Royal Shakespeare Company News

The Almeida Theatre has announced its new Winter-Spring 2014-15 season, featuring Rupert Goold's celebrated RSC production of THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, starring Ian McDiarmid as Shylock and Susannah Fielding reprising her role as Portia; Robert Icke directing Tobias Menzies in an intimate staging of Wallace Shawn's THE FEVER AT THE MAY FAIR HOTEL; the World Premiere of Mike Bartlett's play GAME, directed by Sacha Wares and designed by Miriam Buether in a radical reconfiguration of the theater; and Simon Stephens reimagining Bizet's CARMEN in the UK premiere of CARMEN DISRUPTION, helmed by Michael Longhurst.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) has selected John Hurt, Stacy Keach and Dame Diana Rigg as the 2014 recipients of The William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre (Will Award), which recognizes artists who have made significant contributions to classical theatre in America. The Beech Street Foundation will be awarded the Sidney Harman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts. The awards will be presented at the Harman Center for the Arts Annual Gala on Sunday, October 5, 2014, hosted by STC at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) and the National Building Museum (440 G Street NW).

Shakespeare at Notre Dame and Actors From The London Stage (AFTLS) will present William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing on September 17, 18, and 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Notre Dame's Washington Hall.

The Old Globe today announced the full cast and creative team for Marco Ramirez's ('Orange is the New Black,' 'Sons of Anarchy') wildly theatrical new play The Royale, directed by two-time Obie Award-winning and Drama Desk Award-nominated Rachel Chavkin. Founding Artistic Director of New York's the TEAM, Chavkin most recently won accolades for Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (The New York Times, Time Out New York, and New York Post Critics's Picks, and Top Ten of 2012 and 2013). The Royale will run October 4 to November 2 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run October 4 - 8. Opening night is Thursday, October 9 at 8:00 p.m.

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts announces its theater, music, dance, lectures and Theater for Young Audiences programming for the 2014-2015 Season, which begins October 7-19 with the Edinburgh-based Puppet State Theatre Company production of The Man Who Planted Trees in the Lovelace Studio Theater; and in the Bram Goldsmith Theater a new lecture series in partnership with Writers Bloc, presenting a conversation with Leon Panetta on October 15 and Marsalis Well Tempered: An Evening with Branford Marsalis featuring the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia on October 16.

The Joyce Theater Foundation and The National Ballet of Canada today announced the casting for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, having its New York premiere at the David H. Koch Theater at the Lincoln Center today, September 9 - 14, 2014.

In Autumn 2014 Blackeyed Theatre Company tours Stephen MacDonald's Not About Heroes to over forty theatres across the UK . Marking the centenary of the beginning of The First World War, this major revival of MacDonald's play, about the poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, performs from 10 September until 6 December 2014.

Producers of the Tony Award-winning MATILDA THE MUSICAL announced today that Alison Luff will join the company as Miss Honey beginning tomorrow, Saturday, September 6.

Following its Edinburgh Fringe sell out success, Kingmaker comes to St James' Theatre this September for a strictly limited run.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, one of the nation's leading classic theatres, will present a staged reading of The Physicists by Friedrich Durrenmatt, translated by James Kirkup, and directed by Brian B. Crowe as part of the Lend Us Your Ears Reading Series on September 22 at 7 p.m. The play explores the notion that the quest for new discoveries and knowledge often comes at a dear cost, with high stake responsibilities and consequences. The Reading Series offers audiences the opportunity to join Shakespeare Theatre directors, actors, and artistic staff as they explore diverse and compelling plays. Single tickets to each reading are $18 for adults and $10 for students. For more information about Lend Us Your Ears, visit ShakespeareNJ.org or call the Box Office at 973-408-5600.

Aurora Theatre Company continues its 23rd season with the West Coast Premiere of Fraser Grace's provocative BREAKFAST WITH MUGABE. First produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2005, this recent off Broadway hit was inspired by newspaper reports that Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, severely depressed and convinced he was haunted by the ghost of a dead comrade, sought treatment from a white psychiatrist. Shedding light on Mugabe's demons, the sessions soon become a precarious power struggle between doctor and patient. Set against the aftermath of colonialism and revolution, BREAKFAST WITH MUGABE delves into the mind of one of the world's most vilified leaders.

The Royal Shakespeare Company announces the summer 2015 season.

The United States premiere of the internationally acclaimed new work written and directed by Peter Brook and Marie-Helene Estienne, The Valley of Astonishment, featuring Kathryn Hunter (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Kafka's Monkey), Marcello Magni (Fragments), and Jared McNeill (The Suit), begins previews Sunday, September 14, at 7:30pm for an opening Thursday, September 18,at 7:30pm and a run through Sunday, October 5, at Theatre for a New Audience, Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place.

The Crazy Coqs has announced its September 2014 schedule in Piccadilly, London. Details below!

West End star and multi-platinum selling artist Marti Pellow reprises his role of Narrator in Blood Brothers exclusively for Glasgow audiences, starring alongside Maureen Nolan as Mrs Johnstone, November 3-15. Performances are: Mon - Sat eves 7.30pm, Wed & Sat mats 2.30pm.

The Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Roald Dahl's MATILDA the musical will hold a special Gala performance in aid of BBC Children in Need on Tuesday 4 November 2014. The evening will be hosted by BBC Radio 2's Sir Terry Wogan with a special appearance from the charity's mascot, Pudsey. BBC Radio 2 presenters and celebrities will be in attendance alongside members of the public. At least 50% of the proceeds from this performance will benefit the BBC Children in Need Appeal, and its work with disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.

BroadwayWorld.com has exclusively learned that Sherlock Holmes may be headed to the stage in the coming Broadway seasons. Tony Award Nominated producer Antonio R. Marion (Big Fish, Evita) is said to be sheparding the project that is currently in the developmental stages. The production is set to be a brand new version of the beloved stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that will be presented in the format of a play while a live orchestra underscores the drama and action.