Theatre Preview - BEING MR WICKHAM - DARLINGTON HIPPODROME

                                             Original Theatre Company presents 

Being Mr Wickham 

at Darlington Hippodrome on 11 and 12 October 2021 

starring Adrian Lukis 

Adrian Lukis will star in Being Mr Wickham
(photo James Findlay)

 

Original Theatre Company’s Autumn 2021 tour of Being Mr Wickham starring Adrian Lukis heads to Darlington Hippodrome on Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 October 2021 at 8pm. Written by Adrian Lukis and Catherine Curzon, this one-man play about one of Jane Austen’s most charmingly roguish characters, is directed by Guy Unsworth. 

 

Adrian Lukis, who starred in the renowned BBC TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, returns to the role of Mr Wickham following the acclaimed online production of Being Mr Wickham earlier this year.  

 

"Mr. Wickham is blessed with such happy manners as may ensure his making friends - whether he may be equally capable of retaining them is less certain." Join Pride and Prejudice’s most roguish gentleman, George Wickham, on the eve of his sixtieth birthday, to lift the sheets on exactly what happened thirty years on from where we left him. Discover his own version of some very famous literary events. What really happened with Darcy? What did he feel about Lizzie? What happened at Waterloo? Not to mention Byron… 

 

Adrian Lukis said of the production: "I’m thrilled to be reunited with my old friend, George Wickham. Having spent years defending his dubious reputation, I look forward to finally setting the record straight, with the assistance of the immensely talented Original Theatre Company." 

 

Rarely off the small screen, Adrian Lukis’s most recent TV credits include Channel 4’s Feel Good, the 2019 mini-series A Christmas Carol starring Guy Pearce, Vera, Poldark, Bulletproof, Collateral, The Crown, Red Dwarf, Grantchester, Black Mirror, Blair Toast in Toast of London, Downton Abbey, New Tricks and Death in Paradise. He also stars in the new Netflix series Anatomy of a Scandal, due to be streamed this year.  Films include Judy, Dolittle, City Slacker and Bertie & Dickie.  Recent theatre credits include The Price (Theatre Royal Bath), The Seagull (Chichester Festival Theatre/ National Theatre), and Versailles (Donmar Warehouse). 

 

Being Mr Wickham is produced by Alastair Whatley and Tom Hackney for Original Theatre Company, the award-winning producer of hit online productions of Birdsong and Apollo 13: The Dark Side of the Moon and stage productions including the 5-star revival of Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art and A Splinter of Ice. 

 

The Director is Guy Unsworth, Designer is Libby Watson, Sound Designer is Max Pappenheim and Lighting Designer is Johanna Town.  

 

Alastair Whatley, Artistic Director of Original Theatre Company, said: “Guy Unsworth’s production of Adrian’s and Catherine’s fantastic play was one of the highlights from our recent online season. Originally live streamed from the beautiful Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds but without an audience physically with us in the room, it’s a real thrill to be able to get the show on the road and visit theatres up and down the country.” 

 

For more information, and to book, visit https://www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk or call the Box Office on 01325 405405. 

Adrian Lukis in Being Mr Wickham
(photo James Findlay)

Theatre Review - BLACKADDER II - THE PEOPLE'S THEATRE - NEWCASTLE

 

Baldrick (Tony Sehgal) & Blackadder (Sam Hinton)
photo Mark Burden

If you loved the original Blackadder II, or even if you’ve never seen a single episode, please go and see this show; I guarantee it will have you rolling in the aisles. Blackadder II is based on three episodes (‘Head’, ‘Bells’ and ‘Beer’) of the beloved BBC TV Series – we follow Blackadder doing his best to use all his cunning to succeed in the Elizabethan era.  Directed by Matthew Hope and Sean Burnside, this is a production that takes every opportunity to make you laugh. The set design by Megan Smith and Precious Oyibo managed to fit the purpose of many different settings and created a feel of the Elizabethan era using only a few pieces of furniture. The costumes looked phenomenal, with each actor dressed as if they had just walked off the original BBC set.

 

Nursie (Karen Elliott) & Queenie (Catherine White)
photo Mark Burden

The show is filled with the best characters of the show; Baldrick (Tony Sehgal), trying out his new inventions to catch his dinner, the hectic Queenie (Catherine White), the pompous Lord Melchett (Tony Childs), the delightfully dippy Nursie (Karen Elliot) and everyone’s favourite Lord Flashhart (Jake Wilson Craw), to name but a few. Look out for the interesting faces made by The Wisewoman (Ann Zunder) who took to her role with great zeal. I couldn’t help giggling at Kate’s Father (Martin Collins) as he continued mumbling his way off stage. Lord Edmund Blackadder (Sam Hinton) seemed to become more and more cunning and funny as the show went on. Such was the talent of the actors that, when Blackadder and Bob/Kate (Catherine Ellis) became stuck to one another due to a wardrobe malfunction, they kept us in stitches, never breaking character as they managed to extract themselves. Although, I must confess to breaking into hysterics every time Lord Percy (Ben Ostell) appeared on stage, no opportunity for amusement was missed.

 

Percy (Ben Ostell), Mr Ploppy (Mike Cornish),
Mrs Ploppy (Marina Cornish), (Baldrick (Tony Sehgal)
photo Mark Burden

I was concerned as to how the three stories would work, but then The Minstrel (Craig Fairbairn) appeared. It was a true pleasure to listen to his funny songs marking the end of each chapter.

 

Flashheart (Jake Wilson Craw), Bob (Catherine Ellis)
photo Mark Burden

If you feel the need for a little joy and laughter, this is definitely the show for you. 

Blackadder II is running 5-9 October at the Peoples Theatre.

Preview - BLACKADDER II - THE PEOPLE'S THEATRE, NEWCASTLE

 “To you, Baldrick, the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people, wasn’t it?”

Baldrick (Tony Sehgal), Blackadder (Sam Hinton) Percy (Ben Ostell)
photo Matthew Hope

If there’s one thing we need right now, it’s a good laugh!

The People’s Theatre in Heaton are delighted to oblige by bringing audiences the BBC comedy classic BLACKADDER II!

Join them in Elizabethan England for the escapades of scheming Lord Edmund Blackadder and his turnip-loving servant Baldrick.

As Blackadder strives to use his withering wit and cowardly cunning to gain favour with eccentric Queenie, he must also contend with aristocratic buffoon Lord Percy, dim-witted Nursie and crafty Lord Melchett!

The play is brought to the stage by many of the team behind the Theatre’s hugely successful production of ‘Blackadder Goes Forth’ in 2018.

Director Matthew Hope returns, as do Sam Hinton as Blackadder, Tony Sehgal as Baldrick and Jake Wilson Craw as Flashheart.

And, of course, there are lots of new characters to enjoy including the fabulously childish Queen Elizabeth I played by Catherine White, who has been a Blackadder fan for as long as she can remember. 

Catherine comments: “It’s amazing to live out a childhood dream of stepping into the shoes of Miranda Richardson. The rehearsals have been a much-needed giggle from start to finish and I hope it’ll be a blast for the audience too.”

Co-director Sean Burnside adds: The People’s has always relied on its members as its greatest asset, and Matt and I feel privileged to have been able to bring so many back into the rehearsal room, and have so much fun in the process. It’s been a rare rehearsal where laughter hasn’t stopped us in our tracks and we hope we can put smiles on our audiences faces after what has been an extremely downbeat year”.

The Theatre’s re-opening earlier this month saw an outpouring of support from audiences delighted to return and help the People’s get back on its feet.

The Theatre’s COVID-safe measures were praised by audiences, and they continue to offer socially-distanced performances for those not quite ready to return to a busy indoor space.

And the laughs keep on coming in a re-opening season which promises to entertain audiences of the North East right up to Christmas!

Also in October there’s hilarious spoof THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES which gives Sherlock Holmes’ most famous case a fabulously farcical makeover. Then there’s heart-warming festive fun in THE FLINT STREET NATIVITY by Tim Firth, the writer of ‘Calendar Girls’. And, of course, family fun in the Panto of your dreams SLEEPING BEAUTY!

www.peoplestheatre.co.uk

Theatre Review - THE CAT AND THE CANARY - DARLINGTON HIPPODROME

 

Photo Credit - Paul Coltas

SIX distant relatives meet in an old creaking mansion to discover who is about find out who will inherit the fortune from Cyrus West. The meeting has been called with strict instructions by the Lawyer, at midnight, 20 years after his death. There opens a night of murder, mystery, intrigue and suspense. The Cat and the Canary written by John Willard, adapted by Carl Grose has been directed by Roy Marsden with Bill Kenwright’s Classic Thriller Theatre Company.

Photo Credit - Paul Coltas

This cast certainly has star quality throughout. As the long-serving housekeeper, Mrs Pleasant, Brit Ekland, mutters about the evil in the house and talks to ghosts randomly as she welcomes the guests to the mansion. Crosby, the Lawyer, Eric Carte, takes charge of proceedings until he disappears. The main guests hoping for their fortune appear with Marti Webb as Susan, Ben Nealon as Charlie, Priyasasha Kumari as Cicily, Gary Webster as Harry, Tracy Shaw as Annabelle and Antony Costa as Paul. It is Tracy Shaw and Antony Costa who produce outstanding performances. Antony Costa, begins as a dithering clumsy fool, but he builds the character perfectly towards the conclusion. Tracy Shaw is just a delight to watch throughout.

Photo Credit - Paul Coltas

This may have been written almost 100 years ago, but it feels incredibly fresh. It kept me guessing right to the end.

With an incredible cast this mystery thriller is a perfect whodunnit.

Runs until Saturday 25th September at Darlington Hippodrome 01325 405405

Runs until Saturday 25th September at Darlington Hippodrome 01325 405405

Theatre Preview - ROAD - NORTHERN STAGE, NEWCASTLE 8th - 30th OCTOBER

 Cast and creative team announced for Natalie Ibu!s first show as Northern Stage Artistic Director

Director Natalie Ibu with the cast of Road in Blyth,
where her new production will be set

In the 35th anniversary of Jim Cartwright’s joyous and anarchic masterpiece, the residents of Road are relocated to the North East in the first show Artistic Director Natalie Ibu will direct for Northern Stage.

 “I’m excited to be working with a brilliant cast and creative team to explore the intersectionality between race, class and gender and bring Jim Cartwright’s vivid characters back to life, 2021 style.” - Natalie Ibu.

Cast members Ruby Crepin-Glyne and Nicole Sawyerr + Assistant Director
Natasha Haws meet the locals at The King's Arms in Blyth

Part of Northern Stage’s Housewarming season, audiences and artists will be welcomed back to the theatre’s main stage with a gritty, funny, riotous show about community and connection. Natalie says, “Road is the perfect post-pandemic celebration of community and resilience - the narrator introduces us to residents on the road, who then make their way out of their own houses to their local pub. In fact, all of our Housewarming season productions talk directly to the audience - breaking down the fourth wall to welcome people back, and re-connecting artists and audiences in a way that only live theatre can.

“It’s the dream play for me to direct as my first show for Northern Stage - I directed a scene when I was at university and it has really stayed with me for 17 years. It’s with Road that I found my vision as a director. It helped me articulate that I wanted to tell stories about the blood, sweat and tears it takes to live life, and that I wanted to fill stages with loud, vivid expressions of what it means to be alive.

Some of the Road cast on a research visit to Blyth
where Northern Stage's new production will be set

“Originally set in Lancashire, we’re relocating it to a North East working class community dealing with poverty, unemployment, disappointment and a desperation for change whilst also making the most of who and what they have. It’s about what it is to live, in all of its complexities - looking to the past to understand how we live now, telling forgotten stories about forgotten people. There’s an incredible resilience in this community, a charm; they’re a hoot to be around and I’m excited to be working with a brilliant cast and creative team to explore the intersectionality between race, class and gender and bring Jim Cartwright’s vivid characters back to life, 2021 style.”

The cast are Michael Hodgson (The Pitmen Painters/Live Theatre/National Theatre/West End/Broadway, Get Carter/Northern Stage); Ike Bennett (Curfew/Sky TV with Adrian Lester and Sean Bean); Rosie Stancliffe (Leaving by Paddy Campbell/Curious Monkey); Ryan Nolan (Hyem/Theatre 503, Ryan made his feature film debut as Private Malky in Sam Mendes' award winning 1917); Nicole Sawyerr (Those Who Trespass/Arts Ed & High Tide Festival, Boom/Theatre 503); Ruby Crepin-Glyne - making her professional theatre debut, Ruby graduated from The Oxford School of Drama in 2019 where she performed at the Sam Wanamaker Festival/The Globe, and The Royal Court in Mark Ravenhill’s Pool No Water; Rohit Gokani (Silver Street/BBC Asian Network, A Living Myth/English National Opera, TV credits include Wire in the Blood with Robson Green); Shahbaaz Khan (a recent graduate from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts returning to his home region to make his professional stage debut, credits include Shakespeare in Love/Mountview and Looted/AmazonTV); Philip Harrison (recent credits include The Duke with Jim Broadbent, and Jekyll & Hyde/Northumberland Theatre Company); and Patricia Jones (West End Girls/Live Theatre, film credits include I, Daniel Blake).

The creative team are Set & Costume Designer Amelia Jane Hankin (One Under/Graeae, Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads/Chichester Festival Theatre); Lighting Designer Zoe Spurr (Emilia/West End, Wuthering Heights/ Royal Exchange Theatre); Sound Designer Jon McLeod (Macbeth/Shakespeare’s Globe, Collapsible/Bush Theatre); Assistant Director Natasha Haws (Familiar/Alphabetti Theatre); Movement Director Nadia Iftkhar who has made and collaborated on over 20 works at venues including Sadler’s Wells, Tramway Glasgow. Dance City Newcastle and Konzerthaus Wien; Intimacy Directors Yarit Dor (Death of a Salesman/Young Vic) and Enric Ortuno; Dialect Coaches Yvonne Morley-Chisholm (associate with the National Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare’s Globe) and Tim Charrington (theatre credits include the West End, Old Vic, Donmar, Royal Court, Manchester Royal Exchange, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Sheffield Crucible, TV credits include 24); and Casting Director Nadine Rennie CDG (Olivier nominated Ivan and the Dogs by Hattie Naylor, God’s Property by Arinze Kene).

As well as opening up the theatre to audiences, Artistic Director Natalie Ibu is creating more opportunities for more artists and creatives to work with Northern Stage, including open calls for casting and freelance roles on the creative team and new ways for local theatre makers to engage, such as open rehearsals and workshops. Natalie says, “Nadine Rennie has a wealth of experience, having worked with the likes of Roxana Silbert, Indhu Rubasingham, Rufus Norris and Roy Williams to name just a few, and has helped us to find a hugely talented and diverse cast; 10 actors play 37 roles, so getting the casting right was essential and I’m so excited to start work with them in rehearsals. The show has real moments of joy and celebration but also tackles more challenging topics and so I’m really pleased to be working with intimacy directors, Yarit Dor and Enric Ortuno, to empower actors and help create a process that is more conscious of boundaries, consent and self-care.”

Northern Stage is committed to making its work as accessible as possible. As well as performances with BSL, closed captions and audio description, the company continues to offer socially distanced shows and Northern Stage at Home allows audiences who aren’t yet ready or able to come to the theatre to watch Northern Stage productions online.

Road is at Northern Stage from 8 - 30 October. Tickets start from £10, book online at northernstage.co.uk or call the box office on 0191 230 5151.

Theatre Review - MY MOTHER SAID I NEVER SHOULD - PEOPLE'S THEATRE, NEWCASTLE 14th - 18th SEPTEMBER

 

My Mother Said I Never Should…

AnnaDobson (Margaret) & EmmaRobson (Jackie)) photo Dianne Edwards

If you’re looking for something a little different, or you just enjoy a good story well crafted, then this show is worth your time.

My Mother Said I Never Should is a play written by Charlotte Keatley that focuses on four women of successive generations in one family. It explores the different generations’ hopes, expectations and regrets as they move through life.

Emma Robson (Jackie) & TheusDe'Ath (Rosie) photo Dianne Edwards

This interesting tale, in the skilful hands of director Mark Burden, will leave you wanting more as the curtain falls. The show hops swiftly back and forth through time, looking at the childhood-to-womanhood of these interesting people, capably aided by the simple but effective set, sound effects and lighting all designed by Tim Swinton. With a variety of decades to span, with a range of ages costume designer Dianne Edwards rose to the challenge, setting a perfect tone for each character and their time in the sun.

Emma Robson (Jackie), Maggie Childs (Doris), Anna Dobson (Margaret)
& TheusDe'Ath (Rosie) photo Dianne Edwards

Theus De’Ath played Rosie, showing true depth in her portrayal of the younger generation trying its best to both pay attention to, and ignore, its elders. A remarkable actress who I suspect we will see a great deal more from in the future. Emma Jane Robson, who played Jackie, brought home the pain and inner conflict of choosing not to become a young mother. Anna Dobson is always a delight to watch on the stage, but playing the ‘too busy’ mother Margaret she excels in her performance, easily jumping back into the innocent child she once was. It is rare I am brought to tears in the theatre, but when Maggie Childs, as Doris, performs a monologue about her late husband, it really is an emotional ride. I would highly recommend this quirky, sorrowful and fun production to anyone who has missed live theatre.

My Mother Said I Never Should is showing at The People Theatre 14^th-18^th September.

Theatre Preview - THE CAT AND THE CANARY - DARLINGTON HIPPODROME

 

HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR TREADING THE BOARDS AT DARLINGTON HIPPODROME

A chilling tale of murder, mystery and greed comes to Darlington with a stage adaptation of The Cat and The Canary starring Hollywood superstar Britt Ekland. The star of stage and screen tells us about her latest acting challenge.

 

Hi Britt. You’re starring in thriller The Cat and the Canary. What’s the play about?

It’s a story about a big, deserted mansion on the Bodmin Moor. The owner died 20 years earlier and he has instructed his solicitors to assemble all the possible heirs to go through the will. There’s an assortment of people from all over the world that come into this spooky house, and loads of surprises ensue from the start.

 

It is an interesting story with many twists and turns. It’s very much in the tradition of Agatha Christie and the type of thriller British audiences love. I think our audiences will get a big surprise and that’s all I’m going to say.

 

What made you want to be part of this production?

First, I’m always up for a challenge. I always have been. I have done almost everything you can think of in my career. This is definitely not a role I’m used to; this play is not a farce, for a start! It’s something a bit more challenging for me.

 

Fantastic. So, who are you playing?

I play the housekeeper. She has been in this house alone for 20 years before this midnight meeting with all the assembled heirs and the solicitor. She’s probably had quite a solitary life and had to find ways of surviving that solitude, the cold and the war. She hasn’t had any physical company, but she feels she has had spiritual company. She’s very stern. Her job is to guard this house until the heir takes it over and that’s what she’s done for 20 years.

 

What makes this such a challenge for you?

I haven’t been on stage since my last panto in 2013. And I was never a rep actor – I was a movie star. I finished school when I was 17 and went to drama school for two years, then toured with a variety show and did a film in Rome. The next thing I know, I have a contract with Twentieth Century Fox and I’m sent to London. That’s where I meet Peter Sellers and marry him. Although I wanted to be on stage, being a movie star didn’t hold the prestige of being a good stage actor – not in Sweden where I came from. I don’t have the background that most actors my age have, which is my main challenge on this tour.

 

You’ve been working for more than 60 years. How do you keep yourself fit enough to tour?

I’m very fortunate that I’ve always worked out. In March 2018, I did Strictly Come Dancing in Sweden as the oldest participant ever. But I don’t take anything for granted. You have to be alert and stay on top of everything. A lot of this is your own mental attitude to life as well, not just what you eat and how you move. You have to have a very mobile mental attitude.

 

That sounds like a fantastic philosophy.

As you get older and what you look like matters less, you’ve got to challenge yourself to stay relevant and continue working. I could just sit down with a cup of tea and biscuits and watch television… but I don’t do that!

 

 

The Cat and The Canary runs at Darlington Hippodrome from Tuesday 21 to Saturday 25 September.

 

For more information or to book call 01325 405405 or visit www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk