by Mat Burtcher | Sep 20, 2017 |
Great Expectations By Charles Dickens Adapted by Tom Crowley December 2017 | The Old Red Lion Theatre, London Heritage Arts and Crowley & Co. are proud to present Great Expectations, a funny, fast-paced and moving adaptation of the novel by Charles Dickens, catapulting Pip into the 21st century. Tickets Now On Sale: Book Now The script, adapted by Tom Crowley (Shock Treatment, The Quentin Dentin Show) fully reimagines the classic story for the modern day, while capturing Dickens’s humour, his humanity and his sense of adventure. Great Expectations remains a story about the ageless themes of unrequited love, the divide between the rich and the poor, and what it means to be a ‘good person’. Pip is a council estate boy with no money, and no hope for the future. His mother, widow Jo Gargery, is a police officer struggling to provide for herself and her son. Before long, Pip’s life is changed forever after he meets mysterious fugitive Magwycz, the beautiful but troubled Estella and the fearsome, wounded Miss Havisham. Pip’s whirlwind adventure takes him to the heights of big city success – and into more danger than he could have ever imagined. Critically-acclaimed companies Crowley & Co. (Radioman, Greywing House) and The Heritage Arts Company (VAULT Festival, The Cement Garden) join forces to bring this thrilling, romantic romp to The Old Red Lion Theatre for Christmas 2017. Dates & Times Tuesday 12th December 2017 – Saturday 6th January 2018 Tuesday – Saturday at 7:30pm Matinees: Saturday 16th, 23rd, 30th Dec and 6th Jan; Sunday 17th and 31st Dec; Thurs 21st, Fri 22nd, Thurs 28th Dec at 3pm Previews: Tuesday 12th December at 7:30pm. Book Now...
by Mat Burtcher | Aug 24, 2014 |
The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes By Rashid Razaq | Based on a short story by Hassan Blasim 23rd July – 16th August 2014 | Arcola Theatre A black comedy – an Iraqi refugee comes to London in search of his dream… Salim, an Iraqi refugee, takes on a new identity In London after fleeing persecution in Baghdad. He is picked up, and marries a wealthy older woman, who enthusiastically coaches him in the bedroom for his forthcoming citizenship test. But Carlos Fuentes finds that knowing the names of all six of Henry VIII’s wives can neither satisfy his new wife nor turn him into a “Britishman”. The nightmare of the violence of his past catches up with him, and suddenly he is at the airport,accompanied by a G4 security guard, waiting for a plane to take him back to Iraq The World premiere of Rashid Razaq’s new play is based on an award-winning short story by Hassan Blasim. It is directed by Nicolas Kent, who was artistic director of the Tricycle Theatre from 1984-2012, and the cast includes Nabil Elouahabi who was a leading actor in the Olivier nominated trilogy “The Great Game -Afghanistan” and on Channel 4 TV’s Bafta nominated “Top Boy” “A powerful mix of sex games and sectarianism… Expertly directed and rawly topical.” ★★★★ The Independent “The story of a traumatised Iraqi Everyman is a deeply sensitive piece of work” ★★★★ Financial Times “Rashid Razaq offers a nightmarish but gripping glimpse into sectarian war in Iraq after Saddam Husain’s fall” ★★★★ Evening Standard “An enjoyable and thought-provoking piece which, coupled with the delightful surroundings of Dalston’s classy Arcola,...
by Mat Burtcher | Jan 28, 2014 |
The Cement Garden By Ian McEwan 28th January – 8th March 2014 VAULT Festival “I did not kill my father, but sometimes I felt I had helped him on his way. And but for the fact that it coincided with a landmark in my own physical growth, his death seemed insignificant compared with what followed. I am only including the little story of his death to explain how my sisters and I came to have such a large quantity of cement at our disposal.”The Heritage Arts Company and FallOut Theatre present a headline production for VAULT Festival 2014. In the relentless summer heat, four children retreat into an isolated world left to them by their parents, and attempt to create their own version of a family. In Ian McEwan’s first novel, The Cement Garden explores coming of age, burgeoning sexuality and the distortions of a 14-year-old mind. David Aula and Jimmy Osborne’s stage adaptation approaches the horror of the story through the innocent eyes of children, and encourages an audience to remember the games, irreverence, and shadows of their youth: to remember and reinvent their sense of invincibility. “As sharp as can be… rancid, beguiling and playful.” ★★★★ The Sunday Times “Leaves you effectively shaken.” ★★★★ Metro “Adventurous and youthfully energetic” ★★★★ The Times “Gloriously inventive, playful and full of heart” ★★★★ Fourthwall Magazine “Experimental and adventurous.” ★★★★ The Public Reviews CastCreative Team David Annen as Tom Ruby Bentall as Julie Georgia Clarke-Day as Sue Victoria Gould as Mother George Mackay as Jack Christopher Webster as Derek Based on the Novel by Ian McEwan Adapted by Jimmy Osborne and David Aula Directed by David Aula Designed by Georgia De Grey Lighting Design by Stuart Webb Sound Design...
by Mat Burtcher | Jan 28, 2014 |
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas 28th January – 8th March 2014 VAULT Festival Dr Hunter S Thompson’s twisted, madcap adventure to find the heart of the American Dream is staged in this collaboration between his old friend and colleague Lou Stein and the legendary British illustrator Ralph Steadman. Two assignments in Nevada turn super-ugly for a young journalist and his attorney, partly because they’re chock full of narcotics, but mostly because they’re on a savage journey to discover how the idea of America got broken, and why there’s no way back to freedom, real freedom. Hop in the back, grab yourself a beer and experience one of the wildest, most vibrant and utterly essential books of our time as never seen before. “A real blast… a trip I heartily recommend.” ★★★★ The Telegraph “More than a play… an experience.” ★★★★ – Fourthwall Magazine “Gloriously whacked out” – Time Out “A wild and rollicking ride.” – London Slant “A trip you will not want to miss.” – The Londonist CastCreative Team John Chancer The Narrator Ed Hughes Raoul Duke Rob Crouch Dr. Gonzo with Ben Hood, Tom Moores, Libby Northedge and Nina Smith as The Ensemble and Kerry Shale as the Pre-Recorded Voices Based on the Novel by Hunter S Thompson Adapted and Directed by Lou Stein Artwork by Ralph Steadman Designed by Rosie Moon Lighting Design by Ziggy Jacobs-Wyburn Sound Design by David Chilton Projection Artist Peter Wilms Produced by The Heritage Arts Company and Lou Stein Associates The Production is happily affiliated with Wild Turkey Bourbon. Executive Producer Laila...
by Mat Burtcher | Jan 1, 2013 |
Montevedi’s L’Orfeo Silent Opera January – February 2013 Trinity Buoy Wharf Arguably the first opera ever written Monteverdi’s groundbreaking work follows Orfeo as he descends to hell in search of his deceased love, and Silent Opera take you to the Underworld with him. Orfeo travels to the underworld to retrieve his beloved where he entrances the gods of the underworld, who give him the chance to have her return with him to earth. However, there is one condition, he must trust that she is following him, and not look back – if he does “a single glance will condemn him to eternal loss”. Doubtful of this chance, he looks back, trapping Eurydice in the Underworld forever. Silent Opera brings audiences closer to the action than ever before. This intense experience brings together theatre, technology and classical music. Audiences are provided with wireless headphones, which deliver an all encompassing sound world directly into their head: bringing together live singing and select instrumentalists, mixed with a pre-recorded full orchestra, revealing every breath, nuance and emotion of the operatic narrative. It then allows audiences to move freely through the performance space, following the story and creating their own personal theatre, by choosing how to experience Monteverdi’s masterpiece. “Viscerally exciting…an inspired and beautifully lit interpretation” Whatsonstage “Startlingly well-sung and theatrically inventive” Evening Standard “Ingeniously synchronised… gripping” The Times “Nothing short of mind-boggling… immersive theatre done to an uncompromising standard” Everything Theatre Creative TeamCastOrchestra Director Daisy Evans Conductor Christopher Bucknall Designer Katherine Heath Movement Director Anjali Mehra Assistant Directors Greg Eldridge, Jennifer Bakst Assistant Conductor Joseph Mchardy Repetiteur Nicholas Fletcher Lighting Designer Ziggy Jacobs Sound System...
