Jamie Ballard News

Our production of Uncle Vanya is well underway, with a run at Theatr Clwyd completed and now playing at Sheffield Crucible, so I've been able to reflect on the experience of the show.

Chekhov's classic is given a fresh update in this beautifully staged and passionately acted production.

Theatr Clwyd presents Uncle Vanya in a first-time co-production with Sheffield Theatres, in a brand new adaptation from Peter Gill. Opening tonight 26 September, with previews from 21 September in the Emlyn Williams Theatre, the production will transfer to the studio at Sheffield Theatres as part of Robert Hastie's inaugural season from 18 October until 4 November. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres Robert Hastie today announced casting for three productions in his inaugural season - Of Kith and Kin, Desire Under the Elms and Uncle Vanya.

Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd, Tamara Harvey, today announces the full cast for her production of Uncle Vanya, in a first-time co-production with Sheffield Theatres.

London is never short of theatre temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From a major Albee revival to starry Shakespeare and a steamy musical, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews...

John Webster is not what you could ever describe as a subtle writer. His bloody themes of lust, revenge and tragedy are overt and unflinching. The White Devil is based on an extraordinary true-life story in the Venetian court, where Duke Bracciano decides to seduce Vittoria with the help of her brother Flamineo, who is motivated by social mobility and power. The fact that both characters are already married seems no barrier. The result is an intoxicating and decadent game of power play and lust that leads to murder, revenge and the destruction of their very existence.

Rose Theatre Kingston today announces cast for King John. Trevor Nunn returns to the Rose to direct Jamie Ballard as King John, Howard Charles as Philip the Bastard, Lisa Dillon as Constance and Maggie Steed as Queen Eleanor.

The Royal Shakespeare Company's acclaimed production of Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE will play in select movie houses across North America, beginning August 19. The production, which opened to rave reviews at the RSC's home in Stratford-upon-Avon, was filmed for 'Live from Stratford-upon-Avon,' the RSC program that screens the world's greatest classical theatre company from Shakespeare's home town around the world through a continued partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment.

The Royal Shakespeare Company's acclaimed production of Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE will play in select movie houses across North America, beginning August 19.

Casting is announced for the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) summer productions of The Merchant of Venice and Othello, running in repertoire in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and broadcast worldwide 'Live from Stratford-upon-Avon'.

Ron Cook (Mr Selfridge, Henry V, King Lear, Hot Fuzz) as Sir Charles Gurney, Kathryn Drysdale (Suspects, Love's Labour's Lost, Tripping Over, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps) as Grace Shelley, Joshua McGuire (Privacy, Posh, About Time, Mr Turner) as Dinsdale Gurney and Anthony O'Donnell (The Captain of Kopenick, Skyfall, Matchpoint) as Daniel Tucker, join BAFTA winning James McAvoy, as Jack, the 14th Earl of Gurney, in the first West End revival of Peter Barnes' satirical comedy, The Ruling Class, directed by Jamie Lloyd, Artistic Director of Trafalgar Transformed. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from opening night below!

Due to the demand for tickets for the nine week season currently playing at Hampstead Downstairs, ending on 17th May, Hampstead Theatre is delighted to transfer Simon Gray's quartet of plays upstairs to the Main Stage for a three week run in repertory from 28th May to 14th June.

Five years after Simon Gray's death, Hampstead Theatre is delighted to present this extraordinary cycle of his work: premieres of three unperformed plays alongside a revival of Japes, the play that started it all off. The plays will be performed in repertory over 9 weeks, featuring four stories based on the same characters, in the same situation but all telling a different story with opposite conclusions.

Five years after Simon Gray's death, Hampstead Theatre is delighted to present this extraordinary cycle of his work: premieres of three unperformed plays alongside a revival of Japes, the play that started it all off. The plays will be performed in repertory over 9 weeks, featuring four stories based on the same characters, in the same situation but all telling a different story with opposite conclusions.

Macbeth, Jamie Lloyd's inaugural production in a season of work for Trafalgar Transformed, will be staged at Trafalgar Studios from 9 February until 27 April, with press night on 22 February 2013. Design for Jamie Lloyd's season is by Soutra Gilmour, who won the 2012 Evening Standard Award for Best Design for Inadmissible Evidence at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Lloyd, and Antigone at the National Theatre.

Claire Foy (White Heat, Little Dorrit, The Promise) will play Lady Macbeth, alongside the previously announced BAFTA winning and Golden Globe nominated actor James McAvoy (The Last King of Scotland, Atonement, X-Men) as Macbeth. Joining them, to complete the cast, are Jamie Ballard (Macduff), Graeme Dalling (Donalbain), Lisa Gardner (Witch), Kevin Guthrie (Lennox), Richard Hansell (Ross), Forbes Masson (Banquo), Allison McKenzie (Witch), Olivia Morgan (Witch), Catherine Murray (Caithness), Callum O'Neill (Angus), Mark Quartley (Malcolm) and Hugh Ross (Duncan/Doctor).

RSC Associate Director Roxana Silbert is directing a new production of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure in the Swan Theatre as part of the Winter Season. The play previews from 17 November 2011 and runs in repertoire in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon until 10 March 2012.

Iwan Rheon, who yesterday won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Role in a Musical for his performance in Spring Awakening, will play Huw Prosser, the prototypical Angry Young Man, in the new production of John Osborne's lost early play The Devil Inside Him. Also joining the cast are Jamie Ballard, John Cording, Stephen Elliott, Hellen Griffin, Derek Hutchinson, Rachel Lumberg and Catrin Stewart.

Matthew Dunster will direct the Globe's first full-scale production of Troilus and Cressida this summer, featuring Olivier Award-winner Matthew Kelly as Pandarus, with Laura Pyper and Paul Stocker as the ill fated lovers Troilus and Cressida. Other casting includes Jamie Ballard as Ulysses and Paul Hunter as Thersites. Set during the latter years of the Trojan War, Shakespeare fills his ancient tale with savage comedy, great passion and vivid characters.