Michael Frayn News

A new production of Johann Strauss Jr.'s New Year's Eve classic, the comedic operetta Die Fledermaus, will open at the Met on December 31. Jeremy Sams, writer and creator of the Met's Baroque pasticheThe Enchanted Island, makes his company debut as director with the new staging, which is set in Vienna at the turn of the 20thcentury. Sams also contributes new lyrics for Strauss's work, which will be performed entirely in English; Tony Award-nominated playwright Douglas Carter Beane makes his Met debut with new dialogue. Adam Fischer conducts a cast of rising opera stars and Broadway performers. The cast is led by Susanna Phillips and Christopher Maltman as the unhappily married Rosalinde and Eisenstein; Jane Archibald as Rosalinde's feisty maid, Adele; Anthony Roth Costanzo as Prince Orlofsky; Michael Fabiano as Rosalinde's former lover, Alfred; Paulo Szot as the bumbling Dr. Falke; and Patrick Carfizzi as the prison superintendent, Frank. Broadway stars Danny Burstein and Betsy Wolfe make Met debuts as the drunken jailer, Frosch, and Adele's sister, Ida. Robert Jones is set and costume designer for the production, with lighting design by Jennifer Schriever and choreography by Stephen Mear in their Met debuts.

Michael Frayn's farce-within-a-farce is simply the funniest play ever written by a human, and it's so good that even high schoolers can get surefire laughs with it. Put this script in the hands of talented professionals, however, who can find laughs beyond what's written on paper, and you've got an evening so stuffed with laughter that you'd better prepare yourself to ache from all the funny.

Jemma Redgrave will play 'Lady Driver', Jason Durr will play 'Quine' and Jamie Glover will play 'Headingley' whenMichael Frayn's classic comedy, Donkeys' Years comes to Rose Theatre Kingston in 2014. This sparkling revival, which will open on the 6 February, will be directed by Lisa Spirling, making a return to the Rose following her acclaimed production of Michael Frayn's Here in 2012.

According to the Daily Mail, Jemma Redgrave is set to play 'Lady Driver' in Michael Frayn's DONKEYS' YEARS in its run at the Rose Theatre, Kingston, beginning on February 6, 2014.

English Touring Theatre announced today that Alan Bennett's internationally renowned play The History Boys has been voted the Nation's Favourite Play.

English Touring Theatre announced today that Alan Bennett's internationally renowned play The History Boys has been voted the Nation's Favourite Play.

Third Rail Repertory Theatre Presents: Noises Off by Michael Frayn, Directed by Scott Yarbrough* at Winningstad Theatre, PCPA, 1111 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205.

Hampstead Downstairs/The Peter Wolff Trust Present FAULT LINES by Ali Taylor. Directed by Lisa Spirling and designed by Polly Sullivan, the production is set to run today, 5 December 2013 - 4 January 2014. Natalie Dew, Samuel James, Alex Lawther and Nichola McAuliffe play the staff of a small relief charity in Taylor's sharp new comedy, which gives the expression 'having a disastrous Christmas' a whole new meaning.

Front Foot Theatre presents THE SEAGULL, written by Anton Chekhov and translated by Michael Frayn, from tonight, Dec 3-22 at White Bear Theatre.

Returning to the London stage for the first time in nearly 40 years the inimitable Angela Lansbury reunites with acclaimed director Michael Blakemore to reprise her Tony award-winning Broadway performance as Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit. Opening at the Gielgud Theatre on 18 March 2014, with previews from 1 March, this new production of Noel Coward's sharp comedy of social mores will also star Janie Dee and Charles Edwards.

Talk Is Free Theatre has announced principal casting and creative teams for the first three productions of the current season. Some of Canada's most renowned artists are scheduled to appear, with additional casting announcements expected to follow at a later date.

Michael Frayn's uproarious play-within-a-play follows the on- and off-stage antics of the members of a mediocre touring company as they blunder from an ominously bad dress rehearsal to a spectacularly disastrous performance. BroadwayWorld has a first look at Milwaukee Rep's NOISES OFF cast in action below!

Called 'the funniest farce ever written' by the New York Post, Michael Frayn's uproarious play-within-a-play follows the on- and off-stage antics of the members of a mediocre touring company as they blunder from an ominously bad dress rehearsal to a spectacularly disastrous performance. The perfect show for the holiday season, Noises Off is a hysterical romp packed full of a side-splitting collection of forgotten cues, missed connections and backstage hilarity! Written by playwright Michael Frayn, Noises Off will be directed by KJ Sanchez, who returns to The Rep after directing last year's luminous production of The Diary of Anne Frank. The production features Rep Associate Artists Jonathan Gillard Daly, Laura Gordon, Gerard Neugent and Deborah Staples, frequent guest actor Kelley Faulkner, Chicago-based actors Aaron Christensen and Joe Dempsey and Rep Acting Interns Joe Boersma and Sara Zientek. Noises Off runs in The Rep's Quadracci Powerhouse from tonight, November 19 - December 22 and opens Friday, November 22.

In this humorous allegory for the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Anna, an unmarried schoolteacher, is diagnosed with ATD (Acquired Toilet Disease). It's fatal and mysterious, so she and her brother Carl take off for a dream tour of Europe before the inevitable happens. As Anna drowns herself in the sensuality of food and sex, Carl becomes involved in a wild Third Mannish espionage scheme to find a cure for his sister. But the cracks in the story start to widen and soon the audience becomes aware that they are engaged in Anna's fantasy attempt at keeping her brother's spirit alive when she cannot save his life.

Talk Is Free Theatre has announced principal casting and creative teams for the first three productions of the current season. Some of Canada's most renowned artists are scheduled to appear, with additional casting announcements expected to follow at a later date.

Front Foot Theatre presents THE SEAGULL, written by Anton Chekhov and translated by Michael Frayn, from Dec 3-22 at White Bear Theatre. Some desire love. Some desire success. Some desire artistic genius. This is not a play about right or wrong; it is an honest portrayal of the agonies of love and art and the comic tragedies born of this struggle. In his seminal work, Chekhov lays bear the insecurities and blinding desires of a colourful cross section of Russian society which still evokes resonant parallels with today's wants and needs.

Hampstead Downstairs/The Peter Wolff Trust Present FAULT LINES by Ali Taylor. Directed by Lisa Spirling and designed by Polly Sullivan, the production is set to run 5 December 2013 - 4 January 2014. Natalie Dew, Samuel James, Alex Lawther and Nichola McAuliffe play the staff of a small relief charity in Taylor's sharp new comedy, which gives the expression 'having a disastrous Christmas' a whole new meaning.

Third Rail Repertory Theatre Presents: Noises Off by Michael Frayn, Directed by Scott Yarbrough* at Winningstad Theatre, PCPA, 1111 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97205.

Called "the funniest farce ever written" by the New York Post, Michael Frayn's uproarious play-within-a-play follows the on- and off-stage antics of the members of a mediocre touring company as they blunder from an ominously bad dress rehearsal to a spectacularly disastrous performance. The perfect show for the holiday season, Noises Off is a hysterical romp packed full of a side-splitting collection of forgotten cues, missed connections and backstage hilarity! Written by playwright Michael Frayn, Noises Off will be directed by KJ Sanchez, who returns to The Rep after directing last year's luminous production of The Diary of Anne Frank. The production features Rep Associate Artists Jonathan Gillard Daly, Laura Gordon, Gerard Neugent and Deborah Staples, frequent guest actor Kelley Faulkner, Chicago-based actors Aaron Christensen and Joe Dempsey and Rep Acting Interns Joe Boersma and Sara Zientek. Noises Off runs in The Rep's Quadracci Powerhouse from November 19 - December 22 and opens Friday, November 22.

Today the Rose Theatre Kingston announced its 2014 Season. 2014 will see the theatre continue to produce Rose Productions as well as embarking on new and exciting partnerships, sharing skills and resources with other theatre companies and venues to create top quality theatre. Visiting companies including Propeller and the Royal Shakespeare Company, touring family productions and one night events complete the season.