Vicki Mortimer News

Emma Rice's new version of Wuthering Heights plays in the Lyttelton theatre with performances from Thursday 3 February until Saturday 19 March. A co-production with Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and York Theatre Royal, this adaptation of Emily Brontë's classic opened at Bristol Old Vic in October 2021 and will embark on a UK wide tour through 2022.

Wise Children today announce the on demand release of its critically acclaimed stage adaptation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, adapted and directed by Emma Rice.

A fire is ignited as the ensemble gather silently in an act of remembrance. It then ascends high above the Olivier stage, where it continues to burn for the duration of the play. It conjures a feeling of warmth, comfort, and community, echoed by the in-the-round configuration of the extensive auditorium that somehow soon feels intimate.

The National Theatre today announces the on-sale dates of upcoming productions Trouble in Mind, Wuthering Heights and Small Island, as well as the return of daytime opening for visitors.

Acclaimed film actor Amy Adams is set to make her West End debut in a revival of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie.

With their latest production Bagdad Cafe streaming live via Old Vic: In Camera this week (25 – 28 August) Wise Children today announce full cast and further tour dates for the world première production of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. Adapted and directed by Emma Rice, the show is a co-production with the National Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and York Theatre Royal.

In anticipation of San Francisco Opera's return to the War Memorial Opera House stage for the opening of its 99th season, beginning with Puccini's Tosca on August 21, the Company has added two weekly, free opera streams for the month of August: Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (August 7–8) and Gaetano Donizetti's Roberto Devereux (August 14–15).

Extra tickets go on sale to the public from Monday 19 July. Tickets for The Normal Heart, East is East, Manor and Hex on sale to the public from Friday 30 July. Learn more about all of the upcoming productions here!

The Bridge Theatre has just announced that it will postpone upcoming performances of Back & Sons due to a COVID scare within its team.

Two young people and their dæmons, with everything at stake, find themselves at the centre of a terrifying manhunt. In their care is a tiny child called Lyra Belacqua, and in that child lies the fate of the future. And as the waters rise around them, powerful adversaries conspire for mastery of Dust: salvation to some, the source of infinite corruption to others.

Nina Raine's new play Bach & Sons has opened at the Bridge Theatre to socially distanced audiences. The lavish production is directed by Nicholas Hytner with an experienced cast of actors led by Simon Russell Beale, a frequent collaborator of Hytner, as Johann Sebastian Bach, who fathered 20 children over the years.

Directed by Nicholas Hytner, performances of Bach & Sons continue until 11 September 2021 with opening night on 28 June 2021. The associate director is James Cousins, with set designs by Vicki Mortimer, costumes designed by Khadija Raza, lighting by Jon Clark, sound by Gareth Fry and music supervised by George Fenton. 

Bristol Old Vic today announced a bold season for Autumn–Winter 2021/22. The programme includes new productions from brilliant talent, long-awaited new dates for world premieres and new ways to share those stories live and online.

Johann Sebastian Bach, irascible and turbulent, writes music of sensuous delight for his aristocratic patrons, and gives voice to his deep religious faith in music for the church.  He’s touchy, he’s fabulously rude, he has high standards (he stabs a bassoonist for playing badly) and he’s constantly in trouble with his employers. 

Joining Simon Russell Beale who will play Johann Sebastian Bach in the world premiere of Nina Raine's Bach & Sons are Samuel Blenkin as Carl, Pandora Colin as Maria Barbara, Ruth Lass as Katharina, Douggie McMeekin as Wilhelm, Racheal Ofori as Anna Magdalena and Pravessh Rana as Frederick the Great.

Simon Russell Beale will play JS Bach in the world premiere of Nina Raine's Bach & Sons, directed by Nicholas Hytner.  Performances at The Bridge are from 23 June – 9 September 2021 with opening night on 29 June 2021. 

For one year only, pantomime comes to the National Theatre. Jude Christian and Cariad Lloyd's hilarious and heartfelt version of Dick Whittington, first staged at Lyric Hammersmith in 2018 and freshly updated for 2020, will open in the socially distanced Olivier theatre on the 11 December.  

Award-winning scenic and costume designer Peter McKintosh was meant to be working on a production of 12 Angry Men at the Bunkamura Theatre Cocoon in Tokyo until Covid-19 hit. But with social distancing now in place, the show is going ahead, with McKintosh working his magic virtually instead.

We had a chat with lighting designer Neil Austin and playwright Chinonyerem Odimba to discuss the groundbreaking work done by Freelancers Make Theatre Work, an organisation that advocates for the rights of freelance workers in theatre. We learned their thoughts about the current artistic climate in the UK, where they see the industry going, and what so desperately needs to change.

We at #scenechange are launching an action to wrap our theatres in a positive message. Over this weekend, with the theatres' collaboration, we will wrap the buildings we love in our positive message tape #MissingLiveTheatre.