OffWestEnd has announced 86 finalists for its Offies awards 2022. The Offies recognise and celebrate the excellence, innovation and ingenuity of independent, fringe and alternative theatres across London, helping to raise their profiles and rewarding the new talent that they nurture, which is essential for the future of the theatre industry.
Following the celebratory reopening of Birmingham Rep this autumn with critically acclaimed productions of East is East, the brand new musical What’s New Pussycat? and the presentation of Grenfell: Value Engineering, Artistic Director Sean Foley announces a new collection of work to follow his own production of the classic comedy The Play What I Wrote.
Ayub Khan Din’s much loved modern classic East is East premiered at the Birmingham Rep back in 1996 before being adapted for the screen a few years later. In celebration of its 25th year the play arrives at the National Theatre for a limited run. Thanks to cleverly considered, often sensitive direction from Iqbal Khan and a strong and cohesive cast, the revival shows little signs of its age and instead feels as fresh, relevant, and engaging as ever.
The Royal Court Theatre and Graeae are delighted to announce that Shahid Iqbal Khan will begin a year-long attachment programme in January 2022. As well as a co-commission, this programme will embed Shahid into the work of both organisations and give him a platform to explore, interrogate and experiment.
The cast will include Amy-Leigh Hickman as Meenah; Irvine Iqbal as Mr Shah/Dr; Tony Jayawardena as George; Adonis Jenieco as Saleem; Rachel Lumberg as Annie; Noah Manzoor as Sajit; Joeravar Sangha as Maneer; Gurjeet Singh as Tariq; Sophie Stanton as Ella and Assad Zaman as Abdul.
Extra tickets go on sale to the public from Monday 19 July. Tickets for The Normal Heart, East is East, Manor and Hex on sale to the public from Friday 30 July. Learn more about all of the upcoming productions here!
Tara Theatre has announced casting for 2020, 12 new stories from 12 writers (3 international and 9 from across England) responding to the challenges of 2020 and 2021, but from a completely local perspective. 2020 features in Abdul Shayek's first programme as Artistic Director for the newly rebranded Tara Theatre.
The National Theatre has today announced its programming until the start of next year with productions on all three South Bank stages as well as three major UK tours, two productions on Broadway, a return to cinemas, and a new feature film to be broadcast on television this autumn. In the week the theatre reopened for audiences again, six new productions were announced, and five productions halted by the pandemic were confirmed to return to the South Bank.
Abdul Shayek has today announced his first programme for the newly rebranded Tara Theatre. Tara Theatre is the UK's longest established Asian, Black and ethnically diverse led theatre company. Shayek was appointed in August 2020, beginning a bold new chapter at a moment that has led to unequivocal consensus that things urgently need to change.
As the lockdown restrictions ease and arts and culture venues are allowed to open their doors, the Octagon Theatre have today unveiled exciting reopening plans after a 2-year redevelopment and further postponements due to Covid-19.
The Royal Shakespeare Company production of Macbeth (2018) will be broadcast on BBC Four this Sunday 14 June at 9.30pm as part of Culture in Quarantine. This will be followed by Simon Godwin's landmark production of Hamlet (2016) with Paapa Essiedu in the title role on Sunday 21 June at 9pm.
The Royal Shakespeare Company production of Romeo and Juliet (2019) will be broadcast on BBC Four at 9pm on Sunday 7 June as part of Culture in Quarantine, it was announced today.
As part of the newly launched Royal Shakespeare Community initiative, artists from the Royal Shakespeare Company, who are currently unable to rehearse or perform, will lend a hand in helping to unlock Shakespeare for thousands of children and young people studying at home.
The UK's leading disabled-led theatre company, Graeae, today announces a full eleven-week programme of online activity which will provide audiences with a rich variety of work whilst the country is in lockdown. Crips Without Constraints a?" A Play, A Podcast, A Picture will, over the next few months, embrace the need to isolate and at the same time celebrate the creativity of Deaf and disabled artists across the nation.
Birmingham Repertory Theatre's Artistic Director, Sean Foley, alongside Executive Director, Rachael Thomas, and Deputy Artistic Director, Amit Sharma today announced their first full season of work for the theatre.
Today, Birmingham Rep has announced plans for its new season of work, with new Artistic Director Sean Foley at the helm. The programme is bold and inventive, with many nods to Birmingham itself in terms of associate artists and the shows that feature. Sean Foley talks to BroadwayWorld about the importance of representation in theatre, and his passion to revitalise the venue.
Shakespeare's Globe has announced further casting for Everything I Ever Wanted to Tell My Daughter About Men, a new black comedy by actor and writer Lorien Haynes, directed by Tara Fitzgerald (Brassed Off, Game of Thrones), being hosted in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse on Thursday 20 February.
Shakespeare's Globe has announced full casting for the next two productions opening in the candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in February: The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Maria Gaitanidi, and Thomas Middleton's Women Beware Women, directed by Amy Hodge.
Birmingham Repertory Theatre has today announced a raft of shows for spring 2020. The programme precedes new Artistic Director, Sean Foley's first full season of work in autumn 2020.