyment of the beauty of ballet and the enriching of their souls which this kind of training will produce

LRBS has an extensive outreach performance programme to engage young children in the world of ballet and classical music. It regularly performs for over 3,000 children each year in local underprivileged schools. These children experience ballet accompanied by young musicians in their school halls. The Head of Inclusion from a Lambeth Primary commented, It was lovely to see our children’s full attention taken by such a wonder on the stage…and for nearly all it was the first time that they had seen a ballet production on stage.

The Wedding

Gecko’s most ambitious show to date visits HOME for a limited run

 

Award-winning physical theatre company Gecko’s new show The Wedding focuses on personal and political marriage. With a performing company of nine, this is Gecko’s most ambitious show to date and visits Manchester’s HOME for a limited run (12-16 September). 

www.geckotheatre.com / @GeckoTheatre / Facebook.com/GeckoTheatre1

 Gecko is an award-winning and internationally-acclaimed physical theatre company, led by Artistic Director Amit Lahav. Established in 2001, Gecko has developed 6 full-length shows, numerous youth projects and workshops and celebrated its 15^th anniversary last year.

We are all married, bound by a contract.

But what are the terms of this relationship? And can we consider a divorce?

 

Gecko’s seventh creation, The Wedding, is inspired by the complexities of human nature: the struggle between love and anger, creation and destruction, community and isolation.   

The extraordinary ensemble of nine international performers guides audiences through a blur of wedding dresses and contractual obligations, a dystopian world in which we are all brides, wedded to society.

Combining movement, imagery and provocative narratives in Gecko’s trademark style, The Wedding brings these contracts into question with an emotionally charged and spectacular performance.

We all want to believe in our journey, but where are we heading? Is it too late to stop, to go back, to fall in love, to start again?

Amit Lahav, Gecko’s Artistic Director, has devised a rigorous and productive process of developing a show over a period of two years, including an initial phase of development followed by a Creation Tour in which the show changes and progresses dramatically. The Wedding’s first work in progress was shared in June 2016 at Pulse Festival in Ipswich and the show’s Creation Tour took place in spring 2017 (Northern Stage in Newcastle, New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich and Warwick Arts Centre in Coventry).

“Walked in to watch a play. Left feeling ready to change the world.” Audience response at New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich

“So glad people are making such raw, powerful theatre.” Audience response on Twitter

 

Autumn tour dates include: HOME in Manchester (12-16 September), Exeter Northcott 21–23 September), Lighthouse in Poole (3 October) and Hall for Cornwall in Truro (6-7 October).

Supported by Arts Council England and Ipswich Borough Council. The Wedding is a Gecko production co-commissioned by DanceEast and New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich, Northern Stage, HOME Manchester and Beijing 707 N-Theatre Co. Ltd (Edinburgh Fringe Showcase in China) in association with Lighthouse, Poole and Warwick Arts Centre, supported by The Point, Eastleigh.

 

Amit Lahav, Gecko’s Artistic Director said: “Our first experience with HOME was last year with Institute. I think we all felt that there was a chemistry with the HOME team and its place in the City; a shared vision regarding our style and approach to performance. So there was little surprise that the audience’s response was so warm and energised. We are delighted that HOME have supported us through the process of making The Wedding and look forward to developing our relationship with our Manchester friends.”

Walter Meierjohann, Artistic Director: Theatre, HOME, added: “We are thrilled to welcome back Gecko to HOME. This award-winning company is internationally renowned for their visual and ambitious work, putting audiences at the heart of the narrative. For The Wedding, Amit Lahav explores personal and political marriage – in typical Gecko-style: poetical, inspiring, moving and entertaining.”