Southbank Goes Back into Hoods & Cirque in Aug

Into the Hoods, the Whatsonstage.com Award-winning hip-hop extravaganza will return to the Southbank Centre this summer. After its sell-out season last Christmas in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Zoonation show is now being redesigned to fit into the larger Royal Festival Hall, where it will run from 30 July to 15 August 2010.

A hit at the Edinburgh Fringe in the 2006 and 2007, Into the Hoods had its West End premiere in March 2008 at the Novello Theatre, where it twice extended, finishing in August 2008 with the West End debut of Britain’s Got Talent winner George Sampson. The production won the 2009 Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Ensemble Performance.

A hip-hop version of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, Into the Hoods follows two children lost in the ‘hood’ and is performed by a cast of 19 adults and nine children (three on stage at any one time). Characters include singer Lil Red, two-timing rapper Prince, Rap-en-Zel and the gold trainer-wearing Spinderella.

The company, ZooNation, employs its trademark narrative street dance/theatre style against a backdrop of music from the Gorillaz, Massive Attack, Prince, Basement Jaxx and others. The family-friendly show is conceived, directed and choreographed by Kate Prince. Its new Southbank season follow its 32 sell-out dates from 16 December 2009 to 10 January 2010 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Also returning to the Southbank Centre this summer is Jean-Baptiste Thieree and Victoria Chaplin’s Le Cirque Invisible, which, after its first run last August, will be back at the Queen Elizabeth Hall from 5 to 25 August 2010 with its mix of magic, make-believe and trompe-l’oeil.