Off-West End Announcements – 7 December 2009

In 2010 the Finborough turns 30 and to mark the occasion the
Earl’s Court venue is presenting New Year New Plays, a season of new plays by
award-winning writers. The season
kicks off with the European premiere of Generous by the Canadian playwright Michael Healey (from 5 to
30 January). It is followed by The Early Bird by Leo Butler
(from 2 to 27 February) and A Day at the Racists, a world
premiere by the Finborough’s
Pearson Playwright-in-Residence, Anders
Lustgarten (from 2 to 27 March). Sunday and Monday nights at the theatre
during the new season will see the world premiere of Regolith by Chris Lee and You May Go Now – A Marriage Play by Bekah Brunstetter.

Soho Hosts First Ever Russian Theatre Festival

Sputnik Theatre Company, a British group dedicated to
staging contemporary Russian drama, will be presenting the work of four new
Russian playwrights at Soho Theatre from 1 to 4 February. Rehearsed English-language
readings of plays by Natalya Kolyada, Maksim Kurochkin, Vladimir Zuev and
Yaroslava Pulinovich will take place at the launch of this annual event.

Theatre503 Presents Christmas
Shorts

This week sees the first staging of work from Theatre503’s newly
appointed writers-in-residence, the 503 Five. All I Want for
Christmas comprises five comedy shorts on the true meaning of Christmas, by playwrights Richard Marsh, Rex Obano, Lou
Ramsden, Nimer Rashed and Beth Steel. The show runs from 8 to 12 December.

And finally…

The irreverent satire Jihad! The Musical, a hit from the
2007 Edinburgh Fringe, will be playing at the Jermyn Street Theatre from 8
January to 6 February. Featuring songs including “Building
a Bomb Today” and “I
Wanna Be Like Osama”, the show tells the story of a Jalalabad-based florist tempted towards
terrorism by a US reporter bent on finding a scoop. Expanded from the hour-long
Edinburgh show, Jihah! The Musical promises to be great fun
for the new year.