Previews begin tonight (18 October) for the world premiere of new Richard Bean comedy Young Marx, the first flagship offering at the new Bridge Theatre, founded by former National Theatre supremos Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr. Have a peek inside…
This past weekend, the newly built, 900-seat theatre, situated on the River Thames by Tower Bridge and London’s City Hall, opened its doors for its first-ever audience, Bridge and Young Bridge members who were invited in to try out the building, its auditorium, in-house bar, cafe and facilities.
The Bridge auditorium is a collaboration between Haworth Tompkins, LTC and Tait Stage Technologies – winner of two Queen’s Awards for Export. It is made of precision-engineered steel with oak finishes in a modular construction – a first of its kind – which also incorporates the air conditioning, house lights, power and data. The Bridge is London’s first theatre of scale to be added to London’s commercial theatre stock in eighty years.
The first visitors to London’s new Bridge Theatre
Tonight, paying audiences will attend the first-ever public performance at the Bridge Theatre. Production shots have also been released for the Bridge’s opening production, Young Marx, which stars Rory Kinnear (Karl Marx), Oliver Chris (Friedrich Engels) and Nancy Carroll (Jenny von Westphalen). Following previews from tonight, it opens to the press on 26 October 2017, continuing until 30 December with a cinema broadcast via NT Live on 7 December.
Young Marx, written by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman, reunites the creative team behind Bean’s smash National Theatre hit One Man, Two Guvnors – it’s directed by Hytner and designed by Mark Thompson, with music by Grant Olding, lighting by Mark Henderson and sound by Paul Arditti.
From dream to sketch to reality: Bridge Theatre, now open. pic.twitter.com/dByx2heC1m
— Bridge Theatre (@_bridgetheatre) October 11, 2017
The Young Marx cast also includes: Laura Elphinstone (Helene ‘Nym’ Demuth), Eben Figueiredo (Konrad Schramm), Nicholas Burns (August von Willich), Tony Jayawardena (Gert “Doc” Schmidt), Miltos Yerolemou (Emmanuel Barthélemy), Duncan Wisbey (Fleece/Darwin), Scott Karim (Grabiner/Singe), Alana Ramsey (Mrs Mullett),Sophie Russell (Mrs Whitehead), Fode Simbo (Pastor Flint), William Troughton (Constable Crimp) and Joseph Wilkins (Sergeant Savage).
1850, and Europe’s most feared terrorist is hiding in Dean Street, Soho. Broke, restless and horny, the thirty-two-year-old revolutionary is a frothing combination of intellectual brilliance, invective, satiric wit, and child-like emotional illiteracy. Creditors, spies, rival revolutionary factions and prospective seducers of his beautiful wife all circle like vultures. His writing blocked, his marriage dying, his friend Engels in despair at his wasted genius, his only hope is a job on the railway. But there’s still no one in the capital who can show you a better night on the piss than Karl Heinrich Marx.
Tickets for Young Marx are priced from £15 to £65 with a limited number of premium seats available. A special allocation of £15 seats will be held for Young Bridge, a free scheme for those under 26.
Show photos
