, , , , , , , , ,

Wallflower at the Orgy

This week, a letter arrived from Reed Smith LLP, acting for the producers of Burlesque the Musical. “You have been engaged in a damaging and vicious campaign of denigrating our client, the production and the producers Adam Paulden and Steven Antin,” it said. “Much of what you have written is untrue or misleading.”

Wow. I want to sit with that for a second, because theatre is a town of middlemen, and I am not a hobby journalist. I just found my way into this story of a crazy musical and wanted to tell it as clearly as possible, with as much understanding as possible: or, as Nora Ephron used to say, as a wallflower at the orgy.


Call it old school: cultivating a network of well-placed, anonymous sources and telling the inside story. That approach means I’ve been sucked into this story myself. And everything I’ve heard (from literally everybody connected to this show, past, present and beyond) paints a portrait of a musical in disarray, with incompetent producers at its centre. This was a company that was, in a real sense, shattered from day one of operation.

Let’s stick to facts. The show has taken £1,287,306 in Glasgow, £1,530,912 and £3,029,501 across two Manchester runs, and £5,451,592.90 at the Savoy — £11.3m across two years. Not one penny has gone back to investors. Zero. A box office advance is not production capital, and it is not profit. It’s money sitting in escrow from people who’ve bought tickets for shows that haven’t happened yet — a liability, not a windfall, until the performance is delivered and the sale matures. Treating it as a win is either a category error or a convenient one.

The company’s own filed accounts record net current liabilities of £9,444,685 as at 31 July 2025, and state plainly that the going-concern basis rests entirely on an unnamed investor’s continued willingness not to call in what’s owed.

Still, a lawyer I know put it to me this way: “It looks like Tough Love Ltd is the new producing entity, on the back of finance from RS24 Investments Limited against a debenture dated 22 July 2026 on the business’s assets. The actual finances of Tough Love are a mystery, since it’s a new company and no accounts have been filed yet. TR Heels is hopelessly insolvent, and I suspect any creditors still owed money, if any, will have to whistle for it.”


Well, quite. It’s almost like a real-life staging of The Producers: concoct the cost, raise the money, engineer a flop, stay rich. I’m not going to speculate on the motives of my sources here, only to say they are very, very good ones, and that everything in this blog is something I’ve concluded is accurate and true.

Anyway: developments. People didn’t want to touch this story. Some felt tainted by it, others too frightened to go near something this toxic. It took a reporter at the Sunday Times 12 months and the spectacular derailment, sorry “postponement” of the UK tour and Marble Arch London run last week to. As of tonight, The Daily Telegraph is investigating reprobate Paulden and Antin’s financial affairs.


Needless to say, if you’re in power, you don’t get to threaten writers and journalists just because they don’t like what’s being said about them. F— that.
This is not producing live theatre on impulse or whim. There is no method to the madness.


So yes, thank you for reading. And thank you to those of you who have reached out with messages of support.
In terms of what happens next, the train will hit the wall.

/by
, , , , , ,

Summerfolk

WHAT makes Robert Hastie’s productions different from other theatre directors is an extraordinary combination of visual richness and visual freedom. His shows just seem to flow. Summerfolk is stunning. 

It is the height of summer, and the well-off are well ensconced in their dachas doing very little. They walk. They write bad poetry. They complain.

Maxim Gorky’s 1904 satire of Russia’s holidaying middle classes — that unfamiliar layer between the landed aristocracy and the peasantry, people who’ve grappled their way up to wealth and promptly lost their nerve — fills the vast Olivier stage to the brim with people not having a good time, and telling us about it at considerable length.

It’s an ensemble evening, all drifting into a 20th century about which the only thing they know is that it is not going to live up to any of their private or public hopes.

“I want to live” is the repeated refrain of these restless, self-deceiving characters. It is also, one suspects, their problem.

Robert Hastie steers an ensemble of two dozen magnificently, and the acting is uniformly terrific. Paul Ready’s Sergei is infuriating and odious, all gravelly voice and grating laugh. Doon Mackichan’s Kaleria is a hilariously pitiable woo-woo figure with a penchant for cringey poetry.

Sophie Rundle’s Varvara perfectly strikes the balance between aloofness and likability. Best of all is Alex Lawther, whose Vlass is sharp, anguished and deeply funny: a comic performance of real precision.

Gorky’s script has been given an idiosyncratic, often coarse updating by siblings Nina and Moses Raine that will divide audiences (quite a lot of people left at the interval) but which I found entertaining. Peter McKintosh’s design and Paul Pyant’s half-gloom blue-green lighting conjur moods and subtle action with quiet authority.

Nipping at the edges of this charmed circle are the poor: beggars shooed away, servants barely acknowledged, a woman frantically searching for a missing child. The world, we sense, is quietly breaking apart.

Yet the evening remains fascinating rather than forceful. With 18 named characters, it is hard to care deeply about any of them for long. Once you’ve established who loves and who despises whom, dacha life proves stubbornly circular. Characters repeat themselves — “I’m so unhappy”; “This picnic is boring. Like life.” — and the play occasionally earns the same verdict. 

One character delivers a withering notice of The Cherry Orchard: “Went on too long. Didn’t like it.” Summerfolk goes on a tiny bit too long as well. It is, though, considerably more likeable than that. A sumptuous and emotionally charged experience.

There are a few minor imperfections: I could have done without superficial nod to female solidarity – it disrupts the tone and its simplifications put the past in an artificial perspective. On the other hand, it serves as an incredible reminder of how far we’ve come. Class is in the air. 

To me, this adaption is a fine piece of craftsmanship — every detail in place, nothing wasted. But it neither rouses nor amuses. It’s a class fable that knows exactly how close it stands to camp, and holds its laconic distance like someone gripping a ledge.

Anyhow. What unsettles me is not the rare, striking adaptations and revisionism — the ones that make us genuinely care about the characters and what befell them (Vanya, Yerma, 1536) — but the indifference of so many. The politics are in the original piece. 

Summerfolk is on at the National Theatre until 29 April

/by
, , ,

UK public invited to perform with the BBC Singers in virtual event

On Tuesday 21 May at 7pm, singers of all abilities across the UK are invited to join the BBC Singers virtually, using the groundbreaking new SAFFIRE app 

The recorded performance will form part of a newly commissioned piece composed by BBC Singers’ Composer in Association Roderick Williams, which receives its world premiere at the BBC Singers’ centenary concert later this year. 

The virtual event is a collaboration between the University of York, BBC Singers, and BBC Research and Development, as part of a project designing technical approaches to creating inclusive and immersive musical experiences. The project aims to improve access to group singing so people can experience the benefits no matter where they are in the world. 

Members of the public are invited to visit https://saffire.york.ac.uk/ where they can sign up to the event, print and download the score and listen to sound files of the six parts in the choir. The SAFFIRE app is available to download now, onto a mobile device. At 7pm on 21 May, users will be able to login, select their part and join the virtual performance, which begins at 7.30pm. The app will provide the experience of singing live with members of the BBC Singers, who will be performing at the iconic BBC studios at Maida Vale. 

The performance will be recorded and the virtual singers will be played as part of the soundscape, forming part of a larger scale BBC Commission from Roderick Williams.  The piece receives its world premiere as part of a live performance from the BBC Singers and BBC Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Singers centenary concert at the Barbican on 2 October. Singers of all abilities are invited to join the performance.  

Jonathan Manners, Co-Director and Producer, BBC Singers said: “I am thrilled that in the year we are celebrating 100 years of the BBC Singers, members of the public will have the unique opportunity to sing alongside us, virtually, through the SAFFIRE app. I know from experience that singing is a powerful way to build connections and community and I cannot wait to see it all come together at our centenary concert at the Barbican on 2 October. For those unable to join us in the concert Hall, it will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and on BBC Sounds”. 

Roderick Williams, Composer and Baritone, said: “Increasing access to classical music and especially singing is something I feel passionate about, so I am hugely pleased that anyone and everyone in the UK will have the opportunity to sing in my new piece, composed especially for the BBC Singers.” 

The project will be the first output of the CoStar LiveLAB, a brand new state-of-the-art research and development facility at Production Park in Wakefield, led by experts at the University of York. The lab, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, leverages virtual production technologies including computer generated imagery (CGI), spatial audio, motion capture and extended reality (XR) to create novel live performance experiences.  

Professor Gavin Kearney, Director of LiveLab, said: “This is a truly exciting partnership that will give members of the public a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of a world-renowned choir in a performance that will be available to millions of people at the end of this year. For us as researchers, we can test this new technology as well as the experiences that people have using it, to see if this could be a way forward for opening up musical experiences to people who might not otherwise have access to it.”  

Research into virtual singing environments has already shown that virtual choirs provided a lifeline for many people during the pandemic by maintaining social connections, but that there was a unanimous sense of loss of the collective process of making music in real time due to the technical limitations of the internet.   

Experts at the University of York addressed this challenge by developing a virtual environment to allow participants to feel fully immersed within the sound of the choir and trialled the technology in care homes and at a National Trust exhibition, to positive responses from users. 

Professor Helena Daffern, Co-Director of LiveLab, said: “This new project with the BBC Singers will take our work into virtual singing experiences to another level.  We know that virtual choirs can provide a way of reaching people who have barriers to taking part in these social events, but we need more evidence to understand if virtual performances could have the same health and wellbeing impacts as they do in real life. 

“Most importantly, however, for this new project, we hope that people enjoy the experience of feeling immersed in the performance of this incredible choir in real-time and being created by such a renowned composer; it should be something that singers of all abilities will remember for a long time to come.” 

Every Prom is broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds. Furthermore, £8 Promming tickets are available for every concert.
tickets are now on sale

/by
, , , ,

Jack Bradfield: “If you make too many adjustments too quickly, you can fly the plane out of cloud cover upside down.”

It was 2018. I was at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and I went along to Pleasance Dome to watch an alien themed show called Lights Over Tesco Car Parkdirected by Jack Bradfield. 

He is Artistic Director of Poltergeist, and trained on the Royal Court Writers’ Group 2017. 

Anyway, Lights Over Tesco Car Park was a festival highlight, and I often think about how engaging and smart it was.

Flash forward over half a decade and Bradfield has won the Sir Peter Hall Director award and we are talking on the telephone.

How has his May been, I ask. “My May has been really eventful,” he declares. “I’m working on Robert Icke’s Player Kings in the West End as Associate Director. I suppose I am at that point in most freelance director’s careers where you are juggling about seven projects or ideas and checking which ones are going to progress and which ones you are going to have to put in the back drawer for a little while,” he says. 

“Suddenly you get broad, and you start thinking about lots of different ideas,” he says. “Of course, I’m starting my prep for Abigail’s Party, which I am really thrilled about. It’s really exciting.” 

More on that in a second. 

First, though, Bradfield has been selected from eight finalists for the 2023 prize, that is awarded by the Royal Theatrical Support Trust. The fantastic annual award, named in recognition of the RTST co-founder and Royal Shakespeare Company founder Hall, offer its winner the chance to direct a fully funded production in a UK regional theatre, as part of its main season, prior to taking that production out on tour.

Bradfield will now direct Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party for Northern Stage’s main stage, with the support of the venue’s artistic director Natalie Ibu. 

The application process, he says, was exhilarating. “I directed two actors in front of a panel, which is where that process leads you up to. It was a big gauntlet to throw down; negotiating a room when you’re the director but there are ten panel members,” he says. “The flipside of the process being rigorous is the confidence that you want to direct the full show.”

“I’d say apply, apply, apply, I’d also say pick the plays you’ve always loved. Because I loved the play I loved the process,” he adds.

In any case, this brilliant accolade provides an emerging director with a first-time, career- opportunity to originate and direct a fully funded production as part of a main season of plays at a mid-scale British regional theatre and to take that production on tour to other mid-scale regional theatres. 

On Lights Over Tesco Car Park, he says that he learned that you must keep going and working on the work that you want to make. “Having that friendship was such a blessing because it was a topic and a world and a way of making theatre myself and the Poltergeist collective were so excited about. The thing it really made me do is to go back to my craft. And that is useful. Because it sharpens how you direct and what you can make,” Bradfield recalls.

What are his creative reference points for directing theatre? “I have a few little mantras. Such as if you make too many adjustments too quickly, you can fly the plane out of cloud cover upside down,” Bradfield says. He pauses. “Sometimes it’s about a slow process, arriving at things that you want to make and not feeling like you must rush.”

He says that he is looking forward to making an Abigail’s Party with heart and humanity: “I think Abigail’s Party is ripe with contemporary resonance.”

“I also think it is a fascinating play to work with because it has been preserved in aspic slightly. The BBC Play for Today production is fantastic. Yet at the same time what that does is it preserve a version. Everyone knows it and can quote it to you. What is a real gift for this play is that it feels like a moment to explode it a bit and see how it speaks to now.”

And with that, a play that he has been working on for years, The Habits, is announced as part of Hampstead Theatre’s Autumn and Winter 2024/5 season.

It’s clear that Jack represents what RTST stands for as the future of the theatre industry, embodying innovation, dedication to audiences outside the M25 and a commitment to storytelling that captivates audiences.

I’m a believer.

Abigail’s Party runs 13-28 September at Northern Stage and then tours

/by
, , ,

Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York)

Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) is agreeable enough – it’s rather sweet actually.

Set in New York, this festive caper is far from a work of art, but it’s a superior musical comedy, well written by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan and directed tactfully, by Tim Jackson.

First produced in 2018 in Northampton as The Season, reimagined last year at London’s Kiln Theatre, this upbeat show is now running at the Criterion Theatre, London until 31 August.

What holds this musical together is the warmth supplied by the two performers. Brit Dougal (Sam Tutty) has flown to the Big Apple for a 36-hour trip to attend dad’s wedding (whom he has never met). New York barista Robin (Dujonna Gift) is sister of the bride, his new step aunt. She has a great voice and an excellent counter to Tutty’s excitement. 

It is all good fun. Played with even more conviction it could be great fun.

Imagine a Richard Curtis movie combined with A Christmas Carol, and you get the general picture. Yet there is a sense here the creators are doing something more interesting than just adapting a popular movie for nostalgia. 

Jackson’s production and suitcase set and costumes by Soutra Gilmour ushers us into the syrupy world and skilfully allows the songs to seem part of an extended conversation. Honestly, I didn’t like the set at all. But that’s that. 

It seems churlish to grumble when so much of this show, with its entertaining book, hits the mark.

Tutty’s motor runs a little fast. As an actor, he has a singular smartness that takes the form of speed; he’s always a little ahead of everybody, and this quicker responsiveness makes him more exciting to watch. His grin could melt stone, and he and Gift are a magical pair. 

There are charming numbers about online dating, and a drunken night of ice-skating when the couple go rogue with the groom’s platinum credit card, “hitchin’ a ride on the American Express”. Most memorable is Tutty’s tender, tear-jerking song-warning to eager Dougal that, like the father’s in classic Christmas films, fathers “always seem bigger and better from farther away”. Poignant. 

Anyway, our emotions rise to meet the force coming down from the stage, and they go on rising throughout. The end is subdued. It would have been better with the last quarter lopped off. 

As I sat in the Criterion Theatre watching middle-aged men and women alike wiping away a tear, it was evident that, for all its flaws, the musical had indeed delivered.
The tears are the tokens of gratitude for the spell the production has put on the audience.

In short, a feel-good show that captures magic of New York City without exploding the concept, I suspect Barne and Buchan’s likeable musical will have a long life.

Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) runs until 31 August 2024

/by
, , ,

West End ticket prices are alienating an entire generation of audiences 🎭

TONIGHT at the Royal Albert Hall, London theatreland will gather for the annual Olivier Awards ceremony.

The Oliviers are seen as the most prestigious awards event in UK theatre.

To be eligible, shows must have played in a theatre that is represented within the membership of the Society of London Theatre (SOLT).

Pop your teeth-grinding guards in and gather round, because it’s time to talk about theatre ticket prices again. Long-suffering theatre fans know that sky-high ticket prices are now par for the course and £395 “package” seats are a complete norm for the London theatres.

In 2015, the most expensive ticket in the West End was £152.25 for The Book of Mormon. It’s more than doubled in less than a decade. 

In recent months actors Cush Jumbo, Ralph Fiennes, David Tennant, and Andrew Scott have hit out against high and elite theatre ticket prices. Some people seem perfectly happy that theatre is now a luxury item. But not me.

This week, Patti LuPone remarked: “I don’t believe how expensive the tickets are at the door. It’s become an elite sport. If you’re going to develop audiences, you have to get young people in the theatre, and they have to see more than Back to the Future.”

On Broadway, the most expensive tickets cost $599 (£480) for Merrily We Roll Along. 

According to the Broadway League, the average ticket price for a Broadway show has hit a new record high — last season’s (2022-2023) ticket prices corresponded to more than $128.

But if that’s what the markets will bear, what are you supposed to do?

Indeed, while three quarters of Britons are willing to go to the theatre, fewer than half have been in the last 12 months.

A recent survey by YouGov found that 41 per cent of Londoners had been to the theatre in the past year (nationwide it was 31 per cent).

How much is too much for a theatre ticket? During a cost-of-living crisis anyone using dynamic pricing, a pricing strategy that businesses use to gain increased profits by driving up prices during high demand, needs to examine what exactly they are contributing to UK Theatre.

Newsflash: The cost of theatre tickets is the main reason people don’t go.

So, what’s the answer? Will commercial theatre ever not use dynamic pricing? Short answer: No. Because it’s easier, because it’s a habit, because producers and theatre owners can’t think of anything more constructive to do, and because it gets them instant cash.

For example, leading player Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) and their monopoly in the industry is harming customers and artists alike. Premium tickets for the Aladdin UK Tour at ATG’s Theatre Royal Glasgow are as much as £175.

What may sweeten the pill for theatregoers is that in some honest cases at least, the expensive premium seats are subsidising much cheaper tickets aimed at bringing in new, younger audiences.

Across the limited run of Jamie Lloyd’s Romeo & Juliet at the Duke of York’s Theatre, around 10,000 tickets for all tiers (including the front row) have sold out for £25 or less, 5,000 tickets were reserved for people under 30, key workers and in receipt of government benefits.

(Interestingly, Jamie Lloyd’s company recently became fully independent, after 10 years partnering with ATG.)

Up the road, at the Phoenix Theatre (ATG) Sonia Friedman recently revealed Netflix sci-fi prequel spin-off Stranger Things: The First Shadow is attracting “thousands of people who are coming to the theatre for the first time.”

Well, that’s great news.

There is a weekly TodayTix lottery for a dozen front-row ‘Shadow Seats’ at £19.50 each. That said, the venue is a 1,028 seat venue – so, around 1 per cent of seats are under £20 that 99.9999% people probably won’t win.

And if you want to sit in the stalls the cheapest seats are £75 — with a severely restricted view, because of the dreadful overhang from the level above. Top price tickets are as much £250. Of course, there is more price volatility, which can push prices higher due to a surge of last-minute demand.

Alas, despite rising wage bills, rampant inflation, dramatic energy costs, profits seem to be up for the usual suspects in the West End.

As for Andrew Lloyd Webber, recent LW Theatres’ accounts, reveal that sales rose by 19% to £190.7 million from £160.8 million in 2022, with the boost attributed to the end of pandemic disruptions.

In a report posted to Companies House LW noted: “We expect another full year of trading next year but anticipate our turnover and profitability will continue to be put under pressure by the cost-of-living crisis and high interest rates and the impact of these factors on consumer spending.”

Taking in the “broader economic environment”, the report emphasised LW Theatre’s aim to head off falling ticket sales by “continually monitoring and adjusting ticket prices”.

But let’s move on to Cameron Mackintosh Ltd – – that operates eight venues and produces Hamilton– the company saw turnover almost double year on year – to £186 million – Profit before tax was £45.5 million, compared with £18.9 million in 2022.

It was revealed recently that Delfont Mackintosh’s average ticket price for a play is £54. For a musical it’s £68.

Interviewed recently Cameron Mackintosh chirped, with all apparent sincerity: “You would be bloody lucky to get out of a decent restaurant, including a decent bottle of wine, for under £100. It is expensive … But it is not too expensive,”

Mackintosh added: “This is a very good system. This is capitalism working properly.” 

Honestly, no it is not.

In my wildest fantasies I’d like to think Sir Cameron would dwell on an irony here; in reality, people are contending with stagnant wages, high energy bills, staggering food prices and dreadful living standards — one in five tenants are now spending over half their salary on rent. 

Denying accusations of greed, SOLT responded to David Tennant’s criticism of “ludicrous” West End ticket prices, highlighting that average ticket prices have decreased when adjusted for inflation. Well, now. SOLT’s argument is irrelevant since pay does not go up by inflation.

The cheapest seats, which often have a restricted view, and induce vertigo increased by almost 13% this year compared with last. 

Of course, these conditions mean that rising ticket prices are alienating an entire generation of future audiences, it can’t just be left to the subsidised regional theatres to take moral responsibility for building tomorrow’s audiences

So how’s this for a plan? Transparent, clear up-front information about the cost of theatre – it would be a win for everyone.

It would demonstrate to the public how much it takes to get a show on. More schemes like Jamie Lloyd’s – ring fencing cultural opportunity for those from diverse backgrounds. 

And if Broadway publishes weekly grosses, what makes the West End so special not to?

But I’m not expecting two miracles in a week, ’cos all I’ve ever really wanted was West End theatre owners, producers and corporate companies like ATG to make theatre truly accessible. Theatre should be for everyone.

And the tragedy is that we all know it, and even the brilliant people who come up with the brilliant shows know it – but they’re still pushing premium prices because they think that it works in the very short term.

Yet in the long term, it really, really doesn’t – even the most shrewd producer should realise the damage that short-term financial gain does to public perceptions about theatre and who it is for. 

No doubt that well-oiled theatre PR machine will again defend sky-high ticket prices.

Ultimately, of course, one of the biggest questions for many remains: if theatre ceases to be a popular art for people in their twenties and thirties, will it become extinct for all but the wealthy?

Theatre is already being sidelined in favour of movies and gaming. The prominence of reviews and arts coverage is shrinking. Editors know that theatre is no longer an important part of the national cultural conversation. Yup, The Sunday Times now leads with only one theatre review and has all but given up on the idea of providing an overview of the theatre week in London.

Finally, change will not come from the generosity of those who profit from the existing state of affairs. It will emerge from the continued challenge of those who do not. 

Has the hour of need ever been greater?

The Olivier Awards will broadcast a highlights programme on Sunday 14 April at 10:10pm on ITV1.

/by
, , , , , ,

For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy

For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy writer and Director Ryan Calais Cameron’s vision is bold and unapologetic, weaving together a tapestry of vignettes that oscillate between introspection and explosive catharsis. 

Inspired by Ntozake Shange’s 1976 work For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, Calais Cameron’s play opens with six young men: Tobi King Bakare, Shakeel Haakim making his professional debut, Fela Lufadeju, Albert Magashi, Mohammed Mansaray and Posi Morakinyo. 

This is a memorable piece about Black masculinity and Black life in Britain, the wounds and crises of class conditioned by the background weather of race and identity. The nature of manhood is one of Mr. Calais Cameron’s chief concerns.

It’s an entirely unique vision and wrongfoots us from the start. Exhilarating and emotionally rich exploration of masculinity, mental health and the six men’s relationship with black history. The production’s emotional intensity is all the greater for the fierce restraint that the actors—and the characters—display.

One is passed over by the girls playing kiss-chase. Another is subjected to a “routine check” by police in Hackney. There’s the one who accuses his educated friend of being “whitewashed” as he tries to fit in. This was exciting, unnerving, bristling with youth and volume. 

The crucial thing is that this play – now on its second West End run – is urging people to look hard at these profound issues around human behaviour, and really think about what makes people who they are. 

Here, too, the entire ensemble’s acting is elegant, emotional, and superb in all its impacted pain and ongoing struggles. The combination of artistry and emotional directness in this play is overwhelming to me.

Anna Reid’s fluorescent playground set and costume design is terrific. The music — hip-hop, R&B, astute classical sound design and composition by Nicola T. Chang — is both surprising and perfect. 

Lighting wise, Rory Beaton paints the stage not in the gritty, neorealist tones expected of such streetwise stories, but with the rich textures and saturated colours of a waking dream that uniquely mixes music, movement, storytelling, and verse.

Overall, this is a provocative piece of theatre that delves deep into the complexities of the black male experience. With raw honesty and poetic flair, the production navigates themes of identity, mental health, and systemic oppression with an unflinching gaze. 

Red Pitch, a piece about three Black teenagers first seen at the Bush, is running up the road at the new Soho Place theatre. Watching this at the Garrick Theatre I noticed how racially and socially mixed the audience was compared with nearly every other West End show. 

But we’re starved of these narratives in the West End and Calais Cameron’s raw drama showcases why they are so hugely important.

Considering this started life at the 80-seater New Diorama in 2021, it’s a stunning achievement but also proves theatre can flourish on the small scale, by commissioning fresh, interesting work that doesn’t rely on expensive production.

Late to the party, I know. Alas, I doubt that I will see a better play in the West End this year.

For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy is at the Garrick theatre, London until 4 May

/by

National theatre announces two new productions and reveals casting for upcoming shows

National Theatre

Lyndsey Turner directs Lucy Kirkwood and Dave Malloy’s new musical version of Roald Dahl’s The Witches, in a co-production with the Roald Dahl Story Company

– Jamie Lloyd directs The Effect by Lucy Prebble with a cast that includes Paapa Essiedu and Taylor Russell, in association with The Jamie Lloyd Company

– Hiran Abeysekera and Paul Bazely are cast in the revival of Anupama Chandrasekhar’s The Father and the Assassin, directed by Indhu Rubasingham

The National Theatre today announces two new productions, Roald Dahl’s The Witches, in a co-production with the Roald Dahl Story Company, and The Effect, in association with The Jamie Lloyd Company. The Witches will play in the Olivier theatre from November in a new musical version of the iconic story by Lucy Kirkwood and Dave Malloy, directed by Lyndsey Turner, whilst The Effect by Lucy Prebble will play in the Lyttelton theatre from August, directed by Jamie Lloyd. Also announced today is casting for the revival of The Father and the Assassin by Anupama Chandrasekhar, which will play in the Olivier theatre from September, directed by Indhu Rubasingham. Tickets for all three productions go on sale to the public on Thursday 27 April.

Director of the National Theatre Rufus Norris said:

‘I’m thrilled that the National Theatre and Roald Dahl Story Company are coming together for the first time to bring one of Dahl’s most enduring stories to the Olivier stage. This extraordinary, exciting production of The Witches with Lucy Kirkwood’s brilliant, witty book and Lyndsey Turner’s ambitious vision is the culmination of many years of development at the National Theatre’s exceptional New Work Department. With Dave Malloy at the musical helm, I couldn’t be more excited to be bringing this ambitious new piece of music theatre to the stage.

‘To have Jamie Lloyd returning to the National Theatre with his production of Lucy Prebble’s The Effect – a timelessly prescient play from this singular writer – is a particular joy, not least because of the two wonderful lead actors Paapa Essiedu and Taylor Russell. It’s also a great delight to welcome Hiran Abeysekera back to the NT for the first time since Behind the Beautiful Forevers, to lead a brilliant company in Indhu Rubasingham’s revival of Anupama Chandrasekhar’s hit play The Father and the Assassin.’

Roald Dahl’s The Witches

The Witches is a rip-roaring musical version of Roald Dahl’s timeless tale, filled with wit, daring and heart.

Everything you know about witches is wrong. Forget the pointy hats and broomsticks: they’re the most dangerous creatures on earth. And now they’ve come up with their most evil plan yet.

The only thing standing in their way is Luke and his Gran. But he’s ten and she’s got a dodgy heart. Time is short, danger is everywhere, and they’ve got just one chance to stop the witches from squalloping every stinking little child in England.

One of Dahl’s most loved stories, The Witches is a brilliant blend of his trademark humour and hair-raising action, featuring one of his most iconic characters, the Grand High Witch. A firm fan favourite across the generations, the book has sold over 11 million copies since it was first published.

Cast includes three-time Olivier-nominated Katherine Kingsley (The Larkins) as the Grand High Witch and BAFTA Award-winner Daniel Rigby (One Man, Two Guvnors) as Mr Stringer, alongside Julie Armstrong, Chrissie Bhima, Zoe Birkett, Daniele Coombe, Molly-May Gardiner, Tiffany Graves, Tania Mathurin, Jacob Maynard, Laura Medforth and Ben Redfern.

Directed by Lyndsey Turner (The Crucible) with book and lyrics by Olivier Award-winner Lucy Kirkwood (Mosquitoes) and music and lyrics by Tony Award-nominee Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812). The set and costume designer is Lizzie Clachan with choreographer Stephen Mear, music supervisor Nigel Lilley, music director Cat Beveridge, lighting designer Bruno Poet, co-sound designers Alexander Caplen and Ian Dickinson, video designer Ash J Woodward, illusions by Chris Fisher and Will Houstoun, casting director Bryony Jarvis-Taylor, associate director Séimí Campbell, staff director Priya Patel Appleby, associate set designer Shankho Chaudhuri, associate costume designer Johanna Coe, associate choreographer Jo Morris, associate music director Natalie Pound and children’s and assistant music director Sarah Morrison.

The Witches will play in the Olivier theatre from 7 November and is recommended for ages 8+.

The Effect

In the Lyttelton theatre from August, Jamie Lloyd (Cyrano de Bergerac) directs The Effect, Lucy Prebble’s (Succession) funny and intimate examination of love and ethics.

Hearts and minds racing, Connie and Tristan are falling for each other fast. But is their sudden and intoxicating chemistry real, or a side effect of a new antidepressant? As two young volunteers in a clinical drug trial, their romance poses startling dilemmas for the supervising doctors.

Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You) is cast as Tristan and Taylor Russell (Bones and All) as Connie, with further casting to be announced. 

Directed by Jamie Lloyd with set and costume designer Soutra Gilmour, lighting designer Jon Clark, composer Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, sound designer George Dennis, movement directors Sarah Golding and Yukiko Masui (SAY), , fight director Kate Waters, intimacy co-ordinator Ingrid Mackinnon and casting director Alastair Coomer CDG.

The Effect will play in the Lyttelton theatre from 1 August.

The Father and the Assassin

Director Indhu Rubasingham reunites with writer Anupama Chandrasekhar for this essential exploration of oppression and extremism.

Mahatma Gandhi: lawyer, champion of non-violence, beloved leader. Nathuram Godse: journalist, nationalist – and the man who murdered Gandhi. This gripping play traces Godse’s life over 30 years during India’s fight for independence: from a devout follower of Gandhi, through to his radicalisation and their tragic final encounter in Delhi in 1948.

The cast includes Olivier Award-winner Hiran Abeysekera (Life of Pi) as Nathuram Godse with Paul Bazely reprising his role as Mahatma Gandhi. The cast also includes Azan Ahmed, Ravi Aujla, Ayesha Dharker, Ravin J Ganatra, Raj Ghatak, Halema Hussain, Nadeem Islam, Tony Jayawardena, Nicholas Khan, Raj Khera, Hari Mackinnon, Sid Sagar and Akshay Shah.

Directed by Indhu Rubasingham with set and costume designer Rajha Shakiry, lighting designer Oliver Fenwick, movement director Lucy Cullingford, composer Siddhartha Khosla, additional music by David Shrubsole, sound designer Alexander Caplen, fight directors Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown of Rc-Annie Ltd, casting director Alastair Coomer CDG and associate set and costume designer Khadija Raza.

The Father and the Assassin will play in the Olivier theatre 8 September–14 October.

Tickets for The Witches, The Effect and The Father and the Assassin go on sale to the public on Thursday 27 April. Also going on sale via the National Theatre website are tickets to the previously announced A Strange Loop at the Barbican.

A Strange Loop

The Broadway musical sensation, A Strange Loop, a co-production with Howard Panter for Trafalgar Theatre Productions, Barbara Whitman and Wessex Grove in association with the Barbican, is transferring from New York to London this summer.

Having co-produced A Strange Loop on Broadway, some of the most influential names in entertainment – Alan Cumming, Ilana Glazer, Jennifer Hudson, Mindy Kaling and Billy Porter – reunite to produce the smash-hit musical in London when it opens at the Barbican Theatre on 17 June for a strictly limited, one-time-only 12-week season.

Nominated for 11 Tony Awards and winner of every Best Musical award in New York, Michael R. Jackson’s critically acclaimed Pulitzer Prize-winning, blisteringly funny masterwork exposes the heart and soul of Usher – a young, gay, Black writer who hates his day job, writing a musical about a young, gay, Black writer who’s writing a musical about a young, gay, Black writer…a strange loop. Usher grapples with desires, identity and instincts he both loves and loathes, all brought to life on stage by a hilarious, straight-talking ensemble. Casting is to be announced.

Michael R. Jackson is a playwright, composer, and lyricist who is a rising star in the world of contemporary writing and quickly gaining recognition as one of the most innovative voices in American theatre. His latest new musical, White Girl in Danger, is currently running, Off-Broadway, at the Tony Kiser Theatre in New York.

Directed by Stephen Brackett, choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly, with Rona Siddiqui as music supervisor, orchestrations by Charlie Rosen, scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado, costume design by Montana Levi Blanco, lighting design by Jen Schriever and sound design by Drew Levy.

Tickets are available from £20. For further information, please visit Strangeloopmusical.com

The Odyssey: The Underworld

Celebrating five years of Public Acts, the National Theatre’s multi-location production of The Odyssey is being told in five locations in England. This epic story of resilience and hope began its journey in Stoke-on-Trent and Doncaster, with the next episodes coming to Trowbridge Town Hall on 22–23 April and The Fire Station in Sunderland on 28–29 April.

The culmination of The Odyssey’s journey, The Underworld, will be staged as a full-scale musical production at the National Theatre on 26–28 August 2023. This fifth and final production will feature community performers from all four previous episodes, as well as members recruited through Public Acts founding community partners, founding theatre partner Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, and Trybe House Theatre in London.

The Underworld is written by Olivier-award winning playwright Chris Bush with music composed by Jim Fortune and directed by Director of Public Acts Emily Lim. Set designed by Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey, movement directed by Dan Canham, costume designed by Fly Davis, music supervised and directed by Tarek Merchant, lighting designed by Joshua Pharo, sound designed by Paul Arditti and casting by Bryony Jarvis-Taylor.

/by
, ,

Unchecked Ticket Hikes Are Pricing People Out Of Theatregoing

Glow sticks. We’ll come on to that in a moment.

This week, The iPaper’s Kasia Delgado issued an indictment of A Streetcar Named Desire’s £305 ticket prices, stating: “Theatre needs to make money. It also needs to remain valued and loved, and if only people with loads of spare cash, or a very relaxed approach to credit card debt, end up being able to see it, I worry about where that’ll leave the best form of entertainment that exists. An art form, that – after all – Shakespeare famously put on stage for anyone and everyone.”

Inflation busting premium ticket prices of £305, plus booking fee, is not only absurd, it is criminal amid the cost of living crisis.

To the West End, currently a topsy turvy combination of premium pricing, day seats and even a ‘game of chance’ involving glow sticks.
Rip off

Heck, even leading lady Patsy Ferran is uncomfortable with it all, stating in an interview recently: “The last couple of years theatre prices have reached a point that is shocking to me, but maybe I should just get used to it.”

In reality, profit thirsty ATG’s dominant market position means the company does not face any pressure to continually innovate and improve.

Of course, our old friend dynamic pricing is at play. I get it. Streetcar is a commercial show entitled to charge whatever the market can take.

But affordability equals sustainability, and sensible ticket prices are key to the theatre’s survival.

Speaking on a panel entitled Building a Better Financial Model for Theatre at The Stage’s Future of Theatre conference, Lighting designer Paule Constable said that premium tickets have generated a “wave of discontent” within the industry.

She added: “We need more transparency around how that money is spent. We, as a workforce, need to make the effort to understand that more and it needs to be talked about more.”

It’s hard not to admit that she has a point. Theatre has got to be kept accessible to everybody, because ultimately everything depends on keeping audiences excited about going.

Still, you can see A Streetcar Named Desire for a tenner. If you queue up 2.5 hours before performances for a glowstick (yes, really). Out of the 30, five glow sticks glow green when snapped. The lucky five can head to the box office and buy a pair of front row £10 tickets. There is a weekly lottery.

Send in the clowns. Ah, don’t bother. They’re here.

Phoenix Theatre Glowstick Day Seat Queue

Anyway, once I’d peeled myself off the ceiling, I went along to embrace the madness this week. Reader, my glow stick did not glow. But I was offered a £35 seat in the dress circle or a £10 standing ticket. I opted for the £10 standing ticket. Later my phone rang and I was put in a house seat. Lucky, eh.

A representative for A Streetcar Named Desire said that 83% of all its tickets have been sold at £100 or under. Hm.

Still, the average face value of top-price tickets in the West End has rocketed by a fifth since 2019, a recent survey by The Stage revealed. Glancing at a handful of West End shows £1-300 stalls seats are sadly standard now.

Of course, this fluctuates year on year and is frequently influenced by a small number of high-profile shows. Last year, Cock – starring Jonathan Bailey – saw producers disastrously try and flog £400 tickets, stating it was based on “supply and demand”

What are we to conclude from this?

As in many economic situations, there is a squeezed middle: theatre lovers who are neither wealthy enough to buy premium tickets and who don’t have a flexible work / life pattern to queue in person or online for discounted tickets. 

Seven Card Stud



Surely, extending personalised pricing to students or the unwaged, which was widespread in the 1980s, would maximise audiences. That said, personalised pricing can be progressive. In Finland, for example, speeding tickets are based on your income. 

All the same, I worry that we shall soon reach the point of no return, that the gap between the commercial and subsidised sector is growing ever wider and that the young will be put off by high prices. Of course, the system is broken, it’s not working for weary audiences.

But it’s not just the rising ticket prices that worry me. It’s also the sense of banality afflicting the West End. There are, as ever, 33 musicals of varying quality currently running. We should ponder both the escalating cost of tickets and the actual quality of what is on offer. 

Anyway, I’m with singer Neil Young who last week said it best: “It’s over” and that “the old days are gone” amid wider consternation at ticketing company’s pricing policies. And that is where we are. 

Paul Mescal and Patsy Ferran in A Streetcar Named Desire

Since the success of the subsidised and commercial sectors are intimately bound, it can’t just be left to subsidised theatre to take responsibility for building tomorrow’s audiences, the West End has to play – and pay – its part too.

A Streetcar Named Desire runs until 6 May

/by
,

Olivier Awards 2023 announces broadcast details and show line up

Olivier Awards

Evening will include performances from all Mastercard Best New Musical nominees including The Band’s Visit, Standing At The Sky’s Edge, Sylvia and Tammy Faye 

–       The cast of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! and Sister Act (Magic Radio Best Musical Revival nominees) as well as Disney’s Newsies (Best Theatre Choreography nominee) will also perform  

–       There will be a special performance from multi–Olivier Award winner The Book Of Mormon as the production celebrates 10 years in the West End  

–       Special Award winner Arlene Philips will be honoured with a tribute from the cast of Grease The Musical 

–       The Olivier Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday 2nd April and will be broadcast on ITV at 10.15pm with full live coverage on Magic Radio from 6pm     

The Olivier Awards 2023 with Mastercard have officially announced the shows performing in this year’s ceremony. The Awards will take place on Sunday 2 April at the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Hannah Waddingham. 

There will be performances from all of the Mastercard Best New Musical nominees – The Band’s Visit, Standing At The Sky’s Edge, Sylvia and Tammy Faye. There will also be performances from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! and Sister Act, both nominated for Magic Radio Best Musical Revival. 

Additionally, there will be performances from Disney’s Newsies, whose choreographer Matt Cole is nominated for the Gillian Lynne Award for Best Theatre Choreographer, multi-Olivier winner The Book Of Mormon will be celebrating with a performance marking 10 years in the West End. Special Award winner, Dame Arlene Phillips, will be honoured on the night with a special performance from Grease the Musical. 

The Olivier Awards continues its partnership with ITV, which will broadcast a highlights programme the same evening at 10:15pm on ITV1 and ITVX. The full ceremony will be broadcast live from the Royal Albert Hall on Magic Radio, the Official Radio Partner, hosted by Ruthie Henshall and Alice Arnold from 6pm. Viewers from outside the UK can tune in on Official London Theatre’s YouTube channel. 

TikTok will also be hosting a live stream on the Green Carpet, with theatre performer and content creator Hannah Lowther (Heathers, Snow White: Pantomime, SpongeBob: The Musical) as their host.

officiallondontheatre.com/olivier-awards 

Sunday 2 April 2023 

/by