CINDERELLA THE MIDNIGHT PRINCESS, THE VORTEX and More Set for Rose Theatre Kingston, Christmas 2012/Spring 2013

The Rose Theatre Kingston has announced its Christmas production and two further new Rose Theatre Productions in 2013. Covering the Christmas period, Cinderella The Midnight Princess, tells the magical classic Cinderella story with humour and the sublime music of Mozart. In-house productions include Noël Coward's The Vortex and Richard Bean's black comedy Smack Family Robinson, directed by the much-loved Richard Wilson. Next year also sees the return of Propeller with The Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night, and Northern Broadsides presents the groundbreaking Rutherford & Son, directed by Sir Jonathan Miller.

Stephen Unwin says: "On the eve of our fifth birthday, the Rose announces a series of home-grown productions as well as visiting work from around the country. I believe that the Rose is getting stronger all the time and is delivering on its extraordinary promise."

Rose Theatre Production
Cinderella The Midnight Princess
Adapted by Charles Way and directed by Rachel Kavanaugh
Friday 30 November 2012 – Sunday 6 January 2013

Charles Way's enchanting adaptation is perfect family entertainment, with something for everyone: a fairy godmother, wicked step-sisters, a handsome prince, a glass slipper and a struggling court composer called Mozart.

Cinderella is directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, former Artistic Director of Birmingham Rep.

Dates: Friday 30 November – Sunday 6 January
Times: Mon 11am & 5pm (excl 3 Dec 7pm, 17 Dec 11am), Wed 7pm, Thu 11 am & 5pm (excl 6 Dec 7pm, 3 Jan 7pm), Fri 7pm (excl 21 & 28 Dec 2pm & 7pm), Sat 2pm & 7pm (excl 1 Dec 7pm), Sun 12pm & 5pm (excl 2 Dec 5pm, 6 Jan 2pm)
Press Night: Friday 7 December, 7pm
Tickets: £15-26, pit cushions £8, great group rates available
Box Office: 08444 821 556/ www.rosetheatrekingston.org (bkg fee)

Rose Theatre Production
The Vortex by Noël Coward
Directed by Stephen Unwin
Thursday 7 February – Saturday 9 March

"Now then! Now then! You're not to have any more lovers; you're not going to be beautiful and successful ever again – you're going to be my mother for once – it's about time I had one to help me, before I go over The Edge altogether – "

What do you do if your mother's lovers are the same age as you?

Noël Coward's follow up to Hay Fever was described as 'un peu shocking' and was his first great success. The relationship between the decadent young Nicky Lancaster and his highly-sexed mother scandalised its original audiences and still packs a punch.

In association with Kingston University.

Dates: Thursday 7 February – Saturday 9 March
Times: Monday – Saturday, 7.30pm
Thursday & Saturday matinees, 2.30pm (excl. 7 & 9 February)
Press Night: Wednesday 13 February, 7pm
Tickets: £12 - £40; pit cushions £8
Box Office: 08444 821 556/ www.rosetheatrekingston.org (bkg fee)

Northern Broadsides presents
Rutherford & Son by Githa Sowerby
Edited for Northern Broadsides by Blake Morrison
Directed by Sir Jonathan Miller and designed by Isabella Bywater
Tuesday 19 – Saturday 23 March

This powerful drama written and set in the North of England in 1912, is an unflinching portrayal of an industrial Edwardian family on the brink of collapse.

John Rutherford is a tyrannical patriarch, blind to the hopes and feelings of his family. The success of the family-owNed Glassworks, Rutherford and Son, takes precedence over everything … even happiness.

In a household run on fear, cracks begin to appear. The emotional pitch builds up like a pressure cooker. The dramatic voltage intensifies as Rutherford's absolute authority is challenged and a catastrophic family mutiny begins to unfold, threatening to destroy his world and his factory.

Northern Broadsides, directed for the first time by Sir Jonathan Miller, brings its trademark gritty, performance style to this astonishing play that sees Artistic Director, Barrie Rutter, taking the role of the imperious John Rutherford.

Dates: Tuesday 19 – Saturday 23 March
Times: Tuesday – Saturday, 7.30pm; Thursday & Saturday matinees, 2.30pm
Tickets: £16 - £25; pit cushions £8
Box Office: 08444 821 556/ www.rosetheatrekingston.org (bkg fee)

Rose Theatre Production
Smack Family Robinson by Richard Bean
Directed by Richard Wilson
Thursday 28 March ­– Saturday 20 April

The Robinsons have run a successful ­- if completely dodgy ­- family business since the 1960s. They have a comfortable house in the suburbs and expensive cars in the drive. But the younger generation isn't like their dad. And the police are getting interested.

Richard Bean is one of Britain's most successful playwrights. His many plays include Toast, Harvest (Royal Court) and the sensational award-winning National Theatre, West End and Broadway hit, One Man, Two Guvnors.

Originally set in Whitley Bay, Richard Bean has relocated Smack Family Robinson (2003) to South West London.

"The most glorious comedy on the planet" Daily Mail on One Man, Two Guvnors

(contains strong language)

Dates: Thursday 28 March ­– Saturday 20 April
Times: Monday – Saturday, 7.30pm (excl. 8 April);
Thursday & Saturday matinees, 2.30pm (excl. 28 & 30 March)
Press Night: Wednesday 3 April, 7pm
Tickets: £16 - £35, pit cushions £8
Box Office: 08444 821 556/ www.rosetheatrekingston.org (bkg fee)

Propeller presents
Twelfth Night and The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
Directed by Edward Hall
Tuesday 23 – Saturday 27 April

One of Shakespeare's best loved comedies of love and confusion, Twelfth Night tells a twisted tale of mistaken identity, transformation and deception. With a man playing a girl disguised as a boy, illusion and reality are almost indistinguishable on Propeller's island of Illyria. Dark and delightful, the play asks 'What happens when you fall in love with the wrong person?' and the answer is both beautiful and bittersweet.

In The Taming of the Shrew two, disguised, competing suitors clamour for the hand of beautiful Bianca whilst gold digging Petruchio agrees to wed her viciously ill-tempered sister Kate sight-unseen. The difference between marrying for love and marrying for money, however, becomes increasingly difficult to judge. This brash, brutal and darkly comic story pulls no punches.

Both plays explore beautifully how being in love with the wrong person reveals true feeling as Shakespeare asks us to examine what makes happiness.

Dates: Tuesday 23 – Saturday 27 April
Times: Tuesday, 7.30pm (Twelfth Night)
Wednesday, 7.30pm (The Taming of the Shrew)
Thursday, 2pm & 7.30pm (The Taming of the Shrew)
Friday, 7.30pm (Twelfth Night)
Saturday, 2pm (Twelfth Night); 7.30pm (The Taming of the Shrew)
Tickets: £15 - £26, pit cushions £8
Box Office: 08444 821 556/ www.rosetheatrekingston.org (bkg fee)