Douglas Mayo 
You will be hard pressed to see a better production of this musical. The casting of Grey Gardens is near perfect. Southwark Playhouse is building a strong reputation for presenting wonderful modern musicals and like some of their previous productions this one is sure to sell out so don’t miss it.
Superbolt Theatre’s production is fast paced and pure theatrical magic. Imagination is everything in this production driven by a trio of incredible actors.
Following sell-out runs at the Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe festivals, Magnificent Bastard Productions will be bringing their irreverent hit Shit-faced Shakespeare to London for a seven-week run, their longest London lock-in. Each night, the company will be performing Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with one member of the cast toasting the bard’s 400th anniversary by playing their role completely, blisteringly drunk. Producer and performer Stacey Norris said, “As we lay out the barmats and party hats for the Bard’s 400th anniversary, we’re delighted to be introducing a new generation of theatre goers to Shakespeare with an ale in one hand and a wine in the other and a vodka in the other, just the way he would have wanted. Our livers would like to remind our audiences to always enjoy Shakespeare responsibly” Artistic Director of Leicester Square Theatre Martin Witts said, “For the first time at Leicester Square Theatre we’re … Read more
Shakespeare’s Globe today announced Emma Rice’s inaugural season as Artistic Director which will be entitled the Wonder Season. The season will comprise A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming Of The Shrew, Macbeth, 946 The Amazing Story Of Adolphus Tips and Imogen, whilst Jonathan Munby’s The Merchant Of Venice starring Jonathan Pryce will open at the Liverpool Playhouse, tour nationally and internationally and return to the Globe stage in October. The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse will host a touring production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Kneehigh’s The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk. Designer Les Brotherston will install a magical forest which will spill from the piazza onto London’s Bankside welcoming everyone to the Globe’s season of Wonder. A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Emma Rice will play from 30 April – 11 September, Caroline Byrne’s The Taming Of The Shrew will play from 13 May – 6 August, and Macbeth will … Read more
Following a successful run in 2014 at London’s King’s Head Theatre, Hello Norma Jeane by Dylan Costello will be presented at the Park Theatre from 23rd February 2016. It’s Spring 2003 and Essex grandmother Lynnie has escaped her nursing home and fled 5000 miles across the Atlantic to Hollywood, Los Angeles, where she plans to reveal to the world her deepest secret – that she is Marilyn Monroe, alive and well after faking her death decades before. As her gay grandson Joe turns up to take her home, he finds himself embroiled in his grandmother’s scheme, questioning his sanity as he wonders whether he really can be the grandson of Marilyn Monroe. But is Lynnie really Marilyn? Or just a crazy old lady wanted to avoid ending her days alone inside a nursing home? There’s only one way that the truth will be revealed in this funny drama that is … Read more
BOOK NOW FOR MOTOWN Full casting has been announced for the West End production of Motown The Musical which opens at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre on 11 February 2016. Motown the Musical tells the story of how Berry Gordy turned a loan of $800 into the musical powerhouse that was Motown Records. Motown the Musical will star Cedric Neal as Berry Gordy, Lucy St Louis as Diana Ross, Charl Brown as Smokey Robinson and Sifiso Mazibuko as Marvin Gaye. They are joined by Keisha Amponsa Banson as Mary Wells, Cindy Belliot as Anna Gordy, Samuel Edwards as Jackie Wilson, Tanya Nicole Edwards as Florence Ballard, Portia Harry as Teena Marie, Aisha Jawando as Martha Reeves, Joshua Liburd as Eddie Kendricks, Simeon Montague as Jermaine Jackson, Cleopatra Rey as Gladys Knight, Brandon Lee Sears as Tito Jackson, Jordan Shaw as Stevie Wonder, Cherelle Williams as Mary Wilson. other members of the cast … Read more
BritishTheatre.com is pleased to bring you this first look at Sheila Hancock and Jenna Russell in Grey Gardens at Southwark Playhouse. With music by Scott Frankel, book by Doug Wright and lyrics by Michael Korie, Grey Gardens was the first Broadway musical to be based on a documentary. The show tells the story of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and Edith Bouvier Beale who were Jacqueline Kennedy’s aunt and cousin. Directed by Tom Sutherland, Grey Gardens stars Sheila Hancock and Jenna Russell with Billy Boyle, Aaron Sidwell, Jeremy Legat, Ako Mitchell and Rachel Anne Rayham. Grey Gardens runs at Southwark Playhouse until 6 February 2016. Photos by Scott Rylander
The Union Theatre and The Phil Willmott Company have announced a double bill to be staged at the Union Theatre in early 2016. The season will include the UK professional premiere of Brecht’s Fear And Misery Of The Third Reich, Stephen Sondheim’s Road Show and an Autumn transfer of Queen Lear by Shakespeare from the Union Theatre to the Tristan Bates Theatre. Fear and Misery In The Third Reich is a powerful, tragic and surprisingly funny play by Germany’s most influential playwright which shows people just like us, facing a tide of seemingly unstoppable evil. Brecht asks us to consider how we’d react if (or when) fanaticism were to unexpectedly grip our cosy world. In an interlinked series of snap shots from Hitler’s Germany children inform on parents, justice becomes a joke, old loyalties mean nothing and mere survival demands ruthless cunning. The double bill also sees the first UK … Read more
