Features

INTERVIEW: Glorious Old Masters – The Cast Of Art

Features, Interviews, News, Touring
Art UK Tour

Glorious Old Masters – we talk to Nigel Havers, Stephen Tompkinson and Denis Lawson on the first day of rehearsals for the ART UK Tour. ART UK TOUR SCHEDULE Waiting to chat to Nigel Havers, Stephen Tompkinson and Denis Lawson on the first day of rehearsals for ART I overhear a waitress detailing the ingredients of the soup of the day. It occurs to me that the producers of Yasmina Reza’s award-winning play might have had a similar approach:  Take one of the most successful comedies of all time; cast three of our best-loved and most experienced stars and mix well with a talented director. Garnish with marketing and serve at some of the UK’s finest theatres. Voilà! One smash-hit. With a clutch of heavyweight credits between them, all three actors agree that ART is the theatrical equivalent of European white truffles. “First of all, it’s very short. I’m very … Read more

Preview of new touring theatre in 2019

Features, Touring
Educating Rita UK Tour 2020

Mark Ludmon takes a look at some of the great shows touring the UK in 2019. Touring theatre was a lifeline for the young Ian McKellen growing up in Lancashire, and his belief in its vitality is reflected in his decision to celebrate his 80th birthday this year by taking his solo show to 80 different venues around the UK. While no other tour quite matches this for locations, we look ahead at some of the other new touring highlights of 2019, from musicals and comedies to classics and modern drama. Musicals are the throbbing heart of the UK’s touring scene, and this year sees plenty to choose from. Current shows include Annie, Avenue Q, Cabaret, Calendar Girls, Fame The Musical, Grease, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and The Rocky Horror Show. The hit 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine has been adapted into a … Read more

Vault Festival 2019 Preview

Features, News, Off West End
Vault Festival London

Mark Ludmon picks out some of the highlights of this year’s Vault Festival in London Vault Festival just gets bigger and bigger. After growing to more than 300 shows last year, it is back for its seventh year with over 400, featuring more than 2,000 artists. Over the next eight weeks from January 23, there will be theatre, comedy, immersive experiences, cabaret, late-night parties and other live performance. We have been sifting through the programme to pick out some of the new theatre highlights. BOOK TICKETS AT THE VAULT FESTIVAL 2019 BOX OFFICE One of the headline shows is Counting Sheep, the award-winning immersive Ukrainian folk opera, playing throughout the eight weeks. It is a deeply personal retelling of the revolution in Ukraine, where creators Mark and Marichka Marczyk met and fell in love on the barricades. It was an acclaimed sell-out hit at Edinburgh Fringe in 2016 but, after a world … Read more

Highlights of theatre outside London 2019 – Part Three

Features, News, Regional, Touring
The Colour Purple Curve Leicester

Mark Ludmon continues his look at theatrical highlights outside of London in 2019. Birmingham Hippodrome is collaborating with Curve in Leicester on a new production of the musical, The Color Purple, based on the book by Alice Walker. It tells the turbulent life story of an African-American woman in America’s South, with a score by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray that draws on jazz, ragtime, gospel and blues. Directed by Tinuke Craig, it will be at Curve from 28 June to 13 July and at Birmingham Hippodrome from 16 to 20 July. Nottingham Playhouse will stage One Night In Miami… (7 to 22 June), Kemp Powers’ in-your-face imagined account of what happened in 1964 when four legendary figures came together in a motel room: heavyweight champion Cassius Clay, activist Malcolm X, American football icon Jim Brown and soul star Sam Cooke. First performed at the Donmar Warehouse in … Read more

Four Arthur Miller plays to hit London stages in 2019

Features, News, West End
Arthur Miller London 2019

Paul T Davies looks the four Arthur Miller plays which are being staged around London in 2019 There is so much theatre I’m looking forward to this year, regionally, in London and on the Fringe. It’s always difficult to pick out the potential hits of the year, but two well established names will dominate much review coverage in London. One is Pinter, with the Pinter at the Pinter season now crossing the half way mark and continuing with Pinter 5.6 and 7, with the much anticipated Martin Freeman/Danny Dyer pairing in The Dumb Waiter, and Tom Hiddlestone afterwards in Betrayal. But it’s Arthur Miller that will enjoy an almost festival like staging of his greatest plays, and they all offer superb acting, directors and staging. THE AMERICAN CLOCK – OLD VIC THEATRE The Old Vic gets this informal season off with a staging of Miller’s epic play about the stock … Read more