Adapting Roald Dahl For The Stage
On the whole, adaptors have tended to skirt around the ‘darker’ elements of the stories, fearful of the brutal, gory comeuppances (for which Dahl has faced criticism).
Emily Hardy
Watch Out! The Gruffalo is back in the West End
This July everyone’s favourite furry monster roars back into the West End in celebration of his 15th anniversary on stage. Tall Stories’ smash hit production of The Gruffalo, which first opened on the 12 May 2001, 18 months after the book was first published, returns to the Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue from 6 July. Tall Stories’ The Gruffalo is based on the much loved picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. The most fearsome creature that never was – but is – takes to the stage in this enchanting production combining songs, laughter and storytelling theatre with just the right amount of scary fun! Olivia Jacobs and Toby Mitchell from Tall Stories said: “Back in 1999, when we asked Julia and Axel if we could adapt their then little-known book The Gruffalo for the stage, we had no idea how things would turn out. The original 2001 tour involved … Read more
Glitz, Glamour and Gatsby at the Union Theatre
To mark the tenth anniversary of Ruby in the Dust, the theatre company will be presenting their iconic production of Gatsby at the Union Theatre, where they had their first production in 2006. Gatsby has been specially tailored to suit the seductive environs of the Union Theatre’s intimate space. The characters of F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby – the epitome of glitz, glamour and the end of the American Dream – come to life as they weave their way through the famous story and unravel the mystery that is Jay Gatsby. Gatsby was first presented by Ruby in the Dust in 2012 at the King’s Head Theatre, and again in 2013 at the Riverside Studios, and was greeted with sell out audiences on both occasions. Ruby In The Dust have gained a reputation for integrating original music into the text, and in their decade as a theatre company, … Read more
Provocative Edinburgh Hit The Curing Room Returns To London
The Curing Room by David Ian Lee, which caused a stir at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and subsequently played a limited season at the Pleasance Islington, will return to London this summer with a four week run at the Vaults Theatre, Waterloo from 4 – 29 May. The Curing Room is a bold, daring thriller based on true events, in which the ensemble of seven male actors perform the show completely nude. Originally written and developed in New York with a series of workshops and public readings, The Curing Room marked its inaugural production in Edinburgh with the following cast, who will return to London: Rupert Elmes, Tom Holloway, Matt Houston, John Hoye, Harvey Robinson and Marlon Solomon. John Last will join the cast. Joao de Sousa said, “In spite of the moments of brutality and gore, The Curing Room is a beautifully staged production with an undercurrent of … Read more
McBurney’s The Encounter comes to Manchester this March
The Encounter, Simon McBurney’s spell-binding solo performance for Complicite, the big hit of last year’s Edinburgh Festival, opens its UK tour at Home in Manchester. Threading scenes of his own life with details of National Geographic photographer Loren McIntyre’s journey, Simon McBurney incorporates objects and sound effects into this solo performance to evoke the depths of the Amazon rainforest. The show’s ground-breaking binaural sound (3D audio) design, by Olivier Award Winner Gareth Fry, is transmitted to the audience through provided headphones and plugs into the power of the imagination, questioning our perceptions of time and our own consciousness. The captioned performance on 17 March will trial Talking Birds’ The Difference Engine, a discreet new tool for making events and performances accessible to deaf or hard of hearing audience members through captioning to a mobile device – smartphone or tablet. Simon McBurney has created and acted in more than 30 productions … Read more
Critical revivals and London transfers for King’s Head Theatre spring season
Following hot on the heels of an audacious winter season, the King’s Head Theatre will show two critical revivals plus London transfers for three Edinburgh Fringe success stories between April and July. After the success of Trainspotting, artistic director of the King’s Head Theatre, Adam Spreadbury-Maher returns to the director’s chair for Strangers in Between. First staged by Sydney’s Griffin Theatre Company in February 2005, Tommy Murphy’s play won the New South Wales Premiere literary award. Adam said: “I’m delighted to be bringing this brilliant play by one of Australia’s finest playwrights to audiences in London for the first time.” Before that, April will see the venue’s first full cabaret season, complete with on-stage tables and a pop-up bar to welcome hit cult musical Saucy Jacks and the Space Vixens, as well as a musical comedy taxidermy puppet show from avant-garde performance artist, Charlie Tuesday Gates; Sing For Your Life. … Read more
HighTide and Arcola Theatre present The Sugar-Coated Bullets of the Bourgeoisie
Ahead of revealing its full tenth anniversary programme, HighTide has announced that, alongside the Arcola Theatre, they will present a new play by Anders Lustgarten, which will run at the Arcola from 7th April before opening HighTide Festival in September. The Sugar-Coated Bullets of The Bourgeoisie will reunite Lustgarten, who won the inaugural Harold Pinter Prize for If You Don’t Let Us Dream We Won’t Let You Sleep (Royal Court), with HighTide Artistic Director, Steven Atkinson, whose recent credits include Forget Me Not, peddling and Bottleneck. Based on almost a decade of study, The Sugar-Coated Bullets of The Bourgeoisie is a timely play that explores the lives of the Chinese people in two eras, during the rise of Maoist China, and in 2016, an increasingly diverse, volatile, $11 Trillion economy on the precipice of change. The production’s 8 strong cast of British East Asian actors includes Andrew Leung (Chimerica, You For … Read more
Five Reasons To See: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
We recently paid a visit to the National Theatre’s production of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time at the Gielgud Theatre. Here are our top 5 reasons to see this remarkable piece of theatre:- 1) The test of time To withstand the test of time in London’s West End is no mean feat – particularly during a recession. As with The National Theatre’s runaway success War Horse, the enduring popularity of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time came to many as a surprise; not because it wasn’t worthy of sell-out shows and five star reviews – far from it – but simply because in 2012, when Curious Incident premiered at the Cottesloe Theatre, times were particularly tough for everyone. Since then Curious Incident has been unstoppable, receiving seven Olivier Awards and taking home Best New Play at the 2013 Whatsonstage Awards. Even when … Read more
