Month: December 2016

Abigail To Close Bunker’s Innaugural Season

News, Off West End
Abigail at The Bunker

Award-winning playwright Fiona Doyle’s play Abigail has been chosen to close The Bunker’s inaugural season. Abigail will play from 10 January – 4 February 2017. Originally written in 2013, Abigal was long-listed for the Bruntwood Prize, this production will be directed by Joshua McTaggart. This production will star Tia Bannon (The Winter’s Tale and Pericles at The Globe) and Mark Rose (King Lear at The Old Vic, Hangmen at Royal Court). In a snow-covered Berlin, a young woman meets a middle-aged man and they fall in love. As the year progresses, they fall apart. Told across a fractured timeline where the past and present collide, Abigail explores the fragility of love and the desperate measures we all go to in order to keep control in an unpredictable world. How far would you go to take control? Would you lie? Would you fight? Would you scream and shout or shut down … Read more

CRITIC’S CHOICE 2016: Paul T Davies

Critic Round Ups, Features, Off West End, Reviews, West End
Kenny Morgan returns to the Arcola Theatre

We asked our reviewers to take a look at 2016 and to nominate some stand out productions for 2016. Paul T Davies replied with the following:- 1. Kenny Morgan A well structured, naturalistic and beautifully performed play takes my choice as the best new play of 2016. Kenny Morgan was the real life lover of playwright Terence Rattigan, who, after his life spiralled into despair after leaving Rattigan, took his life by gassing himself in front of a gas fire. As a result, Rattigan wrote The Deep Blue Sea, which opens with his heroine, Hester Collier attempting to gas herself. Mike Poulton’s play, in many ways, is the play Rattigan couldn’t have written. Central to the production was Paul Keating’s powerful and moving performance as Kenny Morgan, for me, the male actor of the year. Yet the whole ensemble were terrific, the set perfect and the script shimmered with restrained, … Read more

Top 5 Epic Musical Theatre Performances of 2016

Broadway, Features, News, West End
Tickets for Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard are available through Britishtheatre.com

Musical theatre has been well served in 2016 on both sides of the Atlantic with revivals of amazing musicals and the unveiling of some new works which are fast becoming favourites. Looking back through my browser history and playlists I’d like to put forward this list of epic musical theatre performances by some of the world’s great musical theatre performers and the cast of one particular musical which blew my mind this year. This list is by no means definitive and certainly bears the hallmark of my own taste, so I’d invite you to add your own thoughts below. Share and through sharing make the world aware of the depth of talent out there entertaining us. TOP 5 EPIC MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCES IN 2016 Number 1 GLENN CLOSE – SUNSET BOULEVARD AT THE ENO She came and she conquered with an almighty performance that would have taxed the greatest of … Read more

CRITIC’S CHOICE 2016: Matthew Lunn

Features, News, Reviews, West End
Book Now for The Comedy About A Bank Robbery at the Criterion Theatre

We asked our reviewers to take a look at 2016 and to nominate some stand out productions for 2016. Matthew Lunn replied with the following:- 1. Hangmen This pitch-black comedy centred on the life of a celebrated hangman (David Morrissey), and the discovery that one of his victims may have been innocent. Morrissey’s caustic performance, coupled with Johnny Flynn’s extraordinary turn as his enigmatic antagonist, defined this witty and gripping piece. Read Matthew’s Hangmen review. 2. The Dresser A superb revival, which truly does justice to Sir Ronald Harwood’s perceptive and poignant script. Set in a provincial theatre during World War 2, the play captures the strained, but intimate relationship between a fading actor and his loyal dresser. Reece Shearsmith is on terrific form as the eponymous Norman, whilst Ken Stott delivers a career-defining performance as ‘Sir’. Read Matthew’s review of The Dresser. 3. The Comedy About A Bank Robbery … Read more

CRITIC’S CHOICE 2016: Julian Eaves

Critic Round Ups, Features, News, Off West End, Reviews
Book tickets for Adding Machine Musical at Finborough Theatre

We asked our reviewers to take a look at 2016 and to nominate some stand out productions for 2016. Julian Eaves replied with the following:- The stand-out moments of 2016 for me are all new works, or at least new to the UK. ‘Can’t Stop It’, is a trans-Atlantic collaboration between two new British book writers, Adam Button and Lemon Otter; Lemon has also done the ingenious musical arrangements of the songs, which are by US indie group, Suburban Legends – most of the numbers come from their back catalogue, but some have been composed especially for the show. In the hands of dramaturg-director Max Reynolds, this show is taking very promising shape. Following two sets of workshops – at Canterbury and at the Performance Preparation Academy, Guildford – the team is currently exploring different options to develop the show further. Read Julian’s original article. ‘Adding Machine’, the US composer … Read more

Oliver Reed -Wild Thing Returns To Kings Head By Popular Demand

News, Off West End
Oliver Reed - Wild Thing at the King's Head Theatre

Oliver Reed: Wild Thing, a play by Mike Davis and Rob Crouch returns to the Kings Head Theatre from 10 – 28 January 2017. This one-man homage to renowned actor Oliver Reed returns following runs at the Edinburgh Festival, a UK Tour and a critically acclaimed London run. Join legendary hell-raiser Oliver Reed as he shares his incredible life story whilst knocking back a drink or four. Reed’s was a life well lived, hear about the success of Oliver!, boozy adventures with Keith Moon, his boyhood excitement of learning he was a descendant of Peter The Great and those disastrous chat show appearances. Reed is portrayed by Rob Crouch. Writer and performer Crouch appeared as the notorious hellraiser in BBC’s Rack Pack, other recent TV includes Lovesick, Wasted and Galavant. Theatre acting credits include Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Pa Ubu in Ubu Disco, and Burke in … Read more

Casting Announced For Ugly Lies The Bone At The National

News, West End
Ugly Lies The Bone at the National Theatre

Full casting has been announced for US playwright Lindsey Ferrentino’s Ugly Lies The Bone which opens at the Lyttelton Theatre at the National theatre in February 2017. ‘Beauty is but skin deep, ugly lies the bone; beauty dies and fades away, but ugly holds its own.’ After three tours in Afghanistan and months in a severe burns unit, Jess (Kate Fleetwood) finally returns to Florida. In a small town on the Space Coast, as the final shuttle is about the launch, Jess must confront her scars, and a home that may have changed even more than her. Experimenting with pioneering virtual reality therapy, she builds a breathtaking new world where she can escape her pain. There, she begins to restore her relationships, her life and, slowly, herself. Kate Fleetwood (King Lear and London Road (film) at the National), Ralf Little (BBC’s The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager and a … Read more

Dick Whittington Comes To The London Palladium In December 2017

News, West End
Book now for Dick Whittington at the London Palladium

Following the success of QDOS Entertainment’s production of Cinderella at the London Palladium this year, QDOS have announced they will return to the Palladium in 20917 for a festive presentation of the family favourite pantomime Dick Whittington. QDOS Entertainment has established itself as one of the largest entertainment companies in Europe. Over the past 36 years it has staged 649 pantomimes, with over 1.6 million people seeing one of its pantomimes this year alone. The companies current production of Cinderella starring Paul O’Grady, Julian Clary, Lee Mead, Paul Zerdin, Count Arthur Strong, Amanda Holden and Natasha J Barnes (and Nigel Havers) has enjoyed critical acclaim and full houses this year. On the return of pantomime to the Palladium Qdos Entertainment Chairman Nick Thomas said: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the exceptional response that our production of Cinderella has received – the show has now broken the Box Office record for the … Read more