If you feel like Oscar Wilde when he said: “I love acting. It is so much more real than life” then you’re in the right place! With industry news, the latest castings, and upcoming projects, we’ll make sure stay updated on the ever-changing theatrical world. Whether it’s West End, fringe or regional theatre, we have your back.
More and more Pinter at the Pinter.
The next instalments of the exciting Pinter at the Pinter season are coming. Pinter Five will see The Room, Victoria Station and Family Voices with direction by Patrick Marber. In Pinter Six we will find Party Time and Celebration, directed by Jamie Lloyd, who has helmed the Pinter at the Pinter season. Soutra Gilmour has designed the entire season, lighting is by Jon Clark, Richard Howell and Elliot Griggs, with sound and music by George Dennis and Ben and Max Ringham. Once we’ve seen Five and Six, Seven will feature Martin Freeman and Danny Dyer, and last is Tom Hiddleston in Betrayal. There’s no such thing as too much Pinter.
Say you’re a bird.
Fans of the Rachel McAdams/Ryan Gosling movie The Notebook will be delighted to hear that American songstress Ingrid Michaelson is adapting it into a musical. The book will be written by Bekah Brunstetter, best-known for writing the American family television drama This Is Us. No casting announcements have been made as yet. Based on the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name, The Notebook is a time-jumping love story that will bring you to tears. We have no doubt Michaelson’s musical will do the same.
Full Cast for All About Eve announced.
Opening 2 February at the Noël Coward Theatre, Ivo Van Hove’s adaptation of All About Eve starring Gillian Anderson and Lily James has announced its full cast. Making her debut is Jessie Mei Li who will play Claudia, along with Michael Warburton, Stuart Nunn, Phillipa Peak, Chanelle Modi, Merric Boyd and Fejiro Emasiobi in the ensemble. With design by Jan Versweyveld, costumes by An D’Huys, sound by Tom Gibbons mixed with music by PJ Harvey, this play about theatre is sure to entrance us.
Brecht in Manchester.
Bertolt Brecht’s behemoth Mother Courage and Her Children is being co-produced by the Manchester Royal Exchange and Headlong Productions from February to March. A new adaptation by Anna Jordan with music composed by Jim Fortune, this classic stars Julie Hesmondhalgh (Broadchurch) in the titular role. With direction by Headlong’s associate director Amy Hodge, this modern retelling brings Brecht’s much celebrated and studied work into the twenty-first century.
Little Voice makes a big impression.
In a new actor-musician production of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, audiences in Bolton will be dazzled by spot-on impressions of the music they love. Directed by Ben Occhipinti with Katie Elin-Salt in the leading role, this production at Octagon Theatre Bolton opens at the end of January. Sally George, Akshay Gulati, Ted Robbins, Mark Moraghan and Sue Vincent round out the cast of actor-musos led by musical director and arranger Rob Hiley.
Climate change takes the stage.
In a new play by Rose Lewenstein, climate change and consumerism take centre stage. Cougar, opening in February at the Orange Tree Theatre in a co-production with the English Touring Theatre, will star Charlotte Randle and Mike Noble. Director Chelsea Walker heads an all-female production team, with Shelley Maxwell on movement, Jess Bernberg on lighting design, Rosanna Vize on design, and Alexandra Faye Braithwaite on sound design and composition. Venture to Richmond to catch this new piece of theatre.
Who is it that can tell me who I am?
King Lear is now Jack Lear in Hull Truck Theatre’s production of Ben Benison’s adaptation of the great Shakespearean tragedy. With a Northern update, Jack Lear must dispense his trawling business and assets to his three argumentative and scheming daughters, but not without interference from Edmund, a dastardly solicitor. Barrie Rutter OBE directs and stars in this drama set on the River Humber, guaranteed to delight Northern and Southern audiences alike.
Check out Backstage’s UK audition listings!