Luke Thompson News

Brown Boys Swim is the winner of the Popcorn Writing Award 2022.  Written by Karim Khan (a recipient of Riz Ahmed’s Left Handed Films and Pillars Fund inaugural fellowship and an alumnus of the The North Wall’s ArtsLab programme), this lyrical coming-of-age tale looks at the pressures that surround young Muslim men today. 

Popcorn Group have announced this year’s incredible judging committee along with their longlist of brave and imaginative new plays for the Popcorn Writing Award. Partnering for the first time with BBC Writersroom, Popcorn offers a prize fund of £6,000. 

Original Theatre and Riverside Studios are delighted to present Originals online on demand, featuring the world première play-readings of Tikkun Olam by Teunkie Van Der Sluij, The Fall by Drew Hewitt, and Miles by Eilidh Nurse – the winners of Original Theatre Company's Originals Playwriting Award. 

Original Theatre Company today announces the all-star cast for the script-in-hand performances from the three shortlisted plays for the Originals Playwriting Award.

Kris Bowers reimagines Madonna’s “Material Girl” and “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham,” a Jatin-Lalit/Lata Mangeshkar song from the hit 2001 Bollywood film of the same name. Duomo offers fresh takes of Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” and P!nk’s “What About Us.” Hannah V & Joe Rodwell, Steve Horner and Midnite String Quartet also contribute.

Theatre Royal Stratford East announces the line-up of writers and directors for BURN IT DOWN, a series of six newly commissioned script-in-hand performances about urgent political issues. Each short play will be a stand-alone scrutiny, calling out injustice and interrogating the systems that wield power.

From Shondaland and Creator Chris Van Dusen, the second season of Bridgerton follows Lord Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey), the eldest Bridgerton sibling and Viscount, as he sets out to find a suitable wife. Watch the teaser trailer for the highly-anticipated second season now!

From Creator Chris Van Dusen, the second season of Bridgerton follows Lord Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey), the eldest Bridgerton sibling and Viscount, as he sets out to find a suitable wife. The cast also includes Charithra Chandran, Nicola Coughlan, Adjoa Andoh, Lorraine Ashbourne, Harriet Cains, Bessie Carter, Shelley Conn, and more.

Bridgerton premiered one year ago today – Happy Anniversary, dear readers. To commemorate the occasion, Lady Whistledown has gotten her readers a very special gift: Bridgerton Season 2 shall premiere on March 25th, 2022, only on Netflix.

A host of top performers and theatre makers have lent their support to a campaign for the Theatre Artists Fund, in the lead-up to the 16 March anniversary of UK theatres closing due to the pandemic.

Netflix's recent hit, 'Bridgerton,' has been officially renewed for a second season! 

There will be no outdoor theatre experiences this summer, but that hasn't stopped Shakespeare's Globe from revisiting one of the stalwarts of the summer season; Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Dominic Dromgoole's 2013 production is a classic Elizabethan romp, full of silliness and fun.

The overworked and underfunded NHS is on our minds more than ever before. As part of its free digital streaming series in partnership with The Guardian, Hampstead Theatre has made available Nina Raine's stirring medical drama Tiger Country on its website. It is available to stream until Sunday 26 April.

Longtime independent film champion, Film Threat, helmed by founder and filmmaker Chris Gore, are stepping into the void to honor true indies and right the Oscar snubs with Award This! Live from Los Angeles on Wednesday, February 5th at the Studio Movie Grill in Glendale, CA. Award This! will feature the creative forces of independent cinema both in front of and behind the camera with inventive new categories: Oscar Snub nominating those performances and filmmakers who blew us away this year like Awkwafina, Jennifer Lopez, Robert DeNiro, Adam Sandler, Greta Gerwig, and Lulu Wang; Movie Critic Worthy of Your Attention honoring the film critics with a pulse on movie commentary including Alachia Queen, John Campea, Leonard Maltin, Luke Thompson and Michael Dequina; Short Film, Socially Relevant Documentary hitting topics that get to the heart of us like Afghan Cycles, The Animal People (executive produced by Joaquin Phoenix), Don't Be Nice, Fat: A Documentary, Life Overtakes Me, Mr. Toilet, No Safe Spaces, and Tell Me Who I Am; Sports Documentary, Indie Sci-Fi, Pop Culture Documentary, Indie Horror, Indie Comedy, Indie LGBTQ+ Themed Film, Indie Action/Thriller, WTF Indie, Director, Directress, Indie Made for Less Than the Contents of an Oscar Gift Bag (Under $100K), Indie Movie of the Year, and Ensemble Cast.

After wowing audiences at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Trevor Nunn's production of Fiddler on the Roof is going from strength to strength in its stint at the West End's Playhouse Theatre; not only has it extended its run until November, but it has now welcomed two new stars to Anatevka. Maria Friedman and Anita Dobson replace Judy Kuhn and Louise Gold as Yente and Golda, respectively, joining a cast led by Andy Nyman as Tevye.

The Menier Chocolate Factory presents its major revival of one of the world's most-beloved musicals of all time, Fiddler on the Roof, in a new staging by Trevor Nunn.

Following on from a hugely successful run at Chichester, Sir Ian McKellen is back in the title role of King Lear, in the same theatre in which he made his West End debut in 1964. The Duke of York's is decidedly bigger than the Minerva, but with the addition of a walkway through the centre of the auditorium reducing the theatre capacity substantially, there's a much more intimate feel.

The cast of King Lear at the Duke of York's Theatre includes Kirsty Bushell (Regan), Richard Clews (Gentleman Informer / Old Man), James Corrigan(Edmund), Sinead Cusack (Kent), John Hastings (Curan / Doctor), Anthony Howell (Albany), Lloyd Hutchinson (Fool), Jake Mann (Burgundy / Lear's Knight), Michael Matus (Oswald), Ian McKellen (King Lear), James Millard, Johanne Murdock, Jessica Murrain, Claire Price (Goneril), Daniel Rabin(Cornwall), Caleb Roberts (King of France), Scott Sparrow (Albany's Man), Luke Thompson (Edgar), Anita-Joy Uwajeh (Cordelia), John Vernon andDanny Webb (Gloucester).

£5 tickets to King Lear will be made available as part of Chichester Festival Theatre's Prologue scheme for 16-25 year olds.

London is never short of temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From a new theatrical epic to Shakespeare and musical spoof, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld reviews, interviews and features!