WOS Announces Major Club Partnership with Arts Theatre
Whatsonstage.com today announces a major new media partnership with the West End’s historic Arts Theatre. The six-month initiative – timed to coincide with the Arts’ exciting new autumn and winter seasons, which includes performances by Whatsonstage.com Award winner Meera Syal (The Killing of Sister George) and Simon Callow (A Christmas Carol) – will give members of our Whatsonstage.com Theatre Club a “home from home” in central London at the Arts.
Amongst the wide-ranging benefits now available to Whatsonstage.com Club members as part of the new Arts partnership are: exclusive access to first nights, regular complimentary and discounted tickets for Arts productions and special events, drinks discounts, a free programme voucher, and membership to the adjacent Covent Garden Cocktail Club.
Built in 1927 and the first London home of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the 340-seat Arts Theatre has recently come under new ownership and, under the direction of Mig Kimpton, has launched a fully programmed season of plays and talks. The dynamic schedule is complemented by the charming daytime Tea Room and busy members’ Covent Garden Cocktail Club to create a busy and exciting revitalised venue in the heart of the West End.
Kimpton, who is executive director of the Arts Theatre, commented today: “We are very excited about our partnership with Whatsonstage.com. This marks another significant moment for the Arts Theatre as it continues to grow and develop. This partnership is a unique marriage that will, over the coming months starting with our autumn and winter seasons, provide something for everyone to enjoy and be involved with.”
Terri Paddock, managing and editorial director of Whatsonstage.com, added: “This new initiative with the Arts Theatre is part of an ongoing push to build even greater benefits and more engagement for members of our Whatsonstage.com Theatre Club, who are amongst our most avid and dedicated theatregoers. We know they’ll love taking advantage of all that the Arts has to offer. We’re thrilled to be working with Mig and his team to make this possible.”
The full “Drama at the Arts” autumn season comprises:
• A Dish of Tea with Dr Jonson – 3-24 September – The season launches with the current adaptation of James Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson and Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides by Russell Barr, Ian Redford and Max Stafford-Clark. A charming show of stories and conversations, the piece introduces audiences to the irritable, generous, depressed, witty and wise Samuel ‘Dictionary’ Johnson: poet, essayist and lexicographer.
• The Killing of Sister George – 5-29 October – Following Meera Syal’s success with Shirley Valentine in the West End, for which she won a Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Solo Performance earlier this year, she tackles the grotesque role of June Buckridge in The Killing of Sister George alongside Belinda Lang and Helen Lederer.
• A British Subject – 2-26 November – Arriving in London after a hugely successful run in New York and the Edinburgh Festival, A British Subject is an extraordinary true-life tale of international politics and the media colliding with justice, civil liberties and ultimately, faith. It’s written by and stars Nichola McAuliffe.
This will be followed by a winter season which includes:
• A Christmas Carol with Simon Callow – 8 December-14 January – A Christmas Carol is the most famous book Charles Dickens ever wrote and one of the most daring. Taking the author’s own performing version as a starting point, Simon Callow and director Tom Cairns have created a work of total storytelling: phantasmagorical, hilarious, heart-breaking, visionary, a celebration of goodness, a plea for justice and a promise of redemption.
There will also be a range of evening talks entitled Face to Face at the Arts – an intimate series of live interviews celebrating people, ideas and entertainment, commencing with Raymond Blanc and Michael Parkinson.
For more information about the Arts Theatre and these productions, click here.
As part of the Whatsonstage.com Theatre Club and Arts Partnership, Club members will have access to exclusive press night offers and free tickets as well as drinks discounts (in the Covent Garden Cocktail Club and foyer bar) as well as one FREE programme voucher for all new and renewing members. Other benefits of the Club, which currently costs just £30 per annum, include advance discounted booking on Whatsonstage.com Outings and Awards, Group Club Night discounts, a joining gift ticket to Thriller Live and our a subscription to our bi-monthly Whatsonstage.com print magazine – click here for more info on how to join the Club!
