As London’s Old Vic Theatre closes, artistic director Matthew Warchus sends the message: “Take care of yourselves and each other. Be creative. There’s going to be some great theatre on the other side.”
PHOTOS & TWEETS: Check out the buzz for The Special Relationship premiere at Soho Theatre
Hassan Abdulrazzak’s new play The Special Relationship, based on interviews with Brits deported from the United States, has just premiered at Soho Theatre and it’s causing a buzz. Check out our production photos gallery and tweets collection – and then get booking!
‘The NHS is a true melting pot’: Writer-director Jon Welch on Drip Drip Drip & Pipeline’s trio of theatremakers
Drip Drip Drip transfers to London’s Pleasance Theatre next week. Writer-director Jon Welch explains how the fast-shifting new world order inspired the play, set on an NHS oncology ward, and how he works with his Pipeline Theatre co-founders, designers Jude and Alan Munden.
‘The UK reminds me of a lover who is still harping over an ex’: Playwright Hassan Abdulrazzak on The Special Relationship
As The Special Relationship starts performances, we talk to author Hassan Abdulrazzak about transatlantic diplomacy, immigration, Middle Eastern playwrights to watch and returning to Soho Theatre 13 years after his Baghdad Wedding debut.
‘There are communities of women supporting each other within the music industry’: Poet & performer Genevieve Carver on A Beautiful Way to Be Crazy
Can poetry help us in troubled times? How do you take it off the page and onto the stage? What can it tell us about the music industry? We caught up with poet and performer Genevieve Carter about her new genre-busting show A Beautiful Way to Be Crazy. Time to get booking for dates at Camden People’s Theatre and VAULT Festival!
WATCH: Welcome to the ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) world of The Special Relationship
How scary is it to tussle with a gun-toting American immigration officer? Check out this arresting new trailer for The Special Relationship, HassanAbdulrazzak’s new play about transatlantic deportation that premieres at Soho Theatre this month. Time to get booking!
‘I would love Cherie Blair to see the show, I’m sure she would relish every minute’: Lloyd Evans on why he wrote Cherie – My Struggle
Cherie – My Struggle, a one-woman play about Cherie Blair written by Spectator parliamentary sketch writer Lloyd Evans, returns to London’s White Bear Theatre in February. Evans told us why he wanted to write about the former prime minister’s wife and why he finds her so inspiring. Time to get booking!
WATCH: Hassan Abdulrazzak & transatlantic deportees discuss strains in The Special Relationshp
Huawei? Trump? Brexit? Are you worried about strains being put on the so-called “special relationship” between the UK and the US? Whatever your thoughts, Hassan Abdulrazzak’s new play The Special Relationship will make you reassess… starting with these interviews with writer, director and three deportees whose real-life experiences inform the piece.
WATCH: What did Edinburgh audiences think of opening VAULT Festival show, Sold?
“Amazing”, “thought-provoking”, “breathtaking” and “powerful” – just some of the words used by audiences at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival to describe Sold. Take a look at their responses, then book your tickets to see the show which runs in the opening week of VAULT Festival.
PHOTOS: Mary Ryder is Cherie Blair in one-woman political drama Cherie – My Struggle
If Cherie Blair took to the stage to tell all, what would she say? Mary Ryder channel’s the former Prime Minister’s wife in Lloyd Evans’ acclaimed one-woman memoir Cherie – My Struggle. Can you see the resemblance? Check out our photos – and then get booking!
NEWS: Cherie – My Struggle gives a Downing Street inside view from Cherie Blair’s perspective
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.