Friday, November 15

NEWS

Stars of stage and screen to star in The Lavender Hill Mob at Theatr Clwyd this month
NEWS

Stars of stage and screen to star in The Lavender Hill Mob at Theatr Clwyd this month

One of the “greatest British films of all time” (BFI) will come to Theatr Clwyd this October. Brought to life on stage by Olivier-nominated playwright Phil Porter, directed by Tony and Olivier-nominated Jeremy Sams and starring acclaimed comic actors Miles Jupp (The Durrells, Rev, The Thick Of It) and Justin Edwards (The Thick of It, 1917 and The Ferryman) The world premiere adaptation of The Lavender Hill Mob is a side-splittingly funny, fast-paced comedy that tells the story of Henry Holland, an unassuming bank clerk who dreams of stealing the van full of gold bullion he drives across London each day. When Henry learns that his new lodger makes Eiffel Tower paperweights out of lead, he devises a plan to make his dream a reality. It’s a golden opportunity to pull off the crime of the c...
World premiere stage adaptation of the Wachowskis ‘Bound’ announces lead cast and first development workshop Auto Draft
NEWS

World premiere stage adaptation of the Wachowskis ‘Bound’ announces lead cast and first development workshop Auto Draft

Award winning Vertigo Theatre Productions have announced the lead cast for the world premiere stage adaptation of the acclaimed movie BOUND written by the legendary Wachowskis (The Matrix, V For Vendetta, Cloud Atlas, Sense8) and adapted to the stage by Craig Hepworth (Porno Chic, Exam, Noir). Stepping into the iconic roles of Violet and Corky (portrayed by Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon in the movie) will be Farrel Hegarty (Violet) and Sofia Antonia Milone (Corky). They will be joined by Ben Keenan as Caesar and Richard Allen as Johnnie (played by Joe Pantoliano and Christopher Meloni in the movie) with more casting to be announced in the next few weeks. The play will have its first lab/workshop this November 19th and 20th at The Contact Theatre in Manchester, with a try out produc...
Testament is back for Orpheus in the Record Shop at Leeds Playhouse
NEWS

Testament is back for Orpheus in the Record Shop at Leeds Playhouse

World record-breaking beatboxer Testament brings Orpheus in the Record Shop back to Leeds Playhouse in a unique collaboration with musicians from Opera North. It was first performed as a socially distanced show at the height of the pandemic as a ground-breaking hour long piece working with featuring members of the Chorus and Orchestra of Opera North, including soloist Helen Evora. Audiences join Orpheus as he plays tunes in his record shop, but after an old friend visits, strange things start to happen. Music, myth and reality collide as he goes off in search of something ancient, contemporary and hopeful.   Orpheus in the Record Shop by Testament at Leeds Playhouse. Photograph Anthony Robling Testament took his inspiration from the Greek myth of Orpheus to create a challe...
Northern Ballet’s festive spectacular The Nutcracker is back again this winter
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Northern Ballet’s festive spectacular The Nutcracker is back again this winter

Northern Ballet are back this winter with their traditional festive spectacular The Nutcraker  as one child’s Christmas magical dreams come true.   The company will open at Woking New Victoria Theatre on Thursday 10th November and tour to Nottingham Theatre Royal, Norwich Theatre Royal and Hull New Theatre before arriving at Leeds Grand Theatre for their now traditional three week run over the Christmas period.  In the midst of a festive party, as the fire crackles and the pile of presents grows ever higher, Clara is caught up in the warmth and excitement of Christmas and becomes enthralled by her new Nutcracker doll. But, as the clock strikes midnight, her Nutcracker proves to be no ordinary toy. After saving her Nutcracker from the wily Mouse King, Clara is whiske...
Four actors cast as Charlie Bucket at Leeds Playhouse this Christmas
NEWS

Four actors cast as Charlie Bucket at Leeds Playhouse this Christmas

Four young northern actors to play Charlie Bucket in Leeds Playhouse’s festive production of Roald Dahl’s beloved Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – The Musical which runs from 18th November to 28th January. Amelia Minto, Isaac Sugden, Kayleen Nguema and Noah Walton will share the role over the 13-week run as kindly Charlie Bucket, and they have been working with Director James Brining ahead of rehearsals to explore and develop the character. The four newcomers have been running scenes, familiarising themselves with the songs and having fun making up their own splendiferous Dahl-inspired confectionary names.   “I’m delighted to be performing in my hometown alongside so many talented people, and very excited to be playing one of the first female versions of Charlie Bucket,” s...
Northern Ballet launch autumn season with a world premiere at Leeds Playhouse
NEWS

Northern Ballet launch autumn season with a world premiere at Leeds Playhouse

Northern Ballet launch their autumn season with the world première of three exhilarating new dance pieces under the banner Made in Leeds: Three Short Ballets at Leeds Playhouse from 10th – 17th September. Yorkshire audiences will be the first to see new works from award-winning choreographers Mthuthuzeli November, Stina Quagebeur and Dickson Mbi performed by Northern Ballet’s world-class dancers.  Olivier award-winning Mthuthuzeli November’s Wailers is described as "a work that gives thanks to life. To its struggles, beauty and its people. Those with us and no longer with us. It is a prayer for guidance." Stina Quagebeur, Associate Choreographer with English National Ballet, presents Nostalgia billed as "an exploration of that familiar state of longing, poignancy and piercing...
Corrie legend Paula Lane stars in Oldham Coliseum Theatre’s revival of Jim Cartwright’s Road
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Corrie legend Paula Lane stars in Oldham Coliseum Theatre’s revival of Jim Cartwright’s Road

Corrie legend Paula Lane leads a strong case for Oldham Coliseum Theatre’s timely revival of Jim Cartwright’s raw and powerful Road. Well-oiled narrator Scullery takes the audience along his run down Lancashire road in 1987 where’s no jobs and little hope. but there’s a party to go to that’ll take you from the gutter to the stars and back again. Sound familiar? Ironically Paula Lane who was Kylie Platt in the Street plays the equally feisty Lane in Road and is joined by Coliseum regular Richard J Fletcher as feckless Scullery. Lancashire playwright Jim Cartwright’s debut play mixture of humour and pathos was voted third best play of the 1980s being revived many times, and even being produced at the Lincoln Centre in New York featuring cast Kevin Bacon and Joan Cusack.   ...
Cast announced for revival of Nine Night at Leeds Playhouse
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Cast announced for revival of Nine Night at Leeds Playhouse

The cast has been announced for a revival of Nine Night celebrating the rituals of a traditional Jamaican wake. The production at Leeds Playhouse from 24th September to 15th October invites audiences into a traditional Nine Night Jamaican wake for family matriarch Gloria. As the story unfolds her children and grandchildren gather to mark her passing during a night full of humour and deep sorrow as they share memories, good food and grievances older than Gloria’s well-loved dining table.    This new production of Natasha Gordon's comedy follows a successful West End run in 2018 which was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Comedy and won three awards in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards and Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards. Its three-week run in Leeds is staged in...
Two Ukrainian Plays at The Finborough Theatre in connection with Worldwide Play Readings: Belarus and Ukraine
NEWS

Two Ukrainian Plays at The Finborough Theatre in connection with Worldwide Play Readings: Belarus and Ukraine

In September 2020, the Belarus Worldwide Readings Project organised hundreds of international theatre companies, groups, schools, and individuals, to present readings, videos, and discussions of Andrei Kureichik’s new play Insulted. Belarus(sia), in solidarity with the people and theatre companies of Belarus. In late February 2022, the Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings Project, was formed by John Freedman (a writer and translator, who first translated Insulted.Belarus(sia) into English), and Maksym Kurochkin, a Ukrainian playwright and leader of the new Theatre of Playwrights in Kyiv. Supported and funded by CITD (The Centre for International Theatre Development), they commissioned 23 Ukrainian playwrights to create new historical plays to be performed around the world to raise money fo...
Full casting announced for national tour of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts & Crosses
NEWS

Full casting announced for national tour of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts & Crosses

Pilot Theatre has announced the casting for their tour of Sabrina Mahfouz’s adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s best-selling young adult novel of first love, Noughts & Crosses, that is set in a fictional dystopia. Sephy is a Cross and Callum is a Nought in a world with strict racial and social divides. As violence breaks out, Sephy and Callum draw closer, but this is a romance that will lead them into terrible danger. The cast directed by Pilot’s Artistic Director Esther Richardson will be led by Effie Ansah and James Arden in their first leading roles as Sephy and Callum. Emma Keele who was on the national tour Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time plays Meggie, Nathanial McClosky is Jude, Amie Buhari takes on Jasmine and Steph Asamoah is Minerva. Chris Jack is Kamal,...