Grand Opera House, York – until 11th February 2023
Reviewed by Aimee Forsyth
5*****
It is 1912 and the Birling family are in the middle of celebrating the engagement of Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft, when they are interrupted by a mysterious visitor. Inspector Goole is investigating the tragic death of a young woman named Eva Smith who killed herself by drinking disinfectant. The family are, of course, horrified by this story of self-destruction but initially confused as to why the Inspector has come to see them. What follows is a difficult and unpleasant investigation from the wise Inspector who reveals how each member of the Birling family contributed to the chain of events that lead to Eva Smith’s suicide.
This classic thriller by J B Priestly is a commentary on England in the early 1900s but you could say that the themes are still as relevant today as they were when it was first performed in 1945. In his play Priestly seems mainly concerned with the idea of social responsibility but he also touches on important political topics such as the class divide, the inequality of women and the ability for the younger generations to adapt and change in response to tragedy. What could seem old fashioned and outdated is definitely brought into the 21st century by the clever direction of Stephen Daldry and his assistant Charlotte Peters.
Ian MacNeil’s award-winning set design for ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a sight to behold. The play opens up on a scene of Victorian England with a full collection of special effects including rain water, smoke, haze and war sirens created by the extremely talented technical crew. The audience are outside the Birling family’s home and we can hear them and see them through the windows. The whole play is centred around this house and it opens up and closes seamlessly throughout the production. The real beauty, however, is in how the house unfolds bit by bit as the Birling family’s secrets unfold and we learn more about their involvement in Eva Smith’s death.
The costumes also transform throughout the show and each character looks more and more dishevelled as the Inspector pulls them apart piece by piece. Costume supervisor Caroline McCall and her assistant Megan Doyle have done a magnificent job in tying the costumes in with the development of the plot.
The acting talent of the whole cast is something to be commended but special mention should go to Liam Brennan for his portrayal of Inspector Goole. He plays the role with the correct level of calmness and authority and brings a sense of humour as he mocks the ridiculousness of the Birling family. Chloe Orrock also deserves special praise for her characterisation of Sheila Birling. She starts off showing us an insolent and spoilt girl and ends up showing us a changed woman who knows that she must be better and do better in the future for herself and others.
This play has been running for decades and it’s not getting old. PW productions have brought the play into the present and it’s as chilling and captivating as always. We have the English GCSE syllabus to thank for keeping ‘An Inspector Calls’ on our stages but it’s production teams like this one that keep the classics relevant, suitable and exciting for our younger generations
PLUMBER TURNED ACTOR SAVES GALA NIGHT PERFORMANCE OF THE BARN THEATRE’S
AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS
The gala night performance of the Barn Theatre in Cirencester’s Built by Barn production of Toby Hulse’s fast paced and playfully comic adaptation of Jules Verne’s epic adventure novel Around the World in Eighty Days was saved on the 1st February when James El-Sharawy, a builder turned actor, who plays ‘Passepartout’ and other characters in the production stepped into the breach whilst delivering his lines off stage.
Around twenty minutes before the end of the show on the 1st February, a radiator became dislodged from the wall of the theatre when one of the cast members accidentally collided with it whilst pushing a trolley off stage. Water began spewing from the severed pipe, and further chaos was prevented by the quick thinking of the Barn’s backstage management team as they sought to stem the flow of water with towels and anything else to hand.
Unbeknownst to the team, James El-Sharawy is a builder when he’s not taking to the stage. Seeing the catastrophe unfold, he rushed to wings and while delivering his lines off stage proceeded to stem the flow of water by isolating the radiator pipe.
Adam Elliot as Phileas Fogg and Evangeline Dickson as Fix of the Yard continued to play out the story, and minutes later James re-emerged stage side without missing a beat.
Heralded on the night by the various reviewers and audience alike as, “one of the funniest productions ever staged at the Barn,” it’s a show that Holby City and Casualty TV star Jason Durr also described as “an absolute must see.”
Around the World in Eighty Days, which runs at the award-winning Cotswolds venue until 11th March, is directed by Joseph O’Malley, who previously directed the Barn Theatre’s productions of The Hound of the Baskervilles, The 39 Steps and Ben Hur.
In the great Victorian Age, it is clearly impossible to go around the world in eighty days, and only an idiot would try it. It is also clearly impossible to tell this story with only three actors, but these idiots are going to take us all on a breath-taking roller-coaster ride around the world; filled with thrills and adventure, and no short order of panache, in a Built By Barn version of a rollicking, side splitting, laugh a minute, adaptation. Maybe, through the power of human invention and a bit of Barn ingenuity, they might just pull it off.
The production opens the Barn Theatre’s 2023 Season which also includes the first stage adaptation of Morpurgo’s 1990 Carnegie Medal shortlisted novel Waiting for Anya (27th March – 5th May), a new staging of Noël Coward’s comedy of manners Private Lives (15th May – 24th June), a revival of the Tony and Olivier award-winning musical Once (3rd July – 12th August), the world premiere of Richard Hough and Ben Morales Frost’s new musical Sin: A New Musical of Revenge (18th August – 16th September) and the premiere of Alan Pollock’s festive adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story Treasure Island (20th November – 6th January).
More information can be found at barntheatre.org.uk
THREE-TIME OLIVIER AWARD NOMINATED ACTRESS KATHERINE KINGSLEY JOINS
FELICITY KENDAL, JONATHAN COY, MATTHEW KELLY, ALEXANDER HANSON, JOSEPH MILLSON, SASHA FROST, HUBERT BURTON, PEPTER LUNKUSE IN THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY PRODUCTION OF MICHAEL FRAYN’S BELOVED COMEDY NOISES OFF
DIRECTED BY LINDSAY POSNER
LONDON’S PHOENIX THEATRE UNTIL 11 MARCH 2023
Michael Frayn’s multi award-winning farce Noises Off continues its highly praised and critically acclaimed run at the West End’s Phoenix Theatre until 11 March 2023.
Credit: Johan Persson
From Monday 13 February 2023, West End star and three-time Olivier Award-winning actress Katherine Kingsley (Piaf, Singin’ in the Rain, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) will play Belinda Blair. She takes over the role from Tracey-Ann Oberman who’s final performance in Noises Off will be on Saturday 11 February before opening in her own production of The Merchant of Venice 1936, later this month.
Kingsley joins Felicity Kendal as Dotty Otley, Jonathan Coy as Fredrick Fellows, Matthew Kelly as Selsdon Mowbray, Alexander Hanson as Lloyd Dallas, Joseph Millson as Garry Lejeune, Sasha Frost as Brooke Ashton, Hubert Burton asTim Allgood and Pepter Lunkuse as Poppy Norton-Taylor.
This celebrated 40th Anniversary production directed by Lindsay Posner (God of Carnage, Hay Fever, Stones in his Pockets) opened at Theatre Royal Bath last autumn before touringto Richmond, Brighton and Cambridge. It opened at the West End’s Phoenix Theatre on 19 January 2023.
One of the greatest British comedies ever written, Michael Frayn’s celebrated play serves up a riotous double bill – a play within a play. Hurtling along at breakneck speed, Noises Offfollows the on and off-stage antics of a touring theatre company as they stumble their way through the fictional farce, Nothing On. From the shambolic final rehearsals before opening night in Weston-super-Mare, to a disastrous matinee in Ashton-Under-Lyme seen entirely, and hilariously silently, from backstage, before we share their final, brilliantly catastrophic performance in Stockton-on-Tees.
After watching from the wings a production of his 1970 farce The Two of Us with Richard Briers and Lynn Redgrave and noting that the goings on behind the scenes were funnier than out front, Michael Frayn wrote Noises Off. The original production opened in London in 1982 before becoming a worldwide hit. A feature film was made of Noises Off in 1992.
Noises Off is written by Michael Frayn. The creative team for this 40th Anniversary production includes Lindsay Posner (Director), Simon Higlett (Designer), Paul Pyant (Lighting Designer), Greg Clarke (Sound Designer), Will Stuart (Composer), Ruth Cooper-Brown (Movement and Fight Director), George Jibson (Associate Director), Ginny Schiller (Casting Director).
Fisherman’s Friends is a musical based on the true story of the Cornish singing sensations and the 2019 hit film by Nick Moorcroft, Meg Leonard and Piers Ashworth. The musical is set in the Cornish town of Port Isaac and tells the story of a group of Cornish Fishermen who sang traditional Shanty songs in the pub which is the heart and soul of the community. The Fishermen are spotted by an out of work music Manager from London, Danny Anderson, (played by Jason Langley) who promises them fame and fortune. After being found out to have lied about the music deal and initially being turned down the Fisherman’s Friends ended the story performing on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. The story shows the importance of friendship and community.
Forget dazzling costumes and fancy sets; the costumes and set are basic but this musical doesn’t need any of that as it is all about the singing and music and it certainly more than ticked all the boxes.
I hadn’t heard of Fisherman’s Friends and was going with no pre-conceptions and an open mind. From the very beginning you felt a part of this show and my foot was tapping along to the beat of the songs and I certainly felt like I was in the pub with them.
Alywyn was played by Parisa Shahmir and what can I say other than wow wow wow. She was absolutely amazing her vocals were without fault and her performance was natural and effortless.
James Gaddas who some may recognise from TV shows (Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale to name a few) played the part of Jim, Alywyn’s dad, Robert Duncan – Jago, Susan Penhaligon – Maggie and Dan Buckley – Rowan all performed their parts brilliantly.
The songs were catchy and everyone looked like they were enjoying being part of the performance. When the men all sang together it really was out of this world.
The addition of the musicians on the stage really added to the setting of the scene in the pub. The musicians were all very talented, some even playing more than one instrument during the show.
There were points of laughter and then sadness and each type of emotion was felt by the audience.
I would definitely recommend that you go to see this show as you will not be disappointed.
NEW BOOKING PERIOD ANNOUNCED FOR THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY’S MATILDA THE MUSICAL AS THE SHOW WINS ITS 101st AWARD AND TAKES PART IN BBC1 ‘BIG NIGHT OF THE MUSICALS’ ON 27 FEBRUARY 2023.
THE AWARD-WINNING MUSICAL HAS EXTENDED BOOKING TO 26 MAY 2024.
THE TWO-TIME BAFTA NOMINATED NETFLIX FILM OF THE SAME NAME WILL BE RELEASED DIGITALLY ON 8 FEBRUARY AND WILL BE COMING TO NETFLIX UK THIS SUMMER.
The Royal Shakespeare Company is delighted to announce that the multi-award-winning production of Matilda The Musical is now booking through to 26 May 2024 with tickets for the new dates now on sale at www.matildathemusical.com
A tonic for audiences of all ages, this anarchic production about a strong and determined heroine with a vivid imagination has now won 101 international awards including 24 for Best Musical. On 27 February 2023, the cast of Matilda The Musical will perform at BBC Big Night of the Musicals at Manchester’s AO Arena. The programme will be shown in a special 90-minute presentation on BBC One and on BBC Radio 2 in the spring.
More than a decade since the multi-award-winning production opened in London, this iconic British musical has been seen by 11 million people across more than 90 cities worldwide. Written by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and developed and directed by Matthew Warchus, the production is designed by Rob Howell, with choreography by Peter Darling, orchestrations, additional music and musical supervision by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound by Simon Baker and special effects and illusions by PaulKieve.
The current adult cast includes: Lauren Byrne (Miss Honey), Rakesh Boury and Amy Ellen Richardson (Mr and Mrs Wormwood) Elliot Harper (Miss Trunchbull) and Landi Oshinowo (Mrs Phelps). The ensemble includes: Felipe Bejarano, Angeline Bell, Oliver Bingham, Liberty Buckland, Thea Bunting, Michael Gardiner, Aaron Jenkins, Kate Kenrick, Ben Kerr, Sam Lathwood, Connor Lewis, Dianté Lodge, Kira McPherson, Gemma Scholes, Alistair So and James Wolstenholme.
From 14 March 2023, Sophia Goodman will join Victoria Alsina, Laurel Sumberg and Heidi Williams in the title role and Sekhani Dumezweni, Aidan Oti and Joseph Sharpe will join the company in the role of Bruce.
The young performers in the current London company in the roles of Bruce, Lavender, Amanda and the rest of the pupils at Crunchem Hall are as follows: Mia Atkinson, Leo Babet, Florence Burt, Poppy Caton, Zuri-Michel Charalambou, Brodie Edwards, Jude Farrant, Riotafari Gardner, Finley Harlett, Lily Hanna, Tia Isaac, Miley Kayongo, Shayla McCormack, Isabelle Mullally, Jasmine Nyenya, Raphaella Philbert, Jack Philpott, Riley Plummer, Jasmine Pottinger-Scott, Ashton Robertson, Leon Saunders, Andrei Shen-U Shen, Noah Swer-Fox and Lucia Wratten. Kylan Denis continues as one of the actors who shares the role of Bruce.
Together with the film adaptation from the same core creative team – direction by Matthew Warchus, adapted for the screen by Dennis Kelly, with the music and lyrics of Tim Minchin, costume design by Rob Howell (set and costume design on the stage production), choreography by Ellen Kane (worldwide associate choreographer on the stage production) and original score by Christopher Nightingale (orchestrations and additional music for the stage production) – Roald Dahl’s themes of bravery and standing up for what you believe in will continue to inspire young audiences all over the world. Sony Pictures U.K. and Tristar Pictures released Matilda across the U.K. and Ireland exclusively in cinemas on 25 November 2022. The film will be available to Download & Keep on Digital in the UK from 8th February. UK users can watch at home on digital retailers such as Apple TV, Sky Store, Prime Video and Google Play. Nominated for two BAFTAs including Outstanding British Film and for make-up and hair, the film is now available worldwide to stream globally on Netflix (ex-UK/IE), and will be coming to Netflix UK this summer.
Mayflower Theatre, Southampton – until 11th February 2023
Reviewed by Emma Barnes
4****
This captivating and powerful dance adaptation of the popular TV series has been created for stage by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, with choreography and direction from Rambert’s Artistic Director Benoit Swan Pouffer.
Part prequel to the TV series, the story opens in the battlefield of the 1st world war, giving the audience a view into the horror of emerging from the trenches, bodies shaking and twitching, the stage clouded by yellow mustard gas. We then join the BBC plot in post industrial Birmingham. As narrator Benjamin Zephaniah solemnly announces, these soldiers of the Tunnelling Brigade are ‘all dead… not counted among the dead because your bodies were not buried with the dead… but dead inside’. This serves to set the scene for the violence and lifestyle that the soldiers follow as they seek to take whatever they want.
Throughout the staging, the lighting , the costumes are all magnificent. The quality of the dance is a delight to watch, the fight scenes in particular with blades glinting, daggers flashing and bodies moving in perfect choreographed precision was an eye filling spectacle, as were details such as the Micheal Jackson esque anti gravity leans during the Opium den scene.
The music is also absolutely on point, with a live band blasting out specially commissioned music by Roman GianArthur and iconic Peaky Blinders tracks from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Radiohead, Anna Calvi, The Last Shadow Puppets, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Rambert dance offers an alternative way to experience the well loved Tommy Shelby story through dance and movement rather than dialogue. For me this medium was more successful than the on screen version in characterised the psychological turmoil, post-traumatic stress, bereavement, addiction, suicidal ideation and the subsequent redemption.
Is it an accurate reiteration of the TV story, probably not, and neither should it be. The storytelling is more abstract, much ground is covered within a short space of time. Fans of the TV show may feel that the love story is rushed, indeed the wedding seems to happen only moments after the bride and groom meet. However incidental the story line may seem, what is done incredibly well is the deeper perception into the characters mental health. An intoxicating and insightful window into a world containing much darkness and glimmers of light.
And we loved it. We would implore you to make the same choice that Tommy did, choose life! Immerse yourself in the drama of Peaky Blinders and enjoy the journey.
YOUNG VIC THEATRE ANNOUNCES SPRING – AUTUMN 2023 PROGRAMME
Golden Globe and Olivier Award winner Ruth Wilson will star in the internationally acclaimed epic The Second Woman – one woman, one scene, one hundred men, one electrifying 24-hour performance. The UK premiere at the Young Vic Theatre is co-produced with LIFT, produced in association with Ruth Wilson, created by Nat Randall and Anna Breckon and presented in proud association with House of Oz,19 to 20 May.
The UK premiere of Beneatha’s Place, written and directed by Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah, is a blistering satirical drama about history, power and the cost of letting go, inspired by the ground-breaking 1950s civil rights drama A Raisin in the Sun. 27 June to 5 August, with press night 5 July.
House Father and pioneer of the London Ballroom scene Jay Jay Revlon and award-winning director Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu re-join forces with Taking Part, the Young Vic’s creative engagement department, as the worlds of ballroom and theatre come together in Sundown Kiki Reloaded, in the Maria Theatre from 31 July to 11 August. The acclaimed production will follow the first ever ball at the Young Vic as Jay Jay Revlon x Young Vic Taking Partpresent THE FABRIC with COLOUR VOGUE BALLon 15 April especially for the Ballroom community.
untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play, Kimber Lee’s sharply-comic play and winner of the International Award for The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting in 2019, explores identity, invisibility and misrepresentation. A world premiere co-production with Royal Exchange Theatre, Factory International for Manchester International Festival and Headlong, directed by the Royal Exchange’s Co-Artistic Director Roy Alexander Weise, at the Young Vic from 18 September to 4 November, with press night 22 September following a Manchester opening.
Tribe is a celebration of family in all its forms, combining immersive exhibition and live performance, presented by Taking Part and Community Partner Beth Centre (Women in Prison). It will run in the Maria Theatre from 28 October to 4 November.
Five Shorts brings together five artists Andrea Ling, Annie Kershaw, Ashen Gupta, Nikhil Vyas and Zoe Templeton-Young and five creative collaborators Olivia Poglio-Nwabali, Jasmin Mandi-Ghomi, Sanjay Lago, Marek Horn and Marina Carr to create five five-minute live performances as part of the Young Vic Creators Program.
Zinnie Harris’ Further than the Furthest Thing also opens in 2023, from 9 March to 29 April, with press night 16 March. Based on real events on one of the world’s most remote inhabited islands, directed by Genesis Fellow / Young Vic Associate Director Jennifer Tang in a visionary new production starring Jenna Russell, Cyril Nri, Gerald Kyd, Archie Madekwe and Kirsty Rider with live vocals by Shapla Salique.
Kwame Kwei-Armah, Young Vic Theatre Artistic Director, says:“I’m delighted to announce our upcoming shows in the Spring to Autumn 2023 programme at the Young Vic Theatre; a continuation of works about power, revolution and disruption. We are living in revolutionary times where both beauty and hardship lie in the constancy of change and I believe that one of the best guides to help steer us through is art, to enable us to interrogate, to disrupt and to inspire.
“Further than the Furthest Thing explores the impact of globalisation on communities and the need for a climate revolution; The Second Woman challenges power dynamics and defies our expectation of the theatrical artform, revolutionising how we tell stories and push beyond the boundaries of performance through epic event theatre; Beneatha’s Place sits in the revolutionary time of the first wave of independence across Africa, and the battles in modern day academia around whose histories are deemed valid, by whom and when; untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play speaks to the revolution of representation that is happening and must continue in the theatre industry, ensuring this stays at the centre of the Young Vic’s work.
“This theme runs right through to our space at the Young Vic and the revolution inside our own four walls. The Young Vic’s ambitions to be an anti-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary house of art where all our communities are welcomed and can see themselves is brilliantly embodied through Taking Part’s THE FABRIC with COLOUR VOGUE BALL, Sundown Kiki Reloaded, and Tribe. We are proud to create a space for and with the ballroom community in our theatre, providing a platform where our young people and the ballroom community can joyously express themselves.
“At the Young Vic we are driven by bold innovation and the desire to entertain, challenge and captivate audiences in London, across the UK and internationally. These works speak to and inform our approach and we can’t wait to showcase them on our stages.”
Young Vic Theatre presents FURTHER THAN THE FURTHEST THING By Zinnie Harris Directed by Jennifer Tang Main House 9 March to 29 April
The Young Vic’s first show of 2023 is Further than the Furthest Thing, the multi-award-winning play by Zinnie Harris (Macbeth (an undoing), This Restless House, How To Hold Your Breath), directed by Genesis Fellow / Young Vic Associate Director Jennifer Tang (AI, Mountains: The Dreams of Lily Kwok).
Based on real events, on a remote volcanic island in the middle of the Atlantic, the islanders of Tristan da Cunha have lived undisturbed for centuries, defying the swirling currents of modernity. Cut off and exposed to the elements, their survival has created a complex bind with their land. But when one of the inhabitants brings an outsider to the island, their way of life is changed forever.
In the first major London staging of the play in more than 20 years, Jennifer Tang’s visionary interpretation revisits this haunting play through a contemporary lens, interrogating the climate emergency and globalisation.
The company includes: Gerald Kyd (The Seagull, Deep Blue Sea), Archie Madekwe (Midsommar, See), Cyril Nri (Trouble in Mind, The Barbershop Chronicles, The Bill), Kirsty Rider (The Sandman, The Doctor, Nora: A Doll’s House), Olivier Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated Jenna Russell (Fun Home, Piaf), with live vocals by Shapla Salique (No Boundaries).
The creative team is completed by Designer Soutra Gilmour, Lighting Designer Prema Mehta, Sound Designer George Dennis, Video Designer Ian William Galloway, Composer Ruth Chan, Movement Director Ingrid Mackinnon, Voice and Dialect Coach Victoria Woodward, Musical Director Michael Henry, Illusions Designer John Bulleid,and Casting Director Charlotte Sutton CDG.
Relaxed Performances: Wed 5 April, 7.30pm & Sat 8 April, 2.30pm BSL Performance: Fri 31 March, 7.30pm Audio Described Performance: Tue 11 April, 7.30pm Captioned Performance: Thu 13 April, 7.30pm Socially Distanced Performance: Tue 4 April, 7.30pm
Tickets for Further than the Furthest Thing are on sale now at www.youngvic.org
Jay Jay Revlon x Young Vic Taking Part present THE FABRIC with COLOUR VOGUE BALL Maria Theatre Saturday 15 April
It’s time to go back to the playground and back to fun!
Ballroom is about being creative so Jay Jay Revlon and Young Vic Taking Part are bringing this back in TWENTY TWENTY THREE with THEFABRIC with COLOUR VOGUE BALL, a special birthday ball that puts the scene first. So grab all your fabric bits and bobs ‘cos on this night, all roads lead to the Young Vic Theatre.
Jay Jay Revlon has been an early and devoted influence on the London Ballroom scene for the past five years and has been instrumental in defining how Ballroom in the UK is run. As Father of the UK House of Revlon and founder of the Kiki House of Tea, Jay Jay is a leading authority of Ballroom in the UK.
There will be 15 categories on the night. These include: Under My Barbie Duvet – Tag Face; Love Reign – Best Dressed; Uncontained – LIPSYNC; American Dream – AA Runway; Soul Train Line 70s Fashion – WAACKING; 1960s Hippie Jeans – Realness With A Twist.
THE FABRIC with COLOUR VOGUE BALL goes on sale to walkers today. Public booking opens 30 March.
A Young Vic & LIFT co-production Produced in association with Ruth Wilson THE SECOND WOMAN Created by Nat Randall and Anna Breckon Presented in proud association with House of Oz Main House Friday 19 – Saturday 20 May, 4pm-4pm
One Woman. One Scene. One Hundred Men. One Electrifying 24-Hour Performance.
Golden Globe and two-time Olivier Award winner Ruth Wilson (Luther, His Dark Materials, Hedda Gabler) stars in The Second Woman, an internationally acclaimed feat of endurance theatre and live cinema.
Over a full 24 hours, 100 different men are invited to star opposite Ruth Wilson, as she performs over and over a scene between a man and a woman in a relationship that has lost its creativity and romance.
In an epic endurance performance inspired by John Cassavetes’ film Opening Night, none of the 100 different Martys have met or rehearsed with Ruth Wilson’s Virginia and most of them are non-actors.
This production is a collaboration between LIFT and the Young Vic, bringing together two of London’s most innovative cultural institutions with one of the world’s most celebrated actors.
Whether you choose to stay for 24 minutes or the full 24 hours, The Second Woman is a unique, cinematic theatre experience in which the stage offers the audience a wide-angle view of the action, while multiple cameras capture and share live close-ups.
Ruth Wilson says: “I have a feeling that The Second Woman will challenge all norms of what it means to be actor and audience, to be performer and observer. I’m interested in what happens in that space between us all; if we form a bond as we watch and anticipate the next play partner. This is a one-off, 24-hour experience of pure, spontaneous interaction. It will never happen again.”
The Second Woman is a Young Vic Theatre and LIFT co-production, produced in association with Ruth Wilson, created by Nat Randall and Anna Breckon, presented in proud association with House of Oz.
Lighting Design is by Lauren Woodhead, Video Design is by EO Gill.
The Second Woman is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and originally supported by Next Wave 2016.
The Second Woman will go on sale at a later date, with further details to be announced.
Young Vic Theatre presents BENEATHA’S PLACE Written and Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah Main House 27 June to 5 August
“Some things we do for those we are responsible for, some things for ourselves, and some things we do for the ancestors. Today, it’s all three!”
Beneatha’s Place, written and directed by Artistic DirectorKwame Kwei-Armah, will have its UK premiere this summer. This blistering satirical drama about history, power and the cost of letting go is inspired by the ground-breaking 1950s’ civil rights drama A Raisin in the Sun.
Lagos, 1959. The newly married Beneatha, and her Nigerian husband, rising political star, Joseph Asagi Funmilayo, are moving into their home in the white suburbs. But soon overbearing aunties and mysterious neighbours descend, pulling the young couple into the political storm of Nigerian independence and changing their lives forever.
Lagos, current day. A group of Ivy League professors meet with Beneatha in the same house to decide the future of their university. As they debate whose histories should be taught, and whose privileges examined, tensions threaten to reach breaking point.
Set and Costume Design is by Debbie Duru, Lighting Design is by Mark Henderson.
Full casting and further creative team to be announced.
Beneatha’s Place goes on sale to Soul Mates today, and Friends on 13 February. Public booking opens 17 February.
A Taking Part production SUNDOWN KIKI RELOADED Creative Direction by Jay Jay Revlon Directed by Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu Maria Theatre 31 July to 11 August
“When we walk, we have the ability to make the world tremble with every step.”
The House of Telfar and the House of Dunn are back in the explosive Sundown Kiki Reloaded following the sell-out run of Sundown Kiki in 2021. Watch the worlds of theatre and ballroom come together as the two families go head-to-head in an evening of pumping music, dance and partying that celebrates a Queerer London in all its glory.
Brought to you by the one and only UK Father of House of Revlon and pioneer of the London Ballroom Scene Jay Jay Revlon and award-winning director Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu (For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy). Created with and performed by Queer Black and Brown artists, the acclaimed show returns to the Young Vic. And we are ready for the DRAMA!!!
The cast of Sundown Kiki Reloaded includes: Amani, Asa Haynes, Diogo Varela, Emanuel Vuso, Georgie Lynch, Jay Lafayette Valentine, Joshua Asaré, Laura Sérgio, Sarah-Angel Sharma and Tatenda Shamiso.
The creative team is Creative Director Jay Jay Revlon, Director Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu, Set Designer Khadija Raza, Sound Designer and Composer XANA, Lighting Designer Pablo Fernández Baz, Costume Designer John Bastos, Movement Assistant Omar Jordan Phillips, Stage Manager Sylvia Darkwa-Ohemeng.
Relaxed Performances: All performances Mon 31 July – Fri 11 August
Sundown Kiki Reloaded goes on sale to Soul Mates today, and Friends on 13 February.
Public booking opens 17 February.
A Royal Exchange Theatre, Factory International for Manchester International Festival, Young Vic Theatre and Headlong co-production untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play By Kimber Lee Directed by Roy Alexander Weise Main House 18 September to 4 November
untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play by Kimber Lee (Tokyo Fish Story) jumps through time – wriggling inside of and then exploding lifetimes of repeating Asian stereotypes, wrestling history for the right to control your own narrative in a world that thinks it can tell you who you are. Winner of the inaugural Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2019, International Award, this powerful world premiere is directed by Roy Alexander Weise (The Mountaintop) and opens at the Royal Exchange Theatre as part of Manchester International Festival from 23 June to 22 July with opening night on 29 June, before transferring to the Young Vic from 18 September to 4 November with opening night for press on 22 September.
Kim is having one of those days. A terrible, very bad, no-good kind of day, and the worst part is…it all feels so familiar. Caught up in a never-ending cycle of events, she looks for the exit but the harder she tries, the worse it gets and she begins to wonder: who’s writing this story? She makes a break for it, smashing through a hundred years of bloody narratives that all end the same way. Can she find a way out before it’s too late?
untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play is Designed by Moi Tran.
Further creative team and full cast to be announced.
Relaxed Performances: Fri 20 October, 7.30pm & Sat 21 October, 2.30pm BSL Performance: Fri 27 October, 7.30pm Audio Described Performances: Fri 6 October 7.30pm & Thu 19 October, 7.30pm Captioned Performances: Tue 17 October 7.30pm & Thu 2 November, 7.30pm
untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play at the Young Vic goes on sale to Soul Mates today, and Friends on 13 February. Public booking opens 17 February.
A Taking Part production from Young Vic Theatre and the Beth Centre (Women in Prison) TRIBE Maria Theatre 28 October to 4 November
Embark on a creative journey that explores and celebrates all the different forms that family can take – from single parent families to large communities, chosen families to blood relatives. Part immersive exhibition and part live performance, Tribe is an entertaining and joyous adventure filled with movement, music and art.
The show will be created with a collective of women who will work as a company devising in collaboration with a dynamic creative team.
#ThisIsOurTribe
Relaxed Performances: All Performances, Sat 28 October – Sat 4 November BSL Performances: Fri 3 November 7.45pm, Sat 4 November 2.45pm & 7.45pm
Tickets for Tribe will go on sale later in the year.
FIVE SHORTS
Five Shorts will bring together five artists to work with five creative collaborators to create five 5-minute live performances as the Young Vic Creators Program continues its work with early-career artists and theatre-makers to develop their craft.
This year’s collaborations will see Andrea Ling writing and directing Untitled (Conversations with Death) with dramaturgy by Olivia Poglio-Nwabali;Nikhil Vyas directing Marek Horn’s Haunting and Renting;Annie Kershaw directing Jasmin Mandi-Ghomi‘s Light, Zoe Templeman-Young directing Marina Carr’s Young Vic 10 (Demeter and Persephone); and Ashen Gupta directing Sanjay Lago’s All Round Roti.
Design is by Jida Akil, with Casting by Monica Siyanga.
Five Shorts was launched in 2013, formerly as Five Plays, and to date has worked with more than 100 writers and directors offering an opportunity to widen their knowledge of creatives, to make new connections and challenge their working practices. The artists will be mentored by Young Vic Associate Artistic Director Sue Emmas and Creative Lead Anastasia Osei-Kuffour and receive the support of a production team. The shorts will be rehearsed over five days, culminating in a live performance in the Clare Theatre for an invited audience.
TO OPEN AT THE APOLLO THEATRE, IN LONDON’S WEST END
WITH PERFORMANCES FROM 7 OCTOBER 2023
STARRING DAVID HUNTER AND JOANNA WOODWARD
Producer Colin Ingram (Back to the Future the Musical, Grease the Musical) is delighted to announce that his world premiere production of The Time Traveller’s Wife: The Musical, based on the best-selling novel by Audrey Niffenegger and the New Line Cinema film screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin, will open at the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End, following a sold-out season at Storyhouse in Chester in October 2022. Performances begin in London on 7 October 2023.
With a book by Lauren Gunderson, original music and lyrics by Joss Stone and Dave Stewart and additional music by Nick Finlow and additional lyrics by Kait Kerrigan, the production will be directed by Bill Buckhurst. David Hunter will star as Henry and Joanna Woodward as Clare, reprising the roles they played in Chester, with further casting to be announced.
Colin Ingram said, “After six years developing this show and an extremely successful try-out in Chester, we are so delighted to present the world premiere of a new British musical based on such a beloved book. This confident, clever and charming musical by British rock royalty Dave Stewart and Joss Stone shows off their musicianship and director Bill Buckhurst and his creative team have created an incredible world to tell this cherished story in the most powerful and emotional way.”
Dave Stewart said, “Working with Joss Stone alongside Lauren Gunderson has been a thrilling experience. The world that director Bill Buckhurst has created for this very emotional love story brings magic to the stage. The songs Joss and I have written for this amazing musical have been woven together so brilliantly by composer/arranger Nick Finlow and, as we intended, the audience are enraptured in the joy of the story, the music and the complexities of close relationships.”
Joss Stone said, “‘To say I’m excited is an understatement. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be part of creating a musical, let alone one that will be enjoyed in the West End! It’s truly wonderful to be part of such a talented group of people.”
David Hunter‘s theatre credits include: Waitress (Adelphi and UK Tour); Kinky Boots (Adelphi); Once (Phoenix); One Man, Two Guvnors (National Theatre, Adelphi, UK Tour); Songs for a New World (Palladium); Tommy (Prince Edward); Seussical (Arts); The Hired Man (Leicester Curve and Colchester Mercury); Pub and Spinach (the Royal Exchange); The Mayor of Zalamea (Liverpool Everyman). His film and TV credits include: Nativity 3; Holby City and Doctors (BBC); Superstar (ITV). David’s pop/rock band Reemer had support slots, playing alongside The Feeling, Scouting for Girls and McFly on their full UK Arena Tour.
Joanna Woodward most recently understudied and played Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman: The Musical (Piccadilly Theatre & Savoy Theatre). Her other theatre credits include: Emily in Zombies: The Musical and Eulpha Miziam in Confessions (The Other Palace); Mary in The Life (Southwark Playhouse); understudied and played Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Aldwych Theatre); Margaret in Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be (Theatre Royal Stratford East); understudied Beth/Meg/KT in Merrily We Roll Along (Menier Chocolate Factory and Harold Pinter Theatre); Tinker Bell in Lost Boy (Finborough Theatre and Charing Cross Theatre); Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors(Kilworth House Theatre).
Henry and Clare’s relationship is like no other. And yet, it’s like all others. Clare is a talented sculptor and Henry is – well – a time traveller. They meet, fall in love, and marry – but not in that order. Flung apart by time but united by love, Henry is always trying to get back to Clare. Their journey is one of resilience, impossibilities and trying to hold on to each other when everything is pulling you apart.
The Time Traveller’s Wife: The Musical is a joyous, uplifting celebration of the strange wonder of love, however and whenever we experience it. The musical weaves a heart-breaking and soaring original musical score by multi Grammy Award-winning composers Joss Stone and Dave Stewart with one of the most beloved novels of the last 50 years. All couples ask how to truly know one another, to trust, to commit, to build a family, to work at something bigger than ourselves. Not all of us are time travellers. How do you love across time?
With a book by Lauren Gunderson, original music and lyrics by Joss Stone and Dave Stewart, additional music by Nick Finlow and additional lyrics by Kait Kerrigan, the production will be directed by Bill Buckhurst and designed by Anna Fleischle, with choreography by Shelley Maxwell, lighting design by Lucy Carter, illusions by Chris Fisher, video design by Andrzej Goulding, sound design by Richard Brooker, musical supervision & arrangement by Nick Finlow, orchestrations by Malcolm Edmonstone and wigs, hair and make-up design by Susanna Peretz. Casting will be by Grindrod Burton Casting. It will be produced by Colin Ingram, InTheatre Productions, Gavin Kalin Productions, Teresa Tsai, Crossroads Live, by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures.
Credit and copyright: Helen Murray www.helenmurrayphotos.com
Based on the true story of the dashing army deserter Anastasius Linck who, in 1720s Prussia, was sentenced to death by sword (a man’s death) while their wife got three years in the spinning rooms at the penitentiary. Linck & Mülhahn, written by Ruby Thomas and directed by Owen Horsely, is a 5 act retelling that blurs the lines between truth and fiction, and explores what it is to live as your true self.
The play opens with an older, quieter woman (Marty Cruickshank) reminiscing about love, but that all suddenly changes when a group of young soldiers crash onto the stage, accompanied by the likes of The Sex Pistols and The Clash. All the while, the stubborn and argumentative Catharina Mülhahn (Helena Wilson) watches the minutes of her life (she’s 22) tick by and loudly professes “I wish I was dead” to her mother (Lucy Black). Soon, she meets the handsome Linck and a relationship is formed which breaks through the rigid rules of “society” and leads to a marriage (despite her mother’s best efforts to marry her off to other gentlemen) that puts them in a precarious position within the boundaries of the law.
Their relationship is set against the backdrop of a cloth shop, where the threads and spools of time and place, truth and fiction, are woven together to create the fabric of Thomas’ narrative. The boxy rotating set designed by Simon Wells, made of semi opaque panels and beams, provided a perfect backdrop to the action, creating streets, rooms, passageways, and levels within its simplistic form.
The court scene has some slightly pantoesque moments that threaten to overshadow the seriousness of the charges that the main characters are facing. The sudden change in sound and lighting (designed respectively by Max Pappenheim and Matt Daw) can be a bit jarring, however it was largely effective, and at times prevented the action from becoming too absurd. It also gave the play a sense of being beyond time, which seemed right and proper given the contemporary relevance of the subject matter.
Both the leading actors, Maggie Bain and Helena Wilson are excellent and intelligent, blending comedy with a quiet longing, with fantastic support from Lucy Black as Catharina’s mother who goes from the weary and comical to the tortured as she realises that she has condemned her daughter in court. The main characters are supported by a cast of funny and kind soldiers, maids, judges, and cloth shop customers played by Daniel Abbott, David Carr, Marty Cruickshank, Kammy Darweish, Qasim Mahmood, Leigh Quinn and Timothy Speyer.
Ruby Thomas’ Linck & Mülhahn sets out to shed light on the historical queer experience, and by doing so shows that even though progress has been made, there is still a long way to go.
The Space is delighted to reveal the shows that will be coming to the venue from February to July 2023. An exciting array of talented artists will be serving up bold and brilliant new events. We’re continuing to offer live-streamed and on demand digital versions of our programme for those unable to make it to the Space in person.
Our associate company, Mrs C’s Collective present Dream School by Francis Grin, a thriller based on a real-life college cult. Part of A Call For Safe Practise, development of guidance and training on how to make trauma-informed art safely, made possible thanks to the University of Greenwich and Arts Council England.
The Space’s own Deputy Director, Matthew Jameson’s Ten Days is an epic, comic, political thriller charting an intensified history of Russia in 1917. Orange Peel revive Pullitzer Prize finalist, The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, a liberating coming-of-age drama focused on nine female athletes. Best-selling author, Kate Danley also has their work revived with Working for Crumbs, a quick-witted, side-splitting farce about women in a testosterone-filled office, produced by Estelle Homerstone and directed by Cecilie Fray. Our third revival of the season sees a woman forced into the shoes of her recently deceased husband as Ottisdotter present Henrik Ibsen’s rarely-performed Lady Inger.
Set in a coastal village where women make the rules, Morveren is a coming-of-age story for three generations of women, written by Kate Webster and presented by Marvellous Machine Theatre Company.
Bullet Point Theatre bring infinite love stories in Our Last First with the four actors cast in their roles live on stage each night. Originally an online dance piece, developed during lockdown, Nova Grace Productions’ Unlocked reflects on the legacy that the pandemic has left behind 2 years later.
The power of the monologue is celebrated this season with solo shows including En Route’s Rachel, a comedy inspired by Gen Y anxieties, Purple Moon Drama’s The Wedding Speech, a dramatic comedy about codependency and toxic parenting, CaberADHD, a mixed media cabaret about what it’s like to have ADHD written and performed by Rachael Bellis and Maenad, a folk/punk multitude exploring disorder, addiction, queerness and survival, by Elena Sirett. We’re delighted to welcome back The Queens of Cups for an extended run of New Moon Monologues, new writing guided by the cycles of the moon.
Also returning to the Space is, London Student Drama Festival, Act II, bringing a dozen short plays on the theme of New Beginnings. We close out the season with the equally fascinating The S is Silent, which uses spoken word, visual poetry and Flamenco to explore womanhood in fascist Spain (presented by Mad, Who?), and You Wake Up/Octopus, an immersive journey where you play a newly conscious octopus searching for their missing mother (presented by mushmoss).
Last year’s in-house production, David’s Play was nominated for an Access award by OffWestEnd.com. Since then, David has been focussed on our SpaceLift campaign, which has so far raised over £13,000 towards the replacement of our passenger lift. The campaign continues with more social events including a Beetle Drive, a new monthly Board Games night and a live podcast recording of TV DNA.
And before all of that, we end our Winter season with A Monkey with Cymbals’ period piece The Masks of Aphra Behn and Gibraltar-based Dramatis Personae’s contemporary drama, The Blue Whale.
The performance details are (LS=Live-stream option available):-
THE MASKS OF APHRA BEHN
17 – 18 FEB (LS 18 FEB)
Aphra Behn – spy, writer, and libertine – a one-woman show about the first professional female playwright.
DAVID’S BEETLEDRIVE
21 FEB
Join us for an old-school fundraising event: the ‘beetledrive’ is a competitive game of chance and beetle drawing!
THE BLUE WHALE
23 – 25 FEB (LS 25 FEB)
Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Girl sets him challenges to prove himself. What could possibly go wrong?
TV DNA LIVE!
26 FEB (LS)
Join podcast hosts Damian, Neil, Adam and Grace for a live recording including TV reviews, previews and competitions. TV chat at its finest.
THE WOLVES
4 – 11 MAR
High knees. Butt kicks. Grapevine. An intimate snapshot of a regimented American girls soccer team who tackle pads, the patriarchy, and pressures of fitting in with the pack.
TEN DAYS
14 – 25 MAR (LS 23 MAR)
Political Chaos. Economic crises. War ravages Europe. Revolution erupts.
In secret, another revolution begins.
Welcome to Russia, 1917 as you’ve never seen it before.
MORVEREN
28 MAR – 1 APR (LS 30 MAR)
The siren’s song is calling Keren’s name to come home.
In this mysterious hidden coastal village, where women make the rules, she must decide: career or community?
ACT II FESTIVAL
8 & 15 APR (LS 8 APR)
ACT II is back at The Space for another year of the London Student Drama Festival!
Over 60 young people, 12 brand new plays, 1 jam-packed day…
CABARADHD
11 – 13 APR (LS 12 APR)
A mixed media cabaret about what it’s like to have ADHD and be diagnosed as an adult. A chaotic look at the life of a late diagnosed ADHDer, from her own perspective.
MAENAD
16 APR (LS)
A Maenad is a follower of the god of wine, drugs, war and madness. Rooted to a hillside for millenia Maenad speaks, Maenad sings of their life and their fury.
THE WEDDING SPEECH
18 – 20 APR
A dramatic comedy about codependency and toxic parenting. It explores a toxic bond between a glamorous, critical mother and her long-suffering daughter.
WORKING FOR CRUMBS
25 APR – 6 MAY (LS 6 MAY)
Meet outrageous office admins: Grace and Amy, stuck in a soul-sucking job. When disaster strikes, witness a domino-effect of destruction in this quick-witted, side-splitting farce.
UNLOCKED
9 – 13 MAY (LS 12 MAY)
From bedroom to stage. 4 dancers explore life in and out of lockdown – loss, isolation, confinement, fear, masks, vaccines and reunion. Don’t let’s sweep it under the carpet.
DREAM SCHOOL
17 MAY – 3 JUN (LS 25 MAY EVE & 3 JUN MATINEE)
When is a story ready to tell? Inspired by the ongoing real events of a college cult, DREAM SCHOOL is a thriller about who wins and who loses when we cash in on trauma.
OUR LAST FIRST
6 – 14 JUN (LS 8, 11 & 12 JUN)
The universal love story. Where you fall in love with someone for the first time but also for the last. Four Actors, cast live, whose story will you see?
NEW MOON MONOLOGUES
15 – 17 JUN (LS 17 JUN)
New Moon Monologues is a new writing night guided by the cycles of the moon that features an array of new writing from both emerging and established playwrights and actors.
RACHEL
20 – 25 JUN (LS 24 JUN)
A comic, raunchy one-woman monologue. A heartfelt cry of a young woman that questions our choices in the face of social pressure and global challenges.
LADY INGER
27 JUN – 8 JUL (LS 6 JUL)
Presented in the United Kingdom for only the fifth time in 120 years, Ibsen’s Lady Inger is a devastating insight into an Ibsen woman on the precipice of freedom.
THE ‘S’ IS SILENT
11 JUL – 13 JUL (LS 13 JUL)
Spoken word, visual poetry, and Flamenco: womanhood in fascist Spain.
YOU WAKE UP / OCTOPUS
14 JUL – 16 JUL
An immersive journey where you play a newly conscious octopus searching for their missing mother. Co-created through your collaboration and discovery.
