Latest Articles - Page 240 of 645

26Feb

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

The Offies Awards 2024 – The Winners

Celebrating the best and supporting inclusiveness The Offies celebrate the best of independent, alternative and fringe theatre – across Greater London and at selected fringe festivals around the UK. Their 2023 ceremony, on the evening of Sunday, 25th February, at the Woolwich Works, gave out over 50 awards across an exciting range of categories and to a hugely diverse range of recipients. Over 850 people attended to participate in the second live Offies ceremony since March 2020. This year, the winners from 2023 were invited to return to present the awards to this year’s winners, creating a sense of continuity and community. Other presenters included Linda Marlowe, actor and OffWestEnd Patron, Paul Roseby OBE, Director, National Youth Theatre, Ronnie Le Drew, Puppeteer and P...

Whodunnit [Unrehearsed] 3 returns to Park Theatre

25Feb

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NEWS

Whodunnit [Unrehearsed] 3 returns to Park Theatre

Returning for a third installment, the hugely popular Whodunnit [Unrehearsed] will see over 45 famous faces take on the role of the Inspector in a murder mystery fundraising spoof. Without ever seeing the script and only hearing their lines via an earpiece moments before speaking, one celebrity from a star-studded line-up of comedians, actors, presenters and musicians will take to the stage to perform the lead role. Who it will be each night is the greatest mystery of all, and only revealed when the curtain goes up. New faces in this year’s line-up include award winning actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Beverley Knight, Adrian Lester and Jodie Whittaker who will be attempting to solve a series of grizzly murders aboard a train. The voice of Richard Kind joins Ian McKellen in providing the na...

Greenwich Theatre Announces 2024 in-house productions

25Feb

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NEWS

Greenwich Theatre Announces 2024 in-house productions

The premieres of four new Greenwich Theatre productions are announced today. In its 2024 season, the company will present Greenwich Theatre productions of Bryony Lavery’s Frozen and Jez Butterworth’s The River alongside new family shows Beauty and the Beast in the summer and Dick Whittington and his Cat premiering for Christmas 2024. Greenwich Theatre’s 2024 productions feature acclaimed actors including Kerrie Taylor (Hollyoaks, Where The Heart Is, The Bay), Paul McGann (Withnail and I, Doctor Who, Luther), and James Bradshaw (Endeavour, Hollyoaks) whilst emerging talent is propelled behind the scenes including Beauty and the Beast writing duo Sidonie Welton and Brad Tutt. • Greenwich Children’s Theatre Festival (29th March – 14th April 2024) in its 17th year • Bryony Lavery’s Fr...

Les Dennis to star in Not Too Tame and Shakespeare North Playhouse’s Twelfth Night!

25Feb

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NEWS

Les Dennis to star in Not Too Tame and Shakespeare North Playhouse’s Twelfth Night!

Beloved actor, comedian, and TV Presenter, Les Dennis, is set to take to the Shakespeare North Playhouse stage as ‘Malvolio’ in Twelfth Night this June 7th-29th. Not Too Tame and Shakespeare North Playhouse proudly announce another dynamic co-production, bringing forth a brilliantly bold rendition of William Shakespeare’s timeless comedy, ‘Twelfth Night’. Following the resounding success of their previous collaboration, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, the producing duo return to captivate audiences with a signature blend of exhilarating and anarchic experimental theatre. Not Too Tame & Shakespeare North Playhouse give this classic comedy a contemporary revamp with a dose of riffs, ruffs, and riotous partying. Prepare to be transported into a world where the stage is set...

Bumper Christmas Season at Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse

25Feb

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NEWS

Bumper Christmas Season at Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse

Christmas 2023 proved to be another bumper season at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, with the annual Rock ‘n’ Roll panto Cinderella playing to full houses and standing ovations, while the West End hit The Woman in Black spooked audiences at the Playhouse. The theatres have already announced Rapunzel at the Everyman (16th November to 18th January), with Richard O’Brien’s global sensation Rocky Horror Show taking up residency for the festive season at the Liverpool Playhouse (3rd December to 4th January). Cinderella and The Woman in Black attracted a diverse audience of all ages, with performances enjoyed by over 45,000 people, a quarter of whom were children and young people attending as families, with schools and with youth groups. As the theatres share their plans for Christm...

25Feb

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

London

King Lear – Almedia Theatre

Tour de force contextualising King Lear in the here and now. Yaël Farber's directed recreations of Shakespeare have become synonymous with memorable action from the actors and actresses, moody lights and deep witnessing of self and others. The earthy elements of the wind, rain and soil are brought alive on stage with outstanding craftsmanship. Max Perryment's music is brought centre stage by the talented actors and actresses who break into songs and by the infinite variety of instruments on stage and in the background. The violinist often contoured in inverted postures, usually a background in position but centre stage by adding additional flavourful notes. Set designer Merle Hensel's delicate shimmering cascading fine chains curtain provides an aesthetic background...

25Feb

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

Spot’s Birthday Party – Theatre Severn

It’s hard to believe Eric Hill’s joyous creation has been bouncing joyfully through children’s literature for over forty years. I’m not sure what that is in doggy years, but Spot’s appearance in Shrewsbury this afternoon showed no sign of old age or flagging. “Where’s Spot?” quietly appeared on our book shop shelves in 1980 and slowly went talkies all over the country and onto bedroom bookshelves all over the world. Spot, the worldwide phenomenon, has barked in over sixty languages and has appeared on television, video, DVD, CD and now, in what appears its natural habitat, on stage. Surrounded by a giggling, gurgling, pointing, chatting audience with an average age of about 6, this critic took his seat wondering what wonders would unfold in the doggy world of which he knew so little. We...

25Feb

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

A Family Business – Omnibus Theatre

A show about how not to blow up the planet, a show about friendship, a show about diplomacy, and a show about what we all owe to each other as individuals and as nations, A Family Business is a genuinely thrilling and intensely educational experience. Written, performed, and introduced by the affable and erudite Chris Thorpe, watching this play feels like making a new friend. Clearly something Thorpe takes quite seriously, friendship is the foundation of this work, and his efforts to befriend experts and ignorant audiences alike are well worth their while. With a severe urgency befitting the play’s subject matter, director Claire O’Reilly weaves audiences confidently through Thorpe’s dense syllabus with more than a little hand holding. Photo: Andreas J. Etter With much the same ef...

25Feb

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

JAB – Finborough Theatre

Married for 29 years, Anne and Don think they know each other well. They dance to their favourite music, share too many bottles of wine, muddle along in their empty-nest lives. Anne is an administrator with the NHS, Don runs a niche vintage shop that makes little money, leaving Anne as the main breadwinner. It works for them - until the pandemic hits and the country goes into lockdown. As Covid ravages the world, it also shows up the cracks in the marriage. Anne continues to work long hours from home while Don has to close his shop and lazes around reading the Daily Mail and soaking up far-right conspiracy theories. It's just the flu, he insists. It will go away in a month, he says, parroting what he's read in the tabloids. Irritated by his increasing dependence on Anne, Don's sexism...

The Guildford Poltergeist – Hope Street Theatre

25Feb

By Miranda GreenNo Comments

North West

The Guildford Poltergeist – Hope Street Theatre

Where to start with this play? It’s 1965 and a dysfunctional family of Irish descent (confusingly called Starbuck - a Yorkshire name) have moved from Manchester to deepest Surrey. Following the death of their father, bright seventeen-year-old Tristan must leave school to support his violent, alcoholic mother, Kathleen, and his neuro-atypical, school-shirking sister, Joyce. They’re already outsiders but they’re just about fitting in. Until the arrival of a poltergeist, which brings them infamy and attracts the suspicion of the local community. It also brings them into contact with a paranormalist, the priest, the press and the plod. Playwright Tess Humphrey has a lot to say about, in no particular order: Catholicism, generational trauma, otherness, racism, sexism, neurodiversity, PTSD...