The Big Interview: Adam Brace
February 26, 2009
Stovepipe is a new play by former journalist Adam Brace based on his experiences during a tour of Amman and the Middle East. It runs at the WEST 12 shopping centre in Shepherd’s Bush from 3 March to 26 April 2009, having premiered at the HighTide festival last year (it’s a HighTide production in collaboration with the Bush and National Theatre). Here, the writer talks to Whatsonstage.com about the background and development of the play.
What’s the premise of Stovepipe?
Staff of a Private Military Company are passing through Amman en route to Baghdad when one of their number goes missing in Amman. His oldest friend defies protocol to stay and look for him. Read more
John Stanley On … Writing Proud
February 23, 2009
John Stanley is a hotly tipped young writer whose recent stage work has been catching a large amount of critical attention. His 1999 screenplay 6:37 looked at the day the Admiral Duncan in Soho was bombed. His most recent prodcution, Proud, will premiere at the New Wimbledon Studio from 8 – 11 April before transferring to the Above the Stag Theatre in Victoria for a four week run from 14 April. John tells us about his new work, his influences, and his future hopes. Read more
Michael Craig On … Trying
February 18, 2009
Actor Michael Craig has had a career spanning over 50 years and has worked with some legendary names and faces. Born Michael Gregson in 1928 he worked for several years on stage and screen in England and around the world, eventually settling in Australia with his actress wife Sue Walker. Craig is now set to return to the London stage in the UK premiere of the award-winning Trying which appears at the Finborough Theatre for a limited season from 17 March until 11 April. Trying is the partly autobiographical story of the internationally famous, cantankerous Judge Francis Biddle who, at age 81 and in failing health, is forced to take on a young and inexperienced secretary. Read more
Nadira Murray On … Vagina Monologues for V-Day
February 13, 2009
Nadira Murray (pictured) is the creator of the one woman show The British Ambassador’s Belly Dancer, which ran at the Arcola, the Arts Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008. The show was based on her real life experience of meeting and becoming the mistress (and later wife) of Craig Murray, Britain’s controversial ambassador to Uzbekistan. Next week she’s performing in The Vagina Monologues as part of V-Day (a global campaign to end violence against women) at the New Players theatre. Read more
Five Reasons to See … To Have and to Honk
February 13, 2009
Producer and performer Amy Howard gives us five quick reasons to see brand new musical clowning show, To Have and to Honk, which is playing at Hackney Empire Studio on 13 and 14 February, 8pm, and at Southwark Playhouse on 22 February, also at 8pm. Read more
Frances Iles On … The Parallel of Paul
February 10, 2009
As well as being Whatsonstage’s very own listings editor, Frances Iles has been acting for most of her life as a member of Flat Four, and is also a member of the Blakehay Actors Company where she recently moved into directing. From 25-28 February Frances is coming to London to appear in Dominic Mitchell’s The Parallel of Paul at Theatre503. Read more
Eileen Page On … Ellen Terry
February 6, 2009
Eileen Page’s career encompasses a long association with the RSC, musical theatre work and several television appearances. Her extensive theatre credits include Waste with Judi Dench, Peter Brook’s production of Love’s Labour’s Lost and Henry V with Paul Scofield. Her new one woman show, Ellen Terry: Too Human To Be Called Divine, explores the life and work of one of the greatest actresses of the 19th century. Born in 1847, Terry married three times and bore two illegitimate children, eventually becoming Henry Irving’s leading lady at the London Lyceum. The production will appear at Tara Studio on Saturday 7 February at 7.30pm. Page tells us about her interest in the Victorian actress. Read more
Simon Beyer On … Gender Swapping Shakespeare
February 2, 2009
Ever heard the tale of the Duchess Prospera and her son Mirundo? Playwright, director and producer Simon Beyer’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s ethereal last play, The Tempest, explores the bards work in a new gender-reversed production. He told Whatsontage.com/OffWestEnd what it was all about. The Tempest appears at the Cock Tavern Theatre in Kilburn from 4 February until 7 March. Read more
Julia Lee Barclay On … Apocryphal Theatre
January 30, 2009
In 2004 Julia Lee Barclay formed Apocryphal Theatre, a theatre laboratory whose aim is to explore new techniques in the creation of experimental theatre. The company’s latest project, Besides, You Lose Your Soul, appears at the Camden People’s Theatre from 11 February – 1 March and will use a text written by Barclay which the company will manipulate to create a new performance, combining photography, music, dance and visual art to present every night. Barclay told us a little more about the influences behind the play, and what we can expect as audience members.
Alim Jayda and Carole Trangmar-Palmer are Waiting for What?
January 28, 2009
Sam Rice’s new play, Waiting for What, opens at new venue the Humble Theatre in Notting Hill Gate on 4 February, continuing until 26 February. A revealing look at what happens when the lives of strangers collide unexpectedly, the cast vary dramatically in experience, age and background. We talked to Alim Jayda and Carole Trangmar-Palmer, the youngest and oldest members of the cast respectively, about the play, their experiences, and the different ways they approach a performance.
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