The Gate Theatre News

The National Youth Theatre today announces its 2019 Summer and Autumn Season which will feature an extended 7th annual REP season of three plays in London, brand new commissions staged in five cities across the UK and festival appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe, Latitude and Bradford Literature Festival. This is the first time the majority of NYT's summer / autumn season productions will be staged outside of London. Three NYT members have also been appointed as paid Centre Stage Creatives and have also been commissioned to build local NYT networks and create new work in towns around the UK.

Maxine Peake is to star in Julia Leigh's adaptation of her powerful memoir, Avalanche: A Love Story, at the Barbican from Saturday 27 April-Sunday 12 May. A prolific theatre, television and film actress Maxine Peake's career highlights include Black Mirror, Funny Cow,Red Riding, The Devil's Whore, The Theory of Everything, Peterloo, The Falling, Shameless and an extensive list of dramas for the BBC including The Village, Silk, Criminal Justice, Three Girls and most recently, The Bisexual.  Constantly looking for new challenges and surprising audiences she has played a range of provocative and award-winning characters, notably the title role in Hamlet at the Manchester Royal Exchange. As a writer, she has retold fascinating stories of women in British history who achieved greatness, or faced adversity, though her plays, Beryl, The Last Testament of Lillian Bilocca and Queens of the Coal Age. Avalanche: A Love Story marks her debut at the Barbican Theatre.

A bridge between reality and fiction, Edith Alibec's multi award-winning adaptation of Aglaja Veteranyi's autobiographical book, Why the Child is Cooking in the Polenta, comes to the UK. A fascinating and endlessly imaginative show, it follows a family of circus artists who flee the Communist regime in Romania during the 1960s in search of fame and glory in the West, in the hope of establishing a better life.

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre have today confirmed the full Creative Team behind Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Our Town. Launching their 2019 season on 16 May, designer Rosie Elnile joins the already announced director, Ellen McDougall. Also confirmed are Sasha Milavic Davies (Movement Director), Orlando Gough (Composer), Lizzie Powell (Lighting Designer), Tom Gibbons (Sound Designer) and David Ridley (Musical Director). Casting is by Jacob Sparrow and Barbara Houseman is Season Associate Director (Voice and Text).

Corrib Theatre presents Sonya Kelly's How to Keep an Alien, directed by Gemma Whelan, a comedy-filled play about two women falling in love and battling the international red tape that's working to keep them apart. The production features Sara Hennessy as Sonya Kelly, with Amy Katrina Bryan on stage as herself, the stage manager. How to Keep an Alien runs for four weeks, April 12 through May 5, at New Expressive Works, 810 SE Belmont St., in Portland, Oregon.

Red Bridge Arts & Traverse Theatre Company's BLACK BEAUTY, a "five-star triumph" (The Guardian), gallops into the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts with a story of hope, friendship and courage from Friday, April 26 to Sunday, May 5, 2019, in The Wallis's Lovelace Studio Theater. Created by Andy Manley, Andy Cannon and Shona Reppe, this re-telling blends storytelling, music and puppetry, offering fun and adventure for fans of the book, the UK's classic TV show and those brand new to the tale. From the cozy horsebox they call home, Andy and Andy take the bit firmly between their teeth to weave the classic tale, as it has never been seen before. The production, which includes audience engagement, is recommended for families with kids ages 5 and older.

Leicester's Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome today announce the full casting for their co-production of Oprah Winfrey's hit Broadway musical, The Color Purple, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker. The production, the first to be created outside of London in the UK, will play at Curve, Leicester from 28th June 13th July, followed by 16th 20th July at Birmingham Hippodrome, with a national press night at Curve on Wednesday 3rd July at 7pm.

The fifth edition of the Shubbak Festival starts on the 28th June bringing exciting, bold, poignant and urgent work by Arab artists questioning the norm to London's stages, concert halls, cinemas, outdoor locations, galleries and museums.

We are a small community. The happiness of our children is everything. Our hopes and dreams rest in these tiny souls.

Travis Alabanza is a performance artist based in London. They are known for their solo show Burgerz and their LGBTQ+ rights activism. Travis spoke to BroadwayWorld about their involvement in the upcoming production of The Ridiculous Darkness at the Gate Theatre:

Maxine Peake will play the lead role in Julia Leigh's adaptation of her powerful memoir, Avalanche: A Love Story, at the Roslyn Packer Theatre this August. A prolific theatre, television and film actress Maxine Peake's career highlights include Black Mirror, Funny Cow, Red Riding, The Devil's Whore,The Theory of Everything, Peterloo, The Falling, Shameless and an extensive list of dramas for the BBC including The Village, Silk, Criminal Justice, Three Girls and most recently, The Bisexual.  Constantly looking for new challenges and surprising audiences she has played a range of provocative and award-winning characters, most notably the title role in Hamlet at the Manchester Royal Exchange.

The Donmar Warehouse's sold-out production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sweat by Lynn Nottage will transfer to London's Gielgud Theatre for a limited 6 week run from Friday 7 June 2019.

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.

Daniel Schumann, Lee Dean and Cambridge Arts Theatre in association with Birmingham Rep today announce the additional venue of Rose Theatre Kingston to the successful UK tour of Rebus: Long Shadows. 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 will tour to a further six cities, starting this week in Glasgow from 29 January. Then visiting Cardiff, Cambridge and Newcastle, Bath before completing its run in Kingston on 16 March.

Deafinitely Youth Company today announces Carl Grose's Gargantua as their youth production, which will run twice on 23February. Directed by Rachael Merry, the production will be open to Deafinitely Youth Company family members.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents the West Coast premiere of the roof-raising musical play Marie and Rosetta. Developed at TheatreWorks' 2015 New Works Festival by Lucille Lortel Award-winner George Brant, Marie and Rosetta shares the saga of a musical legend. From stirring up churchgoers in the morning to rocking the Cotton Club at night, Sister Rosetta Tharpe inspired Elvis, Ray Charles, and more on her way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Growing competition on the 1940s Gospel Circuit finds Rosetta auditioning a new partner with a voice made from heaven. Will they break, blend, or find harmony at last?

The Donmar Warehouse today announces the extension, due to exceptional demand, for Lynette Linton's acclaimed production of Sweat by Lynn Nottage. The production will now be booking for performances until Saturday 2 February 2019.

Stephen Daldry ('The Crown,' Billy Elliot, The Inheritance) directs his National Theatre of Great Britain's landmark production of J.B. Priestley's classic thriller An Inspector Calls, hailed as the theatrical event of its generation and winner of an unprecedented number of awards, including three Olivier's, four Tony's and seven Drama Desk Awards, with an exclusive West Coast engagement at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts from Tuesday, January 22 to Sunday, February 10, 2019.

The Donmar Warehouse presents Lynette Linton's production of Sweat by Lynn Nottage. Casting includes Leanne Best, Patrick Gibson, Osy Ikhile, Wil Johnson, Stuart McQuarrie, Clare Perkins, Martha Plimpton, Sule Rimi and Sebastian Viveros.

Deafinitely Theatre today announces the Spring and Summer 2019 acting workshops for their theatre training course for deaf artists, The Hub. The workshops include Visual Vernacular, Comedy, Movement and Stage Combat and aim to equip participants for mainstream arts employment through structured, accessible and professional theatre training.