THEATREWORLD

INTERNET MAGAZINE

NORTHERN ENGLAND

FORTHCOMING PRODUCTIONS

Theatres featured on this pages:-

SHEFFIELD: Lyceum Theatre / Crucible Theatre / The Drama Studio (occasional)

MANCHESTER: Library Theatre / Royal Exchange Theatre / Palace Theatre / Opera House

LIVERPOOL: The Playhouse, The Everyman

BOLTON: Octagon Theatre

LANCASTER: The Dukes Theatre

OLDHAM, Coliseum

BLACKPOOL, Grand Theatre

WEST YORKSHIRE PLAYHOUSE, LEEDS [PERMANENT REVIEWER URGENTLY NEEDED] - contact the Editor

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE (Northern Stage, Theatre Royal)

HULL TRUCK THEATRE [PERMANENT REVIEWER URGENTLY NEEDED] - contact the Editor

SHEFFIELD

(Sheffield "News" and Reviews provided by Paul & Gertie Whitfield)

THE LYCEUM THEATRE

SHEFFIELD

BOX OFFICE: 0114 249 6000

Sheffield Lyceum Theatre

Spamalot

Directed By Christopher Luscombe

Mon 6 – Sat 11 September 2010

And now for something completely different…. at the Lyceum! The hit show Spamalot arrives Monday 6 September to Saturday 11 September.

Audiences all around the world have been roaring with laughter since Monty Python’s Spamalot won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2005.

Spamalot tells the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and features a bevy (or possibly a brace) of beautiful show girls, witch burnings* (*cancelled as too expensive) not to mention cows, killer rabbits and French people.

The show features fantastic tunes which are catchier than the plague He Is Not Dead Yet, Knights of the Round Table, Find Your Grail and of course the Nation’s Favourite Comedy Song (Reader’s Digest Poll 2009) Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life.

The musical has a book and lyrics by original Python Eric Idle, who also co-wrote the music with John Du Prez.

Eric Idle (Book, Lyrics and Music) has hyphenated his way through life as a writer-actor in the movies and TV shows of Monty Python, as creator-actor-director of The Rutles, and as singer-songwriter on stage at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and two highly successful tours of the US with John Du Prez: Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python (2000) and The Greedy Bastard Tour (2003), where they journeyed 15,000 miles across North America in a Rock and Roll bus (see The Greedy Bastard Diary).

John Du Prez (Composer) began a long association with Eric Idle, leading eventually to their current writing partnership. Other Python projects include the Contractual Obligation Album, Monty Python at the Hollywood Bowl and The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book. He was musical director for Eric Idle’s two North American stage tours, Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python (2000) and The Greedy Bastard Tour (2003).

Jodie Prenger stars as Lady of Lake in the musical comedy. She landed the role of Nancy in the revival production of Oliver! at Theatre Royal Drury Lane having won BBC 1's I'd Do Anything. Spamalot will be her first musical theatre appearance since finishing in Oliver!. For that performance, Jodie won the 2010 Whatsonstage Theatregoer’s Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. She is a regular presenter of The Midweek National Lottery on BBC1. Her other television appearances include GMTV, Daily Cook’s Challenge, Loose Women, Children In Need, Guesstimation, As Seen On TV, All Star Family Fortunes, Tonight's the Night and New Year's Eve Live 2008.

Todd Carty plays Patsy (the coconut playing assistant to King Arthur). Todd’s first major television role was playing the lead of ‘Tucker’ in BBC TV’s Grange Hill for a period of five years. Todd is perhaps best known for his role as the central character in ‘Mark Fowler’ in the BBC’s award-winning flagship drama series EastEnders a role he played for 12 years. Todd went on to play the regular role of ‘P.C Gabriel Kent / David Kent’ ITV drama The Bill, ‘Ray Hallam’ in the Christmas special of Heartbeat and ‘Cameron Cook’ in the BBC’s Casualty. More recently he made an ‘unforgettable appearance’ in ITV’s prime time entertainment show Dancing on Ice. He went on to appear in the UK tour of the show.

Sheffield Lyceum Theatre

Carrie’s War

Directed By Andrew Loudon

Tue 14 – Sat 18 September 2010

The Lyceum welcomes the hugely successful stage adaptation of Nina Bawden’s best-selling novel, Carrie’s War on Tuesday 14 September to Saturday 18 September

The production stars Brigit Forsyth and Hannah Waterman in a tale which has been consistently voted one of the nation’s best-loved novels. Direct from the West End, this hugely successful stage adaptation by Emma Reeves for Novel Theatre brings to life Bawden’s heart-warming, funny and evocative coming of age tale in a magical and beautifully staged production.

Carrie Willow and her brother Nick are wartime evacuees, sent from London to the mining valleys in Wales. Like millions of other English children at the outset of World War II, they are sent to safety in the countryside as part of ‘Operation Pied Piper’. They find themselves plunged into a strange new world of rural living with dangers and adventures of its own and encounter a group of characters who will change Carrie’s life forever: from the tyrannical Mr Evans, kind-hearted Auntie Lou, eccentric Mrs Gotobed, to the brilliant young Albert Sandwich and Hepzibah Green, the ‘witch’ at Druid’s Bottom.

Nina Bawden based her best-selling 1973 novel on her own childhood experiences as an evacuee in Wales during the War. Carrie’s War has since been adapted twice for television by the BBC, most recently in 2004, the same year that Bawden received the prestigious S T Dupont Golden Pen Award for a lifetime’s contribution to literature. Emma Reeves’ stage adaptation of Carrie’s War premiered at the Lilian Baylis Theatre at Sadler’s Wells in 2006. In 2009, the production opened in the West End with a successful summer season at the Apollo Theatre from 18 June to 12 September.

For the UK tour of Carrie’s War, Brigit Forsyth (‘Thelma’ in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? on TV; Arsenic & Old Lace on stage) performs the role of ‘Mrs Gotobed’ and Hannah Waterman (‘Laura Beale’ in EastEnders and winner of Just the Two of Us with Marti Pellow on TV; Calendar Girls on stage) performs the role of ‘Auntie Lou’. Forsyth and Waterman will lead a large cast of thirteen: James Beddard (Mr Johnny), James Byng (Nick), Antony Eden (Albert), Sarah Edwardson (Carrie), Lorna Gayle (Hepzibah), Sarah Lark (Mrs Davies/Ensemble), Daniel Llewelyn-Williams (Frederick/Mr Rhys/Major Cass Harper), Joshua McCord (Billy/Ensemble), Ann Micklethwaite (Mrs Fazackerly/Ensemble), Siôn Tudor Owen (Mr Evans) and Peter Whitfield (Mr Owen/Ensemble).

Carrie’s War is presented by Novel Theatre, directed by Andrew Loudon, designed by Edward Lipscomb, lighting design by Matthew England and sound design by John Leonard.

Sheffield Lyceum Theatre

Punk Rock

Writer Simon Stephens

Director Sarah Frankcom

Tue 21 – Sat 25 September 2010

PRESS NIGHT: Tuesday 21 September 7.45pm

Following sell-out shows and rave reviews last year, the award winning Punk Rock arrives at the Lyceum on Tuesday 21 September to Saturday 25 September.

Intelligent. Articulate. F***ed. Drawing on his experience as a teacher, Olivier award-winning playwright Simon Stephens’ play follows a group of educated, articulate and aspirational young people in their final year together at an English grammar school. As the end of term approaches, they prepare themselves for the end of their school lives. But as the world begins to open up before them, they are faced with the very real danger it could swallow them whole. Punk Rock gradually exposes the dislocation, disjunction and latent violence simmering under the surface of success, resulting in a shocking and explosive finale.

Punk Rock was the winner of four Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards including Best New Play and Best Production. In addition, it was nominated for two Evening Standard Theatre Awards and two Whatsonstage.com Awards, including Best New Play.

Simon Stephens’ plays include A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky with David Eldridge and Robert Holman (2010, Lyric Hammersmith); Harper Regan (2008, National Theatre); Pornography (2007, Deutsche Schauspielhaus/ 2008, Hamburg/ 2009, Traverse Theatre/ 2009, Tricycle Theatre); Motortown (2006, Royal Court) and the Olivier award-winning On The Shore of the Wide World (2005, Royal Exchange/National Theatre).

Directed by Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester co-Artistic Director, Sarah Frankcom; Punk Rock was applauded in 2009 for showcasing the greatest rising young acting talent in the UK, this touring production sees an exciting young cast take on Stephens’ powerful play including Rupert Simonian as William Carlisle, who recently appeared in Stephens’ writing collaboration the critically acclaimed A Thousand Stars Explode in the Sky (Lyric Hammersmith, 2010); from the 2009 cast Nicholas Banks as Nicholas Chatman and Katie West as Tanya Gleason; Laura Pyper as Lilly Cahill who is known for appearing in Sky 1’s Hex and in the BBC adaptation of Emma; winner of the Spotlight Prize for Outstanding Performance in 2009 Ed Franklin as Bennett Francis and making their professional stage debuts Mike Noble as Chadwick Meade and Ruth Milne as Cissy Franks.

CRUCIBLE THEATRE

SHEFFIELD

BOX OFFICE: 0114 249 6000

All Sheffield information kindly provided by Paul and Gertie Whitfield - to whom the Editor is indebted.

Check out Sheffield Theatre’s website for up-to-the-minute information: www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

Sheffield Crucible Theatre

A Sheffield Theatres production

Hamlet

Directed by Paul Miller

Thursday 16 September – Sat 23 October 2010

A new production of William Shakespeare’s classic Hamlet comes to the Crucible theatre from Thursday 16 September to Saturday 23 October. Hamlet has not been performed at the Crucible for 15 years and this production is one of the region’s most anticipated theatrical events for September.

Who’s there? A Kingdom at war. A murder, a marriage. Apparitions, and a play. A suicide and, ultimately, a moment of peace. The readiness is all.

John Simm leads the company as Hamlet. He will be joined by Dylan Brown (Rosencrantz), Michelle Dockery (Ophelia), Barbara Flynn (Gertrude), Adam Foster (Guildernstern), Ben Lamb (Voltemand/Player/Fortinbras), James Loye (Laertes/Lucianus), Joseph Mydell (Player King/Francisco/Captain), John Nettles (Claudius/Ghost), Hugh Ross (Polonius/Grave Digger), Harry Lister Smith (Cornelius), Roderick Smith (Marcellus/Player/Priest) and Colin Tierney (Horatio). Alexander Vlahos (Player Queen/Barnardo/Osric).

John Simm’s other theatre includes Goldhawk Road (also at the Bush) and Danny Rule (Royal Court Theatre). Perhaps best known for his role in BBC’s Life On Mars, his many other television credits include Skellig, The Devil’s Whore, Dr Who, Sex Traffic, The Canterbury Tales, State of Play, Crime and Punishment, The Lakes and Cracker; and for film, Seven Days, Understanding Jane, Diana and Me, Human Traffic, Wonderland, 24 Hour Party People and Blue/Orange.

John Nettles plays Claudius/Ghost. His stage credits include Anthony & Cleopatra, Season of Plays and The Winter’s Tale (RSC). Nettles has a long-standing television career, with credits including title role in the BBC’s Bergerac and Inspector Barnaby in Midsomer Murders.

Michelle Dockery plays Ophelia. Her other theatre work includes Burnt By The Sun and Henry IV (National Theatre), Pygmalion (Old Vic) and Dying For It (Almedia). Her television work includes Cranford, Waking The Dead, Red Riding and she will star in new ITV Drama Downton Abbey this autumn.

Barbara Flynn plays Gertrude. Barbara Flynn returns to the Crucible having previously performed in Sorry. Her theatre credits include King Lear, Antigone, Early Days, The Philanderer (National Theatre), Woman of Troy (Gate Theatre) and The Millionairess (Lyric). Her extensive television credits include Ten Days to War, Cranford, Cracker, The Line of Beauty and Elizabeth I.

Colin Tierney plays Horatio. His stage credits include Hedda Gabler (Theatre Royal Bath) Paul (National Theatre) The Seagull (Royal Exchange Theatre) The Duchess of Malfi (RSC), Guilding Star (Liverpool Everyman/RNT).

Hugh Ross plays Polonius. His theatre credits include Bent (Trafalgar Studios) The Woman in Black (Fortune Theatre) A Prayer for Owen Meany (National Theatre) Love Me Tonight (Fortune Theatre) Tartuffe (Manchester Royal Exchange).

Sheffield Theatres’ Associate Director Paul Miller directs. His work includes Elling at the Trafalgar Studios, Baby Girl/DNA/The Miracle, The Enchantment, The History Boys (Wyndham’s and Ahmanson Theater LA), Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads and The Associate for the National Theatre, and Total Eclipse at the Menier Chocolate Factory. He worked for many years at the National Theatre Studio developing new plays and has directed for the Bush, the Arcola, Hampstead, ETT, Soho Theatre, the Crucible and the Royal Court.

Designs are by Tom Scutt, with lighting by Oliver Fenwick and music and sound is by Ben and Max Ringham.

CRUCIBLE STUDIO

SHEFFIELD

BOX OFFICE: 0114 249 6000

Sheffield Crucible Studio Theatre

Lovesong

Writer and Director Ché Walker

Wed 8 – Fri 10 September 2010

British soul sensation Omar brings his stunning one man show Lovesong to the Crucible Studio on Wednesday 8 September to Friday 10 September

This one-man play on a piano is presented by English Touring Theatre and is written and directed by Ché Walker.

Soul singer Oscar lives in the fast lane. Easy come, easy go. Easy women and no questions asked. He pays for sex and pays for drugs but there’s something missing. Brooding over what might have been, the lonely womanizer is forced to reflect on his life lived recklessly, and is taken by surprise finding love where he could never have expected.

Featuring his own music and lyrics, this unmissable one-man show is performed by soul legend Omar - founder of nu-classic British Soul - who again joins forces with award-winning writer/director Ché Walker following their triumphant collaboration last year on the soul/funk musical Been So Long, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre and showed at the Young Vic London, Latitude & Edinburgh Festivals. Been So Long was a nominee for The Ned Sherrin Award for Best Musical in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2009. They team up once more for an intimate performance showcasing Omar’s staggering vocal and musical talents.

Ché Walker is an actor, director and award-winning playwright - scooping both the George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright and Arts Council England Writer’s Award for Drama in 2003 for his play Flesh Wound. He has won the Peter Brook Award (Mark Marvin Rent Subsidy Award) for his plays Crazy Love and Burnt Up Love.

Omar is an internationally acclaimed singer, songwriter and musician - his most well-known song was the Top 20 debut single There’s Nothing Like This in 1991.

Sheffield Crucible Studio Theatre

My Romantic History

Directed by Lyndsey Turner

Wednesday 15 September – Sat 2 October 2010

A smash hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and winner of a Fringe First Award, My Romantic History, a new ‘non-rom-com’ by Glaswegian writer D C Jackson comes to the Crucible Studio Wednesday 15 September to Saturday 2 October.

“If you haven’t met someone by the time you graduate, you’re going to marry some idiot from your work. It’s that simple. Do you know how they get animals to breed in captivity? They put them in the same cage.”

Office romances are tricky. One moment you’re colleagues, then a quick grope after Friday night drinks and suddenly you’re in a relationship. When Tom and Amy get together after an office social, they find themselves living in each other’s pockets. But it is not their lack of chemistry that’s the problem’ it’s that neither of them can quite get over their childhood sweethearts. Tom attempts to plot his way out of the situation by using Sasha, a samba drumming enthusiast with a ‘nice arse’ but Mother Nature intervenes and ruins his game plan.

My Romantic History is less a battle of the sexes than a study of people who are trying to work out what relationships hold for them, harking back to past misadventures and heartbreak to rationalise their thoughts and feelings in the present.

D C Jackson's previous plays include Matinee Idle, Drawing Bored, Out On The Wing and Company Policy (all for A Play, A Pie and A Pint at Oran Mor) and The Wall and The Ducky which are the first two of a trilogy of plays written for Borderline Theatre.

He is currently under commission to the Royal Court Theatre and the National Theatre of Scotland and is completing his trilogy for Borderline Theatre with The Chooky Brae.

The production is directed by Lyndsey Turner an Associate Director at Sheffield Theatres, her previous directing credits include the critically acclaimed Posh, A Miracle and Contractions (Royal Court); Nocturnal (Gate Theatre); A Miracle and Contractions (Royal Court), The Lesson (Arcola Theatre) and Alice (Sheffield Theatres).

The cast includes BAFTA Award-winning Govern-born actor Iain Robertson who starred in the cult Glasgow gang movie Small Faces and was described by Barry Norman as ‘the best thing to come out of Scotland since whisky’.

Rosalind Sydney hails from Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, her recent theatre credits include: Pobby and Dingan, Snow Baby, Cyrano (Catherine Wheels), Beggars Opera (Vanishing Point/Royal Lyceum/Belgrade Coventry), and Subway (Vanishing Point/Tron/Lyric Hammersmith). Alison O’Donnell was last seen at the Bush in Eigengrau. Other theatre credits include: Dolls (National Theatre of Scotland/Hush Productions); The Assassination of Paris

MANCHESTER

ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE

St. Ann's Square,

Manchester,

M2 7DH

BOX OFFICE: 0161 833 9833

LIBRARY THEATRE

Central Library

St Peter's Square,

Manchester, M2 5PD

BOX OFFICE: 0161 236 7110

Website: www.librarytheatre.com

MANCHESTER OPERA HOUSE

BOX OFFICE: 0161 242 2524

WEST YORKSHIRE PLAYHOUSE

Playhouse Square

Quarry Hill

Leeds

LS2 7UP

BOX OFFICE: 0113 213 7700

website:- www.wyp.co.uk

LIVERPOOL EVERYMAN / PLAYHOUSE

PLAYHOUSE THEATRE

Williamson Square

Liverpool

L1 1EL

Sales and Information: 0151 709 4776

Minicom: 0151 709 0534

www.everymanplayhouse.com

Illustrious ensemble cast to join Kim Cattrall and Jeffery Kissoon in

Antony and Cleopatra

at Liverpool Playhouse

A prominent ensemble cast, including former RSC actors Ian Hogg and Martin Hutson, has been announced to play alongside Kim Cattrall upon her return to Liverpool to play Cleopatra opposite Jeffery Kissoon as Antony this autumn. This Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse production will be directed by Janet Suzman who revisits Shakespeare's epic tragedy of passion and power 37 years after her career-defining performance as the Queen of Egypt. Antony and Cleopatra is at the Playhouse between Friday 8 October and Saturday 13 November.

Two ancient civilizations grapple for power as East meets West, honour and desire collide in a sweeping tale of war, intrigue and passion. This is the entrancing story of an all encompassing love that destroys an empire.

Director Janet Suzman will bring Shakespeare’s profound, multi-layered vision to life in a thrilling modern adaptation that will sparkle with flashes of period detail. Janet trained at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) before becoming a member of the RSC playing many of the Shakespearian heroines, and where her own Cleopatra in 1973 is widely considered a definitive performance.

Antony and Cleopatra will see Kim Cattrall take to the stage in her home city for the first time. A graduate of LAMDA, Kim has gone on to become a Golden Globe Award-winner for her portrayal of Samantha Jones in the HBO TV series Sex and the City. Her film roles include The Ghost, Meeting Monica Valour, and Mannequin, while earlier this year she received rave reviews for her role of Amanda in Sir Richard Eyre’s West End play of Noel Coward’s comedy Private Lives. Kim has previously worked with Janet Suzman in the acclaimed West End production of Brian Clark's Whose Life Is It, Anyway? at the Comedy Theatre in 2005.

Jeffery Kissoon has worked with many great theatre directors, such as Peter Brook, Robert Lepage, Nicholas Hytner, Trevor Nunn and Sir Peter Hall and his theatre credits include extensive work for the RSC, the National Theatre and the Barbican. Kissoon also previously played Antony in Antony and Cleopatra at the Liverpool Everyman in 1990.

Joining Kim Cattrall and Jeffrey Kissoon are Ian Hogg (Julius Cesar RSC, Henry V National Theatre) as Enobarbus and Martin Hutson (As You Like It, Titus Andronicus RSC, The Vossey Inheritance, National Theatre) as Octavius Cesar.

The distinguished cast also includes Ross Armstrong, Alex Blake, Rory Fleck-Byrne, Gracy Goldman, Martin Herdman, Oliver Hoare, Muzz Khan, Aicha Kossoko, Simon Manyonda, Offue Okegbe, Robert Orme, Bhasker Patel, Ken Shorter and Mark Sutherland.

The creative team includes Designer Peter McKintosh (Tony Award Nominee for The 39 Steps, Olivier Award Nominee for Hello Dolly Regents Park), Lighting Designer Paul Pyant, who has worked extensively with the RSC, National Theatre and Donmar Warehouse, and Sound Designer Sebastian Frost (Tony Award for Sunday in the Park with George in 2008).

Antony and Cleopatra is served by an extraordinary company that will bring Shakespeare's kaleidoscopic vision and breath-taking poetry to stunning realisation.

A Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse production of

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA

Directed by Janet Suzman

Lighting by Paul Pyant

Sound Design by Sebastian Frost

Composer John White

Cast: Kim Cattrall, Jeffery Kissoon,Ross Armstrong, Alex Blake, Rory Fleck-Byrne, Gracy Goldman, Martin Herdman, Oliver Hoare, Muzz Khan, Aicha Kossoko, Simon Manyonda, Offue Okegbe, Robert Orme, Bhasker Patel, Ken Shorter and Mark Sutherland.

Dates: Friday 8 October to Saturday 13 November

Venue: Liverpool Playhouse, Williamson Square, L1 1EL

Time: Evenings at 7pm

Thursday matinées at 1.30pm on 21 Oct, 4, 11 Nov

Saturday matinées at 1.30pm on 16, 23, 30 Oct and 6, 13 November

Tickets: £12-£29.50

Premium Tickets: £45 (Friday and Saturday Evenings - except 8 and 9 Oct. Includes a welcome usher, free programme and a glass of Champagne in the interval in the exclusive Redgrave Room)

On the Day Tickets: 20 tickets will be available for purchase on each performance day from 11am at the Playhouse Box Office at £12 each (max 2 per person)

Box Office: 0151 709 4776

Online Booking (24-hour): www.everymanplayhouse.com