Ronni Ancona joins Justin Fletcher in The Tale of Mr Tumble at Manchester International Festival

Casting is today announced for the world premiere of The Tale of Mr Tumble at Manchester International Festival this July.

Justin Fletcher, known to millions as CBeebies Mr Tumble, will be joined by Ronni Ancona as Miss Eerie. Other cast members will include Samuel Buttery, Samantha Dorrance, Connor Elliott, Lizzie Franks, Tom Mackley, Nicholas McLean, Samuel Parker, Katia Sartini, Kai Savage and Ben Stock. The company will be joined on stage by a Makaton signing choir who will perform alongside their hero Mr Tumble.

The Tale of Mr Tumble will be a funny, engaging and visually exciting show that will give children the chance to see Mr Tumble live and up close as he and his family share some of their fondest memories.

Audiences will find out how he became the joyful entertainer familiar to so many, following his journey from bouncing baby Tumble (with his bright red nose already in place), through his singing and dancing school years, right up to the present day.

Mr Tumble will be joined by his friends and family including Grandpa Tumble and introducing Tootsie. Featuring songs new and old, there will be plenty of opportunities for audience participation in this high energy event.

MIF Creative, the Festival’s creative learning programme, is working with primary schools across Manchester to find and develop our Makaton signing choirs. Over the whole run, 400 local children will appear onstage with pre-school idol Mr Tumble, sharing their Makaton skills with each other and our audiences. Makaton is the specialist communication language that Mr Tumble and Something Special have done so much to popularise.

Written by Will Brenton, with design by Hayley Grindle, The Tale of Mr Tumble will be a real opportunity to step inside the colourful world of one of our most cherished TV characters.

Justin Fletcher is a presenter and actor widely known for his long-running character as CBeebies’ Mr Tumble.  On-screen his appearances for CBeebies include Justin’s House, Timmy Time, Gigglebiz and hit show Something Special, celebrated for being one of the only entertainment programmes to span mainstream and Special Education Needs audiences successfully. He recently provided the voice for Shaun in the movie Shaun the Sheep.  His recent arena tour of Justin & Friends: Mr Tumble’s Circus played to packed crowds across the UK.  Justin has been awarded the BAFTA Children’s Award for Best Presenter on three occasions as well as being made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2008.

Award-winning actress Ronni Ancona is well known for her work on-screen in television programmes such as Last Tango in Halifax, The TripSkins, Steven Poliakoff’s Gideon’s Daughter and the BAFTA winning The Big Impression in which she appeared with Alistair McGowan for several series. She makes regular appearances on the popular comedy panel show QI and was a guest presenter on Have I Got News For You. She recently appeared in Alecky Blythe’s Little Revolution at the Almeida Theatre, other theatre appearances include Singin’ in the Rain with Adam Cooper (Sadler’s Wells) and The Hypochondriac (Almeida). Film credits include Penelope, Stella Street – The Movie and The Calcium Kid. Ronni has won the British Comedy Award and the Variety Club Award for Best Actress and was also awarded a BAFTA for her work on The Sketch Show with Lee Mack.

Commissioned by MIF Creative. Produced by Manchester International Festival.
Supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust and MIF Creative Circle.  In association with CBeebies.

LISTINGS

THE TALE OF MR TUMBLE
OPERA HOUSE MANCHESTER, 3 QUAY STREET, M3 3HP
14 PERFORMANCES, 11 – 19 JULY 2015
PRESS PERFORMANCE: 11 JULY 2PM

All children’s tickets £12
Adults £18.25 – £26.25
Concessions £5 off
Schools £8.50 / Teachers are free
£12 tickets for Greater Manchester residents on a lower wage, available on a first come first served honest basis
Babes In Arms up to 18 months are welcome. For children over 18 month tickets must be purchased.

Box Office:
mif.co.uk | 0844 871 7654

Community Cast prepare for opening night

COMMUNITY CAST TELL THE STORY OF THE RAILWAY KING

Back in April, York Theatre Royal announced that George Costigan, recognised for his roles in Rita, Sue and Bob Too, Calendar Girls, Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter,and BBC’s Happy Valley, would be playing George Hudson, dubbed The Railway King, in the York Theatre Royal, National Railway Museum and Pilot Theatre production of In Fog and Falling Snow, a major theatrical event that opens in York on 26 June. Over 200 people have been cast to star alongside the professional, all of whom are volunteering.

It’s a huge undertaking with 80 Front of House volunteers, 50 costume making volunteers, 50 choir members, 30 technical volunteers and 30 photographers. Despite hours of rehearsals life continues as normal outside the rehearsal room. Here, we announce some of the cast members and reveal what they’re doing when not learning lines or going for costume fittings:

The show follows in the footsteps of the huge success of the 2012 York Mystery Plays and 2013’s Blood + Chocolate. Telling a pivotal story in the city’s history, audiences will be taken on a journey through the museum’s collections after hours before being seated in the purpose built Signal Box Theatre for the second half. It is directed by York Theatre Royal’s Artistic Director Damian Cruden, Associate Director Juliet Forster and Pilot Theatre’s Katie Posner.

The opening scene sees George Hudson and George Stephenson reminiscing about their successes and ideas. Stephenson is played by Ian Giles, who audiences will recognise from his roles in previous community productions, Two Planks and a Passion, York Mystery Plays 2012, and Blood + Chocolate. When he isn’t acting Ian is Head of Film Studies at Queen Margaret’s School. He said of the experience of being in a community production in York;

It’s the ultimate in team work, you’re working with 200 like-minded individuals with another 300 or so backstage and the camaraderie between everyone is fantastic. The professional infrastructure that comes with the projects is a gift – from the stage design to the professional actors who are cast alongside community members, and I’ve no doubt In Fog and Falling Snow will be just as epic.

Kane Hutchinson is playing Jimmy Gadd, who becomes embroiled in the almost fantastical scheme of getting rich by buying railway shares. Kane is studying for an Extended Diploma at York College as well as working part time and hopes to progress to drama school or university. Kane says of the experience;

Considering some of the scenes can feature up to one hundred different and wholly unique characters, the show is quite the spectacle. Working with such a wonderful cast, almost entirely composed of members of the community, is a personal highlight for me.

Playing his brother Edward Gadd is Jeremy Brown. Edward is a working class man who comes into some money, and then gambles it away on railway shares. Although acting in this production he’s looking to study Film and TV Design at university.

Their aspirations to move into the creative arts in the future are shared by co-stars Olivia Ledden, a drama student at York College and Charlotte Wood, who studies Theatre Studies, English Literature, Politics and Dance at All Saints Sixth Form. The girls are sharing the role of George Jenkins, the daughter of a train driver who disguises herself as a boy to work on the railways. For Olivia, this is the first time she has taken part in a community production, having recently moved to York. Charlotte took part in Blood + Chocolate and says of her experience in this year’s production:

It’s not every day you have to play a boy and a girl and it can be emotionally challenging at times, but I am loving rehearsals.

Stephanie Wood is playing the girls’ mother, Martha Jenkins. She is a trained actor, attending Birmingham School of Acting but hadn’t worked as an actor for a long time after taking a break to have children and working as a school administrator. After many nights picking up her children from the York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre, Stephanie heard about the opportunity to get involved in the 2013 production Blood + Chocolate. The show sold out before opening and the experience meant Stephanie jumped at the chance to take part in this year’s production. Her on stage husband Albert Jenkins, is played by Paul Osbourne. Paul is also a trained actor who divides his time between acting and working for an environmental charity.

Playing George Hudson’s wife, Elizabeth, alongside George Costigan, is Rosy Rowley. A mum of four daughters, who are all also taking part in the production, Rosy is a children’s entertainer, and a part-time taxi driver. Her out-going personality also makes her the ideal volunteer for Childline, for whom she goes into schools to help children learn about staying safe and being happy.

Playing Hudson’s arch nemesis, George Leeman, is Rory Mulvihill. He has taken part in over 80 productions including previous York Theatre Royal community productions. A solicitor for over 30 years, Rory is now studying an MA (Theatre) at the University of York.

The production opens on Friday 26 June and runs until Saturday 11 July in the Signal Box Theatre at the National Railway Museum. Tickets for the production are on sale now from the York Theatre Royal Box Office, located on St Leonards Place in the De Grey Rooms, by calling 01904 623568 or online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Boys of the Barricade

96935The ‘worlds first musical super group’, Boys of the Barricade, have announced their debut concert at the Charing Cross Theatre on Sunday 26th July at 7pm.

Featuring stars of Les Misèrables from productions in the West End, Broadway, International Tour and the 2012 film, the group is the brainchild of Les Misèrables alumni Scott Garnham and Simon Schofield.

Talking about the group, Garnham said: “I’m really excited to finally share Boys of the Barricade with the world. It’s something I’ve been working on for over a year now and the response has already been unbelievable! We appeared on The Paul O’Grady Showlast month and we’ve done a few high profile corporate events but this will be our first full concert.”

The show will feature a selection of everyone’s favourite showtunes combined with music from some of the most iconic names in the music industry, from ballads and operatic arias to pop, rock and swing numbers.

The line-up for the 26th will include Craig Mather, Kieran Brown, Andy Coxon, Simon Schofiels and James Charlton with special guest appearances by Simon Bailey, Scott Garnham and a few surprises.

Tickets for the concert are now on sale here.

Darlington Civic Theatre Heritage Tour

TAKE A LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES AT DARLINGTON CIVIC THEATRE

On Monday June 22 Darlington Civic Theatre is opening the doors for an exciting and informative look behind the scenes with a special Heritage Tour.

Theatres are amazing spaces, especially old ones. As soon as you walk in to any auditorium you feel the warmth and history of the hundreds or thousands of stars who have appeared on the stage, you can almost hear the echo of applause ringing around the building, the atmosphere of anticipation of the production you are about to see is almost tangible.

Imagine, then, the opportunity to get a glimpse behind the scenes – the areas you never get to see as a member of the audience. Stand in the wings and imagine your next big entrance in front of a sell-out audience, get the view of the theatre every actor gets when they walk on stage for the first time, see the technical areas and offices. Add to that the history of secret apartments, the dressing rooms (some of which are known to be haunted) and you have an exciting and informative tour of one of Darlington’s most wonderful and historic buildings.

See Darlington Civic theatre as you have never seen it before.

The Darlington Civic Theatre Heritage Tour will take place on Monday 22 June at 7pm. Tickets are priced £5

To book contact the Box Office on 01325 486 555

Mötley Crüe

Motley Crue PR Image(1)WITH SPECIAL GUEST ALICE COOPER

METRO RADIO ARENA, NEWCASTLE

MONDAY 2ND NOVEMBER 2015

One of the most legendary and iconic rock bands to ever grace the world of music, Mötley Crüe, have made their last tour announcement ever today when they revealed the cities of their Final European Tour to take place this November. The European dates are part of the band’s 2-year ‘Final Tour’ cycle that will culminate at Staples Center on December 31st in the band’s hometown of Los Angeles, CA for their final show ever.

At a press conference in London hosted by Matt Everitt of BBC6 Music today, the band gathered in front of European media from 12 countries and announced the tour dates demanded by none other than their fans. Leading up to today’s announcement, Mötley Crüe gave the fans an opportunity to voice their thoughts and vote on which European cities they would like to see the band play. An

overwhelming 500,000 fans in 18 European countries shared their messages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #DemandtheCrue and could track the progress of the conversation via a heat map that was updated daily at: Motley.com/DemandTheCrue

The November tour dates will be the ultimate farewell to the European continent as Mötley Crüe will be bringing over their biggest production and pyro show to date including Nikki Sixx’s flame throwing bass and Tommy Lee’s “Crüecifly” drum coaster, as well as the “Crüesnest” where fans can sit with the band up close and personal during the grand finale of the show.

Speaking on their final ever European tour announcement, bassist Nikki Sixx said “We’re excited to come back to Europe with all the songs, bells and whistles and say goodbye during The Final Tour to the greatest fans in rock n roll.”

After thirty-four years performing together, the 2015 leg of the Final Tour includes shows all across the globe. Mötley Crüe have just finished a tour of Australia and New Zealand in May for their last ever shows there after concluding their final Japan run this past February. The band are currently saying farewell to the European festival circuit having just laid waste to Sweden Rock Festival this past weekend and with two massive performances coming up this weekend at Novarock Festival in Austria and at Download in the UK before taking their can’t-miss show back to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Mötley Crüe first announced plans for their two year Final Tour by signing a Cessation Of Touring Agreement at a press conference in Los Angeles in January 2014, solidifying the end of their touring career for December 2015. Since the announcement the band has been touring tirelessly to say goodbye to fans around the world.

The 2014 leg of the Final Tour was one of last year’s top grossing tours, selling close to a million tickets across 72 cities and grossing more than $45 million. “Mötley Crüe’s Final Tour has been a massive global success and a true testament to the popularity of this legendary rock band,” says Rick Franks, Live Nation’s Regional President of North American Concerts. “New Year’s Eve 2015 will mark the end of an era in rock history but there’s no doubt that Mötley Crüe’s music will influence generations of artists for years to come.”

Audiences can also expect a high-energy performance from very special guest Alice Cooper*, who already joined the band for the Final Tour in 2014. He will be tearing up the stage once again on most 2015 dates. The pairing has been roundly praised as a must-see by fans and media alike.

Tickets costing £40.00 & £45.00 will go on sale 10.00am Friday 19th June 2015 and are available online, from the booking hotline number 0844 493 6666 or in person from the Metro Radio Arena Box Office.

Tickets are available from:-

Credit Card Booking and Information Line 0844 493 6666

The Metro Radio Arena Newcastle Box Office (Mon – Fri: 10.00am 4.00pm, Sat: 11.00am – 2.30pm)

Internet Site:- www.metroradioarena.co.uk

Group Bookers should call (0191) 260 6006

Accessible Bookings should call (0191) 260 6066 for further details

 

Tricycle Theatre Announce New Season

With The Father enjoying a sell-out run at the Tricycle, and her latest production due to open at the National Theatre, Artistic Director of the Tricycle, Indhu Rubasingham, today announces the company’s new season.
The season opens with a month of comedy – the return of the brilliant voices of Mark Thomasand Sean Hughes, with the Tricycle debut of rising talent Shazia Mirza. These performances are complemented by a short run of Ravi and Asha Jain’s A Brimful of Asha, fresh from a world tour.
The centrepiece of the season is the world première of A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes – a new adaptation of Molière’s Tartuffe. This wicked comedy sees Rubasingham continue her collaboration with the award-winning American playwright Marcus Gardley following the success of The House That Will Not Stand in 2014.
This Christmas, the team behind the award-winning The 39 Steps bring their production of Ben Hur, based on General Lew Wallace’s timeless classic, to the Tricycle stage. Also at Christmas Tamsin Waley-Cohen returns with her candlelit classical music concerts.
Also announced today is the Tricycle’s new writer development programme – NW6. Over the coming year, NW6 will support five writers – Hassan AbdulrazzakZodwa NyoniChino OdimbaSam Potter and Francis Turnly – to develop their long-term careers and creativity, helping them to progress onto larger stages.
Indhu Rubasingham said today, “I am thrilled to announce the Tricycle’s new season – a combination of brilliant voices, some new, and some returning. We start with comedy – Mark Thomas, Sean Hughes and Shazia Mirza in their own shows, as well as Ravi and Asha Jain’s A Brimful of Asha.
“I am very happy to be working again with playwright Marcus Gardley on A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes – a wickedly original take on Molière’s Tartuffe, and at Christmas, we look forward to the team behind The 39 Steps producing their own special version of Ben Hur.
“We are also proud to launch our new writer’s development programme – NW6, which will see five selected writers work with us over the coming year. This is a vital programme for us here at the Tricycle, because as well as providing a home for these talented writers and supporting the next stage of their careers, we will also be inspired and influenced by them.”
MARK THOMAS – BRAVO FIGARO!
2 – 5 September
Presented by Lakin McCarthy
Bravo Figaro! is the true tale of a self-employed builder’s love of opera, his battle with degenerative illness and how to put opera on in a bungalow in Bournemouth.
It sees comedian and writer Mark Thomas bring to the stage a poignant and personal tale about his relationship with his father, which plunders the operatic themes of family, love, death and art. Thomas’s father was a self-employed builder with a passion for Verdi, Rossini, Puccini and Mozart. But when he is diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, his life begins to crumble. As his father’s illness progresses, Thomas stages a concert to try to connect with him through music.
Award-winning comedian Mark Thomas returns to the Tricycle Theatre. This follows a string of other performances at the venue in recent years, including Cuckooed, The Manifesto and Extreme Rambling (Walking the Wall). For television, his work includes Saturday Zoo and The Mark Thomas Comedy Product, as well as several Dispatches – all for Channel Four.
Listings:
Eves: 7.30pm; Sat mat: 3pm
Wed & Thu: £18 (£15 conc)
Fri + Sat: £22 (£18 conc)
Sat matinee: £15
Age guideline 14+
Evenings: Mark Thomas Warm up + Bravo Figaro!
Matinee: Bravo Figaro!
The Tricycle Theatre and Richard Jordan Productions present
A Why Not Theatre production
A BRIMFUL OF ASHA
Written and performed by Ravi and Asha Jain
8 – 19 September
Directed by Ravi Jain; Set Design by Julie Fox
Lighting and Video Design by Beth Kates (Playground Studios)
‘You don’t get to choose any member of your family. Why do you need to choose your wife?’ 
Asha Jain
In this hilarious show from Ravi Jain, the director of Complicite Creative Learning’s Like Mother, Like Daughter, real life mother and son Asha and Ravi Jain share the stage to tell this true story of generational and cultural clash.
When Ravi takes a trip to India, his parents decide it is the perfect time to introduce him to potential brides. Ravi is not sold on the idea of getting married — at least not yet — but Asha fears that time is running out.
A Brimful of Asha comes to the UK following a world tour, which has included sell-out runs in theatres across North America.
Ravi Jain is a multi-award-winning actor, director, producer, educator, arts-activist and Artistic Director of Why Not Theatre. His acting credits include the Dora Award-winning SPENT(Theatre Smith-Gilmour/Why Not Theatre/TheatreRUN) and A Brimful of Asha (Why Not Theatre/Tarragon). He was the 2010 Urjo Kareda Resident Artist at Tarragon when he began to develop A Brimful of Asha. His company was in residence at the Theatre Centre when he developed I’m So Close (winner of Spotlight Award at SummerWorks 2009, and toured to Dublin and Vancouver). His directing credits for Why Not include The Prince Hamlet, I’m So Close, A Brimful of Asha, Greenland (winner of NOW Audience Choice Award and Best Production SummerWorks ’09), Iceland (winner of NOW Audience Choice Award and Best New Play SummerWorks ’12). Currently, he is among 12 resident artists at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts and was a member of the DiverseCity Fellows program, which aims to diversify leadership across sectors in Toronto. He is engaged in many different arts organizations and creations across the city and the globe, including the programming committee for the Daniels Spectrum as well as the Artist Advisory Committee for ArtReach Toronto. He was recently awarded the 2012 Pauline McGibbon Award and is the Artistic Director-in-Residence at the Theatre Centre for 2013.
Asha Jain grew up in New Delhi, India. Upon completion of her Master’s Degree, she married in 1974, which led to her immigration to Canada. While supporting her husband Ramesh in the founding of his own business, she raised two boys, Anurag and Ravi, as well as becoming an accomplished comedic actor.
Listings:
Mon – Sat at 7.30pm; Sat mat at 3pm
Tickets: £14 – £20 (£12 – £18 conc)
Suitable for ages 14+
SEAN HUGHES – MUMBO JUMBO
Presented by RBM
22, 23, 29 & 30 September
Award-winning comedian Sean Hughes returns to the Tricycle with a new show, Mumbo Jumbo. Throughout his life Sean has been battling to stay on the right side of sanity. This is because in middle age he has realised that the two sides of his brain are in constant conflict. There is common sense against mumbo jumbo and mumbo jumbo seems to have the upper hand. The show consists of stories including being serenaded at the break of dawn by Robert Smith, trekking mountain gorillas in Rwanda and coming to the conclusion that he will never have a proper conversation with his dear mum.  There will be a few poems and a 3-minute musical about ageing too.
The multi-talented Sean Hughes has many TV and radio credits to his name including writing and starring in the cult favourite Sean’s Show (Channel 4), and a long stint as team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks (BBC2). As an actor he has had numerous starring roles in TV shows such as The Last Detective, he appeared  in Coronation Street as Eileen’s love interest Pat Stanaway, Alan Parker’s film The Commitments, the film adaptation of Spike Milligan’s Puckoonand performed on the West End stage in As You Like It with Sienna Miller. He has also hosted his own show on BBC 6 Music. He has written two collections of prose and poetry including, Sean’s Book. He also wrote two critically acclaimed best-selling novels The Detainees and It’s What He Would Have Wanted. In 2013, Hughes started a podcast Off the Radar.
Listings:
Eves at 7.30pm
Tickets: £20/£18
Suitable for ages 15+
SHAZIA MIRZA – NEW WORK
24, 25, 26 September & 1, 2, 3 October
My mum can’t find me anyone to marry. My friend Matthew who is a gay, politically correct social worker, looks at me with great concern and says, “You’re not thinking of becoming a Jihadi Bride are you?” Would I do that? I mean the weather in Britain isn’t great, and the sunsets and landscape in Syria are mean to be very romantic… I’d get a husband, wouldn’t have to work, and would definitely get a place in heaven. Yes I’d miss my hair straighteners and hot pants, but that’s a small price to pay.
Shazia Mirza is an award-winning comedian and columnist. She has performed her stand-up shows across the world – from the Edinburgh Fringe to Texas, USA to Dubai and Kosovo. She has performed extensively across Europe. Her shows include The Last Temptation of Shazia Mirza and Portrait Of Shazia Mirza. She also appeared in The Vagina Monologues (Royal Albert Hall). She has appeared on Have I Got News For You, a regular panellist on The Wright Stuff, The World Stands Up, and Last Comic Standing. She was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy, and won the GG2 Young Achiever of the Year Award and also Woman of the Year.  She has written
for the Guardian for many years and currently has a new weekly column in their Weekend magazine entitled Diary of a Disappointing Daughter.
Listings:
Performances at 7.30pm
Tickets: £20/£18
Age Guidance: 15+
A Tricycle Theatre Production
A WOLF IN SNAKESKIN SHOES
By Marcus Gardley
8 October – 14 November
Press Night:  14 October at 7pm
Directed by Indhu Rubasingham; Designed by Tom Piper; Lighting Design by Paul Anderson
Multi-award winning American playwright Marcus Gardley returns to the Tricycle Theatre with the world première of A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes, following the critically-acclaimed The House That Will Not Stand in 2014. This fresh adaptation of Molière’s Tartuffe is a wicked new comedy set in a world of millionaires and mega-churches that rocks the foundations of trust, faith and redemption.
Given just days to live, multi-millionaire Archibald Organdy rejects costly experimental treatment and opts to face his end surrounded by his loving family. His fate sealed, Archibald awaits his day of reckoning. But things could be about to change.
Arriving in Atlanta from the deep, deep South, flamboyant Archbishop Tardimus Toof, a prophet, preacher and part-time masseur promises to absolve Archibald’s sins and heal his disease. But his family suspect there’s more to this devout healer than faith, virtue and snakeskin shoes…
Marcus Gardley was awarded the 2011 PEN/Laura Pels Award for a Mid-Career Playwright. His work for the stage includes The House That Will Not StandEvery Tongue Confess, On The Levee, And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi, (L)imitations of Life and like sun fallin’ in the mouth. He is the recipient of a Helen Merrill Award, a Kesselring Honor, the Gerbode Emerging Playwright Award, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre Award, the Eugene O’Neill Memorial Scholarship, and the ASCAP Cole Porter Award.
Indhu Rubasingham, Artistic Director of the Tricycle Theatre, directs. For the company, her work includes MultitudesThe House That Will Not StandHandbagged (also Vaudeville Theatre – Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre), Red Velvet (also New York – Evening Standard Award and Critics’ Circle Award), Paper Dolls, Women, Power And Politics, Stones In His Pockets, Detaining Justice, The Great Game: Afghanistan, Fabulation, and Starstruck. Her other theatre work includes The Motherf**ker With the Hat, The Waiting Room (National Theatre),  Belong, Disconnect, Free Outgoing, Lift Off, Clubland, The Crutch, Sugar Mummies (Royal Court), Ruined (Almeida Theatre), Yellowman, Anna In The Tropics(Hampstead Theatre), The Ramayana (National Theatre/ Birmingham Rep), and Secret Rapture, The Misanthrope, Romeo and Juliet (Chichester Festival Theatre). In 2012 Rubasingham was awarded the Arts & Culture Award at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards for ‘astounding achievements in theatre’. She also received the Carlton Multi-Cultural Achievement Award for Performing Arts and in 2010 she jointly received the Liberty Human Rights Arts Award for The Great Game: Afghanistan.  She was previously Associate Director of the Gate Theatre, Birmingham Rep and the Young Vic.
Listings:
Eves: 7.30pm; Mats: Wed 2pm (from 21 October), Sat 3pm (from 17 October)
Audio Described performance; Thursday 5th November at 7.30pm, with a touch tour at 6.00pm
Captioned performance: Tuesday 10 November, 7.30pm
Pricing: £12 – £28
Concessions available on all performances
£10 Trike Tickets for under 26s
Suitable for ages 14+
The Tricycle Theatre in association with Fiery Angel and The Watermill Theatre present
BEN HUR
Written by Patrick Barlow
Based on the novel by General ‘Lew’ Wallace   
19 November 2015 – 9 January 2016
Press night: 24 November at 7pm
Directed by Tim Carroll
They said it was unachievable!
They said it couldn’t be done!
But now the team behind the Olivier and Tony Award-winning comedy The 39 Steps are back with a sensational, awe-inspiring and unforgettable staging of General Lew Wallace’s timeless classic Ben Hur.
The greatest book ever penned is brought to the stage by a towering team of just four actors, turning the Tricycle stage into one of the most authentic versions of ancient Rome ever seen. Complete with stunning combat (featuring the latest 3D technology), a 103% bona fide chariot race (with REAL CHARIOTS), an authentic sea battle (with REAL WATER) and a decadent and UNEXPURGATED Roman orgy (suitable for all ages), Ben Hur is the perfect winter tonicguaranteed to stir your very soul.
Patrick Barlow returns to the Tricycle where his adaptation of The 39 Steps opened in 2006 and in the same year transferred to the Criterion Theatre where it plays to this day. In 2007, it transferred to Broadway and has since played in over thirty-nine countries world-wide. He won an Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, while in the United States, he co-won the Drama Desk Award and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. It won a Molière Award for Best Comedy in France, a Helpmann award for Best Comedy in Australia. Last year he won the accolade of being the most performed playwright in America. His other recent theatre writing includes a five-person Christmas Carol which opened off-Broadway in November 2013. Barlow is perhaps most renowned for his two-man National Theatre of Brent, which he created in 1980, and in which he plays Artistic Director and Chief Executive Desmond Olivier Dingle. The company’s legendary two-man epics have been performed on stage, radio and television and include The Charge of the Light Brigade, Zulu! The Black Hole of Calcutta, Wagner’s Ring Cycle, The Messiah, The Wonder of Sex, French Revolution!, Massive Landmarks of the Twentieth Century, The Complete and Utter History of the Mona Lisa, The Charles and Diana Story, The Arts and How They was Done, Iconic Icons and most recently, Giant Ladies Who Changed the World. They have won two Sonys, a Premier Ondas and New York Festival Award for Best Comedy. His other writing for film and television includes The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, Christopher Columbus, Queen of the East, The Judgment of Paris, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?, Van Gogh and The Young Visiters.
Tim Carroll began his career with the English Shakespeare Company before becoming Associate Director at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter. Since 1995 he has directed plays for theatres all over Britain, including Engaged (Orange Tree, Richmond), Gasping (Gateway Theatre, Chester) and Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me (Salisbury Playhouse). As Associate Director of Shakespeare’s Globe in London, his work includes Peter Oswald’s Augustine’s OakThe Two Noble KinsmenMacbeth, Richard II (winner of the Jujamcyn Award), Dido, Queen of Carthage, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest and The Storm. In 2002 he directed The Golden Assand Twelfth Night – the latter won Evening StandardTime Out, Critics’ Circle and Olivier Awards, and in 2003 was revived for a record-breaking run at the Globe, followed by a tour of the United States. In 2012, he returned to Shakespeare’s Globe to direct Richard III and Twelfth Night. The two shows then transferred to the West End for a record-breaking run at the Apollo, and went on in 2013/14 to play at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway, where they also broke box-office records, as well as winning Outer Critics’ Circle, Drama Desk and Tony awards. His other work spans the world, The Tempest (Teatro Sao Luiz), Peer Gynt (Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lincoln Center, Royal Festival Hall, Middle Temple Hall, and also broadcast on BBC TV and radio), The Merchant of Venice (RSC), The Mystae(Hampstead Theatre), King John (Stratford Festival, Ontario), as well as work for his own company The Factory.
Listings:
Eves: 7.30pm; Matinees: Wed 2pm (from 2 Dec), Sat 3pm (from 28 Nov)
Dates vary during Christmas holidays and New Year, check website for full schedule
Captioned performance:  Monday 21 December, 7.30pm
Audio Described performance: Tuesday 5th January, 7.30pm with a touch tour at 6pm
Tickets: £12 – £28
Concessions available for all performances
£10 Trike Tickets for under 26s. See website for details.
TAMSIN WALEY-COHEN 
CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERTS
Tamsin Waley-Cohen and friends
Bach’s Goldberg Variations by Candlelight
Arranged for string trio by Sitkovetsky
20 December at 3pm & 7pm
Having programmed a series of atmospheric Sunday night concerts at the Tricycle in 2012, 2013, 2014 and most recently in 2015 to complement the runs of The Father and La Traviata, violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen returns with another intimate evening of chamber music. Here, under candlelight, Waley-Cohen and friends present some of the greatest and most enduring music ever written.
Tamsin Waley-Cohen performs as a soloist with orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of St John’s, London Concert Orchestra and London Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Swan, and the Brighton Philharmonic, under conductors including Andrew Litton, Jose Serebrier, Shlomo Mintz and Nicolae Moldoveanu. She has played at the Cadogan, Queen Elizabeth and Barbican halls in London, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Bridgewater Hall Manchester, and in venues across the UK and the Continent.
Listings:
Tickets: £16, £10, £8
Concessions available on all performances
UP FRONT COMEDY
Upfront Comedy present Eddie Nestor with Slim, Maureen Younger and Shabba
4 October at 7.30pm
Hosted by BBC Radio London’s Eddie Nestor (The Real McCoy, Paddington The Movie), introducing former Brixton bus driver turned people’s comedy champion Slim, the multilingual & twisted Scottish Londoner Maureen Younger and newcomer going places Shabba.
Upfront Comedy present John Simmit with Curtis Walker, Thanyia Moore and Kevin J
1 November at 7.30pm
Sardonic comedian turned Teletubbie John Simmit (aka Dipsy) introduces comedy’s don Curtis Walker, award-winning new girl Thanyia Moore and Tottenham geezer Kevin J.
Listings:
£15/£12 concession
Early bird: £10 book before 20 Sep and quote EARLYBIRD
Age Guidance: 16+
NW6: NEW WRITING IN NW6
Also announced today is the Tricycle’s new writer development programme – NW6.
Over the coming year, NW6 will support five writers to develop their long-term careers and creativity, helping them to progress onto larger stages. Each of the chosen writers – Hassan AbdulrazzakZodwa NyoniChino OdimbaSam Potter and Francis Turnly (supported through the Channel 4 Playwrights’ scheme)- will be challenged to write an ambitious new play, benefit from professional workshops and the crucial financial support they need to write, bridging the mid-career gap between studio theatres and larger stages such as the company’s 232-seat theatre.
Through scale of opportunity, commitment to talent and telling human stories without borders, NW6 will ensure a rich range of perspectives in British drama now, and for the future.
TRICYCLE THEATRE                                                                          LISTINGS
269 Kilburn High Road, London NW6 7JR
Box office: 020 7328 1000
www.tricycle.co.uk
PRIORITY BOOKING FROM Tuesday 9 June at 11am
PUBLIC BOOKING FROM Thursday 11 June at 11am
Concessions
Registered Disabled, Individual Students, Registered Unemployed and Brent Residents, £2 off Full Price in all zones.
Over 60s: £2 off matinees for selected shows.
Under 26 – Trike
Trike is the Tricycle Theatre’s free membership scheme for under 26s. Trike members have access to £10 theatre tickets available on a great range of productions; £5 Cinema tickets Mon – Thurs for standard film screenings and invitations to exclusive member events. (ID will be required on collection. Advanced booking only. Limited offer. Subject to availability)

Star of Olivier Award-winning hit The Railway Children presents £335,000 to charity

railway-children-charity280Comedian and actor Sean Hughes, who plays station master Mr Perks in the King’s Cross Theatre production of The Railway Children, was on hand to present a cheque for £335,000 to the children’s charity Railway Children, an amount which has been raised by the theatre production since its West End debut in 2010.

The cheque presentation took place at Waterloo Station on 4 June 2015 marking the charity’s 20th anniversary. Sean Hughes, who took over the role of Mr Perks in the stage adaptation of the classic tale earlier this year, presented the cheque to David Maidment, the founder of the charity, which has been fighting for street children around the world since 1995.

£1 from the price of every ticket sold since 2010 has been donated to the charity. This means the audience from one night has fed four children three meals a day for a whole year in India or given 67 children in East Africa all the equipment they need to go to school, including shoes, uniforms and books.

Terina Keene, the charity’s Chief Executive, said: “I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who took part for their dedication towards raising such an amazing amount to help some of the world’s most vulnerable children. We have been thrilled to work with the show’s producers and wonderful cast and crew, who made this fantastic achievement possible.”

Sean Hughes, who stars in The Railway Children, said: “We are so proud of the money raised, and what we and our audiences over the last five years have achieved. We hope this donation will make a valuable contribution to enable the Railway Children charity to carry on their incredible work.”

There are an estimated 100 million street children worldwide, many running away from abuse, violence and poverty. Since the charity’s launch in 1995, Railway Children has helped 205,000 street children in India, more than 54,000 in East Africa, and 204,250 in the UK through its preventative education schools programme.

For more information about Railway Children, go to https://www.railwaychildren.org.uk

For more information about the King’s Cross Theatre production of The Railway Children, go tohttp://railwaychildrenlondon.com

About Railway Children

Railway Children is a leading children’s charity fighting for vulnerable children who live alone at risk on the streets, where they suffer abuse and exploitation. In the UK, society often denies their existence, and in other countries the problem is so prevalent that it has become ‘normal’.

Children and young people run away or are forced to leave home where they suffer poverty, violence, abuse and neglect. They find themselves living on the streets because there is nowhere else to go and no one left to turn to. The problems they face on the streets are often even worse than those they endured at home. Every day we fight to change their story.

Railway Children race to reach children as soon as they arrive on the streets and intervene before an abuser can. Our pioneering work in the UK, India and East Africa enables us to get to street children before the streets get to them.

Twitter: www.twitter.com/railwaychildren

Facebook: www.facebook.com/railwaychildren

YouTube: www.youtube.com/railwaychildren

THERE ARE SOME DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS HEADING TO LEEDS!

STARRING MICHAEL PRAED, NOEL SULLIVAN, CARLEY STENSON AND MARK BENTON

download (3)Direct from London’s West End, where it ran for a year to rave reviews, packed houses and was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Choreography, the hit musical DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS is coming to Leeds.

 

Based on the legendary 1988 film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Michael Caine and Steve Martin the comedy-musical is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Tuesday 30th June to Saturday 4th July.

Starring Michael Praed (Robin of Sherwood), Noel Sullivan (Hear’Say, We Will Rock You), Carly Stenson (Hollyoaks, Spamalot, Shrek) and Mark Benton (Waterloo Road, Doctor Who, Hairspray), audiences will be transported to the luxurious lap of the French Riviera where the decadent world of sophisticated conman Lawrence Jamieson (Praed) is set to come crashing down with the arrival of larger-than-life Freddy Benson (Sullivan) – a conman of an entirely different order. 

 

Soon realising the town ain’t big enough for the both of them, the two find themselves going head to head in the con of their lives, pulling out all of the stops in a bid for the affections of millionaire soap heiress Christine Colgate (Stenson).  Little do they know what they’ve let themselves in for.

 

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Tuesday 30th June to Saturday 4th July

 

Tickets are on sale now at £25

 

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

 

Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2015

Almost two thousand entries received before last Friday’s deadline

Theatre writers across Britain of all levels of experience submitted a total of 1,938 scripts for the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting – the second highest tally in the Prize’s history. The judges will announce this year’s winner at an award ceremony at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, on 17 November 2015.

The deadline for entries to the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 10th anniversary competition passed on Friday 5 June. Writers of all levels of experience were invited to enter plays, which must be original, unperformed and unproduced. The winner will receive a prize of £16,000 and a full production of their play at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. The competition, which runs every two years, is a unique partnership between the Royal Exchange Theatre and property company Bruntwood.

Two of 2013’s winners – YEN by Anna Jordan, and THE ROLLING STONE by Chris Urch – received their critically acclaimed world premieres at the Royal Exchange this year.

The judging panel for this year’s prize is chaired by Nicholas Hytner, former Artistic Director of the National Theatre. The full judging panel is as follows:

  • Nicholas Hytner (former Artistic Director, National Theatre)
  • Sarah Frankcom (Artistic Director, Royal Exchange Theatre)
  • Vivienne Franzmann (playwright and former Bruntwood winner)
  • Ramin Gray (Artistic Director, Actors Touring Company)
  • Bryony Lavery (playwright)
  • Michael Oglesby CBE (Chairman, Bruntwood)
  • Miranda Sawyer (writer and broadcaster)
  • Meera Syal CBE (actor and writer).

The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting is open to writers in the UK and Ireland aged 16 and over.

The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting is Britain’s biggest playwriting competition.  This round marks the 10th anniversary of the Prize, which has supported the development and productions of a significant number of playwrights since its inception in 2005.  17 playwrights have been awarded a total of £160,000.  There have been fifteen critically acclaimed productions of winning entries, as well as a number of productions of plays elsewhere that were identified through the judging process.

Over 10,000 entries have been generated from across the United Kingdom and winning playwrights have gone on to have work produced at the Royal Court Theatre, Almeida Theatre, on Broadway and in the West End.  It is a significant investment in playwrights and support for new work on stage.  More information about the Prize can be found at www.writeaplay.co.uk/about.

PRIMETIME: NEW PLAYS BY CHILDREN SHOWCASED AT THE ROYAL COURT

By Lola Clark, Jared Blue Gale, Lily Habibyan, Zed Levy, Zoë Milne, Yaseen Mohamed, Daniel Santangelo and Maia Settecasi.

directed by Debbie Hannan
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Saturday 18 July – Saturday 25 July

The Royal Court Theatre will tour a series of short plays written by children between the ages of eight and eleven to 15 schools in London boroughs before being performed in the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, from 18 to 25 July.

The Primetime plays were written by primary school children aged eight to 11 from Hammersmith & Fulham, Haringey, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.

The Primetime plays will tour to Alperton, Ealing, Walthamstow, Dagenham, Wembley, Beckton, Harlesden, Ilford, Crayford and Pinner.

They were developed in Autumn 2014 during a six-week playwriting workshop at the Royal Court led by playwrights Vivienne Franzman (Mogadishu, Pests, The Witness) and Nessah Muthy (Gastronauts, Beastie).

 

Primetime is designed by Ruta Irbite with sound by George Dennis.

 

The craziest plays written by the littlest writers are taking over the Royal Court this summer.

Get ready for intergalactic rap battles, time traveling Ninjas and shapeshifting cats in an explosion of adventure and fun for the whole family.

 

Primetime is directed by past trainee director for the Royal Court Debbie Hannan.

 

The Royal Court has also commissioned free family workshops to take place alongside the production with the aim of introducing young people to playwriting.

This is the third time the Royal Court has taken a production to schools. In 2013 with Suhayla El-Bushra’s play Pigeons and the last Primetime to 15 Primary Schools in 2014.

Primetime is supported by John Lyon’s Charity, The Mercers’ Company, The Haberdashers’ Company, Ernest Cook Trust, John Thaw Foundation, Royal Victoria Hall Foundation and The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust.

The Primetime plays to be performed will be:

Chicken Wings in Space by Yaseen Mohamed (aged 11)

The Human Monster by Lola Clark (aged 9)

The Lady Bird by Daniel Santangelo (aged 10)

The Ice Cream That Never Melts by Zoë Milne (aged 9)

Lost by Zed Levy (aged 9)

Grampa Ninja and the Lost World by Jared Blue Gale (aged 10)

I Want Money!!!! By Maia Settecasi (aged 10)

The Adventures of Ms Vennily by Lily Habibyan (aged 9)

Family writing workshops are free but bookable in advance, available online www.royalcourttheatre.com or 0207 565 5000

Debbie Hannan was a previous trainee director at the Royal Court. For the Royal Court her directing credits include Who Cares (as Co-Director) and Peckham The Soap Opera. As Assistant Director for the Royal Court her credits include How To Hold Your Breath, Teh Internet is Serious Business, The Nether, Primetime 2014, Birdland and The Mistress Contract. Other directing credits include Notes from the Underground (Citizens Theatre), Panorama, Roses Are Dead, You Cannot Call it Love (The Arches), Yellow Pears (Swept Up) and Grimm Tales, Nights at the Circus (Theatre Paradok).

Listings Information:

Primetime

By Lola Clark, Jared Blue Gale, Lily Habibyan, Zed Levy, Zoë Milne, Yaseen Mohamed, Daniel Santangelo and Maia Settecasi.

directed by Debbie Hannan

Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Sat 18 – Sat 25 Jul

Wednesday to Saturday 3pm

Friday & Saturday 6pm
Tickets £10 Adult, £5 Children, £10 Child ticket and meal deal

Age guidance 7+

Family writing workshops are free but bookable in advance, available online www.royalcourttheatre.com or 0207 565 5000