The Rosemary Branch Theatre 29 January – 14 February. Reviewed by Claire Roderick
Reader, I was bewitched.
Bryony J. Thompson’s production of Jane Eyre is simply stunning. This adaptation remains passionately faithful to the book, omitting any fluff and showcasing the dramatic and romantic set pieces – with style. Jane’s early years are dealt with in a few minutes – no lingering deathbed scene for poor Helen here! – and the focus moves briskly on to her life at Thornfield Hall.
With a stark white set, plain white period costumes and only 6 wooden chairs, the set design mirrors the script – stripped down and sharp – allowing the actors to revel in Bronte’s beguiling language and the audience to lose themselves in the performance.
The cast of 6 are on stage throughout, with Alice Coles, Jack Collard, Madeline Gould and Alice Osmanski slipping in and out of different roles seamlessly. Osmanski’s little Adele is a delight – all wide-eyed excitement and joie de vivre. Emilia Williams is an intense but mischievous Jane and Ben Warwick’s Mr Rochester is everything you want – stern, playful and damaged. Their flirtatious banter is funny and sweet, and the passionate build up to their first kiss is portrayed brilliantly.
Thompson’s decision to have the characters switching between direct speech and narrating is very effective. The scenes where Jane has an internal monologue, with Williams surrounded by the other women all taking rapid fire turns to voice her thoughts become frantic, intense and very moving. (There was one point where it became a little Bohemian Rhapsody, but it was fleeting.)
This production creates Jane’s world in the audience’s minds through the intoxicating language and sympathetic movement – Jane’s discovery of the fire is haunting and exciting, and all done with no effects or props – amazing, and wonderful to be trusted as an audience to use your imagination and intuition. The satisfied sigh (along with a few Sense and Sensibility grunts) at “Reader, I married him” that came from the audience sums up the whole night.
SIMPLE8 PRESENTS A NEW PLAY BASED ON THE TRUE STORY OF A MISSIONARY’S EXPERIENCE LIVING WITH AN AMAZONIAN TRIBE
ENSEMBLE CAST TO BE LED BY MARK ARENDS, RECENTLY SEEN IN HEADLONG’S 1984
simple8, thecritically-acclaimed ensemble based theatre company – winners of the 2015 Peter Brook / Empty Space Awards – will make their Park Theatre debut with the world premiere of a new play bySebastian Armesto and Dudley Hinton. Don’t Sleep There Are Snakes, based on the true story and book by linguist, author and academic, Daniel Everett, will open at Park Theatre on 22 March and play until 23 April, with a press night on 23 March.
Pirahã [(n) piɾaˈhã] A remote Amazonian tribe with a language no outsider has ever understood. Daniel Everett, a linguist and missionary, is sent into the jungle with a clear purpose: to learn their language and convert them to Christianity.
But as he struggles to communicate, he uncovers a culture like nothing he’s ever imagined. They have no words for numbers or colours, no urge to nurse their young or store food, no future tense, no ability to tell made-up stories, only things they have directly experienced, no religion, no leaders, no crime. And, by chance or by consequence, they’re the happiest, most care-free people he’s ever met.
Everett’s discoveries blow apart modern linguistic theory, particularly Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar, forcing him to question his faith and his understanding of what it means to be human.
Following the critically acclaimed The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Moby-Dick, Simple8 return with an adventure wrenched from the heart of the jungle, which traces how language, culture and experience shape us all
The simple8 ensemble for Don’t Sleep There Are Snakes is led by Mark Arends (1984 / Headlong), alongside Christopher Doyle, Rachel Handshaw, Emily Pennant-Rea, Yuriri Naka, and Clifford Samuel, directed by Dudley Hinton and Hannah Emmanuel.
simple8 formed in London in 2006 and are focused on simplicity, the ensemble and the story. They create new writing through extensive research and development, inspired by rarely explored material and work with large ensemble casts. Using a variety of techniques, ‘poor’ theatre (a focus on the actor’s voice and body rather than theatrical devices), mime, live music and song, puppetry and magic, they aim to present work that is fun, inventive, original and daring. On Park Theatre’s bare stage simple8’s ‘poor’ theatre will conjure a plane, a river and the most remarkable of communities using nothing but six actors, a couple of chairs and a length of rope.
LETCHWORTH GARDEN CITY HERITAGE FOUNDATION TO MAKE MAJOR INVESTMENT IN THE ARTS
OLIVIER AWARD WINNING PRODUCER SUE SCOTT DAVISON BROUGHT IN AS CREATIVE PROGRAMMER
Olivier award-winning Sue Scott Davison, producer of The Railway Children, has been appointed Creative Programmer of a new 400 seat theatre in Letchworth Garden City, only half an hour from London. Construction on the Broadway Theatre,to be built as an extension of the art deco Broadway Cinema,will begin on Monday 22 February, and is due to complete in the autumn, ahead of a Gala opening in the autumn.
Sue will spearhead the creative side of a major investment in the arts by Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, who are using the revenue from their unique Garden City legacy to make the town a major centre for the Arts. Sue, who lives in Letchworth, will create a diverse programme of theatre, comedy, music and dance for the Broadway Theatre, launching in early 2017, as well as overseeing the Broadway Studio, with further details to be announced later this year.
Sue said: “The opening of any new theatre is exciting, but to do so in such a beautiful, community-minded building is a tremendous opportunity. The challenge with every new space is how to develop an audience, but the success of the live screenings at the Broadway Cinema has proven that there is a desire for good, quality performance on which to build.
“To be charged with providing the town and the area around with a diverse schedule of theatre, comedy, music and dance is daunting, but as this will be the first fully-programmed, professional theatre space in the area, the advantages are considerable. Offering a new, small to mid-scale space to touring companies, performers and musicians, and so close to London, will help in securing the best.”
Plans for a new theatre follow the success of live screenings of National Theatre and Royal Opera House productions, which have proved hugely popular at Broadway Cinema and regularly sell-out in all four screens. The cinemahas been top for several live screenings, selling a record number of tickets for events including the Royal Ballet’s The Nutcracker.
EVERY THOUGHT COUNTS: ROBI WALTERS TRACES HIS REFLECTIONS ON
PSYCHOLOGY IN PAINTING
BRIAN DUFFY: A SUITE OF HIS PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE PIRELLI CALENDAR, AS WELL AS HIS ICONIC IMAGES OF DAVID BOWIE FROM THE ALADDIN SANE ALBUM SHOOT
‘PUZZLE MAN’
PIONEERING INVENTOR, SCIENTIST AND AWARD WINNING AUTHOR IVAN MOSCOVICH PRESENTS HIS ‘HARMONOGRAMS’, FIRST PRODUCED FOR THE ICA IN 1968
CLUB TO HOST FIRST UK CRAFTS COUNCIL RESIDENCY
Following the huge success of the first exhibition of the year, the triumphant return of Rick Guest and Olivia Pomp’s ongoing project, What Lies Beneath – a series of stunning photographs of the world’s best ballet dancers – The Hospital Club presents a 2016 exhibition programme that cements its reputation as London’s leading club for creatives. The programme is made up of gallery shows that touch a number of creative sectors including fine art, design, craft, and photography, with a continued emphasis on innovation.
The 16th Bedroom (Feb 12-21) brings together contemporary artists championed by the club over the last 7 years – all of whom currently feature in the club’s 15 bedrooms. It brings together a range of talent including Rick Guest, Dominic Beattie (recipient of the recent UK/RAINE £10k painting prize), Julian Wild (vice president of the British Sculpture society) among others.
Every Thought Counts(March 24 – 27) marks a welcome return for artist Robi Walters, who has previously displayed mainly collage and multimedia at the club. This exhibition traces the reflections of his own personal psychology in his painting, and the topic more generally. It also features a panel discussion between the artist and several leading experts from the field of neuroscience and psychiatry. The panel will draw on themes dealing with the creativity and the mind, and discuss them in very conversational terms – questions such as “where in the brain does inspiration come from?”, “how do regular thoughts (positive or negative) become habits?”,“when does creativity become genius and genius, madness?” Experts participating in the panel to be announced.
Brian Duffy (April 29 – May 3): This exhibition features the work of one of the key avant-garde British figures of the 60s. Duffy was one of the few photographers to shoot three Pirelli Calendars (1965, 1973 and the Cinturato calendar, also in 1973). Duffy’s work with the 1973 calendar in collaboration with pop artist Allen Jones led to the ground-breaking airbrushing techniques that became part of the iconic Aladdin Sane album cover. Duffy shot five sessions with David Bowie and this exhibition will feature a selection of the Aladdin Sane images.
Hospital Club member Julia Noble (23 – 26 June) will present an exhibition of large scale multimedia paintings, as part of the club’s commitment to supporting its creative community. Her works tend to incorporate multiple processes, involving painting, embroidery and printmaking techniques.
In July/August, the club will host the first UK Crafts Council Residency (July 18 – Aug 29). The Crafts Council will inhabit the gallery space over a similar period for the next three years, with new work and specially produced limited editions exclusive to the club’s exhibition. The programme will also include various talks and events, curated by the Crafts Council in conjunction with the hospital club’s exhibition programmer, Ali Hillman. Details of the 2016 exhibition will be announced in the spring.
And finally, the Club is very proud to host an exhibition of work by pioneering inventor, scientist and award winning authorIvan Moscovich (Sep 22 – 25). The exhibition will feature a very limited body of work, his ground breaking kinetic art, called Harmonograms. They were first produced for a milestone exhibition at the ICA in 1968, Cybernetic Serendipity, which achieved record breaking attendance. They are rendered by an original invention created by Moscovich called the Harmonograph, a pendulum operated machine that formed the centre piece of the famous ICA show. Moscovich stopped making Harmonograms in the 70s, having exhibited internationally at International Design Centre, Berlin; Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City; Didacta Exhibition, Basel; Science Museum Tel Aviv to name a few.
Live Theatre welcomes three thought-provoking pieces of visiting theatre in March, all powerful shows with strong female lead characters. The plays cover themes from a young woman out of control on drink and drugs in Cardiff, to a mother discovering her young son had been shown pornography by a classmate and one woman’s hilarious quest to find ‘the one’.
Iphigenia In Splott which comes to Live Theatre at 7.30pm onFriday 11 and Saturday 12 March looks at the world through the eyes of Effie, a hard-nosed, unemployed young woman who spends her days in a careless spiral of drink, drugs and drama.Whilst the story is set in Cardiff, this is a tale that is relevant in every city across the UK.
Inspired by the enduring Greek myth Iphigenia In Splott is written by Gary Owen, whose play Crazy Gary’s Mobile Disco was a success at Live Theatre in 2001.
Sophie Melville received the Stage Award for Acting Excellence 2015 and has also just been awarded Best Actress in the English language at the Wales Theatre Awards for her portrayal in the lead role of Effie. This powerful drama also won the Best Play in the UK Theatre Awards 2015 and was nominated for Best Playwright in the Wales Theatre Awards.
Punching the Sky at 7.30pm on Wednesday 9 March, a new play about porn, parenting and pressure is a very personal response to the extraordinary national media storm that followed when writer Lizi Patch dared to blog about her 11 year old son stumbling across some hardcore online pornography. It delves into the democratic space of the internet and shines a light on the contradictory nature of our feelings about sex, censorship and parenthood.
Memoirs of a Bunny Boilerat 8pm on Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 March is a hilarious one woman show about a girl’s desperate attempt to find ‘the one’ and her encounters with cult leaders, Oxford graduates and junkie lookalikes. It is written and performed by Spotlight nominee, Rachel Jackson and was a success at last year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
For more information and to buy tickets for all Live Theatre’s performances call Live Theatre’s box office on (0191) 232 1232 or see www.live.org.uk.
SONIA FRIEDMAN NAMED PRODUCER OF THE YEAR FOR SECOND YEAR RUNNING
Acclaimed West End and Broadway producer, Sonia Friedman, has been named Producer of the Year for the second year running at The Stage Awards 2016 held today (29 January) at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London.
It has been a remarkable year for Sonia, producing 19 productions over 2015, with hits includingHamletstarring Benedict Cumberbatch at The Barbican, the award winning and critically acclaimed Bend it Like Beckham and the multi award-winning Sunny Afternoon which won 4 Oliver Awards in 2015 including Best New Musical, Farinelli and the Kingstarring Mark RylanceandKing Charles IIIin the West End, on Broadway and on tour. This year Sonia will produce the highly anticipated Funny Girl starring Sheridan Smith at the Savoy Theatre and will collaborate with J.K. Rowling on the world premiere ofHarry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I and II, in co-production with Colin Callender.
Speaking at The Stage Awards 2016, Sonia said, “It is a real honour to be given this award for the second year in a row. It is testament to the extraordinary hard work of all my team and the brilliance of the creative people we have worked with that this has been given to me. I want to take this opportunity to thank them all for what they do. I would also like to thank The Stage and everyone who voted for me again this year.”
FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR THE KENNETH BRANAGH THEATRE COMPANY’S NEW COMEDY THE PAINKILLER
KENNETH BRANAGH AND ROB BRYDON WILL BE JOINED BY CLAUDIE BLAKLEY, MARCUS FRASER, MARK HADFIELD AND ALEX MACQUEEN
DIRECTED AND ADAPTED BY SEAN FOLEY, THE PAINKILLER WILL PLAY AT THE GARRICK FROM 5 MARCH UNTIL 30 APRIL 2016
It is announced today that Claudie Blakley, Marcus Fraser, Mark Hadfield and Alex Macqueenwill join previously confirmed cast members Kenneth Branagh and Rob Brydon in the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s new comedy The Painkiller. The fifth production in the Plays at the Garrick season will play from 5 March until 30 April with press night on 17 March.
Two men. Two lonely hotel rooms. An adjoining door…
One of them is a killer… one of them wants to die… What could possibly go wrong?
Sean Foley directs his darkly hilarious adaptation of Francis Veberʼs classic French farce as Kenneth Branagh and Rob Brydon reprise the roles they played to great acclaim at the Belfast’s Lyric Theatre inaugural season in this comic tour-de-force.
Sean Foley said: “The Painkiller proved to be a very funny evening in the theatre in its first incarnation at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast. I’m delighted to have the chance to further develop this comedy with the remarkable double act of Kenneth Branagh and Rob Brydon, who, together with the brilliant Mark Hadfield, were a joy to direct in the first production. I know that they are excited as I am to also be welcoming to our cast the extraordinary talents of Claudie Blakley, Marcus Fraser and Alex Macqueen, and we will all be working as hard as possible to bring this darkly hilarious farce to explosive life for London audiences.”
Claudie Blakley plays Michelle. Previous theatre credits include Rules for Living (National Theatre), Chimerica (Almeida / West End), Macbeth (Sheffield Crucible), Di and Viv and Rose(Hampstead Theatre), Comedy of Errors (RNT), The Cherry Orchard (National Theatre),Attempts on Her Life (National Theatre), Love and Money (Royal Exchange / Young Vic), King Lear (Sheffield Crucible), All’s Well That Ends Well (RSC), Kosher Harry (Royal Court), The Lady from the Sea (Almeida), Billy & the Crab Lady (Soho Theatre Company) and The Good Samaritan(Hampstead Theatre). In addition to her work on stage, Claudie has appeared on film in Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice, Gosford Park and Bright Star. Claudie’s television credits includeMidsomer Murders, Call the Midwife, Silent Witness, The Driver, What Remains, The Night Watch, New Tricks, Nativity, Blue Geranium, Larkrise to Candleford, Cranford Chronicles, Fallen Angel, Fear of Fanny, Vital Signs, Dirty Filthy Love and Inspector Linley Mysteries.
Marcus Fraser plays the Policeman. Marcus recently graduated from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. The Painkiller marks Marcus’ professional debut.
Mark Hadfield plays Vincent. He has previously appeared on stage in Matchbox Theatre(Hampstead Theatre), Made in Dagenham (Adelphi), Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense(Duke of York’s), Singing in the Rain (Palace), Uncle Vanya (Vaudeville), The Tempest (Bath Theatre Royal), The Painkiller (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell (Bath Theatre Royal), The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Talk of the City, The Seagull, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Twelfth Night (all Royal Shakespeare Company). In addition to his stage credits, Mark has appeared on television in From Cradle to the Grave, Trollied, Wallander, People Like Us, Doc Martin and Foyle’s War. His film credits include A Royal Night Out, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, In the Bleak Midwinter, Felicia’s Journey, A Cock and Bull Story and Hamlet.
Alex Macqueen plays Dent. Alex’s previous stage credits include Two Bears – A Response to Two Kings (Bush Theatre) and The Laws of War (Royal Court). He has previously appeared on screen in television in productions including Peaky Blinders, Together, Trying Again, Plebs, Black Mirror, This is England 88, Rock and Chips, Lewis, Come Fly With Me, Miranda, The Inbetweeners, The IT Crowd, The Thick of It, Lead Balloon, Pulling and Peep Show. In addition to his roles on television, Alex has also appeared on film in Slow West, Youth, Cinderella, The Inbetweeners 2, One Chance, Dare to be Wild, Fear of Water, I Give It A Year, Gambit, Jack The Giant Slayer, Keeping Mum, The Inbetweeners, Anuvahood, Chalet Girl, Four Lions and In The Loop.
The Winter’s Tale, Harlequinade / All On Her Own, Red Velvet, The Painkiller, Romeo and Juliet and The Entertainer make up the inaugural seven-play season of work for the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company. For more information and to buy theatre tickets for these productions please see www.branaghtheatre.com
The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, in partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment, will broadcast three productions of its year-long Plays at the Garrick season live to cinemas worldwide. Romeo and Juliet will be broadcast live on 7 July and a date for The Entertainer will be confirmed soon. Participating cinemas and encore screening dates for The Winter’s Tale can be found at branaghtheatrelive.com
LISTINGS INFORMATION
THE PAINKILLER 5 March 2016 – 30 April 2016
Captioned Performance: 22 March 7.30pm
Audio Described Performance: 29 March 7.30pm
Performances Monday – Saturday with 2.30pm matinee performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays excluding Wednesday matinees on 5 March, 6 April, 13 April, 20 April and 27 April.
No booking fees or transaction fees on any ticket booked direct through branaghtheatre.com, nimaxtheatres.com, direct telephone bookings at the Garrick Theatre and to personal callers at the Garrick Theatre.
TodayTix run a £15 Front Row Mobile Lottery via the TodayTix App for all productions of the inaugural Plays at the Garrick season. The Front Row Lottery will open from midnight for performances that day and close four hours prior to the chosen performance. Customers who share their entry via Twitter or Facebook will gain an additional entry into the Lottery. Every entrant has the potential of three entries per performance.
Theatre Twitter
@BranaghTheatre
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Search: Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company
PLAYS AT THE GARRICK
RED VELVET 23 January 2016 – 27 February 2016
Press performance: 1 February 7pm
Captioned performance: 9 February 7.30pm
Audio Described performance: 16 February 7.30pm
Performances Monday – Sunday with 2.30pm matinee performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
ROMEO AND JULIET 12 May 2016 – 13 August 2016
Press performance: 25 May 7pm
Captioned Performance: 31 May 7.30pm
Audio Described Performance: 7 June 7.30pm
Performances Monday – Saturday with 2.30pm matinee performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays excluding 14 May and 25 May.
Romeo and Juliet will be broadcast live to cinemas worldwide on 7 July 2016.
THE ENTERTAINER 20 August 2016 – 12 November 2016
Press performance: 30 August 7pm
Captioned Performance: 6 September 7.30pm
Audio Described Performance: 13 September 7.30pm
Performances Monday – Saturday with 2.30pm matinee performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays excluding 20 August.
Casting has been announced for the Music & Lyrics Limited and West Yorkshire Playhouse production of the much-loved Sherman Brothers musical CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG. The 2016-17 UK and Ireland tour begins at Mayflower Theatre, Southampton on 10 February 2016.
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Caractacus Potts will be played by Jason Manford (The Producers, Sweeney Todd) from 10 February until 24 April, and he will return to the show from 5 October 2016. Lee Mead (Casualty, Legally Blonde, Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat) will play Caractacus Potts from 4 May until 18 September 2016.
Martin Kemp (EastEnders, The Krays) will play the Childcatcher and Amy Griffiths (Everyman, Stephen Ward, The Pajama Game) will play Truly Scrumptious, both until 24 April 2016.
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CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG will also feature Phill Jupitus (The Producers, Hairspray) as Lord Scrumptious/Baron Bomburst until 24 April 2016, Michelle Collins (EastEnders, Coronation Street) as Baroness Bomburst, and Andy Hockley (The Phantom Of The Opera) as Grandpa Potts.
Ewen Cummins plays The Toymaker/Mr Coggins, with Sam Harrison as Boris and Scott Paige as Goran, and Kathryn Barnes, Rosanna Bates, Alex Louize Bird, Abigail Climer, Jade Davies, Matt Gillett, Ewan Gillies, Joanna Goodwin, Nathan Vaughan Harris, Christopher D Hunt, Paul Iveson, Nia Jermin, Kelsie-Rae Marshall, Mollie Melia-Redgrave, Perry O’Dea, Matt Overfield, Ross Russell, Craig Turner and Robert Wilkes.
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CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG has music and lyrics by Richard M Sherman and Robert B Sherman, who were also responsible for Mary Poppins, The Slipper and the Rose, The Aristocats and The Jungle Book. The Sherman Brothers have won two Academy Awards with a further nine nominations, two Grammy Awards and they have received 21 gold and platinum albums.
The film made from Ian Fleming’s classic story has been adapted for the stage by Jeremy Sams, based on the MGM Motion Picture Licensed Script adapted by Ray Roderick.
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This new production of CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG will be directed by West Yorkshire Playhouse Artistic Director James Brining, with new choreography by Stephen Mear. There will be a live orchestra with Musical Supervision by Stephen Ridley. Set and costume design is by Simon Higlett, lighting design is by Tim Mitchell, sound design is by Ben Harrison and video design is by Simon Wainwright.
There will be sensational sets and stunning special effects and, of course, the memorable score by the Sherman Brothers, which includes such standards as Truly Scrumptious, Toot Sweets, Hushabye Mountain and the Oscar-nominated title song Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
This production is presented by permission of JOSEF WEINBERGER LIMITED on behalf of MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL of New York.
CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG will open with a previously announced cast at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds on 2 December, with a national press night on Thursday 10 December, for a nine-week season finishing on 30 January 2016 prior to the new cast starting the UK and Ireland Tour. For more information, visit www.chittythemusical.co.uk
Facebook: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang The Musical
Twitter: @ChittyMusical / #chittymusical
LISTINGS INFORMATION for THE UK AND IRELAND TOUR
10–21 February Mayflower Theatre, Southampton www.mayflower.org.uk 02380 711811
24 February – 13 March Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin www.bordgaisenergytheatre.ie 0844 847 2455
16 – 27 March Grand Opera House, Belfast www.goh.co.uk/ 028 9024 1919
30 March – 9 April Regent Theatre, Stoke 0844 871 7649 www.atgtickets.com/venues/regent-theatre
Sonia Friedman crowned Producer of the Year for a second year running
44-seat theatre in Cardiff is first non-London winner of coveted Fringe Theatre of the Year
Royal Exchange, Manchester, wins Regional Theatre of the Year; Almeida’s Greeks help secure London Theatre of the Year
War Horse China rides away with International Award
The world’s oldest and best theatre publication, The Stage, has announced the winners of its annual The Stage Awards at a ceremony at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
Plaudits include a second Producer of the Year win for Sonia Friedman, who continues to dominate commercial theatre production with shows such as Hamlet at the Barbican, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, and the forthcoming Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
War Horse China was given the International Award for its collaborative effort and exchange of skills between the British and Chinese national theatres, while Manchester’s Royal Exchange and London’s Almeida walked away with silverware as top theatres regionally and in the capital respectively.
For the first time in the history of The Stage Awards, the Fringe Theatre of the Year category was taken by a non-London theatre, Cardiff’s 44-seat the Other Room. At the other end of the scale, the National Theatre’s juggernaut regeneration project, NT Future, secured it Theatre Building of the Year.
Arts Educational Schools London impressed the judges with its musical theatre output and for having a student nominated for an Olivier Award, earning it School of the Year.
Roger Miller, who almost single-handedly saved the Felixstowe Spa Pavilion Theatre using his own tools and time, was deservedly awarded the Unsung Hero award.
Alistair Smith, print editor of The Stage, said: “The Stage Awards are the only awards that recognise theatre at all scales and in all places, not just in the UK but across the world. Our winners come from London, Manchester, Cardiff and Felixstowe, but also China. Meanwhile, they range in scale from one of the world’s most high profile commercial producers – Sonia Friedman – to Roger Miller, a devoted stage manager who helped save his local theatre; from the National Theatre, the UK’s foremost publicly funded theatre, to Wales’s first, tiny, pub theatre, which seats only 44 people and receives no funding. It’s been another great 12 months, and another really tricky set of decisions for our judging panel, and I’d like to congratulate all our winners and shortlisted organisations.”
The Stage Awards, in association with RT Robertson Taylor W&P Longreach, were announced on January 29, 2016, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London.
The full list of winners is as follows:
Regional Theatre of the Year Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
London Theatre of the Year
Almeida Theatre
Fringe Theatre of the Year The Other Room, Cardiff
Producer of the Year
Sonia Friedman
School of the Year
Arts Educational Schools London
Theatre building of the Year
NT Future
International Award War Horse China
Unsung Hero
Roger Miller
About The Stage Awards The Stage Awards highlights the achievements by London, regional and fringe theatres as well as international achievements. Additionally there are categories for producer, theatre building and school of the year. The Stage also presents an award to an unsung hero for which there is no shortlist.
This year’s shortlist was compiled from hundreds of nominations received through the open public nomination process. In addition, for the first year ever, an industry focus group of 50 people steered the shortlist. The final cut was selected by a panel of senior editorial figures at The Stage and aims to celebrate the finest theatre achievements of the past year.
The judging panel included The Stage print editor Alistair Smith, online editor Paddy Smith, news editor Matthew Hemley, associate editor Mark Shenton and lead critic Natasha Tripney.
