Royal Shakespeare Company News

This summer, Sir Trevor Nunn returns to his home town of Ipswich to direct William Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at the New Wolsey Theatre running from Thursday 16 June to Saturday 9 July 2016.

Next month, the Barbican devotes a whole weekend to 400th anniversary celebrations of the Bard. The centre's spaces will be filled with interactive workshops, talks, installations and performances, drawn from the worlds of theatre, dances, art and music across the UK. Artists will be giving their modern responses to Shakespeare's work, offering audiences a range of surprising and offbeat events.

The Met's new production of Puccini's MANON LESCAUT opens February 12 with Kristine Opolais as the seductive, tragic heroine and Roberto Alagna in a role debut as her ardent lover, the Chevalier des Grieux.

The West End transfer of Jessica Swale's new play NELL GWYNN, directed by Christopher Luscombe, opens tonight 12 February 2016.

?Lookingglass Theatre Company continues its 28th Season with Federico Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding, translated by Michael Dewell and Carmen Zapata, and directed by Ensemble Member Daniel Ostling. Blood Wedding runs March 2 - April 24, 2016 at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson.

Gulfshore Playhouse (www.GulfshorePlayhouse.org) - Southwest Florida's premier professional theatre - presents Ken Ludwig's MOON OVER BUFFALO, a madcap comedy from the author of The Fox on the Fairway and The Game's Afoot, scheduled for February 13 through March 13 at The Norris Center in Naples.

TIME Magazine's #1 Show of the Year, the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of MATILDA THE MUSICAL, is coming to Canada!  Produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Dodgers, MATILDA THE MUSICAL is presented in Toronto by David Mirvish as part of his 2015-16 Main Subscription Season. Performances begin Tuesday July 5 at the Ed Mirvish Theatre, with the media night scheduled for Thursday, July 7 at 6:45 PM.  Tickets will be available for performances until September 4, 2016.

The first show in Royal & Derngate's Shakespeare season is THE HERBAL BED, Peter Whelan's imagining of the life of William Shakespeare's daughter. The production runs now through 27 February 2016 before continuing on tour. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: Take cover! DISASTER! wrecks havoc on Broadway starting tonight, PRODIGAL SON opens at MTC, Janis Joplin heads out on tour and more!

Red Bull Theater today announced that their Twelfth Season will continue with Philip Massinger's The Roman Actor, directed by Louisa Proske, on Monday February 15th at 7:30 PM, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, between Bleecker and Hudson).  Featured in the cast will be Oberon Adjepong, Mamoudou Athie, Tina Benko, Clifton Duncan, Ben Horner, Jennifer Ikeda, Patrick Page, Paul Lazar, Carolyn Smith, Sam Underwood, Adina Verson, and more, with live music performed by percussionist Satoshi Takeishi.  Tickets may be purchased online at www.redbulltheater.com or by phone at (212) 352-3101.

Fifty years since opening as a groundbreaking new arts venue, London's Roundhouse has announced plans for a major anniversary year. The building, one of the most iconic performance spaces in the world and a state-of-the-art creative centre for young people, will mark three major anniversaries in 2016. In recognition of this momentous year they have announced the intention to add to the physical footprint of the building with a brand new campus as a centre of creative excellence for young people, continuing Sir Torquil Norman's original mission.

Following the sold-out success of the first two relaxed performances of Matilda The Musical in 2014 and 2015, the Royal Shakespeare Company will present a third relaxed performance at the Cambridge Theatre on Sunday 12th June at 3pm. This will be the seventh performance that the Royal Shakespeare Company has staged to date. The National Autistic Society and Mousetrap Theatre Projects will again work closely with the RSC, offering full access to the theatre for people with autism and learning disabilities.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) welcomes Oxford Playhouse's stirring SANCHO: AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE, starring celebrated Royal Shakespeare Company actor Paterson Joseph, as a part of the yearlong Shakespeare 400 Chicago celebration.

The West End transfer of Jessica Swale's new play NELL GWYNN, directed by Christopher Luscombe, begins tonight 4 February 2016.

The Old Globe presents the West Coast premiere of THE METROMANIACS by supremely clever playwright David Ives (All in the Timing, Time Flies). This uproarious new 'translaptation' of a classic French farce, Alexis Piron's La Metromanie, will be directed by one of America's most renowned stage directors, Michael Kahn, presented in association with Shakespeare Theatre Company.

The Citizens Theatre today announces its complete Spring 2016 Season, including a trilogy of new plays by Zinnie Harris, inspired by the epic Greek tragedy The Oresteia. The season also includes a new production of Frank McGuinness' classic play Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of The Somme and a new production of Beckett's iconic play Endgame featuring David Neilson and Chris Gascoyne.

Gulfshore Playhouse (www.GulfshorePlayhouse.org) - Southwest Florida's premier professional theatre - is pleased to announce the cast of its upcoming production of Ken Ludwig's Moon Over Buffalo, a madcap comedy from the author of The Fox on the Fairway and The Game's Afoot, scheduled for February 13 through March 13 at The Norris Center in Naples.

The Public Theater announced complete casting today for the New York premiere of HEAD OF PASSES, written by Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Tina Landau. Part of Oskar Eustis' 10th anniversary season, HEAD OF PASSES begins previews on Tuesday, March 15 in the Newman Theater and runs through Sunday, April 17, with an official press opening on Monday, March 28.

The Met's new production of Puccini's MANON LESCAUT opens February 12 with Kristine Opolais as the seductive, tragic heroine and Roberto Alagna in a role debut as her ardent lover, the Chevalier des Grieux.

This February, the Shakespeare Theatre Company presents William Shakespeare's Othello, helmed by internationally acclaimed director Ron Daniels and featuring stage and screen performer Faran Tahir in the titular role and Jonno Roberts as Iago. Director Ron Daniels, an honorary associate director at the Royal Shakespeare Company, brings his sure hand with Shakespeare to one of the Bard's greatest tragedies. Othello runs at STC's Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) from February 23 through March 27.