Forward Theatre Project’s Genesis comes to Preston | Coronation Street’s Sally Dynevor in partnership with Prevent Breast Cancer

Forward Theatre Project present:

Genesis

When science offers you the chance to look into the future of your own health, or your family’s, would you always want to know?

WORLD PREMIERE

Written by Frazer Flintham | Directed by Charlotte Bennett

UK Touring November 2016

Following a two-year research partnership with the UK’s only charity dedicated to the prediction and prevention of breast cancer; Prevent Breast Cancer, Genesis is a brand new play from acclaimed playwright Frazer Flintham. Taking inspiration from interviews with medical professionals as well as patients and their families, the production was initially developed with the late Morag Siller (Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Holby City and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet). The project continues in her memory after Morag died of breast cancer in April 2016. Coronation Street co-star and breast cancer survivor Sally Dynevor (known to viewers as Sally Metcalfe) succeeds in her role as an advocate of the project.

Flintham explores the complex human dilemmas around preventative medicine through the character of leading geneticist Rachel. Rachel identifies gene mutations that increase the risk of developing breast cancer – allowing action to be taken before the disease has even had chance to develop. Whether it is surgery or a course of drugs, it is all about prevention. But on discovering that she and her daughter might be carrying a gene mutation themselves, Rachel starts to wonder if predicting illness through science throws up more questions than it can answer.

Sally Dynevor said: “In order to build a breast cancer-free future, prediction and prevention are imperative. This play is about telling the human side of science. It addresses the incredibly difficult emotional journey we embark on when we are told we can potentially avoid rather than survive cancer by being told our predicted risk.”

Running alongside the production, Forward Theatre Project will create a legacy strand including an educational project with young women on body image, a photography exhibition of mastectomy patients, self-esteem workshops for cancer sufferers and a live streaming of the production. This will enable the conversations stimulated by the show to continue long after its tour comes to an end. The production coincides with Manchester being awarded the prestigious European City of Science 2016. Genesis will premiere in Salford, the original inspiration for the fictional town of Weatherfield in which Coronation Street is set.

Director Charlotte Bennett said “At Forward Theatre Project we create theatre which is community-driven, high in ambition, challenging and thought-provoking. Throughout ‘Genesis’, audiences will be invited into the debate about the ethics of preventative measures which are being employed across a range of diseases today.”

Nikki Barraclough, executive director at Prevent Breast Cancer, said “To be told you have a high risk of developing breast cancer can be life-changing, but it’s essential that the right support and advice is on hand. The decision to find out your risk is not an easy one to make and this play tackles an important issue, exploring the emotional impact on the person involved and their loved ones. We’re sure it’s a topic that will touch the hearts of anyone who attends and raises many important questions. We’re incredibly proud to be part of this project and are looking forward to seeing it played out on stage.”

Forward Theatre Project was established in 2009 from a meeting between 20 emerging theatre directors, writers and designers and 10 building based Artistic Directors from around the UK. Coming together with a shared desire to advocate for a more national approach to making new work amongst emerging theatre makers and to create theatre rooted in a relationship with its audience from inception through to final production. The collective includes: Alex Summers, Alison Carr, Anna Gooch, Ben Ellis, Ellen Mcdougall, Elly Green, Evan Placey, Fabrice Serafino, Frazer Flintham, Gabriel Bisset-Smith, Gemma Kerr, James Perkins, Jess Wiesner, Lydia Denno, Mika Handley, Nick Payne, Nikki Williams, Signe Beckmann, Tim Price and Titas Halder. The company is a collective of these original artists, led by Artistic Director Charlotte Bennett.

@forwardtheatre | @wearepreventBC | #Genesis | www.forwardtheatreproject.co.uk

Running Time: 80 minutes | Suitable for ages 16+

Susie Blake, Nichola McAuliffe & Indira Joshi cast in York Theatre Royal’s Murder, Margaret and Me

Casting announced for York Theatre Royal premiere production of Murder, Margaret and Me.

Three female stars of stage and screen will bring to life the complex relationship between the world’s most famous crime writer, her best-known fictional creation and the actor who first brought the character to the screen.

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In the early sixties two strong national treasures were the creative force behind one of British cinema’s most successful franchises, but the Miss Marple films were almost never made. Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie didn’t want actor Margaret Rutherford to bring her fabled spinster to life and Margaret Rutherford was mortified at the prospects of sullying her reputation with something as sordid as murder.

Murder, Margaret and Me is the story of the real reason why the acting legend and ‘the funniest woman alive’ didn’t want to take on the role that made her celebrated across the world. Margaret and Agatha form an unlikely friendship filled with afternoon tea and gossip. Meanwhile Agatha turns detective herself as she becomes determined to unearth Rutherford’s tragic and shocking secret.

This premiere production will form part of a year-long programme of work put together by an all-female panel which aims to redress the imbalance in women’s roles in both theatrical work and the industry as a whole. These productions, events and activities will run alongside York Theatre Royal’s spring and autumn 2017 seasons.

Nichola McAuliffe will play Agatha Christie, the world renowned Queen of Crime whose 66 novels and 14 short story collections defined an era of thriller storytelling. Nichola has won a number of awards, including the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Musical for Kiss Me Kate. No stranger to York, she has also appeared in Blithe Spirit at York Theatre Royal working with director Damian Cruden. Nichola recently appeared on television in ITV’s lavish series Victoria as the Duchess of Cumberland, but many will remember her as Sheila from seven series of Granada’s comedy Surgical Spirit.

Susie Blake takes on the role of Margaret Rutherford, the Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning actress whose childhood in India was overshadowed by sadness and tragedy. Susie’s career on stage has seen her take roles ranging from Madam Morrible in Wicked in London’s West End to various Alan Ayckbourn productions at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre. She is well-known for one of her early television roles as the sarcastic continuity announcer on Victoria Wood As Seen On TV in the 1980s, and also appeared recently in Coronation Street from 2004 – 2006 as Bev, a role she reprised in 2015 following the death of Anne Kirkbride who played Dierdre Barlow.

They are joined by Indira Joshi as The Spinster, whose character narrates and leads the story, whilst bearing a certain resemblance to the legendary sleuth Miss Marple. Indira is widely known for appearing as Madhuri Kumar in seven series of the BBC’s The Kumars at Number 42. Indira has a career spanning vast sections of television, theatre and film and has had extensive experience in radio and presenting from the swinging 60’s in New Delhi where she presented A Date With You to a range of drama in the UK. She was founder and editor of The New World Times in San Francisco which won an award from the Native American Journalist Association.

Murder, Margaret and Me is written by Philip Meeks and will be directed by York Theatre Royal Artistic Director Damian Cruden and designed by Dawn Allsopp.

Director Damian Cruden said:

I’m delighted to be working with three such wonderful actors. They have great experience in theatre, film and television and I am delighted that they have chosen to come to York to share in the creation of a new piece of work. They are three very funny women and I’m looking forward to spending time with them in a room which I’m sure will be full of laughter and no doubt some anarchy, it’s good for the soul! It will then be a joy to share the result of our time spent in the rehearsal space with the people of York. The play is at heart a mystery worthy of Agatha herself, there’s plenty of surprises and a great deal of fun and laughs. I can’t wait to get started.

Murder, Margaret and Me writer Philip Meeks added:

Margaret Rutherford and Agatha Christie were pioneers in a world where women creatives still constantly play second fiddle, especially those of a ‘certain’ age. Yet due to their creative brilliance they found themselves in their sixties at the heart of the biggest franchise in the history of British cinema at that time. I’m thrilled that in Susie, Nichola and Indira the play is in the hands of a trio of equally powerful creative women. They are the perfect team to bring Damian’s vision for the production to life.

Tickets for Murder, Margaret and Me are on sale now priced £30 – £12 (£1.50 transaction fee per booking) from York Theatre Royal box office in person, by phone on 01904 623568 and securely online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

2nd November 2016

Attic Theatre Company announces casting for Great Expectations. 30 Nov-18 Dec. Merton Arts Space

Casting announced for Attic Theatre Company’s new production of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, directed by Louise Hill

Presented at the new Merton Arts Space between 30 November – 18 December 2016

Attic Theatre Company is pleased to announce casting for its new production of Great Expectationsdirected by Louise Hill. The first professional theatre event in the new Merton Arts Space, Wimbledon will mark Louise Hill’s final show with Attic Theatre Company after two and a half years at the helm. Theresa Heskins’ adaptation brings Dickens’ epic tale of romance, ruthless ambition and revenge to this newly redeveloped performance venue at Wimbledon Library between 30 November and 18 December. The Company includes Hannah Boyde, Tom Chapman, Rory Fazan, Anthony Glennon, Derek Howard, Rhiannon Neads, Roger Ringrose and Carmen Rodriguez.

Louise Hill has been Artistic Director with Attic Theatre Company since 2014 and has been a driving force in the conception and realisation of the new Merton Arts Space. She commented: “ In 2014 the libraries team invited us to stage our new writing festival in Wimbledon Library, as a way of trying out the space for theatre. It has such a buzz about it – there’s a feeling of being where you shouldn’t be, making theatre (and noise!) in a library after hours. It feels appropriate, as we tell the story of Great Expectations, to be surrounded by the hundreds of stories waiting to be discovered on the library shelves. Attic has a deep-rooted commitment to bringing exciting theatre to its home borough of Merton, so I’m delighted that my final production marks the opening of the new Merton Arts Space, a brand new resource for the local community.”

Louise’s recent theatre credits include The Low Road (LAMDA), Fields Unsown (Attic Theatre Company), Quality Street, What Every Woman Knows, Outward Bound and Pack (all Finborough Theatre), Boston Marriage (RWCMD) and The Merchant of Venice (UK tour).

Pip will be played by Tom Chapman. Theatre includes Some Tiny Plays About How Fucked We All Are(Middle Child/Paines Plough), Generation Ellipses (PLAY/Paines Plough), En Folkefiende (Pleasance Dome/Edinburgh Fringe) and King John (Rose Theatre, Kingston).

Derek Howard will play Magwitch, Jaggers and Father. Theatre includes Berenice (Donmar Warehouse), An Ideal Husband (The Vaudeville), The Country Wife (The Haymarket), Somewhere in England (The Quarry Theatre Bradford) and The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (GB Productions tour).

Carmen Rodriguez will play Miss Havisham and Mother. Carmen’s previous work with Attic includes the Vintage New Writing project and the 2015 Playfest (directed by Louise Hill). Other theatre includes King John (Rose Theatre Kingston),The Seagull (Minack Theatre), Building Walls (Theatre 503), The Lion in Winter(Haymarket) and An Ideal Husband (Vaudeville Theatre).

Hannah Boyde will play Mrs Joe and Startop. Hannah performed in Fields Unsown, Louise Hill’s most recent production for Attic. Other theatre credits include Mess (Caroline Horton/Touring Internationally), Lands of Glass (Unfolding Theatre), Henry V (Unicorn Theatre) and Quality Street (Finborough Theatre).

Anthony Glennon will play Joe and Drummle. Theatre includes The Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland andWind In The Willows (Sixteen Feet Productions) and Twelfth Night (Attic Theatre Company).

Roger Ringrose will play Pumblechook, Wemmick and Camilla. Recent theatre credits include Untold Stories(The Watermill Theatre), Each His Own Wilderness (The Orange Tree), The Picture (Salisbury Playhouse),Burnt by the Sun and Never So Good (National Theatre) and King Henry VI Pt III (Shakespeare’s Globe).

Rory Fazan will play Herbert Pocket, Sarah Pocket and Sergeant. Rory trained at LAMDA – theatre work there includes The Dark Things, Bull, A Small Family Business, Dracula, The Wild Duck and The BFG.

Rhiannon Neads will play Estella, Biddy and Molly. Theatre credits include Adele is Younger Than Us(Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016), A Christmas Carol (Old Red Lion), Copenhagen, Love and a Bottle, Pornography and Sweeney Todd (all at LAMDA).

This production of Great Expectations will be designed by final year Theatre Design students from Wimbledon College of Art, with mentor support from professional theatre designer Alex Marker. Alex trained at Wimbledon School of Art, and is currently Resident Designer and Deputy Chief Executive of the Finborough Theatre, where he has designed over thirty-five productions. This collaboration offers the students an invaluable opportunity to put their academic training into practice before they graduate.

As part of the events programme surrounding this production, local actor Jason Flemyng, who played Joe in the 2012 film of Great Expectations, will give a reading from the novel on 7 December. Jason commented: “It’s great to see arts companies and libraries collaborating in this way, especially when cuts to both are rife, and as a result of this venture we have a unique new performance space in the region. I’m proud to be supporting Attic and can’t wait to see their new staging of Dickens’ popular tale.”

2nd November 2016

FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR C.S LEWIS THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS – AT PARK THEATRE THIS CHRISTMAS

FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR

C.S. LEWIS

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS

PARK THEATRE’S WICKEDLY WITTY WINTER SEASON FINALE – UNLIKE ANY

OTHER SHOW IN LONDON THIS CHRISTMAS!

KAREN ELEANOR WIGHT, THE ORIGINAL ‘TOADPIPE’

TO REUNITE WITH MAX McLEAN AS THE NEW YORK HIT PRODUCTION

HAS ITS LONDON PREMIERE

The Screwtape Letters, the provocative and wickedly witty theatrical adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel about spiritual warfare from a demon’s point of view, will play the Christmas season at Park Theatre from 8 December 2016 – 7 January 2017, with a press night on 9 December.

In the European premiere of the smash New York hit, The Screwtape Letters creates a morally inverted universe that reveals unseen spiritual powers and principalities at work in humorous, vivid and surprising ways.

Set in an eerily stylish office in hell, where God is called the “Enemy” and the devil is referred to as “Our Father Below”, the play follows His Abysmal Sublimity Screwtape – Satan’s top psychiatrist due to his profound understanding of human nature – and his slavish creature-demon Toadpipe, as they train an apprentice demon, Wormwood, on how to ruin the life and damn the soul of an unsuspecting human on earth.

Max McLean returns to the role of Screwtape, which he originated and performed to sold-out audiences in New York City and across the U.S. Karen Eleanor Wight, who played alongside McLean in the original New York production, will reunite with him in London as Toadpipe.

“Fellowship for Performing Arts is excited to bring C.S. Lewis’ classic novel ‘home’ in this stage adaptation,” said Max McLean, FPA founder and artistic director. “With Lewis’ wit and insight, The Screwtape Letters has been delighting and challenging readers ever since its publication in early 1942. It’s an honor to bring Screwtape to life on stage in London as it approaches its 75th anniversary.”

“Clever and Satirical . . . the devil has rarely been given his due more perceptively.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Karen Eleanor Wight is a NYC-based actress, improviser and movement coach. Favorite regional roles include: Olivia (Twelfth Night), Celia (As You Like It), Katherine (Henry V), Bianca (Othello), Gladys (The Pajama Game), Weird Sister/Lady Macbeth (Macbeth). National tour: Tiger Lily/Liza, u/s Peter Pan & Wendy (Peter Pan). Karen is one-half of the wordless improv duo Imp, performing long-form improv around the U.S.

“One Hell of a Good Show”

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Along with The Chronicles of Narnia (including The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe), The Great Divorce andMere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters remains one of Lewis’ most popular and influential works. When first published in 1942 it brought worldwide fame to this little-known Oxford don including the cover of Time Magazine.

The idea for Screwtape came to Lewis after listening to Hitler’s Reichstag Speech on July 19, 1940, while it was simultaneously translated on BBC Radio. Lewis wrote, “I don’t know if I’m weaker than other people, but it is a positive revelation to me how while the speech lasts it is impossible not to waver just a little. . . . Statements which I know to be untrue all but convince me . . . if only the man says them unflinchingly.”

The Screwtape Letters was conceived and adapted for the stage by Max McLean and Jeffrey Fiske. McLean is Founder and Artistic Director of New York City-based Fellowship for Performing Arts. Scenic Design is by Cameron Anderson, Costumes by Michael Bevins, Lighting Design by Jesse Klug and Original Music and Sound Design by John Gromada.

2nd November 2016

Full casting announced for Cinderella at The Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield – 9-31 December

Full casting announced for Lawrence Batley Theatre’s first professional pantomime

The Lawrence Batley Theatre is delighted to announce full casting for Cinderella, the venue’s first professionally staged pantomime since opening its doors in 1994.

The production’s excellent cast will feature Nisa Cole in the title role of Cinderella. Nisa is currently appearing as Penelope Betteredge in BBC One’s new daytime drama The Moonstone. Her other credits include appearing as Amy Porter in the hit BBC series Waterloo Road and in the National Theatre’s touring production of War Horse.

Joining Nisa will be Adam Barlow (The Merry Wives, Northern Broadsides) as Prince Charming, Natasha Magigi (Comus – A Masque in Honour of Chastity, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s Globe and A Streetcar Named Desire, Leicester Curve) as the Fairy and Baroness, Gareth Cassidy (The TMA award winning The Hobbit, The Dukes Lancaster) as Buttons, Stephanie Hackett (Pure, Mikron Theatre) as Dandini and as the ugly sisters Michael Hugo (The Winter’s Tale, Northern Broadsides) and Richard Hand(Much Ado About Nothing, Vienna’s English Theatre).

Cinderella will be directed by Joyce Branagh, who has previously directed pantomimes at Watford Palace Theatre and Salisbury Playhouse, as well productions at the Orange Tree Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and Battersea Arts Centre.

The pantomime is adapted for the stage by playwright and actor Andrew Pollard, who regularly writes, directs and appears as the Dame in Greenwich Theatre’s Christmas pantomime. He has previously worked with Northern Broadsides, New Vic Theatre and in 2007 appeared regularly as John Bune in Emmerdale.

Cinderella is at the Lawrence Batley Theatre from 9-31 December

Tickets are now available from the Lawrence Batley Theatre box office on 01484 430528 or online at www.thelbt.org.

2nd November 2016

Michelle Collins joins the cast of Thoroughly Modern Millie

David King for Spirit Productions Ltd presents

LEADING TELEVISION AND STAGE ACTRESS MICHELLE COLLINS

JOINS THE 2017 UK TOUR OF

BROADWAY’S MULTI AWARD WINNING MUSICAL COMEDY

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE

WITH STRICTLY COME DANCING’S JOANNE CLIFTON AS MILLIE

Award winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie is set to tour the UK in 2017 opening at New Wimbledon Theatre on Tuesday 17 January.

Michelle Collins will join the cast of Thoroughly Modern Millie until Saturday 4 March as Mrs Meers. She has worked extensively in television and theatre for the last 30 years and is perhaps best known for her roles as Cindy Beale in EastEnders and Stella Price in Coronation Street. Her theatre credits include Calendar Girls (West End), The Play What I Wrote (West End), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (UK Tour) and most recently Kindertransport (Chickenshed, London).

Strictly Come Dancing favourite and World Ballroom Showdance Champion and Professional Dancer Joanne Clifton takes on the title role of Millie Dillmount, a Kansas girl determined to make it big in New York City! Joanne’s credits include Face the Music, Burn the Floor, Strictly Live Tourand Marilyn Monroe in Norma Jeane Musical.

Winner of six Tony Awards including Best Musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie is based on the 1967 Academy Award-winning film. Taking you back to the height of the Jazz Age in 1920s New York City, when ‘moderns’ including a flapper named Millie Dillmount were bobbing their hair, raising their hemlines, entering the workforce and rewriting the rules of love.

From explosive tap numbers to a ‘Fred and Ginger’ dance routine on a window ledge, and featuring hit songs including Gimme Gimme, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Not for the Life of MeThoroughly Modern Millie is a brilliantly funny and entertaining show for all the family.

Tickets for Thoroughly Modern Millie are on sale now.

WEBSITE | TWITTER

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE

Book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan

New Music by Jeanine Tesori 

New Lyrics by Dick Scanlan

Original Story and Screenplay by Richard Morris for the Universal Pictures Film

Presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) Limited

Director and Choreographer Racky Plews

Musical Director Tom Turner

Casting Director Sue Talbert

Celebrity Casting Advisor Bambi Haines

Executive Producer David King

Lead Producer Graham King

1st November 2016

REBECCA TREHEARN JOINS CAST FOR CHRISTMAS MUSICAL PRODUCTIONS IN THE SALBERG AT SALISBURY PLAYHOUSE

Rebecca Trehearn is to join the cast of Salisbury Playhouse’s Christmas musical productions in The Salberg – The Night Before Christmas (5 to 31 December 2016) and A Little of What You Fancy (20 December 2016 to 21 January 2017).

Rebecca, who has recently starred in the Sheffield Theatres/West End production of Showboat and City of Angels at the Donmar Warehouse, joins the previously announced Sophie Evans (The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium), Adrian Grove (wonder.land and Medea at the National Theatre) and Glyn Kerslake(Road Show and Merrily We Roll Along at the Menier Chocolate Factory).

The Night Before Christmas is a new musical adaptation of Clement C Moore’s tale of Christmas Eve excitement with original songs by Kerslake and Machin. As snow falls and gas lamps flicker into life, the audience sets out on a joyful journey with Father Christmas across the night sky. Magic and music combine in this enchanting celebration of Christmas Eve which will enthral the young (and young at heart).

The Night Before Christmas is part of Salisbury Playhouse’s Original Drama programme which commissions and produces new work for all ages. The Night Before Christmas is Salisbury Playhouse Original Drama’s first musical and first production for children.

A Little of What You Fancy promises to amuse and amaze with the very best (and worst) of Victorian entertainment. Audiences have the chance to step back in time and experience the music, sketches, melodrama and magic from this era, with songs including The Boy I Love is Up in the Gallery, After The Ball is Over, I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside, Deck the Halls and Here We Come A Wassailing, presented by this multi-talented troupe of performers.

The Night Before Christmas and A Little of What You Fancy are directed by Gareth Machin, with arrangements and musical direction by Glyn Kerslake. The productions are designed by Zoe Squire, with lighting by Dave Marsh and choreography by Joanne Redman.

Rebecca Trehearn replaces Abigail Jaye who has had to withdraw from the production.

The Night Before Christmas runs in The Salberg from Monday 5 to Saturday 31 December with morning and afternoon performances. A Little of What You Fancy runs from Tuesday 20 December to Saturday 21 January.

Listings information

The Night Before Christmas

Venue The Salberg at Salisbury Playhouse

Dates and times 5 to 31 December 2016. Morning and afternoon performances. No performances 11 to 21 or 25 December.

Box office 01722 320333

Tickets £9

Website www.salisburyplayhouse.com

A Little of What You Fancy

Venue The Salberg at Salisbury Playhouse

Dates and times 20 December 2016 to 21 January 2017 at 7.45pm. 7pm on 31 December and matinees on 7, 12, 14, 19 and 21 January.

Box office 01722 320333

Tickets £19.50

Website www.salisburyplayhouse.com.

1st November 2016

Dark comedy about suicide comes to LOST Theatre this November

LOST Theatre presents:

BOYS
November 23rd – November 26th 2016, LOST Theatre

Ella Hickson’s critically acclaimed dark comedy about suicide, Boys, comes to the LOST Theatre, Stockwell, this November. This new revival is directed by James Thacker, new associate director, following his full-length directorial debut, Mojo by Jez Butterworth, at LOST in 2015.

“(James Thacker) addresses the script with ingenuity and common sense” Paul Vale in The Stage on The Dumbwaiter (2014)

On an unusually hot summer’s night, Benny and his band of compatriots – a punk, a prodigy and a poet – drink to the end of an era. With revolution and resolutions the order of the day, and time quickly running out, Benny just wants to fix everyone’s problems – and ignore his own demons at all costs. Amidst a sanitation strike in Edinburgh, the garbage keeps mounting, but there is more than the smell of rotting rubbish hanging in the air. Nostalgia soon turns to soul-searching and division as everyone’s dirty laundry is aired one last time.

★★★★ “Savage and beautifully detailed (…) a work of colourful chaos” What’s On Stage

Ella Hickson’s first play, Eight, produced by the Edinburgh University Theatre Company, won a Fringe First, the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award and the NSDF Emerging Artists Award at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008, with subsequent tours to New York and London. Boys debuted in 2010 at the Soho Theatre, produced by Headlong. Her current play Oil premiered at Almeida in October 2016.

★★★★ “Fearless emotional immediacy and tight comic timing” Time Out

James Thacker joined LOST in 2013 as a designer and costumier, and since then has progressed to become associate director with the company. His directing credits include Omar for the 5 Minute Festival, Harold Pinter’s The Dumbwaiter for the One Act Festival, and Jez Butterworth’s Mojo in his full length directorial debut in 2015.

“an erratic, enigmatic, gripping guessing game” Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster Weekly on Mojo (2015)

1st November 2016

Have your copy of 50 Shades Of Grey torn up LIVE ONSTAGE in Schlock!

Schlock!

Do you have a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey gathering dust at the back of your bookshelf?

Don’t be embarassed: because now you can turn your literary guilty pleasure into cutting-edge theatre.

Poet and playwright Hannah Silva is performing her one-woman showSchlock! at the Rosemary Branch Theatre from 8 to 26 November, and needs as many copies as possible of EL James’ bestselling erotic romance novel to build her set!

Schlock! is a powerful and atmospheric show about gender, sexuality and power. Silva, an acclaimed vocal performer, takes the language of Fifty Shades, rips up, re-wires and re-shapes it using spoken word, subtitles and a loop station.

It’s been described as “a captivating and disconcerting experience” (NARC. Magazine) and “a whip-smart, irresistibly seductive tour de force” (Chris Goode).

To help out, please bring your copy/copies of Fifty Shades of Grey (any books in the series welcome!) to:

Rosemary Branch Theatre
2 Shepperton Road
London N1 3DT

Schlock! is running 8 to 26 November (Tue-Sat only) at 7.30pm

Tickets: £12/10

BOOK NOW

1st November 2016

Launch of discount ticket website

The Stage and LOVEtheatre partner to launch The Stage Tickets

The world’s oldest and best theatre publication, The Stage, is delighted to announce the launch of The Stage Tickets, powered by LOVEtheatre. The Stage Tickets is a new ticketing website offering brilliant deals on performances, events and London attractions.

The Stage Tickets: www.thestage.co.uk/tickets

All subscribers to The Stage enjoy 10% discount on everything bought through The Stage Tickets website. This includes long-running performances such as Mamma Mia!, The Bodyguard and The Woman in Black, as well as newer productions like The Kite Runner and Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes. The discount also applies to events and London attractions, in addition to LOVEtheatre special offers, and dining and theatre packages.

With the average ticket price paid in the West End reaching £42.99 last year, according to Society of London Theatre (SOLT), The Stage subscribers could recoup the cost of their subscription (from £3.59 a month) with just one ticket purchase.

This is an exciting partnership with LOVEtheatre, a respected and trusted ticketing website, owned by The Ticket Machine Group, and part of Ambassador Theatre Group. LOVEtheatre offers great deals on UK theatre tickets, attractions, events, and dining and theatre packages. Through this partnership, The Stage hopes to bring more affordable and available tickets to theatregoers.

“We’re delighted to be partnering with LOVEtheatre to deliver this benefit to The Stage’s subscribers. LOVEtheatre is, like The Stage, a market leader in the theatre sector, and delivers a first class experience to its customers.”

Simon Hassell, Commercial Director – The Stage

“We are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with The Stage to provide their subscribers with our streamlined ticket-buying platforms giving them access to our complete range of shows and top theatre deals including the hottest shows in London’s West End. It’s a great time for live entertainment at the moment, and we’re confident this partnership will encourage more regular visits to the theatre.”

Simon Meilak, Managing Director – LOVEtheatre

Schlock!

Do you have a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey gathering dust at the back of your bookshelf? Don’t be embarassed: because now you can turn your literary guilty pleasure into cutting-edge theatre.

Do you have a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey gathering dust at the back of your bookshelf?

Don’t be embarassed: because now you can turn your literary guilty pleasure into cutting-edge theatre.