Off-West End Announcements – 20 Mar 2009

Blue Goo at Haringey Shed
The Bernie Grant Arts Centre in Tottenham will play host on Saturday 28 March to two performances (at 2pm & 5pm) of inclusive theatre company Haringey Shed’s new show Blue Goo. Billed as “an original piece of musical theatre full of colour, nonsense and most importantly no rules”, it features the 45 young people that comprise the Haringey Shed children’s theatre. You can also catch the company’s two choirs and the Shed band in action from 12pm.

Sexual Misery in Leicester Square
The West End debut of international comedy hit A Guide to Sexual Misery will take place on 23 April at the Leicester Square Theatre. Wolfgang Weinberger’s play dealing with the burning questions about sex hits the London stage after selling out at the Vienna Concert Hall and at last year’s Edinburgh fringe festival. A Guide to Sexual Misery (23 April to 23 May) stems from Austrian therapist Bernhard Ludwig’s initial therapy session intended to answer heart attack patients’ questions on sex. It quickly evolved into an informative production for healthy audiences as well.

More new voices at Finborough
The Old Vic New Voices-supported American season continues with New York writer Bekah Brunstetter’s Oohrah! (Sundays & Mondays, 22 March to 6 April). Directed by Georgina Guy, the play is set in Fayetteville, North Carolina – a town which won the title of most pro-military in America from a recent poll by TIME Magazine. Oohrah! sheds light on the military’s psychological effects on an American family.

Congo in the spotlight in Camden
Daedalus Theatre Company presents A Place at the Table, a new play directed, designed and produced by Paul Burgess, at the Camden People’s Theatre from 15 April to 2 May. A Place at the Table combines the talent of a melange of international artists – from Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo – to look at the 1993 assassination of Burundi’s first democratically elected president, Melchior Ndadaye, which let to the bloody ten year civil war and later to other conflicts surrounding the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Double-bills on the docklands
Isle of Dogs venue The Space is playing host to a season of double-bills from 31 March to 5 April, featuring Our Father’s Ear’s & Licence My Roving Hands (31 March – 1 April), The Time is 15:15 & KUKHU (3 & 4 April) and The Beekeeper & From Daze to Days (5 April).

Cavendish Gate hosts theatredelicatessen
Regent Street’s derelict Cavendish Gate Building will house theatredelicatessen’s new production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale (14 April – 2 May). Jessica Brewster directs the tragedy about Sicilia’s King Leontes as fantasy eclipses reality and he starts to believe that his wife and oldest friend are having an affair.

Cast Announced for John Stanley’s Proud
A cast including Eastenders ’ Shana Swash has been announced for the upcoming 6:37 Productions piece, Proud. Written by John Stanley and directed by Christian Durham, the play will also feature Jay Brown, Nic Gilder, Anna Lindup and Emma Swinn. Proud previews at the New Wimbledon Studio (8 – 11 April) before relocating to central London’s Above the Stag venue from 14 April to 10 May.

Flether’s Woodsman at The Old Red Lion
Steven Fetcher’s play about an ex-convict opens next month at The Old Red Lion Theatre. The Woodsman (7 April – 2 May) casts the spotlight on Walter, who longs to be accepted back into society after serving his jail term.

– by Katie Blemler