The Donmar Warehouse will host the world premiere of Trouble in Butetown, with Sarah Parish taking the lead in a show written by Diana Nneka Atuona (Liberian Girl).
In her illegal boarding house in Butetown, Cardiff, Gwyneth Mbanefo (Parish) toils tirelessly to keep afloat. It’s a port town during the war; home to souls from every corner of the globe. When Nate, an African American GI, escapes his barracks and discovers this new world without segregation, can he find safe harbour in Tiger Bay? And with danger on every corner, who can he trust?
Directed by Tinuke Craig (Jitney), the cast also includes Samuel Adewunmi (You Don’t Know Me), Rita Bernard-Shaw (Catherine Called Birdy), Ifan Huw Dafydd (The Crown), Rosie Ekenna (Inside Number 9), Zaqi Ismail (Baptiste), Gareth Kennerley (Othello), Bethan Mary-James (The Meaning of Zong), Nathan Nolan (The Boys in the Band), Ellie-Mae Siame (The Drifters Girl) and Zephryn Taitte (Call the Midwife).
Trouble in Butetown runs from February 10-March 25, 2023, following Lillian Hellman’s thriller Watch on the Rhine, which is currently playing until February 4.
Here’s an introduction to Trouble in Butetown from writer Diana Nneka Atuona…
Beverly Knight and the cast of Sylvia are now in rehearsals ahead of the musical’s launch at The Old Vic next month.
Previews begin on January 27 for the show, which will tell the story of Sylvia Pankhurst – feminist, activist, pacifist, socialist and rebel – the lesser-known Pankhurst at the heart of the Suffragette movement who changed the lives of working women and men across the world.
Sylvia debuted as a work-in-progress back in 2018 and now returns to The Old Vic, blending dance, hip hop, funk and soul with original music by Josh Cohen and DJ Wade.
A ZooNation production, Knight heads the cast as Emmeline Pankhurst alongside Sharon Rose as Sylvia Pankhurst and Kelly Agbowu, Verity Blyth, Bradley Charles, Kimmy Edwards, Alex Gaumond, Jade Hackett, Sweeney Holdsworth, Stevie Hutchinson, Kate Ivory Jordan, Hannah Khemoh, Sinead Long, Jaye Marshall, Kandaka Moore, Antoine Murray-Straughan, Razak Osman, Jay Perry, Kirstie Skivington, Ellena Vincent and Malachi Welch.
Hampstead Theatre will see the world premiere of Linck & Mülhahn, a new play written by Ruby Thomas and directed by Owen Horsley.
Inspired by the real life of an 18th century gender pioneer, the story takes place in 1759 Prussia, where dashing musketeer and skilled seducer Anastasius Linck has no intention of falling in love. But when he meets passionate young Catharina Mülhahn, so strong is the attraction that the match becomes inevitable.
As the couple strive to build a radical kind of marriage, Catharina’s mother becomes obsessed with her mysterious son-in-law and sets out to uncover his secret – a secret that, if revealed, threatens to engulf them all.
Maggie Bain (Man to Man) stars as Anastasius Linck, with Helena Wilson (Jack Absolute Flies Again) as Catharina Mülhahn. Lucy Black (The Durrells) plays Mother, with the cast also including Daniel Abbott, David Carr, Marty Cruikshank, Kammy Darweish, Qasim Mahmood, Leigh Quinn and Timothy Speyer.
Linck & Mülhahn follows Thomas’ two sold-out plays for Hampstead Downstairs: The Animal Kingdom, and Either. The show also marks the first Hampstead project for Horsley, whose credits include Rebellion and War of the Roses for the RSC.
The show is designed by Simon Wells with lighting design by Matt Daw, sound design by Max Pappenheim and assistant direction by Dewi Johnson. The fight and intimacy direction is by Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper Brown.
Linck & Mülhahn will run at Hampstead Theatre from January 27-March 4, 2023.
The Brittas Empire and Absolutely Fabulous star Harriet Thorpe is set to star in Steel Magnolias, which arrives at Richmond Theatre next month.
Harriet Thorpe
Based on a true story, which scored a film adaptation starring Dolly Parton and Julia Roberts in 1989, Thorpe will join Laura Main (Call the Midwife), Diana Vickers (Dial M For Murder) and Lucy Speed (EastEnders) in the ensemble cast.
Also appearing are Caroline Harker (A Touch of Frost) and Elizabeth Ayodele (Playboy of the West Indies).
Based on an original script by Robert Harding, the show begins its UK and Ireland tour in January and tells the story of six women who come together in a small-town beauty salon in the American South, proving that female friendship conquers all. Faced with the highs and lows of love and life, and amongst the chaos of work, marriage and children, they unite to gossip, unwind and set the world to rights.
Steel Magnolias plays Richmond Theatre from January 24-28, 2023.
Here’s a look at Marys Seacole, which is now on at the Donmar Warehouse until June 4.
Directed by Nadia Latif, it is the UK premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Jackie Sibblies Drury’s new play, which explores what it means to be a woman who is paid to care and how, ultimately, no-one is in charge of their own story.
Mary Seacole was the pioneering Jamaican nurse who bravely voyaged to heal soldiers in the Crimean War. She was a traveller, a hotelier and a businesswoman. She was the most impressive woman you’ve ever met.
The cast includes Déja J Bowens, Llewella Gideon, Kayla Meikle, Esther Smith, Olivia Williams and Susan Wooldridge.
The design is by Tom Scutt, lighting design by Jessica Hung Han Yan, sound design and composition by Xana, movement direction by Theo TJ Lowe, casting by Anna Cooper CDG, costume supervision by Lucy Martin, hair and makeup consultation by Dominique Hamilton, voice and dialect coaching by Hazel Holder, dialect coaching by Nia Lynn, fight direction by Kev McCurdy, props supervision by Chris Marcus and Jonathan Hall, associate design by David Allen, assistant sound design by Iman Muhammad, assistant lighting design by Ayana Enomoto-Hurst with Resident Assistant Director Josh Parr.
US singer and actor Christina Bianco heads the cast of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, which comes to Richmond Theatre this June.
Directed byBronagh Lagan(Cruise), Bianco (Funny Girl) will perform beloved ballads by icons such as Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey and Cilla Black live on stage, capturing their unique style through her extraordinary impressions.
The cast also includes Shobna Gulati (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) as Mari Hoff, Ian Kelsey (Coronation Street) as Ray Say, Akshay Gulati (East is East) as Billy, William Ilkley (War Horse) as Mr Boo, Fiona Mulvaney (The Ferryman) as Sadie and James Robert Moore (All That) as Phone Man. Anna Hale (London Road) is also understudy LV and Sadie.
Exploring the highs and the lows of small-town dreams, family rivalry and finding your voice in a noisy world, Little Voice and Mari Hoff are a mother and daughter as far apart in character as can be. Left to her own devices, Little Voice starts to embody the famous divas she plays on repeat, from Judy Garland to Shirley Bassey, and becomes an overnight sensation.
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice by Jim Cartwright plays at Richmond Theatre from June 27 to July 2.
Here’s a new trailer for Straight Line Crazy, starring Ralph Fiennes as a man whose iron will exposes the weakness of democracy in the face of charismatic conviction.
From writer Dave Hare and director Nicholas Hynter, the play is now on at the Bridge Theatre. The cast also includes Alisha Bailey, Samuel Barnett, David Bromley, Al Coppola, Siobhán Cullen, Ian Kirkby, Alana Maria, Dani Moseley, Guy Paul, Helen Schlesinger, Mary Stillwaggon Stewart and Danny Webb.
For 40 years, Robert Moses (Fiennes) was the most powerful man in New York, manipulating those in office through a mixture of guile, charm and intimidation.
Motivated at first by a determination to improve the lives of New York City’s workers, he created new parks, new bridges and 627 miles of expressway to connect the people to the great outdoors. But in the 1950s, groups of citizens at grass roots began to organise against his schemes and against the motor car, campaigning for a very different idea of what a city was and for what it should be.
New Wimbledon Theatre is bringing back its Premieres season for 2022 as part of its new writing initiative.
This autumn, the venue’s studio will host three world premiere productions curated by theatre administrator and events programmer Emma Brack. They include Ballooniana! by Alexander Knott; Turning the Screw, by Kevin Kelly; and Don’t Shoot the Meistersinger, by Graham Hill.
Brack said: “Through our Premieres season, we aim to provide an opportunity for theatre-makers to see their work on its feet and fully staged for the very first time, whilst delivering some top-quality and compelling productions for our Wimbledon audiences. We are incredibly proud to announce the return of our Premieres season following last year’s successful runs, with three brand new titles. We cannot wait to see what our next three productions bring!”
All three full-length productions will run at the Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre for 12 strictly limited performances each, in September, October and November respectively.
Here’s more details of each show:
Ballooniana! by Alexander Knott
BoxLess Theatre
Thursday, September 22 to Saturday, October 1, 2022
On November 21st in the year of our lord 1783, Jacques and Joseph Montgolfier watched a creation that was lighter than air soar away from them, in an effort to touch the face of God. Intentionally or not, this single action, this untethering of our collective dreams, led to us taking flight, in constant pursuit of the unattainable, and the unknown.
BoxLess take the story of the creation of the hot air balloon, and meld it with their signature physical theatre, original music and spoken word poetry, performed by the ensemble. This story could be dry. This story could be dusty. We promise it won’t be. The human race is taking flight. Untethered. A carnival of creativity, a celebration of what mankind can achieve, told by two female performers playing the Montgolfier brothers, with live original music and musicians, physical theatre and balloons. A celebration of liveness, aliveness and live theatre. A cloud in a paper bag.
Cast & Creatives: Written & Directed by Alexander Knott. Performed by Zöe Grain, Freya Sharp, James Demaine and Samuel Heron. Original Music Composed & Performed Live by James Demaine& Samuel Heron. Movement & Additional Devising by the Company.
Turning The Screw by Kevin Kelly
K-Squared Productions
Thursday, October 20 to Saturday, October 29, 2022
It’s 1954 and Benjamin Britten is working on a new opera about purity and innocence. He’s in an illegal gay relationship with Peter Pears so they mustn’t draw attention to themselves.
The star of the opera, a roguish 12-year-old choirboy, is coming to stay with them and he has other things on his mind. Someone’s going to get hurt and someone might end up in jail. A play about love, music, and memory.
Directed by Tim McArthur.
Don’t Shoot The Meistersinger by Graham Hill
Profugo Theatre Company
Thursday, November 3 to Saturday, November 12, 2022
Christmas 1914. Carol singing in the trenches. A football match in No Mans Land. Enemies coming together as friends. The inordinate power of the human spirit.
Yeah, yeah. You know all that. Now find out what you don’t know (and probably don’t need to).
As Hampstead Theatre gears up for the world premiere of Satinder Chohan’s new play Lotus Beauty, here’s the full cast and creative team.
Inspired by “the resilient women and vibrant beauty salons” of Chohan’s hometown in Southall, London, Lotus Beauty follows the intertwined lives of five multigenerational women. Audiences will be taken into Reita’s salon, where clients can wax lyrical about their day’s tiny successes or have their struggles massaged, plucked or tweezed away. But with honest truths and sharp-witted barbs high among the treatments on offer, will the power of community be enough to raise the spirits of everyone who passes through the salon doors?
Directed by Pooja Ghai, the cast is headed by Anshula Bain (Tartuffe), Souad Faress (The Archers), Zainab Hasan (The Welkin), Ulrika Krishnamurti (Pink Sari Revolution) and Kiran Landa (Line of Duty).
Ghai will be joined by designer Rosa Maggiora, lighting director Matt Haskins, sound designers The Ringham Brothers, dialect coach Gurkiran Kaur and assistant director Cassia Thakkar.
Ghai said: “Lotus Beauty is both funny and poignant. Satinder’s play shines a lens on the beauty and complexity of being a migrant and a South Asian woman in modern day Britain. I am so excited to work with our wonderful cast, creative and technical teams to bring the story to life.”
Lotus Beauty will run at Hampstead Downstairs, in association with Tamasha Theatre Company, from May 13 until June 18, 2022.
A host of film, TV and theatre stars will grace the stage as part of Richmond Theatre’s Spring 2022 line-up.
First up is Catch Me If You Can, a gripping psychological thriller starring Dallas legend Patrick Duffy, Linda Purl (Happy Days) and Gray O’ Brien (Peak Practice). Inspector Levine (O’Brien) is called to a house in the remote Catskill mountains to investigate the disappearance of newly married Elizabeth Corban (Purl). In a bizarre development a woman arrives at the house claiming to be the missing Elizabeth but, instead of celebrating the reunion, her husband accuses her of being an imposter…
Blockbuster film and bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code makes its stage debut. The curator of the Louvre has been brutally murdered, and alongside his body are a series of baffling codes. Follow the pulse-racing journey as Professor Robert Langdon, (Christopher Harper, Coronation Street) and fellow cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Hannah Rose Caton) attempt to solve the riddles, leading to the works of Leonardo Da Vinci and beyond, deep into the vault of history. With guidance from teacher and friend Professor Leigh Teabing (played by Danny John-Jules, Red Dwarf), Langdon and Neveu embark on a breathless race through the streets of Europe. The pair must decipher the labyrinthine code before a shocking historical secret is lost forever.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm arrives in May. This brand-new production is directed by Robert Icke (The Wild Duck, Hamlet), features puppetry by Toby Olié (War Horse) and is designed by Bunny Christie.
The Rocky Horror Show will see Strictly Come Dancing winner Ore Oduba as Brad, in a production directed by Christopher Luscombe.
Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em promises to take audiences back to the 70s as Joe Pasquale (New Faces) stars as the lovable accident-prone Frank Spencer. Susie Blake (Coronation Street) stars as his disapproving Mother-in-Law and Sarah Earnshaw as his long-suffering wife Betty.
Private Peaceful,based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo (War Horse), tells the story of the Peaceful brothers, Tommo (Daniel Rainford) and Charlie (Daniel Boyd), whose tough rural childhood, framed by the loss of their father, forges an irrevocable sibling loyalty. Until one day they both fall for the same girl. And then the Great War comes. Here we join 18-year-old Private Tommo Peaceful in the trenches as he takes us on a journey through his most cherished memories and tells his story of courage, devotion, family and friendship on what may be his last night on earth.
Meanwhile, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice by Jim Cartright showcases LV’s (Christina Bianco) astonishing impersonations of Shirley Bassey, Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland as she is thrust into the spotlight by club owner Ray Say (Ian Kelsey) and her mother Mari (Shobna Gulati). This life affirming production will rouse even the weariest of souls.
