Opening: Terminus, Wastwater, Bronte & Precious
Amongst the major London openings, in the West End and further afield, this week are:
OPENING TUESDAY, 5 April 2011 (previews from 31 March), Simon Stephens’ new play Wastwater opens at the Royal Court Theatre Downstairs, where it continues to 7 May 2011. Directed by Katie Mitchell with a cast including Linda Bassett and Tom Sturridge, it’s set on the edges of Heathrow Airport and is billed as an “elliptical triptych” – a snapshot of three different couples who make a choice that will define the fallout of their future.
ALSO ON TUESDAY (previews from 1 April), Alan Ayckbourn’s Time of My Life, set during a tense family gathering at a restaurant, is revived at the Watford Palace for a run to 23 April.
OPENING WEDNESDAY, 6 April 2011 (previews from 5 April), Tristan Bates Theatre hosts the UK premiere of Stephen Dolginoff’s hit off-Broadway musical Thrill Me, telling of the deeds of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, the infamous ‘thrill killers’ who inspired Hitchcock’s Rope. Directed by Guy Retallack, it runs until 30 April.
ALSO ON WEDNESDAY, Shared Experience, a high-profile casualty of the recent Arts Council cuts, brings its acclaimed tour of Bronte to the Tricycle Theatre for a run to 30 April. Written by Polly Teale and directed by Nancy Meckler, it centres on the extraordinary story of the Bronte sisters and is set in their isolated parsonage home.
ALSO ON WEDNESDAY (previews from 3 April), upcoming playwright Rob Hayes makes his London debut at the Cock Tavern Theatre with the world premiere of A Butcher of Distinction, which runs to 23 April.
OPENING THURSDAY, 7 April 2011 (previews from 5 April), The Accordionist, a two-hander charting “the troubled relationship between a Piaf tribute act and a mysterious accordion player”, arrives at the New End Theatre following a national tour, running until 24 April.
OPENING FRIDAY, 8 April 2011 (previews from 7 April), Moscow’s Chekhov International Festival, the sister company of Cheek by Jowl, returns to the UK with a forceful new production of The Tempest, which runs at the Barbican until 16 April. Directed by Declan Donnellan and designed by Nick Ormerod, it’s performed in Russian with English surtitles.
ALSO ON FRIDAY (previews from 5 April), Ella Hickson’s Precious Little Talent, the story of “two 20-somethings graduating into a world that’s sold them down the river”, transfers to London’s Trafalgar Studios 2 for a run to 30 April, directed by James Dacre (The Mountaintop).
