Claire Bilyard News

Written and directed by Alex Howarth based on real conversations with kids in care, it’s a shot to the heart. Profoundly moving in its bittersweet playfulness and candid approach to the matter, the production is scrupulously crafted to come off as child’s play. It exquisitely translates the world as if it was seen through the eyes of children, engaging into a blunt direct address that gives an atypical accessibility to the show.

'Directed by Adam Meggido and Ali James, The London 50-hour Improvathon is exactly what it says on the tin - a show that takes place over fifty hours in London, bringing together improvisational actors to create an absolutely wild weekend.'

Check out photos from The London 50-Hour Improvathon: The Wedding Party here!

Crazy show that might become a cultish success, but currently just looks misconceived and misplaced

The European premiere of a bio-historical musical comedy from the Tony-award winning writers of  Urinetown opens at the Southwark Playhouse this summer. See photos from the production.

Charting the blossoming political analyst Jamie and Brown University dropout-turned-bartender Stephanie after meeting in the office of their psychiatrist, Chemistry is a worthy entrant into the growing pantheon of plays about mental health.

Night of the Living Dead Live! pays homage to its inspiration, the George A. Romero cult classic movie, while generating laughs and shocks aplenty

Mike Bodie and Mari McGinlay talk about the comedy/horror play, Night of the Living Dead LIVE! and their roles in this movie homage.

Casting is announced today for Night of the Living Dead Live, the first ever UK stage adaptation and the only officially authorised production based on George A. Romero's cult zombie classic. The production, directed by Benji Sperring (The Toxic Avenger: The Musical; Shock Treatment, Valley Of Song) will come to life at Pleasance, London from 9 April to 19 May 2019. 

Get a first look at the 12th Annual London 50-Hour Improvathon, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE FIFTY.

Theatre producer Katy Lipson - who is producing artistic director of the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, as well as being an independent producer and who has recently taken on the road shows such as The Addams Family - is bringing Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1989 musical Aspects of Love to Southwark Playhouse which began at Hope Mill in August 2018. Here, we discuss what makes a good producer, her passion for theatre, and how the show resonates with the present times.

The ToyBoy Diaries, adapted from the best-selling memoirs by Wendy Salisbury, runs from Thursday 18 January to Saturday 10 February 2018 and is the first of five in-house musicals this year from the successful collaboration between Joseph Houston and William Whelton, co-founders of Hope Mill Theatre and producer Katy Lipson, of Aria Entertainment.

Opening tonight 11 October is the new production of the first protest musical HAIR at The Vaults. 85-year-old Tony- and Grammy Award-winning writer/lyricist of HAIR, James Rado, told young producer Katy Lipson and young director of HAIR Jonathan O'Boyle, 'I'd like this production to have the definitive script of HAIR - there's never been one in 50 years.' Scroll down to see some of the new script lines, as well as programme notes from both O'Boyle and Rado!

Andy Coxon plays the iconic role of Berger in the new 50th anniversary production of HAIR. The rock musical HAIR opened at London's fully immersive Off-West-End theatre, The Vaults, from Wednesday 4 October 2017 and is now to run to Saturday 13 January 2018 (Press Night Wednesday 11 October 2017 at 7.30pm & 50th Anniversary Gala Tuesday 17 October at 7.30pm). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The values and anxieties of the characters in Hair still resonate 50 years after the original production opened Off-Broadway in 1967. Women's equality, LGBTQ rights, ethnic diversity, Black Lives Matter, environmental issues, and perhaps one of the biggest issues that once again is pressing down on us: the threat of nuclear war and the striving for global peace.

The rock musical HAIR opens at London's fully immersive Off-West-End theatre, The Vaults, from Wednesday 4 October 2017 and is now to run to Saturday 13 January 2018. Opening night will be on Wednesday 11 October 2017, and the 50th Anniversary Gala will be held on Tuesday 17 October. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the company in rehearsal below!

With this year's Pride still fresh in Londoners' minds, there couldn't be a more appropriate time for Joseph and David Zellnik's musical about gay US soldiers in World War Two to open in central London. It runs not far away from another high profile LGBT production, Rotterdam, which will finish its short run this weekend.

After an absence of almost a decade, tick, tick…BOOM! bursts back onto the London stage at the Park Theatre. There's plenty of energy, a natural spark among the three leads, but little emotional impact in this revival. It ticks, ticks along, but lacks the boom.

Chris Jenkins returns to Park Theatre in the role of Jon, following his appearance in 2016's quadruple Offie Award-nominated musicalThe Burnt Part Boys in PARK90. Gillian Saker (BBC Two's Ripper Street) performs the role of Jon's girlfriend Susan, with Jordan Shaw (Motown The Musical, Shaftesbury Theatre) playing the part of Michael, Jon's childhood friend.

Opening Southwark Playhouse's 2017 season, following a seasonal run of Kiki's Delivery Service in The Large, is a revival of Neil Simon's musical Promises, Promises. Based on the Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond film The Apartment, it incorporates the music of Bacharach and David, including hits such as 'I'll Never Fall In Love Again'.