Pennington Reprises William at Trafalgar Studio 2Date: 5 December 2007
Michael Pennington will bring his acclaimed one-man show Sweet William, currently running at the fringe Arcola Theatre, to the West End’s Trafalgar Studios in the new year. It's one of the highlights in the newly announced spring 2008 season in Trafalgar Studio 2, the smaller 100-seater in ATG’s two auditoria complex on Whitehall.
Angry Young Man and The Explorer, a double bill of plays written and directed by Ben Woolf, kicks off the new year schedule, running 11 January (previews from 8 January) and run to 2 February 2008. The first, which was seen at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe, tells the story of Yuri, a brilliant Eastern European surgeon who arrives in London in search of work and a new life. The second makes its world premiere at Trafalgar Studios. It follows the travels of a Victorian gentleman with a very dark secret.
In addition to numerous seasons at the RSC, Pennington has played leading Shakespearean roles around the world with the English Shakespeare Company, which he co-founded in 1986 with director Michael Bogdanov. Sweet William is his own interpretation of Shakespeare’s life and works. Sweet William opens on 5 February (previews from 4 February) and continues until 16 February 2008.
It’s followed, from 21 February 2008 (previews from 20 February) to 8 March, by World's End. The new play by Paul Sellar had a rehearsed reading at the NT Studio in 1999. Kat is moving out of the London flat she shares with ex-boyfriend Ben. He’s hurt and angry, and still in love with Kat. But is it now too late to tell her?
Snowbound, written and directed Ciaran McConville, then run from 12 March 2008 (previews from 11 March) to 19 April. Another new play, it tells the story of the Connor Brothers, Tom and Alex. When Tom’s wife dies, it’s only Alex who can make Tom’s world work again.
The final production in Trafalgar 2’s spring schedule is a revival of South African playwright Athol Fugard’s 1965 autobiographical piece Hello and Goodbye, which captures the explosive conflict that emerges when family ties are fully exposed. The production, directed by Paul Robinson, plays for three weeks from 24 April 2008 (previews from 22 April) to 17 May 2008.
Currently at Trafalgar Studio 2, Some Kind of Bliss, a new one-woman play written by Samuel Adamson and performed by Lucy Briers, continues its limited run until 15 December (See News, 12 Sep 2007). Meanwhile, in the larger Trafalgar Studio 1, the transfer of the Menier Chocolate Factory revival of Dealer's Choice, directed by Samuel West, opens next Tuesday (11 December, previews from 6 December) following its sell-out run in Southwark (See News, 30 Oct 2007).
- by Tom Atkins & Terri Paddock
Related Content
