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Autumn Season at the Orange Tree AnnouncedDate: 21 July 2009
The Orange Tree, London’s only permanent in-the-round theatre, has announced its new season of work, starting in September with The Ring of Truth, a play by Wynyard Browne that hasn’t been seen live performed by a professional company since its premiere at the Savoy Theatre in 1959.
The show, which runs from 3 September to 3 October, is set on New Year’s Eve. Multiple celebrations are underway and all seems to be going well until Tom discovers the loss of an engagement ring and events spiral into chaos. Auriol Smith directs this Orange Tree re-discovery.
October sees the arrival of Alison’s House by Susan Glaspell. Set 18 years after the death of Alison Stanhope, the nation’s foremost poet, the play explores the issues that arise when a family’s wish for privacy and closure is at odds with an adoring public’s desire for information. Inspired by the life and work of Emily Dickenson, the play won the Pulitzer Prize in 1930 and comes to the Orange Tree hot on the heels of this spring’s Glaspell season. Alison’s House runs from 7 October to 7 November.
Following Alison’s House is The Making of Moo by Nigel Dennis, which premiered at the Royal Court in 1957. Running from 11 November to 12 December, the play is a biting satire on the way that religion is used as an instrument of colonial power.
The musical The Lady or the Tiger ends the new season’s work (16 December to 13 February). Taken from the short story by Frank Stockton, this tale of a young man forced to make a terrible decision was first seen at the Orange Tree in 1975, where it sold out and caused queues of hundreds to form down the street. Written by Michael Redmond and Jeremy Paul, with lyrics by Michael Redmond and music by Nola York, it transferred to the West End and was revived at the Orange Tree in 1989. This new production offers a new generation of theatre-goers the chance to see this Orange Tree favourite.
- by Jo Caird - Theatregoer Reporter
