Starting A Theatre Company From Scratch – Episode 2

Helena Payne discusses the formation of Pleasure Dome Theatre Company in Exmoor

Helena Payne is starting out on an awfully big adventure to start a theatre company. We asked her to document her journey. Episode 2: Computer says No! Well who knew the internet would catch on? After dropping out of ICT GCSE (because I was completely inept and convinced all electrical machinery hated me as much as I hate it) I have had to make my peace. It turns out the internet is your friend and if you want to start any sort of company you better get well acquainted. There is a lot of, for want of a better word, kerfuffling about on a computer. So before you get to any of the fun creative stuff you’ve to make a new email address, register with companies house, open a business bank account, make a website, make a twitter, a facebook page, buy a domain name, each task fraught with unexpected … Read more

Country Musical To Open At Queen’s Theatre

Romford Rose by Chris Bond and Jo Collins to open at Queen's Theatre Hornchurch

The Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch will premiere Romford Rose, a new country musical by playwright Christopher Bond and composer Jo Collins. Rose is 18 today, it’s party time in Romford… And it sure looks like that soldier boy Jack is tryin’ to tame this Romford Rose. Well, her Daddy don’t like it, her Mama’s hittin’ the hooch… and it’s only Miss Dolly Parton who seems to understand. So how ‘bout it Rose – you ever gonna make your own music and do what you want? Christopher Bond, who also directs, is the prolific and fantastically inventive writer of many hits at the Queen’s and around the world, including Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street , which was the inspiration for and formed the basis of the Stephen Sondheim musical of the same name, and Alice on the Underground, an imaginative modern take on the Lewis Carroll classics. The Romford … Read more

Starting A Theatre Company From Scratch – Episode 1

Helena Payne discusses the formation of Pleasuredome Theatre Company

Helena Payne is starting out on an awfully big adventure to start a theatre company. We asked her to document her journey. Episode 1: I have a cunning plan, m’lord! How do you know when you’re ready to start your own theatre company? The answer I suppose is that it’s different for everybody, but now is as good a time as any. As a performer I have been working pretty steadily since leaving Drama School but, at the ripe old age of 27, there comes a time when you’re tired of facilitating other people’s dreams and ambitions and want to start realising your own. Saying that, I’m incredibly proud of and have learnt a huge amount from working with a variety of brilliant directors, producers, lighting and costume designers, stage managers and, of course, an army of spectacularly talented actors. Although I have been incubating certain artistic dreams of my … Read more

The Quiet House – IVF Drama At Park Theatre

Book now for The Quiet House at Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Park Theatre London

The Quiet House, a blistering and honest new play by award-winning writer, Gareth Farr will be presented at the Park Theatre following its world premiere at Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Jess and Dylan are in love. They want a family. That’s all they have event wanted. This ordinary couple find themselves on an extraordinary journey when they enter the world of IVF. Forced to fight for the family they so desperately want, they put their faith in science and their relationship through the ultimate test. The cast includes Michelle Bonnard as ‘Jess’, with actor and comedian Tom Walker, aka YouTube sensation Jonathan Pie, as ‘Tony’, Allyson Ava-Brown as ‘Kim’, and Oliver Lansley (Artistic Director of Olivier nominated company Les Enfants Terribles) as ‘Dylan’. Accompanying the production will be a one day Fertility Fest at each venue (Saturday 28 May in Birmingham and Saturday 11 June at Park Theatre) both curated by … Read more

Lennon Tribute Opens in Liverpool Tonight.

Book Now for Lennon - Through A Glass Onion

Following runs in Australia and Off-Broadway and a brief season at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Lennon : Through A Glass Onion will open in its spiritual home of Liverpool tonight. Lennon: Through A Glass Onion will be performed at the Epstein Theatre, Hanover Street, on Monday 18 April, for 14 performances running through to Friday 29 April. Written by John Waters, the show is part-concert, part-biography and celebrates the genius, music and phenomenon of John Lennon. It features 31 iconic hits of Lennon and his collaborations with McCartney including Imagine, Strawberry Fields Forever, Revolution, Woman, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Working Class Hero, and Jealous Guy. Lennon: Through A Glass Onion features Liverpool actor Daniel Taylor in the lead role, who will reveal the true essence of the life of a true icon, whose astonishing talent is still treasured the world over. Daniel has won critical acclaim as the … Read more

Clybourne Park Comes To Richmond Theatre

Book tickets for Clybourne Park at Richmond Theatre

The Mercury Theatre’s production of Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris will tour the UK starting at the Richmond Theatre from 25th – 30th April 2016. This razor-sharp satire lifts the lid on race and real estate in a fictional Chicago neighbourhoood. The swinging sixties are just around the corner as a black family move into a suburban white enclave, triggering all too predivtable mutterings from the neighbours. Fifty years on, we return to the same house in 2009 as gentification moves in and the roles are reversed. Acclaimed by critics and audiences alike since its debut on Broadway in 2009, Clybourne Park took the West End by storm following a sold out run at the Royal Court Theatre in London. It has been awarded Best Play at the Olivier Awards, the Evening Standard Best Play Award, the South Bank Sky Arts Theatre Award, Critics’ Circle Best Play Award and the Tony Award … Read more

McBurney’s The Encounter comes to Manchester this March

The Encounter at Home Manchester

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

FIRST LOOK: Rehearsal photos from Only The Brave

Only The Brave at the Wales Millennium Centre

We are pleased to bring you this first look at rehearsals for Only The Brave, a new musical opening at the Wales Millennium Centre from 28 March to 2 April 2016. Directed by Steve Marmion, Artistic Director of London’s Soho Theatre, Only The Brave tells the heart-breaking and inspirational true story of two couples brought together by war. With a book by Rachel Wagstaff, music by Matthew Brind and lyrics by Steve Marmion, this emotionally charged new musical brings to life the passion, camaraderie and courage of an incredible generation. Photos: Helen Maybanks Find Out More About Only The Brave