The UK revival of Beirut by American playwright and author Alan Bowne is set to be performed at Park Theatre from 12th June to 7th July 2018. Written in the 1980s at the height of the AIDS crisis (which the playwright died of at 44 years old), Beirut is a cutting examination of a society ravaged by a nameless disease. Although written at a particular moment in history, the play transcends the issues of its time, and at its heart is a dark love story, questioning how society deals with the 'abnormal' in a society gone mad with fear and ignorance. The issues explored are particularly relevant to 2018, when viruses such as Sars and Zika are prominent, and with an increasing and inevitable resistance to antibiotics.
The UK revival of Beirut by American playwright and author Alan Bowne is set to be performed at Park Theatre from 12th June to 7th July 2018. Written in the 1980s at the height of the AIDS crisis (which the playwright died of at 44 years old), Beirut is a cutting examination of a society ravaged by a nameless disease. Although written at a particular moment in history, the play transcends the issues of its time, and at its heart is a dark love story, questioning how society deals with the 'abnormal' in a society gone mad with fear and ignorance.
Further casting is announced today for Festival 2018 at Chichester Festival Theatre. Clive Rowe joins Matt Lucas, Caroline Quentin and Alex Young to lead the cast of the musical ME AND MY GIRL, which Daniel Evans directs at the Festival Theatre from 2 July - 25 August. Clive will play Sir John Tremayne, returning to Chichester following his appearance in Kiss Me Kate in 2012 which later transferred to The Old Vic.
The first major revival of Charlotte Jones' play Humble Boy is another interesting choice by the Orange Tree's Artistic Director Paul Miller. It is surely a challenge to pull off a play that combines astrophysics, bee-keeping and Shakespearean family angst, but Miller achieves this in a neat and clever way, whilst maintaining tenderness and gentle comedy.
A brand new season of West End musicals, gripping dramas, dynamic dance and one night concerts will go on sale at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre. Highlights include the return of the phenomenally successful smash hit musical THE BODYGUARD, a major new production of DOCTOR DOLITTLE THE MUSICAL, Belinda Lang and Oliver Cotton in DUET FOR ONE, Joe Pasquale, Russell Watson, Doreen Tipton's brand new live show DOREEN'S BIG TOP and the National Theatre return in 2019 with MACBETH.
Paul Bradley, Jonathan Broadbent, Selina Cadell, Rebekah Hinds, Belinda Lang and Christopher Ravenscroft will appear in the first major London revival of Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones, directed by OT Artistic Director Paul Miller. The production is designed by Simon Daw, with lighting design by Mark Doubleday and the sound designer and composer is Max Pappenheim.
There is always a risk in seemingly simple dramatic two-handers. Where there are no visual tricks, no impressive set changes or sparkling costumes, the whole play relies on the chemistry and repartee between the two actors. Robin Lefevre's excellent revival of Tom Kempinski's Duet For One needs no trickery to make its simple structure incredibly compelling.
The UK tour of Tom Kempinski's award-winning play, DUET FOR ONE, starring Belinda Lang as Stephanie Abrahams and Oliver Cotton as Dr Feldmann, opened at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on 22 September and will continue to tour through to 18 November 2017. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!
The UK Tour of Moira Buffini's Gabriel 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.
In a plot more than a little reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier, Gabriel sees Jeanne Becquet is trying to keep her young daughter and Jewish daughter-in-law safe under the ever-increasing threat of the Nazis in German-occupied Guernsey in 1943. When a young man washes up on the shore near the house, it is not clear who he is or where he comes from. Fluent in both German and English, it becomes increasingly clear that his presence in her house is incredibly dangerous and one wrong move could spell disaster for Jeanne and those closest to her.
Set in 1943 Nazi-occupied Guernsey, widow and mother Jeanne does whatever it takes to keep her adolescent daughter Estelle and daughter-in-law Lily safe on an island filled with danger and fear. Her toughest test arrives in the form of the terrifying Commander Von Pfunz, whose romantic advances may be the only way to keep her family alive, but tensions intensify when a mysterious young man is washed ashore with no memory of who he is.
Olivier Award-winning theatre company Mischief Theatre are bringing their comedy masterpiece The Play That Goes Wrong to Australia for the first time from February next year.
???????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.
Olivier Award-winning theatre company Mischief Theatre are bringing their comedy masterpiece The Play That Goes Wrong to Australia for the first time from February next year.
Alan Bennett's comedy masterpiece Single Spies visits the Lyceum Theatre from Tuesday 26 - Saturday 30 April. Starring Nicholas Farrell, Belinda Lang and David Robb, the award-winning espionage double bill is a pointedly satirical snapshot of two members of the infamous 'Cambridge Five', Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt, both recruited as spies by the Soviet Union during World War II.
Further casting has been announced for the Music & Lyrics Limited and West Yorkshire Playhouse production of the much-loved Sherman Brothers musical CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG. From May 4 until 2 October 2, Carrie Hope Fletcher (Les Miserables, War of the Worlds) will play Truly Scrumptious, and from May 4 until August 21, Shaun Williamson (The Railway Children, EastEnders) will play Lord Scrumptious/Baron Bomburst. Phill Jupitus (The Producers, Hairspray), who currently plays the roles of Lord Scrumptious and Baron Bomburst, returns to the show from August 24.
London is never short of theatre temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From a computer-created musical to tabletop Shakespeare, here are some of this week's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews, and if you need more ticket-booking inspiration, here is last week's round-up.
Following the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company's successful collaboration with Chichester Festival Theatre in 2015, producing The King's Speech, the two companies have worked together once more to present Alan Bennett's award-winning double-bill. First performed in 1988, Single Spies consists of two plays, An Englishman Abroad and A Question of Attribution; both portrayals of two of the best-known members of the 'Cambridge Five' - the spy ring recruited at Cambridge University in the 1930s.
Alan Bennett's hit comedy SINGLE SPIES just released rehearsal images in preparation for its upcoming UK tour. The production embarks from tonight's 4 February opening at Chichester Festival Theatre before touring to Birmingham, Richmond, Canterbury, Newcastle, Oxford, Cheltenham, Bath, Leeds, Salisbury and Sheffield. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the company in rehearsal!
