Edward Fox To Star In New Betjeman Play SAND IN THE SANDWICHES
By: Marianka Swain Aug. 23, 2016
EdWard Fox is to star in a new play, Sand in the Sandwiches by Hugh Whitemore, which celebrates the life and work of John Betjeman. Directed by Gareth Armstrong, the production will premiere at Oxford Playhouse on 25 October 2016 followed by a UK tour visiting the Minerva Theatre Chichester, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford, Exeter Northcott Theatre, Salisbury Playhouse and culminating with a final performance at the Folkestone Book Festival on 24 November 2016. Tickets are now on sale.
John Betjeman was the nation's favourite poet. Sand in the Sandwiches celebrates a man famous not only for light verse and laughter, but for his passions, his sense of purpose and his unforgettable poetry. Through boyhood, his adolescence, to life as Britain's Poet Laureate, Sand in the Sandwiches presents a hugely entertaining insight into the world of this much-loved irreverent writer. Double BAFTA winner EdWard Fox (OBE) stars in this new one-man play, bringing Betjeman's poetry and vivacious personality to life.
EdWard Fox's distinguished career counts iconic British films including the Oscar winning Ghandi, The Day of the Jackal, A Bridge Too Far, Oh! What a Lovely War, The Dresser, The Go-Between, A Doll's House, Pride and Prejudice, Robin Hood, Nicholas Nickleby, Force 10 from Navarone and James Bond's Never Say Never Again. His stage credits include: The Audience, Four Quartets, Hamlet, An Evening with Anthony Trollope, Letter of Resignation and many more. His film credits have won him three BAFTA Awards and in 2003 he was awarded an OBE for his contribution to stage and cinema.
Hugh Whitemore, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, is an award-winning writer whose work spans stage and screen. Theatre credits include: As you Desire Me, Stevie, Pack of Lies (which won Judi Dench the Olivier Award for Best Female Actor), The Best of Friends, Breaking the Code, God Only Knows, Disposing of the Body, The Last Cigarette playing at acclaimed theatre across the UK and internationally. His films credits include: Jane Eyre (1996), 84 Charing Cross Road, Stevie, The Return of the Soldier, Bluebird, Man at the Top, and All Neat in Black Stockings. With over 70 television credits, Whitemore has written for broadcasters in both the UK and USA, winning two Writers Guild of Great Britain Awards and two Emmy Awards.
Director Gareth Armstrong specialises in solo performance and has helped to create a dozen such theatre pieces, including Hugh Whitemore's My Darling Clemmie starring Rohan McCulloch as Winston Churchill's wife, and his own dramatisation of Oscar Wilde's De Profundis, called Wilde Without the Boy. As an Associate Artist at Salisbury Playhouse under the Directorship of Jonathan Church, he premiered his own one-man show, Shylock. The play toured for over a decade to more than forty countries and has been translated and performed in Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Hungarian and Mandarin Chinese. Armstrong also co-founded The Made in Wales Theatre Company to premiere new plays and was Artistic Director of Cardiff's Sherman Theatre.
Sand in the Sandwiches by Hugh Whitemore is directed by Gareth Armstrong with designs by BAFTA award-winning Fotini Dimou, lighting by double Olivier award-winning Howard Harrison and sound by Olivier award & Ivor Novello award nominated composer Simon Slater. Sand in the Sandwiches is produced by Oliver Mackwood Productions and Oxford Playhouse.
UK Tour 2016
Tue 25 - Sat 29 Oct
OXFORD Playhouse
11-12 Beaumont St, Oxford OX1 2LW
Eves: Tue, Wed & Sat 7.30pm, Fri 8pm. Mats: Thu & Sat 2.30pm
Box Office: 01865 305305
**Tickets from £15
Tue 1 Nov
HARLOW Playhouse
Playhouse Square, Harlow CM20 1LS
Eve: 7.30pm
Box Office: 01279 431945
**Tickets from £11.50
Wed 2 - Sat 12 Nov
CHICHESTER Minerva Theatre
Oaklands Park, Chichester PO19 6AP
*Public bookings open 17 Sep
Eves: Tue - Sat 7.45pm. Mats: Wed 9, Sat 5 & Sat 12 Nov 2.45pm
Box Office: 01243 781312
**Tickets from £22
Tue 15 - Wed 16 Nov
GUILDFORD Yvonne Arnaud
Millbrook, Guildford GU1 3UX
Eves: Tue & Wed 7.45pm. Mats: Wed 2.30pm
Box Office: 01483 440000
**Tickets from £15
Sun 20 Nov
EXETER Northcott Theatre
Stocker Rd, Exeter EX4 4QB
Mat: 2.30pm, Eve: 7.30pm
Box Office: 01392 726363
**Tickets from £19
Mon 21 - Wed 23 Nov
Malthouse Ln, Salisbury SP2 7RA
Eves: Mon - Wed: 7.30pm. Mat: Wed 2.15pm
Box Office: 01722 320117
**Tickets from £10
Thu 24 Nov
FOLKESTONE Book Festival
Quarterhouse, Mill Bay, Folkestone CT201BN
Eve: 8pm SOLD OUT
Box Office: 01303 760750
**Tickets from £15
**Fees may apply
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