Watermill Theatre stages world premiere of But First This, A Musical Homage to Radio 4
The Watermill Theatre, Newbury has announced its new season, with a mixture of new work and revivals.
The season opens on 11 September with R C Sherriff's Journey's End, which takes place in the British trenches on the front line in 1918. The revival is designed by Paul Hart, with design by Katie Lias,
Taking over on 13 October will be a three man production of Hamlet. A story of betrayal, revenge and indecision, Hamlet is one of the most performed plays in history and in this production is cut to a fast-paced 75 minutes. The play has been adapted by Beth Flintoff, with direction from Justin Audibert, whose credits include Mojo and Future Regrets.
From 23 October, But First This, A Musical Homage to Radio 4 by Radio 4 news reader Kathy Clugston will take the stage. Following a recent survey suggesting Radio 4 was one of the best things about Britain today, this new musical follows the presenters on their quest to foil a new Controller who wants to destroy it. It is written by Clugston, with music from Desmond O'Connor and directed by Michael Kingsbury.
The season concludes with the opening of family favourite Peter Pan on 20 November, just in time for the festive season, and will be produced by arrangement with Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity and Samuel French Ltd. The magical childhood classic, exploring the children's adventures in Neverland, gets a stage makeover in this adaptation from Robin Belfield and Simon Slater, with direction from Belfield and original score from Slater.
