Derren Brown Brings Svengali to Shaftesbury

As previously tipped, television magician and mind control expert Derren Brown will return to the West End this summer, when he brings his latest live stage show Svengali for a limited season at the Shaftesbury Theatre from 13 June to 16 July 2011 (previews from 8 June), following a 73-date national tour.

Derren Brown’s unique style of performance, which combines psychological illusion, perceptual manipulation and persuasive technique, has made him a star of both stage and screen. In 2006 his stage show Something Wicked This Way Comes, which ran at the Cambridge, won an Olivier Award in the Best Entertainment category, while his last one, Enigma at the Adelphi, won him last year’s Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Solo Performance. He’s also had West End success with Derren Brown Mind Reader: An Evening of Wonders at the Garrick in 2008.

Brown has professed that he loves writing and performing on stage more than anything else, and marketing material for Svengali promises “an evening of mind-melting based around audience participation”. He adds: “More than that I wouldn’t want to say. I ask audiences to keep the contents of the show a secret so as not to spoil it for others, and I have to do the same. But I hope it’s fun and freaky and a great night out.”

Svengali is written by Derren Brown and Iain Sharkey with Stephen Long and produced by Michael Vine, Andrew O’Connor and Corrie McGuire for Objective Talent Management. The Shaftesbury is currently dark except for one-off performances this month and next of Comedy Rush stand-up evenings.