Opening: Aristocrats, Shoreditch Madonna & ArabDate: 11 July 2005
Among the major shows opening in London this week are:
OPENING TONIGHT, Monday 11 July 2005 (previews from 6 July), The Arab-Israeli Cookbook, is revived at north London’s Tricycle Theatre. Written by Robin Soans - whose new verbatim drama, Talking to Terrorists for Out of Joint, opened at the Royal Court last week (See News, 23 Mar 2005) - The Arab-Israeli Cookbook is based on interviews Soans conducted in September 2003 when he travelled to Israel and the Occupied Territories with the British-Lebanese director Rima Brihi and British-Jewish director Tim Roseman to talk to people caught up in the current intifada. The interviewees talked as they were cooking. The production runs at the Tricycle until 30 July 2005.
ALSO TONIGHT, the new cast of The Woman in White, led by West End diva Ruthie Henshall as Marian Halcombe, settles into the Palace Theatre (See News, 17 Jun 2005). Loosely based on Wilkie Collins’ 1869 Victorian novel, the show has a book by Charlotte Jones and lyrics by David Zippel. Other new cast members include Damian Humbley (Walter Hartright), Alexandra Silber (Laura Fairlie), Elinor Collette (Anne Catherick) and Michael Cormick (Sir Percival Glyde). Anthony Andrews, who took over from Michael Ball on 2 May 2005, and original cast member Edward Petherbridge will continue in their roles of Count Fosco and Mr Fairlie. The production is directed by Trevor Nunn with projected design by William Dudley.
OPENING TUESDAY, 12 July 2005 (previews from 2 July), the National revives Irish dramatist Brian Friel’s 1979 play Aristocrats at the NT Lyttelton (See News, 20 Apr 2005). A dilapidated ancestral home in County Donegal is the venue for an opulent wedding, complete with family strife, including accusations and the demands of a dying father whose wayward children recount stories of the grand building as it was in its heyday. The cast includes Dervla Kirwin and Gina McKee.
ALSO ON TUESDAY (previews from 6 July), Shoreditch Madonna, by Critics’ Circle Most Promising Playwright Rebecca Lenkiewicz (The Night Season), receives its world premiere at Soho Theatre (See News, 19 Apr 2005). The play explores the struggles of a group of artists in London’s East End, and stars Francesca Annis and Leigh Lawson. It’s directed by Sean Mathias and runs until 6 August 2005.
** DON’T MISS the chance to catch Shoreditch Madonna for just £10! – offer valid until 16 July 2005 only – click here for details! **
OPENING THURSDAY, 14 July 2005 (preview 13 July 2005), Amid the Clouds, a new play presented in Farsi with English surtitles, opens at the Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Upstairs. Written and directed by Amir Reza Koohestani, the play follows a man’s tumultuous journey from the waters of Ghara Ghaj to the English Channel. Its limited season continues until 23 July 2005.
- by Caroline Ansdell
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