THEATR CLWYD ANNOUNCES ARTIST RESIDENCIES

AS PART OF 2020 TYFU|GROW PROGRAMME

Theatr Clwyd today announces its Writers in Residence and Companies in Residence for 2020, as part of the TYFU|GROW Creative Development Programme.Writers’ residencies have been awarded to Hannah Daniel, Katie Elin-Salt, Jennifer Lunn, Wyn Mason, Lisa Parry, and Kristian Phillips. Companies’ residencies have been awarded to Archipelago, Francesca Goodridge and Dan Lloyd, PRIDD, and Signdance Collective.

The six 2020 Writers in Residence will be connected to Theatr Clwyd’s in-house productions of Milky Peaks, For The Grace of You Go I, and Project Hush, with two writers on attachment during each production. The residencies give writers the chance to build relationships with the company of each production and with the Theatr Clwyd team, to spend time observing rehearsals, and to develop ideas in a supportive environment. The writers’ programme is supported by Gladstone’s Library, in whose beautiful rooms the playwrights stay during their time in North Wales.

The Companies’ residencies include up to 2 weeks of rehearsal space, office space, one-to-one support from Theatr Clwyd’s Producing & Programming, Creative Engagement, Communications & Giving, Production and Finance teams, support with funding applications, and the opportunity to share work in progress at the end of each residency.

Tamara Harvey, Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd today said “Some of the most exciting work we’ve produced has been introduced to us through our TYFU|GROW programme, including the brilliant Milky Peaks, premiering at Theatr Clwyd this spring. It’s exhilarating to share our home with writers and emerging companies so they can bounce around ideas and challenge us with new stories and new ways of telling them. I can’t wait to build relationships with these amazing artists over the coming year.”

WRITERS IN RESIDENCE

In connection with Milky Peaks by Seiriol Davies and devised by Seiriol Davies, Matthew Blake and Dylan Townley, 10-21 March

Katie Elin-Salt

Elin-Salt is an actor and writer from Bridgend, South Wales. Her debut play Sprinkles is currently being developed alongside Dirty Protest. She is also a member of the Royal Court New Writers Group and Chippy Lane’s Welsh female writers. Her acting credits include many productions at Theatr Clwyd including the Paines Plough Roundabout season, Educating Rita,and Jack and the Beanstalk.

Lisa Parry

Parry is a playwright based in Cardiff. Her play The Merthyr Stigmatist was recently shortlisted for Theatre Uncut’s Political Playwriting Award and will be staged at the Sherman Theatre in October 2020. Her other writing includes 2023. Her work has been staged by leading new writing companies in the UK and USA, including Dirty Protest, The Miniaturists and PopUp Theatrics, and has been produced at The Barbican, The Other Room, Wales Millennium Centre, and TACT Studio (Broadway, NYC), The Arches, Bridewell Theatre London and Martin E Segal Theatre (NYC) amongst others. In 2016, Parry co-founded Illumine Theatre Company with director Zoë Waterman. She co-founded Agent 160 Theatre Company in 2012 and produced work by female playwrights from across the UK.

In connection with For the Grace of You Go I by Alan Harris, 6 – 17 April
Jennifer Lunn

Lunn’s first full length play Es and Flo was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award and long listed for the Bruntwood Prize in 2017, and was commissioned by Wales Millennium Centre. Herother writing credits include Diaries of a Miserable Unicorn(UK tour), Dining with Copernicus(The Lab Collective & Polish Cultural Institute), Belief, Lockdown(The Other Room), and Imagine, Clash of the Cosmos (Dirty Protest). Lunn has worked extensively with new writing; co-founding the Write Now new writing festival at Brockley Jack Theatre; two years as Head of Projects and Events Production at the National Theatre in London; and the current Head of Production for Ellie Keel Productions. She also works as a Storyteller for Read For Good, a charity working with children and families in Hospitals across the UK. 

Wyn Mason

Mason’s previous writing credits include Rhith Gân / Song of Illusion (which was awarded the Drama Medal at the National Eisteddfod 2015), Gwlad yr Asyn / Donkeyland, and the forthcoming The Lady Speaks in Welsh, inspired by one of Shakespeare’s characters. He has recently established an independent theatre company Os Nad Nawr with playwright Branwen Davies.

In connection with Project Hush by Matthew Bulgo with Manon Wyn Jones and Yasuro Ito, 14-25 September
Hannah Daniel

Daniel is a writer and actor from Cardiff. In 2017, Daniel and Georgia Lee wrote and directed their first short film Destination, and last year were awarded Ffilm Cymru/BBC Wales’ Beacons Fund to shoot their second short film Burial/O Dad yn Deulu Dedwydd. She is currently developing original comedy-drama, Cardiff is the Capital of the World, with Vertigo Films. Her short play Eros (Cuntstruck) premièred at The Old Red Lion Theatre in March 2019. As an actor, her theatre credits include Road (Bloomsbury Theatre), and For All I Care (National Theatre Wales). And for television, Hinterland and Keeping Faith. She has improvised with The Groundlings and UCB Theatre in Los Angeles.

Kristian Phillips

Phillips is a writer/actor from Port Talbot. His debut play Drift was researched and developed under the Tyfu|Grow scheme at Theatr Clwyd and will head into full production in 2020.

ARTISTS AND COMPANIES IN RESIDENCE

Archipelago

Archipelago is a self-styled national theatre collective. Their work is about what it means to be a person living on this tiny island. The artists who are part of the collective are based all over the country. Their work crosses genres, styles, and art forms, but is united under the banner of new, live, political work that provides a great night out. They are committed to inclusivity, accessibility, and communities being embedded in the heart of their practice. The work is both local and national; in conversation with each other and the country.

Francesca Goodridge and Dan Lloyd

Francesca Goodridge is an actor, choreographer and director. She trained at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), is a recipient of the Theatr Clwyd Carne Traineeship for Directors in Wales and is the former Trainee Director of The Other Room Theatre in Cardiff. Her directing credits include The Crocodile (Cornerstone Theatre), BARK! The Musical (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Adam, Eve and Steve (The Kings Head Theatre), Shout! The Mod Musical (The Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool) and Secret The Musical (Epstein Theatre). As Assistant Director at Theatr Clwyd, her credits include A Christmas Carol, Pavilion, Wave Me Goodbye, Dick Whittington and The Importance of Being Earnest.

Daniel Lloyd is an actor, director and musician. He was raised in Rhosllannerchrugog and trained at East 15 Acting School. As an actor, his theatre credits include Eye of the Storm (UK tour), The Commitments (Palace Theatre), Tom: The Tom Jones Musical (UK tour), As You Like It (Ludlow and Stafford Castle), Some Like It Hotter (UK tour), Mods and Rox (The New Wolsey Theatre), and Spring Awakening (Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru/Elen Bowman). For Theatr Clwyd, his acting credits include Little Shop of Horrors, The Hub, The Taming of the Shrew, Animal Farm, and twelve consecutive rock ‘n’ roll pantos. For television, his credits include the recurring character Aled in Rownd a Rownd, Asra, Dau Dŷ a Ni, Tipyn o Stad, and A470. His directing credits include The White Feather (Theatr na n’Og), and Shane (S4C). His credits as Musical Director include Rownd a Rownd Nadolig 2019, ASRA, Y Doniolis (S4C).

PRIDD

PRIDD (soil) is a new Welsh theatre company formed by Awen Blandford (RNCM) and Carys Jones (UEA). Having both grown up in Mold and left to study, they have now come together to celebrate their shared experience of being raised surrounded by Welsh folk culture. PRIDD’s aim is to tell bilingual stories that incorporate Welsh tradition, language and Music. As part of this residency, they will be developing their gig theatre piece Enya, a story inspired by the folk tale The Fire Bird.

Signdance Collective

Signdance Collective is a culturally diverse touring company established in 2001 with experienced Deaf & Disabled artists at the helm. Inclusion and diversity inform the artistic process. In 1987, Signdance Theatre trailblazed fusing sign-theatre, dance and live original music. Since 2001 they have also undertaken cultural exchange/international collaborative practice. Signdance Collective successfully produces and tours its works both nationally and internationally. The Turtle Trials is a new development in storytelling through their art form and immersive practice, engaging disabled and non-disabled Deaf and hearing children and their families.

Listings                                                                                                                                              Theatr Clwyd

Raikes Lane, Mold CH7 1YA

FULL CAST ANNOUNCED FOR THE CLAIM

AT SHOREDITCH TOWN HALL

THE CLAIM

By Tim Cowbury

Directed by Mark Maughan

Set Design: Emma Bailey; Sound Design: Lewis Gibson; Lighting Design: Joshua Pharo

Shoreditch Town Hall

Tuesday 18 February – Saturday 7 March 2020

The full cast is today announced for the return of Tim Cowbury’s The Claim at Shoreditch Town Hall following its debut sell-out run in 2018. Mark Maughan directs Nick Blakeley (A), Tonderai Munyevu (Serge) and Indra Ové (B). Theproduction opens on 20 February, with previews from 18 February and runs until 7 March. 

A comically absurd and quietly shattering journey to the heart of our tolerant and fair society.

Serge stands before us. He has a performance to give. But why is he here? What is he claiming has happened to him? And what has Willy Wonka got to do with it?

A bold, imaginative response to the stories of those seeking refuge in the UK, The Claim asks what happens when your life is at stake and all you have to save it are your words.

Writer Tim Cowbury, and director Mark Maughan today said, “The story of The Claim began here in London, gaining its first flash of attention in a packed room at Shoreditch Town Hall. It’s a story that has unfolded since 2015, with the help of hundreds of refugees helping us to capture the absurd circularity of the Home Office’s asylum interviews and it’s attached bureaucracy. These interviews happen daily, up and down the UK and The Claim aims to highlight the quotidian nature of these life changing interactions. We want to continue to create a more nuanced and compassionate response to the global migration crisis, following a decade that should have shaken the foundations of such a system.

“We return to Shoreditch with a brilliantly talented mixture of old and new cast members, and huge excitement for the resounding climax to this long journey we’ve been on.”

Tim Cowbury is a playwright and co-founder of Made In China. His credits include Get Stuff Break Free (National Theatre), Gym Party (Battersea Arts Centre/UK and international tour), Tonight I’m Gonna Be The New Me (Soho Theatre/UK tour) and Double Double Act (Unicorn Theatre).

Nick Blakeley returns to Shoreditch Town Hall to play A. His previous theatre credits include The Claim (Shoreditch Town Hall/Paines Plough Roundabout), Twelfth Night (Orange Tree Theatre), I Heart Catherine Pistachio (Soho Theatre/Yard Theatre), Brideshead Revisited (York Theatre Royal/UK tour), Hapgood (Hampstead Theatre), Comment Is Free, 24 Hour Plays (The Old Vic), The Last of the De Mullins (Jermyn St Theatre), Hard Feelings (Finborough Theatre), The Sunshine Boys (Savoy Theatre), 13 and A Woman Killed With Kindness (National Theatre).

Tonderai Munyevu plays Serge. His theatre credits include The Moors (Tara Theatre), Black Men Walking (Royal Court Theatre), Carmen (The Grange Festival), Treasure Island (Birmingham Repertory Theatre), DEvine Comedy (Soho Theatre), The Man Who Almost Killed Himself (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Sizwe Banzi Is Dead (Young Vic) and ZHE [NOUN] UNDEFINED (Soho Theatre). He is the co-Artistic Director of Two Gents Productions, and his acting credits for the company include Kupenga KwaHamlet (Oval House/Watermill Theatre) and The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Shakespeare’s Globe/ international tour).

Indra Ové plays B. Her theatre credits include #WeAreArrested, Peer Gynt (Arcola Theatre),The Ugly One (Park Theatre), The Interrogation of Sandra Bland (Bush Theatre), Torn (Royal Court Theatre), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Gielgud Theatre), Yes, Prime Minister (UK tour), Ten Women (Ovalhouse), Twelve Angry Women (Gutted Theatre Company/Lion & Unicorn Theatre), Etta Jenks (Finborough Theatre), Under One Roof (King’s Theatre Glasgow/V&A/Soho Theatre), The Seagull (National Theatre Studio), Blinded by the Sun, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (National Theatre) and Timon of Athens (Young Vic). Her television credits include Good Omens, Unforgotten, Dark Heart, Marcella, Requiem, Glue, The Best Man and The New Worst Witch; and for film, Finding Your Feet, Second Spring, My One and Only, Club Le Monde, It’s All About Love, Resident Evil, The Fifth Element and Othello.

Mark Maughan is a director. His credits include The Claim (UK tour/Paines Plough Roundabout/Shoreditch Town Hall), Unwritten Letters (Bush Theatre), C’est La Vie (The Coronet Theatre), upcoming credits include Dan Daw Show (Sadler’s Wells). Credits as assistant director include Good With People (Òran Mór) and London (UK tour).

The Claim                                                                                                                                         Listings

Shoreditch Town Hall

380 Old Street, Hackney, London, EC1V 9LT

Tuesday 18 February – Saturday 7 March 2020

Box Office: 020 7739 6176

shoreditchtownhall.com

THE ICONIC TELEVISION SERIES RETURNS

Starring Multi Award-Winning Actress Katherine Parkinson

New Comedy adapted and directed by Jeremy Sams

World Premiere – Theatre Royal Bath, 4-20 June 2020

The Good Life – the iconic TV sitcom that delighted countless millions in the 1970s – is to be adapted for the stage and will make its World Premiere at Theatre Royal Bath as part of their 2020 Summer  Season.

Based on the television series by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, Jeremy Sams’ play leads the much-loved characters (not forgetting Geraldine the goat) through various adventures, some old, some new, all hilarious and often, even today, worryingly familiar. The production will run from Thursday 4 June – Saturday 20 June.

Remember the Goods – Tom and Barbara, suburban eco-warriors?

And their next-door neighbours Margo and Jerry Leadbetter, desperately trying to maintain the Surbiton status quo?

Well, they’re back – and on stage for the first time in The Good Life, a theatrical reimagining of the much-loved TV series which won millions of ardent viewers. This new play celebrates a time when, whatever our differences, we still managed to get on with our neighbours.

Katherine Parkinson stars as Barbara Good. Best known for her roles in The IT Crowd, for which she received a British Comedy Best TV Actress Award and a BAFTA Television Award, Humans and Doc Martin, she returns to Bath following last year’s hugely acclaimed performances in Home, I’m Darling and Uncle Vanya.

Jeremy Sams’ directing credits include the National Theatre’s 2000 West End and Broadway revival of Noises Off, the West End musical Spend, Spend, Spend and the international tour of The Sound of Music. His translation of the award- winning French film and stage sensation What’s in a Name? (Le Prénom), is currently on tour across the UK and will be visiting the Theatre Royal in March.

All additional casting and further plans for the production to be announced.

The Good Life is produced by Fiery Angel.

BRIAN COX DIRECTS UK PREMIÈRE OF

JOSHUA SOBOL’S SINNERS – THE ENGLISH PROFESSOR

STARRING NICOLE ANSARI AND ADAM SINA

Camden Mews Productions, Nicole Ansari and Lawryn LaCroix present

SINNERS -THE ENGLISH PROFESSOR

Written by Joshua Sobol

Directed by Brian Cox

Set Designer: Ray Recht; Music: Veria Amiri

Choreographer and Costume Designer: Laya Torkaman

The Playground Theatre

25 February – 14 March 2020

Multi-Award winning Brian Cox directs the UK première of Sinners – The English Professor by Joshua Sobol, starring Nicole Ansari (Layla) and Adam Sina (Nur). The production opens at The Playground Theatre on 26 February, with previews from 25 February and runs until 14 March.

Sinners – The English Professor is a passionate love story about Layla, who is denounced for an affair with her student, Nur, and is awaiting to be stoned to death for adultery. The play examines both Layla’s and Nur’s choices for love and survival and the striving for freedom in a patriarchal culture. Nur can save his own life by throwing the first stone. What choice will he make?

Joshua Sobol is a novelist and playwright whose work has been translated into many languages and have been performed worldwide. His credits include Alice and Martin, Bereaved, Redundant People, The Marx Banquet, Ghetto – which won Evening Standard Award for Best Play and Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play, Silence and the forthcoming world première The Eternal Stranger. He has received the David’s Harp Award for Best Play in Israel five times, in addition he has received the Rosenblum Award for The Contribution to Israeli Theatre, The Israeli Theatre Award for a Life’s Achievement, and Golden Medal of the Land of Vienna for Meritorious Achievements.

Nicole Ansari plays Layla. Her theatre credits include Rock ‘n’ Roll (Royal Court Theatre/Duke of York’s Theatre/Bernard B. Jacobs Theater), When My Mama was a Hittite (Park Theatre), Daybreak (Beckett Theater), I am Antigone (Theater for the New City), Sinners (New Rep Boston/The Mirror Rep), Hamlet (The Mirror Rep), Irma la Douce, Much Ado About Nothing, Romy Schneider, Roxanne (Public Theatre, Vienna) and Alma (International Theatre Festival, Vienna/ Palazzo Zenobio, Venice). She was previously a member of the famed Theatre du Soleil in Paris and toured extensively under the direction of Ariane Mnouchkine. Her television credits include Deadwood, The Blacklist, The Mysteries of Laura, Alma – A Show biz ans Ende and the forthcoming Hollyhock and Little Voice. Her film credits as an actress include Side Effects, Son of the South, Remember Me, Die Liebe Deines Lebens, Last Moment of Clarity and Making the Day. She has also directed the forthcoming television series Messy; and co-produced films including As Good as Dead with Andy McDowell and Blumenthal with her husband Brian Cox.

Adam Sina plays Nur. His theatre credits include When My Mama was a Hittite (Park Theatre), Mercy (Clapham Fringe Festival), The Shawshank Redemption, Billy Liar (UK tours), War Horse (New London Theatre), Rutherford and Sons (Northern Stage), A Moon for the Misbegotton (The Old Vic) and The Filliting Machine (Live Theatre). His television credits include as series regular Colonel Maloof in Tyrant and Jesus: His Life; and for film, the forthcoming 400 Bullets.

Brian Cox directs. His theatre credits as a director include The Crucible (Moscow Art Academic Theatre), Richard III (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); and as an actor, , Titus Andronicus (RSC – Oliver Award for Actor of the Year in a Revival), King Lear, Richard III (National Theatre), Rock ‘n’ Roll (Duke of York’s Theatre/Bernard B. Jacobs Theater), Strange Interlude (Nederlander Theatre), Art (Royale Theater), The Great Society (Vivian Beaumont Theater) and That Championship Season (Bernard B. Jacobs Theater). His television credits include as series regular Logan Roy in Succession – Golden Globe Award for Actor in a Drama TV Series, and Nuremberg – Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie. His film credits include Braveheart, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, X2: X-Men United, Churchill, Troy, L.I.E. and The Escapist.

Lawryn LaCroix co-produces. She is the Executive Producer of Pinkhouse Productions founded in 2017. Her credits for the company include Your Alice (Ophelia Theatre/Arcola Theatre/Edinburgh Festival Fringe) and the forthcoming Field, Awakening (Finborough Theatre). As an actor, her credits for theatre include The Behaviour of Light (Scranton Shakespeare Festival). She is currently working on her Masters in Creative Producing at Mountview.

SINNERS: THE ENGLISH PROFESSOR                                                                                                        LISTINGS

Playground Theatre

8 Latimer Industrial Estate, Latimer Rd, London W10 6RQ

25 February – 14 March 2020

Press Night: Wednesday 26 February at 7.30pm

Box Office: 020 8960 0110 / https://theplaygroundtheatre.london/events/sinners/

Suitable for ages 16 +

PUBLIC BOOKING OPENS TOMORROW AT 10AM FOR

A DOLL’S HOUSE STARRING JESSICA CHASTAIN

The Jamie Lloyd Company presents

Henrik Ibsen’s

A Doll’s House

In a version by Frank McGuinness

Directed by Jamie Lloyd

Design: Soutra Gilmour

Playhouse Theatre

10 June – 5 September 2020

Public booking opens tomorrow, Tuesday 28 January at 10am via the ATG Tickets website for The Jamie Lloyd Company’s production of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, in a version by Frank McGuinness, and starring two-time Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe Award-winner Jessica Chastain. The Jamie Lloyd Company is the successful partnership between Ambassador Theatre Group, the UK’s leading theatre company, and artistic director Jamie Lloyd.

Priority booking is open now to ATG Theatre Card Members and British Airways Executive Club Members.

“I am a human being, just as much as you are.”

Nora seems to have it all – a successful husband, adorable children and a beautiful home. But her acceptance of the status quo is about to undergo a profound change. Is this picture perfect life anything more than an act? And what happens if she is no longer willing to play her role?

The season, in association with British Airways, opened last year with the critically acclaimed production of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, freely adapted by Martin Crimp, with James McAvoy – which runs until 29 February; and ahead of A Doll’s House Emilia Clarke in Anya Reiss’ adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, opening 18 March, with previews from 11 March,running until 30 May.

As part of its continued commitment to audience development, The Jamie Lloyd Company, supported by British Airways, are offering 15,000 free tickets to first time theatre-goers and 15,000 £15 tickets for under 30s, key workers and those receiving job seeker’s allowance and other government benefits across the season.

£15 tickets

For specific Monday evening and Thursday matinee performances across the season every seat in the house is £15. These tickets are exclusively for under 30s, key workers and those receiving government benefits.

The first four £15 performances of A Doll’s House will take place on Thursday 23 July (2.30pm), Monday 27 July (7.30pm), Thursday 6 August (2.30pm) and Monday 10 August (7.30pm) – and will go on sale on Monday 8 June at 12pm via atgtickets.com/adollshouse15 only.

For The Seagull these will take place on Monday 16March (7.30pm), Thursday 9 April (2.30pm), Monday 13April (7.30pm) and Thursday 23April (2.30pm) – and will go on sale on Monday 24 February at 12pm via atgtickets.com/seagull15 only.

Free tickets

A dedicated outreach manager is distributing these tickets amongst both secondary state schools and community organisations who otherwise would not have access to the theatre. If you work with a group who does not have the means or opportunity to visit the theatre, please register your interest here.

Two-time Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain plays Nora in her UK stage debut. Her theatre credits include The Heiress (Walter Kerr Theater), Salome (Wadsworth Theater), and The Cherry Orchard and Rodney’s Wife (Williamstown Theatre Festival). Her film credits include It Chapter Two, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Molly’s Game – for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, Woman Walks Ahead, The Zookeeper’s Wife, Miss Sloane – for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, A Most Violent Year – for which she received the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe nomination and Film Independent Spirit Award nomination, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, Miss Julie, Interstellar, Mama, Tree of Life, The Debt, Take Shelter, The Help – for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress, Zero Dark Thirty –  for which she won a Critics’ Choice Award and Golden Globe, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She was honored with the first-ever Critics’ Choice MVP Award in recognition of the breadth of her accomplishments in 2014 and has received numerous global nominations and accolades for her work from the LA Film Critics, British Academy of Film and Television, Broadcast Film Critics, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, National Board of Review, Screen Actors Guild, Film Independent and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. In addition, Chastain launched Freckle Films, a New York based film and television production company, in 2016; forthcoming films include 355, Ava and The Eyes of Tammy Faye in which she will also star.

Frank McGuinness’ original plays include The Factory Girls (Abbey Theatre Dublin/Tricycle Theatre/Arcola Theatre), Baglady (Abbey Theatre, Dublin), Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (Abbey Theatre Dublin/Hampstead Theatre – for which he received a London Evening Standard for Most Promising Playwright, the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, Harvey’s Best Play Award, the Cheltenham Literary Prize Plays and Players Award, the Ewart- Briggs Peace Prize and the London Fringe Award), Innocence (Gate Theatre, Dublin), Carthaginians (Abbey Theatre, Dublin/Hampstead Theatre), Mary and Lizzie (RSC), The Bread Man (Gate Theatre, Dublin), The Bird Sanctuary (Abbey Theatre, Dublin), Mutabilitie (National Theatre), Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me (Hampstead Theatre/Vaudeville Theatre/New Ambassadors Theatre/Booth Theatre – he received the New York Critics’ Circle Award and Writers’ Guild Award for Best Play), Dolly West’s Kitchen (Abbey Theatre, Dublin/The Old Vic), Gates of Gold (Gate Theatre, Dublin), Speaking Like Magpies (RSC/Trafalgar Studios), There Came A Gypsy Riding (Almeida Theatre), Greta Garbo Came to Donegal (Tricycle Theatre), Crocodile (Sky Arts Live/Riverside Studios), The Match Box (Liverpool Playhouse), The Hanging Gardens (Abbey Theatre, Dublin) and Donegal – with music by Kevin Doherty (Abbey Theatre, Dublin).

Jamie Lloyd directs. His credits as Artistic Director of the company include Cyrano de Bergerac (Playhouse Theatre), Betrayal (Harold Pinter Theatre/Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Broadway), One For The Road, The New World Order, Mountain Language, The Lover, The Collection, Landscape, A Kind of Alaska, Monologue, Party Time, Celebration, A Slight Ache, The Dumb Waiter (Pinter at the Pinter, Harold Pinter Theatre), Doctor Faustus (Duke of York’s Theatre), The Maids, The Homecoming, The Ruling Class, Richard III, The Pride, The Hothouse, Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios). Other theatre credits include Evita (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre – Evening Standard Award for Best Musical).

Season Listings                                                                                                                                                      

Playhouse Theatre

Northumberland Avenue, Charing Cross, London WC2N 5DE

CYRANO DE BERGERAC

Until 29 February 2020

THE SEAGULL

11 March – 30 May 2020

Press Night: Thursday 19 March, 7.30pm

A DOLL’S HOUSE

10 June – 5 September 2020

Press Night: Thursday 18 June, 7.30pm

Box Office: 0844 871 7631

https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/playhouse-theatre/

Please note £15 tickets must be booked via a special link on the ATG Tickets website and can only be picked up from the theatre box office 45 minutes prior to the show, and valid ID must be presented upon collection, or entry will be denied

thejamielloydcompany.com

Twitter: @JamieLloydCo

Instagram: @jamielloydco

DAVID IAN AND THE REALLY USEFUL GROUP

PRESENT THE FIRST EVER UK TOUR OF
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S
LOVE NEVER DIES

THE SPELLBINDING SEQUEL TO

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
OPENING AT
CURVE, LEICESTER ON

26 SEPTEMBER 2020

David Ian and the Really Useful Group are delighted to announce the first ever UK tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s LOVE NEVER DIES. Following on from the sell-out North American tour, the spellbinding sequel to The Phantom of the Opera will open at Leicester Curve on Saturday 26 September 2020 where it will play until Saturday 10 October 2020. The show will then play Manchester Opera House from Wednesday 14 – Saturday 24 October 2020, with further venues and casting to be announced soon. On sale details below. www.loveneverdies.com/uktour

LOVE NEVER DIES has music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater, book by Ben Elton, based on The Phantom of Manhattan by Frederick Forsyth, additional lyrics by Charles Hart, orchestrations by David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

This production of the show was first seen in Australia, before embarking on the hugely successful tour of North America and received acclaim from both audiences and critics alike. It is directed by Simon Phillips, with set and costume design by Gabriela Tylesova, choreography by Graeme Murphy and sound design by Mick Potter.

The year is 1907. It is 10 years after his disappearance from the Paris Opera House and the Phantom has escaped to a new life in New York where he lives amongst the screaming joy rides and freak shows of Coney Island. In this new, electrically charged world, he has finally found a place for his music to soar, but he has never stopped yearning for his one true love and musical protégée, Christine Daaé.

Now one of the world’s finest sopranos, Christine accepts an invitation to travel from Paris to New York to perform at a renowned opera house. Christine’s marriage to Raoul is suffering at the hands of his drinking and gambling and they desperately need the financial rewards that America can give them.

In a final bid to win back Christine’s love, The Phantom lures her, Raoul, and their young son Gustave, from Manhattan to the glittering and glorious world of Coney Island… not knowing what is in store for them….

LOVE NEVER DIES 2020 – LISTINGS

www.loveneverdies.com/uktour

SATURDAY 26 SEPTEMBER – SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER 2020

LEICESTER CURVE

curveonline.co.uk – Box Office: 0116 242 3595

On Sale 31 January 2020 at 10.00am

WEDNESDAY 14 – SATURDAY 24 OCTOBER 2020

MANCHESTER OPERA HOUSE

atgtickets.com/venues/opera-house-manchester – Box Office: 0844 871 3018

On Sale 31 January 2020 at 10.00am

FURTHER VENUES TO BE ANNOUNCED

FULL CAST ANNOUNCED FOR THE

EUROPEAN PREMIÈRE OF PAULA VOGEL’S INDECENT

With the critically acclaimed production of The Boy Friend currently running at the theatre, the Menier Chocolate Factory today announce the full company for the European première of Paula Vogel’s Tony Award-winning play Indecent. Rebecca Taichman directs Corey English – The Middle (Male); Beverley Klein – The Elder (Female); Finbar Lynch – The Stage Manager; Molly Osborne – The Ingenue (Female); Peter Polycarpou – The Elder (Male); Alexandra Silber – The Middle (Female); Joseph Timms – The Ingenue (Male); Merlin Shepherd – The Clarinettist; Anna Lowenstein – The Violinist, and Josh Middleton – The Accordionist.

Public booking for the production is now open.

The Menier Chocolate Factory presents

The European première of

INDECENT

By Paula Vogel

Director: Rebecca Taichman

13 March – 9 May

A seminal work of Jewish culture or an act of traitorous libel? Indecent explores the origins of the highly controversial play The God of Vengeance by Sholem Asch. We follow the path of the artists who risked their careers and lives to perform it in this deeply moving play accompanied by a small live klezmer band.

Indecent reunites Vogel and director Rebecca Taichman who co-created and directed the original production. Indecent had its world première production at Yale Repertory Theatre in October 2015. The play had its New York première Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre in May 2016, and transferred to Broadway in April 2017. It was nominated for the Tony Award for Best New Play received the Tony Awards for Best Direction of a Play for Taichman and Best Lighting Design of a Play for Christopher Akerlind (who will also light the Menier production).

Corey English returns to the Menier to play The Middle (Male) – he previously appeared in She Loves Me. His recent theatre work includes Curtains (Wyndham’s Theatre), Young Frankenstein (Garrick Theatre), Guys and Dolls (Royal Albert Hall), Driving Miss Daisy (York Theatre Royal), Kiss Me Kate (Kilworth House), The Tempest (Bedouin Shakespeare Company), The Producers (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Urinetown (St James Theatre and West End), Dream of Perfect Sleep (Finborough Theatre), Chicago (Adelphi Theatre), and on Broadway in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Hello Dolly!, Damn Yankees, Guys and Dolls, Home Play and Gypsy. For television, his work includes Mysti and Oz; and for film The Conjuring 2, Empire II and Mountainaire.

Beverley Klein plays The Elder (Female). Her stage work includes The Beggar’s Opera (Bouffes du Nord), In Basildon (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch), Deathtrap (Salisbury Playhouse and UK tour), After October (Finborough Theatre), Young Chekhov Trilogy (National Theatre), Cornelius (Finborough Theatre and Brits Off Broadway), Sixty-Six Books (Bush Theatre), Restoration (Headlong), The Holy Terror (Duke of York’s Theatre), Camille (Lyric Theatre Hammersmith), Six Characters in Search of an Author (Young Vic), Romeo and Juliet, The Villain’s Opera and Summerfolk (National Theatre). For television, her work includes Liar, Mr Selfridge, Call the Midwife, Ripper Street, Down to Earth, Gimme Gimme Gimme and The Hello Girls; and for film, Swinging with the Finkels.

Finbar Lynch plays The Stage Manager. His extensive theatre work includes Girl From the North Country (Noel Coward Theatre, Gielgud Theatre and Toronto), The Lady From the Sea, Hecuba, To the Green Fields Beyond, Fool for Love, Translations (Donmar Warehouse), Richard III (Almeida Theatre), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Antony and Cleopatra, Not About the Nightingales (National Theatre), Antigone (Barbican and world tour), Desire Under the Elms (Lyric Hammersmith), The Fairy Queen (Glyndebourne, Paris, New York), The Duchess of Malfi (The Old Vic), Faith Healer (Bristol Old Vic), The Big Fellah (Out of Joint), The Raggered Trousered Philanthropist (Chichester Festival Theatre), as well as for the RSC, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure, Amphibians, and A Woman Killed with Kindness. For television, his work includes Treasdstone, The Mallorca Files, The Feed, Foyle’s War, DCI Banks, Breathless, Game of Thrones, Silk and Proof; and for film, Adventures of a Mathematician, The World We Knew, Property of the State, Departure, Suffragette, To Kill a King and The Scold’s Bride.

Molly Osborne returns to the Menier Chocolate Factory to play The Ingenue (Female). She previously appeared in Fiddler on the Roof (also Playhouse Theatre).

Peter Polycarpou plays The Elder (Male). His theatre work includes A Very Expensive Poison (The Old Vic), Oslo (Harold Pinter Theatre), Ross, Guys and Dolls, The Pajama Game, Love Story (Chichester Festival Theatre), Sweeney Todd (Chichester Festival Theatre and Adelphi Theatre), Working (Southwark Playhouse), Mrs Henderson Presents (Toronto), The Magistrate (National Theatre), Anna in the Tropics (Hampstead Theatre), Les Miserables (25^th Anniversary at the O2, Dubai), Oliver! (Curve, Leicester), City of Angels (Donmar Warehouse), Imagine This (New London Theatre), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London Palladium) and Oklahoma! (National Theatre). For television, his work includes Riviera, Unforgotten, Tyrant, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries, The Family Tree, Hustle, Empathy, and as series regular Chris in Birds of a Feather; and for film, Blue Iguana, Our Cyprus, Clean Skin, O Jerusalem, De-Lovely and Evita.

Alexandra Silber plays The Middle (Female). Her work for the stage in the UK includes Kiss Me Kate (BBC Proms), Carousel (Savoy Theatre – TMA for Best Performance in a Musical), Fiddler on the Roof (Sheffield Crucible and Savoy Theatre) and The Woman in White (Palace Theatre); and in the US, 50^th anniversary production of Fiddler on the Roof (Broadway), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Camelot (Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC), My Fair Lady (MUNY), Arlington (Vineyard Theater), Dum Dee Tweedle (Detroit), West Side Story (San Francisco Symphony. Grammy nomination for the critically acclaimed recording), She Loves Me (Caramoor Center for the Music and the Arts), Song of Norway (Carnegie Hall), Love Story the Musical (The Walnut Street Theatre), Hello Again (Transport Group) and Master Class (Kennedy Center, Manhattan Theatre Club). For television, her work includes Elementary, The Mysteries of Laura and Law and Order; and for film, 1408.

Joseph Timms plays The Ingenue (Male). His theatre work includes A Christmas Carol (RSC), The White Devil, The Taming of the Shrew, Henry IV Parts 1 &2, Bedlam (Shakespeare’s Globe), A Tale of Two Cities (Royal and Derngate), The Hudsucker Proxy (Nuffield Southampton Theatres and Liverpool Everyman), Twelfth Night and Richard III (Belasco Theatre, Broadway), Bracken More (Tricycle Theatre), Privates on Parade (Noel Coward Theatre), Richard II (Donmar Warehouse) and Twelfth Night (National Theatre). For television, his work includes Atlantis and Amerikan Kanibal.

Paula Vogel is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright whose other plays include How I Learned to Drive (Broadway production set for spring 2020; Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Lortel Prize, OBIE Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics Awards for Best Play), The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Mineola Twins, The Baltimore Waltz, Hot’n’Throbbing, Desdemona, And Baby Makes Seven, The Oldest Profession and A Civil War Christmas. Her plays have been produced across the US and worldwide.

Rebecca Taichman directs. Her credits include Sing Street (New York Theatre Workshop and forthcoming Broadway run at Lyceum Theatre), Time and the Conways (Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre),  School Girls; Or, The Mean African Girls Play (MCC), This Flat Earth, Familiar, Stage Kiss, Milk Like Sugar (Playwrights Horizons), How To Transcend a Happy Marriage (Lincoln Center), Rappaccini’s Daughter, Dark Sisters (Gotham Chamber Opera), Luck of the Irish (LCT3), Orlando (Classic Stage Company), Orpheus (New York City Opera), The Scene (Second Stage), Menopausal Gentleman (The Ohio Theatre).

Indecent is being presented in association with Daryl Roth, Elizabeth I McCann and Cody Lassen.

LISTINGS INFORMATION                                                                                MENIER CHOCOLATE FACTORY

53 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1RU

INDECENT

13 March – 9 May

HABEAS CORPUS

15 May – 4 July

Box Office:                         020 7378 1713 (£2.50 transaction fee per booking)

Website:             www.menierchocolatefactory.com (£1.50 transaction fee per booking)

Tickets:                               Prices vary, as below from discounted preview tickets to premier seats. With the emphasis on ‘the sooner you book, the better the price’:

A meal deal ticket includes a 2-course meal from the pre-theatre menu in the Menier Restaurant as well as the theatre ticket.

MENIER ELSEWHERE:

THE WATSONS

Harold Pinter Theatre, Panton St, London SW1Y 4DN

Box Office: 0844 871 7622 / www.atgtickets.com

Tickets from £15

THE BOY FRIEND:

Tickets via www.mirvish.com. 

Tickets can also be purchased at the Princess of Wales Theatre during regular box office hours.  Group orders of 15 or more receive reduced rates.

31 March – 3 May

www.menierchocolatefactory.com

Twitter: @MenChocFactory

Instagram: @menierchocolatefactory

Above The Stag Theatre – until 1 March 2020

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

4****

Peter Quilter’s sweet and silly comedy is the perfect cure for the winter blues.

Thomas finds waking up in a strange bed with Adam and needing to be reminded of the previous night’s events awkward enough, but when Adam’s mother Barbara bursts in and squeezes into bed for a chat, he almost dies of embarrassment. Barbara bemoans the inhibitions of the younger generation, and constantly overstates about past and present lovers, although for someone who advocates free love, she seems very keen to see her son walk down the aisle for the big wedding she never had.

With scenes beginning with a running joke about Adam’s alarm clock, a short series of morning’s after sees the couple’s relationship develop, despite Barbara’s constant presence – Adam’s previous boyfriend’s either developed stutters or left the country! – leading up to their wedding, organised by Adam’s eccentric Uncle Martin.

With a set straight out of a 1980s bedroom farce and arch delivery and looks to the audience, the play feels like a nostalgic sitcom, full of sexual innuendo but with a warm and cosy message of acceptance and tolerance. First written as a gay play, the straight version has been successful overseas, but this turn to the original version has found the perfect home at Above The Stag in the assured hands of director Andrew Beckett. David Fenne and Chris Cahill are very funny as uptight Thomas and relaxed Adam, bouncing off each other beautifully and making the relationship believable amongst all the farcical moments. In complete contrast, Coleen Daley is hilarious as Barbara, completely over the top and channelling Norma Desmond as she delivers the best lines in the show and Matthew Lloyd Davies gives an insane performance as chemically enhanced Martin.

The Morning After is light and frothy, sometimes filthy fun – a great night out

Love, Genius and a Walk

Theatro Technis, April 7th – May 2nd 2020

LGW Productions are delighted to bring to the stage the fascinating story of composer and conductor Gustav Mahler, written by the New York Writer Gay Walley and directed by Leah Townley. The story explores the theories of Sigmund Freud, who Mahler met, together with Mahler’s approach to composing and how this might have physically manifested itself. This includes a focus on his relationship with his wife Alma, an amazing woman and composer in her own right. The play also contrasts the role of women in the 19th century with the character of a female writer in contemporary scenes.

“it is lonely to be an artist and lonely to love an artist” A Younger Theatre

Love, Genius and a Walk is a play that shows how art and marriage can make odd bedfellows. Gustav Mahler, world-renowned composer and conductor, wants his wife to be his muse, but Alma desires the closeness that he cannot give, he thinks, in order to get his work done. Mahler turns to the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud for guidance, and both men find that neither of them may be that clued up about women.

At the same time, a modern couple’s life mirrors Alma and Mahler’s, except here she is the artist who works all the time, and their conundrum is a commercially-oriented husband whose thoughts on art can be a touch confounding. The two stories twist and turn through the quagmires of love and genius, much of it to the sweeping music of Mahler.

Love, Genius and a Walk toured the UK in 2019, and was nominated for 6 prizes, including Best Play, at the Midtown Festival in New York. It now returns to London in a new creative production by director Leah Townley

“sparkier, tighter and left the audience with plenty to think about” View from the Cheap Seat

Mahler’s music form an integral part of the rhythm of the show, using a grand piano on stage to connect with the audience and strongly influence the mood, alongside slick design moving between the contemporary scenes and the rest of the play.

WIZARD CAST PRESENT ST HELENS’ WONDERFUL HALF-TERM PANTO

St Helens Theatre Royal Announces February Panto Cast

A wizardly February half term panto is coming to St Helens Theatre Royal and its producers are delighted to reveal its wonderful cast.  Click your heels together and join Dorothy and Toto on the Yellow Brick Road in Regal Entertainments’ The Wizard of Oz from Saturday 15 – Sunday 23 February 2020.

Rising young star Mia Molloy, steps into the red slippers as she takes on the lead role of Dorothy.  Mia has played the lead roles in both Sleeping Beauty and Snow White at St Helens Theatre Royal and was first cast as Amy Chandler in the original production of Our Day Out – The Musical at the Royal Court Theatre aged just 14.

Samantha Palin plays The Wicked Witch.  Samantha is also no stranger to St Helens Theatre Royal as her recent theatre credits include the villainous fairy Carabosse in October’s Sleeping Beauty and – by contrast – the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at The Epstein Theatre, Liverpool.

Reece Sibbald plays The Scarecrow who wants a brain.  County Durham born Reese has played The Scarecrow at Whitley Bay Playhouse in 2018 in 2013, 2016 and 2017 and his roles include Baby Bear in Goldilocks And The Three Bears, Ratty in The Wind In The Willows and Buttons in Cinderella.

Harry Moore is the Tin Man seeking a heart. No stranger to panto, Harry has played both The Wizard and Tin Man in previous production of  The Wizard of Oz and Dame Dotty Trott in Jack And The Beanstalk.  His theatre credits include Yakov in The Seagull, Cridle in St Joan Of The Stockyards and Father Bojovic in Pentecost.

Returning after his memorable role as PC Noodle in St Helens’ 5-star panto Aladdin, Timothy Lucas plays the Cowardly Lion who wants some courage.  Trained at Liverpool theatre school, Timothy has played Gaston in Beauty and the Beast in 2017 and the notorious Captain Hook in Peter Pan in 2018.

Another St Helens alumnus, Abigail Middleton, returns in the role of the Good Fairy Glinda. Abigail has played Tiger Lily in Peter Pan at St Helens and her recent credits include Lucy in Pig, Sister Mary in Scouse Pacific and Nancy in Kiss Me Quickstep.

James Lusted completes the cast in the titular as The Wizard.  James has worked as an actor and TV presenter for 10 years.  His theatre work includes Follow Me for Theatre Brycheiniog and The Funfair at Home Theatre in Manchester, as well as several appearances in Snow White And The Seven Dwarves.

Audiences are invited to join Dorothy and Toto as they follow the yellow brick road to the Emerald city, so Dorothy can ask the Wizard to help her return home. Along the way she meets the Scarecrow who wants a brain, the Tin Man who desires a heart and the Cowardly Lion who needs courage.

Chantelle Nolan, Theatre manager, producer and director said: “We have a fantastic cast for The Wizard of Oz, featuring many familiar faces that our audiences know and love.  The show is packed full of great jokes, brilliant songs, dazzling costumes and show-stopping choreography.   It’s a ‘wonderful’ show, with something for the whole family to enjoy.  Tickets are already on sale so make sure you book yours now!”

The Wizard of Oz comes to St Helens Theatre Royal from Saturday 15 to Sunday 23 February 2020. 

For more information, please visit www.sthelenstheatreroyal.com
Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/St-Helens-Theatre-Royal
Follow us on Twitter: @TheatreRoyalStH

PANTO LISTING DETAILS

Regal Entertainments Ltd presents The Wizard Of Oz
Dates: Saturday 15 February – Sunday 23 February 2020
Times: Various
Tickets: From £12

*All prices are inclusive of a £1 per seat transaction fee. On-line bookings are subject to an additional 50p seat on-line processing fee.

THEATRE ROYAL BOOKING DETAILS

Book in person at the Theatre Royal Box Office, corporation street, St Helens, Merseyside WA10 1LQ (Mon- Sat 10am-5pm. Alternatively, call 01744 756 000 or log on to www.sthelenstheatreroyal.com.