INTERNET MAGAZINE
NORTHERN ENGLAND
FORTHCOMING PRODUCTIONS
Theatres featured on this pages:-
BLACKPOOL,
Grand Theatre
BOLTON: Octagon
Theatre
HULL TRUCK THEATRE [PERMANENT REVIEWER
URGENTLY NEEDED] - contact the Editor
LANCASTER:
The Dukes Theatre
LIVERPOOL: Everyman and Playhouse Theatres
MANCHESTER:
Library Theatre
/ Royal Exchange Theatre
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE
(Northern Stage,
Theatre Royal)
OLDHAM, Coliseum
SHEFFIELD:
Lyceum Theatre
/ Crucible
Theatre / The
Drama Studio (occasional)
WEST YORKSHIRE PLAYHOUSE, LEEDS [PERMANENT REVIEWER
URGENTLY NEEDED] - contact the Editor
SHEFFIELD
(Sheffield
"News" and Reviews provided by Paul & Gertie Whitfield)
SHEFFIELD THEATRES present
THE MICHAEL FRAYN SEASON
Wednesday 29 February – Saturday 31 March
Continuing the tradition for producing
whole seasons dedicated to the work of one writer, Sheffield Theatres present a
month-long festival celebrating the work of multi-award-winning playwright Michael Frayn from Wednesday 29 February – Saturday 31 March. The festival includes major revivals of three of his most
famous award-winning plays; Copenhagen, Democracy, and Benefactors. Taking place in each of the theatre’s spaces, alongside a
series of talks, interviews and discussions, the season offers audiences a
unique opportunity to experience the range, scope and development of Frayn’s work
from three different decades of his career.
Copenhagen explores the uncertainty of the past and the inevitability
of the future, through a story based on the real-life events of two eminent
scientists at the height of the Second World War. Henry Goodman (Fiddler on the Roof) and Geoffrey Streatfeild (Calum in Spooks) play Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg, the friends meeting for
the last time. They will joined by Barbara Flynn as Bohr’s wife, Margrethe,
who returns to Sheffield for the first time since performing on the Crucible
stage in the hugely successful Hamlet, in 2010.
This new production will be directed by David Grindley, who previously directed the Olivier Award-nominated and
Tony Award-winning revival of Journey’s End, which toured to the Lyceum last autumn.
Benefactors, on stage in the Studio Theatre, is a comedy about
idealism, realism and the tangled nature of human relationships, set against a
backdrop of a high-rise building project with the aim of improving housing
facilities in one suburb of London. Charlotte Gwinner
(Knowledge/Little Platoons at the Bush Theatre, 2011) will direct Abigail Cruttenden (Benidorm and ITV’s Sharpe), Rebecca Lacey (May to December), Simon Wilson (EastEnders, Waking the Dead,
Doctors) and Andrew Woodall in this Olivier Award-winning comedy.
Rounding off The Michael Frayn Season is Democracy, a witty and compelling play about an
inspirational man. Willy Brandt, one of the most charismatic leaders in
post-war politics, makes history as he starts to reunite Europe. But he
discovers things aren’t as straightforward as they seem when a spy is
uncovered in his office and his plans are thrown into chaos.
A fantastic ensemble of actors will
bring to life the political world of Democracy. Andrew Bridgmont (War House, National Theatre), David Carr (American Trade and Comedy of Errors, RSC), Patrick Drury (Cold Blood, Silent Witness and Inspector Morse), Ed Hughes, Richard Hope (Malokeh in Dr Who, Holby City and EastEnders), William Hoyland,
David Mallinson, Aidan McArdle (Silvester in Garrow’s Law), James Quinn and Rupert Vansittart all star in this new production, directed by Associate Director of
Sheffield Theatres, Paul Miller (True West and Hamlet).
Sheffield Theatres’ Artistic Director Daniel Evans said: ‘Following
the success of last year’s David Hare Season, I am delighted to dedicate
a festival to the work of Michael Frayn this year.
Michael is certainly one of the most significant figures in British theatre
with a career spanning nearly half a century. I’m thrilled to present
three of his plays for the first time ever at Sheffield Theatres. To have such
talented casts and creative teams under the direction of David Grindley, Charlotte Gwinner and
Paul Miller is fantastic, and I cannot wait to see them bring these
extraordinary plays to life across all three of our stages simultaneously.’
Speaking about the season himself, Michael
Frayn said: ‘To have a
season of my plays at Sheffield Theatres is a great honour for me, and
I’m very grateful to Daniel Evans for his (characteristic) boldness in
embarking upon it. It’s been set up with striking panache, and I hope
that this in itself will make the occasion a memorable one.’
To complement the three plays Sheffield Theatres has programmed rehearsed play readings of The Sneeze (Friday 9 March), Here (Friday
16 March) and Wild Honey (Friday 23 March) and a reading of extracts from Michael Frayn’s novels and columns (Friday 30 March). Also,
on Friday 23 March there will be an In Conversation event with Frayn himself about his life
and work.
SHEFFIELD
BOX OFFICE: 0114 249
6000
Legally Blonde – The Musical
Tuesday 14 – Saturday 25 February
MULTI AWARD-WINNING LEGALLY BLONDE – THE MUSICAL
PAINTS SHEFFIELD PINK THIS FEBRUARY
The award-winning sensation Legally Blonde – The Musical comes to the Lyceum Theatre for the first time ever from Tuesday 14 – Saturday 25 February.
Winner of 7 major awards including the coveted Olivier Award
for Best Musical 2011, this critically-acclaimed new musical is brought to life
by a top creative team, led by Tony Award-winning director and Olivier
Award-nominated choreographer Jerry Mitchell (Hairspray). The show stars Les Dennis (TV's Life's Too Short, Extras, Family Fortunes), Ray Quinn (Brookside, X Factor finalist, Dancing on Ice winner) and Niki Evans (X Factor, Blood Brothers).
Based on the hit movie starring Reese Witherspoon, the
musical follows the story of self-assured Elle Woods, who can handle anything.
So when her boyfriend Warner dumps her, she decides to follow him to Harvard
Law School and win him back. With some help from new-found friends Paulette,
Emmett and her Chihuahua Bruiser, she soon learns that it’s so much better to be smart.
This all singing, all dancing feel-good musical will be the
highlight of your year and is the most fashionable ticket in town!
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
Sheffield Theatres present
THE WAY OF THE WORLD
by William Congreve
Thurs 2 February – Saturday 25 February 2012-01-19
FRESH, FUNNY STAGING OF THE WAY OF THE WORLD BRINGS
RESTORATION COMEDY BACK TO LIFE
This February, Sheffield Theatres brings a major revival of William Congreve’s rarely performed masterpiece, The Way of the World, to the Crucible stage from Thursday 2 – Saturday 25 February.
A stellar cast
including rising talent Ben Lloyd-Hughes, who recently starred as Rob McAloon in
BBC 1’s Young James Herriot, Deborah Findlay (Miss Tomkinson in BBC’s Cranford), Mike Leigh’s
protégée Sinéad Matthews (Vera
Drake and Happy-Go-Lucky) and Samuel Barnett, one of the original History Boys, will create the eccentric characters whose lives and loves all interlink
in this hilarious play.
Sheffield Theatres’ Associate Director Lyndsey Turner returns to the theatre
following Alice and My Romantic History (both 2010) to
bring her vision to this fresh staging of the classic Restoration Comedy, the first
to be performed at the Crucible Theatre in eleven years. Naomi Wilkinson (Alice) joins Lyndsey
to design the production, with new music by Tom Mills.
Set in 1700, The Way of the World will journey into a world of extravagance for a fresh, colourful and
brilliantly funny romp full of deceit, slander and seduction. Mirabell, a dashing playboy with a reputation for fine wine
and women, has his sights set on Millamant, a high society
goddess. However, his notoriety makes him anything but a perfect match in the
eyes of Millamant’s indomitable aunt, Lady Wishfort. There’s only one thing for it – to lie and cheat his way to his true love’s heart.
SHEFFIELD
BOX OFFICE: 0114 249 6000
Hull Truck presents
DNA
By Dennis Kelly
Thursday 9 – Saturday 11 February
MUST SEE COMPELLING DRAMA SET TO THRILL YOUNG AUDIENCES
This spring, teenagers can delve into the dark world of gang
violence, deception and deceit in Dennis Kelly’s (Matilda The Musical) compelling thriller, DNA. Originally
staged at the National Theatre in 2008, Hull Truck Theatre gives this brand new
touring production its Yorkshire debut in the Studio Theatre from Thursday 9 – Saturday 11 February.
Hull Truck Theatre has assembled an excellent cast of
up-and-coming talent for this cutting-edge production including James Alexandrou (Martin Fowler in EastEnders, Romeo and Juliet, Globe Theatre), Emily Butterfield (Treasure Island, The Canterbury Tales) and Elexi Walker (The
Vagina Monologues, To Kill A Mockingbird, York Theatre
Royal). Actors Tom Clegg and Daniel Francis-Swaby are
making their professional debuts.
Directed by Anthony Banks (Associate Director of the
National Theatre Discover Programme), DNA follows the story of a group
of teenagers who try to cover their tracks after making the biggest mistake of
their lives. But their temporary harmony soon begins to unravel with dire
consequences for the gang and others around them. Relationships break down,
innocent people are punished and all may not quite be as it seems…
The play tackles contemporary issues and is set to ask its
audience many questions including: How far would you go to hide the truth?
Would you destroy someone’s life to save your own, and protect your
friends? And finally when does a lie matter more than the truth?
ROYAL EXCHANGE THEATRE
St. Ann's Square,
Manchester,
M2 7DH
BOX OFFICE: 0161 833 9833
Central Library
St Peter's Square,
Manchester, M2 5PD
BOX OFFICE: 0161 236 7110
Website: www.librarytheatre.com
Playhouse Square
Quarry Hill
Leeds
LS2 7UP
BOX OFFICE: 0113 213 7700
website:- www.wyp.co.uk
LIVERPOOL EVERYMAN & PLAYHOUSE
THEATRE
Williamson Square
Liverpool
L1 1EL
Sales and Information: 0151 709 4776
Minicom: 0151 709 0534
Smouldering world of New Orleans comes to Liverpool with Playhouse
production of
A Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams’s tender yet powerful Pulitzer
Prize-winning 1947 play has long been considered a landmark of 20th century
theatre. Artistic Director Gemma Bodinetz directs
Amanda Drew as Blanche Dubois, Sam Troughton as
Stanley Kowalski and Leanne Best as Stella Kowalski, in the first Tennessee
Williams produced by the venue in over thirty years. A Streetcar Named
Desire is at the Liverpool Playhouse from Friday 17th February to Saturday
10th March.
Desperate times call for desperate measures as faded southern
belle, Blanche Dubois escapes to the heat and the heart of New Orleans. But a
dark past is hard to leave behind and when confronted for the first time with
her brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski, the present soon turns ugly.
As the sweat and the dirt of the city soak into her fine lace and
the blood pulses in her ears to the beat of red hot jazz, Blanche retreats into
a world she once knew. A world that had long ago slipped away from her grasp,
just as her life has now.
Amanda Drew’s recent stage credits include Enron
(Headlong Theatre), Butley (Duchess Theatre)
and Faces In The Crowd (Royal Court). She has
also appeared in Parlour Song, A Chain Play and Enemies at
the Almeida. Her screen credits include The Other Man and Dr. May Wright in EastEnders.
Sam Troughton has played lead roles in Romeo
& Juliet and Morte d’Arthur for the RSC, while his other theatre
credits include As You Like It (Sheffield
Crucible) and Buried Child (National Theatre). His film and television
credits include roles in Vera Drake, Robin Hood and Silent
Witness (both BBC). Leanne Best’s stage credits include The
Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, The Hypochondriac and
Our Country’s Good at Liverpool Playhouse as
well as the national tour of Corrie! Her television credits include Moving
On and Wire In The Blood.
The cornerstone of the Playhouse’s spring season, A
Streetcar Named Desire, will also feature Annabelle Apsion (Shameless, Channel 4; Moving On,
BBC One), Matthew Flynn (Macbeth, Liverpool Everyman; As You
Like It, West Yorkshire Playhouse), Russell Bentley (Death
of a Salesman, West Yorkshire Playhouse; Three Sisters on Hope Street,
Liverpool Everyman), Stephen Fletcher (Dead Heavy Fantastic, Eric’s
both Liverpool Everyman), Mandi Symonds (The
Knitting Circle, Soho Theatre; Amazonia, Young Vic) and Alan
Stocks (Tartuffe, Liverpool Playhouse & ETT; Dead Heavy
Fantastic, Liverpool Everyman).
After highly acclaimed productions of classics Macbeth and Tartuffe
this year, Gemma Bodinetz returns to 20th
century American drama following the critical success and popularity of All
My Sons (2006) and Who’s Afraid of
Virginia Woolf (2005). Streetcar will reunite Gemma with designer Gideon
Davey (All My Sons, Liverpool Playhouse; Radamisto,
English National Opera) and lighting designer Paul Keogan
(Tartuffe, Liverpool Playhouse; The Taming of The Shrew, RSC).
The creative team also includes sound designer Fergus O’Hare and
composer Peter Coyte who worked on Bodinetz’s Macbeth in 2011.
Liverpool
Everyman and Playhouse present
A
STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
By
Tennessee Williams
Director:
Gemma Bodinetz
Designer:
Gideon Davey
Lighting
Designer: Paul Keogan
Sound
Designer: Fergus O’Hare
Composer:
Peter Coyte
Cast:
Annabelle Apsion, Russell Bentley, Leanne Best,
Amanda Drew, Stephen Fletcher, Matthew Flynn, Alan Stocks, Mandi
Symonds, Sam Troughton
Age: 16+
Running
time: tbc
Dates:
Friday 17th February to Saturday 10th March
Venue: Liverpool Playhouse,
Williamson Square, Liverpool, L1 1EL
Evenings:
7.30pm (except Tue 28 Feb)
Twilight
Performance: Tue 28 Feb at 5.30pm
Matinées:
Thu 23 Feb, Thu 1 Mar and Thu 8 Mar at 1.30pm
Sat 25
Feb, Sat 3 Mar and Sat 10 Mar at 2pm
Afterwords: Mon 27 Feb
Page To Stage: Thu 1 Mar
Audio
Described: Fri 9 Mar
Captioned:
Sat 10 Mar (Mat)
Tickets:
£10 - £21 – No Booking Fee
Box
Office: 0151 709 4776
Online Booking (24-hour): www.everymanplayhouse.com
Thanks to creative collaboration, the Everyman and Playhouse have
this year produced a rich and ambitious programme, launched the two buildings
into the future and reached out to many new audiences.
2011 has been a very busy year, with seven world premières, the 100th birthday celebrations of the Liverpool Repertory Company and the start of the journey to a new Everyman. After an absence of 15 years the Playhouse Studio was re-launched in October with the world première ofThe Swallowing Dark, which transferred to London’s theatre503 where it was nominated for five Offie awards. And Gemma Bodinetz’s production of Macbeth, featuring David Morrissey, has been shortlisted as Best Regional Production in the What’s On Stage Awards.
Co-productions with Fiery Angel, ETT, the Lyric Hammersmith, Nottingham Playhouse, Northern Stage, theatre503 and 20 Stories High have allowed the theatres’ productions to tour both near and far, including Edinburgh and Exeter, Toxteth and Toronto, Watford and the West End. By the end of 2011, Everyman and Playhouse productions will have been seen by more than 200,000 people outside Liverpool. And at home, the number of visitors from outside the city has increased by 40 per cent.
Next year the acclaimed Everyman production of The Caretaker with Jonathan Pryce will tour internationally, to Australia and the USA, culminating in a two-month run at New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music. Macbeth with David Morrissey, the final production at the Everyman before the redevelopment, is now available to theatre audiences around the world as a downloadable film via Digital Theatre and has been nominated as Best Regional Production in the Whats On Stage Awards. And another national tour and London season will begin with a Liverpool run, in the form of a collaboration with Shakespeare’s Globe on Henry V.
Engagement with new audiences continues to grow with attendances by under 26s up by 52 per cent in 2011, while the verbatim play, Endz, toured with a professional cast and company to 11 community venues in Liverpool and Knowsley, including Norris Green, West Everton andHuyton, reaching 1,400 people.
The extensive ongoing outreach programme of work with young people in North Liverpool,Toxteth, Alt Valley and East Liverpool saw over 7,000 under 26s engage with cultural and creative projects including West Everton Symbol of Hope, ‘The Pad’, a creative space for young people in a disused shop in Norris Green, and De:Light, a project for young people to train alongside professional technicians, developing skills and experience ‘on the job’ in lighting, sound and audio-visual media.
In the New Year the theatres will launch Young Everyman/Playhouse (YEP), an initiative, funded by Arts Council England’s Grants for the Arts, which will put young people at the heart of the organisation. Aimed at 14 to 25 years-olds YEP will build on the existing work of the theatres’ outreach, education and Youth Theatre programmes to nurture the writers and actors, the technicians, the audiences and the cultural leaders of the future.
2011 has also been a dynamic year for new work, with three new plays - Dead Heavy Fantasticby Robert Farquhar, Lizzie Nunnery’s The Swallowing Dark and Tiny Volcanoes by Laurence Wilson - becoming full productions. The theatres also collaborated with 20 Stories High to support a regional and national tour of Laurence Wilson’s Brian Way Award-winning play for young audiences, Blackberry Trout Face.
The Young Writers' Programme received a record number of
applications this year. Graduates of that programme Joe Ward Munrow and Mwewa Sumbwanyambe have been Shortlisted for the prestigious Alfred
Bradley Award. And Joy Wilkinson’s nomination as finalist in
the internationalSusan Smith Blackburn
Award was the fourth consecutive year one of the theatres’ writers
has been recognised in this way.
OEDIPUS - World première of a new version
Co-production with Nottingham Playhouse
By Steven Berkoff (after Sophocles)
At Liverpool Playhouse - 18 February to 12 March, at Nottingham
Playhouse - 23 March to 9 April, at Edinburgh Fringe
Festival, Pleasance Theatre
DEAD HEAVY FANTASTIC - World première of a commissioned
play
By Robert Farquhar
At Liverpool Everyman - 11 March to 2 April
ROALD DAHL’S TWISTED TALES - World première of a commissioned
play
Co-production with the Lyric, Hammersmith
By Jeremy Dyson
At Liverpool Playhouse - 30 March to 23 April, at Lyric Hammersmith - 14 January to 26
February, at Northern Stage, Newcastle - 16 to 26 March
MACBETH
Directed by Gemma Bodinetz and featuring
David Morrissey
Digital film version produced by Digital Theatre
At Liverpool Everyman – 6 May to 11 June
TARTUFFE - Revival of commissioned adaptation by Liverpool writer
Co-production with English Touring Theatre
National tour launched in Liverpool
by Roger McGough after
Molière
Directed by Gemma Bodinetz
At Liverpool Playhouse - 8 to 17 September
On Tour at Cambridge Arts Theatre, Northern Stage, Richmond
Theatre, Northcott Theatre, Theatre Royal Brighton, The
New Wolsey, Ipswich and Watford Palace Theatre - 20 September to 5 November
THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI - World première of a new,
commissioned version
Co-production with Nottingham Playhouse
by Stephen Sharkey after Brecht
At Liverpool Playhouse - 30 September to 22 October, at Nottingham
Playhouse - 26 October to 12 November
THE SWALLOWING DARK - World première of a commissioned
play
Co-production with theatre503
Opening production of the relaunched
Playhouse Studio
by Lizzie Nunnery
At Liverpool Playhouse Studio - 20 to 29 October, at theatre503 -
1 to 26 November
THE LADYKILLERS - World première of a new adaptation
Co-production with Fiery Angel
by Graham Linehan
At Liverpool Playhouse – 3 to 19 November, at Gielgud Theatre
London – Booking until April 2012
ENDZ
World première of verbatim piece compiled by Everyman and Playhouse
At community venues - 19 April to 13 May
BLACKBERRY TROUT FACE
Co-production with 20 Stories High
By Laurence Wilson
On Tour - Unity Theatre, Liverpool; Whitby Hall, Ellesmere Port; Huyton Youth Zone; Zion Arts Centre, Manchester,; The Egg, Bath;
Barbican Theatre, Plymouth; Redbridge Drama Centre, London,; The Albany,
London; mac, Birmingham; Unicorn Theatre, London – 21 September to 26
November.
WEBSITE:
WWW.NORTHERNSTAGE.COM
PERMANENT REVIEWER URGENTLY
NEEDED - contact the Editor : GPowner@aol.com
www.theatre-royal-newcastle.co.uk
bookings@theatre-royal-newcastle.co.uk
PERMANENT REVIEWER URGENTLY NEEDED - contact the
Editor : GPowner@aol.com
PERMANENT REVIEWER URGENTLY
NEEDED - contact the Editor : GPowner@aol.com
For more details or individual advice/help - email: GPowner@aol.com