Theatre Royal Stratford East News

Rising stars from the West Midlands are set to shine in a powerful new drama from Mandala Theatre Company, coming to the Belgrade Theatre this spring for its only local tour dates. Running in Coventry on 17 and 18 May, Aitha Sen Gupta's Castaways poses urgent questions about how young people in the UK relate to their communities today, against a backdrop of ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

tackroom theatre today announces full casting for the world premiere production, Why is the Sky Blue? (Or How to Make Slime). Abbey Wright directs Tiani Hoath, Marina Marchevska, Louis Holley, Oscar Bennett, Gracie Weldon, Reuel Guzman, Osian Thompson, Violet Tucker?Steel, Hal Gordon, Lewis Elliot, Harrison Slater, Sophie Alibert, Jamal Simon, Zachary Hing, Millie Thew, Michael Sookhan, Ruby Ablett, Annie Hawkins and Corey Peterson. Devised by the company around a collection of interviews with children from around the UK, it opens in The Little at Southwark Playhouse on 1 May, with previews from 26 April and runs until 19 May.

Boasting a stellar international cast, this acclaimed show tells the story of the first racially-desegregated jazz club in New York - Cafe Society, which opened in Greenwich Village 80 years ago, in December 1938. It will play the historic Theatre Royal Stratford East from Tuesday 5 June to Saturday 16 June.

Romance of the Rose Productions announces the first casting for the new West End musical Knights of the Rose. Directed by Racky Plews and created by Jennifer Marsden, Knights of the Rose opens on 29th June for 9 weeks only at The Arts Theatre. Leading the noble Knights is Adam Pearce (King Aethelstan) who is joined by Chris Cowley (Palamon), Oliver Saville (Hugo), Rebecca Bainbridge (Queen Matilda / Bess), Rebekah Lowings (Isabel), Matt Thorpe (Horatio), Ruben Van keer (John), Katie Birtill (Hannah) and Bleu Woodward (Emily). Ian Gareth-Jones, Kelly Hampson and Tom Bales make up the ensemble.

In a fractured and divided city, two men meet to recreate the killings of a famous gay serial killer - for their own pleasure...and the right price.

Louise Jameson is to star with recent graduate Thomas Mahy making his London stage debut in Philip Ridley's Vincent River. 

Artistic Director of Theatre Royal Stratford East, Nadia Fall, today announces her inaugural season, beginning this September.

East London's dynamic duo Ashley J and Tee J present their hit show - ACTing Up at RichMix, Shoreditch on Thursday 26 April at 7.30pm

Mercury Theatre Colchester and TBO Productions today announce full casting for the world premiere of their brand-new musical - Pieces of String, with book, music and lyrics by Gus Gowland. Ryan McBryde directs Carol Starks (Jane), Andy Coxon (Ed), Marilyn Cutts (Rose), Ella Dunlop (Gemma), Lauren Hall (Anna), Joel Harper-Jackson (Tom), Craig Mather (Edward) and Gary Wood (Harry). Open auditions were held in Colchester to cast Young Rose, and the part will be alternated by three young people local to the theatre. Pieces of String, designed by 2017 Linbury Prize Finalist Fin Redshaw, opens on 27 April at the Mercury, with previews from 20 April and runs until 5 May.

This March the world premiere of a brand new musical from Barlow & Smith starring Tiffany Graves (Chicago, Sweet Charity, West End) and Evelyn Hoskins (Carrie, Southwark Playhouse, Peter and the Starcatcher, Royal & Derngate, Mrs Henderson Presents) comes to VAULT Festival for a strictly limited run directed by Adam Lenson (Superhero, Songs for a New World)

Female Parts Shorts: A Woman Alone, The Immigrant and A Mother is a collection of short plays directed by Karena Johnson, Artistic Director of Hoxton Hall. Johnson directs Gehane Strehler in A Woman Alone, Clare Perkins in The Immigrant and Rebecca Saire in A Mother. The three monologues are performed in sequence, opening on Thursday 15 March, with previews from Tuesday 13 March, running until Saturday 31 March.

Nuffield Southampton Theatres, Theatr Clwyd and English Touring Theatre today announce casting for their co-production of Tennessee Williams' masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire. 2017 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award winner Chelsea Walker directs Nicole Agada (Woman/Nurse), Will Bliss (Steve), Dexter Flanders (Mitch), Kelly Gough (Blanche), Amber James (Stella), Patrick Knowles (Stanley), Marai Louis (Eunice) and Joe Manjon (Pablo/Doctor/Paperboy). The second production in the inaugural season at NST City, A Streetcar Named Desire opens at Nuffield Southampton Theatres on 28 March with previews from 23 March, running until 31 March. The production will tour the UK with English Touring Theatre ahead of opening at Theatr Clwyd, where it plays from 15 March until 2 June, before returning to NST City.

Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd, Tamara Harvey, today announces full casting for the world premiere production of The Assassination of Katie Hopkins - a new musical from Chris Bush and Matt Winkworth. The production sees James Grieve, return to Clwyd to direct Rakesh Boury (Wesley), Che Francis (Karl), Derek Hutchinson (Brian), Genesis Lynea (Nina), Maimuna Memon (Shayma), Amy Booth-Steele (Pam), Bethzienna Williams (Kayleigh) and Matthew Woodyatt (Richard). The production opens in the Emlyn Williams Theatre on Thursday 26 April with previews from Friday 20 April.

Richard Twyman, Artistic Director of English Touring Theatre, today announces the 2018-19 season ahead of the company's 25th anniversary in September, with further productions and events to be announced throughout the year. This follows ETT and Mercury Theatre Colchester's co-production of The Weir collecting the 2018 Manchester Theatre Award for Best Visiting Production on Friday.

Sex/Crime, written for The Glory, a Queer and alternative East End nightlife spot and performance mecca, and funded by Arts Council England, is a challenging new play that explores sex, violence, language, fear and queerness.

Coming to London after a barnstorming, critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2015, Wound Up Theatre's Bismillah! An ISIS Tragicomedy, now has its London debut at VAULT Festival this Spring, exploring the strange new reality of youth in modern day Britain and examining social alienation, radicalisation, disenfranchisement and the rock band Queen.

This March the world premiere of a brand new musical from Barlow & Smith starring Tiffany Graves (Chicago, Sweet Charity, West End) and Evelyn Hoskins (Carrie, Southwark Playhouse, Peter and the Starcatcher, Royal & Derngate, Mrs Henderson Presents) comes to VAULT Festival for a strictly limited run directed by Adam Lenson (Superhero, Songs for a New World).

Nuffield Southampton Theatres, Theatr Clwyd and English Touring Theatre today announce casting for their co-production of Tennessee Williams' masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire. 2017 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award winner Chelsea Walker directs Nicole Agada (Woman/Nurse), Will Bliss (Steve), Dexter Flanders (Mitch), Kelly Gough (Blanche), Amber James (Stella), Patrick Knowles (Stanley), Marai Louis (Eunice) and Joe Manjon (Pablo/Doctor/Paperboy). The second production in the inaugural season at NST City, A Streetcar Named Desire opens at Nuffield Southampton Theatres on 28 March with previews from 23 March, running until 31 March. The production will tour the UK with English Touring Theatre ahead of opening at Theatr Clwyd, where it plays from 15 March until 2 June, before returning to NST City.

Artistic Director Ray Jivoff unveiled Skylight Music Theatre's 2018-19 Season line-up of "firsts" -- five shows that have never been produced at Skylight.  "We are thrilled to announce this exciting season of well-known and well-loved shows that have not been produced by Skylight before," said Jivoff. "These are blockbuster titles that perfectly capture Skylight's mission of presenting the full spectrum of music theatre, from musicals to revues to classical repertoire. Each show is joyful and exuberant in its own way and highlights our dedication to producing inventive and theatrical musical storytelling."

Following a sold out tour in 2017, Sukh Ojla's comedy drama Pyar Actually (Love Actually), returns to the main stage at Theatre Royal Stratford East, Tuesday 15th May to Saturday 19th May 2018.