The Stage newspaper has announced the winners of its Debut Awards, which aim to “highlight breakthrough actors, writers, directors, designers, composers or lyricists to help cement their position in the industry.” At a ceremony on 1 October 2023 at 8 Northumberland Avenue, London hosted by Divine De Campo, the winners from 45 nominees across 8 categories… Continue reading Stage debut winners announced
Author: Editor
Gypsy: A Musical Fable
This 1959 musical, with a dream writing cast for the time of Laurents, Styne and Sondheim, is revived by Ben Occhipinti as the big musical running through the whole of the Pitlochry summer rep season. Based on the memoirs of upmarket stripper Gypsy Rose Lee and set on the burlesque circuit of the 1920s, the… Continue reading Gypsy: A Musical Fable
Northampton venue reopens after concrete closure
Northampton’s Royal and Derngate has announced its two main theatre spaces are to reopen after a type of concrete prone to collapse was found in its foyers. The building had to be closed at the beginning of September in line with new government health and safety guidance about reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). Performances will resume in… Continue reading Northampton venue reopens after concrete closure
Serving Elizabeth
While Stratford Festival is best known for its reliably watchable Shakespearean productions, the Canadian company is no slouch when it comes to selecting and presenting contemporary plays. The team behind Serving Elizabeth, led by director Kimberley Rampersad, must have faced innumerable problems in bringing this work to the stage, given that it eventually played to a… Continue reading Serving Elizabeth
Island Movements to tour libraries
Choreographed by the first black British graduate of the Royal Ballet School, Darren Panton, alongside Patrick Williams of the Alvin Ailey and Paris Opera companies, Island Movements is a thirty-minute ballet that tells the story of Windrush and explores its impact featuring original music by performance youth group Kinetika Bloco. In the aftermath of World War II,… Continue reading Island Movements to tour libraries
Spin Cycles
Exercise might well be good for you, but if you’re cycling on the spot and not getting anywhere, there’s probably a lesson in there. For the cynical reviewer character in Spin Cycles, dually exercising and exorcising with every push at the pedal is both a job and a life choice. It’s a curiously unique spectacle.… Continue reading Spin Cycles
Applications open for choreographic school
Ahead of its East Bank venue launch in 2024, Sadler’s Wells is inviting applications for its new Rose Choreographic School, led by dramaturg and writer Martin Hargreaves with input from artistic faculty members. The first cohort will receive mentorship from William Forsythe, Trajal Harrell and Alesandra Seutin. Over a two-year period, students will have access to… Continue reading Applications open for choreographic school
OTMA
For the longest time, there has existed an air of mystery and fascination with the four Grand Duchesses, daughters of the exiled Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra. It was often hypothesised and even warmly romanticised that one or more of the four may have survived in secret, until the confirmation of the DNA… Continue reading OTMA
Zona Franca comes to London
The UK première of Zona Franca, from Brazilian choreographer Alice Ripoll, will be at Queen Elizabeth Hall in November. It was created by a group of dancers in the favelas and explores the political fall of President Jair Bolsonaro and Lula’s return to power. Can Brazil look towards the future? Blending contemporary dance, contact improvisation, performance… Continue reading Zona Franca comes to London
God Catcher
God Catcher is a musical reworking of the Ovidian version of the Greek myth of Arachne. Eschewing the traditional story of the over-proud weaver of ancient Hypaepa, this instead retells it as the story of a sweet and humble girl, taught to pull the shuttle by her mother and madly entranced by the stories of the… Continue reading God Catcher