THE WORLD PREMIERE STAGE PRODUCTION

OF STANLEY KUBRICK’S

DR. STRANGELOVE

TO OPEN IN THE WEST END IN AUTUMN 2024

First ever adaptation of the legendary film-maker’s work

Co-adapted by BAFTA and Emmy Award winner

ARMANDO IANNUCCI

and co-adapted and directed by Olivier Award winner

SEAN FOLEY

Sign up for more information at www.DrStrangelove.com

Stanley Kubrick’s iconic work will be adapted for the first time ever, when a world premiere stage production of his timeless classic Dr. Strangelove opens in the West End in Autumn 2024.

This jet-black comedy masterpiece, about a rogue U.S. General who triggers a nuclear crisis, is brought to the stage by acclaimed,BAFTA and Emmy Award winner Armando Iannucci and Olivier Award winner Sean Foley in an explosively funny satire of mutually assured destruction. Sean Foley will also direct.

For more information and to be first in line for tickets, sign up at www.DrStrangelove.com

Armando Iannucci said:“It’s both thrilling and hugely terrifying to be asked to adapt Kubrick’s great apocalyptic movie for the stage: which is useful, since it’s a thrilling comedy about huge terror. The events it portrays are no less mad today than when Stanley Kubrick made the film sixty years ago. No-one marshals madness on stage better than Sean Foley so it’s been an extremely enjoyable process plotting our mutually assured destruction together.  My hope is audiences will respond to Dr Strangelove on stage with bountiful laughter and shrieks.”

Sean Foley added: “It is both a privilege and a thrill to be asked to adapt and direct one of the most iconic films of all time, and working with Armando Iannucci on the adaptation has been a joy. Stanley Kubrick’s ’nightmare comedy’ is a perennially relevant satire on world politics and how powerful men can be stupid enough to let us all die if it means they get to brag about it. With a string of hilarious scenes and characters, and a plot that takes us to the edge of doom, I hope Dr Strangelove on stage will once again prove to be the comedy that makes us think deeply whilst we laugh our heads off.”

Christiane Kubrick, Stanley’s widow, said:“We have always been reluctant to let anyone adapt any of Stanley’s work, and we never have.  It was so important to him that it wasn’t changed from how he finished it.  But we could not resist authorising this project:  the time is right; the people doing it are fantastic; and Strangelove should be brought to a new and younger audience.  I am sure Stanley would have approved it too.”

Jan Harlan, Stanley’s long-time producer, added “Dr. Strangelove was initially conceived as a serious film based on the novel “Red Alert” by Peter George. During the adaptation Stanley ran into a wall: It was impossible to make a successful film about the end of mankind since nobody, himself included, would want to see it. The answer was satire.   Laughing is one of our go-to responses when faced with an inescapable reality. As the film charts our short path to total self-destruction, we must make fun of it and ‘all will be well’.” 

Katharina Kubrick, Stanley’s daughter, said “I am thrilled that Dr. Strangelove is being adapted for the stage.  The subject matter of this film is particularly relevant again in our prevailing political climate.  People often laugh when they would rather cry, and this is exactly how the film, and now the play, handles the possibility of the ultimate destruction of life on earth; certainly, an important topic amongst many, to concentrate the mind.  I greatly look forward to seeing Dr Strangelove on the stage, which I am certain will be an outstanding production of the highest calibre.”

A theatre, dates, cast and further creative team will be announced in due course.

Dr. Strangelove is produced by Patrick Myles and David Luff, in association with Tulchin Bartner Productions and Playful Productions.

Harold Pinter Theatre – until 7 October 2023

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

4****

This wonderfully wilfully eccentric production portrays the euphoria and despair of the life of Ignaz Semmelweis as a lyrical fever dream.

Stories of scientific experiment and discovery can be dry, but Semmelweis’s history is ripe with tragedy and comedy, both used wonderfully in Stephen Brown’s play. Semmelweis was a pioneer of medicine – but has been mostly forgotten outside his native Hungary. He gathered evidence that handwashing lowered the death rate from puerperal fever in the obstetric hospital in Vienna. Unfortunately for him, and many thousands of patients, the grandees of science and medicine in mid-nineteenth century Europe dismissed observational evidence without theoretical weight behind it, and Semmelweis and his colleagues had no solid theory about infection, only knowing that their preventative measures worked against it. Add the fact that these were junior doctors daring to contradict accepted theories of infection, and Semmelweis was Hungarian in imperial Austria, and a great leap forward in medicine was largely ignored for decades.

The gripping play begins with Semmelweis (Mark Rylance) running an obstetric ward in Pest with an impressively low death rate among his patients. Former colleagues from Vienna arrive to try to persuade him to return to speak about his hygiene techniques at a conference. Shocked at his angry refusal, his wife Maria (Amanda Wilkin) wants to know about his time in Vienna and Semmelweis and Franz Arneth (Ewan Black) take her, and the audience back to that pivotal time when Semmelweis experienced his first death under his care. The psychological impact and weight of the guilt over the preventable deaths of the women in the hospital are shown physically by a company of dancers and a string quartet representing the ghosts of the women. They watch silently, act out birthing scenes and dance, both gracefully and frenetically to convey Semmelweis’s mental state. The presence of these women, and Maria, watching and commenting amplify the self-judgement of Semmelweis and create almost dreamlike states in between the scientific discussions.

Semmelweis isn’t whitewashed here, and his impatience, lack of communication and diplomatic skills are played brilliantly, making him a noble but frustrating protagonist who is frankly his own worst enemy. Rylance excels playing characters like this, and whether he is fully focussed and rocketing along a train of thought to make a conclusion, stuttering and floundering as he is overcome with emotion or raging incandescently at the “idiots” and “murderers” around him rejecting his findings, Rylance carries the audience effortlessly along the fractured storyline in a coruscating performance. Director Tom Morris keeps a carefully balanced rhythm as the emotions and dramas swirl on Ti Green’s stark black set, reminiscent of asylum/factory/lecture hall and enabling the ghostly women to appear from all levels and maintain their haunting presence.

Mark Rylance’s astonishingly dynamic performance as Semmelweis is the driving force, but the women onstage, especially Wilkin and the wonderfully dry Pauline McLynn as nurse Anna Müller, are the beating heart of the production. Ewan Black, Felix Hayes, Jude Owusu and Daniel York Loh are fantastic as Semmelweis’s long-suffering colleagues, and Alan Williams is suitably officious and patronising as their superior and gatekeeper of established medical and scientific practice.

A tragic story, beautifully told and impeccably acted, Dr Semmelweis is a moving and thought provoking production that will haunt you.

Sheffield Crucible – until Saturday 19 August 2023

5*****

This new production of Miss Saigon is definitely made in Sheffield.  It has grit and determination and a core of the famous Sheffield steel.

Unusually I have to start this review with a mention to the technical side of the flawless production.  The thrust stage is nothing more than a grey blank slate.  But as the show runs through the stage and backdrop become awash with light and colour. Designer Ben Stones, Lighting Designer Jessica Hung Han Yun  and Video and Animation Designer Andrzej Goulding, along with Direction by Robert Hastie and Anthony Lau have produced something huge but yet intimate and it’s truly amazing.

By special arrangement from Cameron Mackintosh and with music and lyrics by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, Miss Saigon – a reworking of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly – started life at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 1989. Running for 10 years, it then had a reworking at the Prince Edward theatre in 2014. 

Set against the backdrop of the Vietnamese War of the 1970’s; innocent country girl Kim (JESSICA LEE) escapes to Saigon from her village and planned arranged marriage to Thuy (ETHAN LE PHONG). Found by The Engineer (JOANNA AMPIL) she takes her to his seedy bar Dreamland which is populated by the American GI’s who use the girls who work at the bar. Sensing she can use her innocence and sell her virginity to the highest bidder, The Engineer does the mock “Miss Saigon” contest to show off her purity against the other working girls. Gigi (AYNRAND FERRER) wins the contest but not before a bidding war has started on Kim. GI John (SHANE O’RIORDAN) is the winning bidder and gives Kim to his friend Chris (CHRISTIAN MAYNARD) as a present to cheer him up. She willingly gives up her virginity and Kim and Chris fall in love.

Fortune however deals them a series of cruel blows and when Saigon falls to enemy forces, in the musical’s iconic moment Chris is airlifted to safety in a helicopter and the pregnant Kim must fend for herself. Three years have passed, Saigon is now Ho Chi Minh. Thuy is now a Commissar and sends the very down at heel Engineer to find Kim. Thuy wants his arranged marriage. The Engineer finds Kim surviving on the streets with her son Tam (ANAYA AWOKO-BENNETT, IKAYAN-RAY MULOMO, DEACON PINDER and HIRAK SINGLA sharing the role). Whilst The Engineer sees a mixed race child as her passport to America, Thuy see’s it as a betrayal and means to kill the child until Kim kills him, shooting him with Chris’s gun. Kim, Tam and The Engineer escape to Bangkok.

Back in the USA, Chris is married to Ellen (SHANAY HOLMES). The Vietnamese war and losing Kim broke him and he fell into a depression. Ellen helped pick up the pieces but he still suffers with nightmares and was still trying to find word of Kim. John, now working for a charity that helps with war orphans, gets word of Kim and her son Tam and tells Chris. John, Chris and Ellen go to Bangkok to find Kim and his son.

Jessica Lee exudes vulnerability and has an effortlessly beautiful singing voice, clear and sweet, Christian Maynard is a suitably simplistic Chris. Ellen is sensitively played by Shannay Holmes, helping to understand how conflicted a woman she is. Ethan Le Phong as Thuy, Kim’s intended husband, has a rich, powerful voice and brings an intense dignity to his efforts to win her back. But the star is Joanna Ampil who plays The Engineer. She is charming and yet conniving, seedy, funny, savage, ruthless and sleazy and commands even an empty stage; everything The Engineer should be. I loved the  tiny but comedic part where she casts aside a red jacket – and her interpretation of American Dream is a joy, with a nod to Marilyn Monroe and Madonna’s Material Girl video

Miss Saigon, at almost 3 hours long, is packed full of songs. Based on an opera, it is nearly all sung through with very little dialogue. The live band conducted by Chris Poon played all the big songs like The Movie in my Mind, Why God Why, Sun and Moon and the Last Night of the World are sung in very quick succession. Bui Doi, as normal, had me in tears. The moment everyone waits for – the helicopter descending on to the stage, was impressive as it should be. Miss Saigon will always be a massive spectacle – a wave of raw emotion, gritty, violent and sexy. Suffocating but sincere the show reflects much more of the reality of war and Sheffield theatres have produced a masterpiece

Leicester Square Theatre – until 9th September 2023

Reviewed by Ben Jolly

4****

The team from Sh!t-faced Shakespeare® have fallen off the wagon and now return to the Leicester Square Theatre, this time for a raucous rendition of the classic comedy, Much Ado About Nothing…

If you aren’t already familiar with the concept, it’s all in the title; each evening, a few hours before curtain one member of the cast is nominated to get completely sozzled and has to perform the play alongside their sober colleagues. The cast rotate roles, drinkers and master of ceremonies – who has the important job of holding the show together. In all honesty, I was somewhat hesitant toward this concept when I first heard of it. I’m a firm believer in the adage, “you gotta have a gimmick” but how would this one sustain to engage us after the initial shock factor had worn off upon being introduced to the drunk? Oh how naive I was.

Our compère last night was played by Beth-Louise Priestly who took on this role with wit, charm and an abundance of energy. While this part has the responsibility of keeping everyone in check (cast and audience alike), Priestly expertly straddled the line between fellow player and mother hen, egging us on and managing to keep the show from completely derailing – no mean feat indeed.

Flora Sowerby – the drunk for the evening – was playing the role of Beatrice, well, a somewhat version of Beatrice, anyway, as the bottle of Vinho Verde and champagne from Fortnum & Mason’s had certainly taken effect! Sowerby didn’t even try to conceal this and applied even less effort into remembering her lines, instead we ended up with a bastardised summary, interjected with aggressive outbursts and enough curse words to make Gordon Ramsey blush! Sowerby’s performance was perfection; she leans in just enough to keep us on our toes, dreading what might happen next but knows just when to pull back before the scene gets tired.

It became apparent early on that the comedy in Sh!t-faced Shakespeare® lies heavily with the ensemble, not the drunk as it may initially seem, Chris Lane’s performance of Don John being a prime example of this. The cast must be attentive and malleable and it ultimately pays off time and time again throughout the evening. The play and plot do tend to fade into the background but instead, the piece merges into its own improvised comedic performance, with as much audience participation that would be required for pantomime. 

There’s a reason why this global brand keeps coming back time and time again; its themes are universal and without pretension this comrade of misfits honour with dignity the timely traditions of performing Shakespeare, improvised comedy and, of course, to become completely inebriated while doing it.

Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield – until Saturday 15 January 2023

Reviewed by Kev Roberts

4****

My initial thought on watching a theatre production of Dirty Dancing, was whether I could watch it without reminiscing about the original movie and comparing the cast to those film actors. If I’m honest it took me a few minutes to get past this but once the show started, I became engrossed, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman (Kira Malou) and Johnny Castle (Michael O’Reilly) soon draw you in, especially with their obvious chemistry and ability to play the parts perfectly without comparing them to Swayze and Grey. Malou’s kooky traits and comedic undertones and her ability to act as this beginner dancer (which is harder than it looks) is second to none and shouldn’t be underestimated. She portrays the vulnerability of the character well, whilst highlighting her strengths and morals, in always being there for others.

O’Reilly performance as Johnny is equally impressive. Its difficult to pull off an American accent without sounding a little cheesy but he does it with aplomb, downplaying it enough to sound authentic. His stern demeanour, but caring and sympathetic manner towards his friend Penny (Georgia Aspinall) is done well. Much of the highlights of the production of course is the fantastic dancing between them both. O’Reilly and Aspinall excite and impress with their moves and despite the relatively small stage of the Lyceum, this doesn’t pose a problem and they display their skills to the full.

The production generally stays true to the movie, yet it puts its own twist on it to ensure that the lesser known characters such as Tito (Colin Charles) and Mr Schumacher (Mark Faith) get to portray their own acting and singing talents also. Charles gets the audience going with his own unique moves and fabulous singing and Elizabeth ( Lydia Sterling) adds to the show with her fantastic vocals adding some extra substance to an already well known script. Faith as Mr Schumacher also injects some unexpected humour into the show with his goofiness highlighting his own performance well, despite being on the peripheral. This also applies to Daisy Steere who plays Lisa Houseman. Her portrayal of Lisa was outstanding, specifically at the end whilst she takes centre stage to sing her song, the audience were in stitches. Great comedic timing. Support acts such as Dr Houseman (Jack Loy) his wife Marjorie (Taryn Sudding) and Billy Kostecki (Danny Colligan) and the rest of the cast all play their part in ensuring a classic film was brought to life on stage.

In regards to the set, this is equally impressive as stated earlier the stage feels quite small but the way the set is constantly changed without a break in acting keeps the nostalgia and flow of the show. You genuinely feel you are at Kellermans on vacation and in the moment. The way the build up to the famous lift and the dance training between Baby and Johnny is also clever, especially the lighting for the log scene. This of course is the build up to the last dance and the famous lift that the raucous and expectant crowd have been waiting for and despite probably doing it a thousand times they don’t disappoint.

Of course we all know nobody puts baby in the corner and this production definitely needs to be front and centre like Baby and Johhny. It takes a well loved movie and transforms it into a fantastic stage adaptation that is filled with fun, wit, warmth and outstanding dancing, ensuring the audience definitely had the time of their lives.

“RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S OKLAHOMA!” STARRING HUGH JACKMAN COMES TO CINEMAS FROM 16 JULY

UK and Ireland – The Olivier Award-winning 1998 production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, starring then-newcomer Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables, The Greatest Showman) as Curly, will screen in over 300 cinemas across the United Kingdom and Ireland from 16 July to 19 August. Tickets for the cinematic experience are available at www.oklahomaincinemas.com.

The cinema screenings are presented by Trafalgar Releasing, in partnership with Concord Originals and The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, to celebrate the 80^th anniversary of the groundbreaking 1943 Broadway premiere. This 25-year-old production of Oklahoma! features some of the most delightfully hummable songs by the legendary team of composer Richard Rodgers and librettist/lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, including “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top,” “People Will Say We’re in Love” and the joyous title tune, “Oklahoma.”

Directed by theatre legend and three-time Tony Award winner Trevor Nunn (CATS, Les Misérables) with new choreography by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (The Producers, Crazy for You), the film also stars Maureen Lipman as Aunt Eller, Josefina Gabrielle as Laurie, Tony and Olivier Award winner Shuler Hensley as Jud Fry, Vicki Simon as Ado Annie, Jimmy Johnston as Will Parker and Peter Polycarpou as Ali Hakim. The stage production transferred to London’s West End in 1999 and won four Olivier Awards, including Outstanding Musical Production. 

The creative team includes set and costume designer Anthony Ward, lighting designer David Hersey, music director John Owen Edwards and orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett, with additional orchestrations by William David Brohn and new dance music arranged by David Krane. The film was produced by Richard Price and Chris Hunt and directed by Trevor Nunn and Chris Hunt. Director of photography was Paul Wheeler and editing was by Keith Palmer. 

PLAYFUL PRODUCTIONS 

ERIC KUHN, KARL SYDOW, SAYERS AND SAYERS PRODUCTIONS AND SUE VERTUE/HARTSWOOD FILMS

PRESENT THE THE CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE PRODUCTION OF 

THE UNFRIEND

BY STEVEN MOFFAT
DIRECTED BY MARK GATISS

The Unfriend
noun.

A person, often met on holiday, who doesn’t understand that “let’s keep in touch” means “goodbye.” Sometimes a murderer.

-BAFTA WINNER LEE MACK WILL LEAD THE CAST AS HAPLESS PETER IN STEVEN MOFFAT’S HIT COMEDY THE UNFRIEND DIRECTED BY MARK GATISS
 

–THE UNFRIEND WILL OPEN AT WYNDHAM’S THEATRE FROM 16 DECEMBER FOR A STRICTLY LIMITED SEASON UNTIL 9 MARCH 2024, WITH A PRESS NIGHT ON 9 JANUARY 2024
 

-LEE MACK IS JOINED BY SARAH ALEXANDER AS DEBBIE, NICK SAMPSON AS THE NEIGHBOUR
 

-THEATRICAL GREAT FRANCES BARBER WILL REPRISE HER PERFORMANCE AS THE FORCE OF NATURE ELSA JEAN KRAKOWSKI
 

-THE PRODUCTION BROKE BOX OFFICE RECORDS AT THE CRITERION THEATRE EARLIER THIS YEAR
 

-TICKETS ARE ON SALE AT 12 NOON ON THURSDAY 13 JULY FROM WWW.THEUNFRIEND.COM

Producers Playful Productions are delighted to announce that Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ record breaking collaboration The Unfriend will be making its return to the West End this year. The show will open in previews at Wyndhams’ Theatre on 16 December and will run until 9 March 2024.

New to the show, award-winning comedian and actor Lee Mack (Would I Lie To You, Not Going Out, Inside No. 9) will play the role of Peter, whilst Sarah Alexander (Jonathan Creek, Green Wing, Smack The Pony and Coupling) will play Peter’s wife Debbie and Nick Sampson (Witness for the Prosecution, Anthony and Cleopatra) will play The Neighbour. Frances Barber (Silk and Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool) returns to play the role of everyone’s favourite serial killer Elsa Jean Krakowski.

Lee Mack said: “I’m delighted to be joining The Unfriend with the brilliant Sarah Alexander and the wonderful Frances Barber, and of course all the other amazing cast. It’s such a fantastically written play by Steven Moffat that I might even go the whole hog and learn the words.”

While on holiday Peter and Debbie befriend Elsa: a lusty, Trump-loving widow from Denver, USA. She’s less than woke but kind of wonderful, so they agree to stay in touch – because no one ever really does, do they?

When Elsa invites herself to stay with the family a few months later, they decide to look her up online. But it’s too late: on learning the truth about Elsa Jean Krakowski, the deadly danger is already on a flight to London! What began as a casual holiday friendship is suddenly a threat to all their lives. 

Peter and Debbie now face the ultimate challenge of the modern world – how do you protect all that you love from mortal peril without seeming a bit impolite?

Because guess who’s coming… to MURDER.

Director, Mark Gatiss, said; “You can’t keep a good serial killer down! I’m absolutely delighted that Elsa Jean Krakowski has found a home at the beautiful Wyndham’s theatre and very much look forward to bringing Steven’s hilarious play back to the West End”.

Writer, Steven Moffat said: “It’s a real thrill to welcome a couple of comedy legends on board The Unfriend, for our new run at the Wyndhams Theatre.  Lee Mack is one of the funniest men in the country and someone I’ve been wanting to work with for years. And Sarah Alexander is not just brilliant and hilarious, she’s an old friend from our days together on Coupling. Can’t wait to get started all over again.”

Steven Moffat is a six-time BAFTA award-winning writer, whose hit television series include Doctor Who, Sherlock and Dracula – the latter two co-written with the actor and writer Mark Gatiss, who directs this production. Mark Gatiss is a member of the sketch comedy team The League of Gentlemen. Gatiss’ recent directing credits include The Mezzotint and The Amazing Mr Blunden for Sky Max, in which he also starred. He also recently adapted A Christmas Carol at Nottingham Playhouse and Alexandra Palace. Most recently he won huge acclaim for his role as John Gielgud in The Motive and the Cue at the National Theatre.

The Unfriend is designed by Robert Jones, with lighting by Mark Henderson, sound by Ella Wahlström, video design by Andrzej Goulding and casting by Charlotte Sutton CDG. The Unfriend by Steven Moffat was originally developed by Playful Productions.

CATHERINE TATE

& DAVID THRELFALL

TO STAR IN NEW

WEST END PLAY

Paul Unwin’s new play

based on the extraordinary true story

of one of the most famous poltergeist events in the world

Performances begin 30 November

at The Ambassadors Theatre, London

Tickets on sale today, Thursday 13 July, at

www.enfieldhauntingplay.com

Catherine Tate and David Threlfall will star in The Enfield Haunting, a new play based on one of the most famous poltergeist events in the world.

Written by Paul Unwin, and directed by Angus Jackson, The Enfield Haunting will play at Brighton Theatre Royal and Richmond Theatre, before moving to The Ambassadors Theatre in London for a limited West End season from 30 November 2023 until 2 March 2024. 

Tickets for all dates will go on sale to ATG Theatre Card Holders at 10am today, Thursday 13 July, at www.enfieldhauntingplay.com. Tickets are on General Sale from 12pm.

Catherine Tate, who is renowned for her TV, film and theatre work, including her current BBC series Queen of Oz, The Catherine Tate Show and Donna Noble in Doctor Who alongside David Tennant, will play Peggy Hodgson, a single mother who tries to protect her three children from something that is incomprehensible and deeply disturbing.

Catherine said: “I’m thrilled to be part of The Enfield Haunting and can’t wait to start working with the first-class creative team and the brilliant David Threlfall.”

David Threlfall, who played Frank Gallagher in the highly acclaimed TV series Shameless, is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company (he played Don Quixote in the RSC’s production of and last year was nominated for a Tony Award for his role in Martin McDonagh’s The Hangman, plays Maurice Grosse, a ghost hunter.

David said: ‘I’m delighted to be reuniting with director Angus Jackson and working for the first time with the amazing Catherine Tate on Paul Unwin’s version of the UK’s most famous incident of psychological inhabitation,  The Enfield Haunting, in 1977.’ 

The Hodgson’s had no idea what a poltergeist was when, in the summer of 1977, furniture and toys started moving of their own accord. They were an ordinary, working-class family, who lived in a North London council house at 284 Green Street, Enfield, but for the next eighteen months became the centre of one of the most famous poltergeist events in the world.

Janet, the possessed sixteen-year-old, was nearly pulled out of a window. The local ‘lolly pop lady’ saw her floating six feet in the air in an upstairs room and Janet was found fast asleep in a neighbours’ bed. There are tapes of Janet growling for hours in a voice that doctors said would destroy a sixteen-year-old girl’s vocal cords after a few minutes.

Paul Unwin’s new play is the story of one night in the spring of 1978 when events were approaching a climax. Based on the first-hand accounts of one the one the ghost hunters, The Enfield Haunting is the true story of what happened when Peggy Hodgson tries to protect her three children from something that is incomprehensible, deeply disturbing and is hurtling to a terrifying conclusion.

Maurice Grosse was one of the ghost hunters. A kind and protective man, he was determined to help the Hodgson’s but as the night unfolds it slowly becomes clear that he is searching for something that he is convinced that only Janet can help him find.

Writer Paul Unwin said: ‘Before Guy Lyon Playfair the poltergeist expert died in 2018, I spent a long afternoon with him in his basement flat in Earls Court. He and Maurice Grosse had spent months with the Hodgson family trying to protect them, but also make sense of what was going on. What Guy told me was terrifying. So much of what appears to have happened was impossible to fake and yet at the centre of the whole thing were real people trying to make sense of their lives. The Enfield Haunting is a psychological ghost story. It is a ghost story for now.’

Paul Unwin co-created the world’s longest running medical drama, Casualty (alongside Jeremy Brock). He has directed extensively for TV, including, Shameless, Five Little Pigs, Messiah, Combat Hospital and Breathless.  As a theatre director his work includes:  Arthur Miller’s The Man Who had all the Luck at Bristol Old Vic (where he was Artistic Director) and the Young Vic, and the Misanthrope for Bristol Old Vic and the National Theatre.  His other plays include This Much is True and The Promise. His films include The American and Elijah.

Listings Information

THE ENFIELD HAUNTING 
By Paul Unwin
Directed by Angus Jackson

Brighton Theatre Royal

New Road, Brighton, BN1 1SD

Tuesday 14 – Saturday 18 November 2023

Box Office: https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/theatre-royal-brighton/

Richmond Theatre

1 Little Green, Richmond TW9 1QH

Tuesday 21 – Saturday 25 November 2023

Box Office: https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/richmond-theatre/

Ambassadors Theatre, London

West Street, London WC2H 9ND
 

Performance Dates

Thursday 30 November 2023 – Saturday 2 March 2024

Performance Times

Mondays – Saturdays at 7.30pm

Thursday & Saturday matinees at 2.30pm

Tickets

Tickets from £25

Box Office: 0333 009 6690

Tickets on sale from 10am to ATG Theatre Card Holders

General On sale from 12pm on 13 July 2023

Suitable for ages 12+

Social Media

Instagram: @EnfieldHauntingPlay

Twitter: @EnfieldPlay

Facebook: /EnfieldHauntingPlay

Actor, singer and director Michael D’Cruze sat down with fairypowered to have a lovely chat and answer 20 questions.  Michael is currently starring as Grandpa Joe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on tour.  Tour details and tickets can be purchase here

Let’s start with a few favourites

Favourite show (whether you have been in it or not)? 

Evita, which I directed as part of Youth Theatre and Sweeney Todd.  I’d love to star in either of them professionally

Favourite book?

Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. It was one of the first shows I was in as a teen.  I don’t read much but I’ve read that a few times and I own a few copies

Favourite theatre? 

Brighton Theatre Royal.  It’s the first theatre I appeared in, an amateur production of Hello Dolly when I was 14

Favourite song?

I’m a big fan of Birdy, I think she’s incredibly talented and Adele. I like both of them

Favourite music? 

Anything chilled and with a tune.  And again, I’m a huge fan of Birdy

Favourite food? 

Well, I’m half Indian so I love a curry, but I’m also half Irish so I love fish and chips

Favourite drink? 

Coffee! Brandy in coffee but mainly coffee.  I’m touring with a coffee machine.  I do like coffee

What is your favourite role?

Grandpa Joe, I can’t wait to get out on stage every night, I’m really enjoying it 

What was your first role? 

My first professional role was Chino in West Side Story.  There were all these talented people at Guildford (Guildford School of Music and Drama) and I didnt think I was that good. But then I got the role, so somebody saw something in me

And what role would you really like to play? 

Teviot in Fiddler on the Roof or Malvolio in Twelfth Night the Musical

If you weren’t a performer what would you be?

Ten years ago I would have said a Chef, but now I think I would be a Gardener

What made you decide to be a performer? 

I was an awkward and shy child.  But I went to a drama group and it was good and I enjoyed it.  Then I appeared in a show and found I was popular and it helped me to overcome the shyness

Do you enjoy touring?

I love being there but I don’t enjoy packing up and leaving home.  Once I’m there, I love it

What advice would you give 16 year old you?

Don’t be an actor, it’s hard work facing rejection and fighting bias.  But if you do want to do it, enjoy it but find something else you are good at so you have something else to do in between roles

Do you fancy branching out in Producing or Directing?

I have directed but I find it stressful and I want to avoid stress. I do enjoy teaching though

What was the last stage show you saw and really enjoyed? 

Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell.  Incredibly talented performers

Favourite line from any show? 

In Charlie, Mrs Beauregarde says “Mr Wonka, you’re crazy” and Wonka says “Thank you” – that makes me smile every night

If you could be anyone else for the day, who would it be? 

A Formula One Racer or Fighter Pilot.  Anything with adrenaline

What are the nicest/weirdest things you have ever received from fans?

I get some lovely letters and cards.  And a six page epic poem about how lovely I am.  But a little girl drew a picture during the show and wanted to give it to Grandpa Joe, I was really touched to receive that

Can you tell us what you will be up to next?

I’m in Charlie for the rest of the tour and I am really enjoy that

MIZ ROCKS AGAIN!

CAMERON MACKINTOSH

ANNOUNCES

THE WORLD TOUR
OF
LES MISÉRABLES
THE ARENA SPECTACULAR

OPENING WITH EUROPEAN DATES

INCLUDING LIMITED UK DATES FROM SEPTEMBER 2024

Cameron Mackintosh, in association with Nick Grace Management, is delighted to announce the World Tour of LES MISÉRABLES THE ARENA SPECTACULAR opening with European dates, including limited UK dates from September 2024.

Already booked to perform in over 15 countries worldwide including the UK, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and beyond, the World Tour will begin as the stage musical enters its 39^th revolutionary year and will run throughout the upcoming 40^th anniversary celebrations for the world’s longest running musical in 2025. After which it is planned to play North and South America.

LES MISÉRABLES THE ARENA SPECTACULAR will be expanded from the hugely successful Les Misérables The Staged Concert which played for over 200 record-breaking performances in the West End. It will have an extraordinary new design specifically created for arenas (and large theatres) with audiences of between 3,000 – 5,000.  This spectacular production will have a UK company of over 110 actors, musicians and crew featuring a core cast with a great number of celebrated Les Mis guest stars appearing as their schedules allow.

Exact dates, cities, venues, casting and on sale details will begin to be revealed this Autumn.

To be the first to hear all the news and receive details of priority on sale for

LES MISÉRABLES THE ARENA SPECTACULAR please sign up at lesmis.com/concert.

Cameron Mackintosh said today, “Since the very first concert performance of Les Misérables in Sydney in January 1989, this remarkable musical has proved to be as powerful and successful in its every manifestation. Whether in its original full theatrical form, a blockbuster musical movie, or any of its numerous spectacularly staged concert performances. Over the show’s nearly 40 years existence, it has also proved to be the launch pad for an extraordinary list of stars around the world, in many different languages and countries. This much anticipated world tour will be a unique opportunity for many of these celebrated performers to play their favourite roles for short periods in different parts of the world, so fans will get the chance to see their favourite stars (and mine!) in their favourite musical. Both the show and the score of Les Mis continues to win poll after poll around the world as the publics favourite musical of all time containing so many of the most memorable and beloved songs ever written for the musical theatre. The euphoria of the cast reunion performances of Miz are legendary and always prove a sell-out so I look forward to this unique event being the ultimate demonstration of Do You Hear The People Sing ever!”

Nick Grace said today, “I’m thrilled to be co-producing this exciting new world tour with Cameron and to have the opportunity of working on this iconic musical.  I’m looking forward to taking this incredible new UK touring production all over the world, bringing it to existing Les Mis fans and those that will be experiencing the phenomenon for the first time.”

Nick Grace is one of the World’s leading producers and general managers of international touring productions and in the last 25 years has presented shows in 59 countries worldwide including BATMAN LIVE – World Arena Tour, WALKING WITH DINOSAURS – The Arena Spectacular, BLUE MAN GROUP World Tour and the ongoing MAMMA MIA ! UK & International Tour.

The critically acclaimed production of Les Misérables continues to play at the Sondheim Theatre, where itwill soon be celebrating its 39^th revolutionary year, and several other local language productions around the world. To celebrate the 10^th Anniversary of the Oscar-winning movie a remastered and remixed version will be released in 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital on 18 July