News – Page 4 – The Theatre Playbook

New cast unveiled for Palace Theatre’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

David Ricardo-Pearce, Polly Frame and Ellis Rae will lead the new cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, with the new company’s first performance set for this October at the Palace Theatre.

Ricardo-Pearce will play Harry Potter, with Frame as Ginny Potter and Rae as their son Albus Potter.

Thomas Aldridge continues as Ron Weasley with Jade Ogugua joining the cast to play Hermione Granger along with Taneetrah Porter as their daughter Rose Granger-Weasley. Steve John Shepherd will play Draco Malfoy, with Harry Acklowe as his son Scorpius Malfoy.

They are joined by Ishmail Aaron, David Annen, Nairn Archer, Darrell Brockis, Sabina Cameron, Robert Curtis, Toby De Salis, Odelia Dizel-Cubuca, Rory Fraser, Jemma Geanaus, Harry Goodson-Bevan, Jemma Gould, Kelton Hoyland, David Ijiti, Chris Jarman, Sally Jayne Hind, Emma Louise Jones, Kathryn Meisle, Ian Redford, Abigail Rosser, Clancy Ryan, Tonny Shim, Adam Slynn, Sara Stewart, Benjamin Stratton, Maia Tamrakar, Alex Tomkins, Jake Tuesley, Sam Varley, Jess Vickers, Wreh-asha Walton, Katie Wimpenny. Benedict Archer, Jonah Haas, Honor Hastings, Delilah O’Riordan, Jude Parry, Jojo Perez Hoadley and Isabella Woodman will alternate two children’s roles, completing the 47-strong company.

Nineteen years after Harry, Ron, and Hermione saved the wizarding world, they’re back on a most extraordinary new adventure – this time, joined by a brave new generation that has only just arrived at the legendary Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Prepare for spectacular spells, a mind-blowing race through time, and an epic battle to stop mysterious forces, all while the future hangs in the balance.

Last month Harry Potter and the Cursed Child celebrated seven years at the Palace Theatre, home of the original production, where it has been seen by more than 1.5 million patrons.

Based on an original new story by JK Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is by Jack Thorne and directed by John Tiffany, with movement by Steven Hoggett, set by Christine Jones, costumes by Katrina Lindsay, music & arrangements by Imogen Heap, lighting by Neil Austin, sound by Gareth Fry, illusions & magic by Jamie Harrison, music supervision & arrangements by Martin Lowe, and casting by Julia Horan and Lotte Hines.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions.

London Coliseum set to welcome Studio Ghibli stage adaptation Spirited Away

Tickets are set to go on sale for Spirited Away, which opens at the London Coliseum next year.

Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, created by legendary animator and director Hayao Miyazaki, has been re-imagined for the stage by Toho Theatrical Department and Olivier and Tony Award-winning director John Caird (Les Misérables).

It tells the enchanting tale of Chihiro who while traveling to a new home with her family, stumbles into a world of fantastic spirits ruled over by the sorceress Yubaba. When her parents are turned into pigs and she is put to work in a magical bathhouse, Chihiro must use her wits to survive in this strange new place, find a way to free her parents, and return to the normal world.

Following a sell-out tour of Japan in 2022, the original Japanese cast including Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi, who play Chihiro, will perform this spectacular production for a strictly limited London season, marking the production’s European premiere.

The show will be presented in the original Japanese, with English captions, and brought to life with a live orchestra playing the film score by Joe Hisaishi, arranged by Brad Haak (Mary Poppins), set design by Jon Bausor (Bat Out of Hell), imaginative puppets designed by Toby Olié (Pinocchio), choreography by Shigehiro Ide and costumes by Sachiko Nakahara.

It is adapted by John Caird, co-adapted by Maoko Imai, associate music supervision, orchestrations and ableton programming by Conor Keelan, lighting design by Jiro Katsushiba, sound design by Koichi Yamamoto, costume design by Sachiko Nakahara, hair and make-up design by Hiroaki Miyauchi and projection design by Satoshi Kuriyama.

The stage manager is Takashi Hoji, assistant to the director is Maoko Imai, associate director is Makoto Nagai, co-producer is Iain Gillie and the producer is Haruka Ogi.

From Toho Co and PW Productions, Spirited Away opens at the London Coliseum on April 30, 2024 and runs until July 20, 2024.

A 48-hour priority booking period will begin for those who have signed up at www.spiritedawayuk.com from 10am on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, followed by a general on sale from Thursday, September 7 2023 at 10am, with tickets available from £30.

Luca Rutherford brings You Heard Me to Battersea Arts Centre

Luca Rutherford (Learning to Die) is bringing her performance piece You Heard Me to Battersea Arts Centre, ahead of an autumn tour.

Exploring the complex and messy ways in which we connect to our internal power, Luca’s story of resilience and self-discovery empowers audiences to honour themselves by taking up space and finding their own voice.

You Heard Me is a true story that celebrates a single moment of noise that
allowed creator and performer Rutherford to escape an attack. This moment made her understand what it means to occupy space, to heal and be part of something much bigger than herself.

A theatrical experience about refusing to be silenced and the power to re-make, re-mould and disrupt, You Heard Me follows one woman’s journey to reclaiming the space she occupies.

This production is co-commissioned by The Albany, Battersea Arts Centre, Cambridge Junction, Northern Stage and Theatre in the Mill.

All performances will be relaxed – audiences are invited to move around if they need to, and if they need to leave the performance, they will be allowed to return when you feel ready.

The director is Maria Crocker, with dramaturg by Tanuja Amarasuriya, composer Melanie Wilson, designer Bethany Wells, movement director Linzy Na Nakorn, BSL interpreter Vinessa Brant, and initial movement by Steph McMann and Jenni Jackson.

Theatre503 to tackle Rachel Bellman’s These Demons

Coming to London’s Theatre503, thrilling comedy-horror These Demons marks the debut play from Rachel Bellman.

Exploring family ties, sisterhood and Jewish demonology, the family drama is set in modern-day Britain and aims to rethink the mainstream narrative around Jewish stories, as well as tackling themes of antisemitism, sexism and the stigma of the ‘village witch.’

When an incident puts her aunt Mirah in hospital, 17-year-old Leah takes it upon herself to find the perpetrator and exact revenge. But as she puts together her plan, the lines of reality become blurred. Her search for answers becomes a search for demons – metaphorical and… not.

Despite what her sister Danielle tells her, the shadows in their aunt’s remote cottage seem to move. Surrounded by books about Jewish exorcisms, the two sisters fight the sinking suspicion that they’re not alone.

Rachel Bellman

Longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, These Demons delves into what it means to feel ‘other’, whether through culture, age, or willingness to conform. It weaves together different types of demons from historical texts and sources in ways that can be interpreted literally and metaphorically as well as mythologically.

The play is directed by Jasmine Teo (The Bevin Boys) and produced by Tanya Truman (Pickle).

These Demons runs at Theatre503 from September 26 – October 14, 2023.

Tickets here.

James Graham’s Dear England scores West End transfer to Prince Edward Theatre

James Graham’s Dear England will transfer from the National Theatre to the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End, where it will have a strictly 14-week run.

Directed by Rupert Goold, the play tells the story of the England men’s football team under manager Gareth Southgate.

It’s time to change the game. The country that gave the world football has since delivered a painful pattern of loss. Why can’t England’s men win at their own game? With the worst track record for penalties in the world, England manager Gareth Southgate knows he needs to open his mind and face up to the years of hurt to take team and country back to the promised land.

Joseph Fiennes (The Handmaid’s Tale) will reprise his role as Gareth Southgate, with further casting to be announced.

Goold is joined by set designer Es Devlin, costume designer Evie Gurney, lighting designer Jon Clark, movement directors Ellen Kane and Hannes Langolf, sound designers Dan Balfour and Tom Gibbons and video designer Ash J Woodward. Casting is by Bryony Jarvis Taylor, dialect coach is Richard Ryder and associate director is Elin Schofield.

Commissioned by the National Theatre, Dear England was developed with the theatre’s New Work department and had its world premiere in the Olivier theatre on June 20, 2023.

Dear England will run at the Prince Edward Theatre from October 9.

Ghost Stories by Candlelight to light up Shakespeare’s Globe

Shakespeare’s Globe is one of 12 new venues to host Ghost Stories by Candlelight, as part of the show’s East of England tour.

Gather close for a candlelit evening of chilling, contemporary tales, and haunting new folk music from the ‘Witch Counties’ of East Anglia. What happens when the ghosts of the past creep up on us today?

Producer HighTide’s first tour under new artistic director Clare Slater, the London run will take place at Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe from November 23 – 25.

A HighTide production, in association with Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, Harlow Playhouse and Shakespeare’s Globe, the show is written by Kelly Jones, Shamser Sinha and Nicola Werenowska, with music and songs by Georgia Shackleton. It is directed by Elayce Ismail.

Information: https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/

Kumiko Mendl steps away from New Earth Theatre

Kumiko Mendl, a founding member of British East and South East Asian (BESEA) theatre company New Earth Theatre, is stepping from her role as artistic director of the company.

She will leave the position in 2024 after 11 years.

New Earth Theatre, in Deptford, London, was founded in 1995 by Mendl, David KS Tse, Tom Wu, Veronica Needa and Kwong Loke under the name Yellow Earth Theatre.

Since becoming the artistic director in 2011, Mendl has championed the work of British East and South East Asian artists and communities; spearheaded a rebranding to New Earth and established strong creative support systems for BESEA artistic and community networks.

Mendl said: “It has been an incredible privilege to have worked in what has been, an exhilarating, joyful and at times challenging space. But I have always felt secure in the knowledge that what we have created and achieved has been meaningful, necessary and true to purpose. We can and have made a difference to the stories that are being told and being heard on our stages and one of the greatest pleasures has been to witness the growth of our sector into a flourishing, confident and diverse one.

“I hold great hope and confidence in a bold and exciting future both for New Earth and our sector and look forward to seeing the next chapter unfold.”

Park Theatre hosts Emanuele Aldrovandi’s Sorry We Didn’t Die at Sea

Park Theatre will host the first translation of Sorry We Didn’t Die at Sea, Italian playwright Emanuele Aldrovandi’s satirical, absurdist play about Europe’s migration crisis.

Set in a not-too-distant future, the continent’s economies have collapsed and three travellers find that the tables have turned as they are forced to flee the very countries which had once closed their borders to migrants. Placing their lives at the mercy of a mysterious people-smuggler, they embark on a journey in a claustrophobic shipping container in the hopes of a better life.

The cast will feature Yasmine Haller (Comédie-Française), Felix Garcia Guyer (Lift), Will Bishop (Entropy) and Marco Young (Another America). Aldrovandi’s play is translated by Marco Young and directed by Daniel Emery.

Aldrovandi is an Italian playwright with multiple awards in his home country. His plays have been translated, performed and published in English, German, French, Spanish, Polish, Slovenian, Czech, Catalan and Arabic, and the plays he has translated into Italian include Trainspotting, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The Laramie Project.

The production comes from Riva Theatre and The Playwright’s Laboratory in association with Park Theatre.

Sorry We Didn’t Die at Sea will run at Park Theatre’s Park90 from September 13-30, 2023.

The Young Vic adds The Homecoming and Nachtland for 2023/24

The Young Vic has announced two new plays, The Homecoming and Nachtland, for 2023/24.

Matthew Dunster will direct Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming from November 27, 2023 – January 27, 2024. The designer is Moi Tran.

Max. Sam. Lennie. Joey. Teddy.
And Ruth.

In a small house in East London lives a family of butchers, boxers and brutes. When academic son Teddy returns home from America, with a wife his family have never met, a strange and carnal power struggle between man, wife and in-laws ensues.

Pinter’s unnerving modern classic and Tony Award-winning play, The Homecoming, is described as thrillingly re-explored in a new production by Dunster.

Nachtland, a satire by Marius von Mayenburg, translated by Maja Zade and directed by Patrick Marber, runs from February 20 – April 20, 2024. Young Vic associate artist Anna Fleischle will design.

‘Do you want this hanging over your kitchen table to remind you of your Daddy?’ Modern day Germany. Nicola and Philipp argue as they clear out their late father’s house. When they find an old painting stashed in the attic, things get savage. The painting is a quaint street scene from 1920s Vienna; the work of a failed artist who abandoned his original vocation for Nazism… Nicola wants to sell it. Philipp wants to keep it. His wife Judith wants to burn it.

Nachtland* is a mordant satire about marriage, legacy, the rise of the new right, and terrible impulses buried deep. The UK premiere is directed by Marber, who recently won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Director of a Play for Leopoldstadt.

*Nachtland is an invented German word. It suggests a place of eternal darkness.

Cast announced for The Father and the Assassin’s return to National Theatre

The full cast for the return of Anupama Chandrasekhar’s The Father and the Assassin to the National Theatre has been revealed.

Mahatma Gandhi: lawyer, champion of non-violence, beloved leader. Nathuram Godse: journalist, nationalist – and the man who murdered Gandhi. The 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.

Directed by the Kiln Theatre’s artistic director, Indhu Rubasingham, the play by one of India’s most exciting playwrights returns to the National’s Olivier Theatre from September 8.

Joining the previously announced cast is Marc Elliott (She Loves Me), Sasha Ghoshal (Bend it Like Beckham the Musical), Aysha Kala (The Motive and the Cue), Johndeep More (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar) and Aryana Ramkhalawon (Exodus).

Hiran Abeysekera (Life of Pi) will play the role of Nathuram Godse with Paul Bazely (Cruella) reprising his role as Mahatma Gandhi.

The cast also includes Azan Ahmed (The Tempest), Ravi Aujla (The Lehman Trilogy), Ayesha Dharker (Chasing Hares), Ravin J Ganatra (When Winston went to War with the Wireless), Raj Ghatak (The Kite Runner), Halema Hussain (Does My Bomb Look Big In This?), Nadeem Islam (Antigone), Tony Jayawardena (East is East), Nicholas Khan (Life of Pi), Raj Khera, Hari Mackinnon (The Cherry Orchard), Sid Sagar (Cabaret) and Akshay Shah (Kabul Goes Pop).

Director Rubasingham reunites with writer Chandrasekhar for this exploration of oppression and extremism. They are joined by set and costume designer Rajha Shakiry, lighting designer Oliver Fenwick, movement director Lucy Cullingford, composer Siddhartha Khosla, additional music by David Shrubsole, sound designer Alexander Caplen, fight director Kate Waters, casting director Alastair Coomer, associate set and costume designer Khadija Raza and staff director John Young.

Tickets: nationaltheatre.org.uk