Sia and J. Ralph’s new song ‘One Candle’ for Discovery Channel’s ‘Racing Extinction’

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DISCOVERY CHANNEL TO PREMIERE GLOBAL EXCLUSIVE OF ACADEMY AWARD® WINNER LOUIE PSIHOYOS’ “RACING EXTINCTION”

·         Oscar®-winning director of “THE COVE” presents gripping new film that exposes hidden world of endangered species

·         Film spans globe to infiltrate dangerous black markets and reveal shocking undercover footage of illegal animal trafficking 

·         High tech tactics document link between carbon emissions and species extinction

·         Findings prove man’s impact on the planet is driving sixth mass extinction

·         New campaign #StartWith1Thing created to encourage worldwide movement

 

TX: Wednesday 2nd December at 9pm on Discovery UK

 

This December, Discovery UK will premiere the captivating, groundbreaking and visually stunning film RACING EXTINCTION in a global exclusive event that will see the film aired in 220 countries in a 24 hour period.

 

In this highly-charged documentary, Oscar®-winning director Louie Psihoyos (THE COVE) fearlessly examines the epic loss of biodiversity our planet is currently witnessing. RACING EXTINCTION, which took five years in the making, and screened to critical acclaim at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, spans the globe from Argentina to China and from Mexico to Tonga, to expose how human actions are leading to a sixth mass species extinction.

 

Two worlds are driving extinction across the globe, with scientists predicting that the human footprint on the planet may cause the loss of half of the entire world’s species in the next 100 years. The international wildlife trade creates fraudulent markets at the expense of animals that have survived for millions of years. The other surrounds us, hiding in plain sight — a world that the oil and gas companies don’t want the rest of us to see. Using covert tactics and state-of-the-art technology, the RACING EXTINCTION team exposes these two worlds in an inspiring affirmation to preserve life as we know it.

 

In a race to save our planet, which is losing species at a rate not seen since a comet hit 65 million years ago, Louie Psihoyos and the group behind the Academy Award®-winning film THE COVE, assemble a team of artists and activists on a new undercover operation to expose the world of species trafficking. Spanning the globe to infiltrate the world’s most dangerous black markets, the team reveals the shocking facilities trading endangered animals and the scale at which they’re operating.

 

Covert cameras from Louie’s impassioned team reveal how they successfully manage to close down an LA-based restaurant for serving whale meat, while the team infiltrates one of the largest Chinese seafood wholesalers, where the roofs are packed with thousands of sun-drying shark fins. Figures show that 250,000 sharks are captured for exotic foods every day – a sobering thought for a species whose numbers are declining so rapidly.

 

The team also uses high tech tactics to document the link between carbon emissions and species extinction, revealing stunning, never-before seen images that truly change the way we see the world. In Los Angeles, they employ cutting-edge carbon-dioxide-sensitive cameras to demonstrate the sheer volume of man-made emissions, contrasting that with stunning footage of phosphorescent plankton, whose decline spells serious impact on global oxygen production.

 

With an inspiring message that aims to shine a spotlight on man’s impact on our planet and encourage dramatic change, RACING EXTINCTION highlights our indisputable impact on our natural world that is already causing irreparable damage and has resulted in many species dying out forever, even in the last 50 years.

 

“With the help of Discovery I believe we can create a tipping point to create the change we need to preserve a planet that can sustain life for all species,” said Louie Psihoyos, Director. “There has never been a more important time in the world than to be alive now — the decisions we make in the next few years will impact the Earth and animal species for millions of years.”

 

RACING EXTINCTION will be the catalyst for a larger, ongoing campaign utilising the hashtag#StartWith1Thing to serve as Discovery’s call to action to create a worldwide movement. Discovery will ignite curiosity and global actions that people can take in four areas: fighting wildlife trafficking, reducing carbon emissions through use of green energy/transport, supporting green causes, and eating less meat – all by starting with one thing.

International superstar Sia and Academy Award nominated composer, producer, singer/songwriter J. Ralph have created a brand new song ‘One Candle’ exclusively for the documentary, which can be found here: https://youtu.be/9FttNi9-S1E?list=PLdaQPFueLfa-PjPLYhDNXtVlFmY07va4e

On the subject of the new track Sia commented: “As an animal advocate, how could I pass up an opportunity to turn the volume up on this issue? I am proud to lend my voice to this important film.”

 

#StartWith1Thing

discoveryuk.com

 

Elf The Musical Review

Dominion Theatre  5 November – 2 January.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Wow! What a spectacular Christmas treat. Elf is just the tonic for miserable rainy days – go inside and have fun in the snow!

Based on the hit movie, the show tells the story of Buddy, the biggest elf in the North Pole, and what happens when he finally finds out that he is actually a human.

With book by Thomas Meehan (Hairspray, Annie) and Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone), music by Matthew Sklar (The Wedding Singer) and lyrics by Chad Beguelin (Aladdin, The Wedding Singer), you know that this is going to be a class act. As soon as Santa (Mark McKerracher) steps onto the stage (with the finest reminder of theatre etiquette I’ve seen), the magic begins.

The elves are a hoot – the longer they are on stage, the funnier their height becomes. Ben Forster’s Buddy almost makes you forget Will Ferrell. He is a bouncing snowball of childish innocence and enthusiasm, and his reactions to “bad” things are hysterical. And, of course, there’s THAT voice.

Buddy travels to New York and finds his father Walter’s (Joe McGann) office. Special mention to Jennie Dale here, who almost steals the show as Walter’s secretary Deb. After being thrown out of the office, and Macy’s (following a brilliant Christmas decorating scene), and being arrested, Buddy turns up at Walter’s apartment. After a DNA test Buddy suits up and goes to work with his dad – leading to the office workers discovering how to make it snow at their desks. McGann’s exasperation and deadpan delivery during these scenes is fantastic.

Kimberley Walsh really has very little to do as Jovie, Buddy’s new girlfriend, but what she does is great, especially when belting out “Never fall in love (with an elf)”. Jessica Martin and Ilan Galkoff, as Emily and Michael Hobbs, make a wonderful double act and are full of energy. I am sure Martin’s rapport with the other young actors sharing the role of Michael will be just as entertaining.

After ruining, then saving, Walter’s career, Buddy and his family find Santa’s sleigh crashed in Central Park – no one believes in Santa in New York, so the sleigh can’t fly. There is a lovely running joke about why he doesn’t use reindeer anymore. The scene where Buddy helps the people of New York find their Christmas spirit is gloriously cheesy and heartwarming, and Santa’s sleigh taking off is simply spectacular.

Everything in this musical is cosy, innocent and joyful. The choreography is quite traditional (in a good way) and is slick and very funny – just wait until the Santa’s dance! Sklar’s experience writing songs for Sesame Street is obvious in “A Christmas Song” – you will be singing it all the way home.

Elf is everything you could wish for at Christmas time – corny jokes, catchy songs, sweet romance and a happy sparkly ending. Perfect family entertainment.

Joanna Vanderham joins Andrew Scott in The Dazzle

Joanna Vanderham will join the previously announced Andrew Scott and David Dawson to complete the cast of The Dazzle, producers have announced today.

Vanderham, whose previous theatre credits include Othello (RSC) and The Promise (Donmar Warehouse), will play Milly in the UK premiere of Tony Award-winner Richard Greenberg’s play.

According to press materials, the play – which won an Outer Critics Circle Award when it opened in New York in 2000 – takes place in New York City at the beginning of the 20th Century. “Two brothers sit in their home surrounded by 136 tons of hoarded junk. When a beautiful guest arrives, everybody’s lives are thrown into sharp focus.”

The production – directed by Simon Evans – opens at FOUND111 on 15 December for a strictly limited season until 30 January 2016.

The Dazzle is a co-production between Michael Grandage Company and Emily Dobbs Productions and continues Grandage’s tradition of offering affordable access to his productions, with £10 ticket will be available for all performances.

FOUND111 is a new venture at ‪111 Charing Cross Road – the original site of the Central St Martins School of Art – launched by Emily Dobbs Productions and Rachel Edwards for Tooting Arts Club, whose production of Barbarians is currently running at the venue until 7 November.

The Dazzle opens at FOUND111 on 10 December.

War of the Worlds heading to the West End

Jeff Wayne’s musical version of War of the Worlds is to make its West End debut at the Dominion Theatre for a limited run from 8 February 2016.

The new production, produced by Bill Kenwright, features the iconic score played live and conducted on stage by Jeff Wayne. According to press materials the show will include ‘new music, star cast, and a full supporting company of performers – as well as video walls, the iconic Martian Fighting Machine, special effects and in 3D holography Liam Neeson as The Journalist.’

The show – based on HG Wells’ novel, first published in 1898 – played a national arena tour in 2014 starring Carrie Hope Fletcher, Jason Donovan, Brian McFadden and Shayne Ward. Casting for the Dominion production is yet to be announced.

BUSH THEATRE ANNOUNCES CASTING FOR ‘FORGET ME NOT’ BY TOM HOLLOWAY

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CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR ‘FORGET ME NOT’ BY TOM HOLLOWAY

  • Eleanor Bron returns to the stage after more than a decade, alongside Russell Floyd, Sarah Ridgeway and Sargon Yelda
  • New play about the transport of British orphans to Australia in the 1940s, 50s and 60s

The cast for the UK premiere production of FORGET ME NOT by Tom Holloway is announced today, the complete cast is Eleanor Bron, Russell Floyd, Sarah Ridgeway and Sargon Yelda.

The production, directed by HighTide Festival Theatre’s Artistic Director Steven Atkinson, previews from 08 December (press night 11 December).

FORGET ME NOT (8 December 2015 – 16 January 2016) by Tom Holloway is a co-production between the Bush Theatre and HighTide Festival Theatre.

Under an agreement between the British and Australian Governments, between 1945 and 1968, over three thousand British children were told they were orphans and sent to Australia on a promise of warmth, fresh air, abundant food and boundless opportunity. Instead they arrived to deprived institutions where neglect and abuse were the norm.

Tom Holloway’s tender new play unearths a secret buried by time that, in turn, exposes a world of historical injustices currently in the limelight. This European premiere reunites the Bush Theatre with HighTide Festival Theatre (Incognito by Nick Payne, 2014) and is directed by HighTide’s Artistic Director, Steven Atkinson.

Russell Floyd plays Gerry, Eleanor Bron plays Mary, Sarah Ridgeway plays Sally and Sargon Yelda plays Mark.

Eleanor Bron is well known for being the voice of Carol Tregorran in BBC Radio 4’s The Archers. Her major film credits include Ken Russell’s Women In Love, the children’s classic A Little Princess and the 2012 costume drama Hyde Park on Hudson. She has worked extensively in television and theatre. On stage she has appeared in The Late Middle Classes (Donmar Warehouse),  All About My Mother (Old Vic), The Miser, The White Devil, The Duchess of Malfiand The Cherry Orchard (all National Theatre).

Russell Floyd is best known to television viewers as Michael Rose in EastEnders and as D.C. Ken Drummond in The Bill. His theatre credits include Sir Courtly Nice (RSC), Going To A Party(National Theatre), The Importance Of Being Earnest (Oxford Playhouse), Privates On Parade(Westcliff Palace Theatre), Dracula (Hull Truck), Up And Under (Swansea Theatre Royal), Fit And Proper People (Soho Theatre), the title role in Hangman (Tristan Bates) and, most recently,Happy Birthday Sunita (Watford Palace Theatre and UK / International Tour). Other television credits include London’s Burning, Casualty, Doctors, Dream Team, Frank Stubbs Presents andThe Fridge.

Sarah Ridgeway’s theatre credits include: A Taste of Honey (Salisbury Playhouse), Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare’s Globe), Days of Significance, Titus Andronicus, Candide and A Mad World,My Masters (RSC), You Can’t Take it With You and The Acrington Pals (The Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester), Sucker Punch (The Royal Court), Twelfth Night (Regents Park Open Air Theatre), The Cherry Orchard (The Young Vic and Harrogate for HighTide Festival Theatre). Television credits include: Miss Marple, The Crimson Petal and The White, The Suspicions of Mister Whicher, Satisfaction, Call the Midwife, Dark Matters, The Making of a Lady and Holby City.

Sargon Yelda’s credits include Light Shining in Buckinghamshire and Dara (National Theatre),Teh Internet is Serious Business (Royal Court), Incognito (HighTide Festival Theatre/ Live Theatre/ Bush Theatre), Moby Dick & The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Simple 8/ Arcola Theatre),The Tempest, Twelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors (RSC), Emperor  & Galilean (RNT), Mother Courage and Her Children (RNT), When the Rain Stops Falling (Almeida), Stovepipe (RNT/Bush Theatre/Hightide) and Salt Meets Wound (Theatre  503).

Tom Holloway is an award-winning Australian playwright. Plays include Beyond the Neck(Performing Lines, Tasmania, 2008 – winner of the Australian Writers’ Guild award for Writing For The Stage), Don’t Say the Words (Griffin Theatre Company and Tasmania Theatre, 2008),Red Sky Morning (Red Stitch Actors Theatre, 2008 – Green Room Award for Best New Australian Play), And No More Shall We Part (In Australia, Griffin Theatre Company, 2011 Winner of the Australian Writers’ Guild for Writing for the Stage and the Louis Esson Victorian Premier’s Award for Literature, in the UK, Hampstead Theatre London and Traverse Theatre Edinburgh, 2012) and Love Me Tender (Company B Belvoir St/ Griffin Theatre Company and Thin Ice, 2009 & 2010), Gambling (Soho Theatre/ Eleanor Lloyd Productions, London 2010), Fatherland (The Gate Theatre, London 2011 and Munich Yung Og Radikal Festival), Forget Me Not (Co-commissioned by Liverpool Everyman and Belvoir Street Theatre and produced by Belvoir, 2013).

Steven Atkinson is the co-founder and Artistic Director of HighTide Festival Theatre. His directing for HighTide includes Lampedusa (Soho Theatre/HighTide Festival), peddling (Arcola Theatre/Off-Broadway/HighTide Festival), Pussy Riot: Hunger Strike (Bush Theatre/Southbank Centre), Neighbors (Nuffield Theatre/HighTide Festival), Bottleneck (Soho Theatre/UK tour), Clockwork, (HighTide Festival), Bethany (HighTide Festival/Public Theater, New York), Incoming (Latitude Festival/HighTide Festival), Dusk Rings A Bell (Watford Palace Theatre/HighTide Festival), Lidless (Trafalgar Studios/HighTide Festival), Muhmah (HighTide Festival), The Pitch (Latitude Festival). His other direction includes Three Card Trick (Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse), The Afghan and the Penguin (BBC Radio 4), Freedom Trilogy (Hull Truck Theatre) and Sexual Perversity in Chicago (Edinburgh Festival).

RADAR, the Bush’s festival of new writing, runs from 11-26 November. FORGET ME NOT will be followed by PINK MIST, the acclaimed Bristol Old Vic Production (21 January – 13 February 2016).

LISTINGS
08 December 2015 – 16 January 2016
FORGET ME NOT
By Tom Holloway

Press night 11 December, 7pm

Mon to Sat at 7.30pm
2.30pm Saturday matinees (from 19 December)
2.30pm Wednesday matinees (from 16 December)

Christmas performance schedule:
Monday 21 Dec 2.30pm
Monday 21 Dec 7.30pm
Tuesday 22 Dec 7.30pm
Wednesday 23 Dec 2.30pm
Wednesday 23 Dec 7.30pm
Monday 28 Dec 7.30pm
Tuesday 29 Dec 7.30pm
Wednesday 30 Dec 2.30pm
Wednesday 30 Dec 7.30pm
Thursday 31 Dec 2.30pm
Saturday 02 Jan 2.30pm
Saturday 02 Jan 7.30pm

BushGreen Live Debate: At a time of public inquiries into historic abuse, how do we maintain public trust in our institutions?
11 January, time tbc

Captioned performance 15 January, 7:30pm
Audio described performance 9 January, 2:30pm

Ticket prices:

Evenings: £20

  • £12.50 concessions (registered unemployed and disabled)
  • £15.50 for Senior Citizens
  • £12.50 for students/under 26s
  • 10% off for Bush Local members

Previews: £15.50

  • £10.50 concessions (registered unemployed and disabled)
  • £12.50 for Senior Citizens
  • £10.50 for students/under 26s
  • £12.50 for Bush Local members

Matinees: £15

  • £10.00 concessions (registered unemployed and disabled)
  • £10.00 for students/under 26s
  • £10.00 for Senior Citizens
  • 10% off for Bush Local members

Season Offers*

Season 3 for 2
See 3 shows for the price of 2. Valid for top price tickets only, shows must be purchased at the same time. Not valid for previews, matinees or RADAR.

Live or work locally – Join our free local membership scheme Bush Local for £12.50 preview tickets, 10% off all other performances and a 10% discount at the Cafe Bar. For more information and to become a member, visit bushtheatre.co.uk

Educational Groups – Schools tickets are £10 (matinees) and £12.50 (evenings), plus one teacher goes free with every 10 pupils. To reserve tickets, please call the Box Office between 12 – 8pm.

Bush Connect scheme – A free membership scheme for students and under 26s, BUSH CONNECT offers its members £10-£12.50 tickets for all Bush Theatre productions, a 10% discount at the Cafe Bar, special offers, giveaways and competitions, and exclusive events and networking opportunities.

Group Bookings – Book for a group of 11 or more people and the 11th person will go for free.

*Terms and conditions apply, see the Bush website for further information.

 

 

Jamie Lloyd to direct Uzo Aduba, Zawe Ashton and Laura Carmichael in ‘The Maids’

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Jamie Lloyd to direct Uzo Aduba, Zawe Ashton and Laura Carmichael in The Maids

  • Double Emmy Award winner Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black), Zawe Ashton (Fresh Meat, Not Safe For Work) and Laura Carmichael (Downton Abbey) will star in Jean Genet’s masterpiece
  • UK premiere of Benedict Andrews and Andrew Upton’s contemporary version of The Maids
  • From 20th February 2016 at Trafalgar Studios, London
  • Press previews from 25th February 2016 with Gala Night 29th February 2016
  • Tickets on sale at 10am on Tuesday 10th November

The Jamie Lloyd Company’s first production of 2016 will be the full-throttle UK premiere of a contemporary adaptation of Jean Genet’s powerful psycho-drama, The Maids, with an all-star cast – Uzo Aduba, Zawe Ashton and Laura Carmichael.

In a luxurious bedroom, two maids fantasise about killing their employer, playing out dangerous and sadistic scenarios as they plan her violent death.

An intense psychological thriller seething with unique theatricality and brimming with intrigue,The Maids is a vicious analysis of the class system, and a provocative exploration of gender and sexuality.

Uzo Aduba and Zawe Ashton will play the maids, Solange and Claire. Laura Carmichael will play Madam.

The production will be designed by Soutra Gilmour.

This translation, by Benedict Andrews and Andrew Upton, was first performed at Sydney Theatre Company in 2014. This will be the first time it has been seen in the UK.

The Jamie Lloyd Company’s 50th anniversary production of The Homecoming, starring Keith Allen, Gemma Chan, Ron Cook, Gary Kemp, John Macmillian and John Simm, opens at the Trafalgar Studios on 14th November.  Lloyd was this week nominated for the Evening Standard’s Milton Shulman Award for Best Director for Assassins at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

Uzo Aduba said, ‘I wanted to be a part of The Jamie Lloyd Company because they’re interested in doing exciting work that is new, with a twist to it. It’s work with a fresh edge. Jamie reinvents classic plays in a way that we’ve never seen before or have explored before. That’s exciting as an actor. To be part of a play that allows for three women to mine such complex characters inside of an already rich and thrilling story, is the stuff that acting dreams are made on

Zawe Ashton said, ‘Being a part of The Jamie Lloyd Company is an opportunity I’ve been coveting for a long time! Jamie and I are reuniting on this production, having worked together on Headlong’s production of Salome, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I’ve always been so excited by his vision as a director and to not only be collaborating with him but with two exquisite actors like Uzo and Laura on this fresh take on a classic text, is very juicy indeed. The Maids is one of my favourite ever plays and Jamie is one of my very favourite directors to work with. He’s assembled such a dynamic company in every aspect and I know we all feel very excited about this unique material continuing to widen the reach the Trafalgar has when it comes to bringing a diverse and dynamic audience in through its doors.’

Laura Carmichael said, ‘I’m really looking forward to working on The Maids. Jamie is such an exciting director. I love the way he tackles these classic plays. He has a clear vision and a passion to attract young audiences that I think is really cool. I’m also a big fan of Uzo and Zawe so am really excited to be working them.’

As with The Jamie Lloyd Company’s previous productions, all tickets for Monday performances will be £15. Half of these will be made available through a special outreach scheme, targeted at schools and first-time theatregoers. The other half will be released monthly to the public on the first day of each month, and will be available online or at the Trafalgar Studios box office.

LISTINGS

THE MAIDS
A THE JAMIE LLOYD COMPANY PRODUCTION
FROM 20TH FEBRUARY 2016

For priority information and seat releases follow us on:
Twitter @JamieLloydCo
Facebook /JamieLloydCo

ON SALE TO ATG THEATRECARD HOLDERS ON FRIDAY 6 NOVEMBER FROM 10AM AND GENERAL ON SALE ON TUESDAY 10 NOVEMBER FROM 10AM

Performances:                                       Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm
Thursday & Saturday at 2.30pm

                                                            THE MAIDS
                                                            Press previews from 25 Feb and Gala Night on 29 Feb at 7.00pm
Ticket prices:                                        £15 all tickets on Mondays
£29.50, £39.50, £52.50

Premium Seats Available

All tickets will be £15 on Mondays. Half of these will be made available through a special outreach scheme, targeted towards schools and first-time theatregoers. The other half will be released monthly to the public on the first day of each month and will be available online or at Trafalgar Studios box office.

Address:                                                Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall,
Westminster, SW1A 2DY
Box Office:                                            0844 871 7632
Website:                                                thejamielloydcompany.com
Facebook                                               facebook.com/JamieLloydCo
Twitter                                                  @JamieLloydCo
@UzoAduba
@ZaweAshton
@Carmichelle

The Jersey Boys, Ronan Keating and Beverley Knight in The Magic of Christmas Concert

The cast of the hit West End musical, The Jersey Boys are the latest performers to join the line-up in The Magic of Christmas  at the London Palladium at 7:30 pm on Sunday 29th November.

This evening features artists performing their classic hits and  favourite Christmas songs. The Magic of Christmas will be hosted by Boyzone’s Ronan Keating  with Best Male Brit Award winner James Morrison who returns following a four year hiatus, singer and West End leading lady Beverley Knight (who is currently starring in Cats the Musical as Grizabella) , 80’s pop singer Kim Wilde, British country duo The Shires, London born singer Andreya Triana and Britain’s Got Talent finalists Jack Pack.  All will be accompanied by a 12 piece band.

Cast announced for Howard Barker Double Bill at Arcola Theatre

The title role in The Twelfth Battle of Isonzo will be voiced by Nicholas Le Prevost in an immersive experience which will be audio described throughout, connecting the audience to the two blind characters in the play. Nicholas Le Prevost is best known for his film work, including Shakespeare in Love and A Very British Sex Scandal, his Olivier nominated performance in the Drury Lane production of My Fair Lady, and his numerous other stage credits, including Man and Superman opposite Ralph Fiennes at the National Theatre. Catherine Cusack will play the lead role in Judith: A Parting from the Body. Her previous roles include Carmel in Coronation Street, Frankie Sullivan in Ballykissangel, Sarah inFinding Neverland, and her stage credits include Dancing at Lughnasa and The Crucible at the Lyric Belfast, Trevor Nunn’s production of All That Fall on Broadway and in the West End, and Bingo at the Young Vic and Chichester Festival Theatre. The other actors have been announced as Liam Smith, Kristin Hutchinson and Emily Loomes.

A dynamic team of emerging creatives bring to life two thrilling plays by Howard Barker, “England’s greatest living dramatist” (The Times) at the Arcola, in a production colliding love, truth, sex and war. This Double Bill celebrates Barker’s characteristic poetic language and vivid imagination, uniting the timely revival of Judith: A Parting From The Body with the English premiere of tragicomedy The Twelfth Battle of Isonzo, which will be an immersive experience of the blindness that is described by the characters in the play. Creatives include director Robyn Winfield-Smith, who was Assistant Director to Erica Whyman on the RSC’s Hecuba and who received multiple Off-West End nominations for her critically acclaimed UK premiere production of Barker’s Lot and His God (2012), and designer Rosanna Vize, a finalist for the Linbury Prize for Stage Design (2013) and a graduate of the RSC’s resident assistant designer scheme.

With an immersive sound concept designed to connect the audience to the two blind characters, The Twelfth Battle of Isonzo is a battle of wits played out between the aged Isonzo and his youthful bride, Tenna, receiving its London premiere in the centennial year of the first battle of the Isonzo in WWI. Isonzo, witty and roguishly mischievous, is 100, and has outlived 11 wives. Tenna, beautiful and wise beyond her years, is 17, and has never been married before. And so commences the twelfth ‘battle’ of Isonzo, set within a sightless world on the day of their wedding, in which bride and groom each discover that the other is far more of a match than they had bargained for. Nicholas Le Prevost, the Olivier Award nominated actor who returns to the Arcola following his critically acclaimed performance in last year’s The Rivals, will voice the part of Isonzo.

Isonzo, a fearlessly imaginative and controversial one-act play, is the motivating force behind an access programme including the Arcola’s first ever touch tour and audio described theatre performance, along with participatory events reaching out to people with little or no experience of theatre, or who may face obstacles in accessing theatre opportunities.

Robyn Winfield-Smith said, “Isonzo, which features two blind characters, has long been the motivating force for our attached access programme. We have now extended this idea into the heart of our creative vision for the production: in order to fully explore the literal and metaphorical blindnesses experienced by the characters onstage, we are combining live action with an immersive three-dimensional soundscape to present a thrilling performance in which the audience will pass through different degrees of sightedness during the volatile battle of wits between the characters.

Brilliantly, this means that Nicholas Le Prevost, who has been with this project since its inception in 2012, will be able to star as Isonzo in this gripping two-hander, whilst simultaneously performing live on the RSC’s Swan stage in Stratford! These two plays are by turns light, dark, wickedly entertaining and breathtakingly resonant with global events. The playfully imaginative and seductively charming unreality of Isonzo makes for a thrilling contrast to the all-too-grim reality of Judith, set in a Middle Eastern battlefield and brimming with political potency.

Judith: A Parting from the Body radically reimagines the mythic tale of Judith and Holofernes with searing political topicality in the wake of the ongoing violence and instability in the middle east. Judith, an Israeli widow, infiltrates the enemy camp alongside her apparently back-chatting Servant to seduce and kill the Assyrian general, Holofernes, and save her country from invasion. But nothing is as it seems, and soon we become entangled in a gripping double-seduction: a web of truth and lies between a man who has chosen murder, and a woman who has chosen love, culminating in the transformation of Judith into the very thing she has set out to destroy.

World renowned playwright Howard Barker is one of the key players in modern theatre, notorious for his challenging, unsettling and exposing writing style. Considered the enfant terrible of the theatre scene, his extensive career stretches from 1970 when his first play Cheek was staged at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. His works have been staged at the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Open Space Theatre, Sheffield Crucible, the Almeida, the National Theatre, which staged a 5-star, extended run of Scenes from an Execution (2012) and the Print Room which staged Robyn Winfield-Smith’s critically acclaimed UK premiere of Lot and his God. Winfield’s-Smith’s workshop production of Judith (2011) was described by Barker as ‘dynamic, intensely-imagined and chilling’. He is currently Artistic Director of The Wrestling School, formed in 1992, a company established to disseminate his works and develop his ‘Theatre of Catastrophe’ theory. A widely celebrated dramatist, he has written more than 80 plays, with 27 of his works staged in six languages in 17 countries as diverse as Canada, New Zealand and Slovenia in the last three years. He is the author of plays for marionettes, two works of theory, and five volumes of poetry and has written three librettos for opera. He is also an admired painter with works held in national collections at the V&A, London and in Europe.

@RENDproduction | #BarkerDoubleBill | www.facebook.com/HowardBarkerDoubleBill
@arcola theatre | #ArcolaWinter | www.arcolatheatre.com/
Running Time: 120 minutes plus 15-minute interval | Suitable for ages 16+
Company Information
Directed by Robyn Winfield-Smith Written by Howard Barker
Produced by Rosalyn Newbery Designed by Rosanna Vize
Lighting by Christopher Nairne Sound by Iain Armstrong
Musical direction by Gregory Batsleer Movement Director Lawrence Carmichael

Cast
The Twelfth Battle of Isonzo
Isonzo (voice) Nicholas Le Prevost Tenna Emily Loomes Stage Directions read by Liam Smith
Judith: A Parting from the Body
Judith – Catherine Cusack, Holofernes – Liam Smith, The Servant – Kristin Hutchinson

Listings information
Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street, London, E8 3DL
November 25th 2015 – December 19th 2015
https://www.arcolatheatre.com/

Casting announced for Legally Blonde The Musical

Winner of three Olivier Awards including ‘Best New Musical’, Legally Blonde The Musical is an all-singing, all-dancing romantic comedy. The show follows the story of sorority president Elle Woods as she crosses the country on a mission to find love at Harvard Law School.

Reviving the role of Paulette is JODIE JACOBS whose West End credits include Regina in the original cast of ROCK OF AGES and who recently appeared in the Kilworth House production of LEGALLY BLONDE.

Recent graduate ABBIE CHAMBERS will be playing the lead role of Elle.

Playing Warner is ROBERT COLVIN who has just completed a UK tour of JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOUR DREAMCOAT. Emmett will be played by ROSS BARNES who was Leo Frank in the London Theatre Workshop production of PARADE; and taking on the role of Professor Callahan is HUGH OSBORNE who has recently returned from playing Max in the international tour of THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Also in the cast are SUZIE ARIES, AIMEE BARRETT, ADAM CROSSLEY, LILY DE-LA-HAYE, CHRIS DURTNAL, EMMA INGRAM, and SCOTT NORTON.

Director – John Plews
Musical Director – Matt Abrams
Choreographer – Anthony Whiteman
Lighting Designer – Sam Waddington
Designer – Isobel Power Smith
Costume Supervisor – Yasmin Kaberry
Sound Designer – Jon Raper
Casting – Harry Blumenau

PRODUCED by KATIE PLEWS for OVATION

Listings Information
Upstairs At The Gatehouse
HIGHGATE VILLAGE, LONDON N6 4BD
Box Office: 020 8340 3488
http://www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com/

Performances:
Tuesday – Saturdays at 7.30pm
Sunday Matinees at 4.00pm
Extra Performances:
Mon 21st December – 7.30pm
Mon 28th December – 7.30pm
Tue 29th December – 3.00pm
Wed 30th December – 3.00pm
Thur31st December – 3.00pm
Sat 2nd January – 3.00pm
No shows Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Mondays in January

New images for ELF The Musical London

New video footage for the London premiere of ELF The Musical, ahead of tonight’s Gala performance in aid of Alzheimer’s Society at the Dominion Theatre London.

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The lastest production images for the London premiere of ELF starring Ben Forster, Kimberley Walsh, Joe McGann and Jessica Martin which is running at the Dominion Theatre until 2nd January, 2016. The Gala Opening Night is on Thursday 5th November which is in aid of Alzheimer’s Society. ELF is based on the 2003 New Line Cinema hit starring Will Ferrell and features a book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin, with songs by Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin.
LISTINGS INFORMATION
24 October 2015 to 2 January 2016
Dominion Theatre
268-269 Tottenham Court Road
London W1T 7AQ

 

Performances: Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm*, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2.30pm**
*7.00pm on Thursday 5 November, no evening performance Thursday 24, Friday 25, Saturday 26, Thursday 31 December & Friday 1 January
**extra 2.30pm matinees on Thursday 29 October, and, in December, on Monday 21st, Tuesday 22nd, Thursday 24th, Monday 28th, Tuesday 29th & Thursday 31st
www.elfthemusical.co.uk / www.dominiontheatre.com
Running Time: 2 hours 25 minutes (including interval)