Love & Madness is a theatre company which was formed in 2000 by Neil Sheppeck. Its initial aim was to bring classical theatre to a younger and wider audience. In 2005, the company developed into touring with productions of ‘Twelfth Night’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’. 2006 saw them continue in this vein with ‘Henry V’ and ‘Playboy of the Western World’.

In 2007, as well as a production of ‘Frankenstein’, the renowned actor Jack Shepherd directed a production of ‘The Tempest’. Now he has returned as writer and actor in his new play ‘Only When I Laugh’. This has just started a tour and can be seen in Greenwich, Harrogate, St Andrews, Middlesbrough, Oldham, Glasgow, and Scarborough and its London show will be at the Arcola Theatre.

Meanwhile ‘Oliver Twist’ and ‘La Ronde’ continue to tour and will both play at the Riverside Studios in March running from the 3rd until the 22nd.

Love & Madness believe in using the best people around. Their version of ‘Oliver Twist’ was adapted by David Cottis who has built a wonderful reputation as a director with his own company, ‘Instant Classics’ who produce accessible Shakespeare with one of their criteria being that a show should never run for more than two hours.

A new arts space for young people has opened in Leeds City Centre. It has been created by West Yorkshire Playhouse (WYP) at a cost of £617,000 and is called First Floor. It is located next to the WYP and is part of the St Peter’s building.

The St Peter’s building was originally the theatre’s props store but now has a wide range of facilities including meeting spaces, a green room and studios for both visual and performing arts.

There are already many planned events which include street dance, storytelling, workshops, script development and even a community radio station.

The programme for First Floor has been worked out as far as Easter. There will be drop-in sessions on a weekly basis designed to allow young people to try their hand at a variety of art forms. There will also be an arts foundation course designed to cater for people who do not have access to education, training or employment of some sort.

There are eight young people who have been formed into the First Floor Young People’s Panel. They are to meet regularly to advise WYP on what the Playhouse needs to do to engage young people.

Meanwhile, theatre tickets are available for ‘The Hounding of David Oluwale’ which runs until the 21st of February in the Courtyard Theatre at the WYP.

BOOK THRILLER TICKETS

Thriller Live has transferred to the West End after huge touring success around the UK and standing ovations across Europe.

Michael Jackson’s career has spanned 40 years and ‘Thriller’ is still the biggest selling album of all time, reputed to have sold over 100 million copies and still selling today. Therefore, a lot is expected of the theatrical translation of his life.

The thing about ‘Thriller Live’ is that his music speaks for him. From the early days of being part of the Jackson Five with his siblings, some of the best loved disco hits were written and performed by Michael, Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon including ‘Don’t Blame it on the Boogie’.  This dazzling musical event is jammed packed with all his hits and with a really superb cast and a live band that will leave you wanting to get up and ‘Rock With You’.

Gary Lloyd is the director and his choreography is often eye popping. He has created routines that are just superb and along with other stunning multi media techniques, ‘Thriller Live’ becomes more than just various artists performing Michael Jackson hits.

‘Thriller Live’ is the first time anyone has attempted to create a stage show of Michael Jackson’s life. With the full backing of Sony BMG, UK, it is receiving widespread acclaim for its choreography and the young cast and it is a testament to the undisputed King of Pop who has performed some of the best loved songs of all time, including ‘I Want You Back’, ‘I’ll Be There’, ‘Show You The Way To Go’, ‘Can You Feel It’, ‘Rock With You’, ‘She’s Out of My Life’, ‘Beat It’, ‘Billie Jean’ and of course ‘Thriller’.

It is the perfect time to shake off the winter blues and take in a show that ticks all the boxes for a fun packed, enjoyable night at the theatre. Even if you’re not a huge Michael Jackson fan, ‘Thriller Live’, is a highly energetic, musical extravaganza and is a showcase for some amazing young talent.

Concierge Desk are sure you will not be disappointed, unless you don’t book your tickets and miss out on one of the shows.

The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) appears to have defied the recession so far and has posted record figures in terms of attendances and receipts for 2008. This is despite the recent plethora of shows closing early.

The total received from the sale of theatre tickets in 2008 was £480.5 million which was a 3 per cent increase on 2007’s record receipts. Attendances totalled 13.8 million which was 1 per cent up on 2007.

The breakdown is interesting with musicals up 1 per cent while plays were down by the same amount. Musicals were clearly bolstered by the record advance sale for the revival of Lionel Bart’s ‘Oliver’ starring Rowan Atkinson, and Jodie Prenger who won the BBC’s television reality show ‘I’d Do Anything’.

The results were totalled from 52 theatres, commercial and subsidised, but did not include SOLT affiliate theatres. They were however the same theatres as in last year’s survey so make for a very accurate comparison.

Many have been predicting dire consequences for the theatre industry and the West End in particular. Most recently, acclaimed director Trevor Nunn was quoted widely to that effect.

It seems that even during a credit crunch, people still need to be entertained. Indeed, many would argue that people need escapism even more.