Arcola Theatre season to 23 Dec 2011

Original article appeared on 12 July 2011 at London Theatre Guide – click here to view

The Arcola Theatre, in east London, productions to 23 Dec 2011, include…

20 Jul to 13 Aug 2011 – Studio 1
On the Record, by Christine Bacon and Noah Birksted-Breen. produced by iceandfire. Directed by Michael Longhurst. Cast Nathalie Armin, Paul Bhattacharjee, Michelle Bonnard, Kika Markham, Selva Rasalingam, Trevor White. Combining searing verbatim testimony with dramatic reconstruction, On the Record circumnavigates the globe to bring you true stories of six independent journalists, all linked by their determination to shed light on the truth. Sri Lankan brothers Lal and Lasantha dare to publish stories that others wont touch, but at what cost? Meanwhile, in Mexico Lydia uncovers a child pornography ring involving senior politicians, Elena has a run in with the Moscow mafia, Amira reports direct from the Israeli-occupied territories and Zoriah comes up against the US Military over his Iraq war images.

2 to 13 Aug 2011 – Studio 2
African Gothic, by Reza de Wet. Produced by Barebones Project . Directed by Naomi Wirthner. The black night of apartheid South African. An isolated farmhouse descends into ruin. The rain will never come. Compulsively, Sussie and Frikkie play out the punishment rituals of the past. Nothing is prohibited. There are no taboos. What will happen when an unwelcome outsider tries to re-order their world?

1 to 24 Sep 2011 – Studio 1
The Golden Dragon, By Roland Schimmelpfennig. Translated by David Tushingham. Produced by Actors Touring Company (ATC) and Drum Theatre Plymouth. Directed by Ramin Gray. Cast David Beames, Adam Best, Ann Firbank, Kathryn O’Reilly, Jack Tartlon . A tragicomic tale of globalisation set in your local takeaway. Five actors play a huge cast of characters – a Chinese migrant with toothache, a woman in a red dress, the man from the shop next door, two air-stewardesses plus a cricket and some ants – in a deconstructed soap opera that moves everywhere and nowhere. Charting a journey from far-off China to just around the corner and back again, The Golden Dragon reveals what really goes into that bowl of hot and sour soup.

6 Sep to 8 Oct 2011 – Studio 2
Tell Them I Am Young and Beautiful, by Gilles Aufray. Produced by KP Productions. Directed by Marcello Magni. Cast Kathryn Hunter, Marcello Magni. Greed. Hospitality. Sacrifice. Knowledge. Truth. Freedom. Friendship .Seven words, seven stories, seven moments of theatre played in an empty space like a game, magical and dangerous. Three actors and a musician step onto the stage, bringing with them only what has shocked and touched them, to tell and play angry stories that need to be told now…

28 Sep to 22 Oct 2011 – Studio 1
Phaedra’s Love, By Sarah Kane. Produced by Reduced Circumstances. Directed by Bronwen Carr. News. Another rape. Child murdered. War somewhere. Few thousand jobs gone. But none of this matters cause its a royal birthday.

12 Oct to 12 Nov 2011 – Studio 2
The Queen Of Spades, by Alexander Pushkin. A New Adaptation by Raymond Blankenhorn and Max Hoehn. Produced by Fusebox Productions. Directed by Max Hoehn. A mental patient is confined to his cell, refusing to answer any questions. He keeps muttering Three Seven, Ace! Three, Seven, Queen! His past life is revealed to us in a series of dreams that take us from the bedroom of an old, dying Countess to the gambling tables of St. Petersburg.

26 Oct to 19 Nov 2011 – Studio 1
Speechless, by Linda Brogan & Polly Teale. Based on The Silent Twins by Marjorie Wallace. Produced by Shared Experience and Sherman Cymru. Directed by Polly Teale. The story of identical twins June and Jennifer Gibbons. Refusing to speak to adults, the twins communicate in their own private language, their only relationship being an intense and turbulent bond with each other. Speechless is a powerful portrayal of the twins secret world and their struggle to find a voice against all odds.

15 Nov 2011 to 10 Dec 2011 Studio 2
How the World Began, by Catherine Trieschmann. Produced by Tom Atkins. Directed by Des Kennedy. Susan, a science teacher from Manhattan, starts work in a small rural Kansas town thats been ripped apart by a tornado. When one of her pupils – the damaged, articulate Micah – takes offence at an off-the-cuff remark about how life on earth began, Susan is thrown into an ethical storm about science and faith that leads to her fearing for her safety.

24 Nov 2011 to 23 Dec 2011 Studio 1
Goodbye Barcelona, book by Judith Johnson. Music and Lyrics by KS Lewkowicz. Produced by Goodbar Productions in association with Arcola Theatre. Directed by Karen Rabinowitz. Tells the story of Sam, who joins the Brigades and goes to Spain to help fight the fascists in 1936, and Rebecca, his mother, how follows him there. We follow their journey as they fight for freedom alongside the people of Spain.

‘Top Girls’ heads for West End

Original article appeared on 12 July 2011 in Variety – click here to view

Stafford-Clark production leads Out of Joint slate

Max Stafford-Clark’s new SRO production of Caryl Churchill’s classic “Top Girls” will transfer to the West End’s Trafalgar Studios starting Aug. 5, with an Aug. 16 opening.

It is the first of an unprecedented four London productions in a single season for the helmer’s theater company Out of Joint, which is dedicated to new writing.

Despite a recent 27.9% cut in its Arts Council funding, the company has brokered a succession of co-production deals to present all four plays.

“Top Girls” premiered at the Royal Court in 1982 in a production helmed by Stafford-Clark. Sonia Friedman, who co-founded Out of Joint with Stafford-Clark in 1993, will produce the London transfer when it completes its run at the Minerva theater, part of regional powerhouse Chichester Festival Theater. The cast is Stella Gonet, Suranne Jones, Catherine McCormack, Lucy Briers, Laura Elphinstone, Lisa Kerr and Olivia Poulet.

Stafford-Clark will also direct the West End transfer of “A Dish of Tea With Dr. Johnson” at the Arts Theater (Aug. 31-Sept. 24), following its successful U.K. tour. Adapted by Russell Bar, Ian Redford and Stafford-Clark from the writings of James Boswell, the production is presented by Karl Sydow and stars Barr, Redford and Trudie Styler.

“Bang Bang Bang,” Stella Feehily’s new play about the secret lives of humanitarian workers in war-torn central Africa, will receive its London preem at the Royal Court Upstairs, also directed by Stafford-Clark. Running Oct. 11-Nov. 5, the Out of Joint production is co-produced with the Octagon Bolton, Curve Theater Leicester, the Royal Court and Salisbury Playhouse.

“How the World Began,” by U.S. scribe Catherine Trieschmann, will receive its European premiere at the off West End venue the Arcola (Nov. 15-Dec. 10). Helmed by Des Kennedy, winner of Out of Joint’s director’s award, the play is produced by Tom Atkins with support from the Arcola.

Out of Joint Theatre Co Brings Four Shows To London

Original article appeared on 12 July 2011 at Broadwayworld.com – click here to view

Touring theatre company Out of Joint, led by legendary Artistic Director Max Stafford-Clark, today announced the full list of four shows which it will be presenting in London this autumn.

With careful management, scrupulous artistic judgement and consistently high standards, Out of Joint is in the envious position of mounting four shows in London in one season.

Max Stafford-Clark will direct three of the shows, with the company supporting a fourth directed by young director Des Kennedy, winner of Out of Joint’s inaugural Directing Award.

Out of Joint’s unprecedented success comes just months after Arts Council England announced a cut of 27.9% to the company’s public subsidy, to take effect from next year.

The four shows are:

· The West End transfer of Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls, following a hugely successful run at Chichester Festival Theatre, to the Trafalgar Studios in the West End, directed by Max Stafford-Clark, with a cast including Stella Gonet, SurAnne Jones and Catherine McCormack. Sonia Friedman presents the Out of Joint and Chichester Festival Theatre production.

· Trudie Styler in the West End transfer of A Dish of Tea With Dr Johnson at the Arts Theatre, following a hugely successful national tour, directed by Max Stafford-Clark, and adapted by Ian Redford, Russell Barr and Max Stafford-Clark from the writings of James Boswell. Karl Sydow presents the Out of Joint production.

· The London premiere of Bang Bang Bang, Stella Feehily’s new play about the secret lives of humanitarian workers in war-torn central Africa, in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at The Royal Court Theatre, also directed by Max Stafford-Clark. Co-produced by Out of Joint, The Octagon Bolton, Curve Theatre Leicester, The Royal Court Theatre and Salisbury Playhouse.

· The European premiere of How The World Began by Catherine Trieshmann, directed by Out of Joint’s Associate Director and winner of Out of Joint’s Director’s Award, Des Kennedy, at the Arcola Theatre. Produced by Tom Atkins with support from Out of Joint and the Arcola Theatre.

Max Stafford-Clark co-founded Out of Joint with Sonia Friedman in 1993. He is a former artistic director of the Royal Court and the Traverse Theatre; was co-founder of Joint Stock Theatre Group; and has directed at The National Theatre and RSC, as well as at the Roundabout Theatre in New York and Sydney Theatre Company.

Out of Joint is a theatre company acclaimed for producing and touring the UK’s sharpest new writing. Founded and directed by Max Stafford-Clark following his artistic directorship of the Royal Court, it has premiered plays by David Hare, Caryl Churchill, Sebastian Barry, Timberlake Wertenbaker and many more, and launched the careers of such talents as Mark Ravenhill and Stella Feehily. The company will receive a cut of £137,000 in its Arts Council funding from April 2012, a decision that has caused outrage in the Theatre World. Stafford-Clark said, “The only reason we have been given by the Arts Council for the cut is that the amount of funding we receive for each person that sees our shows is unacceptably high. The laughable irony is that this will happen at the end of a year when more people will have seen our shows than at any point in our history”.

Top Girls
By Caryl Churchill
Directed by Max Stafford-Clark
Cast: Stella Gonet, SurAnne Jones, Catherine McCormack, Lucy Briers, Laura Elphinstone, Lisa Kerr and Olivia Poulet.
Trafalgar Studios, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY
6 August – 15 October 2011
Press Night: 17 August 2011 at 7pm
Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm
Thursday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm
£20 – £45 (plus concessions)
Day seats £20
all tickets include a £1.50 restoration levy
Box Office: 0844 871 7632
Website: www.topgirlstheplay.com

A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson
Adapted by Russell Barr, Ian Redford and Max Stafford-Clark,
from James Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson and Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides.
Directed by Max Stafford-Clark
Cast: Russell Barr, Ian Redford, Trudie Styler
Arts Theatre, London, Great Newport Street, WC2H 7JB
31 August – 24 September 2011
Press Night: 2 September 2011
Monday – Saturday at 8pm.
Thursday and Saturday matinees at 3pm (not Thu 1 Sep)
£20 – £32.50; Premium Stalls £37.50; Circle Slips for under 24s: £15; All seats on 31 Aug £15
Box office: 0207 907 7092
Website: www.artstheatrewestend.com
Trudie Styler will not appear on 9, 10, 21, 22, 23, 24 Sep

BANG BANG BANG
By Stella Feehily
Directed by Max Stafford-Clark
Cast includes: Julie Dray, Jack Farthing, Orla Fitzgerald and Dan Fredenburgh
Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London SW1W 8AS
11 October – 5 November 2011
Monday – Saturday at 7.45pm.
Saturday matinees at 4pm
Box office 020 7565 5000
www.royalcourttheatre.com

How The World Began
By Catherine Trieshmann
Directed by Des Kennedy
Studio 2, Arcola Theatre
15 November – 10 December 2011
8pm
Saturday matinees on 19, 26 November, 3, 10 December at 3pm
£15 (£11 conc); Tuesdays pay what you can