Off-West End Announcements – 17 Apr 2009

New Shows at the Oval House
Pete Edwards writes and stars in the multi-media play Fat (8 – 9 May) as part of the Oval House Theatre’s Summer 2009 Season. Fat centres on its gay, disabled protagonist as he searches for love; the show aims to combat the assumption that disabled people are not sexual beings. Michael Achtman directs.

The Oval House Theatre will also host David Mills’ cabaret meltdown The New Black (6 – 23 May). Featuring Michael Roulston on the piano, The New Black combines sharp wit with original songs as Mills performs his signature solo work.

Good Night Out presents a third play for Oval House’s new season with Daniel Reitz’s Studies for a Portrait (19 May – 13 June). Set in an East Hampton beach house on a paint-splattered stage, this production tells of modern artist Julian Barker’s final days. Following three men as they battle over an inheritance, Studies for a Portrait gives the audience a glimpse into the relationships that shaped this famous American artist.

Tristan Bates Theatre Has Potential
Dominic Mitchell’s award-winning play Potentials (5 – 23 May) hits London’s Tristan Bates Theatre after winning the PapaTango and Tristan Bates New Writing Competition. The show follows Benny Elliot on the eve of his thirtieth birthday, when three university friends come for a celebratory visit. Potentials is a comedy about the extremes some people will endure in order to find success.

Out with the Dog and in with a Painting and a Live Canon at the Finborough
Finborough Theatre has announced changes to its April to June 2009 Season. Due to scheduling conflicts, Craig Higginson’s Dream of the Dog – directed by James Albrecht and starring Janet Suzman – has been pulled from the venue’s upcoming season, with hopes of a Finborough return sometime in the future.

Replacing Dream of the Dog is the previously Sunday/Monday slotted play Painting a Wall, which will now run as the main production from 12 May – 6 June. Continuing with the South African theme, Painting a Wall is the first revival of David Lan’s first play and is directed by Finborough’s Literary Associate, Titas Halder.

The poetry ensemble Live Canon will return to the Finborough to fill the Sunday/Monday performance spot. These performances will include readings from newly discovered Pre-Raphaelite poetry (17, 18, 24, 25, 31 May and 1 June).

The rest of the season will remain as previously slated.

Voltaire’s Candice at the Greenwich Playhouse
Voltaire’s Candice (7 – 26 April) – performed and adapted by Prentis Hancock and co-directed by Brian Cummins and David Roylance – will run this month at the Greenwich Playhouse. Following closely to Voltaire’s original vehicle that spurred the French Revolution and the Enlightenment – Candice or Optimism – Hancock’s play also satirizes everything and everyone, from the government and armies to religion and philosophy.

More Light and Ghosts Come to the Arcola
The Dalston venue will host the debut production of Bryony Lavery’s More Light (12 – 30 May), which takes the audience into the underground tomb of China’s First Emperor. Already a popular exhibit at the British Museum, the inner tomb of the emperor – thought to contain the skeletons of hundreds of people left sacrificially for their ruler – is created onstage through lantern-lighting and a bound-footed chorus. More Light is directed by Catrina Lear and presented by UndertheBed, Round Pebble and Jasper Britton.

Looking further into the future, the Arcola will host the ATC presented production of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts or Those Who Return (22 July – 22 August). Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s new adaptation of Ibsen’s famous Ghosts will shed light on the sexual hypocrisy of the Victorian era by honing in on leading lady Mrs Alving, as excitement of her son’s return is soon eclipsed by memories of the past.

Invisible Storms in Kilburn
Kilburn’s Cock Tavern Theatre will host Invisible Storms (5 -30 May), co-directed by Jamie Harper and Dan Muirden and presented by Sound Dust. Relying on improvisation, the unscripted play was created as a direct response to current events surrounding the climate crisis.

The Brothers Lionheart at the Pleasance
The Islington venue is set to host the UK premiere production of The Brothers Lionheart (16 April – 3 May) this spring. Adapted from Pippi Longstocking author Astrid Lindgren’s original play, this fairy tale follows two young brothers through a mythical land they believed was just make-believe. Jonathan and Karl find themselves rallying with the locals against the evil Tengil who has enslaved a monster to rule the neighbouring valley.

-by Katie Blemler