Opening: Entertainer, Postponed Treats & HeartsDate: 5 March 2007
Amongst the major openings in London this week are:
OPENING TONIGHT, Monday 5 March 2007 (previews from 28 February), King of Hearts, Alistair Beaton’s new comedy about the future of the Royal Family, premieres at Hampstead Theatre for a run to 31 March 2007 (See News, 23 Nov 2006). Princess Di, Wallis Simpson … why is it always affairs of the heart that send the Windsors into meltdown? When a handsome young heir to the throne falls for a very “unsuitable” girl, he finds himself at war with a panicked Prime Minister. Suddenly it’s not just the future of the Royal Family that’s at stake, but the very identity of Britain itself. A co-production with Out of Joint, King of Hearts is co-directed by OJO artistic director Max Stafford-Clark and Ramin Gray.
OPENING TUESDAY, 6 March 2007, Hope Theatre Company presents Get Happy!, a new musical about Judy Garland, at the King’s Head Theatre in Islington. The show runs to 11 March 2007.
OPENING WEDNESDAY, 7 March 2007 (previews from 23 February), Robert Lindsay plays veteran comedian Archie Rice - a part immortalised by Laurence Olivier - in the Old Vic’s 50th anniversary revival of John Osborne’s The Entertainer (See News, 9 May 2006). Best known for his TV appearances in the likes of Citizen Smith, My Family and Jericho, Lindsay’s stage credits include Me and My Girl, Oliver!, Cyrano de Bergarac, Richard III and Power (his last London stage appearance, at the National in 2003). Sean Holmes’ production runs to 19 May 2007. The cast also features John Normington, Emma Cunniffe, David Dawson and Pam Ferris as Archie’s long-suffering wife.
OPENING THURSDAY, 8 March 2007 (previews from 22 February), Billie Piper makes her West End debut in Treats, rescheduled from 28 February 2007 (See News, 23 Feb 2007). Laurence Boswell’s revival of Christopher Hampton’s three-hander drama also stars Kris Marshall and Laurence Fox. When young newspaper professional Ann loses her egotistical ex-boyfriend Dave, she tries to rebuild her shattered confidence by forming a rebound relationship with Patrick, the office bore. All is going as expected until Dave returns on a macho mission to try and win her back.
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ALSO ON THURSDAY (previews from 6 March), Lovely and Misfit, the European premiere of three ‘undiscovered’ short plays by Tennessee Williams, opens at Trafalgar Studios for a run to 31 March (See News, 16 Jan 2007). And Tell Sad Stories of the Death of Queens, Mister Paradise and Summer at the Lake, three of Williams’ most autobiographical plays, are directed by Anna Ledwich.
ALSO ON THURSDAY (previews from 7 March), Clean Break returns to east London’s Arcola Theatre with Linda Brogan’s Black Crows, a play about three women and their love for one man, which runs to 24 March 2007.
ALSO ON THURSDAY (previews from 6 March), the Old Red Lion in Islington premieres Martin Wagner’s two-hander The Agent, a tense, dark comedy about a writer’s relationship with his agent. The play’s limited season continues until 24 March 2007.
ALSO ON THURSDAY (previews from 6 March), Things of Dry Hours, Naomi Wallace’s drama about poor black people in 1930s Alabama, arrives at west London’s Gate Theatre following initial dates in Manchester. The final production programmed by the venue’s outgoing artistic director Thea Sharrock (See News, 6 Feb 2007), it runs to 31 March 2007.
ALSO ON THURSDAY, Ben Travers’ farce Plunder, about relatives trying to swindle each other out of their money, is revived at Greenwich Theatre for a run to 17 March 2007.
OPENING FRIDAY, 9 March 2007 (previews from 7 March), Frank McGuinness’ version of Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle, about a power struggle over the care of a young boy, arrives at the National’s Cottesloe Theatre as part of an ongoing tour. It has selected dates on the South Bank until 14 April 2007 before going back on the road (See News, 2 Nov 2006). Directed by Sean Holmes in collaboration with theatre collective Filter, the cast includes Nicolas Tennant, Cath Whitefield, Oliver Dimsdale and Mo Sesay.
- by Caroline Ansdell
