The London Evening Standard today announces the shortlist for its 61st Theatre Awards, in partnership with The Ivy. The winners will be announced at an Awards ceremony presented by Rob Brydon, and co-hosted by Evgeny Lebedev, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen, at the Old Vic on Sunday 22nd November, 2015.

Leading the way is the National Theatre with seven shortlisted candidates across six categories – Best Play (Stephen Adly Guirgis) and Best Director (Indhu Rubasingham) for The Motherf**ker With the Hat; Best Actor for Ralph Fiennes’ performance in Man and Superman; Best Actress for Denise Gough in People, Places and Things; the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright for Alistair McDowall, whose Pomona ran in the Temporary Theatre; and two shortlisted for the Emerging Talent Award in Partnership with Burberry – Calvin Demba (The Red Lion) and Patsy Ferran (Treasure Island). The National Theatre is closely followed by the Royal Court and Donmar Warehouse with five and four shortlisted respectively.

In the Best Actor category, four-time Evening Standard Theatre Award winner Simon Russell Beale is recognised for his performance in Temple at the Donmar Warehouse against Kenneth Cranham for The Father, Ralph Fiennes for Man and Superman and James McAvoy for The Ruling Class.

Returning to the London stage after a 17 year absence, Nicole Kidman is shortlisted for the Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress for her role in Photograph 51, and is joined by Denise Gough for People, Places and Things, Gugu Mbatha-Raw for Nell Gywnn, and Lia Williams for Oresteia.

The Father, written by Florian Zeller and translated by Christopher Hampton – currently playing at Wyndham’s Theatre, vies for the Best Play award with Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen and The Motherf**ker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis. The latter’s director Indhu Rubasingham also makes the shortlist for the Milton Shulman Award for Best Director alongside Robert Icke for Oresteia and Jamie Lloyd for Assassins at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

This year for the first time there are three musical awards, in recognition of the contribution of musical theatre to theWest End. In the new Best Musical Performance category, Imelda Staunton (Gypsy) is joined by Katie Brayben (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical), Rosalie Craig (City of Angels) and Killian Donnelly (Kinky Boots). Gemma Arterton (Made in Dagenham), Ellie Bamber (High Society) and Natalie Dew (Bend It Like Beckham) compete for inaugural Newcomer in a Musical Award. The third musical award, is the Evening Standard Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical, is voted for by the Radio 2 listeners, the shortlist for which has already been announced (Assassins, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Bend It Like Beckham, Gypsy and Kinky Boots). The winner of this award will be announced live on the night on BBC Radio 2 by Elaine Paige.

London theatre has once again seen a wealth of new talent across its stages this year, and awards for Most Promising Playwright and Emerging Talent are hotly contested. The Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright sees Molly Davies (God Bless the Child), Alistair McDowall (Pomona) and Diana Nneka Atuona (Liberian Girl) shortlisted; and for the Emerging Talent Award in partnership with Burberry, those shortlisted are Calvin Demba (The Red Lion), Patsy Ferran (Treasure Island) and David Moorst (Violence and Son).

In addition to these categories there will also be presentations for the Editor’s Award, given to an individual or organisation for an outstanding contribution to theatre; the Lebedev Award, presented to a writer, performer, director or institution for a specific piece of work or as a lifetime achievement award; and the Beyond the Theatre Award, for a performance, event or production beyond the realms of the stage.

Owner of the London Evening Standard Evgeny Lebedev said today, “This fantastic shortlist bears witness to the fact that Londoners are living through a theatrical golden age. With ground-breaking director-led seasons, visionary new writing dominating the West End and the world¹s finest thespian talent queuing up to perform here, London¹s theatre scene is the envy of the world.”

THE 61ST ANNUAL LONDON EVENING STANDARD THEATRE AWARDS SHORTLIST IN FULL

Best Actor:
● Simon Russell Beale, Temple, Donmar Warehouse
● Kenneth Cranham, The Father, Ustinov Bath, Tricycle & Wyndham’s Theatre
● Ralph Fiennes, Man and Superman, National Theatre’s Lyttelton
● James McAvoy, The Ruling Class, Trafalgar Studios

Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress:
● Denise Gough, People, Places and Things, National Theatre’s Dorfman
● Nicole Kidman, Photograph 51, Noel Coward Theatre
● Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nell Gwynn, Shakespeare’s Globe
● Lia Williams, Oresteia, Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios

Best Play:
● The Motherf**ker with the Hat (Stephen Adly Guirgis), National Theatre’s Lyttelton
● Hangmen (Martin McDonagh) Royal Court
● The Father (Florian Zeller, translated by Christopher Hampton) Ustinov Bath, Tricycle & Wyndham’s Theatre

Milton Shulman Award for Best Director:
● Robert Icke, Oresteia, Almeida Theatre & Trafalgar Studios
● Jamie Lloyd, Assassins, Menier Chocolate Factory
● Indhu Rubasingham, The Motherf**ker with the Hat, National Theatre’s Lyttelton

Best Design:
● Anna Fleischle, Hangmen, Royal Court
● Tim Hatley, Temple, Donmar Warehouse
● Robert Jones, City of Angels, Donmar Warehouse

Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright:
● Molly Davies, God Bless the Child, Royal Court Upstairs
● Alistair McDowall, Pomona, Orange Tree Theatre & National Theatre’s Temporary Space
● Diana Nneka Atuona, Liberian Girl, Royal Court Upstairs (Peckham & Tottenham pop up venues)

Emerging Talent Award in Partnership with Burberry:
● Calvin Demba, The Red Lion, National Theatre’s Dorfman
● Patsy Ferran, Treasure Island, National Theatre’s Olivier
● David Moorst, Violence and Son, Royal Court Upstairs

Best Musical Performance:
● Katie Brayben, Beautiful, Aldwych Theatre
● Rosalie Craig, City of Angels, Donmar Warehouse
● Killian Donnelly, Kinky Boots, Adelphi Theatre
● Imelda Staunton, Gypsy, Savoy Theatre

Newcomer in a Musical:
● Gemma Arterton, Made in Dagenham, Adelphi Theatre
● Ellie Bamber, High Society, Old Vic
● Natalie Dew, Bend It Like Beckham, Phoenix Theatre

Evening Standard Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical (voted for by the public):
● Assassins, Menier Chocolate Factory
● Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Aldwych Theatre
● Bend It Like Beckham, Phoenix Theatre
● Gypsy, Savoy Theatre
● Kinky Boots, Adelphi Theatre

Pub opera returns in rep in new season at the King’s Head Theatre amongst Edinburgh transfer hits and female-led new writing

After a bombastic, exciting and innovative 45th year, the King’s Head continues its new artistic policy of being a crucible of new writing and critical rediscoveries, whilst also welcoming the much-anticipated return of pub opera, with the aim of being the best pub theatre in London.

Artistic director Adam Spreadbury-Maher originated pub opera in his first season at the King’s Head in 2010, and we’re now proud to relaunch that tradition at its original home with a stylish new production of Mozart’s classic opera Cosi fan tutte in March, directed by international opera director Paul Higgins. This return to pub opera will play in rep alongside Louis Nowra’s play by the same name, Cosi, where patients in a mental asylum perform Mozart’s piece whilst questioning madness in the face of the Vietnam War, which is directed by ex-Sydney Theatre Company artistic director Wayne Harrison. Adam says “Two Cosis at the same time?! If a large funded arts centre said they were going to do this, it would raise an eyebrow – the fact that an unfunded pub theatre is doing it is completely bonkers”.

Before that, in February, we welcome the return of smash success Trainspotting after a sell-out Edinburgh Fringe 2015 run, which plays with us for a month before heading on a national tour. Tickets were tough to come by for this critically acclaimed, anarchic take on Irvine Welsh’s classic novel-then-film in both London and Edinburgh – we received a sell-out show laurel for 58 performances at the Fringe!

We will also present a wealth of new writing this season: January offers new plays The Long Road South, by Paul Minx, focusing on the civil rights movement in the 1960s, and Big Brother Blitzkrieg, by Hew Rous Eyre & Max Elton, which sees Hitler enter the Big Brother House! April features work exclusively by female playwrights with Adrian Pagan Award winner and insightful new play about female relationships Russian Dolls, by Kate Lock, alongside Edinburgh transfer To Kill a Machine, by Catrin Fflur Huws, which delves into the sexuality and chemical castration of Alan Turing. We also have new British musical Something Something Lazarus joining us in March, performed in a ground-breaking “broken cabaret” style, by John Myatt and Simon Arrowsmith.

We’re proud that our new writing offerings this season champion female and international playwrights alongside our continued support for new work with the continuation of #Festival45, #Festival46, in July, featuring work from our 4 trainee resident directors, who will be graduating from our Queen’s Jubilee Award winning scheme this Summer.

With an unashamedly broad church of programming including theatre, musical theatre and opera, transfers to and from the biggest arts festivals in the world, and a trail-blazing policy of ethical employment on the fringe, we are continuing with the big changes from our first year under our new artistic policy, as well as recommitting ourselves to being the most diverse and the best pub theatre in London – if it’s on here, you won’t see it anywhere else. Come and see for yourself this Spring!

The Long Road South, 12 January – 30 January (7pm and 3pm weekend matinees)
It is a hot, humid summer in Indiana, 1965. Andre and Grace, black domestic workers for the Price family, want to leave the house to join the civil rights movement in Alabama. They believe in non-violence. All summer they have been working hard for the Prices – Jake, the bitter cynical father, Carol Ann, his mostly drunken wife, and the family’s teenage Lolita who is determined to keep Andre around at all costs. They still haven’t been paid, though, and need their summer’s wages. The Long Road South traces how one man is forced to go to the very limits of his being to get what’s rightly his.

Big Brother Blitzkrieg, 14 January – 30 January (9.15pm)
After a botched suicide attempt, Adolf Hitler awakes to find himself in the Big Brother House. Confused by his situation and surrounded by some of the most loathsome individuals he’s ever met, he struggles to come to terms with the world of reality television. Join Adolf on the journey of a lifetime as he makes friends, faces demons and finds his true voice. But will he win over the hearts and minds of the viewers in the process? #BigBrotherBlitzkrieg #HitlerInLondon

Trainspotting, 3 February – 27 February (7pm and 8.45pm, 5pm matinees Saturdays)
After 5 star critically acclaimed and sell out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe 2015 and in London, In Your Face Theatre and the King’s Head Theatre’s production of Irvine Welsh’s cult, generation-defining novel Trainspotting is back before it tours the UK! This punchy, 75 minute production recaptures the passion and the controversy of the famous novel, then globally successful film, and repackages it into an immersive production – the audience are literally part of the show, including the notorious “Worst Toilet in Scotland” scene. Both Edinburgh and London critics have praised the production highly, describing it as “utterly amazing” (London Theatre 1), “intense, funny, and moving” (Box Dust) and “bold, unique, and like nothing else you’ll see on stage” (Entertainment Focus). For avid fans this is a must, and if you’ve never read the book or seen the film: this is your ticket to a ride you won’t soon forget.

Così fan tutte, 1 March – 3 April (dates alternate with Cosi (play), 7pm and 3pm weekend matinees)
Pub opera is back at the Kings Head with Mozart’s Così fan tutte. A cynical gentleman’s conviction that women cannot be faithful sets in motion a chain of deceit, disguise and desire in the most perfect ensemble opera ever written. Join us for a new adaptation directed by Paul Higgins and Musical Direction by Elspeth Wilkes.

Cosi (play), 2 March – 2 April (dates alternate with Così fan tutte, 7pm and 3pm weekend matinees)
Young theatre director Lewis is staging a production of Mozart’s comic opera Così fan tutte. The catch? The cast are patients from a mental institution, none of whom can speak Italian… or sing. Can this unlikely cohort, including an obsessive-compulsive, a manic depressive and a junkie, pull it off? Or will a patient with a penchant for pyromania spoil all the fun? As Vietnam War protests rage outside and Lewis confronts the enormity of his task, he begins to realise the frightening and attractive power of madness, politics, theatre and love.

Something Something Lazarus, 8 March – 2 April (9.30pm)
It’s easy to escape the disaster that was today… the weekend that wasn’t… the one true love you’ll never forget. Enter the world of cabaret, where the wine ain’t fine but the company’s classy. Meet Vee, clinging to the stage. Della, attacking piano. Jay in his pants at the bar. And of course Daniel, as always, barely managing. Today’s Friday. They haven’t got long to rehearse the song with the knife. But something’s been delivered. Something that can crack open clocks. And their final hour is about to go horribly wrong. See, the problem with the past – it never stays buried. And whatever happens, the show must go on. So laugh, kick back, find whatever comfort you can. Because there’s some things in life that cabaret just can’t cure. Or maybe it can… A new British musical.

To Kill a Machine, 6 April – 23 April (7pm)
To Kill a Machine tells the life-story of war-time cryptanalyst Alan Turing. It is a story about the importance of truth and injustice and of keeping and revealing secrets. The play examines his pioneering work considering whether a machine could think, asking the questions “what is the difference between a human and a machine?” and “If a human is prevented from thinking, do they then become a machine?” At the heart of the play is a powerful love story and the importance of freedom, in relation to Turing’s own life, death and posthumous re-evaluation. It is the story of Turing the genius, Turing the victim and Turing the constant in a tumultuous world.

Russian Dolls, 5 April – 23 April (8.30pm, 3pm weekend matinees)
Hilda is blind, lives alone, and is visited by a carer once a week. Camilla is a young offender looking for her next mark. A surprising and curious relationship sparks off between these opposites as both search for connection and purpose. Kate Lock’s insightful new play delves into maternal relationships and the line between friendship and family, and contrasts our current culture of blame and instant gratification with the self-worth and determination of the post-war generation. Directed by Hamish McDougall.

London’s annual celebration of contemporary visual theatre

2016 LONDON INTERNATIONAL MIME FESTIVAL

Saturday 9th January– Saturday 6th February 2016

www.mimelondon.com

The London International Mime Festival, directed by Helen Lannaghan and Joseph Seelig, is a unique event in the theatre calendar, a once a year chance to see the very best and newest contemporary visual theatre, including cutting edge circus-theatre, live animation and puppetry, mask, physical and visual theatre.

Over 29 days, 18 invited companies will give 112 performances of productions that are almost all UK or London premieres, at the Barbican, Central Saint Martin’s Platform Theatre, Jacksons Lane, Shaw Theatre, Soho Theatre, Southbank Centre, The Peacock, and, for the first time, Tate Modern. Artists from Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, Spain and Sweden will be joining some of Britain’s fast emerging talents as well as established names.

MARCEL – UK Premiere

Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Paris (France)

Shaw Theatre, 100-110 Euston Road, London NW1 2AJ

www.shaw-theatre.com

Saturday 9th – Tuesday 12th January

Saturday, Monday and Tuesday 7.30pm; Sunday 3pm

After-show discussion: Monday 11th January

Runs 60 mins / no interval

Tickets: £20 (£17.50 concessions). Booking fee applies.

Booking: www.mimelondon.com/houben_magni2016

Age guidance: 8+

British Sign Language interpreted performance: Tuesday 12th January (Jacqui Beckford)

LIMF 2016 opens with Marcel, performed by Complicite original members Jos Houben and Marcello Magni and produced by the famous Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris. A tender and witty exploration of how to get round ageing, these two distinguished performers revisit their early days with Complicité in celebrating the art of physical comedy and the beauty of the ‘gag’.

Jos and Marcello met as students at the École Jacques Lecoq in Paris. They last appeared together on stage in London in Peter Brook’s production of Fragments in 2008.

‘Irresistibly funny, liberating, absurd and touching… two great comic performers’ – Le Monde

Supported by Institut français.

 

THE ART OF LAUGHTER

Jos Houben (Belgium)

Shaw Theatre, 100-110 Euston Road, London NW1 2AJ

www.shaw-theatre.com Sunday 10th January, 6.30pm

Runs 60 mins / no interval

Tickets: £20 (£17.50 concessions). Booking fee applies.

Booking: www.mimelondon.com/jos_houben2016

Age guidance: 8+

ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY

The Art of Laughter is sixty minutes of brilliant observation which proves that in certain conditions, it’s impossible for people not to laugh. As a special festival highlight, Jos Houben reprises his acclaimed performance-demonstration, explaining and illustrating just what makes us chuckle. Jos has been involved with many of the most successful physical comedy creations of recent years, most notably in this country with The Right Size. Since its premiere in 2008, Jos has performed The Art of Laughter around the world, including two, month-long seasons at the renowned Théâtre du Rond Point in Paris. A Total Theatre Award Winner.

‘With the subtlest of glances… Houben has the entire audience in stitches’ – The Scotsman

TIPPING POINT – London Premiere

Ockham’s Razor (UK)

Platform Theatre, Central Saint Martins, London, N1C 4AA www.platform-theatre.com

Monday 11th – Saturday 23rd January, 7.30pm (not Sunday 17th).

Aftershow discussions: Thursday 14th and Thursday 21st January Runs 70 mins / no interval

Tickets: £18 (£16 concessions). Monday 11th January all seats £12.

Booking: www.mimelondon.com/ockhams_razor2016

Age guidance: 6+

Following the sell-out success of Not Until We Are Lost, Ockham’s Razor returns with its new full length production Tipping Point. Poles are balanced on fingertips, hung from the roof, lashed, climbed, swung from and walked along, they become forests, cross roads and pendulums. The performers balance, climb and cling to this teetering world, supporting each other as they wrestle with the moment when things begin to shift. They must decide whether to rail against the chaos, struggling to exert order on a disordered world, or ride it out, allowing life to tilt towards the tipping point. Tipping Point features a live performance of a multi-layered surround sound musical landscape specially composed by Adem Ilham & Quinta who have previously worked with Radiohead, Hot Chip and Bat For Lashes.

‘Physically thrilling’ – The Sunday Times

NAUTILUS -London Premiere

Trygve Wakenshaw (New Zealand)

Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London, W1D 3NE

www.sohotheatre.com

Monday 11th – Saturday 23rd January 8.45pm (not Sunday 17th); Saturday matinees 4pm.

Runs 75 mins / no interval

Previews: Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th January.

Tickets: Previews: £12.50; then Monday – Thursday £15 (£12.50 concessions); Friday and Saturday £17.50 (£15 concessions); Saturday matinees £15 (£12.50 concessions).

Online booking: www.mimelondon.com/trygve_wakenshaw2016

Age guidance: 12+

NAUTILUS is the final part of rubber-limbed Trygve’s ‘underwater trilogy’, the follow-up to delirious, sell-out, physical comedies KRAKEN (LIMF15) and SQUIDBOY. Oozing with whimsy, dripping with charm and magnificently mad, Trygve is his own animator in a cartoon world. A master of risqué innocence, he trained with Philippe Gaulier, developing a uniquely eccentric style of mime-comedy that has won him legions of fans the world over. His awards include Time Out Best Comedy of 2014 and Edinburgh Underbelly Award 2014. Nautilus was nominated for the 2015 Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

‘Astonishing, original, witty and engrossing’ – The Arts Desk

MI GRAN OBRA (My Great Work) – London Premiere

David Espinosa (Spain)

Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern Thursday 14th – Sunday 17th January

Runs 55 mins / no interval

Thurs 14th 3pm and 5pm; Friday 15th and Saturday 16th 5pm, 7pm and 9pm; Sunday 17th 1pm, 3pm and 5pm.

Tickets: £18 (£16 concessions) (£26 including Alexander Calder exhibition ticket valid for use on the same day only, £23 concessions)

Booking: www.mimelondon.com/david_espinosa2016

Age guidance: 12+

Catalan actor, director and puppeteer, David Espinosa thinks big but gets real, adapting his ambition to a stage no bigger than a small table. His Great Work is a colossal spectacle in miniature. Its dramatic story unfolds in an exquisite, playful and highly imaginative production that also explores the relationship between performers, objects and viewers, and questions our own ideas of art and culture. Mi Gran Obra was first seen in the UK at the 2014 BE Festival. These performances are related to the Tate Modern exhibition Alexander Calder: Performing Sculpture.

‘A delightful, successful critique of spectacular, exorbitantly expensive theatrical projects’ – Art & Culture Today

Supported by Institut Ramon Llull – Catalan Language & Culture

OOG – London Premiere

Al Seed (UK)

Jacksons Lane, 269a Archway Road, London, N6 5AA

www.jacksonslane.org.uk

Friday 15th – Sunday 17th January, Friday and Saturday 8pm; Sunday 5pm

Aftershow discussion: Saturday 16th January

Runs 40 mins / no interval

Tickets: £18 (£16 concessions)

Online booking: www.mimelondon.com/al_seed2016

Age guidance: 12+

The end of a war. A locked cellar. A beam of light. Oog leads you deep into the fractured mind of a shell-shocked soldier. Utilising Guy Veale’s powerful soundtrack, this is an intensely physical and poetic exploration of the trauma of conflict and violence, and the psychological damage it inflicts. It burns indelible images on the mind as it questions what happens when humans morph into something different, something less than human. A companion piece to The Factory, shown at the ICA as part of LIMF 2007, Oog won a Total Theatre Award at the 2015 Edinburgh Festival.

‘Visual imagery that sometimes takes the breath away… An experience that will leave no-one who sees it completely unchanged’

– The Scotsman

EXPIRY DATE – UK Premiere

BabaFish (Belgium)

The Pit, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS

www.barbican.org.uk

Tuesday 19th – Saturday 23rd January, 7.45pm

Aftershow discussion: Wednesday 20th January

Runs 60 mins / no interval

Tickets: £18, plus booking fee

Online booking: www.mimelondon.com/babafish2016

Age guidance: 12+

Dominoes topple… an hourglass is overturned. Time is ever-present in this ephemeral retrospective of one man’s life, his scattered memories conveyed through acrobatics, movement, music and dance. Joseph sits alone at home, preparing for the final hour. Arms outstretched, he reaches into his past, reflecting on moments of a fast-escaping existence filled with struggle and love. Yet always the clock keeps ticking. Assisted by her father, an inventor by trade, Swedish-born artist Anna Nilsson has devised a Heath Robinson set, where a ball bearing spins around weird and wonderful machinery and pendulums wave. It provides a poignant backdrop for an abstract tale about time running out, characterised by four performers and their unpredictable mix of acting, juggling, hand-balancing and singing.

‘An astonishing show of great impact’- Dordogne Libre

Supported by Wallonie-Bruxelles International & The Agency Wallonie-Bruxelles Théâtre/Danse

THINGS EASILY FORGOTTEN – UK Premiere

Xavier Bobès (Spain)

Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX

www.southbankcentre.co.uk

Thursday 21st – Sunday 24th January, Thursday and Friday 5pm and 8pm; Saturday 2pm, 5pm and 8pm; Sunday 11am, 2pm and 5pm.

Runs 75 mins / no interval

Tickets: £18 (£9 concessions)

Booking: www.mimelondon.com/xavier_bobes2016

Age guidance: 16+

A brief history of Spain in the second half of the twentieth century, for five people, by and with Catalan artist Xavier Bobès. Around a table, in an intimate, salon setting, a powerful sequence of close-up sensory experiences invokes old memories and invents new ones. Through this miscellany of sights and sounds, objects and photos, a fascinating story unfolds in a powerful sequence exploring memory and identity. Bobès has been creating unusual visual theatre since 2003, when he established his company, Playground. His work has been performed all over the world.

‘Xavier Bobès is a magician manipulating time itself’ – Putxinelli Magazine

Supported by Institut Ramon Llull – Catalan Language & Culture

ANECKXANDER – A tragic autobiography of the body – UK Premiere

Alexander Vantournhout & Bauke Lievens (Belgium)

Jacksons Lane, 269a Archway Road, London, N6 5AA

www.jacksonslane.org.uk

Friday 22nd – Sunday 24th January, Friday and Saturday 8pm; Sunday 5pm.

Aftershow discussion: Saturday 23rd January

Runs 45 mins / no interval

Tickets: £18 (£16 concessions)

Booking: www.mimelondon.com/vantournhout_lievens2016

Age guidance: 16+ – this performance contains extensive nudity

Aneckxander unfolds in a minimal setting with one acrobatic body, a few carefully selected objects, and music by Arvo Pärt. Balancing on the fine line between tragedy and comedy, Alexander Vantournhout rewrites the autobiography of his own body: from subject to object to matter. It all started when someone told him that his neck was rather long, the result is a raw self-portrait in which the body both exposes itself to and tries to escape from the prying eyes of those looking at it. Alexander studied in Brussels, at PARTS training school, and at the ESAC circus school. He collaborated with Bauke Lievens to produce Aneckxander, which went on to be a prize-winner at the prestigious CircusNext competition. Bauke Lievens’ projects include work with several previous LIMF artists including Kaori Ito, Un Loup Pour l’Homme, and les ballets C de la B.

‘Extremely powerful performance that deals with the complex relationship of the body, the artist and performance. True physical commitment’ – Telegram

HORROR – UK Premiere

Jakop Ahlbom Company (Netherlands)

The Peacock, Sadler’s Wells, Portugal Street, Holborn, WC2A 2HT

www.peacocktheatre.com

Monday 25th – Tuesday 26th January, 7.30pm

Aftershow discussion: Monday 25th January

Runs 80 mins / no interval

Tickets: £12 – £29

Booking: www.mimelondon.com/jakop_ahlbom2016

Age guidance: 14+

A deserted mansion… a young woman returns to the place of her bleak childhood. No longer able to suppress memories of her cruel parents and strange sister, she is forced to confront the past. Jakop Ahlbom’s imaginative hommage to the horror movie genre is ingenuously gruesome, genuinely scary and frequently very funny.

Referencing Gothic spine-chillers as well as more recent frighteners like The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, Horror will have you shuddering at the edge of your seat. Swedish-born Jakop Ahlbom recently directed his first opera, staged at Deutsche Oper Berlin, and his dance film Off Ground, starring Louise Lecavalier, won the the prestigious Prix Italia TV Award. Lebensraum, his previous show for the LIMF 2014 garnered rave reviews and played to sell-out houses.

‘Excellent special effects, witty and irresistibly scary’ – Volkskrant

KITE – World Premiere

The Wrong Crowd (UK)

Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, London, W1D 3NE

www.sohotheatre.com

Tuesday 26th January – Saturday 6th February 7pm (not 31 Jan); Saturday matinees 2pm

Previews Tuesday 26th – Wednesday 27th January

Schools matinees: Thursday 28th and Friday 29th January

Aftershow discussion: Saturday 30th January and Saturday 6th February after 2pm performance Runs 60 mins / no interval

Tickets: Previews £10; then Monday – Thursday £15 (£10 con); Friday and Saturday £17.50 (£15 con)

Online booking: www.mimelondon.com/wrong_crowd2016

Age guidance: 7+

A lonely girl is taken to live in her grandma’s airless flat where the windows are shut tight. Her memories of seagulls and sand dunes begin to fade in the silence. One night a handmade kite comes to life and heralds the start of a wild adventure and the chance to find what it seemed was lost forever. Inspired by the world of indoor-kite flying and stories such as The Snowman and The Red Balloon, Kite is a play without words, with original music, dance, puppetry and of course kites. From acclaimed theatre company The Wrong Crowd, creators of inventive, playful and compelling new theatre (Swanhunter, Hag, The Girl with the Iron Claws), Kite is a poignant love-song to the wind, freedom and the joy of play.

‘Both music and staging are expertly crafted, there are gasps of delight from both kids and adults’ – The Times on Swanhunter 2015

DARK CIRCUS – UK Premiere

Stereoptik (France)

The Pit, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS

www.barbican.org.uk

Tuesday 26th – Saturday 30th January 7.45pm; Saturday matinee 3pm

Aftershow discussion: Wednesday 27th January

Runs 55 mins / no interval

Tickets: £18, plus booking fee

Online booking: www.mimelondon.com/stereoptik2016

Age guidance: 7+

Paper, ink, sand and silhouettes spring into being in the skilled hands of two visual artists who draw and play music live to build a big top universe, their striking creations projected onto a large screen.

‘Come for the show, stay for the woe.’ A sinister ringmaster invites the inhabitants of a dreary city to his circus tent, where he presides over catastrophic acts. The trapeze artist plummets, the animal trainer is devoured, the human cannonball is lost in space … until a juggler strikes a discordant note, releasing the flash of colour everyone has been waiting for. Born from the imagination of French illustrator Pef, the fantastical story of Dark Circus is animated onstage by Stereoptik duo, Romain Bermond and Jean-Baptiste Maillet.

‘A total pleasure … filled with lyricism and freshness’ – Le Monde

Supported by Institut français

IL RITORNO – UK Premiere

Circa (Australia)

Barbican Theatre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS

www.barbican.org.uk

Wednesday 27th – Sunday 31st January 7.45pm; Saturday matinee 2.30pm

Aftershow discussion: Thursday 28th January

Runs 75 mins / no interval

Tickets: £16 – £30, plus booking fee

Online booking: www.mimelondon.com/circa2016

Age guidance: 12+

Ulysses desires only to return home after twenty years of wandering and war. His wife Penelope hangs on in the belief he might one day arrive. History has separated them. Now hope unites them.

Il Ritorno is distilled from Monteverdi’s opera The Return of Ulysses (Il ritorno d’Ulisse) and layered with themes from Primo Levi’s The Truce – a memoir by a Second World War refugee. Drawing on mythology to explore states of exile, this potent production fuses live singing and music with the thrilling physicality of contemporary circus as Circa’s acrobatic artists push their bodies and emotions to the extreme.

‘A luminous new work… Il Ritorno offers a powerful vision of humanity and compassion’ – The Australian

INFINITA – UK Premiere

Familie Floez (Germany)

The Peacock, Sadler’s Wells, Portugal Street, Holborn, WC2A 2HT www.peacocktheatre.com

Thursday 28th – Saturday 30th January, Thursday & Friday 7.30pm; Saturday 6pm

Aftershow discussion: Friday 29th January

Runs 90 mins / no interval

Tickets: £15 – £29, plus booking fee

Booking: www.mimelondon.com/familie_floez2016

Age guidance: 7+

After sell-out successes with Teatro Delusio (LIMF’05), Ristorante Immortale (LIMF’06) and Hotel Paradiso (LIMF’09) and a five star hit at the recent Edinburgh Fringe, Germany’s mask theatre masters, Familie Floez return to the Mime Festival with another brilliant visual comedy. In Infinita, a cast of irresistible, larger-than-life characters are seen both as warring children, and then in later life as residents of an old people’s home. The wily games of nursery one-upmanship seem hardly to change with the passage of time; survival of the craftiest is still the rule of the day. Infinita plays out in a succession of increasingly hilarious scenes, combining poignancy, astute observation and some superbly skilled slapstick.

A show about birth, sex and old age, about our first and last moments, when the greatest miracles occur. And all without a word spoken!

‘One of the most beautiful shows I’ve seen… run, run to see it!’- Telerama

Supported by the Goethe-Institut London

THE BEST THING – World Premiere

Vamos Theatre (UK)

Jacksons Lane, 269a Archway Road, London, N6 5AA

www.jacksonslane.org.uk

Thursday 28th – Sunday 31st January, Thursday – Saturday 8pm; Sunday 5pm

Aftershow discussion: Saturday 30th January

Runs 90 mins / plus interval

Tickets: £18 (£16 concessions)

Booking: www.mimelondon.com/vamos_theatre2016

Age guidance: 12+

It’s 1966. The record player is on, her hair’s bobbed and eye-lashes curled: for seventeen year old Susan, life is an adventure waiting to begin. But what happens next turns everything upside down, and its repercussions will last for decades to come. Step into the wordless world of Vamos Theatre for this bitter-sweet story of mistaken morals and broken hearts, 45s and beehives, where sexual revolution proves a hard and rocky path to tread. Funny, heart-

breaking and human, The Best Thing is a ‘swinging sixties’ story of unconditional love. Led by artistic director, Rachael Savage, Vamos Theatre has become Britain’s leading, full mask theatre group, touring nationally and overseas with inventive and entertaining productions based on real life stories.

‘Life-affirming, funny, deeply touching and highly, highly recommended!’ – Plays To See (Finding Joy, LIMF14)

WUNDERKAMMER – London Premiere

Figurentheater Tűbingen (Germany)

The Pit, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS

www.barbican.org.uk

Tuesday 2nd – Saturday 6th February, 7.45pm

Aftershow discussion: Wednesday 3rd February

Runs 70 mins / no interval

Tickets: £18, plus booking fee

Booking: www.mimelondon.com/figurentheater_tubingen2016

Age guidance: 12+

Three puppeteers welcome you to a cabinet of curiosities where rare artefacts and familiar objects, the wonderful and the mundane, come together in near-perfect equilibrium.

One by one they mysteriously emerge: a pair of golden hands caresses human hair, long-limbed folk dance and sway, two miniature musicians comically duel it out, and an unfathomable creature floats in air and water.

Demonstrating the allure and magnetism of string marionettes, Frank Soehnle returns to the festival with a company of renowned German puppeteers who visibly orchestrate their strange cast with utmost grace, eliciting the subtlest expressions of movement. Referencing art, science and the natural world through their mystical creations, they all interact and elegantly play, to the tempo of an atmospheric score. Sweet, melancholic and sometimes tongue in cheek, Wunderkammer is a gem of puppet-theatre.

‘A fantastic reflection on the power of the imagination’ – Stuttgarter Nachrichten

Supported by the Goethe-Institut London

HE WHO FALLS (Celui qui tombe) – UK Premiere

Compagnie Yoann Bourgeois (France)

Barbican Theatre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS

www.barbican.org.uk

Wednesday 3rd – Saturday 6th February, 7.45pm

Aftershow discussion: Thursday 4th February

Runs 65 mins / no interval

Tickets: £16 – £28, plus booking fee

Online booking: www.mimelondon.com/yoann_bourgeois2016

Age guidance: 8+

Six performers appear to defy the laws of gravity, responding with strength and grace to maintain balance onboard a constantly shifting platform. When an imposing, suspended, podium begins to spin, pivot, swing and elevate, the only way to withstand its forces is through agile movement. Faced by such instability, bodies lean, climb, hang and fall, coming together and then apart, in this perilous dance of survival. A French artist equally dedicated to the circus arts and contemporary dance, Yoann Bourgeois has long been fascinated by ideas of weightlessness and the physics of suspension. For this ingenious show, he challenges performers from both disciplines to meet the physical demands of

his intriguing staging, each scenario choreographed to rousing tracks, from opera aria, Casta Diva, to Frank

Sinatra’s My Way. He Who Falls premiered at the Lyon Biennale de la Danse in 2014

‘A poetic creation … it’s impossible not to fall for its charm’ – Time Out Paris

Supported by Institut français

ALL GENIUS ALL IDIOT – UK Premiere

Svalbard (Sweden)

Jacksons Lane, 269a Archway Road, London, N6 5AA www.jacksonslane.org.uk

Wednesday 3rd – Saturday 6th February, 8pm

Aftershow discussion: Friday 5th February

Runs 60 mins / no interval

Tickets: £18 (£16 concessions)

Online booking: www.mimelondon.com/svalbard2016

Age guidance: 12+ (contains strong language)

Quirky and outrageous in equal measure, All Genius All Idiot, revels in the absurdities of life, using extreme circus artistry to highlight human behaviour at its most animalistic.

Svalbard bends the edges of contemporary circus and blends it with theatre, physical comedy and live music to create a truly original piece that you will remember for its surreal quality as well as its awe-inspiring skills. All Genius All Idiot features Chinese pole, aerial rope, hand balance and acrobatics, driven by a hauntingly beautiful and, at times, bizarre, original soundtrack played live by the performers.

Svalbard’s members met whilst training at Stockholm’s University of Dance and Circus. All Genius All Idiot is their debut show.

‘If Jim Jarmusch directed a circus show – this would be it!’ @Adrian Berry (Artistic Director, Jacksons Lane)

Film screenings and festival workshops – the full programme is available at www.mimelondon.com/film_workshops2016

EVERY INCH A WHOPPING HIT

Gary Lucy will lead the cast of The Full Monty which is coming to Darlington Civic Theatre for one week only from Monday 16 to Saturday 21 November.

In 1997, a British film about six out-of-work Sheffield steelworkers with nothing to lose, took the world by storm becoming one of the most successful British films ever made. Now, the boys are back, only this time, they really have to go The Full Monty…live on stage.

Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar winning writer of the film, has gone all the way with this hilarious and heartfelt stage adaptation that’s getting standing ovations every night on its current UK tour.

Former Hollyoaks and Eastenders star Gary Lucy is no stranger to taking his clothes off but he’s doing it for the first time on stage. He said “I had never consciously decided not to do theatre but I’ve been incredibly lucky in my career to have played so many memorable characters in some great TV series. When the producers of The Full Monty approached me about starring in the tour, I just thought that it was a great opportunity for my first stage experience. It’s a really strong script. All the characters have stories to tell, and the audience really follows that through. It’s a really great cast too, we all get on well. It’s all guys together and we’re just having a laugh.”

Oscar winning writer of the film, Simon Beaufoy, was also a stage novice. Even with a mantelpiece groaning with awards he admits that it was terrifying to begin with, but he was determined not just to create a carbon copy of the film on stage.

“I felt really strongly that audiences would want to come and see a really good play so that’s how I approached it” Simon recalls. “It was a steep learning curve for me and enormously invigorating to learn a whole new craft after 16 years writing for the cinema. I had to discover what works and what doesn’t. Ironically, it’s turned out that the story feels perfect on stage. It’s an ensemble piece about a group of men who are stuck and wondering what to do next.”

The Full Monty is at Darlington Civic Theatre from Monday 16 to Saturday 21 November.

Tickets* are £12.50 to £29.50

*All ticket prices include a £1 restoration levy.

To book contact the Box Office on 01325 486 555 or visit www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk

THE VAMPS
Plus special guests Conor Maynard, The Tide & Hometown

SHEFFIELD ARENA

THURSDAY 14^TH APRIL 2016

The Vamps are back, with a forthcoming album and a world tour! Wake Up, the album, is out 27th November and will include 18 songs and a very special free concert DVD from The Vamps sold out, headline shows at the O2 Arena. The DVD will only be available for the first 4 weeks, while stocks last, so snap up a copy quickly!

In addition to the forthcoming, highly anticipated new music, The Vamps will also be treating their fans to a number of intimate, fan rally shows in the Autumn, followed by arena dates including Sheffield Arena on Thursday 14^th April.

Tickets go on general sale at 10am on Saturday 7th November. Tickets by phone on 0114 256 5656 or online at www.sheffieldarena.co.uk are priced £10.45, £32.45 & £52.25 (including booking fee). Tickets in person at the Arena Box Office are priced £9.98, £30.98 & £49.88 (including bookg fee). Tickets are limited to 6 per person.

The fan-fests kicked off in Madrid on the 14th October, and culminate with a show in Berlin on the 9th November and will be an opportunity for The Vamps to give something back to their loyal fanbase. This will be the first moment for fans to hear some of the new tracks, and The Vamps will also host a Q&A where they can discuss the making of Wake Up, and answer any burning questions the fans have.

Following the fan rallies, The Vamps will return to the arenas for another sure to be sold out run. The Wake Up UK Tour will feature jumbo LED side screens and a sprawling stage across the arena floor so the fans can be close to the band, and with supports from Conor Maynard, The Tide and Hometown.

The Vamps have picked up a phenomenal amount of success since their launch just under 2 years ago. Their debut album Meet The Vamps went multi Platinum in a huge number of countries across the globe and charted at #2 in the UK. They have sold over 10 million singles across their five releases. Their online stats are equally impressive – Can We Dance has clocked up over 41 million YouTube views, Wild Heart over 25 million, Last Night has had over 23 million views, Somebody To You over 79 million views and Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart) picked up 34million. Their channel has already tipped 218 million total views and signed up over 1.2million subscribers. They frequently trend around the world on Twitter, and their Facebook has over 5.3million likes.

Tickets for the Sheffield show on Thursday 14th April 2016 will go on general sale at 10am on Saturday 7th November.

YORK ROCKS AGAINST CANCER

GRAND OPERA HOUSE YORK

Saturday 21 May 2016

After last year’s hugely successful show, York Rocks Against Cancer returns with another night of music and fun with New York Brass Band, fresh from two appearances at Glastonbury, who are North Yorkshire’s only contemporary New Orleans inspired Brass Band. Hailing from the ancient streets of York the band are part of a funky brass revolution that is sweeping the UK. Inspired by Rebirth Brass Band, Soul Rebels, Hot 8, Youngblood and Brassroots, NYBB pack a powerful punch of relentless drums, rumbling tuba and wailing horns… nothing kicks a party into gear like the sound of a smokin’ New Orleans Mardi Gras Jazz Band.

The Superlicks  are a four-piece party band of highly charged musicians based in York. The band boast a powerful rhythm section supported by infectious bass riffs and energetic beats. This capped with a sensational lead guitarist and the captivating vocals from their charismatic front man are what have made them one of the most entertaining, dynamic and fun party bands in the UK.

Local cover band Sister Madly keep the party going. Scarlett, the vivacious red-head is known for her vibrant stage personality accompanied by a strong voice, her vocal ability handles many different artists such as, Stevie Nicks, Journey, Adele, Rihanna, Kings of Leon, Amy Winehouse and many others. Zan can entice any crowd onto the dance floor. Her friendly and powerful stage presence is guaranteed to get the party started. With a vast repertoire, she will bring you the sounds of Heart, Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, The Eagles, Gary Moore, Pink and Katy Perry.

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Also appearing is Minster Conspiracy, a group of young local musicians.   In 2008 Rocks and Pops founder John Haslam approached local schools with the idea of engaging pupils in music through rock n roll. It was through the project that Ryan and Oliver found themselves in a band at just seven years old. Both Edward and Morgan joined Rocks and Pops the following year and they very soon found out that although they were all great characters individually and very much ‘off the hook’ , they worked really well as a group. In 2011 the boys were now the older children on the Rocks and Pops scene and it was a year later when John pooled children together to work on joint projects that they were introduced to Ellie.

And returning after last year’s success is Barmaid and the Vets with Emmerdale cast members, who are yet to be confirmed, they will be performing along with Attitude Dance Club.

Come along and enjoy a rocking night whilst supporting York Against Cancer.

Tickets on sale Thursday 5 November at 10:00am

Tickets:  £15

Box Office: 0844 871 3024

Online Booking: www.atgtickets.com/york

Tickets also available in person from the theatre box office between 12 noon and 5:30pm Monday to Saturday.

Internationally acclaimed Kneehigh Theatre’s spell-binding production of Daphne du Maurier’s masterpiece Rebecca will captivate audiences at the Lyceum Theatre from Monday 23 – Saturday 28 November.

 

Following the mysterious death of his first wife, Maxim de Winter returns to Manderley with his new young bride. Surrounded by memories of the glamorous Rebecca, the new Mrs De Winter is consumed by jealousy. She sets out to uncover the secrets of the house and a past fiercely guarded by the sinister housekeeper Mrs Danvers and soon discovers all is not what it seems in Manderley…

 

Rebecca is timeless; the book beloved by generations and the iconic Alfred Hitchcock film a classic of the genre. Award-winning director Emma Rice has created a spellbinding new production of Daphne du Maurier’s iconic novel which conjures Cornish romance and theatrical magic.

Rebecca is presented by David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers, the multi‑award winning producers of Art, Brief Encounter, God of Carnage and Calendar Girls in association with Steve & Jenny Wiener.

 

Rebecca is at the Lyceum Theatre from Monday 23 – Saturday 28 November.  Tickets can be purchased from Sheffield Theatres’ Box Office in-person, by phone on 0114 249 6000 or online athttp://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/ and are priced £14.00 – £29.50 (a transaction fee of £1.50 (£1.00 online) applies to all bookings made at the Box Office, excluding cash), and discounts are available.

Sheffield Theatres Listings:

Crucible Lyceum Studio 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA             
Box Office 0114 249 6000 – Mon – Sat 10.00am to 8.00pm
A transaction fee of £1.50 (£1.00 online) applies to all bookings made at the Box Office (excluding cash).
On non-performance days the Box Office closes at 6.00pm.
sheffieldtheatres.co.uk
Twitter: @crucibletheatre @SheffieldLyceum

Instagram: sheffieldtheatres

 

Rebecca

Lyceum Theatre

Mon 23 November – Sat 28 November

Press Night – Monday 23 November 7.45pm

Mon – Sat 7.45pm

Thu 2.00pm

Sat 3.00pm

Tickets £14.00 – £29.50

Concessions available

Park Theatre 27 October – 28 November.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Dinner With Friends is a Pulitzer Prize winning play, and you can see why from the first scene. The writing is slick, insightful and very, very funny.

Karen and Gabe are a successful couple that REALLY know about food. Their friends, Tom and Beth are not so happy, and when they find out that Tom has left Beth, Karen and Gabe are horrified and begin to question their relationship with the other couple.

The cast effortlessly create the illusion of a well established friendship, talking over the end of each other’s sentences and sharing glances. Sara Stewart (Karen) and Shaun Dooley (Gabe) are brilliant – they talk over each other, contradict and correct each other, and carry out hysterical tag team descriptions – in excruciating detail – of their Italian vacation. A very believable couple that being friends with would be both wonderful and excruciating in equal measures. Finty Williams (Beth) and Hari Dhillon (Tom) are full of rage, denial and self-justification in their scenes together and both actors portray the changes in the couple’s outlook and demeanour over time with great sensitivity. As they hear descriptions of their friends’ new, separate, lives, Stewart and Dooley’s reactions are sublime, and Williams and Dhillon deliver some home truths to the other couple with an expert blend of sweetness and exasperation.

The set design is as slick and unfussy as the writing. The backdrop is like a Newhaven branch of Carluccio’s, with shelves full of kitchen paraphernalia on hand to use in each scene.

The exploration of relationships, marriages, and how they evolve is explored sincerely, but with no preaching and a huge dash of realistic humour. The realisation that your life will probably never turn out as you imagined when you were young, and the changes and responsibilities that children bring are dealt with. Should you walk away from something that is making you unhappy? Or keep working at it and appreciate what you have?

Dinner With Friends is a grown up piece of theatre with grown up themes, but it reveals the lost child within each of the characters, searching for and clinging on to love. This is a wonderful play, full of fantastic performances and well worth seeing.

 

Due to unprecedented demand the Menier Chocolate Factory Production of Funny Girl will transfer to the Savoy Theatre in London’s West End, following the sold out run at the Menier Chocolate Factory which commences on 20th November, 2015. Michael Mayer’s production, starring Olivier and BAFTA award-winning actress Sheridan Smith as Fanny Brice and with the cast from the Menier Chocolate Factory, will begin performances at the Savoy Theatre on 9th April 2016 for a strictly limited 12-week run until 2nd July 2016. Tickets will go on general sale from 10am Monday 16th November.

David Babani, Artistic Director of Menier Chocolate Factory, said today, “We’ve been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm for Funny Girl – the show broke Menier box office records when it sold out its entire run in just 90 minutes. We felt it was very important to respond to demand so we’re delighted to be joining forces with Sonia Friedman and Scott Landis to give Funny Girl a future life. We want to share it with as wide an audience as possible and to make Michael Mayer’s production as accessible to all, we’re offering £15 day seats – available for every performance at the Savoy Theatre.”

Sonia Friedman and Scott Landis said today, “2016 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the original London production of Funny Girl. It’s enormously exciting to be bringing this legendary musical back to the West End for the first time since 1966, in a brand new production starring the incredible Sheridan Smith. We are also thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the hugely gifted, multi-award winning Broadway director Michael Mayer.”

With music by Jule Styne (whose musical Gypsy is currently running at the Savoy Theatre, starring Imelda Staunton), lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Isobel Lennart, the Broadway smash-hit Funny Girl which skyrocketed Barbra Streisand to stardom, is revived with book revisions by Harvey Fierstein. Sheridan Smith plays Fanny Brice, who rose from being a Brooklyn music hall singer to become one of Broadway’s biggest stars under producer Florenz Ziegfeld. While she was cheered onstage as a great comedienne, offstage she faced a doomed relationship with the man she loved. With a score featuring now-classic songs such as “People”, “You Are Woman, I Am Man” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade”, this brand new production promises to be a major theatrical event.

Sheridan Smith returns to the Menier Chocolate Factory to play Fanny Brice. She previously appeared in Little Shop of Horrors for the company (also Duke of York’s Theatre). Her other theatre work includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Michael Grandage Company at the Noel Coward Theatre), Hedda Gabler (Old Vic), Flare Path (Theatre Royal Haymarket – Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress, Evening Standard Theatre Award and Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress), Legally Blonde (Savoy Theatre – Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical), Tinderbox (Bush Theatre), The People are Friendly (Royal Court) and Into the Woods (Donmar Warehouse). For television, her credits include Blackwork, The C Word, Cilla, The Widower, The 7.39, Dates, Mr Stink, Mrs Biggs (BAFTA Award for Best Actress), Accused, Scapegoat, Little Crackers, Jonathan Creek, Gavin & Stacey, Larkrise to Candleford, Grown Ups, Love Soup, Two Pints of Larger and a Packet of Crisps, The Royale Family and Wives and Daughters; and for film, The Huntsman, Powder Room, Quartet, Tower Block and Hysteria.

Michael Mayer directs. His West End credits include Spring Awakening (Lyric Hammersmith and Novello Theatre) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (Shaftesbury Theatre). For Broadway his work includes Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Tony Award nomination for Best Director), On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, American Idiot (Drama Desk Award for Best Director of a Musical), Spring Awakening (Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Drama Desk Award for Best Direction of a Musical) and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical). For television, his work includes Smash, and for film his credits include A Home at the End of the World, Flicka and currently in post-production, Chekhov’s The Seagull.

With the scores of such Broadway classics as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Peter Pan, Bells Are Ringing and Gypsy to his credit, composer Jule Styne ranks as one of the undisputed architects of the American musical theatre. Styne’s collaborators included Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Stephen Sondheim, Bob Merrill, Leo Robin and E.Y. Harburg, and their combined efforts have produced such showstoppers as “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”, “The Party’s Over”, “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”, “People” and “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend.” He was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972, the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981, and became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1990.

Bob Merrill was a composer, lyricist and screenwriter. He partnered with composer Jule Styne to write Funny Girl, Sugar and The Red Shoes. His other stage musicals include New Girl in Town, Take Me Along, Carnival, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Prettybelle, The Prince of Grand Street and Henry, Sweet Henry. In the 1950s, his melodies and words captured the radio audiences with such top-ten standards as “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?”, “Mambo Italiano” and “If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake”. Merrill provided lyrics for beloved television musicals including Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood, and The Animated Adventures of Tom Sawyer. His screenplays for Hollywood include Mahogany and W.C. Fields and Me. Merrill also wrote five songs for the 1962 film The Wonderful World of The Brothers Grimm.

As a screenwriter, Isobel Lennart’s first movie was The Affairs of Martha which opened in 1942, followed by A Stranger in Town, and her personal favourite, Lost Angel. Some twenty-five more scripts were made into popular movies over the next thirty years, among them: Two for the Seesaw, the Academy Award nominated Love Me or Leave Me and The Sundowners. Despite her trials and tribulations with the House Un-American Activities Committee, she was never prevented from working. She ventured into playwriting with the stage adaptation of her screenplay Funny Girl for Ray Stark. Several plays were written for her husband’s Los Angeles theatre, The Stage Society. Lennart received many awards and nominations during her career; the 1966 Laurel Award was her most treasured.

Choreography is by Lynne Page, with set design by Michael Pavelka, costume designer by Matthew Wright, lighting design by Mark Henderson and sound designer by Richard Brooker, the musical supervisor is Alan Williams and orchestrations are by Chris Walker.

FUNNY GIRL is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Scott Landis Productions and Chocolate Factory Productions.

Funny Girl
Savoy Theatre
Strand, London, WC2R 0ET
9th April 2016 to 2nd July 2016

Visit The Funny Girl website to sign-up for Priority Bookings
Box Office: 0844 871 7687
www.funnygirlthemusical.co.uk
Twitter: @FunnyGirl_UK
Facebook: /FunnyGirlUK
Instagram: @FunnyGirlUK