Soho Theatre will welcome Miriam Battye’s Strategic Love Play as part of its UK tour this autumn.
So they’ve both swiped right. Now they’re meeting for the first time. Facing each other. As if that’s a normal thing to do. But she’s being uncomfortable, and he’s a total bore. The vibe is horrific and the banter is even worse. But something is keeping them in their seats. Something is making them stay. Welcome to your hot date.
Directed by Paines Plough co-artistic director Katie Posner, Strategic Love Play takes place on an awkward first date, speaking uncomfortable truths about modern dating and romance with acid wit.
Letty Thomas and Archie Backhouse star in the production, which is a coproduction between Soho Theatre and Belgrade Theatre in association with Landmark Theatres. The tour will launch after a full run at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Writer Battye (Dead Ringers, Succession) said: “A first date is a fascinating place for a play. There’s simultaneously massive stakes and no stakes at all, depending on how you will it. It’s brutal and it’s trivial in equal measure. There’s a lot of theory and analysis and assistance swirling around the project of coupledom. But at the end of the day, it starts, or it ends, with two people sitting across from each other with no guidance. We’re all alone out here. We always have to do that bit. I wanted to write about that bit.”
The production will feature set and costume design by Rhys Jarman, lighting design by Rajiv Pattani, sound design by Beth Duke, intimacy direction by Robbie Taylor Hunt, movement direction by Gabrielle Nimo, dramaturgy by Gillian Greer and the casting director is Jacob Sparrow. The production manager will be Josephine Tremelling and the company stage manager will be Simon Perkins.
Strategic Love Play will run at Soho Theatre from September 6-23, 2023.
Issam Al Ghussain, Kosar Ali, Simon Manyonda, Sirine Saba and Yusra Warsama will head the cast of Word-Play, a new show from Rabiah Hussain.
Directed by Nimmo Ismail, the show explores the top-down structures of language and their far-reaching, long-lasting consequences. It will take place at the Royal Court Theatre’s Jerwood Theatre Upstairs from July 20-August 26, 2023.
In the Downing Street Press Office an emergency meeting has been called. The Prime Minister has been ad-libbing on live TV (again) and his words are going viral. There is a flurry of accusations, and demands for an apology; but as the team debate what to do next, it’s already too late. His words have found their way to dinner parties, bus journeys and newspaper columns across the nation – and not everyone is angry.
Word-Play is designed by Rosanna Vize, with lighting design by Jamie Platt. The composer and sound designer is XANA, the movement director is Ken Nakajima and the casting director is Isabella Odoffin. The voice coach is Emma Woodvine, the assistant director is Aneesha Srinivasan and the associate designer is Alys Whitehead.
The play was developed whilst Hussain was on attachment as part of the Royal Court Theatre and Kudos Writing Fellowship in 2019.
There will be a post-show talk with Hussain on Wednesday, August 2, 2023.
Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma are bringing Macbeth to London – and tickets are now on sale.
From Wessex Grove and Underbelly, in association with Shakespeare Theatre Company, this brand new production of one of William Shakespeare’s most iconic plays will be staged in custom-built spaces designed to bring the audience closer to the action.
Macbeth is coming. A couple corrupted by their relentless lust for power have blood on their hands. Witness the gripping tale of greed, murder, deception and superstition. Once you cross the line, you can never turn back.
Tony and BAFTA Award-winning Fiennes will star as Macbeth and Olivier Award-winning Varma will play as Lady Macbeth in the production, which is directed by Simon Godwin with set and costume design by Frankie Bradshaw and an adaptation by Emily Burns.
Macbeth comes to Dock X, Canada Water, from February 20-March 23, 2024.
Here’s a look at Accidental Death of an Anarchist, now running at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until September 9.
An Anarchist has fallen to his death from a police station window. The question is: did he jump or was he thrown? As the police attempt to avoid yet another scandal, a mysterious imposter is arrested and brought in for questioning. Seizing the chance to put on a show, he leads the officers in an ever more ridiculous reconstruction of their official account, hilariously exposing the cover-ups, corruption, and profound idiocy at the heart of the police.
Adapted by Tom Basden and directed by Daniel Raggett, the cast includes Daniel Rigby (Maniac), Tony Gardner (Superintendent Curry), Tom Andrews (Detective Daisy), Mark Hadfield (Inspector Burton), Ro Kumar (Agent Joseph), and Ruby Thomas (Fi Phelan).
The understudies will be played by Joe Boylan, Georgina Hellier and Richard Hodder.
Dalston’s Arcola Theatre has announced its 2023/24 season.
In Studio 1, the opening production is Sputnik Sweetheart, an adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s novel.
Studio 2 opens with Max Wilkinson’s Union, which is followed by Hannah Kumari’s ENG-ER-LAND.
Continuing the season in Studio 2 are Freek Mariën’s The Wetsuitman, Matthew Seager’s In Other Words, and comic drama Gentlemen.
Political comedian Mark Thomas brings Ed Edwards’ England & Son to the theatre in November, before Aoife Kennan’s Scratches completes the season.
Read on for full details of each production…
STUDIO 1
Sputnik Sweetheart October 23 – November 25, 2023 Based on Haruki Murakami’s novel, adapted for stage by Bryony Lavery and directed by Melly Still A coming-of-age play from cosy coffee shops in Tokyo all the way to the salty beaches of Greece, as we follow one young man on his mission to find his missing best friend, Sumire. But Sumire is not a damsel in distress. She is bold, she is creative, passionate and headstrong. She’s curiously obsessed with modelling herself in the image of Jack Kerouac, and more than anything, she’s desperately head-over-heels in love with her muse, Miu.
STUDIO 2
Union July 19 – August 12, 2023 Written by Max Wilkinson and directed by Wiebke Green On the eve of the biggest deal of her career, Saskia, an uber-successful property developer runs from the meeting, all the way home down the Grand Union Canal. Plagued by phone calls and ghosts, she meets a myriad of characters looking to make or break her. She realises, as her shiny life unravels, that she doesn’t know herself anymore or the city she once loved. Can she still save a little piece of it?
ENG-ER-LAND August 15-19, 2023 Written and performed by Hannah Kumari and directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair Kumari brings her acclaimed solo show back for one final public run, to coincide with the Women’s World Cup.
The WetSuitMan August 29 – September 2, 2023 Written by Freek Mariën, translated by David McKay and directed by Trine Garrett Three actors, twenty-eight characters, one true story. It’s 2015 on the coast of Norway. A retired architect finds a wetsuit, and in it, the remains of a body. The detective unit hits one dead end after another – until another body in an identical wetsuit washes up in the Netherlands.
In Other Words September 5-30 Written by Matthew Seager and directed by Andy Routledge They call it ‘the incident’ now. What happened when they first met. He always said it was part of his ‘romantic plan’, but they both know that’s rubbish. Connected by the music of Frank Sinatra, this intimate, humorous and deeply moving love story explores the effects of Alzheimer’s disease and the transformative power of music to help us remember the past, connect with the present and hope for the future.
Gentlemen October 4-28 Written by Matt Parvin and directed by Richard Speir Freshers’ term. Greg has taken to university life like a duck to water. Kasper is struggling to fit in. Summoned to a mediation session with Kasper and the college welfare officer to discuss an accusation of plagiarism, Greg deftly argues his way out of trouble. But when the allegations evolve into something altogether more damaging, how long can Greg remain untouchable?
England & Son November 14-25 Written by Ed Edwards, performed by Mark Thomas and directed by Cressida Brown Set when The Great Devouring comes home, England & Son is a one-man play written specifically for political comedian Thomas. With some deep, dark laughs – and some deep, dark love – along the way, England & Son emerges from characters Mark knew in his childhood and Ed’s lived experience in jail. Prepare to be taken on a kaleidoscopic odyssey where disaster capitalism, empire, stolen youth and stolen wealth merge into the simple tale of a working-class boy who just wants his dad to smile at him.
Scratches November 6-11 Written by Aoife Kennan and directed by Gabriella Bird Described as a funny and honest new play about self-harm and recovery. Meet GIRL. For too long, she’s been hiding her scratches with unfashionably long socks, clever white lies, and period pads. But now she and her fabulous BEST FRIEND are here to set the record straight.
Take a look at these new production images from The Crucible, which is heading to the Gielgud Theatre following its West End transfer from the National Theatre.
Lyndsey Turner’s production is now playing at the Gielgud until September 2.
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 (House of the Dragon) plays the role of Abigail Williams with Caitlin FitzGerald (Succession) as Elizabeth Proctor and Brian Gleeson (Bad Sisters) in the role of John Proctor. They are joined by Fisayo Akinade (Heartstopper) as Reverend Hale, Karl Johnson (Under Milk Wood) as Giles Corey and Matthew Marsh (Dunkirk) as Danforth.
The cast also features David Ahmad, Zoë Aldrich, Stephanie Beattie, Christopher Birch, Lucy Brindle, Raphael Bushay, Henry Everett, Grace Farrell, Nick Fletcher, Chyna-Rose Frederick, Colin Haigh, Nadine Higgin, Miya James, Ebony Jonelle, Gracie McGonigal, Alastair Parker, Tama Phethean, Amy Snudden, Joy Tan, Nia Towle, Tilly Tremayne and Samuel Townsend.
Turner and set designer Es Devlin are joined by costume designer Catherine Fay, lighting designer Tim Lutkin, sound design by Tingying Dong (content design) and Christopher Shutt (system design). Composer and arranger is Caroline Shaw and music director and arranger is 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, lead intimacy directors Ita O’Brien and Louise Kempton for Intimacy On Set, voice and dialect coach Kate Godfrey, dialect coaches Danièle Lydon and Hazel Holder, assistant music director Alice Grant and resident director Sophie Dillon Moniram.
Marylebone Theatre will play host to the world premiere of The White Factor, a new play described as a tragic story of hope and endurance in the face of tyranny.
Spanning several decades, The White Factory explores the life of Yosef Kaufman, a Holocaust survivor from Lodz, haunted by his wartime experiences as he tries to build a future with his new family in 1960’s Brooklyn. Tormented by the nightmares of his past, Yosef’s attempt to negotiate the weight of his own history becomes a passionate battle for survival and redemption.
This heart-wrenching drama of love, endurance, despair and hope follows one man’s journey from the Lodz ghetto of 1940s Poland to 1960s America, where the possibility of a new life is tested to the limit by the remnants of his past.
The production is a collaboration between playwright Dmitry Glukhovsky and director Maxim Didenko – both political exiles and outspoken critics of the war against Ukraine.
Glukhovsky says: “The White Factory was written a few years ago in what now seems to be a foreboding of the abrupt transformation of my home country into a fascist dictatorship. The great evil that has now torn the bubble and is streaming into the outer world as Russia began its barbaric war on Ukraine has been brewing there for the last few years and millions inside the country have been watching it either in indifference or in a naive hope that it would somehow never concern them.
“Millions yet chose to conform to the evil’s ever more strangulating rules, to accept its narratives and to believe in its poisonous myths. Watching a resentful and revanchist neo-imperialist regime grow and ripen from the inside, real-time, eye-witnessing ominous social changes that were certain to bring about a catastrophe, made me turn to my Jewish roots, recalling and researching another story of conformism and desperate hope for the better: the story of the Lodz ghetto. But as I wrote the play, I could never guess how quickly my fears would become a reality…”
Didenko said: “In my earlier works I have always been interested in exploring totalitarianism; the dark magic it has over people and the horrible price that must inevitably be paid for both succumbing to its charm and surrendering to the fear it sows. Right now, war and propaganda and new draconian laws silence all critical voices in Russia, my home country. The totalitarian regime is returning. People who oppose the war are being labelled as traitors and persecuted.
“Right now, hundreds of thousands of Russian intellectuals and artists, but also students and normal people who just don’t want to live under an archaic and repressive regime that started this war on Ukraine, on the West, and on normality, are fleeing Russia and trying to roll under the falling Iron Curtain.
“We are among this new wave of political emigrants. The story behind The White Factory seems to be more important, immediate, personal and dramatic than ever. This is why we’re doing it now.”
Written by Glukhovsky, directed by Didenko, with Ukrainian creative producer Ekaterina Kashynsteva, The White Factory will play at Marylebone Theatre from September 14 – November 4, 2023.
Park Theatre will play host to Bones, a show that uses rugby to explore mental health, toxic masculinity and gender stereotyping.
Written by Lewis Aaron Wood and directed by Daniel Blake in partnership with rugby mental health charity LooseHeadz, it tells the story of a rugby player on the brink of a professional career, but struggling in a way he can’t seem to fix. The show examines the toll pressure can take on mental health and questions why it isn’t treated with the same concern as a physical injury, when the effects can be just as serious.
Ed is an up-and-coming amateur rugby player being scouted by professional teams. Pressure’s mounting as his team qualifies for the Semi Finals of the regional cup, but his head isn’t in the game. Ed feels the full weight of expectation and hope, and it’s impacting him in ways he could have never imagined.
From production company Refine, local rugby clubs will also be able to stream the production during the summer off-season to bring players together to promote, prevent and raise awareness of mental health within the sports community. This filmed performance will be captured at Windsor RFU, on the pitch.
The cast includes Ronan Cullen, Samuel Holt, James Mackay and Ainsley Fannen. The artistic director is Aaron Templeman.
Bones will play at Park 90, Park Theatre, from July 5–22.
Extraordinary star Luke Rollason is bringing his third solo show, Bowerbird, to the Soho Theatre this July.
The show is described as an absurd ode to the great indoors and the relationships we form with the objects we fill it with – the armchair singing the lost loves that left behind their bum imprints, abandoned utensils with uncertain parenthood, and the sordid spooning going on in your cutlery drawer. This soft-furnished fun combines mime, clowning and outrageously inventive uses of tape measures.
Rollason stars as one of the leads of Disney+ comedy series Extraordinary, playing the role of a cat-turned-human called Jizzlord. He trained at the infamous clown school L’Ecole Philippe Gaulier. He was a finalist at the 2020 Sketch Off and Musical Comedy Award competitions.
Bowerbird will run at the Soho Theatre between July 5-8.
“Luke Rollason: Bowerbird”” performed at the Brighton Fringe Festival 2022
Photography by DFphotography.co.uk/Danny Fitzpatrick
Credit : DFphotography.co.uk
Here’s a look at Sophia Bush, Ricky Champ, Clifford Samuel and Jaime Winston in 2:22: – A Ghost Story.
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.
Produced by Runaway Entertainment, Bush stars as Lauren, Champ as Ben, Samuel as Sam and Winstone as Jenny.
This is the fifth West End transfer of Danny Robins’ supernatural thriller 2:22 – A Ghost Story. The show transferred from the Lyric to the Apollo earlier this month after two previous seasons at the Criterion.
The production began its life at the Noel Coward Theatre in summer 2021, starring Lily Allen, Julia Chan, Hadley Fraser and Jake Wood. It then transferred to the Gielgud Theatre for 10 weeks in December 2021. The production there, starring Stephanie Beatriz, James Buckley, Elliot Cowan and Giovanna Fletcher, completed its run in February 2022.
The first cast at the Criterion Theatre featured Tom Felton, Mandip Gill, Beatriz Romilly, Sam Swainsbury and the last Criterion Theatre cast of Tamsin Carroll as Lauren, Felix Scott as Sam, Matt Willis as Ben and Laura Whitmore as Jenny, ended its run on January 8.
The US premiere of 2:22 A Ghost Story at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles opened on October 29 and ended its run on 4 December 2022. The most recent cast, at the Lyric Theatre, Cheryl, Louise Ford, Scott Karim and Jake Wood ended their run on April 23.
2.22 – A Ghost Story is written by Danny Robins 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, illusions by Chris Fisher and associate direction by Matt Hassall.
The show is produced by Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Isobel David and Kater Gordon.
The new cast opened at the Apollo Theatre on May 30 and will continue until September 17.
