THE MIDLANDS
Birmingham
Repertory Company / Birmingham Hippodrome / The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham /
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry /
Haymarket Theatre, Leicester / The Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
/ Walsall / Nottingham Playhouse; / Derby Live & Derby
Theatre; The Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon /
Worcester Swan Theatre / Malvern Theatres / Chester Gateway Theatre / The
Courtyard Theatre, Hereford / Crewe, Lyceum Theatre / Stoke-on-Trent venues
(Hanley): Regent Theatre -Victoria Hall
(to find a specific production use the "find/search" facility on your Internet server, and enter the title)
BIRMINGHAM REPERTORY
THEATRE COMPANY
BOX OFFICE: 0121 238
4455
BOX OFFICE EMAIL: tickets@birmingham-rep.co.uk
BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME
TICKET SALES: 0844
338 5000
ALEXANDRA THEATRE
BIRMINGHAM
Station
Street
Birmingham B5 4DS
BOX OFFICE: 0870 607
7533.
PERMANENT REVIEWER REQUIRED FOR THIS VENUE - please contact The Editor via email: GPowner@aol.com
THE BELGRADE THEATRE
COVENTRY
Belgrade
Square
Coventry
CV1
1GS
BOX OFFICE: 024 7655
3055
PERMANENT REVIEWER REQUIRED FOR THIS VENUE - please contact The Editor via email: GPowner@aol.com
THE BELGRADE THEATRE
STUDIO
BOX OFFICE: 024
7655 3055.
HAYMARKET THEATRE
LEICESTER
Belgrave Gate
Leicester
LE1 3YQ
Ticket Hotline: 0870 330
3131
PERMANENT REVIEWER REQUIRED FOR THIS VENUE - please contact The Editor via email: GPowner@aol.com
GRAND THEATRE
WOLVERHAMPTON
BOX OFFICE: 01902
42 92 12
NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE
Wellington Circus
Nottingham NG1 5AF
BOX
OFFICE: 0115 941 9419
Minicom:
0115 947 6100
Book Online - www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
Email - enquiry@nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
By Oliver
Goldsmith
Directed by
Lucy Pitman-Wallace
A comic gem from the 18th this
perennial audience favourite by Oliver Goldsmith is in the great tradition
of English comedy, puncturing the bubble of class with a boisterous – not
to say bawdy – sense of fun. Country squire Mr Hardcastle
(Mike Burnside) has lined up Charles Marlow (Edmund Kingsley) as a prospective
husband for his daughter Kate (Ellie Beaven), but
Marlow is so tongue-tied with women of his own social station that Kate is
forced to dress as a barmaid in order to size him up properly. Adding farcical
complications of their own are Hardcastle’s
flamboyant second wife (Joan Moon) and her mischief-making son Tony Lumpkin
(Chris Nayak); young Constance (Rina
Mahoney) and her secret suitor Hastings (Peter Basham); unmannered servant Diggory (Thomas Eyre); and Marlow’s indulgent father
Sir Charles (Maxwell Hutcheon). Lucy
Pitman-Wallace returns as director following her great success with The
Burial at Thebes and Macbeth.
By William
Shakespeare
Directed by
Paulette Randall
Further comic confusion and romantic entanglement come courtesy of
William Shakespeare in one of his best-loved comedies, TWELFTH NIGHT.
Again, a young heroine adopts a disguise in order to pursue her heart’s
desire: Viola, shipwrecked in Illyria and posing as manservant to its lovesick
duke, Orsino. Carrying his messages to the lady
Olivia, Viola hopes all the time to win Orsino for
herself. Fools like Feste (Anthony Ofoegbu) and drunkards like Sir Toby Belch (David Webber)
spread further chaos in a land where love makes fools of all – even the
tyrannical servant-in-chief Malvolio (Marcus Powell).
Director Paulette Randall, whose previous work for Nottingham Playhouse
includes the Eclipse productions Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, Three
Sisters and Angel House, locates Illyria in a faded colonial corner
of Brazil, infusing the play’s emotional twists with South American
sultriness.
By David Hare
Directed by
Zoë Waterman
The woman at the
heart of AMY’S VIEW adopts other personae for a living. A star of
the London stage, Esme Allen suffers a series of
crushing blows – personal, professional and financial – over the
play’s span of 16 years. Her daughter Amy takes the view that love
conquers all, but Esme has grave doubts about
Amy’s future husband Dominic, a rising cultural pundit who thinks all
that Esme stands for is outmoded and elitist. David
Hare’s play is a compelling family drama that follows their fortunes
through the turbulence of the 1980s and beyond, testing en route the place of
the arts in financially troubled times. Directed by Zoë Waterman,
who previously helmed After Miss Julie at the Playhouse.
Written and
directed by Kenneth Alan Taylor
Strip the mask from the female lead of the theatre’s next offering and you will find … a man. MOTHER GOOSE is the queen of all Dame roles and the favourite pantomime of Kenneth Alan Taylor, the city’s reigning king of panto. In his 27th consecutive festive fiesta for Nottingham, writer and director Kenneth has cast Playhouse favourite John Elkington in the title role following his uproarious debut as solo Dame in last year’s Beauty and the Beast. Mother Goose thinks all her Christmases have come at once when her pet Priscilla starts laying golden eggs – but the combination of Dame and fortune leaves her with egg on her face. Rebecca Little, Alexandra James, Anthony Hoggard and Jonathan Race are also back for more mayhem, alongside Adam Barlow and others. With all the fun of the fairground thrown in, MOTHER GOOSE is guaranteed to deliver the gold-plated family entertainment that the city of Goose Fair has come to egg-spect. Nottingham Playhouse has also nominated a charity to work in association with MOTHER GOOSE: the Child’s Voice Appeal which aims to expand the helpline provision of Childline and the NSPCC, including Childline’s regional call centre located in Nottingham.
Written by Robin Kingsland
Directed by
Andrew Breakwell
For the younger theatregoer this
Christmastime, Nottingham Playhouse is proud to premiere a brand new show full
of fun and enchantment. Specially commissioned from Robin Kingsland, who
is already familiar to the Playhouse audience as both actor and writer, UNDER
THE STORY TREE follows the adventures of a motley bunch of hungry animals
in their quest for the delicious fruit of the Magic Tree. Directed by Andrew
Breakwell, UNDER THE STORY TREE weaves a fabulous
set of folk tales from Pakistan, Poland, Somalia and the UK into a magical new
fable of friendship and co-operation, filled with live music, puppetry and
laughter and especially suited for children aged 4-8. Monkey, Cheetah, Rabbit, Tortoise,
Bird and Lion are let loose in the Playroom Studio from Saturday 18 to
Friday 31 December.
Written by Erik Gedeon
Directed by
Giles Croft
A riotous assembly of theatrical old-timers revisit the Playhouse
stage in the new year as FOREVER YOUNG returns by public demand.
Nottingham Playhouse presented the UK premiere of Erik Gedeon’s Continent-conquering
comedy with music last spring to such overwhelming audience acclaim that a
second run was immediately scheduled. Set in a whimsical future incarnation of
the Playhouse, now serving as a retirement home for its former stars, FOREVER
YOUNG casts familiar faces from the theatre’s plays and pantomimes as
outrageously decrepit versions of themselves. In a storming series of hit songs
such as Respect, I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll and I Will
Survive, they rock and rage against the dying of the light – or in
their case, the spotlight – whenever their repressive nurse turns her
back. Panto stars John Elkington
and Rebecca Little once again lead this madcap and touching musical
comedy, specially adapted for Nottingham by its musical director Stefan Bednarczyk, who also features in the cast, and its
director Giles Croft.
A Free Reading at Nottingham Playhouse
The greatest upset ever to rock the world of cricket, the Bodyline
controversy is the subject of THE ASHES along with its perpetrator,
Nottinghamshire bowler Harold Larwood. Following the success
of its first airing in 2009, the Playhouse offers a second opportunity to
attend a free rehearsed reading of Michael Pinchbeck’s new drama,
directed once again by Giles Croft, on Thursday 21 October.
More for the Younger Theatregoer
Nottingham Playhouse continues its Saturday series of leading
theatrical entertainment for the very young.
·
Saturday 25 September (11.00am &
1.00pm)
With original music and hand-carved puppets, Cornelius &
Jones present a captivating retelling of PINOCCHIO for ages 3+.
·
Saturday 23 October (11.00am &
2.00pm)
Famed for staging The Gruffalo, Tall
Stories presents its delightful new show TWINKLE TWONKLE, about a
brother and sister who climb a telescope into the sky and discover their
favourite nursery rhymes coming to life, for ages 4+.
·
Saturday 27 November (10.30am &
1.30pm)
Songs, games and a host of wild characters explore the magic of
family in HOW THE KOALA LEARNT TO HUG, presented by The
People’s Theatre Company for ages 4+.
Adventurous new drama, rediscovered Shakespeare and more
Nottingham Playhouse continues to explore new directions in
performance with a roster of adventurous work both old and new:
A free foyer event launches BLACK HISTORY MONTH on Friday
1 October. Spoken Word artist Deborah Stephenson leads an open-mic session and Honey Williams fronts her Gang of
Angels choir in a tribute to key political activists, from Martin Luther King
and Malcolm X to the recently departed Guru.
Comic writer and actor Michelle Vacciana
presents an expanded version of her hit one-woman show FAKEBOOK, after
its successful debut this spring. Seyonsay Knowall loves her daughter, but her daughter might just
love social networking more. Giles Croft directs their hilarious journey
through a USB Port and beyond, fetching up in the Playroom studio from Thursday
7 to Saturday 9 October.
The hotly anticipated LOST SHAKESPEARE DAY on Monday 11
October features special panel discussions and readings including the first
public presentation of the Jacobean play Double Falsehood since its
identification by University of Nottingham professor Brean
Hammond as Shakespeare’s long-lost Cardenio
and its publication in the Arden Shakespeare series.
World-beating local lass NATASHA WOOD is Rolling with
Laughter again on Wednesday 20 October following the clamour for
tickets when she first took the Playhouse stage last year. Living life from her
wheelchair, Natasha knows no bounds and recounts a full-on tale of fairytale
marriage and dream jobs. Empowering, racy and packed with insight and humour,
her story is a must-see ride of a lifetime.
A vibrant and astonishing drama comes direct to Nottingham from
South Africa on Saturday 23 October when UK Arts presents WELCOME TO
ROCKSBURG, the new production from Mpemulelo
Paul Grootboom whose riveting play Township
Stories transfixed audiences at the Playhouse two years ago.
Information kindly supplied by Elaine
Peel - Reviewer. Theatreworld Internet Magazine
DERBY THEATRE
Theatre
Walk
Eagle
Centre
Derby
DE1
2NF
Box
office: 01332 255 800
DERBY LIVE
Guildhall
Theatre
Market Place, Derby, DE1 3AE
Box Office: 01332 255800
Website: www.derbylive.co.uk
e-mail: boxoffice@derby.gov.uk
Derby LIVE in association with Chichester
Festival Theatre
ONASSIS
by Martin Sherman
Starring Robert Lindsay
Director: Nancy Meckler
Thu 9 – Sat 25 Sep
Derby Theatre
“I am very rich. It cuts down the
seduction time considerably” - Aristotle Onassis, millionaire at 25
Inspired by the true story of the relationships
between Onassis, his lover Maria Callas and wife Jackie
Kennedy, this is an extraordinary account of one
man’s voracious appetite for sex, money and power
- how those with great wealth and political
influence live their lives detached from the moral code and
realities of ordinary mortals.Robert
Lindsay stars as Onassis alongside a stellar cast. First performed to great
acclaim at
Chichester’s Minerva Theatre, this
explosive new play by Martin Sherman opens in Derby, prior to a
West End run at the Novello Theatre.
AN AUDIENCE WITH
ROBERT LINDSAY
Sun 19 Sep
Derby Theatre
Having recently published his autobiography, Letting
Go, Robert wants to reach the public that he
entertains so often on TV. He is determined to
show the British public that he is a man of many faces.
Coming back to his Derbyshire roots, to an area
that he left almost forty years ago, is important to him
as he wants to re-establish himself in the Derby
community. Therefore An Audience with…will be a
retrospective of his life.
WORLD PREMIERE
MOTHER CAME TOO
by Tim Elgood
Thu 7 – Sat 30 Oct
Guildhall Theatre
Director: Pete Meakin
Following on from last year’s smash hit
comedy, The Pros, the Cons and a Screw, Tim Elgood
brings
us the fast-moving comedy-drama Mother Came
Too
On the eve of your 50th birthday it is illuminating to reflect upon thirty odd years of
marriage. Our
dreams from the past are not always mirrored by
the reality of the present.
A husband who unfortunately has not grown up
– a son who unfortunately has – and a mother-in-law
who is now stood a little too close for comfort.
These were not the carefree visions of a ‘free bird’ child
of the 60s and teenager of the 70s.
Mother Came Too is a fast-moving comedy about life that has
become bogged down by family
responsibilities and a mother’s
determination to spread her wings and rise up from her midlife ashes.
This hilarious journeywill
take you to some unfamiliar places in the company of some increasingly
familiar people – ‘Mother’ of
course included.
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
by Kenneth Grahame
Adapted for the stage by Patrick Sandford
Sat 27 Nov – Sat 15 Jan
Derby Theatre
Director: Hannah Chissick
Following on from The Snow Queen, Derby
LIVE’s highly acclaimed debut Christmas production at
Derby Theatre, comes another family festive offering
and classic of children’s literature
Following the adventures of Mr Toad, Ratty, Mole
and Badger, The Wind in the Willows has
delighted both readers and theatregoers alike
for decades and now audiences, both young and old,
will be able to experience this delightful tale
live on stage at Derby Theatre this festive period in this
big lavish Christmas production that promises to
enthral, enchant and bring out the child and
adventurer in all of us.
The day that Mole abandons his spring-cleaning
and sets out to enjoy the sunshine is the start of
many adventures. Not only does he discover the
river and the joys of messing around in boats, but he
also forges a lifelong friendship with Ratty, Badger
and the incorrigible and eccentric Mr Toad.
When Toad becomes obsessed with motor cars,
Ratty and Mole enlist the help of wise Badger.
However, Mr Toad dashes from one escapade to
another: from an upturned Gypsy caravan to a
stolen motorcar, a spell in prison, to a daring
break-out. When Toad Hall is taken over by the fiendish
weasels, the four friends share the most thrilling
adventure of all as they hatch a heroic plan to win it
back!
The Wind in the Willows is a truly timeless and exciting tale of
adventure and cunning, camaraderie,
fun and friendship.
Derby LIVE & Paul Holman Associates
ALADDIN
Tue 7 Dec – Sun 9 Jan 2011
Assembly Rooms
Hot on the panto heels
of last year’s knockout, Cinderella, Derby’s biggest
all-star pantomime returns
to the Assembly Rooms with one of the most magical
and mystical pantomimes of all - Aladdin
You can escape to a world of magic and mystery,
where adventure beckons on a pantomime flight of
spectacle, slapstick and song this Christmas!
Bringing wise cracks, chaos and comedy to the
production and back by popular demand, is Men
Behaving Badly and Waterloo Road star Neil Morrissey as Wishee Washee.
Jumping on board this first class flight to pantoland is Luke Roberts from CITV’s Hi-5 as
our dashing
hero Aladdin.
Simmons and Simmons return on a mission to restore
and maintain order as PCs Ping and Pong, and
Ian Good with his outrageous wardrobe will be
dishing up plenty of fun and frolics as the eccentric
Widow Twankey. And
don’t forget the winner of Ram FM and Derby LIVE’s Fame Factor will
be
appearing too!
So all you need to do is book your tickets,
fasten your seat belts and sit back and enjoy this magical ride
sparkling romance and dazzling adventure as you fly high
with Aladdin!
PUSS IN BOOTS
Adapted from the story
by Charles Perrault
Fri 10 – Fri 31 Dec
Guildhall Theatre
Director: Tessa Walker
Puss in Boots will complete the line-up of a trio of family
Christmas productions on offer to families
this festive period. This classic tale of a feline
in fabulous footwear promises to delight the youngest of
theatregoers and their families at The Guildhall this
Christmas.
Enter a land of enchanting forests, glorious
meadows and magnificent castles in this new adaptation
of Charles Perrault’s Puss in Boots.
The Miller’s son is miserable: his father has died and whilst his
brothers have inherited the mill, all he’s been
left is a ‘stinking cat’. However, our perfectly preened
Puss refuses to be downhearted and quickly sets
the wheels of her enterprising plan into motion.
With a teensy bit of luck and a whole lot of
pluck (plus a little help from her good friends, the
audience), Puss soon proves her worth by befriending the
King, corralling a castle and seeing off an
ogre – all in a day’s work!
This life-affirming tale filled with music and
fun, is sure to delight and engage even the very youngest
of audience members as well as anyone who’s
ever dreamt of their own happily ever after, reminding
us all that - with the right attitude and some
truly fabulous footwear – anything’s possible!
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
by William Shakespeare
Director: Pete Meakin
Fri 4 – Sat 26 Feb
Derby Theatre
Following the success of Much Ado About Nothing in 2009, comes
another of Shakespeare’s most gripping plays.
It is 1928 – just prior to the Wall Street
Crash and the rise of the Third Reich. Money may not be able
to buy you happiness, but it can certainly buy
just about everything else. Thus, the price is right for
Shylock the Jew in insisting on his pound of
flesh when the merchant Antonio’s investments literally
go adrift. And the beautiful Portia is the star
prize for any entrepreneurial gambler who guesses
correctly when ‘opening the box’.
Once again, Derby LIVE will be staging a
challenging and morally complex play in a way which
makes it meaningful and relevant to today’s
audiences.
This production will explore how the most
privileged in society often treat those at the
margins.
The clash of brutal economics, unfettered
prejudice and fairytale romance promises to make
Derby LIVE’s
production of The Merchant of Venice one of the theatrical highlights of
the year.
There will be an Education Day for The
Merchant of Venice on Wed 16 February from 10.00am,
which will consist of talks and demonstrations from
members of the cast and creative team during the
morning session followed by the performance in the
afternoon. Twilight Workshops are also available
to groups. For more information please contact Kim
Miller (Learning & Inclusion Manager, Derby LIVE)
on 01332 287336.
THE COURTYARD THEATRE
Edgar Street
Hereford
HR4 9JR
BOX OFFICE: 01432 359252
THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE
COMPANY
AT STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
RSC TICKET HOTLINE: 0870
609 1110
For full details
visit: www.rsc.org.uk
ROYAL SHAKESPEARE
THEATRE REOPENS THIS AUTUMN:
The Royal Shakespeare
Company today announces its plans to reopen the Royal Shakespeare and Swan
Theatres on time and on budget in November 2010, following a four year
redevelopment as part of the £112.8 million Transformation project
designed to bring actors and audiences closer together.
The Company will reopen
its doors to the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres from 24 November 2010,
inviting people in to rediscover and explore the building, which will have a
brand new 1,000 seat thrust stage auditorium, 36 metre
high Tower, new exhibition spaces, new places to eat and drink, including
Rooftop Restaurant and Riverside Café and terrace, restored 1930s
features and improved public areas including the new Weston Square. Visitors
will be able to take part in a series of preview events and activities which
will help test the spaces, while throughout the opening period Matilda, A
Musical plays at The Courtyard Theatre.
In February 2011, the
current RSC ensemble will perform the first productions on the new Royal Shakespeare
Theatre stage when they return from London’s Roundhouse to revive King
Lear and Romeo and Juliet, directed by RSC Associate Directors,
David Farr and Rupert Goold. The company will
also perform Artistic Director Michael Boyd’s production of Antony and
Cleopatra in the Swan Theatre and both Young People’s Shakespeare
productions of Hamlet and The Comedy of Errors, before going back
to London to premiere three new plays at Hampstead Theatre which run from April
to June 2011.
The RSC will celebrate
its 50th birthday and formally reopen the theatres with new
companies and a new season from April 2011. Further details will be announced
in November 2010.
RST Opening Activities:
The reopening will
unfold over a four month period, and visitors will be able to enjoy the
building from 9am to 7pm most days. The new Rooftop Restaurant with
beautiful views of the River Avon, Stratford and the Warwickshire countryside
will also be open during the evening, offering in-house catering for the first time.
People can book to go on
theatre tours or take the lift to the viewing platform at the top of the new
Tower from where you can see key Shakespeare landmarks: where he was born,
where he went to school, where he lived and where he is buried. On the way
down, visitors can view contemporary art exhibitions housed in the Tower
walls. George Chakravarthi is the first artist
to be commissioned and his installation Neither Here Nor There explores
the tragedies in Shakespeare’s text through hand-painted photographs,
layered with drawing, text and multiple images.
The opening programme of events is directed and devised by RSC Chief
Associate Director, Gregory Doran, and Director of Events and Exhibitions,
Geraldine Collinge, and includes tours, exhibitions
and activities designed to encourage people to explore the transformed building
and participate in our work. Full details are listed in the appendices
and in the reopening leaflet. They include:
Ghosts in the Walls – an auditory and
sensory tour which evokes people’s memories of the old theatre and
celebrates this new chapter in the Company’s life.
My RSC Gallery – tiny boxes of
art hidden around the building waiting to be discovered when the theatres
reopen. These are the culmination of a nationwide public competition,
created by artist Luke Jerram, who asked people to
submit miniature artworks inspired by Shakespeare, the RSC and the theatre.
Transformations – an exhibition
which explores how the architects, Bennetts
Associates, theatre designers, Charcoalblue, and
construction managers, Mace, approached some of the major aspects of the
transformation of the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres, incorporating the
best of the existing 1932 Elisabeth Scott Art Deco building with bold new
architectural features.
‘Why?’ by
Squidsoup – a digital sculpture in the new
exhibition space, the PACCAR Room, which creates a web of words from the
comments, questions and thoughts of RSC audiences on the relevance of
Shakespeare today, sent by text message to a dedicated number.
Love is my Sin – distinguished
RSC alumnus Peter Brook directs his own adaptations of Shakespeare’s
sonnets, performed by Natasha Parry and Michael Pennington, alongside music by
Frank Krawcyk in the Swan Theatre.
Local amateur groups
will be trying out the RSC stages with specially created pieces. The Bear
Pit, Stratford’s amateur arts umbrella organisation
hosts Open House, a special variety evening on 12 December, curated by RSC Chief Associate Director Gregory Doran,
which celebrates local creativity through songs, plays and dance. Over 200
singers from Stratford-upon-Avon and Huddersfield
Choral Societies perform Handel’s Messiah on 8 January to mark
their joint 175th anniversaries, and Stratford Operatic Society
presents Return to the Forbidden Planet on 9 January.
Young people will play a
key role in the reopening period. School children from Stratford and some
of the RSC’s local Learning and Performance Network schools will work
with the Company during the opening week to help other children to navigate
round the building.
Over 300 young writers
from the Black Country, inspired by the ghosts and spirits in Shakespeare, are
collaborating with the RSC’s artistic team to create ten new plays. Writing
on Your Feet will be directed by RSC directors and performed on the Royal
Shakespeare Theatre stage on 7 and 9 December by young actors from three acting
colleges. Leading hip-hop artists and UK lyricists, including the
cutting-edge wordsmith Polarbear are also working
with RSC Voice Director, Cicely Berry, and the RSC’s education team on Sound
and Fury a site-specific performance around the building, culminating on
the Swan Theatre stage on 8 December.
Throughout the winter, a
series of one-off events, family activities, workshops for teachers and schools
groups, alternative comedy, music, poetry, and one-man Shakespeare shows,
including artists as diverse as Roger Rees, Barrie Rutter,
Camille O’Sullivan and our poet in residence, Malika
Booker, will start to bring the building back to life ready for the first full
productions on the Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatre stages in February 2011.
Full Productions in the
Royal Shakespeare Theatre:
The Royal Shakespeare
Theatre auditorium, with its new thrust stage, wrapping the audience around
three sides, will open with its first full Shakespeare productions in February
2011, performing familiar productions to help fully test the auditorium and
backstage facilities. The current long ensemble of actors revives RSC Associate
Director, David Farr’s King Lear, and RSC Associate Director,
Rupert Goold’s Romeo and Juliet, along
with the Young People’s Shakespeare The Comedy of Errors, produced
in association with Told by an Idiot and directed by Paul Hunter.
Full productions in The
Swan Theatre:
The ensemble will also
reopen the Swan Theatre with a revival of the acclaimed Young People’s
Shakespeare version of Hamlet directed by Tarell
Alvin McCraney and will re-visit Michael Boyd’s
production of Antony and Cleopatra on a bare stage in a bold and simple
remix, which throws fresh light on this great, complex tragedy.
They will be joined by a
new production of The Tempest, a puppet version created by Little Angel
Theatre, directed by their Artistic Director, Peter Glanville, and performance
workshops of Shakespeare’s poem The Rape of Lucrece,
an RSC Studio production, directed by Elizabeth Freestone and including sung
text by Camille O’Sullivan and music by Feargal
Murray.
***
Michael Boyd said:
“Thousands of people have played their part in transforming the Royal
Shakespeare Theatre, and thousands more will join us for our opening programme, see the new spaces for themselves, and share the
thrill of reopening with the Royal Shakespeare Company Ensemble.
“The experience of
other major capital arts projects has led us to choose known and loved
repertoire to open a new and untried theatre, but there are experiments too and
new commissions in this programme, and a range of
work from Peter Brook and Roger Rees to Tim Minchin and Camille
O’Sullivan that reflects our invitation to new audiences as well as our
welcome back to old friends.
“Our new home
isn’t just about brilliant brick work, inviting public spaces, and nearly
trebling the number of ladies loos, though it has
those. It’s a miraculous marriage of the epic and the intimate, a
shared space which celebrates the three dimensions that Hollywood aspires to
and live performance has for free, and which enables the direct engagement
between actor and audience demanded by Shakespeare’s plays.”
RSC Executive Director
Vikki Heywood said: “We are very proud to have delivered this new
playhouse for Shakespeare on time and on budget and enormously grateful to
everyone who has supported us, from the Arts Council and Advantage West
Midlands to the more than 13,000 people from 55 countries who’ve
contributed to our fundraising campaign.
“We hold our AGM
on 10th September and in this year’s Annual Report we take the
opportunity to look back over a decade as we reach completion of the
Transformation journey. During the last ten years, we have given over
11,609 performances, selling 6.3 million tickets.
“It is clear that
the arts face a challenging time over the coming years, along with other
publicly funded activities, but, like so many arts organisations,
we work hard at a mixed economy, using public investment to leverage other
sources of funding and to maintain affordable ticket prices. We can be
sure our reopened theatres will play an important part in revitalising
the local economy.
“Our new home in
Stratford-upon-Avon stands at the gateway to one of the country’s most
thriving regions and we want to be an integral part of the life of Stratford
and the West Midlands as well as a destination for visitors from all parts of
the UK and the world. Our seven-day a week operation offers something for
everyone, whether it’s a cup of coffee and a trip up the Tower or a full
Shakespeare production in our new auditorium, which promises to bring people much
closer to the action than ever before. I look forward to welcoming people
through our doors during our preview period.”
50th Birthday
Season – April 2011
The RSC will celebrate
its 50th birthday with a new ensemble of actors performing a new
season of work from April 2011. Details of ‘RSC at 50’ will
be announced in November.
RSC returns to Hampstead
– April 2011
Following the opening of
the RST, the ensemble leaves Stratford-upon-Avon for the last time to premiere
new work at Hampstead Theatre in April 2011, before taking the repertoire to
New York in July 2011, where they will be presented by Lincoln Center Festival
and Park Avenue Armory, in association with The Ohio State University.
At Hampstead, they will
perform three previously announced new productions, Little Eagles,
written by Rona Munro and directed by RSC Associate Director, Roxana Silbert, Silence, a devised piece by Filter and
David Farr and directed by RSC Associate, David Farr, and American Trade
by Tarell Alvin McCraney,
directed by Jamie Lloyd.
These three RSC
commissioned plays will be presented as part of A Season of World
Premieres at Hampstead Theatre next spring, alongside three new Hampstead Theatre
productions downstairs in the Michael Frayn Space.
RSC Associate Director,
Roxana Silbert, as season director for the RSC
productions, said: “It's a privilege to be invited to return to
Hampstead Theatre and be part of its future under the new Directorship of Ed
Hall, and it's tremendously exciting to welcome the long ensemble to
Hampstead, fresh from opening the newly transformed Royal Shakespeare Theatre
in Stratford. They bring their intimate experience of Shakespeare into
dialogue with living playwrights to premiere three new plays which have
been made for them and with them."
Ed Hall, Hampstead
Theatre’s Artistic Director, said: “I am delighted to be creating A
Season of World Premieres with the RSC and to be working so closely with Roxana
Silbert on what will be a very exciting programme of new work at Hampstead Theatre. Six pieces of
major new work over a ten week period…cause for celebration
indeed.”
Further
details on the Hampstead season to be announced later in the autumn.
The RSC’s Annual
Report for 2009/10 will be presented at the Annual General Meeting, to be held
at The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, on 10 September 2010
at 4.00pm.
WORCESTER SWAN THEATRE
The Moors
Worcester
WR1 3EF
BOX OFFICE 01905 27322
MALVERN THEATRES
FORUM and FESTIVAL
Grange Road
Malvern
Worcestershire
WR14 3HB
BOX OFFICE: 01684 892277
CHESTER GATEWAY THEATRE
Hamilton Place
Chester
CH1 2BH
BOX OFFICE: 01244 340392
www.chestergateway.co.uk
(temporarily
closed)
LYCEUM THEATRE
CREWE
Heath Street
Crewe
Cheshire CW12DA
BOX OFFICE: 01270 537333
Information provided by Jonnie Woodall for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
REGENT THEATRE
Piccadilly
Hanley
Stoke-on-Trent
ST1 1AP
BOX OFFICE: 01782
213800
VICTORIA HALL
REVIEWER NEEDED FOR THESE VENUES - contact the Editor by email:- GPowner@aol.com
The Stoke-on-Trent Venues are in Hanley which is the City Centre of Stoke-on-Trent and is easily accessible from the M6, Junctions 15 & 16. Follow signs for Hanley City Centre.
Parking: There is a large car park located between Etruria Road and Clough Street. It is accessible from both roads.
Bus/Coach : The coach drop off point is directly in front the theatre in Pall Mall, Hanley, the central bus station is approximately ten minutes away.
Train: The nearest railway station is Stoke-On-Trent then a short taxi or bus ride away.
For more details or individual advice/help - email: GPowner@aol.com