Pub opera returns in rep in new season at the King’s Head Theatre amongst Edinburgh transfer hits and female-led new writing
After a bombastic, exciting and innovative 45th year, the King’s Head continues its new artistic policy of being a crucible of new writing and critical rediscoveries, whilst also welcoming the much-anticipated return of pub opera, with the aim of being the best pub theatre in London.
Artistic director Adam Spreadbury-Maher originated pub opera in his first season at the King’s Head in 2010, and we’re now proud to relaunch that tradition at its original home with a stylish new production of Mozart’s classic opera Cosi fan tutte in March, directed by international opera director Paul Higgins. This return to pub opera will play in rep alongside Louis Nowra’s play by the same name, Cosi, where patients in a mental asylum perform Mozart’s piece whilst questioning madness in the face of the Vietnam War, which is directed by ex-Sydney Theatre Company artistic director Wayne Harrison. Adam says “Two Cosis at the same time?! If a large funded arts centre said they were going to do this, it would raise an eyebrow – the fact that an unfunded pub theatre is doing it is completely bonkers”.
Before that, in February, we welcome the return of smash success Trainspotting after a sell-out Edinburgh Fringe 2015 run, which plays with us for a month before heading on a national tour. Tickets were tough to come by for this critically acclaimed, anarchic take on Irvine Welsh’s classic novel-then-film in both London and Edinburgh – we received a sell-out show laurel for 58 performances at the Fringe!
We will also present a wealth of new writing this season: January offers new plays The Long Road South, by Paul Minx, focusing on the civil rights movement in the 1960s, and Big Brother Blitzkrieg, by Hew Rous Eyre & Max Elton, which sees Hitler enter the Big Brother House! April features work exclusively by female playwrights with Adrian Pagan Award winner and insightful new play about female relationships Russian Dolls, by Kate Lock, alongside Edinburgh transfer To Kill a Machine, by Catrin Fflur Huws, which delves into the sexuality and chemical castration of Alan Turing. We also have new British musical Something Something Lazarus joining us in March, performed in a ground-breaking “broken cabaret” style, by John Myatt and Simon Arrowsmith.
We’re proud that our new writing offerings this season champion female and international playwrights alongside our continued support for new work with the continuation of #Festival45, #Festival46, in July, featuring work from our 4 trainee resident directors, who will be graduating from our Queen’s Jubilee Award winning scheme this Summer.
With an unashamedly broad church of programming including theatre, musical theatre and opera, transfers to and from the biggest arts festivals in the world, and a trail-blazing policy of ethical employment on the fringe, we are continuing with the big changes from our first year under our new artistic policy, as well as recommitting ourselves to being the most diverse and the best pub theatre in London – if it’s on here, you won’t see it anywhere else. Come and see for yourself this Spring!
The Long Road South, 12 January – 30 January (7pm and 3pm weekend matinees)
It is a hot, humid summer in Indiana, 1965. Andre and Grace, black domestic workers for the Price family, want to leave the house to join the civil rights movement in Alabama. They believe in non-violence. All summer they have been working hard for the Prices – Jake, the bitter cynical father, Carol Ann, his mostly drunken wife, and the family’s teenage Lolita who is determined to keep Andre around at all costs. They still haven’t been paid, though, and need their summer’s wages. The Long Road South traces how one man is forced to go to the very limits of his being to get what’s rightly his.
Big Brother Blitzkrieg, 14 January – 30 January (9.15pm)
After a botched suicide attempt, Adolf Hitler awakes to find himself in the Big Brother House. Confused by his situation and surrounded by some of the most loathsome individuals he’s ever met, he struggles to come to terms with the world of reality television. Join Adolf on the journey of a lifetime as he makes friends, faces demons and finds his true voice. But will he win over the hearts and minds of the viewers in the process? #BigBrotherBlitzkrieg #HitlerInLondon
Trainspotting, 3 February – 27 February (7pm and 8.45pm, 5pm matinees Saturdays)
After 5 star critically acclaimed and sell out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe 2015 and in London, In Your Face Theatre and the King’s Head Theatre’s production of Irvine Welsh’s cult, generation-defining novel Trainspotting is back before it tours the UK! This punchy, 75 minute production recaptures the passion and the controversy of the famous novel, then globally successful film, and repackages it into an immersive production – the audience are literally part of the show, including the notorious “Worst Toilet in Scotland” scene. Both Edinburgh and London critics have praised the production highly, describing it as “utterly amazing” (London Theatre 1), “intense, funny, and moving” (Box Dust) and “bold, unique, and like nothing else you’ll see on stage” (Entertainment Focus). For avid fans this is a must, and if you’ve never read the book or seen the film: this is your ticket to a ride you won’t soon forget.
Così fan tutte, 1 March – 3 April (dates alternate with Cosi (play), 7pm and 3pm weekend matinees)
Pub opera is back at the Kings Head with Mozart’s Così fan tutte. A cynical gentleman’s conviction that women cannot be faithful sets in motion a chain of deceit, disguise and desire in the most perfect ensemble opera ever written. Join us for a new adaptation directed by Paul Higgins and Musical Direction by Elspeth Wilkes.
Cosi (play), 2 March – 2 April (dates alternate with Così fan tutte, 7pm and 3pm weekend matinees)
Young theatre director Lewis is staging a production of Mozart’s comic opera Così fan tutte. The catch? The cast are patients from a mental institution, none of whom can speak Italian… or sing. Can this unlikely cohort, including an obsessive-compulsive, a manic depressive and a junkie, pull it off? Or will a patient with a penchant for pyromania spoil all the fun? As Vietnam War protests rage outside and Lewis confronts the enormity of his task, he begins to realise the frightening and attractive power of madness, politics, theatre and love.
Something Something Lazarus, 8 March – 2 April (9.30pm)
It’s easy to escape the disaster that was today… the weekend that wasn’t… the one true love you’ll never forget. Enter the world of cabaret, where the wine ain’t fine but the company’s classy. Meet Vee, clinging to the stage. Della, attacking piano. Jay in his pants at the bar. And of course Daniel, as always, barely managing. Today’s Friday. They haven’t got long to rehearse the song with the knife. But something’s been delivered. Something that can crack open clocks. And their final hour is about to go horribly wrong. See, the problem with the past – it never stays buried. And whatever happens, the show must go on. So laugh, kick back, find whatever comfort you can. Because there’s some things in life that cabaret just can’t cure. Or maybe it can… A new British musical.
To Kill a Machine, 6 April – 23 April (7pm)
To Kill a Machine tells the life-story of war-time cryptanalyst Alan Turing. It is a story about the importance of truth and injustice and of keeping and revealing secrets. The play examines his pioneering work considering whether a machine could think, asking the questions “what is the difference between a human and a machine?” and “If a human is prevented from thinking, do they then become a machine?” At the heart of the play is a powerful love story and the importance of freedom, in relation to Turing’s own life, death and posthumous re-evaluation. It is the story of Turing the genius, Turing the victim and Turing the constant in a tumultuous world.
Russian Dolls, 5 April – 23 April (8.30pm, 3pm weekend matinees)
Hilda is blind, lives alone, and is visited by a carer once a week. Camilla is a young offender looking for her next mark. A surprising and curious relationship sparks off between these opposites as both search for connection and purpose. Kate Lock’s insightful new play delves into maternal relationships and the line between friendship and family, and contrasts our current culture of blame and instant gratification with the self-worth and determination of the post-war generation. Directed by Hamish McDougall.