Alan Bennett News

Those nice people from the North who are getting ready to create great theater are beaconing people from CLE to be their guests.

The Hale Center Theater Orem is thrilled to produce the regional premiere of "Betty Blue Eyes," a rollicking new British musical about rekindling the spark in a waning marriage, letting some underdogs have their well-deserved day and introducing us to the lovable porker whose blue-eyed presence makes it all possible.

Theatre Royal Bath Productions has today released production photography of Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party starring Amanda Abbington and directed by Sarah Esdaile. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the classic comedy, the production opened at Theatre Royal Bath and has its official opening night for press on Thursday 6 April at Oxford Playhouse before continuing on its UK Tour and to London's West End. Scroll down for a first look at the cast in action!

According to UNESCO, 'A book is a link between the past and the future. It is a bridge between generations and across cultures. It is a force for creating and sharing wisdom and knowledge.' April 23, World Book Day, is a day to celebrate the positive impact storytelling. A great amount of authors and books can be tied back in some connection to the city of London. London has always been a center for literary heritage and writer inspiration. While there are interesting literary tours and momentous landmarks all over London, there is one unique location that bibliophiles and curious minds can experience the presence of many literary leaders, The Draycott Hotel.

Mosaic Theater Company of DC presents South Africa: Then & Now, a dynamic spring repertory that takes audience members back to the depths of Apartheid, before moving forward to the ongoing search for truth and reconciliation in a wounded country. The repertory launches with Athol Fugard's seminal masterpiece, BLOOD KNOT (March 29-April 30, 2017)-an intimate parable about a brotherhood devastated by the constraints of Apartheid-under the direction of Studio Theatre Founding Artistic Director Joy Zinoman, making her Mosaic Theater Company debut.

???????Further casting has been announced for the opening productions of Chichester Festival Theatre's 2017 season, FORTY YEARS ON and CAROLINE, OR CHANGE.

Artistic Director Jonathan Church's complete programme for Theatre Royal Bath's annual Summer Season is today announced. Church's inaugural season of five plays will open with David Hare's Racing Demons from 21 June, followed by Sand in the Sandwiches by Hugh Whitemore, the UK Premiere of Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, Looking at Lucian by Alan Franks and Alan Bennett's The Lady in the Van.

Simon Callow directs a new production of Oscar winner Christopher Hampton's most celebrated play, The Philanthropist, at the Trafalgar Studios, starring Matt Berry, Simon Bird, Lily Cole, Charlotte Ritchie and Tom Rosenthal.

???????New York's hottest jazz musicians and tap dancers are to star in the UK premiere of  This Joint is Jumpin', a red-hot 1920's Harlem rent party celebration of jazz icon Fats Waller's life and music, at The Other Palace Studio from 4 - 15 April.

Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her Sapphire Jubilee, marking the 65th anniversary of the monarch's accession to the throne.

Eclectic Full Contact Theatre has announced casting for THE HISTORY BOYS by Tony Award winning playwright, Alan Bennett. The production will run in Studio Two at the Athenaeum Theatre from February 4 to March 5, 2017 under the direction of Eclectic Company Member, Katherine Siegel.

???????Theatre6 and Catherine Schreiber are delighted to announce further casting for the UK Tour of Moira Buffini's Gabriel, which opens in London at Richmond Theatre on Tuesday 28 March 2017, with a national press night on Friday 31 March 2017. This will be the 20th anniversary production of Gabriel and is only the second professional production since it was first staged at the Soho Theatre in 1997.

Beginning March 1, 2017, the Royal Shakespeare Company's acclaimed production of Shakespeare's The Tempest will play in select movie houses across North America.

Theatre Royal Bath Productions today announces further details for its Spring 2017 season which includes Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party and two UK premieres in The German Season at the Olivier Award-winning Ustinov Studio, Plastic and The Mentor.

Eclectic Full Contact Theatre has announced casting for THE HISTORY BOYS by Tony Award winning playwright, Alan Bennett. The production will run in Studio Two at the Athenaeum Theatre from February 4 to March 5, 2017 under the direction of Eclectic Company Member, Katherine Siegel.

Three actors are desperate for work. They try commercials, they try theatre, they even try movies of questionable repute but all fails. So they take their show on the road hoping to find employment in America's heartland. There they discover an America redder than red and a society on the verge of implosion and despair. Set in the present day, this comedy speaks to the darkest psyche of a troubled nation.

On Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 7:30pm, Works & Process at the Guggenheim offers a behind-the-scenes look at WAR PAINT, the new musical by librettist Doug Wright, composer Scott Frankel, lyricist Michael Korie, and director Michael Greif in advance of the Broadway opening on April 6, 2017.

The cast for Winter Solstice, which receives its English Language premiere at the Orange Tree Theatre in early 2017, has been announced.

EQUUS by Peter Shaffer will have its Theatre Rhinoceros premiere for a limited engagement - 17 performances only - 3 weeks! The show plays Nov. 25 - Dec. 10, 2016.

A revue is a rare theatrical treat these days. In its heyday, the irresistible combination of light comedy, song and dance sketches was incredibly popular. Its golden age lasted from the early 1920s to the late 1950s and for much of that time its greatest practitioner was Noel Coward who wrote and appeared in a succession of revues on both sides of the Atlantic such as London Calling! (1923) and Sigh No More (1945).