A new multi-disciplinary arts centre, SCRUM Studios, will open in Hammersmith offering training programmes and subsidised creative spaces for theatre makers. Artist collective SCRUM Theatre, is a charity formed by a collective of theatre-makers who transform disused buildings and turn them into pop-up arts hubs, seeking to create a more sustainable culture for UK artists at a time of crisis in the industry.
The National Theatre has released a first look from the rehearsal room of its upcoming production of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. Check out the photos here!
The National Theatre has announced the full cast for its upcoming production of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, directed by National Theatre Associate Lyndsey Turner (Under Milk Wood, The Crucible) and featuring David Oyelowo (Selma, Lawmen: Bass Reeves) in the titular role, as rehearsals begin on the South Bank.
BAFTA Award-winning actress Anne-Marie Duff will lead the cast in a new staging of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes by Olivier Award-winning director Lyndsey Turner.
The National Theatre has announced two new productions for its South Bank stages this autumn: the world premiere of Tanika Gupta’s A Tupperware of Ashes in the Dorfman theatre, and a new play by Alexander Zeldin inspired by Antigone called The Other Place in the Lyttelton theatre.
The 2024 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has been awarded to UK playwright Ava Pickett for her play 1536. Awarded annually since 1978, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is the largest and oldest international award recognizing women+ who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. See photos from inside the ceremony here.
A new production of Romeo and Juliet is headed to American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University this September! The production will be directed by A.R.T.’s Tony Award-winning Artistic Director Diane Paulus and feature movement direction and choreography by two-time Olivier Award winner Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.
Kwame Kwei-Armah has announced his final season at the Young Vic Theatre. His final production as Young Vic Artistic Director will be the world premiere of A Face in the Crowd, a new production based on the classic ‘50s Hollywood film, with music and lyrics by Elvis Costello and book by Sarah Ruhl. Learn more here!
The pure joy of theatre is its ability to constantly renew and surprise. For me, 2023 saw a plethora of excellent musicals. Notoriously hard to get right, this year seemed to feature both clever revivals and future successes, many of which remained in my thoughts long after I left the theatre.
I'm sure there will be more than a few sighs of relief down the corridors of the National Theatre at the deservedly raptuous reception for The Witches, the latest attempt to bring a hit show to the stage at this lucrative time of year. 'We're not women, we're hell' is not a line you would expect at a family show, but Lyndsey Turner's production combines exuberant fun, quick-witted comedy and a positive attitude towards death to produce an entralling, clever and incredibly funny production.
In an all new video, the cast of The Witches sing Get Up! from the new musical rendition of Roald Dahl's classic tale, playing in the Olivier Theatre from 7 November. Check out the video here!
Starting from this October half term the National Theatre will host The Witches Adventure Trail; a series of free activities for children inspired by its upcoming staged musical production of Roald Dahl's The Witches.