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Archive for December, 2009

Jack And The Beanstalk

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

This year’s seasonal offering at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith makes the writers the stars, with no less than four of them credited as the writing team behind ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. Richard Bean, Joel Horwood, Che Walker and Morgan Lloyd Malcolm have all contributed to this modern take on the traditional pantomime. The show will run until 9th January 2010 and theatre tickets are on sale now.

Richard Bean is perhaps the most established of them. His previous plays have included ‘Harvest’, ‘Honeymoon Suite’, ‘The God Botherers’ and, most recently ‘England People Very Nice’ at the National Theatre in London.

Che Walker’s previous work includes ‘Been So Long’, ‘Dance for Me’, ‘Flesh Wound’ and ‘The Frontline’ which was performed at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Joel Horwood has written for ‘Skins’. His stage work includes ‘Mikey the Pikey’ and the wonderful ‘I Caught Crabs in Walberswick’ which was produced by Eastern Angles.

Morgan Lloyd Morgan was one of the writers on the Bush Theatre’s ’50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’ and also worked on ‘Suddenlossofdignity.com’.

Onstage, the cast includes Natalie Best, whose previous stage credits include ‘The Alchemist’ and ‘The Life of Galileo’ at the National Theatre in London. Earlier this year she was in ‘Hansel and Gretel’ for the Theatre Royal in Stratford East. Her television credits include ‘Harley Street’, ‘Honest’ and ‘Holby City’.

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Ruined

Friday, December 25th, 2009

A hit show from America transfers to the Almeida Theatre in London next year when ‘Ruined’, by Lynn Nottage, plays from 15th April 2010 until 5th June. Theatre tickets are on sale now for the show. The play opened earlier this year as a co-production between the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and the Manhattan Theatre Club. It won the Pulitzer Prize and no less than seven best play awards. These included one of the most prestigious, the New York Critics’ Circle Award.

The play is set in Mama Nadi’s bar in a mining town in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the most war-torn countries in the world.

Jenny Jules stars. Her previous stage credits have included ‘Big White Fog’, ‘The Homecoming’ and ‘A Chain Play’ all at the Almeida, ‘Pecong’, ‘The Colour of Justice’ and ‘Walk Hard’ at the Tricycle Theatre and ‘All the King’s Horsemen’ at the National Theatre in London. Her television credits include ‘Vexed’, ‘Father and Son’ and ‘Casualty’. Films include ‘A Short Stay in Switzerland’ and ‘Up ‘N’ Under’.

She is joined in the cast by Lucian Msamati. He has been seen on our television screens in ‘Spooks’, ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency’. His previous stage work includes ‘Mourning Becomes Electra’, ‘The President of an Empty Room’ and ‘The Overwhelming’ at the National Theatre, ‘Pericles’ for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the lead in ‘The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui’ at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith.

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The Habit Of Art

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

‘The History Boys’ was a huge hit for the National Theatre in London. It was written by Alan Bennett and directed by Nicholas Hytner and made a great deal of money as the theatre tickets for the transfers and tours sold out. The History Boys was even made into a successful film. Indeed, a recent report on the National Theatre in London’s finances even referred to the production and mentioned that the National may need to look elsewhere for monies now that the stream from that show is finally drying up. In fact, the play hasn’t gone away just yet as in 2010 the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Bath Theatre Royal will be staging a co-production directed by Christopher Luscombe.

However, when a new play, written by Alan Bennett and directed by Nicholas Hytner came along, there was a lot of pressure on it to deliver both artistically and commercially. The men in suits need not have worried! ‘The Habit of Art’ is a hit. The Daily Telegraph and the Independent both gave the show five stars. In fact, the Independent said, “Bennett the maestro returns with a multi-layered masterpiece”. It is currently scheduled to run until 6th April 2010. Some of the cast are also shared by ‘The History Boys’ including Richard Griffiths, Frances De la Tour and Adrian Scarborough.

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Dirty Dancing

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

Dirty Dancing’ has recently celebrated its third birthday at the Aldwych Theatre in london. It has been a phenomenal success and continues to sell theatre tickets by the coach load. In fact, such is the demand that booking has now been extended by seven months which means that theatre tickets are now available until 23rd October 2010.

The show is based on the film of the same name which is set in 1963 and tells the story of Baby and Johnny and their romance against a backdrop of sixties dance music. It also features the show stopping finale ‘(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life’, the song made famous by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes on the original soundtrack.

Hannah Vassallo plays Baby and Martin Harvey plays Johnny. Harvey trained as a classical dancer and has danced with the Royal Ballet in shows such as ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘Mayerling’ and ‘Onegin’. He started his performing career as a child actor when he played the young Pip in a television production of ‘Great Expectations’.

William Tapley plays Baby’s father Dr Houseman. He has appeared on television in ‘Holby City’ ‘Bonekickers’ and ‘Family Affairs’. His film credits include ‘Johnny English’, ‘V For Vendetta’ and ‘Malice in Wonderland’. His previous stage credits include ‘The Story of Vasco’ and ‘The Case of Rebellious Susan’ at the Orange Tree and ‘Inconceivable’ for the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

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