FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR

MARINA CARR’S GIRL ON AN ALTAR

With Chinonyerem Odimba and Ben and Max Ringham’s Black Love currently running at the theatre, Kiln Theatre, in a brand-new partnership with the Abbey Theatre, today announces the full cast for Marina Carr’s Girl on an Altar. Annabelle Comyn directs Nina Bowers (Cassandra), Daon Broni (Aegisthus), Jim Findley (Tyndareus), Kate Stanley Brennan (Cilissa), David Walmsley (Agamemnon) and Eileen Walsh (Clytemnestra). The production opens at Kiln Theatre on 25 May, with previews from 19 May, and runs until 25 June.

Kiln Theatre in partnership with the Abbey Theatre presents

GIRL ON AN ALTAR

by Marina Carr

19 May – 25 June 2022

Cast: Nina Bowers (Cassandra), Daon Broni (Aegisthus), Jim Findley (Tyndareus), Kate Stanley Brennan (Cilissa), David Walmsley (Agamemnon) and Eileen Walsh (Clytemnestra)

Director Annabelle Comyn;Designer Tom Piper; Lighting Designer Amy Mae; Composer and Sound Designer Philip Stewart; Video Designer Will Duke; Casting Director Julia Horan CDG; Movement Director and Intimacy Director Ingrid Mackinnon; Voice & Dialect Coach Daniele Lydon; Costume Supervisor Isobel Pellow; Assistant Director Jessica Mensah

Clytemnestra’s world is torn apart when her husband, Agamemnon, sacrifices their daughter for the sake of war. Ten years on from this unthinkable tragedy, the couple are reunited. What follows is a dangerous battle of love, grief and power. 

Marina Carr’s (Blood Wedding, By the Bog of Cats) new re-telling of the infamous Greek myth brings Clytemnestra’s story to the forefront and asks is it possible to forgive the unforgiveable?

Marina Carr’s work for the stage includes iGirl, On Raftery’s Hill, Anna Karenina, 16 Possible Glimpses, MARBLE, Ariel (Abbey Theatre), Portia Coughlan (Abbey Theatre and Royal Court Theatre), Blood Wedding (Young Vic), Woman and Scarecrow (Irish Repertory Theatre), Mary Gordon (National Concert Hall), By The Bog Of Cats (Abbey Theatre & West End), Hecuba (RSC), new contemporary translation of Verdi’s opera Rigoletto (Opera Theatre Company, Irish National Tour), Phaedra Backwards (McCarter Theatre, Princeton), The Giant Blue Hand (Ark Theatre Commission), Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Quartet (Traverse Theatre), The Cordelia Dream (RSC at Wilton’s Music Hall); Woman And Scarecrow (Royal Court Theatre), On Raftery’s Hill (Town Hall Theatre Galway, Royal Court Theatre Downstairs, Kennedy Center Washington DC), The Mai (Peacock Theatre, Dublin – Winner of Best New Irish Play at Dublin Theatre Festival), Low In The Dark (Projects Arts Centre, Dublin) and Ullaloo (Dublin Theatre Festival, Abbey Theatre). Carr was awarded the 2017 Windham-Campbell Prize. Marina Carr is an Associate Playwright of the Abbey Theatre. Most recently hosted a major revival of one of her best-known plays, Portia Coughlan, directed by Caroline Byrne with Denise Gough playing the title role.

Annabelle Comyn is artistic director of Hatch Theatre Company and Director in Residence at The Lir, National Academy of Dramatic Arts, Ireland. Her theatre credits include Ravens: Spassky vs. Fischer (Hampstead Theatre), Asking For It (Landmark Productions, Everyman Cork, Abbey Theatre), Look Back in Anger, The Vortex (The Gate, Dublin), Crestfall, Helen and I (Druid, The Mick Lally Theatre), The Wake, Hedda Gabler, Major Barbara, The House – Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Director, Pygmalion, A Number, Blue/Orange (Abbey Theatre), Dancing at Lughnasa (Lyric Theatre Belfast), The Sit (Dublin Theatre Festival), Whereabouts (Fishamble in a co-production with Temple Bar Cultural Trust and Good-Bye Roy and Rough Road to Survival (Royal Court Theatre). For Hatch Theatre, her work includes The Talk of the Town (Landmark Productions and Dublin Theatre Festival), Love and Money, Further Than The Furthest Thing, Cruel and Tender, Pyrenees, Blood, and The Country (in association with Project Arts Centre).

Nina Bowers plays Cassandra. For theatre, her credits include Shakespeare’s History Cycle (Shakespeare’s Globe, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), Dear Elizabeth, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Gate Theatre), The Wolves (Theatre Royal Stratford East), The Magic Flute (Aix-en-Provence Festival for Complicité), Crave (The Pit, Barbican), Tomorrow I’ll Be Twenty (UK tour for Complicité). For television, her credits include the forthcoming Lockwood & Co and Panic.

Daon Broni returns to Kiln Theatre toplay Aegisthus – he previously appeared in Holy Sh!t and One Under. Other theatre credits include Two Horsemen (Jermyn Street Theatre), Women Beware Women, Bedlam, Henry IV Parts 1&2 (Shakespeare’s Globe), Macbeth (Royal Exchange Manchester), Slaves of Solitude (Hampstead Theatre), In Blood: The Bacchae (Arcola Theatre), The Observer (National Theatre), The Wedding Dance (Nitro), The Changeling (ETT), Shakespeare’s R+J (Bath Theatre Royal), The Canterbury Tales (Royal Shakespeare Company), Them and Us (Bigfish Theatre), Blue/Orange (Duchess Theatre), Blood Wedding (Manchester Youth Theatre), Head On (West Yorkshire Playhouse), and Common Threads (Gwent Theatre Co). For television, his work includes Holier Than Thou, Waterloo Road, Teachers Eyes Down and Serious & Organised; and for film, A Passion Night’s Bloom, Now What?, Breaking and Entering, Lives of Saints, Dead Cool.

Jim Findley returns to the Kiln to play Tyndareus – he previously appeared in Playboy of The West Indies, Lonely Cowboy, and Beef, No Chicken. His other theatre credits include Antigone (Storyhouse Theatre, Chester), Moon on a Rainbow Shawl (Almeida Theatre), The Tempest, For Services Rendered, 14 hour Odyssey (Jermyn St Theatre), Our Town (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), The Meeting (Minerva, Chichester),The Lady From The Sea (Donmar Warehouse), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Plymouth Theatre Royal), The Tempest (The Dukes, Lancaster Open Air Season), Twelfth Night (Birmingham Rep), Watership Down (Lyric Hammersmith), Mr Puntila and his Man Matti (Almeida Theatre/Albery Theatre), A River Sutra (Indosa/Three Mills Island Studios), Inside Out Of Mind (Meeting Ground/Lakeside Arts), and The Cherry Orchard, A Flea in Her Ear, Macbeth, Of Mice and Men (Nottingham Playhouse).  He co-adapted and performed V.S Naipaul’s novel Miguel Street for Edinburgh’s Theatre Workshop, Andrew’s Lane, Dublin, and Latchmere Theatre – the critically acclaimed one man show was the first time any of Naipaul’s work had been brought to the stage.

For television, his work includes Pitching In, Silent Witness, Livin’ It, Doctor Who – Resurrection Of The Daleks, and Johnny Jarvis; and for film, Cry Freedom, Socrates, Inside Out Of Mind, Playing Away.

Kate Stanley Brennan plays Cilissa. Her theatre work includes SH*T, Conversations after Sex, Riot (THISISPOPBABY), Treaty (Fishamble), her self-penned show Walk For Me (Project Arts Centre), Restoration (Shaun Dunne), Evening Train (Everyman Palace), The Plough and the Stars (Lyric Hammersmith/ Abbey Theatre, Dublin), Crestfall  – ITTA nomination Best Ensemble(Druid Theatre), The White Devil (Shakespeare’s Globe), Hedda Gabler, The Risen People, Terminus, Saved, Playboy of the Western World (Abbey Theatre, Dublin), The Night Alive (Lyric Theatre Hammersmith /Gaiety), Wuthering Heights, Salome (Gate Theatre), Witness, Best Man, ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot – Irish Times Theatre Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, Love and Money – ITTA nomination for Best Actress (Project/ Everyman), Yerma (West Yorkshire Playhouse), and The Sanctuary Lamp (Arcola Theatre). For television, her credits include, Kin, Inspector Jury, Chasing Green, Raw, Fair City and The Tudors; and for film, Burn It All, Cherry – short, also directorial debut, Fly Like a Butterfly, Fading Away, and Doll House – winner of Best Ensemble Acting Odessa Film Festival. She makes music under the name “MissKate”, and has directed her last three music videos, Took The Life, Get Me and a collaboration with Lux Alma In The Place due for release later this year.

David Walmsley plays Agamemnon. For theatre, his work includes Blood Wedding (Young Vic), Our Town (Almeida Theatre), War Horse (New London), and The London Merchant (Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds). For television, his work includes Slow Horses (Embankment), The Terror, Of Kings and Prophets, Banished, Anne, The Smoke, Crimson Fields, In The Flesh, and Belme Sweet Belme; and for film, Peterloo, To Walk Invisible, and Ben Hur.

Eileen Walsh plays Clytemnestra. Her theatre credits include The Same (Irish Arts Centre, NY), Aristocrats (Donmar Warehouse), Absolute Hell, Broad Shadow, Liola (National Theatre), The Unknown, The Internet is Serious Business, Sand, Crave (Royal Court Theatre), The Same, Request Programme, The Merchant of Venice (Corcadora), Little Eyolf (Almeida Theatre), The Plough and the Stars, Macbeth, The Playboy of the Western World, Saved, Portia Coughlan, Ariel (Abbey Theatre, Dublin), Lippy (Dead Centre/Young Vic), The Tempest (Northern Stage/Improbable), Medea, Beginning, Crestfall (Gate Theatre, Dublin), The Believers (Frantic Assembly/Theatre Royal  Plymouth), Quiz Show, The Drowned World (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh), The Seagull, How’s Life, Conversations, Whistle in the Dark, Famine, The Gigli Concert (Druid Theatre), Image of an Unknown Woman (Gate Theatre), Hamlet (Young Vic), Medea (Siren Productions), Terminus (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh/Public, NY/Abbey Theatre, Dublin), Splendour (Paines Plough/Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh), Troilus and Cressida (Oxford Stage Company), Boom Town (Rough Magic Theatre), Disco Pigs (Bush Theatre/Arts Theatre), Danti Dan (Rough Magic Theatre/Hampstead Theatre), and The Entertainer (Liverpool Playhouse). For television, her credit include Modern Love, The South Westerlies, Women on the Verge, Catastrophe, Patrick Melrose; Pure Mule, and Delicious; and for film, 13 Hours, Wolf, Made in Italy, The Children Act, Gold, The Ballad of Kid Kanturk; Triage, The Maid of Farce, Eden (Tribeca Film Festival Award for Best Actress), 33x Around the Sun, The Magdalene Sisters (Venice Festival Golden Lion Award), When Brendan Met Trudy, Miss Julie, Janice Beard, The Last Bus Home, Spaghetti Slow, and The Van.

KILN THEATRE                                                                                                                                          Listings

Kiln Theatre

269 Kilburn High Road, London, UK, NW6 7JR

Box Office: 020 7328 1000

www.KilnTheatre.com

BLACK LOVE

Until 23 April 2022

Post Show Q&A 12 April 2022, 7.30pm

Audio Described Performance 14 April 2022, 7.30pm

Captioned Performance 21 April 2022, 7.30pm

GIRL ON AN ALTAR

19 May – 25 June 2022

Press night:  25 May 2022, 7pm

Post Show Q&A 7 June 2022, 7.30pm

Captioned Performance 9 June 2022, 7.30pm

Audio Described Performance 16 June 2022, 7.30pm

THE DARKEST PART OF THE NIGHT

14 July – 6 August 2022

Press night:  21 July 2022, 7pm

Post Show Q&A 26 July 2022, 7.30pm

Captioned Performance 1 August 2022, 7.30pm

Audio Described Performance 4 August 2022, 7.30pm

Relaxed Performance 6 August 2022, 2.30pm

Tickets to all productions now available

Tickets from £15

All tickets for first preview £15

Under 26 – £10 (subject to availability), Access, Over 65, Local, Student and Group rates available, for further details, please see the website

Subsidised tickets

We offer free tickets and exclusive discounts to those who can’t afford to come. If you fit any of the below criteria, get in touch and we can help you get a ticket.

If you are homeless, out of work or receive Housing Benefits, Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance (valid ID, statements or proof universal tax credit will be required when collecting tickets).

Or, if you are an employee of the NHS, Police Force, Fire Brigade, Armed Forces, The Coastguard, RNLI, Prison Officers or Social Care Workers (valid ID payslip and name badges will be required when collecting tickets).

Email FreeTickets@KilnTheatre.com

Richmond Theatre – until 16^th April 2022

Reviewed by Carly Burlinge  

5***** 

Daniel Corban (Patrick Duffy) who is recently married and on his honeymoon in a beautiful cabin in Catskills Mountains. Finds himself in an awful situation following a fight 3 days earlier with his wife who is now being reported as missing! Daniel appears to be devastated and in despair regarding the situation he now finds himself in. He enlists the help of Inspector Levine (Gray O’Brien) a very talkative inspector who achieves sarcasm and whit very well. Things suddenly take a turn when Father Kelleher (Ben Nealon) a priest shows up insisting that he has found his wife Elizabeth Corban (Linda Purl) alive and well. With Daniel telling them all that she is an imposter, but with everybody else agreeing that she is his wife as she seems to have all the answers giving a believable case. Daniel soon becomes frustrated and with each piece of evidence he brings forward his wife has the ability to prove him wrong! With everybody thinking that perhaps Daniel is slowly losing it and with him also questioning his own insanity the plot becomes thicker leading to more than a satisfying twist keeping the audience on the edge of their seats wondering what’s going to happen next! 

Patrick Duffy plays a very believable character that comes across very gentle and easy going with small parts of seeing him frustrated.  Linda Purl plays a skittish character, she has many different aspects in her role to achieve in which she does with ease throughout this production. 

The set is well worth a mention. It was done exceptionally well with a great deal of detail throughout, of an amazing cabin set as a living room, with a beautiful stone fireplace from floor to ceiling along with its very own Moose head attached. All wood effect surrounding the whole area with modern sofas and a window set in the background showing outdoor greenery with doors one leading into the kitchen. Which was visible when opening from the main set and also bedroom doors. From the roof there was a backdrop of the sky with clouds making the whole scene very effective and done to an amazing high standard. 

All in all, what a fantastic show to be seen has a bit of everything from humour through to thriller with an ovation from the audience. Definitely one not to be missed was just amazing and enjoyable to watch throughout. 

A NEW PRODUCTION OF THE SMASH HIT

ROALD DAHL’S
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
THE MUSICAL

TO EMBARK ON A UK AND IRELAND TOUR
OPENING AT MILTON KEYNES THEATRE ON 9 FEBRUARY 2023

FOLLOWING A SEASON AT LEEDS PLAYHOUSE FROM
18 NOVEMBER 2022 TO 28 JANUARY 2023

A new production of the West End and Broadway smash hit Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – The Musical will embark on a UK and Ireland tour opening at Milton Keynes Theatre on 9 February 2023 where it will run until 5 March 2023 ahead of playing His Majesty’s Theatre Aberdeen (15 – 26 March 2023), Edinburgh Playhouse (29 March – 15 April 2023), Norwich Theatre Royal (19 – 29 April 2023), Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff (3 – 20 May) and Canterbury Marlowe Theatre (24 May – 3 June). Tour schedule and on sale dates below. Further venues and casting to be announced soon. www.charlieandthechocolatefactory.co.uk

The tour follows a Christmas season at Leeds Playhouse from 18 November 2022 – 28 January 2023.

Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – The Musical tells the devilishly delicious tale of young golden ticket winner Charlie Bucket and the mysterious confectionary wizard Willy Wonka.

When Charlie wins a golden ticket to the weird and wonderful Wonka Chocolate Factory, it’s a chance of a lifetime to feast on the sweets they’ve always dreamed of. But beyond the gates astonishment awaits, as down the sugary corridors and amongst the incredible and edible delights, the five lucky winners discover not everything is as sweet as it seems.

Featuring memorable songs from the iconic 1970s film as well as a host of new numbers, this sensational musical is choc-full of fantastical treats to dazzle your senses taking you to a world of pure imagination.

Based on the novel by Roald Dahl and the Warner Bros. film, Charlie and Chocolate Factory – The Musical has a book by David Greig, music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Mark Shaiman and Scott Wittman. It is directed by James Brining and designed by Simon Higlett.

The Leeds Playhouse production of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – The Musical is produced by Neal Street Productions & Playful Productions.

LISTINGS

ROALD DAHL’S CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY – THE MUSICAL

UK AND IRELAND TOUR

www.charlieandthechocolatefactory.co.uk

THURSDAY 9 FEBRUARY – SUNDAY 5 MARCH 2023

MILTON KEYNES THEATRE  

www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes

ON SALE 22 APRIL 2022

WEDNESDAY 15 – SATURDAY 26 MARCH 2023

HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE, ABERDEEN

www.aberdeenperformingarts.com

ON SALE 22 APRIL 2022 

WEDNESDAY 29 MARCH – SATURDAY 15 APRIL 2023

EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE

www.atgtickets.com/edinburghplayhouse 

ON SALE FRIDAY 22 APRIL

WEDNESDAY 19 – SATURDAY 29 APRIL 2023

NORWICH THEATRE ROYAL

www.norwichtheatre.org

ON SALE 29 APRIL 2022

WEDNESDAY 3 – SATURDAY 20 MAY 2023

WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE, CARDIFF

www.wmc.org.uk

ON SALE 6 MAY 2022

WEDNESDAY 24 MAY – SATURDAY 3 JUNE 2023

MARLOWE THEATRE, CANTERBURY

www.marlowetheatre.com
ON SALE 25 APRIL 2022 

FURTHER DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED

2022 SUSAN SMITH BLACKBURN PRIZE

AWARDED TO

BENEDICT LOMBE’S EXPLOSIVE DEBUT, LAVA

               Lava is more than a play, more than a compelling spoken

               word piece; it’s Benedict Lombe’s unfiltered, loud, angry,

               joyful, unapologetically black female expression – all wrapped

               up in a narrative that runs parallel to the history of the western world. 

                                                            Natasher Beecher, Afridiziak Theatre News

London. April 11, 2022

The 2022 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has been awarded to UK playwright Benedict Lombe for her debut play Lava.  In a special presentation at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, the Blackburn Prize judges presented Lombe with a cash prize of $25,000, and a signed limited-edition print by renowned artist Willem de Kooning, created especially for the Prize. Awarded annually since 1978, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is the oldest and largest prize awarded to women+ playwrights, and this is the first time in the history of the award the prize has been awarded to a debut play. Each of the additional nine Finalists received an award of $5,000. 

Commissioned by the Bush Theatre during the summer of 2020, Lava premiered to critical acclaim at the Bush Theatre, London, in July 2021, performed by Ronke Adékoluejo and directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike.  The one-woman show won Best Performance Piece at the 2022 Offies (Off West End Awards). Lombe won the Book and Lyrics Recognition Award at the 2021 Black British Theatre Awards.

In Lava, a British Congolese woman, “Her”, receives an unexpected letter from the British Passport Office and is forced to confront an old mystery: why does her South African passport not carry her first name?  In her quest for answers, she finds a much bigger story.  Playful and lyrical, moving from Mobutu’s Congo to post-Apartheid South Africa, Ireland and England, Lava is a story about unravelling the patterns of chaos across history-questioning nationhood narratives, and the process of naming the unnameable. 

Written in the summer of 2020, after the utter exhaustion felt by black people around the globe, LAVA is what poured out of my soul.

                                                                                                                        Playwright Benedict Lombe

In discussing the themes of her play, Lombe states, “Lava is a play that celebrates Blackness in its fullness, showcasing the joy, the struggle, the beauty, and the resistance that has maintained our survival… I wrote it because I wanted to make something that allowed Black people to enter a space and leave taller than when they walked in.”

In addition to Lombe, the 2022 Finalists for The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize are:

Chiara Atik (US) Poor Clare

Daniella De Jesús (US) Get Your Pink Hands Off Me Sucka and Give Me Back (FKA Columbus Play)

Sarah Hanly (Ireland) Purple Snowflakes and Titty Wanks

Zora Howard (US) BUST

Sonya Kelly (Ireland) The Last Return

Joanna Murray-Smith (Australia) Berlin

Kae Tempest (UK) Paradise

Amanda Wilkin (UK) Shedding a Skin

Lauren Whitehead (US) The Play Which Raises the Question of What Happened in/to low Income Black Communities between 1974 and 2004 

And Hints at Why Mass Incarceration is Perhaps a Man-Made Disease

And Highlights the Government’s General Lack of Empathy for Poor People of Color And Dispels the Notion that Our Condition is Our Fault And Helps Make Visible Why We Riot When We Mourn And also Tells the Story of Anita Freeman & her Kids (“The Play Which Raises the Question…”).

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is awarded annually to celebrate women+ who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. Women+ includes women, transgender, and non-binary playwrights. Each year, artistic directors and prominent professionals in the theatre are invited to submit plays. Each script receives multiple readings by members of an international reading committee that selects the finalists. An international panel of six judges then selects the winning play. 

Judges for the 2022 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize are: star of stage and screen, actor/writer/producer Adjoa Andoh (UK); noted playwright and associate artistic director of Center Theatre Group, Luis Alfaro(US); director for film and theatre, playwright and artistic director of the Unicorn Theatre, Justin Audibert (UK); winner of multiple Olivier and Tony Awards for lighting design, Paule Constable (UK);); stage, film and television star Saidah Arrika Ekulona (US); and Obie and Lilly award-winning director, actor and musician, Whitney White(US).

Since the Prize’s founding in 1978, over 470 plays have been honored as Finalists. Many have gone on to receive other top honors, including Olivier, Lilly, Evening Standard and Tony Awards for Best Play. Eleven Susan Smith Blackburn Finalist playwrights have subsequently won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. The Prize has also fostered an interchange of plays between the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and other English-speaking countries.

Past winners of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize include Caryl Churchill’s Fen and Serious Money,Lynn Nottage‘s Sweat, Erika  Dickerson-Despenza’s Cullud Wattah, Lucy Prebble’s A Very Expensive Poison, Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Fairview, Alice Birch’s Anatomy of a Suicide, Annie Baker‘s The Flick,  Charlotte Jones’ Humble Boy, Moira Buffini‘s Silence, Marsha Norman’s ‘night,Mother, Paula Vogel‘s How I Learned to Drive, Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Three Birds Alighting on a Field, Wendy Wasserstein‘s The Heidi Chronicles, Chloe Moss’s This Wide Night, Sarah Ruhl‘s The Clean House, Judith Thompson’s Palace of the End, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti‘s Behzti (Dishonour), and Jennifer Haley’s The Nether, 

BIOGRAPHY

Benedict Lombe is a Kinshasa-born British Congolese writer and theatre-maker based in London. She is interested in wholly reclaiming diasporic stories; without compromise, without apology, and doing it with flair, humour and heart. Lombe has won a Black British Theatre Award and was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagon Award for Best New Play of the Year. She is on attachment with the National Theatre Studio, has been selected to join BBC Drama Room, and is working on new theatre commissions. She has also previously completed attachments with the Bush Theatre and Theatre503. She is currently working with production companies to develop original film and TV projects.

For more information about the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, visit www.blackburnprize.org.

Twitter: @blackburn_prize

Instagram: @blackburn_prize

Festival Theatre, Malvern – 10th April 2022

Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau

5*****

Ellen Kent Opera Productions once again return to Malvern, this time with Bizet’s masterpiece Carmen performed by the Ukrainian National Municipal Opera, Kyiv.

The story concerns Don José falling for the obvious (though morally dubious) charms of Carmen, abandoning his former life (soldiering, a sweetheart and his elderly mother) and becoming jealous of the attention she garners wherever she goes which (being an opera) does not end well.

The orchestra, masterfully conducted by Nicolae Dohotaru, were on sparkling form right from the first notes. They were articulate, passionate and as tight as a toreador’s trousers. Everything you could want to transport you to the sensuous delights of Seville; evoked at curtain rise by an impressive plaza set and populated by the chorus in their enchanting costumes – a sensual feast!

Don José (played by Sorin Lupu) was a commanding presence as our leading man. His singing was both muscular and tender as the scene demanded. I particularly enjoyed his pianissimo high notes during the “Flower Song” and his affecting acting in the finale. A bravura performance.

And then there’s Carmen (played by Katerina Timbaliuk), who everyone falls in love with – and I was no exception. Carmen wastes no time getting straight into one of the most famous opera arias ever, the “Habanera”; a personal manifesto! An incredible portrayal which captured the Spanish spirit so well; quiet intensity juxtaposed with the Iberian love of passionate gestures and rambunctious vocal outbursts! I marvelled at Timbaliuk’s mellifluous tone as I was carried along on her every note. I was extremely impressed with her natural, self confident ease in a portrayal that totally nailed the character.

Playful and flamboyant , the chorus were sheer joy throughout! I particularly enjoyed their dramatic opening act fight scene which they looked like they were enjoying performing just as much as I was watching it! They surpassed that though with the wonderful gypsy dancing and singing in the festive scene in act 2. There’s something about the twirling of hair, skirt and hands whilst castanets (or tambourines) are playing that makes the senses reel. Ah, España!

Escamillo (played by Racovita Petru) enters for another uproarious highlight; the “Toreador Song”, with a perfect character study of the egotistical Matador. But when that chorus (them again) joined in, it was breathtaking!

Micaela’s big moment comes with her third act aria, bringing a wonderfully moving performance from Alyona Kistenyova as she conveyed her character’s piercing internal anguish with impressively heartfelt singing!

The curtain descended to rousing applause and deserved standing ovations. The intensity of feeling rose further once the Ukranian flag came out and their National Anthem was sung. I hope our applause and cheers conveyed to all involved how much we support Ukraine at this dreadful time.

This opera, like Spain (and Carmen herself), is gorgeous, alluring and untamed! Another triumphant night to thrill the senses, transport you to a better place and make you feel passionate once more. I cannot wait to see all concerned in future productions. ¡Perfección total! A 100% must see.

Pulitzer Prize-winning

Rabbit Hole

by David Lindsay-Abaire
at the Union Theatre

Multi-award-nominated Front Foot Theatre brings this beautifully crafted Pulitzer Prize-winning play to the Union Theatre for a limited run. 

Becca and Howie had a perfect life — a great marriage, a beautiful house, a wonderful family. But when a life-shattering accident turns their world upside down the couple must answer tough questions about themselves, their relationship, and their places in the universe. As improbably funny as it is heartbreaking, filled with distinctive wit and grace, the play charts the path from grief to its antidotes – love, hope, and forgiveness. 

Nicole Kidman’s production company adapted the play into a film in 2010, starring Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Sandra Oh, Dianne Wiest, Miles Teller, and Giancarlo Esposito.

WHEN

12th April – 1st May 2022                                          Tues – Sat 7.30 pm (Sunday matinee 3 pm)

WHERE

Union Theatre, Southwark Old Union Arches, 229 Union Street, London SE1 0LRBox Office: 020 7261 9876www.uniontheatre.biz/rabbit-hole.html

Winners announced for Olivier Awards 2022 with Mastercard 

officiallondontheatre.com/olivier-awards 

• Cabaret triumphs with 7 awards including Magic Radio Best Musical Revival and acting wins for Eddie Redmayne and Jessie Buckley  
• 5 wins for Life Of Pi including Best New Play and an historic Best Supporting Actor win for the 7 performers who play ‘Richard Parker’ the puppet tiger 
• Additional acting winners include Hiran Abeysekera, Sheila Atim, Liz Carr, Elliot Levey and Liza Sadovy  
• Back To The Future – The Musical awarded Mastercard Best New Musical 
• Constellations wins Cunard Best Revival 
• Ceremony to be broadcast tonight on ITV at 10:15pm

The winners have been unveiled for this year’s Olivier Awards with Mastercard, British theatre’s biggest night, which took place this evening (Sunday 10 April) at the Royal Albert Hall in London, hosted by Jason Manford. 

The biggest winner of the night was Cabaret, a revival of the 1966 Kander and Ebb musical which has transformed the West End’s Playhouse Theatre into the ‘Kit Kat Club’ to critical acclaim. The show won seven of the eleven categories it was nominated in, including the Magic Radio Best Musical Revival. Eddie Redmayne won Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as the Emcee and Best Actress in a Musical went to Jessie Buckley as Sally Bowles, with Liza Sadovy and Elliot Levey awarded in the supporting categories for their roles as Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz. Rebecca Frecknall was crowned Best Director, and Nick Lidster won the d&b audiotechnik Award for Best Sound Design. 

With five wins (including Best New Play) is Life Of Pi, Lolita Chakrabarti’s stage adaptation of the bestselling novel which began life in Sheffield in 2019 and is currently playing at the Wyndham’s Theatre. Hiran Abeysekera won Best Actor for his central performance as Pi, and – in an historic first for the Olivier Awards – the seven performers who play ‘Richard Parker’, the puppet tiger – Fred Davis, Daisy Franks, Romina Hytten, Tom Larkin, Habib Nasib Nader, Tom Stacy and Scarlet Wilderink – were collectively awarded Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The production also picked up awards for set and lighting design. 

Sheila Atim was named Best Actress for her role in Constellations, a Donmar Warehouse production of Nick Payne’s play which ran at the Vaudeville Theatre starring four rotating casts. Constellations also won in the Cunard Best Revival category.  

Best Actress in a Supporting Role was won by Liz Carr, who played Dr Emma Brookner (based on a real-life US physician who was among the first to recognise the 1980s AIDs epidemic) in a revival of Larry Kramer’s play The Normal Heart at the National Theatre. 

The coveted Mastercard Best New Musical award was given to Back To The Future – The Musical, a new stage adaptation of the hit 1985 sci-fi film currently playing at the Adelphi Theatre.  

The Noël Coward/Geoffrey Johnson Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play went to Pride And Prejudice* (*sort of), a comedic, all-female retelling of the Jane Austen classic first seen in Glasgow.  

Wolf Witch Giant Fairy, a family-friendly ‘folk opera’ collaboration between the Royal Opera and Little Bulb, won Best Family Show. 

Elsewhere, renowned Broadway costume designer Catherine Zuber was awarded Best Costume Design for her work on Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Kathleen Marshall won Best Theatre Choreography for Anything Goes (which she also directed) and Simon Hale received the award for Best Original Score or New Orchestrations for Get Up Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical. 

The award for Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre (representing the smaller London venues) went to Old Bridge at the Bush Theatre, a 2020 Papatango New Writing Prize-winning play by Igor Memic. 

In the opera categories, Peter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Orchestra were awarded Outstanding Achievement in Opera for their production of Vivaldi’s Bajazet at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre, and Best New Opera Production went to the Royal Opera’s staging of the Janáček opera Jenůfa. 

Outstanding Achievement in Dance was won by Arielle Smith for her choreography of Jolly Folly – part of English National Ballet’s Reunion, a project converting five films made in lockdown into live dance performed at Sadler’s Wells. Revisor, a collaboration from choreographer Crystal Pite and theatre-maker Jonathon Young performed by dancers from Kidd Pivot at Sadler’s Wells, was awarded Best New Dance Production. 

The star-studded Olivier Awards ceremony featured performances from all nine nominated musicals; Anything Goes, Back To The Future – The Musical, Cabaret, The Drifters Girl, Frozen, Get Up Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Spring Awakening – plus a performance from Life Of Pi. 

The show culminated in a special musical tribute to legendary theatre composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who died last year aged 91. This was performed by a group of swings and understudies from tonight’s performing companies (in recognition of all that the swings, understudies, standbys, and alternates of the West End have done to keep our theatres open) along with the next generation in the form of a choir from performing arts school ArtsEd. 

The Olivier Awards continues its partnership with ITV, which broadcasts the ceremony tonight at 10:15pm (available to watch afterwards on the ITV Hub). The full ceremony was also broadcast live from the Royal Albert Hall on Magic Radio. Outside the UK, the Olivier Awards will stream around the world tonight at 10:15pm UK time (5:15pm EST) on YouTube. 

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IT’S IN THE AIR! A UK PREMIERE OF A CLASSIC GERMAN MUSICAL.

For the first time in a new modern English translation, this celebrated German musical is heading to Manchester this Summer!

It’s In The Air! showcase will be the UK premiere of the hit German musical ‘Es Liegt in der Luft’ will open at the Hope Mill Theatre. Originally written by composer Mischa Spoliansky and lyricist Marcellus Schiffer, this never seen before English translation will open on Wednesday 22^nd June 2022 at the Hope Mill Theatre

It’s In The Air! first premiered in 1928, with Marlene Dietrich in the lead role. This popular musical encapsulates the alienation within society and mindless extravagance of the Weimar Republic’s interwar years.

It’s In The Air! at the Hope Mill Theatre is supported by the Spoliansky Trust, Royal Northern College of Music, and The Golsoncott Foundation and features original English translations by West End composer and librettist Steven Edis and original orchestration by young and up and coming composer Celia Denore-Lopez.

A big sale is on and brings with it the exuberant and diverse personalities of the Weimar Republic. Follow these characters as they scrabble mindlessly for any deal they can get their hands on. We see parents forgetting about their children, mad kleptomaniacs (because why not?) and even a store wedding! All in the name of godless consumerism… there must be something in the air!

Tickets for It’s In The Air at the Hope Mill Theatre are on sale now. 

DONMAR WAREHOUSE ANNOUNCES FIRST EVER RELAXED PERFORMANCE DATE FOR THE UK PREMIÈRE OF JACKIE SIBBLIES DRURY’S MARYS SEACOLE

Artistic Director Michael Longhurst and Executive Director Henny Finch of the Donmar Warehouse today announce tickets are now on-sale for the company’s first ever relaxed performance for the UK première of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s MARYS SEACOLE. The production opens on 21 April, with previews from 15 April, and runs until 4 June with the relaxed performance being held on 26 May at 11.30am. The first relaxed performance forms part of the Donmar Warehouse’s wider commitment to accessibility.   

This performance is suitable for anyone who may benefit from a more relaxed theatre environment; the performance itself is unchanged but loud noises, sound effects and lighting will be turned down or removed. Audience members should feel comfortable making noise and moving around as and when they need to, using designated front of house space to take a break. Babes in arms are welcome.  There are £10 and £20 seats available across the auditorium so that audience members can sit where they feel most comfortable. 

Nadia Latif directs Déja J. Bowens (Mamie), Llewella Gideon (Duppy Mary), Kayla Meikle (Mary), Esther Smith (Miriam), Olivia Williams (May), and Susan Wooldridge (Merry). The production opens on 21 April, with previews from 15 April, and runs until 4 June. 

MARYS SEACOLE

By Jackie Sibblies Drury

Directed by Nadia Latif; Designer Tom Scutt; Lighting Designer Jessica Hung Han Yun; Sound Designer and Composer Xana; Movement Director Theo TJ Lowe; Production Manager Marty Moore; Costume Supervisor Lucy Martin; Hair and Makeup Consultant Dominique Hamilton; Voice and Dialect Coach Hazel Holder; Dialect Coach Nia Lynn; Fight Director Kev McCurdy; Props Supervisors Chris Marcus and Jonathan Hall for Marcus Hall Props; Associate Designer David Allen; Resident Assistant Director Josh Parr; Associate Sound Designer Iman Muhammad; Associate Lighting Designer Ayana Enomoto Hurst 

15 April – 4 June 2022

Relaxed Performance: Thursday 26 May at 11.30am 

“Scene One:
Mary Seacole stands before us.
If you don’t know who she is, well,
look her the f**k up.”

Mary Seacole was the pioneering Jamaican nurse who bravely voyaged to heal soldiers in the Crimean War. She was a traveller, a hotelier and a businesswoman. She was the most impressive woman you’ve ever met.

Putting the concept of a biopic through a kaleidoscope, MARYS SEACOLE is a dazzling exploration across oceans and eras of what it means to be a woman who is paid to care, and how, ultimately, no one is in charge of their own story.

Directed by Nadia Latif, the UK premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Jackie Sibblies Drury’s celebrated new play reunites the team behind her critically-acclaimed Fairview in 2019.

MARYS SEACOLE OPEN WORKSHOP

Saturday 14 May, 10.30am – 12.30pm

£12.50 (£7.50 for 16-25 year olds)

Open to anyone over 16, our Open Workshops offer extra insight into our work. Join the Donmar Resident Assistant Director for a two-hour workshop exploring the themes of the production and take part in some of the exercises used by the company in the rehearsal room. 

Patrons will have the option to book for the Open Workshop when booking tickets for the production – these do not need to be booked on the same day.

Twitter, Instagram and Facebook: @donmarwarehouse

MARYS SEACOLE

LISTINGS

DONMAR WAREHOUSE

41 Earlham Street, Seven Dials, London WC2H 9LX

15 April – 4 June 2022

Captioned: 23 May at 7.30pm

Audio-Described: 21 May at 2.30pm, touch tour at 1pm

Relaxed Performance: 26 May at 11.30am

British Sign Language Interpreted: 30 May at 7.30pm

Box Office: www.donmarwarehouse.com / 020 3282 3808 

PERFORMANCE TIMES

Evenings Mon – Sat: 7.30pm

Matinees Thu & Sat: 2.30pm

YOUNG+FREE

YOUNG+FREE tickets for 16-25 year olds released by ballot. Sign up at www.donmarwarehouse.com. 

Generously supported by IHS Markit.

DONMAR DAILY

New tickets on sale every day at the Donmar. Allocations of tickets from £10 will be made available every day for performances 7 days later. Tickets will be available across the auditorium at every price band.

STANDING TICKETS

£10 standing tickets available from two weeks in advance 10am online, by phone and in person. (Except Press Nights. Subject to availability)

ACCESS

The Donmar Warehouse is fully wheelchair accessible. Guide dogs and hearing dogs are welcome in the auditorium. There is a Loop system and a Radio Frequency system fitted in the main auditorium and there are also hearing loops at all the front of house counters.

ASSISTED PERFORMANCES

If you require a companion to attend the Donmar, their ticket will be free. To book call 020 3282 3808 or email access@donmarwarehouse.com. 

For all other access enquiries or bookings call 020 3282 3808.

SEASON AT A GLANCE: 

HENRY V

Until 9 April 2022

MARYS SEACOLE

15 April – 4 June 2022

Captioned: 23 May at 7.30pm

Audio-Described: 21 May at 2.30pm, touch tour at 1pm

British Sign Language Interpreted: 30 May at 7.30pm

The season is presented in partnership with Wessex Grove.

DIGITAL THEATRE+ PARTNERS WITH TRAFALGAR RELEASING

TO PROVIDE EDUCATION PLATFORM FOR

 MULTI-TONY AWARD WINNING AND OLIVIER NOMINATED 

ANYTHING GOES 

From 1^st June 2022, schools, universities, and educational institutions all over the world will be able to see the digital capture of Anything Goes – the hugely critically acclaimed and Olivier nominated play, which was filmed live at the Barbican in London.

Directed by Kathleen Marshall, this 5-star production of the classic musical comedy features an all-star cast led by renowned Broadway royalty Sutton Foster as Reno Sweeney, alongside Robert Lindsay (My Family), Felicity Kendal (The Good Life) and Gary Wilmot (Chicago). 

Following the worldwide cinema release by Trafalgar Releasing, Digital Theatre has acquired the musical to stream for educational institutions on Digital Theatre+, Digital Theatre’s education platform.

Now this much-loved musical will be made available to students, and this will be followed by the release of a suite of educational resources for the musical, produced by Digital Theatre+ designed to support teachers and educators in inspiring and engaging students studying. 

The collaboration is among a number of Digital Theatre+ partnerships with theatres and producers worldwide to share original content with the education sector. Educational support packages are tailored to fit each production and can include including biographies, documentaries, essays, lectures, workshops, study guides, and interviews alongside other learning aids. 

Neelay Patel, CEO of Digital Theatre+ said “We are incredibly pleased that Digital Theatre+ will now allow educational institutions to see this truly spectacular musical comedy. Anything Goes has a strong educational value, as it is the epitome of sophisticated escapist entertainment and satire. We are delighted to be able to bring what is often called the definitive 1930s musical comedy to students all over the world.

Digital Theatre+ is a global educational platform focused on the teaching of English and Performing Arts. The company works with all levels of education from age 11 up to Higher Education. Digital Theatre+ partners with the theatre industry, sharing captured and original content globally with educators and students from companies such as Frantic Assembly, Royal Shakespeare Company, Gecko, Complicite and the Lincoln Centre. DT+ works with theatre professionals to support their commitment to education, and to help instil a passion for theatre in young people that will help create the theatre goers of tomorrow.