Who’s who in the cast of new mental health comedy Netflix & Chill? What have you seen them in before? Check out full biographies – and sneak a peek what they’ve been up to behind the scenes.
FIRST LOOK: Eclipse Theatre premiere The Gift juxtaposes Victorian & modern Britain
Janice Okoh’s new Black history play The Gift juxtaposes a story from Queen Victoria’s 19th-century royal circle with the present day. Just opened at Belgrade Theatre, it now transfers to London’s Theatre Royal Stratford East as part of a UK-wide tour. Take a look at our production shots gallery – and then get booking!
NEWS: UK’s longest-running alternative theatre company brings People Show 137 to Southwark
Ahead of a short tour, pioneering theatremakers People Show bring their latest devised creation People Show 137: God Knows How Many to London’s Southwark Playhouse for a limited season from 5 to 29 February 2020, with a press night on 7 February.
REHEARSAL PHOTOS: Behind the scenes of the page-to-stage premiere of Crongton Knights
Can you stick to the beat? Looks like it’s a prerequisite for the cast of the new beatbox-infused adaptation of Alex Wheatle’s award-winning 2016 Young Adults’ novel Crongton Knights. Sneak a peek inside the rehearsal room – and then get booking!
BEHIND THE SCENES: What’s happening in rehearsals for On McQuillan’s Hill?
It’s all fun and smiles until it gets physical! That’s certainly what rehearsals for On McQuillan’s Hill look like if these rehearsal images are anything to go by. Take a look, then book your tickets.
PHOTOS: Kinky Boots stars reunite for cast screening ahead of the musical’s cinema release
Matt Henry and other members of the Kinky Boots cast reunited yesterday, a year after the multi-award-winning musical finished in the West End, for a private screening of the forthcoming cinematic release. And Mate Terri Paddock got a sneak-peek too. Time to get booking!
FIRST-LOOK: Arresting production photos & trailer for new 1950s-set police drama COPS
We need to take a trip down to the station. Check out our gallery of production photos and trailer for the world premiere of Tony Tortora’s COPS, set in a Chicago police precinct office in 1957. It’s just opened at Southwark Warehouse, where it’s running until 1 February 2020 only. Time to get booking!
Watch COPS’s post-show Q&A: How does a new play feel like a finely minted period revival?
To me, COPS, set in 1950s Chicago, comes across as so authentically period that it feels like it must be a finely minted revival. But it’s not: it’s a new play. Even more surprising then that it’s written by an author I’d never heard of before.
FIRST LOOK: Discover what The Journey of a Warlike Mind looks like with production images from the VAULT Festival show
What would like look like fight a quest for a woman’s soul, struggling through the layers of her consciousness? We didn’t know either, but luckily we’ve seen production images from Ana Luiza Ulsig’s The Journey of a Warlike Mind, which make it all much clearer. Take a look, and watch Ana talking about the show, then book your tickets!
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.
NEWS: Very Rascals brings tale of grief It’s Beautiful, Over There to London
Following a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019, Stephanie Greenwood’s autobiographical one-woman show It’s Beautiful, Over There will receive a London run at the Tristan Bates Theatre in February. Book your tickets now!
REHEARSAL PHOTOS: Behind the scenes for ‘missing’ Black British history play The Gift
How have director Dawn Walton and the cast of Janice Okoh’s new play The Gift been getting to grips with a little-known chapter of 19th-century British history? Check out our bumper gallery of rehearsal photos. Time to get booking for this month’s premiere at Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre, subsequent London transfer and tour!
‘Where’s the East End gone?’ Mark Heywood on how London Marathon inspired new play Rhubarb Ghetto & why VAULT Festival is its ideal home
Watching a stretch of the London Marathon near his home in Wapping got writer-director Mark Heywood wondering about what’s happened to the city’s East End and inspired his new play Rhubarb Ghetto. It premieres next month at VAULT Festival. Check out our interview and behind-the-scenes photos – and then get booking!
GALLERY: Meet the quartet of conjurers competing in Could it be Magic?
As Paul Aitchison’s hilarious tale of a magic competition, Could It Be Magic?, arrives at the Chiswick Playhouse, meet the four quirky illusionists vying for its very special trophy. Book your tickets now!
BEHIND THE SCENES: Take a look into the rehearsal room for timely new drama For the Sake of Argument
New play about journalism, polemic, the power of words and the very real consequences of publishing, For the Sake of Argument, premieres at the Bridewell Theatre later this month. Check out how it’s coming together in rehearsals, then book your tickets!
‘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!
WATCH: Rosalind Blessed discusses creating personal plays The Delights of Dogs and The Problems of People and Lullabies for the Lost
Weeping at her mother’s performance, having her plays produced by her father and writing plays inspired by her own mental health troubles – watch Rosalind Blessed opening up about her productions The Delights of Dogs and The Problems of People and Lullabies for the Lost then book your tickets!
‘My desire is to rise against the odds in a racist justice system’: Daniel Francis on his role in the premiere of COPS
After his screen success in US fantasy series Once Upon a Time, London-born Daniel Francis returns to the UK stage to play an American detective in new 1950s-set play COPS at Southwark Playhouse. He told us more about what attracted him to the play. Time to get booking!
NEWS: Broadway fairytale Once Upon a Mattress follows 42nd Street at Gatehouse
After its Christmas success with 42nd Street, Upstairs at the Gatehouse continues its string of Broadway revivals in 2020 with a brand-new production of Mary Rodgers’ rarely seen fairy-tale musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress in March, starring Offies nominee Beth Burrows. Tickets are now on sale. Time to get booking!
REHEARSAL PHOTOS: Behind the scenes with the Cops fighting the mob at Southwark Playhouse
You may have been munching mince pies over the holidays, but the police were working hard… including at London’s Southwark Playhouse where director Andy Jordan has been preparing his four-strong cast of COPS for their UK premiere. Check out our gallery of rehearsal photos – including an astonishingly adorable puppy! – and then get booking!