Ellie Kurttz News

BWW talks to Ruth Mary Johnson about her version of The Winter's Tale at the National Theatre and about her philosophy in making theatre works for young people.

The Olivier and Tony Award® -winning show The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time begins previews at the Piccadilly Theatre on Thursday 29 November for a strictly limited season which ends on 27 April 2019.

The Dorfmann Theatre within the National Theatre complex is proving to be an even more versatile space than promised when it reopened after refurbishment in 2014.

Ever wondered what goes into creating your favourite productions? Those moments of magic (or macabre) where you go 'How did they do that?!' In our new Special Effects series, we'll be discovering how the worlds on stage come to life by exploring the worlds off stage, talking to the creatives and crews from some of the UK's biggest shows and theatre companies. This month, we're looking at stage blood and effects in two infamously bloody shows. We spoke to the Company Stage Manager on Michael Grandage's The Lieutenant of Inishmore and the Designer of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Tamburlaine, who shared their practices (and a few secrets).

The Star Seekers by the Wardrobe Ensemble is headed to the Dorfman Theatre at the National Theatre this August. It's an interactive space show for children aged three to eight years old, but with plenty for the whole family to enjoy. We got a sneak preview of the show and the chance to chat with its creators at its press launch last week.

The National Theatre's River Stage Festival is back this summer with five weekends of exciting acts, showcasing the great work that is going on in the arts in the UK.

On Friday 18 May, Leicester's Curve theatre hosted its latest Season Preview event, including performances, exciting announcements and in-depth discussions with those involved in work being produced in and visiting the theatre in the near future.

Brand new photographs are released today providing a first look at the new cast of Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie at London County Hall. The production images mark the first week of performances featuring the new company, which began on Tuesday 27 March. Check them out below!

Michael Boyd's much anticipated production of The Cherry Orchard has begun rehearsals for the Bristol Old Vic and Royal Exchange Theatre co-production. Rory Mullarkey's brand-new translation will be directed by Boyd, celebrated former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Having studied Russian and trained as a director in Moscow, extraordinarily, he will be directing Chekhov - the literary love of his life - for the first time.

My Name is Rachel Corrie is revived at the Young Vic 12 years after its debut at the Royal Court. Edited by the late Alan Rickman and Guardian editor Katherine Viner and based on the writings of Corrie herself, the play is a thought-provoking story told with utmost humanity.

Sally Cookson's past work includes inventive adaptations of Peter Pan, Hetty Feather and La Strada. Her acclaimed version of Jane Eyre, which first appeared at Bristol Old Vic in 2014, completes its 2017 UK tour with an encore run at the National Theatre from 23 September.

Rehearsals began this week for the 34-strong cast of a major tour UK tour of the National Theatre's internationally acclaimed production of War Horse, which begins performances on 15 September 2017 (with press night on 3 October) at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury and continues on a 15 city tour until February 2019.

Rob Drummond's new show is less a play and more a piece of storytelling with added participatory morality. The use of live technology gives it the feeling of a morality test for the social media age.

Rehearsals began this week for the 34-strong cast of a major tour UK tour of the National Theatre's internationally acclaimed production of War Horse, which begins performances on 15 September 2017 (with press night on 3 October) at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury and continues on a 15 city tour until February 2019. Scroll down for photos of the cast at their first day of rehearsals!

Specialised in immersive and participatory community theatre, the award-winning charity SPID Theatre has developed iAm 4.0, a thought-provoking hour in which the audience take a certain amount of control.

'We're here because we're here', the modern memorial to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, created by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller in collaboration with Rufus Norris, Artistic Director of the National Theatre, has been nominated for a prestigious National Lottery Award.

Upon being discharged from the Marine Corps, Isaac (Arthur Darvill) goes back home only to find an anarchically ruled household at hand of his mother (Ashley McGuire). Fed up with domestic patriarchy, Paige seized the opportunity given by her abusive husband Arthur (Andy Williams) having a stroke to turn the tables and start making the rules. She built an ally in her transsexual son Max (Griffyn Gilligan), who helps her to keep tight hold on the reins. Isaac is forced to come to terms with a reality he doesn't recognise as his own.

Marianne Elliott, the Olivier and Tony Award-winning director of the National Theatre's hugely successful productions of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and War Horse and producer Chris Harper's newly formed theatre company, Elliott & Harper Productions, announced the UK premiere of their first West End show today:  Simon Stephens' Heisenberg: The Uncertainty Principle. 

Norman Pace (ITV1's The Hale and Pace Show) will play Wilbur Turnblad in the major UK tour of the smash hit musical Hairspray, opening at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff this summer.

Curve tells the story of the contemporary memorial We're here because we're here, with an exhibition presented by 14 - 18 NOW and the National Theatre, until Sat 6 May.