Tweet

Opening: Donmar Moonlight, Blue Eyes, NT Road

Amongst the major London openings, in the West End and further afield, this week are:

OPENING TUESDAY, 12 April 2011 (previews from 7 April), the Donmar Warehouse revives Harold Pinter’s 1993 play Moonlight, about a woman trying to reconcile her dying husband with his estranged sons. Directed by Bijan Sheibani (making his Donmar debut), the stellar cast is headed by David Bradley, Deborah Findlay and Daniel Mays. Until 28 May 2011.

ALSO ON TUESDAY, veteran actor, writer and director Steven Berkoff brings his double bill of one-man plays, One Man, to the Riverside Studios for a run to 23 April. Comprising two of his solo pieces, Dog and Tell Tale Heart, the show is billed as exploring the murky themes of "murder, masculinity and insanity".

OPENING WEDNESDAY, 13 April 2011 (previews from 19 March), Betty Blue Eyes, the musical adaptation of the Alan Bennett-scripted comedy film A Private Function, opens at the Novello Theatre. Starring Sarah Lancashire and Reece Shearsmith, it’s producer Cameron Mackintosh's first new musical in over a decade and has music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe with a book by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman.

Directed by Richard Eyre the musical is set in a Yorkshire village after the Second World War, where rationing presents a challenge for the locals who want to celebrate a Royal wedding in style by slaughtering an illegally raised pig for the event.

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY (previews from 12 April), Mike Leigh’s acclaimed revival of his Seventies classic Ecstasy transfers to the West End’s Duchess Theatre following its sell-out stint at Hampstead Theatre. It has a strictly limited season to 28 May 2011.

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY (previews from 7 April), Carrie Cracknell directs Sophocles' tragic masterpiece Electra, in a new version by award-winning playwright Nick Payne, at the Gate Theatre, where it continues to 14 May 2011.

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY, Nicholas Hytner's acclaimed National Theatre production of Hamlet, starring Rory Kinnear in the title role, returns for a limited run in the NT Lyttelton to 23 April.

OPENING THURSDAY, 14 April 2011 (previews from 5 April), Alecky Blythe’s latest verbatim theatre project, London Road, premieres at the NT Cottesloe. Centring on the shocking murder of five women in Ipswich in 2006, it reveals how “even the darkest experiences can engender a greater sense of our mutual dependence”, and continues in rep until 18 June.

ALSO ON THURSDAY (previews from 9 April), following their collaboration on Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis in 2004 and 2007, Little Angel puppet theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company co-present The Tempest for audiences aged seven and up. This shortened version has been edited by Peter Glanville (who also directs) and Phil Porter, and runs until 15 May.

OPENING FRIDAY, 15 April 2011 (previews from 13 April), Stephen Schwartz's pop musical Godspell, based on St Matthew's gospel, is revived at the Union theatre to celebrate the show’s 40th anniversary. The production reunites Michael Strassen (director) and Michael Bradley (musical director), the team behind the venue's recently acclaimed revival of Sondheim's Assassins.

ALSO ON FRIDAY (previews from 12 April), the recently relocated Arcola Theatre presents a double-bill of David Mamet's rarely seen plays Lakeboat and Prairie du Chien, directed by Abbey Wright and continuing until 7 May 2011.

Related Content

Booking Tickets & Show Listings
	Betty Blue Eyes Listing Page
	Moonlight Listing Page
	Electra Listing Page
	London Road Listing Page

Internal Links
	George Stiles & Anthony Drewe On ... Their New Musical Soho Cinders - 7th Oct 2011 interviews
	Stiles & Drewe's Soho Cinders Debuts, WOS Partners - 20th Sep 2011 news
	WOS TV: Up Close With ... Betty Blue Eyes' Reece Shearsmith - 12th Sep 2011 tv
	Novello Goes Crazy After Betty??? - 26th Aug 2011 gossip
	Betty Blue Eyes Posts Early Closing Notices, 24 Sep - 22nd Aug 2011 news
	Photos: Kylie Minogue Hams it up with Betty Blue Eyes - 11th Aug 2011 photos
	Top Ten: Screen-to-Stage Musicals - 21st Jun 2011 features
	Musicals Extend: Betty Blue Eyes, Billy & Brothers - 8th Jun 2011 news
	Top Five: Royal Wedding Shows - 27th Apr 2011 features
	Running Round Hidden London - 18th Apr 2011 blog
	Royal Wedding Fever Hits Tkts in Leicester Sq??? - 18th Apr 2011 gossip
	Musicals Go Pig in the Community - 15th Apr 2011 blog
	Review Round-up: Did Betty Bring Home Bacon? - 14th Apr 2011 roundup
	1st Night Photos: Stars Pig Out at Betty Premiere - 14th Apr 2011 photos
	Betty Blue Eyes - 14th Apr 2011 reviews
	Moonlight Becomes You & Yawns - 13th Apr 2011 blog
	Review Round-up: Did Pinter's Moonlight Shine? - 13th Apr 2011 roundup
	1st Night Photos: Stars Bask in Donmar Moonlight - 13th Apr 2011 photos
	Moonlight - 13th Apr 2011 reviews
	Gate Artistic Directors Announce Joint Resignation - 11th Apr 2011 news
	WOS Radio: Creatives Ham It Up at Betty Q&A - 8th Apr 2011 news
	Photos: Betty Cast Are Bringing Home the Bacon - 5th Apr 2011 photos
	Cast: Top Girls, Moonlight, Electra & War Horse - 17th Mar 2011 news
	Norton Premieres First Haircut, Full Blue Cast - 28th Jan 2011 news
	Brief Encounter With ... Stephen Mear - 17th Jan 2011 interviews
	Betty Blue Eyes Confirms Dates, More Casting - 19th Nov 2010 news
	Casting Announced for Donmar Bee & Moonlight - 19th Nov 2010 news
	Cast: Bradley in Moonlight, Get Santa, .45 & Bea - 20th Oct 2010 news
	- 1st Jan 1970
	Betty Blue Eyes Premieres at Novello in Spring - 1st Oct 2010 news
	Betty Blue Eyes in April with Lancashire & Shearsmith??? - 8th Sep 2010 gossip
	Donmar Premieres Bee Musical, Revisits Schiller - 3rd Sep 2010 news