Sam Holcroft News

National Sawdust embarks on its sophomore season with a fresh commitment to being a leading incubator of new work. This season National Sawdust presents or produces ten operatic projects.

Casting was announced today for the HighTide production of Al Smith's debut play Harrogate. Nigel Lindsay joins Sarah Ridgeway, who starred in the original production at HighTide Festival 2015, for the London premiere at the Royal Court Theatre from 20 - 29 October and UK Tour. Richard Twyman, the newly appointed Artistic Director of English Touring Theatre, returns to direct Harrogate, which had an acclaimed sell-out run at the influential annual HighTide Festival in Aldeburgh, Suffolk.  

Soho Theatre, HighTide and Talawa Theatre Company present Theresa Ikoko's award-winning new play Girls, the funny and fiercely passionate new play by award-winning playwright Theresa Ikoko will premiere at HighTide Festival 2016 in September before its London premiere at Soho Theatre on 27 September. The production will also run at Birmingham Rep Theatre in between those dates.

In celebration of Roald Dahl Day, which will mark Roald Dahl's 100th birthday on 13 September, producing partners Nuffield and Curve in association with Lyric Hammersmith, today announced a major UK tour of Roald Dahl's FANTASTIC MR FOX, in a brand new musical adaptation for the stage. Following its world premiere at Nuffield Southampton Theatres this Christmas (22 Nov - 8 Jan. National Press Night: Wed 30 November, 7pm), FANTASTIC MR FOX will transfer to the Lyric Hammersmith for a 4-week run (25 Jan - 19 Feb) and will then tour to a further 16 venues nationwide, including Curve (3 - 9 April). This brand new family show is a playful re-telling of Roald Dahl's much-loved book; a brilliantly witty tale of the clever Mr Fox outfoxing three greedy farmers, brought to life on stage with live music and songs. Tickets are now on sale.

Actor and musician Ryan Molloy won praise for his roles in Jerry Springer: The Opera, Taboo, Godspell and On the Town, but he's best known for playing Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys for a record-breaking six years in the West End and on Broadway. He's now working in the rather more intimate Cockpit Theatre, where he stars in the world premiere of Sam Cassidy's rock musical 27, helmed by Arlene Phillips, which begins previews on 8 September.

Soho Theatre, HighTide and Talawa Theatre Company present Theresa Ikoko's award-winning new play Girls, the funny and fiercely passionate new play by award-winning playwright Theresa Ikoko will premiere at HighTide Festival 2016 in September before its London premiere at Soho Theatre on 27 September. The production will also run at Birmingham Rep Theatre in between those dates.

Astronauts. Regrets. The sexes. Social Media. Hipsters. Poo. Rage. Medicine. Manners. Identity. Lost stuff. Other stuff.

?Nuffield, Southampton's leading professional producing company, today announced their new 2016 Autumn season which boasts two world premieres; a major new musical adaptation of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr Fox and a brand new play, dramatising Shakespeare's mysterious relationship with his patron, the 3rd Earl of Southampton.

Ahead of revealing its full tenth anniversary programme on 15 March, HighTide has announced today that, alongside the Arcola Theatre, they will present a brand new play by Anders Lustgarten. The play will run at the Arcola from 7th April before opening HighTide Festival in September.

Nottage's new play is based on interview with residents of Reading, Pennsylvania, which was named the nation's poorest city in 2012,

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, the oldest and largest prize awarded to women playwrights.

The Royal Court has worked with a group of 12 writers from Syria and Lebanon over the last two years with workshops supported by the British Council in Broumana and Beirut. These workshops have been led by playwrights David Greig, Sam Holcroft and Royal Court International Director Elyse Dodgson. Excerpts from all of the plays were presented at Al Madina Theatre in Beirut in May 2015 directed by Richard Twyman.

The UK premiere production of FORGET ME NOT by Tom Holloway, starring Eleanor Bron, Russell Floyd, Sarah Ridgeway and Sargon Yelda, and directed by HighTide Festival Theatre's Artistic Director Steven Atkinson, opens tonight 11 December and runs through 16 January 2016 in a co-production between the Bush Theatre and HighTide Festival Theatre.

The UK premiere production of FORGET ME NOT by Tom Holloway stars Eleanor Bron, Russell Floyd, Sarah Ridgeway and Sargon Yelda. The production, directed by HighTide Festival Theatre's Artistic Director Steven Atkinson, previews from tonight 8 December (press night 11 December) and runs through 16 January 2016 in a co-production between the Bush Theatre and HighTide Festival Theatre.

The cast for the UK premiere production of FORGET ME NOT by Tom Holloway is announced today! The complete cast is Eleanor Bron, Russell Floyd, Sarah Ridgeway and Sargon Yelda. The production, directed by HighTide Festival Theatre's Artistic Director Steven Atkinson, previews from 08 December (press night 11 December) and runs through 16 January 2016 in a co-production between the Bush Theatre and HighTide Festival Theatre.

MOTHER and daughter Kimberley and Elisabeth Shaw have united to direct a show at Playlovers Theatre this September - and it also features Kimberley's youngest daughter Stephanie in the production. Written by Sam Holcroft, The Wardrobe is set over a 530-year period and tells the stories of various young people who seek refuge or comfort in the same wardrobe between 1485 and 2015. Check out photos from the show below!

The inner workings of a family just after the end of World War II are explored in Playlovers' latest offering, Following The Black Sheep, making its debut in September. Written by Perth playwright Yvette Wall and directed Campbell Greenock, the play is set in 1946 and focuses on Jack who, haunted by his past, returns home from the war to stay with his sister Shirley and her family. Check out photos from the show below!

American Theater Company announces a new partnership with The Araca Group (Broadway producers of Urinetown, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, The Wedding Singer, Lend Me a Tenor, and A View From the Bridge, among others) in the development of new American plays in Chicago. The two organizations will partner to produce AracaWorks: Chicago, a weekend of readings of world premiere American plays from August 7-9, 2014 in Chicago. One of the three plays will receive a year of development, including a workshop production the following summer at ATC.

EDGAR AND ANNABEL by Sam Holcroft, now making its US Premiere at Studio Theatre's 2nd Stage as the kick-off of its New British Invasion series, evokes as many meanings and sub-meanings as this wildly funny political satire can bear.

The 65th annual Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, under the leadership of General Manager Bernard Foccroulle, will feature five opera productions, a selection of orchestral concerts, recitals, chamber music performances, world music programs, and more than 50 events from the 16th annual European Academy of Music. The Festival marks important milestones this year: Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner's 200th birthday anniversaries; Benjamin Britten's centennial; the 50th anniversary of Francis Poulenc's death; and celebrates Marseille-Provence 2013, European Cultural Capital for the year. All events unfold in extraordinary venues, many of them open-air, in and around the picturesque ancient Provencal city: a Medieval archbishop's palace, an 18th century Italian-style theatre, a private courtyard hidden behind doors dating back to the time of Louis XV, and an 11th century Romanesque chapel inside the grounds of a Renaissance castle - as well as a state of the art, 1,350-seat theatre. The official portion of the Festival runs from July 4 to 27, 2013.