YORKSHIRE’S OWN NATALIE ANDERSON JOINS CAST OF FAT FRIENDS THE MUSICAL

 

Emmerdale and The Royal star Natalie Anderson is the latest star to be cast in Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends The Musical, which is set to premier at Leeds Grand Theatre on 7^th November 2017.

Bradford born Natalie, who has appeared in numerous television programmes, including Wire in the Blood and The Biz, also appeared as Nessarose in Wicked in the West End as well as Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet at West Yorkshire Playhouse and Tara in Exposure The Musical at St James’ Theatre. She will perform the role of Lauren in Fat Friends The Musical, originated on screen by Emmerdale co-star Gaynor Faye.

The award-winning TV drama has been adapted for the stage by its creator and one of the UK’s most prolific writers, Kay Mellor, whose extensive television credits include hit series Band of Gold, The Chase, The Syndicate, In the Club and whose stage credits include A Passionate Woman. The award-winning Jodie Prenger will lead the company in the beloved role of Kelly Stevenson. She is joined by Sam Bailey, Elaine C Smith and Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff with further casting still to be announced.

Natalie Anderson said: “I’m so thrilled to be playing Lauren in Fat Friends The Musical. I was a huge fan of the original series and cannot wait to bring it to life on stage. I’m also equally excited to be working with the incredible Kay Mellor whom, from an early age, I have greatly admired and been inspired by.”

 

Kay Mellor added: “I am absolutely delighted to be working with fellow northerner Natalie. I thought of her instantly for the role of Lauren and she brought me to tears at her audition with her acting and singing talent.” 

 

Produced by Joshua Andrews and Adam Spiegel, with original music and songs composed by Nicholas Lloyd Webber, Fat Friends The Musical is packed full of warmth, life and weight loss. The brand-new stage show reunites our favourite foodie friends in an original musical bulging with hopes, humour and heart. Join the infamous group of loveable characters as they are put through their Zumba paces at their local branch of Super Slimmer’s by the lovelorn Lauren, whilst Kelly fantasises about fitting into the wedding dress of her dreams. Fat Friends The Musical offers a generous serving of hilarious fun with a sprinkle of romance on top!

Fat Friends hit television screens in October 2000, following the lives of a group of overweight friends as they struggled with the absurdities of modern dieting. Running for five years on ITV, the show starredAlison Steadman, Gaynor Faye and Lisa Riley, and launched the careers of James Corden and Ruth Jones. The show was nominated for multiple awards including the BAFTA for Best Drama Series.

Fat Friends The Musical is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Monday 7^th Nov to Saturday 2^nd Dec 2017

Tickets are priced from £20 (restricted viewing) to £50

Book online at leedsgrandtheatre.com or call Box Office on 0844 848 2700

ALL OR NOTHING

THE SMASH HIT UK MUSICAL THEATRE SENSATION

WRITTEN BY AND STARRING AWARD-WINNING ACTRESS CAROL HARRISON

FEATURING CHRIS SIMMONS

CONFIRMS THIRD MAJOR UK TOUR FROM SEPTEMBER 2017

AS TICKET SALES TOP £1 MILLION

ALL OR NOTHING, the Small Faces musical sensation, will tour the UK from September 2017 on its third major outing. The show, which opened to critical acclaim and nightly standing ovations at the Vaults Theatre in London in March 2016 before heading out on the first of two UK tours, announced this week that total ticket sales had topped over £1 million.

The current national tour finishes in Cheltenham on 29 July and the third Autumn tour begins in September at Greenwich Theatre and ends at Harrogate Theatre on 11 November (full list in Listings Information).

Written and directed by the award-winning actress Carol Harrison, ALL OR NOTHING tells the electrifying yet bittersweet tale of Kenney Jones, Ian McLagan, Ronnie Lane and Steve Marriott; four charismatic young kids from East London with humour, attitude, passion and above all talent. They became the Small Faces and were rocketed into the big time, only to discover the path to fantastic success is paved with exploitation, betrayal and ultimately tragedy.

Carol Harrison plays Kay Marriott, at certain performances, with Stefan Edwards as Kenney Jones, Russell Floyd as Don Arden, Josh Maddison as Ian McLagan, Joseph Peters as Jimmy Winston, Samuel Pope as Young Steve Marriott, Chris Simmons as Steve Marriott and Stanton Wright as Ronnie Lane. The cast also includes Daniel Beales, Sophia Behn, Melissa Brown-Taylor, Daisy Darvill, Fran Dearlove, Katie Faye, Alexander Gold and Danielle Johnson.

The Sunday Express calls it “A smile-inducing night of Mod nostalgia” with The Daily Mail’s Richard Littlejohn adding, “There are some great gags, the music is marvellous” and the Daily Telegraph agreeing that “All or Nothing delivers the goods. At once cheeky and reverential”. “Wow! Just wow! This incredible musical takes your breath away… Harrison directs it beautifully” said The Daily Record.

ALL OR NOTHING celebrates the unique sound of the iconic Mod band. Played live, the musical is packed full of all the timeless hits, including the brilliant Whatcha Gonna Do About It, Tin Soldier, Lazy Sunday, Here Comes the Nice, Itchycoo Park and of course All or Nothing.

In 1964, a new phenomenon exploded on to the dingy British streets. It was the essence of all that was cool. It was Mod. Mods stuck two fingers up at the class-ridden society and its dull redundant culture. They were working-class free spirits who rode sexy streamlined Italian Vespas or Lambrettas. The sharpest Mod of all was known as a ‘face’. The Small Faces encapsulated all that is Mod, a unique blend of taste and testosterone, neat, clothes obsessed, and streetwise. But these cult sophisticates shared another passion, their dedication to ‘Rhythm and Blues.’

Carol Harrison said “It’s a real honour to be able to bring the extraordinary world of the Small Faces back to the fans and to a brand new audience, young and old. Our live band and cast tell the story of the rise and fall of the band, a journey as vivid and colourful as their sound, and get to showcase an amazing catalogue of music – hard edged R&B. This is music which influenced a generation of musicians from Paul Weller and The Jam to Oasis, Blur, The Verve and The Arctic Monkeys, not to mention millions of fans. Book – it’s truly a concert of a lifetime!”

Carol Harrison is an award-winning actress and writer, well known for her theatre and TV work. Carol is probably best known as the exciting, fiery and passionate Louise Raymond in Eastenders. The storyline between her and son-in-law Grant Mitchell gripped the nation and it was for this storyline that Eastenders won the BAFTA for ”Best Soap” for the first time. For seven years she played the incorrigible Gloria in the popular series Brushstrokes, and also starred opposite Ray Winstone as sassy Loretta in the comedy series Get Back. She also starred as Dorothy in two series of London’s Burning. Her latest TV movie Martha, Jac a Sianco for S4C won six BAFTA awards.

Chris Simmons is probably best known for playing the role of DC Mickey Webb for over twelve years in the long running ITV series The Bill. He has also appeared in EastEnders as Mark Garland, a love interest for Kat Moon and in the Tracy Beaker spin-off CBBC show, The Dumping Ground.

The show is endorsed and supported by many of those who feature in its story, including singer P.P. Arnold and Steve Marriott’s daughter Mollie Marriott, who is the show’s vocal coach.

www.allornothingthemusical.com

 

LISTINGS INFORMATION

4-7 September Greenwich Theatre

8-10 September Liverpool Philharmonic

12-16 September Palace Theatre, Southend

18-20 September Wyvern Theatre, Swindon

21-23 September Bury St Edmunds Theatre Royal

25-26 September Gala Theatre, Durham

27-30 September Storyhouse Theatre, Chester

2-4 October Stirling McRobert Theatre

5-7 October Dundee Repertory Theatre

10-14 October Aylesbury Waterside Theatre

17-19 October Belfast Waterfront Theatre

20-21 October Dublin Helix

24-25 October Preston Charter Theatre

27-28 October Mayflower Theatre Southampton

30 October-1 Nov Queen’s Theatre Barnstaple

2-4 November Princess Theatre Torquay

6-11 November Harrogate Theatre

ALL OR NOTHING – THE QUOTES

The Daily Star Sunday, “Funny fiery and brave… you’ll have a rocking night out”,

The Mail on Sunday “Entertainingly written… full of energy”.

The Stage, “The group capture that unmistakable mix of anger and arrogance that defined the Mod sound.”

West End Wilma, “If you’re looking for a fun night out and some good old British Pop culture- get your tickets!”

Camden New Journal “Truly memorable”.

UDiscoverMusic.com, “Exuberant, celebratory and enormous fun”

MusicalTheatreReview.com, “It stands proud above the others (despite the band’s diminutive stature)”

CHANNEL 4’s GOGGLEBOX FAVOURITE

SANDRA MARTIN

AND CBEEBIES PRESENTER

NISHA ANIL
TO STAR IN MAIDENHEAD’S MAGICAL PANTOMIME

ALADDIN

AT THE PEARCE SUITE THEATRE, MAGNET LEISURE CENTRE, MAIDENHEAD

PERFORMANCES: SATURDAY 9th – SUNDAY 31st DECEMBER 2017

 

Television favourites SANDRA MARTIN (Channel 4’s Gogglebox) and NISHA ANIL (CBeebies) will star in this year’s family pantomime, ALADDIN, at Maidenhead’s Pearce Suite Theatre at the Magnet Leisure Centre, from Saturday 9th – Sunday 31st December 2017 alongside a cast of West End performers and juvenile ensemble of local young performers.

 

SANDRA MARTIN, who will play the Spirit of the Ring, is much-loved by television audiences for her charismatic appearances on Channel 4’s BAFTA-winning reality series Gogglebox. Since joining Gogglebox in 2013, Sandra has built up a wide following on social media and is known for her big personality and contagious laugh.

 

Sandra said: “There’s nothing I love more than making people laugh so I’m delighted to be joining the cast of ALADDIN, bringing a bit of the Sandra “QueenB” joy to Maidenhead. It’s going to be wicked. I’m so excited.”

 

CBeebies presenter and actress NISHA ANIL will play Princess Jasmine. Nisha is the presenter of the popular CBeebies programme, Same Smile. Nisha’s other screen credits include Strictly Cinderella(CBBC)and Citizen Khan (BBC1). Having trained extensively in acting, puppetry and mime, Nisha’s numerous stage credits include The Grimmest of Grim Tales (Avva Laff Productions), Brown Paper Packages and Addressed to a Friend (both for Kazzum Theatre) and The Winter Giant and The Gift (both for Beautiful Creatures Theatre Company). Nisha sings live with The Herberts, and with Richmond and the Groovolution, and she enjoys performing as a storyteller.

Nisha said: “I’m really excited to be playing the role of Princess Jasmine in ALADDIN – what little girl doesn’t dream of playing a Princess? Also, living locally makes it extra special for me and I’m really looking forward to entertaining the audiences of Maidenhead this Christmas.”

 

Following the exciting re-launch of The Pearce Suite Theatre at Magnet Leisure Centre, Q Productions is delighted to be bringing Maidenhead its first fully-produced professional pantomime with the much-loved family favourite, ALADDIN, which will be packed full of side-splitting comedy, stunning special effects and lavish costumes.

Eddie Dredge, Director of Q Productions, said: “We are so pleased that Sandra and Nisha are joining the cast to bring the Most Magical Pantomime of all, ALADDIN to The Pearce Suite Theatre at Magnet Leisure Centre this December. We’re thrilled to be bringing Maidenhead its very own professional pantomime with a stellar cast to boot. And we have so much planned to wow the audiences including the magical flying carpet! It’s going to be pretty spectacular.”

 

The Pearce Suite Theatre at Magnet Leisure Centre will be converted into a 400-seat theatre space for the whole of December, offering wonderful family entertainment that all ages can enjoy together. And with ticket prices from £10.50-£16.50, it’s a pantomime for all the community! What’s more, with schools and clubs group bookings of 10+ all children within the group receive a free ice cream and every 11th ticket is free.*

Teaming up with Legacy Leisure, Q Productions will ensure ALADDIN will be the best and most welcoming pantomime yet!

 

Audiences will be taken on a magical journey to Old Peking where song, dance and silliness are the order of the day as they follow the hilarious Widow Twankey and her sons Aladdin and Wishee Washee as they fall in love, fall over and get truly covered in foam and gunge! Will they succeed in overthrowing the wicked plans of the evil Abanazar, and will Aladdin win the heart of Princess Jasmine?

 

Jonny Walker, Events Manager at the Magnet Leisure Centre, said: “We are delighted that local family audiences will be able to enjoy a top-quality professional pantomime right on their doorstep this December, thanks to the partnership between Magnet Leisure Centre and Q Productions. The community will be thrilled to see the venue’s magical transformation!”

 

Q Productions, the sister company of The Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts, established to present professional productions throughout the UK, is delighted to be producing theatre in Maidenhead to ensure people in the area have access to the arts.

 

Follow all the latest news about ALADDIN, visit www.themaidenheadpanto.com and follow [@MaidenheadPanto]@Maidenheadpanto on Twitter and @TheMaidenheadpanto on Facebook. 

 

ALADDIN runs from Saturday 9th – Sunday 31st December 2017 (performance times vary, check the website). Tickets, priced from £10.50 – £16.50, are now on sale from the website: www.themaidenheadpanto.com.  

* For Schools and clubs bookings (10+), call the group booking hotline: 01494 917519. For schools and club bookings, all children within the group receive a free ice cream and every 11th ticket is free. The ice cream and free ticket offer is only open to Schools and Clubs (Scouts, Brownies, WI, football clubs etcs) of 10+. Free ice cream offer is only applicable to the children within the group.  

 

LISTINGS

Show: ALADDIN

Dates: Saturday 9th – Sunday 31st December 2017

Times: Various day and evening performances (check Box Office website below)

Venue: The Pearce Suite Theatre, Magnet Leisure Centre, Holmanleaze, Maidenhead, SL6 8AW

Prices: £10.50 – £16.50

Box Office: online at  www.themaidenheadpanto.com

Group Bookings: For group bookings (10+), call the groups hotline: 01494 917519.

 

Lyric Theatre, The Lowry, Manchester – 5th July 2017.  Reviewed by Julie Noller

Tonight was date night with my boy, I shouldn’t say that as its an embarrassing Mum moment. In his younger years he’d read Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox, we’d even been to the cinema to watch the film. He was my perfect plus one choice, so I could canvas his opinion too. I have to say if you head to The Lowry to watch his week you will be enthralled first by Iris, the digital laser show designed by Marsh mellow laser feast. I’ve seen it three times now and my son loved it marvelling at the way the lasers danced reaching out to touch them. I also watched and listened to all the children in the audience squealing with delight, that put a massive smile on my face,how different children react compared to adults.

Fantastic Mr Fox is a fast paced fun, singing and dancing extravaganza. It reminded me during many of the singing routines of Horrible Histories (who doesn’t love that?) the words were funny, had a rhyming appeal and had many adult and child laughing. My son commented on the many accents he noticed throughout, I had presumed it was deliberate so as not to tie the performance down to any one area, to show that the story could be set anywhere, again the strong accents were pretty stereotypical and amused me. But it also helped to differentiate the characters on stage not just by looks but sound too.

The set, we discussed, we liked. It didn’t look like an old oak tree or too much like the inside of a chicken factory but could’ve been like when we played den with an old sheet over the dining table – only I’m sure Tom Scott as Designer and his team would prefer me to point out we thought the turnstyle set genious, it played with our imagination, the same piece had various uses. It kept us concentrated on the centre of the stage where the action was. The movements of each character was well practiced and your eye was drawn to those finer details, Mr Fox (Greg Barnett) so confident, so proud of his exploits and of his tail, Mrs Fox (Lillie Flynn) Mother to be and seeker of adventure. Completing the Fox family is Kit (Jade Croot) swishing her tail and enjoying all those human electronic devices tasking her mind, keeping her sharp, fighting as all youngsters do against being left out because you’re too young and what does she do? Shows her father to trust her, saving the day. Mole (Gruffudd Glyn) with his bad eyesight and love of rocks, Badger (Raphael Bushay) slow and steady and geeky in a badger way. Rabbit (Sandy Foster) without doubt mine and surprisingly my sons favourite character loud and excitable and more than a little naughty with her one liners full of innuendo thrown in, cue children looking confused as to why the adults were laughing at something that wasn’t funny, but they soon joined in laughing anyway. I’m left contemplating if Rabbit’s costume with it’s throwback to Jane Fonda work out video’s, will it make a comeback?

The singing ranges were vastly different (from loud and powerful to spoken) but that meant it never lost the fun element, I thought a musical might be too much for my teenager but he commented he had enjoyed the singing and they were all very good.

There is one moment where I believed the younger children may have nightmares and that reduced my son into laughter, we were introduced to the guard dog, it makes it’s way through the auditorium stopping by many of the seats, its scary the performer is dressed all in black with red eyes lit up like a demon possessed. The saving grace that our heroes all worked together to scare the bully off before it got to work.

Fantastic Mr Fox shows the humanistic side to our beasts and the almost perverse beastly side to our humans. Mr Fox has to learn to be humble and accept help at a time when he felt invincible, losing his precious tail alongside his balance means his family and friends struggle to find food and survive. Its only by working together and helping one another that they overcome prejudice and manage to keep each other warm and fed. The farmers on the other hand end the play cold, hungry and still waiting. I’ve never realised the messages that great stories like these portray before, I know it’s a school night and you might not want your little ones to be up so late, but you won’t regret taking them to see Fantastic Mr Fox, from its brilliant lighting, innovative set design. Not to mention the singing and dancing – I’m sure there’s a few young boys going to be singing about gutting turkeys in the school playground today. They may be tired the next morning but you won’t forget the sound of laughter.

Vaudeville Theatre 4 July – 2 September.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

F Murray Abraham swaps his more sinister TV roles for this light and fluffy play about writing a play. Benjamin Rubin wrote one great play in his mid-20s, but has never been able to replicate his success, instead churning out screenplays as he dines out on his fading reputation. Strapped for cash, he agrees to take part in a mentorship programme, helping a young writer, hailed as the voice of his generation, with his second play. Unfortunately, Martin Wegner has an ego just as big as Rubin’s, and Rubin’s response to his play is not what he’d expected. Christopher Hampton’s translation of Daniel Kehlmann’s play has some lovely lyrical lines, and some laugh out loud moments, but it boils down to pretentious people talking pretentiously about life, art and theatre, with no character understanding anyone else, or their motivations. So, what hope does the audience have of making sense of it all? I just sat back and enjoyed the performances – the cast dynamics are excellent, with Daniel Weyman managing to make the petulant man-child Wegner almost likeable, and Jonathan Cullen showing Rudicek’s hero worship disintegrate into exasperation and downright hatred with minimal lines, both performing some fine physical comedy. Naomi Frederick as Gina Wegner is almost blank until the big confrontation, when she suddenly explodes into a fiery and feisty performance. F Murray Abraham just seems to be having a ball. Rubin is written ambiguously – is his dislike of Wegner fuelled by jealousy, lust for his wife, or simply a generational disdain? Abraham keeps the audience guessing in an impish and energetic performance – this is the definition of stage presence, you can’t tear your eyes away from the man, whether he’s clowning around after tasting cheap whisky, or trying out his best intellectually seductive lines on Gina.

The set is gorgeous, with blossom drifting slowly from the tree centre stage onto some truly awful sculptural garden furniture. The lighting is evocative of lazy days in the country, and the chirruping frogs, tweeting birds and buzzing insects in surround sound become hypnotic. (Although at first there were lots of annoyed glances around the auditorium from people trying to pinpoint the culprit and tut at them.)

The Mentor isn’t a great play, but it is a diverting and entertaining opportunity to see a truly great actor having a blast. F Murray Abraham’s wicked grin will make your day.

Whatever Guise Productions presents

Gin For Breakfast

By Jess Moore

At Tristan Bates Theatre
World Premiere Run
Thursday 28th September  – Saturday 21st October

The World Premiere of Gin For Breakfast, Jess Moore’s debut play, will open at the Tristan Bates Theatre on Thursday 28th September for a strictly limited four-week run, it was announced today by the show’s producer, Whatever Guise Productions.

The play follows childhood friends, Jen and Robbie, who are all grown-up now and galaxies away from where they imagined they would be. With their world-views set on a collision course, and their dreams imploding, Gin for Breakfast explores whether or not they can save themselves, and each other. And, when everything’s just star-stuff, does it matter?

Making his directorial debut is Ryan Gage whose acting credits include The Musketeers and The Hobbit series of films and, on stage, recently, The Miser, directed by Sean Foley. He is joined by Emmy-nominated Erica Hemminger, who will also make her London debut as lead designer. Miss Hemminger is Associate Designer to Derek McLane and has worked on Broadway productions and National and International Tours including Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.

Jess Moore studied ‘Advances in Scriptwriting’ led by Stephen Jeffreys at RADA, and the Academy recently commissioned a short film version of her play, Bitter Lemon, which will be shown at the RADA Festival today, July 5th.

Tristan Bates Theatre showcases new writing and contemporary writing and is establishing its reputation as one of London’s most prestigious fringe venues.

The Production will partner with CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) on after-show talks and events around mental health.

The play opens on Thursday 28th September and runs until Saturday 21st October, with previews on the evenings of Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th, and a matinee performance on 28th September. Tickets are on sale at https://www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk/whats-on/gin-for-breakfast.

July 18th – August 5th, White Bear Theatre

 

A modern day insom-com that focuses on sleep deprivation, existential angst, alternative realities… and sheep.

”London’s a fragile flower, she needs darkness to make her grow, not sunlight. When night falls, she blooms. All kinds of sh*t goes down on her watch”

It’s been twenty-one nights since Dexy last slept. It could be down to his choice of pillow. Duck Down. It could be down the heating in his flat. Nonexistent. Or it could be the fact his girlfriend’s missing, the police are scouring the streets and Dexy’s past is catching up with him.

Ensconced in his third floor flat, over the course of an evening Dexy attempts to cast his mind back and fit the relevant pieces together, but as the blare of the sirens gets louder and night turns to morning the lines between dreams and reality and rational thinking and insanity become ever more blurred.

As if this wasn’t enough, Dexy is visited by three very different people during the night.

Ciaran Lonsdale stars as Dexy (World Mad, Soho Theatre; Glamour Girl, Maltings Arts Theatre; The Santa Suicides Web Series), with James Groom as Leo (Simon Stephen’s Christmas, White Bear Theatre; Robert Dudley Earl in the Channel 5 drama Elizabeth), Niamh Watson as Margot (Amber in Dreamless Sleep, Arts Theatre; Still I See My Baby, Sky or the Bird) and Bruce Kitchener as Vic (Frank in Snapshot, Hope Theatre; Four Thieves Vinegar, Baron’s Court Theatre).

Over the past ten years David Cantor has written for television and the stage and worked on a variety of shows including three of the BBC’s most successful sitcoms, My Family, Two Pints Of Lager & A Packet Of Crisps, and The Green Green Grass. David also wrote the dark comedy Noddyland, which was entered into Channel 4’s Comedy Blap season last year and has contributed to sketch shows including BBC’s That Mitchell & Webb Look, children’s programmes such as CITV’s My Phone Genie and CBBC’s Fit while supplying material for the anarchic game show Shooting Stars. Away from television, David has previously written two stage plays. Stopping Distance had a full cast read through at the Old Vic and is currently in development at The Park Theatre, while I Play For Me was performed at the White Bear in Kennington in 2015.

 

Jungle Book street-dance spectacular bursts into Salford.

Tue 29 Aug – Sat 2 Sept

Award-winning Metta Theatre will present their smash hit production of Jungle Book at The Lowry Tue 29 August – Sat 2 Sept.

Fresh from an international tour Metta Theatre has collaborated with artistic directors Poppy Burton-Morgan and William Reynolds on a new version ofJungle Book using street dance, circus and spoken word.

Metta Theatre pride themselves on their powerful visual storytelling and exploration of multicultural stories often from a female perspective. In Jungle Book they follow Mowgli on her search for identity and belonging – vulnerable, isolated and trying to find her place in an alien environment. The story transcends boundaries and resonates with audiences young and old, urban and rural.

Poppy Burton-Morgan’s radical re-imagining of Kipling’s much loved classic sees Jungle Book transposed to a contemporary urban jungle of skateboarding wolves, street dancing monkeys, a beat-loving bin man Baloo and graffiti artist Bagheera. With choreography from acclaimed hip hop artist Kendra J Horsburgh,  known for her work with Nicole Sherzinger, Peter Andre, Kenneth Branagh, Tini Tempah, Anna Straker, JUNGLE, Incognito, Dynamo and Melanie C.

Composer Filipe Gomes has created a beat-driven score using real world sounds of the city. Add to this designer William Reynolds’ trademark minimalism and an urban jungle is created – a stark forest of streetlamps disguising circus equipment on which these recognisably human animals cavort and contort themselves. The show uses street dance and circus to explore the search for identity and belonging in contemporary multicultural Britain.

Award-winning Metta Theatre are prolific theatre makers and masters of storytelling who combine circus, new writing and physical theatre forms to make challenging and richly layered work. Previous work using the multi-dimensionality of circus to unlock narratives includes Blown Away (2016 UK tour) and their adaptation of The King of Tiny Things (an award-winning circus show which toured nationally in 2015 to major venues and festivals (“effortlessly charming” – Exeunt). Recent new writing includes Mouthful at London’s Trafalgar Studios in September 2015 (Critics’ Choice, The Times), a response to the global food crisis from six of the world’s leading dramatists in partnership with six world-renowned scientists. Metta Theatre are supported by Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring Fund.

LISTINGS INFORMATION
Jungle Book
Dates: Tue 29 Aug – Sat 2 Sept
Times: 7pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm
Tickets: £20.50. Conc £4 off. Family ticket £68.
Age Guidance: 8+ (younger children will be admitted)
Website

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