Improbable Theatre News

On its West End debut, The Addams Family musical makes the most of its graveyard humour and kooky characters, even if the star casting is questionable.

Devoted & Disgruntled (D&D), Improbable Theatre’s annual nationwide three-day event where challenges in theatre and the arts are discussed, will take place this March in Leeds. 

This spring, the Phelim McDermott production of Philip Glass's Akhnaten returns to the London Coliseum for its second English National Opera (ENO) revival since its premiere in 2016. Check out photos here!

NYU Skirball will present the NYC premiere of Tao of Glass, a semi-autobiographical play written and performed by Phelim McDermott with music by Philip Glass, running March 30 – April 8, 2023 at NYU Skirball. Tao of Glass is co-presented with the U.K.'s Improbable theatre company and the Manchester International Festival. 

This spring, the Phelim McDermott production of Philip Glass's Akhnaten returns to the London Coliseum for its second English National Opera (ENO) revival since its premiere in 2016.

NYU Skirball’s Winter/Spring 2023 season will open on January 12 with  the U.S. premiere of Moby Dick. Learn more about the full season here!

San Diego Opera's 2021 2022 will close with the West Coast Premiere of Aging Magician a hybrid opera/theatre piece that combines singing, choral work, puppetry, and performance art to create an incredibly unique theatrical experience.

To celebrate Women's History Month, next up on my arts in conversation is Asabi Goodman, Lisa Hickey, Lauren Roche and Amanda McErlean from the cast of The Curator's The Revolutionists. Their respective bios are featured at the bottom of this article. Here's what these remarkable ladies had to say...

Fort Worth Opera announced today the names of the six librettists whose unpublished works have been selected for Frontiers: FWO Libretto Workshop, an exciting exploration of operatic storytelling, and the eighth installment of its innovative new works showcase.

Spanning twenty years, Shandyland is a story of life, love, death and drink at the heart of a small, northern, family-run pub, and a shout of frustration from an abandoned working class community. Shandyland opens at Northern Stage (12-23 May), and after its Newcastle premiere will tour to Everyman, Liverpool (27 May - 6 June)

The Paper Man starts off with the story of Austria's 1930s football hero Matthias Sindelar but swiftly dummies the Nazis and nutmegs for a narrative about the construction of narratives - and becomes rather dull as a consequence.

The world premiere of Martin McDonagh's A Very Very Very Dark Matter at the Bridge Theatre is directed by Matthew Dunster. The cast comprises Johnetta Eula'Mae Ackles, Alistair Benson, Elizabeth Berrington, Paul Bradley, Noah Brignull, Jim Broadbent, Phil Daniels, Regan Garcia, Leo Hart, Graeme Hawley, Audrey Hayhurst, Kundai Kanyama, Lee Knight, Jamie McKie, Ryan Pope, James Roberts, Alice Selwyn, Austin Taylor, Amelia Walter and Annabelle Westenholz-Smith including nine children who will alternate a variety of roles. The 12-week run will conclude on 6 January 2019. The London Theatre Companyproduction is designed by Anna Fleischle with lighting by Philip Gladwell, music compositions by James Maloney, sound by George Dennis, special effects by Paul Wanklin and video effects by Finn Ross.

Rehearsals begin yesterday for the world premiere of Martin McDonagh's A Very Very Very Dark Matter at the Bridge Theatre. The cast comprises Johnetta Eula'Mae Ackles, Alistair Benson, Elizabeth Berrington, Paul Bradley, Noah Brignull, Jim Broadbent, Phil Daniels, Regan Garcia, Leo Hart, Graeme Hawley, Audrey Hayhurst, Kundai Kanyama, Lee Knight, Jamie McKie, Ryan Pope, James Roberts, Alice Selwyn, Austin Taylor, Amelia Walter and Annabelle Westenholz-Smith including nine children who will alternate a variety of roles.

Shakespeare's Globe has announced full casting for Matt Hartley's new play Eyam, directed by Adele Thomas, opening in The Globe on Saturday 15 September. When the plague arrives surprisingly in the Derbyshire village of Eyam in 1665, the community face a moral dilemma. They must decide whether to flee and risk spreading the vicious disease, or stay, protect others from the risk, and face the potential of their own slow and painful death.

Johnetta Eula'Mae Ackles, Elizabeth Berrington and Phil Daniels will join the previously announced Jim Broadbent in the world premiere of Martin McDonagh's A Very Very Very Dark Matter.

More Lessons For Teachers, a newly expanded collection of the iconic acting teacher Michael Chekhov's lectures and technique, will be available in hard copy and PDF this summer. Published in English, German and Russian, the new edition supplements the 18 lessons from Chekhov's original book with nine additional lectures from the Chekhov archives.

No one in the audience was on Facebook or Twitter during Lliam Paterson's opera BAMBINO at the Met's List Hall--a rare occurrence for the company these days--on Friday May 4. In fact, no one looked at a cell phone at all during the performance. And nobody fell asleep--even though the opera was written for 6-18 month-olds and the children might have been forgiven for napping on the comfy pillows that filled the stage. (Their parents were on good behavior, too.)

Artistic Director Josie Rourke said, "I'm delighted to announce two new productions at the Donmar, joining the previously announced THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE, for my penultimate season, with all three directed by women.

 American Lyric Theater concludes the 10th Anniversary of its nationally acclaimed Composer Librettist Development Program this season with InsightALT: Opera in Eden, a one-night-only concert featuring three new one-act operas written by ALT Resident Artists, hosted by composer/librettist Mark Adamo and producing artistic director Lawrence Edelson.

The Metropolitan Opera presents BambinO, a pioneering opera for toddlers aged between 6 and 18 months old, developed by Scottish Opera, Improbable theatre company and Manchester International Festival, where the production premiered last summer. BambinO is an operatic experience for infants that will stimulate them with new sounds and images in a 40 minute immersive performance.