It is still a relatively rare experience to see a working class drama that invests its characters with a profound and complex, even a poetic interior, life, but from the first moments of Richard Hawley and Chris Bush’s Standing At the Sky’s Edge when a workman stops to greet the beauty of the dawn and the sound of birdsong, it is clear that this is no ordinary representation of
‘I’d be surprised if I see a more impressive piece of theatre this year’: ROCK/PAPER/SCISSORS – Sheffield
All three plays in Chris Bush’s Rock/Paper/Scissors triptych run in Sheffield Theatres’ three spaces simultaneously with one cast. The overall piece is a logistical coup-de-théâtre. It’s also a perfect coming together of space and place in three funny, achingly profound and heartful plays about a city and its people on the cusp of change.
‘A musical & historical love letter to the city of Sheffield’: THE BAND PLAYS ON – Sheffield Theatres (Online review)
The Band Played On, the latest show from Chris Bush, is a tuneful celebration of stoicism, resilience and humour.
NEWS: Industry leaders launch coordinated effort to lobby for government support & welcome new taskforce
The theatre industry’s fightback was raised to a new level as, after more than two months of enforced venue closures, leaders coordinated efforts to pressure the government for further support, and DCMS appointed a new commissioner for Cultural Recovery.
NEWS: Sheffield Theatres plan outdoor Shakespeare performances as buildings remain closed
Sheffield Theatres has announced that, subject to government advice, it hopes to bring Shakespeare to Sheffield’s outdoor spaces later this year.
NEWS: Ian McKellen is the first actor to top The Stage 100
Stage and screen star Ian McKellen has been named number one in The Stage 100, ‘the definitive guide to the most influential figures working in the UK theatre and performing arts industry today’. He is the first actor to ever top the list.
‘I think this might be a very special version’: Alex Young is loving being part of Guys & Dolls at Sheffield Crucible
Actress Alex Young chats to Emma Clarendon about starring as Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.
NEWS: Four wins for Sheffield Theatres’ Life Of Pi at the UK Theatre Awards
There were wins for Sheffield Theatres’ Life Of Pi at the 2019 UK Theatre Awards, revealed at London’s Guildhall.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Macbeth at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Robert Hastie directs Michelle Terry and Paul Ready in this new production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews…
‘The play comes back, timeless and terrifying’: MACBETH – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse ★★★★
Here in Robert Hastie’s careful production of Macbeth is all the horror, psychological acuity and profound, terrified morality of Shakespeare’s darkest play.
‘Embraces silence & precision’: THE YORK REALIST – Sheffield
Robert Hastie once said that the director’s role is “to provide the clearest conduit between a writer and an actor”. Such an approach, effectively of getting in the way as little as possible, perfectly suits the prosaic dialogue of Peter Gill’s 2001 play The York Realist.
‘Rendered perfect’: THE YORK REALIST – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★
Peter Gill’s 2002 play, The York Realist, which won plaudits but not universal acclaim at first, is rendered in the Donmar’s intimacy by director Robert Hastie as something perfect: delicate, clear and natural as an upland brook.
NEWS: Richard Hawley, Dan Gillespie Sells & Kiss Me Kate feature in new Sheffield season
Sheffield Theatres’ new season includes Standing at the Sky’s Edge by Michael Wynne, with music and lyrics by Richard Hawley; A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Robert Hastie with music by Dan Gillespie Sells; and this year’s Christmas musical Kiss Me, Kate.
‘Beautifully moving & genuinely funny’: THE YORK REALIST – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★
The York Realist at the Donmar Warehouse is a glorious show which creeps up on you slowly, naturally and beautifully. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend 130 minutes.
‘This tale of impossible love clutches at your heart’: The York Realist – Donmar Warehouse
Nothing feels rushed in Robert Hastie’s wonderful new production of The Yor Realist at the Donmar Warehouse, allowing this beautifully sad production to really touch the heart. A modern classic and a Yorkshire Brief Encounter indeed.
NEWS: Jonathan Bailey joins York Realist, Full cast announced for Donmar & Sheffield
Jonathan Bailey has been cast as John alongside, as previously announced, Ben Batt as George and Lesley Nicol as George’s mother in Robert Hastie’s major new production of Peter Gill’s 2001 play The York Realist.
OF KITH & KIN – Bush Theatre
A new baby is like an alien invasion: it blows your mind and it colonises your world. For any couple, parenthood can be both exalting and devastating, with the stress hugging the relationship so tightly that eventually all its lies and evasions pop out.
OF KITH & KIN – Bush Theatre ★★★
It doesn’t help that everyone’s so unlikeable – younger Oliver (Joshua Silver) is a self-centered underachieving queen with Disney fantasies, partner Daniel (James Lance) is an ex-heterosexual lawyer still pursuing the patriarchal role.
NEWS: James Norton & Imogen Poots star in UK premiere of Belleville in new Donmar season
British screen stars James Norton and Imogen Poots will star in the UK premiere of American playwright Amy Herzog’s acclaimed play Belleville at London’s Donmar Warehouse. The production, directed by Michael Longhurst, is one of three new shows announced today for winter 2017/2018.
NEWS: Female playwrights lead Best New Play nominations in UK Theatre Awards 2017
Industry body UK Theatre has announced the nominations for the annual UK Theatre Awards, which celebrate creative excellence and the outstanding work seen on stages throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Notably, for the first time in the Awards history, all nominations for Best New Play are written by female playwrights.
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