What was Cherie Blair thinking during the New Labour years? Has her contribution to Tony Blair’s success ever been fully acknowledged? Cherie – My Struggle provides an intimate look at a remarkable woman. Time to get booking!
FIRST LOOK: Step into the world of Mary Prince with production images for award-winning VAULT Festival show, Sold
Joy, anguish and a looming noose – take a look at fantastic pictures of Sold, the award-winning drama from Kuumba Nia Arts, which tells the forgotten story of Mary Prince, a woman born into slavery in the British West Indies. Book your tickets now.
‘How can we talk about living together when something as basic as parenting is challenged?’ Writer Janice Okoh & director Dawn Walton on The Gift
This month, searingly funny play The Gift makes its world premiere in Coventry before embarking on a UK tour. Writer Janice Okoh and director Dawn Walton give insights into the true royal story behind the play, unsurfacing ‘missing’ Black British history and the relevance to cross-cultural adoption today. Time to get booking!
VAULT Festival: Award-winning tale of slavery Sold brings Mary Prince’s story to London
Telling the story of Mary Prince, a woman born into slavery in the British West Indies, Amantha Edmead’s award-winning Sold will play a a one-week run in London as part of the VAULT Festival 2020. Book your tickets now.
NEWS: The Stage Awards 2020 shortlist is announced
The production team that ensured the show could go on after part of a West End theatre ceiling collapsed and the revival of much-loved pop magazine Smash Hits are among the nominees for The Stage Awards 2020.
‘This is a play from Soviet Russia but it’s surprisingly anti-Soviet’: Ukrainian director Asya Sosis on reviving tyrannical allegory Dragon
How well do you know Soviet-era Russian plays? Following her reinvention of Mikhail Bulgakov’s Flight, Ukrainian-born Gamayun Theatre founder Asya Sosis directs a new reimagining of rarely-seen Soviet political satire Dragon. She told us more about its significance. Time to get booking!
‘Understand that we are all accountable’: Melissa Phillips on reprising her role in dystopian drama At Last
Proforca Theatre’s At Last, which received both OffWestEnd.com Offies and London Pub Theatres Award nominations for its premiere in September, returns by popular demand in December with new dates in London and Coventry, and the full original cast reprising their roles.
‘My determination was fired up by the junior doctors’ strike’: Tania Amsel on writing & performing Blood Orange
When helping others is at the heart of your career, what happens when you’re the one who needs help? We talked to Tania Amsel about her new one-woman play Blood Orange, told from the perspective of an overwhelmed junior doctor at Christmas.
‘We wanted to remove some of the colonial undertones’: Rachael Bellis on updating children’s classic A Little Princess
A Little Princess, the classic children’s novel by The Secret Garden author Frances Hodgson Burnett, gets a Christmas run at London’s Drayton Arms Theatre, in a brand-new stage version adapted and directed by Rachael Bellis.
NEWS: New play Blood Orange exposes the pressure on junior doctors at Christmas
As we head towards another annual winter crisis for the over-stretched NHS, new play Blood Orange, written and performed Tania Amsel, explores the extra pressures heaped on junior doctors at Christmastime. It runs at London’s Old Red Lion Theatre from 10 December 2019 to 4 January 2020, with a press night on 12 December.
WATCH: After #MeToo, should we stop staging The Taming of the Shrew?
As the RSC’s latest staging of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, here’s a throwback to when Mate Terri Paddock chaired a fascinating panel discussion in Stratford-upon-Avon around the themes in the play and production.
NEWS: New thriller You Game puts gender-shifted slant on classic tale Sleuth
Thriller fans are in for a white-knuckle treat this winter as Sam Ra’s new drama You Game brings its twisty, turny tale to RADA Studios. Time to book those tickets.
‘There’s an abundance of violence against women globally’: Indhu Rubasingham on directing the premiere of Anupama Chandresekhar’s When the Crows Visit
The world premiere of When the Crows Visit reunites writer Anupama Chandresekhar and director Indhu Rubasingham (and leading lady Ayesha Dharker), who have the Royal Court Theatre’s late international director Elyse Dodgson to thank for bringing them together.
FEATURED SHOW: ★★★★ reviews are in for Sarah Rutherford’s ‘refreshingly original’ The Girl Who Fell
Stage Traffic’s premiere of Sarah Rutherford’s darkly funny new play The Girl Who Fell has impressed critics for its warmth, quirkiness and offbeat sensitivity. We’ve rounded up review highlights. Time get booking!
‘We thought it’d be interesting to have these two very different but brilliant plays running next to each other’: Alexander Lass on directing The Permanent Way & Ages of the Moon at The Vaults
Director Alexander Lass has teamed up with producer Debbie Hicks on two major play productions running at The Vaults this autumn: the first-ever revival of David Hare‘s 2003 play The Permanent Way, which opened in September, and, starting performances tonight (17 October 2019), the UK premiere of Sam Shepard‘s 2009 play Ages of the Moon. We caught up with him to learn …
NEWS: Director Jonathan Church launches new production company with Trafalgar Entertainment
Award-winning theatre director and producer Jonathan Church CBE, has announced the launch of a new production company Jonathan Church Theatre Productions supported by Trafalgar Entertainment’s Joint CEOs Sir Howard Panter and Dame Rosemary Squire.
The Show People Podcast: Danny-Boy Hatchard blagged it all the way
The Show People Podcast is back and in this episode host Andrew Keates is joined by actor Danny-Boy Hatchard.
PHOTOS & VIDEO: Sneak a peek inside The Girl Who Fell rehearsals + brand-new trailer
We’re counting down to the world premiere of The Girl Who Fell, Sarah Rutherford’s darkly funny new play about parenting and social media dangers, opening this month at Trafalgar Studios. Sneak a peek inside rehearsals with our new gallery – and then get booking!
‘Cinematic history fascinates me, I find the hypocrisy staggering’: Claudio Macor on dramatising the making of first pro-gay film Different From the Others
How much do you know about “the Einstein of sex” Magnus Hirschfeld and his film Anders als die Andern? Discovering this 1919 silent gem one night on YouTube inspired playwright Claudio Macor to pen his new play about another little-known corner of cinematic and LGBTQ history.
‘We’re all floundering, if we’re honest’: Playwright Sarah Rutherford on parenting, social media & her new play The Girl Who Fell
Sarah Rutherford explores the dark side of social media in her new play The Girl Who Fell – but, on the plus side, she also has Twitter to thank for the play getting its premiere next month at Trafalgar Studios.