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Off-West End Announcements – 9 April 2010

Barker Bites at Riverside Studios
Howard Barker fans rejoice. The Wrestling School is presenting a mini-festival of the playwright’s work at Riverside Studios from 29 Apr to 9 May. Hurts Given and Received and Slowly will be running in tandem, directed by Gerrard McArthur and Hanna Berrigan respectively while Barker himself will direct a reading of his latest piece Wonder and Worship in the Dying Ward on 2 May, when audiences will be treated to three of his new works.

Behind the Scenes at Madam Tussaud’s
The contrasting tales of two 19th century visionaries will be brought together in an unusual double bill of one-man plays at the Landor Theatre next week. Waxing Lyrical takes a closer look at the original Madame Tussaud, played by Judith Paris, while A Grain of Sand in Lambeth, written and performed by Michael Loughnan, focuses in on the later life of William Blake. London life would not be the same without them: see their stories re-enacted from 18-24 Apr.

Sofia, So Good at Arcola
Know much about Bulgarian theatre? Neither do we, which is why we’re heading to the Arcola later this month to catch the UK premiere of Stanislav Stratiev’s play The Roman Bath, translated by Justin Butcher and running from 28 Apr to 15 May. Stratiev was one of Bulgaria’s most prominent playwrights at the time of his death in 2000 and his spiky satire – about a man who returns from holiday to finds his home and life torn apart – ran for 10 consecutive seasons in Sofia.

Oval House Counts The Ways
Meanwhile, an British classic gets reworked at Oval House Next month courtesy of innovative disability theatre company Face Front. Edward Albee wrote the love story Counting the Ways in the midst of his absurdist period in the 1970s. The two-hander will now be retold by two couples, one using spoken English, the other British Sign Language, while a third character describes the action for a blind or visually impaired audience. The production runs from 11-15 May.

- by Nancy Groves - Theatregoer Reporter

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