Sky Arts News

Artistic Directors of Paines Plough James Grieve and George Perrin today announced the company's Programme 2019, marking the final season from the pair who will step down later this year after nearly a decade at the helm.

It was announced today that the BAFTA award-winning actor Nicholas Lyndhurst and West End star Cassidy Janson have joined Kelsey Grammer and Danielle de Niese in the acclaimed musical Man of La Mancha which opens at the London Coliseum on 26 April 2019.

Blackhorse Workshop will transform a disused school building in Leyton Sports Ground into ghost factory 'ATOMIC 50' for London Borough of Culture 2019. In collaboration with acclaimed performance artist Abigail Conway (Party Skills for the End of the World, MIF and Border - A VR Ride, Sky Arts) and set designer Soraya Gilanni Viljoen, Blackhorse Workshop will create an experiential installation that will inspire children age 7 - 11 and celebrate Waltham Forest's heritage as a centre for manufacturing and metalworking. The Borough was home to leading toy companies Britains and Wells Brimtoy during the 1930-1960s where some of the world's most collectible tin toys were made.

Kafka's most famous story of a man who inexplicably finds himself transformed into a beetle will be getting a fresh adaptation from Bath-based company Beyond The Horizon. In a modern day setting and told with stunning visuals, provided by TV and film makeup artist Sarah Luscombe, the production probes our understanding of how perception shapes our interactions, and the pressures on families taking care of a person who is in some way debilitated. Gregor's metamorphosis will be shown in ultra-realistic detail through state-of-the-art makeup and prosthetics.

The Russell Howard Hour has been commissioned for a further series three and four whist the second series is currently on air until Thursday 28th February on Sky One. The first series of the topical entertainment show, which sees Russell Howard offer his unique and acclaimed perspective on news and current affairs, was the most successful new non-scripted entertainment series to launch on the channel since 2010 and had over 100 million views across social media. The third, fourteen-part series (14 x 60') will go into production in autumn 2019.

Sonia Friedman Productions and Fox Stage Productions have today announced a live cinema broadcast for All About Eve. The world premiere of Ivo van Hove's highly anticipated stage adaptation of the 1950 Twentieth Century Fox film and the play 'The Wisdom of Eve' by Mary Orr will be broadcast on 11th April 2019 by NT Live. NT Live screens to 2,500 venues across 65 countries including 700 cinemas in the UK.

The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance will present the exclusive U.S. presentation of Akram Khan's Giselle, English National Ballet's 2017 Olivier Award winner, running  for four performances, February 28 - March 2, 2019 at the Harris Theater in Chicago.

Shakespeare's Globe has announced the full cast for Christopher Marlowe's Edward II, directed by Nick Bagnall, and for Tom Stuart's new play After Edward, directed by Brendan O'Hea.

The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson, the explosive new Brexit-inspired comedy drama from journalist and playwright Jonathan Maitland (An Audience with Jimmy Savile, Dead Sheep), directed by Lotte Wakeham (in-coming Artistic Director of the Octagon Theatre, Bolton) will have its World Premiere at Park Theatre from 9 May - 8 June 2019, with a press night on 13 May.

EMILY ATACK (The Inbetweeners, Dad's Army, I'm a Celebrity) will hit the road in Spring 2019 with her debut comedy show Talk Thirty To Me, a live memoir of anecdotes, impressions and tales of a comedy actor in her twenties. Emily will unravel today's anxiety-inducing world of scrolling through social media, swiping right and left, slimming apps, and the never-ending search for 'the one'. Her debut tour promises to be a truly hilarious, tongue-in-cheek look at 'having it all' and turning 30 in the millennial age.

POTTED POTTER, a Harry Potter parody play by Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, returns to Houston, this time starring Brendan Murphy and Scott Hoatson.

The South Bank Show returns to Sky Arts this November with a sensational line-up of exclusive interviews, showcasing six brilliant women from across the arts: comedian Tracey Ullman, soul singer Beverley Knight, opera star Danielle de Niese, theatre producer Sonia Friedman, publishing powerhouse Gail Rebuck and a special show highlighting the importance of the arts in education, featuring 2018 Global Teacher Prize winner, Andria Zafirakou. 

Written by and starring Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan, Catastrophe has received universal critical acclaim and a raft of awards since launching in 2015.  All three series have a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (representing the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or TV show) while series three launched on Channel 4 in 2017 to its biggest audience to date.

Pilot Theatre, in co-production with Derby Theatre, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Mercury Theatre, Colchester and York Theatre Royal announce full casting for the premiere of Sabrina Mahfouz'snew adaptation of Malorie Blackman's critically acclaimed young adult novel of first love in a dangerous fictional dystopia - Noughts & Crosses.

Michael Linnit and Michael Grade - the producers who brought Chess, Carousel, Sunset Boulevard and Sweeney Todd to the London Coliseum - are collaborating again with English National Opera to bring a brand new production of the multi-Tony award winning Broadway musical, Man of La Mancha to London, the first West End production of this acclaimed musical in over 50 years.

John Berry CBE is proud today to announce Scenario Two, a brand-new commercial theatre venture created with fellow creative industries heavyweight Anthony Lilley OBE, with support from Stephen Garrett and Max Hole CBE.

Award winning UK soul singer and songwriter Beverley Knight is celebrating an incredible 25 years in music next year. To mark the anniversary Knight has announced her first ever full concert with a symphony orchestra at London's Royal Festival Hall on Thursday May 23rd 2019. The concert will feature specially arranged versions of many of the singer's dozen strong Top 40 hits as well as other songs associated with her celebrated career, taking in her Olivier Award nominated foray into Musical Theatre, along with some duets and musical surprises.

The play will be shown from March 21, 2019 until March 24, 2019. 

Comedian Dom Joly, actress Beverley Callard, TV presenter Alison Hammond, comedian Steve Punt and actor Philip Franks will star as The Narrator in the 2018/9 UK tour of The Rocky Horror Show. The five stars will take to the stage to perform the iconic role at various moments during the new national tour of the show, which opens at Theatre Royal Brighton this December and then travels across the country until November 2019. More celebrity narrators will be announced over the coming months.

Award Winning Comedian and Poet Rob Auton To Embark On Biggest Nationwide Tour to Date With Edinburgh Festival Fringe Critical Hit