It’s the show that’s described as a Hamlet mix-tape.
When actor and artist Dickie Beau realised he might never get to play Shakespeare’s iconic Danish prince, the lip-syncing sensation instead took recordings of great Hamlets from the past to create a unique one-man show.
Beau has now created a Hamlet that can never be “re-membered” because no recordings exist.
In his show, part documentary theatre, part 21st century séance, Beau brings Hamlet back to life through exclusive recordings of interviews with Ian McKellen, Richard Eyre and others.
Beau’s previous work include iShowmanism! at the Ustinov Studio, Bath, last year. He played the title role in Botticelli in the Fire at Hampstead Theatre in 2019. His other credits include Kenny Everett in Bohemian Rhapsody and The Dame in Dick Whittington at the National Theatre.
Re-Member Me was first presented as a scratch performance at the Almeida Theatre on the set of Robert Icke’s production of Hamlet in 2017, before it transferred to the Public Theater, New York, and went on to play at the Melbourne International Arts Festival and Perth International Festival.
The show is directed and co-devised by Jan-willem van den Bosch with lighting design by Marty Langthorne.
Re-Member Me is at Hampstead Theatre from May 25-June 17.
Edinburgh Fringe Festival hit SHEWOLVES is coming to the Southwark Playhouse.
Described as a coming-of-age story for teenagers and anyone who has ever been a teen, Priya and Lou come armed with a backpack full of Pop-tarts as they embark on a covert expedition into the wild. They want to fight back against the climate crises and make real change, but when the wilderness closes in around them, first they have to overcome their differences and make their voices heard.
SHEWOLVES stars Gurjot Dhaliwal as Priya and Harriet Waters as Lou, both of whom reprise their roles from the much-praised Edinburgh production.
It is written by Sarah Middleton and directed by Hannah Stone. Charlotte Henry is the set and costume designer, Anne Reddyhoff is the lighting designer, Eleanor Isherwood is the sound designer and composer, Tilly Branson is the dramaturg and Hannah Brown is the assistant director.
SHEWOLVES is at the Southwark Playhouse from June 21– July 8, 2023.
The National Theatre is gearing up to host the culmination of an epic, multi-location production of The Odyssey.
This epic story of resilience and hope began its journey in Stoke-on-Trent and Doncaster, with the next episodes coming to Trowbridge Town Hall and The Fire Station in Sunderland.
The Odyssey’s final stage, The Underworld, will be a full-scale musical production at the National Theatre on August 26-28, 2023. This fifth and final production will feature community performers from all four previous episodes, as well as members recruited through Public Acts founding community partners, founding theatre partner Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, and Trybe House Theatre in London.
The Underworld is written by Olivier-award winning playwright Chris Bush with music composed by Jim Fortune and directed by Director of Public Acts Emily Lim. The set is designed by Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey, movement directed by Dan Canham, costume designed by Fly Davis, music supervised and directed by Tarek Merchant, lighting designed by Joshua Pharo, sound designed by Paul Arditti and casting by Bryony Jarvis-Taylor.
Broadway musical sensation A Strange Loop is transferring from New York to London this summer, where it will open at the Barbican Theatre.
Alan Cumming, Ilana Glazer, Jennifer Hudson, Mindy Kaling and Billy Porter will reunite to produce the musical – Michael R Jackson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork that exposes the heart and soul of Usher, a young, gay, Black writer who hates his day job, writing a musical about a young, gay, Black writer who’s writing a musical about a young, gay, Black writer…a strange loop.
Usher grapples with desires, identity and instincts he both loves and loathes, all brought to life on stage by a hilarious, straight-talking ensemble. Casting is to be announced.
It is directed by Stephen Brackett and choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly, with Rona Siddiqui as music supervisor, orchestrations by Charlie Rosen, scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado, costume design by Montana Levi Blanco, lighting design by Jen Schriever and sound design by Drew Levy.
A Strange Loop opens at the Barbican Theatre for a strictly limited 12-week season on June 17. Visit Strangeloopmusical.com
Roald Dahl’s The Witches and The Effect have been added to the National Theatre’s 2023 line-up, while casting has been announced for three more upcoming shows.
The Witches will play in the Olivier theatre from November in a new musical version of Dahl’s iconic story by Lucy Kirkwood and Dave Malloy, directed by Lyndsey Turner.
As the story goes, everything you know about witches is wrong. Forget the pointy hats and broomsticks: they’re the most dangerous creatures on earth. And now they’ve come up with their most evil plan yet.
The only thing standing in their way is Luke and his Gran. But he’s ten and she’s got a dodgy heart. Time is short, danger is everywhere, and they’ve got just one chance to stop the witches from squalloping every stinking little child in England.
Katherine Kingsley
The cast includes Katherine Kingsley (The Larkins) as the Grand High Witch and Daniel Rigby (One Man, Two Guvnors) as Mr Stringer, alongside Julie Armstrong, Chrissie Bhima, Zoe Birkett, Daniele Coombe, Molly-May Gardiner, Tiffany Graves, Tania Mathurin, Jacob Maynard, Laura Medforth and Ben Redfern.
It is directed by Turner (The Crucible) with book and lyrics by Kirkwood (Mosquitoes) and music and lyrics by Malloy (Natasha). The set and costume designer is Lizzie Clachan with choreographer Stephen Mear, music supervisor Nigel Lilley, music director Cat Beveridge, lighting designer Bruno Poet, co-sound designers Alexander Caplen and Ian Dickinson, video designer Ash J Woodward, illusions by Chris Fisher and Will Houstoun, casting director Bryony Jarvis-Taylor, associate director Séimí Campbell, staff director Priya Patel Appleby, associate set designer Shankho Chaudhuri, associate costume designer Johanna Coe, associate choreographer Jo Morris, associate music director Natalie Pound and children’s and assistant music director Sarah Morrison.
The Witches will play in the Olivier theatre from November 7, recommended for ages 8+.
Meanwhile, The Effect by Lucy Prebble (Succession) and directed by Jamie Lloyd (Cyrano de Bergerac) will play in the Lyttelton theatre from August.
A funny and intimate examination of love and ethics, Connie and Tristan are falling for each other fast – but is their sudden and intoxicating chemistry real, or a side effect of a new antidepressant? As two young volunteers in a clinical drug trial, their romance poses startling dilemmas for the supervising doctors.
Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You) is cast as Tristan and Taylor Russell (Bones and All) as Connie, with further casting to be announced.
Paapa EssieduLucy Prebble
The set and costume designer is Soutra Gilmour, with lighting designer Jon Clark, composer Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, sound designer George Dennis, movement directors Sarah Golding and Yukiko Masui (SAY), fight director Kate Waters, intimacy co-ordinator Ingrid Mackinnon and casting director Alastair Coomer.
The Effect will play in the Lyttelton theatre from August 1.
The National theatre has also announced casting for the revival of The Father and the Assassin.
Director Indhu Rubasingham reunites with Anupama Chandrasekhar for this essential exploration of oppression and extremism.
Mahatma Gandhi: lawyer, champion of non-violence, beloved leader. Nathuram Godse: journalist, nationalist – and the man who murdered Gandhi. This gripping play traces Godse’s life over 30 years during India’s fight for independence: from a devout follower of Gandhi, through to his radicalisation and their tragic final encounter in Delhi in 1948.
Hiran AbeysekeraPaul Bazely
The cast includes Hiran Abeysekera (Life of Pi) as Nathuram Godse with Paul Bazely reprising his role as Mahatma Gandhi. The cast also includes Azan Ahmed, Ravi Aujla, Ayesha Dharker, Ravin J Ganatra, Raj Ghatak, Halema Hussain, Nadeem Islam, Tony Jayawardena, Nicholas Khan, Raj Khera, Hari Mackinnon, Sid Sagar and Akshay Shah.
The set and costume designer Rajha Shakiry, with lighting designer Oliver Fenwick, movement director Lucy Cullingford, composer Siddhartha Khosla, additional music by David Shrubsole, sound designer Alexander Caplen, fight directors Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown, casting director Alastair Coomer and associate set and costume designer Khadija Raza.
The Father and the Assassin will play in the Olivier theatre September 8–October 14.
Will Young will star in Song From Far Away during a strictly limited run at Hampstead Theatre.
Marking Young’s first live theatre role for a decade, the play was staged at HOME Manchester earlier this year and is now heading to London.
Song From Far Away is described as an unforgettable story and a personal letter to those left behind. One crisp winter day in New York, Willem receives a phone call – it’s time to go home. Home to Amsterdam – to estranged family and forgotten relationships. As he reflects on his life, unwilling to face the future, he finds himself reaching out to the brother he lost.
Written by Simon Stephens (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) and Mark Eitzel, Song From Far Away is directed by Kirk Jameson and designed by Ingrid Hu with sound by Julian Starr. The composer, musical supervisor and arranger is Paul Schofield and the dialect coach is Penny Dwyer. It is coproduced by Thomas Hopkins, Guy Chapman and HOME.
Song From Far Away is at Hampstead Theatre from June 28-July 22.
2.22 – A Ghost Story will introduce a sixth cast when it arrives at the Apollo Theatre next month.
Sophia Bush (One Tree Hill) will play Lauren, Ricky Champ (Him & Her) is Ben, Clifford Samuel (McMafia) stars as Sam and Jaime Winstone (Kidulthood) appears as Jenny.
Jenny believes her new home is haunted, but her husband Sam isn’t having any of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren and her new partner Ben. Can the dead really walk again? Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and that something is getting closer, so they are going to stay up… until 2.22am… and then they will know.
The move marks the fifth West End transfer in just two years for the supernatural thriller. It had its world premiere at the Nöel Coward Theatre in summer 2021 and subsequently received three Olivier nominations, including Best New Play and Best Actress.
The production began with stars Lily Allen, Julia Chan, Hadley Fraser and Jake Wood. It then moved to the Gielgud Theatre with Stephanie Beatriz, James Buckley, Elliot Cowan and Giovanna Fletcher.
The first cast at the Criterion Theatre featured Tom Felton, Mandip Gill, Beatriz Romilly, Sam Swainsbury; the second Criterion Theatre cast included Tamsin Carroll as Lauren, Felix Scott as Sam, Matt Willis as Ben and Laura Whitmore as Jenny. The current run at the Lyric features Cheryl as Jenny, Jake Wood as Ben, Scot Karim and Sam and Louise Ford as Lauren, who will perform until April 23.
It will run at the Apollo from May 14-September 17, 2023.
2.22 – A Ghost Story is written by Danny Robins (The Battersea Poltergeist) and directed by Matthew Dunster. It features set design by Anna Fleischle, costume design by Cindy Lin, lighting design by Lucy Carter, sound by Ian Dickinson for Autograph Sound, casting by Matilda James and illusions by Chris Fisher. The co-director is Gabriel Vega Weissman.
It is produced by Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Isobel David and Kater Gordon.
Elf Lyons and Nicholas Armfield will take the lead in Arcola Theatre’s The Misandrist.
Lyons (Swan) and Armfield (Camberwell Green) will play “intimidating” Rachel and “nice guy” Nick in the play, which sees them meet at a stick-floored bar in Piccadilly and what was meant to be a one-night stand becomes a sexual odyssey of self-discovery – and mutual destruction.
Prickly freelancer Rachel is at the beginning of an existential crisis. Trapped in endless short-term contracts for a faceless government department as the economy continues its slow decline, jobs are being squeezed. Nothing feels safe or secure. Nothing feels like it’s progressing. Maybe this existential limbo is Rachel’s punishment for stealing Tupperware at the office Christmas party. But that wasn’t her fault. It was the really good kind “The boxes fit into each other! They just stack so perfectly. You know what, there’s structure, that’s what it is”. And we all know that’s just too tempting.
Adrift, isolated, and insecure, they scramble for new ways to connect. Somewhere along the line, they decide to explore flipping the narrative. Metaphorically, and very, very literally. As they navigate their “situationship,” Rachel decides it’s time to TAKE BACK CONTROL. Can some playful, passionate pegging provide a pathway of discovery to new parts of themselves, and each other?
Bethany Pitts (The Beach House) directs the latest work from writer Lisa Carroll (Cuckoo). The designer is Cara Evans and the lighting designer is Peter Small.
The Misandrist is at the Arcola from May 11-June 10, 2023.
Bertie Carvel and Patsy Ferran will star in Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw’s classic play, at The Old Vic this autumn.
Richard Jones (Endgame, The Hairy Ape) directs Carvel (The 47th) and Ferran (Camp Siegfried) in the story of Eliza Doolittle (Ferran), who aspires to more than selling flowers on the streets of Covent Garden.
After a chance meeting with Professor Henry Higgins (Carvel) and Colonel Pickering, she finds herself the subject of a rash bet to pass her off as a lady amongst the great and the good of London society.
A funny, biting and subversive satire on class, the ruthless linguist Higgins attempts to transform the brilliantly irrepressible Eliza – who breaks the mould he creates for her.
Pygmalion will play at The Old Vic from September 6-October 28, 2023.
House of the Dragon star Milly Alcock will make her West End debut in a new production of The Crucible, at the National Theatre this summer.
Alcock will play Abigail in Lyndsey Turner’s acclaimed production of Arthur Miller’s gripping parable of power and its abuse, which first ran at the National in autumn 2022. It is set designed by Es Devlin (The Lehman Trilogy).
A witch hunt is beginning in Salem. Raised to be seen but not heard, a group of young women suddenly find their words have a terrible power. As a climate of fear spreads through the community, private vendettas fuel public accusations and soon the truth itself is on trial.
Milly Alcock
The creative team are joined by costume designer Catherine Fay; lighting designer Tim Lutkin; sound designer Tingying Dong (content design); sound designer Christopher Shutt (system design); composer and arranger Caroline Shaw; music director and arranger Osnat Schmool; with casting by Alastair Coomer and Naomi Downham.
They are joined by associate director Blythe Stewart; associate set designer Ellie Wintour; associate lighting designer Max Narula; fight director Bret Yount; intimacy directors Ita O’Brien and Louise Kempton; dialect coaches Danièle Lydon and Hazel Holder and assistant music director Alice Grant.
The Crucible is at the National’s Gielgud Theatre from June 7 to September 2.
