Plays
Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption
A new serious play comes to Charing Cross after the summer, The Shawshank Redemption. The world stage premiere of The Shawshank Redemption ran at The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin this May where it received an almost unbroken run of standing ovations.
** Book The Shawshank Redemption Theatre Breaks **
The Shawshank Redemption is to receive its London premiere at the Wyndham’s Theatre on 13th September with previews starting on the 4th of September, 2009
The Shawshank Redemption book and film
Based on the 1982 Stephen King novella, The Shawshank Redemption tells the story of Andy Dufresne, who is sentenced to life in Shawshank Prison after being convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Stripped of his freedom, Andy is forced to endure a spirit-crushing routine, but with his quiet strength and inner courage there is one thing Andy never loses: hope.
The story was adapted into a film in 1994, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, which was nominated for seven Oscars.
Audience Reaction to the Shawshank Redemption
Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns’s new stage adaptation stars American actors Reg E Cathey and Kevin Anderson. Cathey is known for his role in hit US television drama The Wire and has appeared on Broadway in The Green Bird. Anderson is a member of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company and has Broadway credits including Death Of A Salesman, which earned him a Tony Award nomination, Come Back Little Sheba and Brooklyn, while in London he starred in the premiere production of Sunset Boulevard.
The Shawshank Redemption will run at Wyndhams Theatre with evening performances from Tuesday to Saturday and Matinees on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
Serious is what the public wants
Serious drama is the new black
Writing in the Evening Standard Nicholas Hytner makes a ‘confident prediction’. He says:
the hot tickets in London this summer will be for Shakespeare, Chekhov and Racine.
He suggests there’s serious hunger amongst the theatre audience for more complex plays. He goes on to say:
Over the next few months, sold out houses, a thousand strong, will discover again that honesty, intelligence and nobility of mind can be a crippling handicap (Hamlet).
That the destruction of a decayed old order is necessary and absolutely heart-breaking (The Cherry Orchard).
That obsessive love is an affliction that can turn a woman into a stalker (All’s Well That Ends Well) or prompt her to accuse an innocent young man of rape (Phedre) – but that in both cases the audience will stay with her, will not easily condemn, will not turn tabloid editor and cry witch.
I can’t disagree with any of that. They are all productions that I’d love to see. Rich, complex, serious drama. And there is an audience for it. Those productions, in the main, sell out before most of that potential audience can even book seats.
He’s not saying the West End musicals are dead. He’s being much more subtle than that. His point seems to be that the London theatre can both celebrate and satirise ‘pop culture’. I think he might be saying that we can have our ‘jukebox’, feel-good, musicals so long as they come with a suitable spoon full of self-awareness and make us think, as well as sing.
It will become part of a London theatre that is thriving because it provides escape, because it both satirises and embraces a debased popular culture. But above all, because it is serious. And it turns out that serious is what the public wants.
What do you want?
I hate to point out the obvious but Nicholas Hytner is Director of the National Theatre. To an extent he has to believe serious drama is what the public wants.
So it’s over to you, dear reader, what is it that you want?
More serious drama? Or more fluff like Legally Blonde?
(Oh and please, don’t try to persuade me it’s making a serious feminist point!)
Duet for One transfers to Vaudeville
Duet for One re-opens May 12th
Following a successful run the Almeida production of Duet for One, which finished today (March 14th), will transfer to the Vaudeville Theatre for a 12 week run in the West End. The show will re-open on May 12th.
Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman will continue in the leading roles.
Duet for One tells the story of Stephanie Abrahams, a brilliant concert violinist who is forced to re-evaluate her life when struck down by an unforeseen tragedy. She consults psychiatrist Dr Feldmann and through a series of highly charged encounters is led to examine her deepest emotions and finally to consider a future without music.
Kempinski’s play is thought to be loosely based on the life of cellist Jaquelline Du Pre and was turned into a hit film (1986)starring Julie Andrews and Anthony Bates.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, at Trafalgar Studios
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf opens at the Trafalgar Studios on 14th April – 9th May 2009
Mathew Kelly will play George and Tracey Childs will play Martha.
Albert Albee’s depiction of the cocktail party from Hell is undoubtedly a masterpiece so I’m looking forward to this. It’s not that long since Kathleen Turner played Martha in the West End (2006) so it does seem a little soon for another outing.
This production was originally seen at Lichfield last year where it got some very good reviews:
We find ourselves virtually sitting in George and Martha’s living room, audience members visibly wincing, laughing, cringing…Matthew Kelly and Tracey Childs give towering performances as the tortured pair…superb performances from Mark Farrelly and Louise Kempton’
The Stage
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
National Theatre Live Broadcasts to Cinema
The Nation Theatre based at London’s Southbank is to embark on a radical new initiative to broadcast live performances of plays onto cinema screens worldwide. A pilot season of four shows is planned starting with a broadcast of the play Phèdre, with Helen Mirren, Margaret Tyzack and Dominic Cooper on July 25th. This will be restricted to fifty UK cinemas, but clearly if the technology holds up it could be expanded worldwide wherever there is sufficient interest. NESTA which is a Quango supporting innovation is sponsoring:
National Theatre : NT Live : What is it? How does it work?
NT Live
What is it? How does it work?Live theatre broadcast to cinema screens around the world.
‘I grew up in Manchester in the 60s. If I had been able to see Olivier’s National Theatre at my local cinema, I would have gone all of the time.’ Nicholas Hytner
On 25 June the performance of Phèdre will be filmed in high definition and broadcast via satellite to approximately 50 cinemas and arts centres, reaching a widespread audience live across the UK. Tickets will cost £10. Over 100 venues around the world will also screen the production.
The remaining three shows in the pilot season have yet to be announced but will feature a range of the National’s diverse repertoire. The performances will be nominated in advance to allow cameras greater freedom in the auditorium.
Broadcasts will also feature behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with artists. We hope to open the walls of the National Theatre and invite cinema audiences around the country and the world to share in the work we create.
Find out if NT Live is at a cinema near you on 25 June.
NT Live is funded in partnership with: NESTA
Future international venues for live screenings of Phèdre are intended for
Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Sweden & US.
The big question which this initiative perhaps seeks to answer is this:
Do people really want to see “live” theatre at the cinema?
Well do you?
Three Days Of Rain
James McAvoy, Nigel Harman and Lyndsey Marshall in the play Three Days of Rain by Richard Greenberg
New Plays in London for 2009
Old Vic
Complicit
From Jan 28th (we hope) – booking to Feb 21st. Kevin Spacey’s Old Vic production takes a look at Bush-era politics vis a vis the press in this play by Joe Sutton Richard Dreyfuss plays Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ben Kritzer, who is hauled before the Supreme Court “where he faces the dilemma of defending his belief in the freedom of the press or protecting his family.”. The cast also includes David Suchet and Elizabeth McGovern.
Donmar Warhouse
Be Near Me
From Jan. 22, – Be Near Me, adapted for the stage by Ian McDiarmid — who also stars — from The Booker Prize-nominated novel by Andrew O’Hagan. McDiarmid plays David Anderton, an Oxford-educated Catholic priest who befriends two unstable Scottish teenagers in his parish.
Dimetos
From March 19 th. Jonathan Pryce and Anne Reid star in Athol Fugard’s play about a skilled engineer who escapes to a remote coastal village in search of a simpler existence.
A Doll’s House
From May 14. Gillian Anderson stars as Nora in a new production of A Doll’s House.
Wyndhams Theatre – Donmar in the West End
Madame de Sade
From March 19, Judi Dench stars in this all woman cast. The play, by Yukio Mishima focusses on the inexplicably loyal wife of a notorious figure. Michael Grandage directs.
Almeida Theatre
Duet for One
Starts Jan. 22. Tom Kempinski’s story of a concert pianist, played by Juliet Stevenson, who seeks out a psychiatrist, played by Henry Goodman, when she is faced with a tragedy that causes her to reevaluate her life.
Parlour Song
Begins March 19 . Jez Butterworth’s play about the strange things that keep happening to demolition expert Ned, played by Toby Jones. Ian Rickson directs.
Theatre Royal, Haymarket
Waiting for Godot.
Performances begin April 30 . Sean Mathias directs Ian McKellen (Estragon), Patrick Stewart (Vladamir), Simon Callow (Pozzo) and Ronald Pickup (Lucky).
The National Theatre
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.
From Jan 16th A revival of Tom Stoppard and Andre Previn’s play exploring the slippery relationship between truth and freedom. Toby Jones plays a dissident prisoner who will be released by the authorities only if he admits he has been mentally sick and, after treatment, is now well. The man must ask himself which price is the dearer: freedom bought with a lie, or sticking to a truth that ensures captivity. Felix Barrett and Tom Morris direct.
Burnt by the Sun
From Feb 24th. Written by Peter Flannery from the screenplay by Nikita Mikhalkov and Rustam Ibragimbekov. Ciarán Hinds stars as Colonel Kotov, a decorated hero of the Russian Revolution, who, while on holiday with his family in 1936, finally understands what it means to have Stalin as your leader. Howard Davies directs.
England People Very Nice
From Feb. 4th A new play by Richard Bean described as “a riotous journey through four waves of immigration from the 17th century to today.”
The Littleton
Time and the Conways
From April 28th. A new production of a play about the disappointed aspirations of another era: J.B. Priestley’s classic starts in 1919, the clock and the calendar are the villains, as a peek into the future reveals the gap between 21-year-old Kay’s aspirations and the possible reality.
A Selection
These are a few of the plays that are coming to London in the next few months. What have I missed off that you are dying to see?
Plague Over England
A Plague Over England is coming soon
Plague Over England is a play based around the controversial conviction in 1953 of Sir John Gielgud for persistently importuning men for immoral purposes.
More than just a dramatization of a scandalous event in one actor’s life, this new play shows how Gielgud’s arrest played a small but distinct part in the battle to make homosexuality legal.
Plague Over England captures the spirit of Britain in the early 1950s when judges, politicians and the national press were describing homosexuality as a cancer, an epidemic and a threat to national life. It is an extraordinary insight into the dramatic changes in social attitudes to gay life in the last fifty years.
Booking from 11th February to 16th May 2009
- Matinees: Wednesday and Saturday 3pm
- Evenings: Monday to Saturday 7:45pm
- Running Time: 150 minute
On The Waterfront
On The Waterfront
On The Waterfront comes to The Haymarket
Booking for a medium length season from Wednesday, 28th January 2009 until Saturday, 25th April 2009 with matinees on Thursdays at 2.30pm, and Saturdays at 3pm
Evening performances on Monday to Saturday start at 7:45pm
At the Haymarket Theatre Royal.
Director Steven Berkoff explains why On the Waterfront is still a contender in The Times Online
The waterfront theme is close to Greek tragedy, close, since in our version the hero doesn’t die, but the elements are there – the loner, the individual battling against an evil regime. The chorus, the masses who look on helplessly, yet only impotently comment. The New York docks were run by gangsters, as a personal fiefdom, ruled by intimidation and bribery.
We all identified with Brando’s Terry Malloy and in some way we wished to emulate him. The values that he handed on to us were the simple ones our fathers trained us to espouse. To be loyal to your friends, to your colleagues, and to fight to the death for what you believed in. How could we not be seduced by this modern-day hero?
On the Waterfront now has a new life. Terry Malloy lives again. I am proud of the work.
On The Waterfront acclaimed by critics
On The Waterfront was acclaimed by critics and audiences on its original run at the Nottingham PLayhouse and achieved standing ovations when it transferred to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last summer. There, both lead actor Simon Merrells and the Ensemble Cast were nominated in The Stage Awards for Acting Excellence, given by the entertainment industry’s leading professional journal, which also named On The Waterfront one of this year’s “MUST SEE” Edinburgh shows. There was a further nomination for the production in the Theatrical Management Association Awards, where Steven Berkoff received a nod for Best Director.
Adapted by Budd Schulberg from his own screenplay for the celebrated Marlon Brando movie, ON THE WATERFRONT is the story of a young New York dock worker, Terry Malloy (Merrells) who takes a daring stand against the Mob which controls the dockers’ unions. Berkoff, whose company East Productions co-produced the show with Nottingham Playhouse, brings to it the full power of his renowned muscular style.
In a Dark Dark House – Neil LaBute
In A Dark Dark House at the Almeida
Neil La Bute’s latest offering is playing at the Almeida until January 22nd. In A Dark Dark House continues his exploration of the psyche of the American male. In three acts, it’s the story of two brothers who grew up together in an unspecified mid-western US town, a town where as LaBute himself says, you wouldn’t want to stop if you knew what was going on under the surface. The two brothers are brought together as the younger brother Drew, is undergoing court enforced rehab. Their encounter with a young woman acts as a catalyst to bring to the surface much that has remained long hidden and denied for both of them.
LaBute’s work is never less than controversial. (Just have a look at the comments on our Fat Pig review!) I’ve softened my view of LaBute since Andy wrote that review as I have to admit Fat Pig was really thought provoking and even now discussing it can still cause arguments debate 
This has to be a good sign I think and theatre that actually provokes that much thought has to be worthwhile at some level.
The cast is interesting with Steven Mackintosh (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) returning to the stage after an 8 year gap, playing the younger brother Drew. Terry, the older bother is played by David Morrissey (on our screens over Xmas in Dr Who). Kira Sternbach plays the young woman.
Have a look at the trailer for the play:
It seems from some of the responses so far that the whole ‘fake American accents’ thing continues to be an issue. However if the actors can keep up the standard we hear in the video I don’t think it will be too much of a problem. Of course, it’s not a problem at all for Kira Sternback as she is actually American!
My only issue really is whether I can manage to get around to seeing In A Dark Dark House at this busy time of year. I hope we can fit it in but remember comments here are open for your thoughts and reviews.
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