Tom Piper News

The Royal Shakespeare Company's 2019 tour Romeo and Juliet will run at Theatre Royal, Glasgow next year as part of a UK tour. Tickets are on sale to ATG Theatre Card holders on Tuesday 4 September on go on general sale on Friday 7 September.

Performance and visual artist Bobby Baker has created a profoundly thoughtful, imaginative and joyous exploration of families in wartime, commissioned by 14-18 NOW, the UK's arts programme for the First World War centenary.

Ever wondered what goes into creating your favourite productions? Those moments of magic (or macabre) where you go 'How did they do that?!' In our new Special Effects series, we'll be discovering how the worlds on stage come to life by exploring the worlds off stage, talking to the creatives and crews from some of the UK's biggest shows and theatre companies. This month, we're looking at stage blood and effects in two infamously bloody shows. We spoke to the Company Stage Manager on Michael Grandage's The Lieutenant of Inishmore and the Designer of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Tamburlaine, who shared their practices (and a few secrets).

Brian Capron, Vicky Entwistle, Mollie Melia-Redgrave and Patrick Sullivan are confirmed to join Mark Williams, who plays Doctor Dolittle, in the UK & Ireland Tour of Doctor Dolittle. Brian will play Albert Blossom/Straight Arrow, Vicky will play Polynesia, Mollie Emma Fairfax and Patrick Matthew Mugg. Mark Williams and Brian Capron will play the first ten venues on the tour - Bromley, Salford, Oxford, Wolverhampton, Newcastle, Hull, Aberdeen, Northampton, Nottingham and Sheffield. The others will play the entire tour. There will be a national press night on Thursday 17 January 2019 at the Oxford New Theatre.

Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director) is pleased to announce that Gregory Doran, artistic director, Royal Shakespeare Company, has invited Michael Boyd to stage his edit of Tamburlaine, Boyd's version of Christopher Marlowe's two-part epic, Tamburlaine the Great, which will open the Swan Theatre season at the Stratford-Upon-Avon based RSC.

Fuel Director, Kate McGrath confirmed more projects to take place in 2018 in the UK and beyond.

Imagine scrapping elections and instead selecting politicians at random. What would you do if your name was drawn out and you suddenly found yourself in charge? How do you think the country should be run? 

Mark Williams, star of The Fast Show, Father Brown, 101 Dalmatians, The Borrowers, Shakespeare in Love and seven of the Harry Potterfilms, will star as Doctor Dolittle at the first ten venues of the new UK & Ireland Tour of Doctor Dolittle, with book, music and lyrics by double Academy Award-winner Leslie Bricusse. Featuring stunning visual puppetry, this new production, with the book reworked by Leslie Bricusse, will be part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the original film starring Rex Harrison and will feature the same songs, including the Academy Award-winning Talk To The Animals.

This new play is a dramatic account of families divided by the sea. Teenager Hanako is apparently swept out to sea one stormy night, but her fate lies not in the ocean but in the hands of the North Korean regime. Can the belief and determination of her mother, sister and friend mean all hope is not lost…?

On a Japanese beach, teenage sisters Hanako (Kirsty Rider) and Reiko (Kae Alexander) are caught up in a storm. Reiko survives while Hanako is lost to the sea. Their mother (Rosalind Chao), however, can't shake the feeling that her missing daughter is still alive, and soon family tragedy takes on a global political dimension. Set in Japan and North Korea, Francis Turnly's epic new thriller is directed by Artistic Director of the Tricycle Theatre Indhu Rubasingham in a co-production with the Tricycle Theatre.

On a Japanese beach, teenage sisters Hanako (Kirsty Rider) and Reiko (Kae Alexander) are caught up in a storm. Reiko survives while Hanako is lost to the sea. Their mother (Rosalind Chao), however, can't shake the feeling that her missing daughter is still alive, and soon family tragedy takes on a global political dimension. Set in Japan and North Korea, Francis Turnly's epic new thriller is directed by Artistic Director of the Tricycle Theatre Indhu Rubasingham in a co-production with the Tricycle Theatre.

New casting announced for the new National Theatre season. Full cast has been announced for Brian Friel's Translations including Colin Morgan and Ciaran Hinds, part of the Travelex season with thousands of tickets available at £15. Eric Kofi Abrefa and Thalissa Teixeira join Vanessa Kirby in the cast of Julie, part of the Travelex season with thousands of tickets available at £15. Sam Mendes directs The Lehman Trilogy, a co-production with Neal Street Productions, cast includes Adam Godley, Ben Miles and Simon Russell Beale. Full casting is announced for the award winning An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, transferring to the National Theatre in a co-production with the Orange Tree Theatre. The NT will tour to 30 venues in 27 towns and cities across the UK and Ireland, for a total of 83 playing weeks over the next year. Rufus Norris' Macbeth to tour to 18 venues across the UK and Ireland from autumn 2018. War Horse returns to the National Theatre marking the centenary of Armistice Day.

Theatr Clwyd announces their support for PROCESSIONS, a mass participation artwork to mark the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, which gave the first British women the right to vote.

The Citizens Theatre has released casting details for its forthcoming co-production with HOME, Manchester, of Eugene O'Neill's masterpiece Long Day's Journey Into Night, which runs from 13 Apr - 5 May at the Citizens Theatre and at HOME, Manchester from 9 - 16 May.

Inspired by real, untold stories from the world of women's football, Offside provides an untold commentary on the breakthroughs and limitations in women's football, exploring wider themes of inequality, self-belief and empowerment.

Michael Boyd's much anticipated production of The Cherry Orchard has begun rehearsals for the Bristol Old Vic and Royal Exchange Theatre co-production. Rory Mullarkey's brand-new translation will be directed by Boyd, celebrated former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). Having studied Russian and trained as a director in Moscow, extraordinarily, he will be directing Chekhov - the literary love of his life - for the first time.

Rehearsals have started for The Great Wave, a co-production with the Tricycle Theatre. a new play by Francis Turnly. Previews from 10 March, press night 19 March, playing until 14 April at the Dorfman theatre.

Shoreditch Town Hall today announces further productions in the venue's spring programme, which brings together work exploring the themes of identity, time and place. This June sees the UK premiere of ANU & CoisCeim Dance Theatre's These Rooms, an intense, immersive blend of theatre, dance and visual art by David Bolger, Owen Boss and Louise Lowe. The work is co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW, the UK's official arts programme for the First World War centenary, LIFT and Shoreditch Town Hall, and tells the story of 15 civilian men who were killed in house-to-house raids by British soldiers on a single Dublin street on 28 April 1916, five days into the Easter Rising. Prior to this, acclaimed theatre-maker Christopher Brett Bailey returns to Shoreditch Town Hall, where he previously performed in Wedding, with a new solo show, Suicide Notes… The Spoken Word of Christopher Brett Bailey; Hackney-based Access All Areas presents MADHOUSE: re:exit, an underground adventure by five learning disabled artists; and the critically acclaimed magician Vincent Gambini performs a work-in-progress of his new piece, The Chore of Enchantment.

Pre-eminent Welsh interdisciplinary artist Marc Rees (P.A.R.A.D.E., {150}, Tir Sir Gar, Raw Material: Llareggub Revisited) will transform the city of Swansea for five days this September. This theatrical experience will take visitors on an extraordinary journey through three narratives of war; from the beautiful Swansea Bay beach to discovering artistic treasures in the city's iconic Brangwyn Hall.

RSC Artistic Director, Gregory Doran, announces the RSC's winter 2018 season, a nationwide schools' tour and a new 10 ticket offer for first time visitors.