Neil Bartlett News

A Noise Within (ANW), the acclaimed repertory theatre company, concludes its 18th Season with Jean Anouilh's The Rehearsal, which opens Saturday, April 18 and closes Sunday, May 24, 2009 (previews begin Saturday, April 11). One of the celebrated French playwright's most critically acclaimed plays, it is directed by ANW Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, and the cast includes Steve Coombs (Villebosse), Susan Angelo (Countess), Robertson Dean (The Count), Jill Hill (Hortensia), Mitchell Edmonds (Damiens), ANW Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director Geoff Elliott (Hero), Lenne Klingaman (Lucille) and Chris Roessner (Footman).

Manchester International Festival 2 - 19 July 2009 Theatre and Dance Programme Manchester International Festival is dedicated to commissioning and presenting new work by some of the world's leading artists and creative minds. The world's first festival of original, new work and special events, it takes place biennially in Manchester, UK .

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle has announced its nominations and special awards for excellence in Los Angeles and Orange County theatre for the year 2008. The 40th Annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards ceremony will take place on Monday, March 16 at the El Portal Theatre, thanks to the generous donation of the El Portal's management. The theatre is located at 5269 Lankershim Blvd in North Hollywood. Tickets are $40; $5 off if purchased in advance via PayPal. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. for a catered reception (with no-host bar) and silent auction. The show commences at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to the Awards show can be reserved from the LADCC's website, at www.ladramacriticscircle.com

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Quentin Crisp (immortalised on TV by John Hurt in 'The Naked Civil Servant'), Bette Bourne returns to the London stage with his acclaimed, multi award-winning performance in Tim Fountain's 'Resident Alien'. A 10-week season opens at the New End Theatre, Hampstead, on Wednesday 28 January and will run to Sunday April 5.

Samuel West will direct Harley Granville Barker's Waste, which runs at the Almeida from 25 September - 15 November 2008, with press night on 2 October. Designs are by Peter McKintosh with lighting by Guy Hoare and sound by John Leonard.

Almedia Theater announces fall casting.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey continues its new adult education program entitled Midday with Masters on Thursday, December 6 with 'A Victorian Christmas Adventure.'

Tickets for The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's upcoming production of A Christmas Carol are now on sale. The production will be the American East Coast premiere of this adaptation by British playwright Neil Bartlett based on the novel by Charles Dickens. This will be only the third time this version has been produced in the United States and the first production of it east of the Mississippi. Shakespeare Theatre's Artistic Director Bonnie J. Monte will direct. November 27-December 31.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey will hold its second Biennial Costume and Prop Sale on Saturday October 20 at The Shakespeare Theatre's Main Stage - the F. M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre. Doors open at 10AM sharp. Admission is free.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey announced today it would replace its previously announced holiday production of The Blue Bird with the American East Coast premiere of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol adapted by British playwright Neil Bartlett

Tony Award-winner John Lithgow will make his UK stage debut in Twelfth Night at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Neil Bartlett's reimagined 'Oliver Twist' abducts Charles Dickens' classic tale, sends it through the meat-grinder, and spits it back onto its feet in a fantastic and grimy work of art.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre ends its 2006/07 Season with a dark and delightful new adaptation of Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist' staged by one of Britain's most innovative theatre artists, beginning previews in the Roda Theatre on May 11, opens May 16, and closes June 24.

The most difficult aspect of dramatizing a well-known and well-loved work of literature is finding the correct balance between maintaining the integrity of the original work and adding elements to justify the adaptation. The recent Broadway revival of A Chorus Line was criticized for being a carbon copy of the original production, while the short-lived, musicalized version of The Wedding Singer film was criticized for changing key plot points. How, then, can an adaptation to the stage do justice to the original work as well as bring the material to life in a new and innovative way? Neil Bartlett seems to know the secret. In his adaptation of 'Oliver Twist,' the classic novel by Charles Dickens, Bartlett captures the dark, dank world of the young orphan in a way that Lionel Bart's musical Oliver! fails to do. There are no upbeat songs about 'Oom-Pah-Pah!' or considering yourself part of the family; Bartlett's Oliver Twist is no musical comedy.

Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA), whose current three-play season explores images of Jews as outsiders in the predominantly Christian society of pre-20th-century Europe, has scheduled four free staged readings of modern plays exploring the same controversial theme beginning February 5.

Christine Baranski's next stage role may be none other than the Queen of the Nile, according to a recent interview

Tickets go on sale for Berkeley Repertory Theatre's 2006-07 season beginning this Sunday, August 27.

The Obie Award-winning National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO), will present French playwright Pierre Marivaux's 18th century romantic comedy The Dispute, directed by Jean Randich -- performed by an all Asian-American cast -- with previews beginning August 4 prior to an official press opening of August 8

The Berkeley Repertory Theatre announced its seven-show 2006-07 season, which includes several West Coast and World Premieres.