Rona Munro News

A busy autumn winter 2019/20 season has been announced at Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, with brilliant musicals, gripping plays and exciting one night shows.

Parity Productions, the New York based theatre company dedicated to producing new work and filling at least 50% of the creative positions (playwrights, directors, and designers) with women and/or trans and gender nonconforming (TCNG) artists, is pleased to announce its selection to the 2019/2020 Season of Next Door at New York Theatre Workshop for its world premiere production of Mirrors by 2018 Parity Commission Winner Azure D. Osborne-Lee, to be directed by Parity's Founder and Artistic Director, Ludovica Villar-Hauser.

With summer now almost upon us, the Belgrade Theatre Coventry is getting ready for an exciting new season, with classic drama, musicals, opera, live music and more lined up for Autumn/Winter 2019.

Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) have just announced the American premiere of the London Theatre Company (Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr) production of My Name is Lucy Barton starring Laura Linney (Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes, 'Ozark'), by Elizabeth Strout (Olive Kitteridge), adapted by Rona Munro (The James Trilogy), and directed by Richard Eyre (The Crucible, Notes on a Scandal) as part of Manhattan Theatre Club's upcoming 2019-2020 season. The New York production will be produced in association with Penguin Random House Audio.

Selling millions of copies and adapted into a 2001 film, Louis de Bernieres' epic wartime novel, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, is a literary tour de force. Now inventively, if not entirely faithfully, adapted for the stage by Rona Munro, it begins its new incarnation at the Rose Theatre.

Based on the best-selling novel by Louis de Bernieres, CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN is adapted by Evening Standard Award-winner and Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominee Rona Munro and is directed by Olivier and Tony Award nominee Melly Still.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) are pleased to announce the complete casting for the world premiere of Continuity, the new play by Lortel and Drama Desk Award nominee Bess Wohl (Small Mouth Sounds, American Hero) and directed by Tony Award nominee Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown; Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812). The production will feature Max Baker (1984, The Explorers Club), Jasmine Batchelor (The River), Rosal Colon ('Orange is the New Black,' Between Riverside and Crazy), Curran Connor (Pidgeon, A Picture of Autumn), Garcia ('Tales of the City'), Darren Goldstein (Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes, The Madrid), Alex Hurt (Cardinal, The Whirligig) and Megan Ketch (The Big Wedding, 'American Gothic').

Parity Productions, the New York based theatre company dedicated to producing new work and filling at least 50% of the creative positions (playwrights, directors, and designers) with women and/or trans and gender nonconforming (TCNG) artists, opened Charlie's Waiting by Inaugural Parity Commission Winner Melisa Annis on March 31 at Theaterlab (357 W 36th St, New York, NY 10018) hosted by TLab Shares. Charlie's Waiting is playing an extended run of 21 performances now through April 20. The cast is led by Tony nominee Xanthe Elbrick (Broadway: Coram Boy, Candida), and features Stephanie Heitman (A Snowfall in Berlin), and Amy Scanlon (Balladeers Play to the Moon) and is directed by Parity Productions Artistic Director, Ludovica Villar Hauser. 

Following its world premiere at The Lowry, Salford in May, a sold-out run at as part of Traverse Festival 2018 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and a London transfer to Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Other Palace where it is set to play from the 4th April - 3rd August, it is today announced that Nigel Slater's Toast will then tour the UK. Launching at Huddersfield's Lawrence Batley Theatre on 19 August, where the play's writer Henry Filloux-Bennett has recently been appointed Chief Executive, the run will conclude its run at the Crewe Lyceum on 7 December. For a full list of dates, please see the tour list below.

Louis de Bernieres' novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin, about the German occupation of the Mediterranean during World War Two, was a smash hit when it came out in 1994, selling millions of copies and spawning a Hollywood film adaptation. Now, Captain Corelli's Mandolin is coming to stages across the UK, with a new script by playwright Rona Munro.  Alex Mugnaioni, who stars as Captain Corelli, tells us what he loved about the book, and why the play is so important today. 

Drama lovers are in for a particular treat with this season. Renowned and innovative company Out Of Joint will make their first visit to The Marlowe with their production of Andrea Dunbar's seminal 1980s play Rita, Sue And Bob Too (Wednesday 24 to Saturday 27 April).

A new theatrical adaptation of Mary Shelley's seminal 1818 gothic horror novel Frankenstein is set to depict Shelley onstage, as she unfolds her monstrous tale of creature and creator. Adapted by award-winning writer Rona Munro and co-produced by leading company Selladoor (in the company's tenth anniversary year), Matthew Townshend Productions, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, and Perth Theatre at Horsecross Arts, the production will tour nationwide from 2 September - 30 November 2019. Further dates and casting are yet to be announced.

Following its world premiere at The Lowry, Salford, in May and a sold-out run at as part of Traverse Festival 2018 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, casting is today announced for the critically acclaimed stage adaption of Nigel Slater's best-selling memoirs Toast as the show prepares to make its London transfer. Toast opens at The Other Palace on 4th April 2019, with Giles Cooper cast in the role of Nigel Slater.

Parity Productions, the New York based theater company dedicated to producing new work and filling at least 50% of the creative positions (playwrights, directors, and designers) with women and/or trans and gender nonconforming (TCNG) artists, has announced the full cast and crew for their world premiere production of Charlie's Waiting by Melisa Annis, Parity's 2017 Commission Winner, as well as an extension of the run. Charlie's Waiting will now play March 28 through April 20 at Theaterlab (357 W 36th St, New York, NY 10018) hosted by TLab Shares. The cast is led by Tony nominee Xanthe Elbrick (Broadway: Coram Boy, Candida), and features Stephanie Heitman (A Snowfall in Berlin), and Amy Scanlon (Balladeers Play to the Moon) and is directed by Parity Productions Artistic Director, Ludovica Villar Hauser. 

Manhattan Theatre Club announces the lineup for the 2019 Ted Snowdon Reading Series.

The Traverse Theatre's past, present and future centre on the showcase of the brightest and most adventurous playwrights from Scotland and beyond. With each new season, we invite you to get under the skin of new writing in all of its forms, exploring the journey from page to stage, and experiencing exciting stories as they unfold for the first time.

Northern Broadsides has announced that Laurie Sansom will succeed Conrad Nelson as Artistic Director and CEO in June this year.

Daniel Schumann, Lee Dean and Cambridge Arts Theatre in association with Birmingham Repertory Theatre today present the UK tour of Rebus: Long Shadows due to public demand. The production written exclusively for the stage by author of the original novels, Ian Rankin and playwright Rona Munro toured from September to November 2018, and in 2019 will tour to a further five cities - Glasgow from 29 January, then visiting Cardiff, Cambridge and Newcastle, before completing its run in Bath on 9 March.

Detective Inspector John Rebus is retired but the shadows of his former life still follow him through the streets of Edinburgh. Whisky helped but now he's denying himself that pleasure. But when the daughter of a murder victim appears outside his flat, he's back on the case and off the wagon.