Opening: Flamen’ka, Girlfriend, Walworth, Dancing
Amongst the major openings in London this week are:
OPENING TONIGHT, Monday 22 September 2008 (previews from 18 September), flamenco dance show Flamenco Flamen’ka (pictured) opens at the West End’s Lyric theatre, based on the Jorge Luis Borges short story The Intruder and directed by Craig Revel Horwood (See News, 4 Jul 2008). The show has been reworked after a short season in Paris, and includes classical flamenco music by Bruno Ribera. Until 15 November 2008.
OPENING TUESDAY, 23 September 2008 (previews from 18 September), verbatim specialist Alecky Blythe’s new show The Girlfriend Experience, created entirely from conversations recorded inside a Bournemouth brothel, opens at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. It stars Debbie Chazen, who was also involved when it was first shown as a work in progress as part of last year’s Rough Cuts season, and runs until 11 October 2008.
OPENING WEDNESDAY, 24 September 2008 (previews from 18 September), direct from a critically acclaimed run in New York, Enda Walsh’s The Walworth Farce receives its London premiere at the NT’s Cottesloe theatre. The play, which is set in a flat occupied by three Irish men on the Walworth Road in London, won a Fringe First when it debuted at Edinburgh last year, and runs at the National until 29 November 2008.
ALSO ON WEDNESDAY (previews from 13 September), Come Dancing, a new musical by The Kinks frontman Ray Davies set in the 1950s Ilford Palais ballroom, premieres at the Theatre Royal Stratford East (See News, 16 Jul 2008). The musical takes its title from The Kinks’ 1983 song of the same name. However, Kinks fans be warned, the show is not a compilation of the band’s greatest hits. It runs until 25 October, with a possible West End outing in the pipeline.
OPENING FRIDAY, 26 September 2008 (previews from 23 September), Sonja Linden’s new play Welcome to Ramallah, written in collaboration with Adah Kay about a family living on the West Bank, opens at the Arcola theatre. It runs until 18 October prior to a transfer to York Theatre Royal.
– By Theo Bosanquet
