Much Ado About Nothing starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate – Round-up of Reviews
June 1, 2011
Reviews round-up for Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham’s Theatre starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate.
David Tennant in Much Ado About Nothing
Josie Rourke’s new production of William Shakespeare’s timeless comedy Much Ado About Nothing sees David Tennant and Catherine Tate reunite after their stint in TV’s Doctor Who to play Benedick and Beatrice.
In the play, two young lovers, Claudio and Hero, are to be married imminently but the devious scheming of a resentful Prince looks set to thwart the nuptials. Meanwhile, marriage seems inconceivable for reluctant lovers Beatrice (Catherine Tate) and Benedick (David Tennant) whose endless witty sparring threatens to keep them apart forever.
Read a round-up of Much Ado About Nothing reviews, below.
New shows this week: Dominic West in Butley, David Tennant and Catherine Tate, Lend Me A Tenor
May 30, 2011
What’s opening in the West End this week including Dominic West in Butley, David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Much Ado About Nothing and Matthew Kelly and Joanna Riding in Lend Me A Tenor.
NEW SHOWS 30 MAY to 5 JUNE 2011
Dominic West stars in Butley at the Duchess Theatre
On Wednesday 1 June Much Ado About Nothing gets its official opening night at the Wyndham’s Theatre. David Tennant and Catherine Tate star as Beatrice and Benedick in this high-profile new production directed by Josie Rourke.
Also on Wednesday, Dominic West (The Wire) returns to the West End as previews start for Simon Gray’s savage, witty and remarkable play Butley at the Duchess Theatre, directed by Lindsay Posner and also starring Paul McGann.
Also starting previews this week is Lend Me A Tenor on Thursday 2 June at the Gielgud Theatre in London. Ian Talbot directs this fun new musical comedy by Peter Sham and Brad Carroll, based on the Broadway classic and starring Matthew Kelly and Joanna Riding.
OPENING NEXT WEEK
The Royal Court’s revival of Arnold Wesker’s Chicken Soup With Barley opens, starring Samantha Spiro and directed by Dominic Cooke (Press night 7 June).
The Donmar Warehouse production of Schiller’s Luise Miller directed by Michael Grandage and starring Alex Kingston, Felicity Jones, Finty Williams, Max Bennett and David Dawson (Previews from 8 June).
Friday 10 June marks the centenary of British playwright Terence Rattigan and on the following day, Saturday 11 June, two of his classic plays, Cause Celebre at the Old Vic and Flare Path at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, both close in the West End.
Finally, Sunday 12 June sees this year’s Tony Awards announced. A big, glitzy ceremony is planned with Danielle Radcliffe, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Vanessa Redgrave handing out gongs and the Royal Court’s Jerusalem and National Theatre’s War Horse in line for multiple awards.
AND OPENING LATER IN JUNE
Amanda Holden stars in Shrek the Musical
The Flying Karamazov Brothers come crashing into the Vaudeville Theatre with much kilt wearing, flame throwing and general madcap hysteria (from 9 June); Shrek The Musical has its press night at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane starring Amanda Holden and Nigel Lindsay (14 June); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead starring featuring Samuel Barnett and Jamie Parker at the Theatre Royal Haymarket (from 16 June); Kristin Soctt Thomas leads the cast in previews of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal at the Comedy Theatre, in a new production directed by Ian Rickson, also starring Douglas Henshall and Ben Miles (Press night 16 June); The Royal Ballet’s sumptuous and large-scale production of Romeo and Juliet comes to the O2 Arena (from 17 June); Kevin Spacey as Richard III in Sam Mendes’s new production of Shakespeare’s play at the Old Vic (from 18 June); The Railway Children comes steaming back into the Waterlook Station Theatre for a summer run (from 19 June); and a big-budget new movie-to-stage musical comes to town as Ghost The Musical opens at the Piccadilly Theatre starring Caissie Levy, Richard Fleeshman and Sharon D Clarke, with music by Dave Stewart (from 22 June).
Also don’t forget that West End Live – the West End’s free weekend festival – comes to Trafalgar Square for the first time this year on 18 and 19 June, promising star turns from many of the West End’s biggest shows.
LINKS
Book tickets to West End shows
New shows opening this week: David Tennant, Catherine Tate, James Cordon, Eve Best
May 16, 2011
What’s opening in the West End this week including David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Much Ado, Zoe Wanamaker and James Corden at the National and The Lord of the Flies.
NEW SHOWS OPENING 16 – 22 MAY 2011
Much Ado About Nothing starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate
The star of the week is Much Ado About Nothing, which starts previews from today, 16 May at the Wyndham’s Theatre. The high-profile casting of David Tennant and Catherine Tate as Beatrice and Benedick should guarantee the production some serious press coverage and Sold Out boards outside the theatre. Shakespeare’s play is directed by Josie Rourke, who will soon take over from Michael Grandage as artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse.
The Cherry Orchard opens on Tuesday at the National Theatre starring Zoe Wanamaker. Also at the National on Tuesday, One Man, Two Guvnors starts previews in the Lyttelton starring James Corden, who returns to the National for the first time since The History Boys. The new play by Richard Bean, based on Carlo Goldoni’s classic Italian comedy The Servant of Two Masters will feature songs by Grant Olding.
Finally on Tuesday, Thrille Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story transfers to the Charing Cross Theatre after a sold-out and critically successful run at the Tristan Bates Theatre. Stephen Dolginoff’s multi-award winning musical about infamous Chicago thrill killers Leopold & Loeb stars George Maguire and Jye Frasca.
James Corden in One Man, Two Guvnors
On Thursday 19 May the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park launches its 2011 summer season with a stage adaptation of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Created by the same team who produced last season’s The Crucible, including director Timothy Sheader, the play’s setting promises to be a perfect match for the story of a group of schoolboys who survive a plane crash.
Saturday sees the start of previews for the week’s second production of Much Ado About Nothing, this time at Shakespeare’s Globe starring Nurse Jackie’s Eve Best as Beatrice and Charles Edwards as Benedick. Also on Saturday over in Washington DC, a new production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies opens at the Kennedy Center starring Bernadette Peters and our very own EP (Elaine Paige!)
AND CLOSING:
This Saturday we say goodbye to Tracie Bennett in End of the Rainbow and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at the Gielgud Theatre.
OPENING NEXT WEEK
The press night for Anya Reiss’s new play The Acid Test at the Royal Court on 23 May. The short run at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs is already sold out but promises to be one of the most exciting new plays to emerge in London this year.
On Wednesday 25 May, Rupert Everett, Kara Tointon and Diana Rigg open in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion at the Garrick Theatre.
On Friday 27 May, Kristin Soctt Thomas leads the cast in previews of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal at the Comedy Theatre, in a new production directed by Ian Rickson, also starring Douglas Henshall and Ben Miles.
AND OPENING IN JUNE
Dominic West in Simon Gray’s Butley at the Duchess Theatre (from 1 June); Broadway musical Lend Me A Tenor at the Gielgud Theatre starring Joanna Riding (from 2 June); Shrek The Musical has its press night at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane starring Amanda Holden and Nigel Lindsay (7 June); The Flying Karamazov Brothers come crashing into the Vaudeville Theatre with much kilt wearing, flame throwing and general madcap hysteria (from 9 June); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead starring featuring Tim Curry, Samuel Barnett and Jamie Parker at the Theatre Royal Haymarket (from 16 June); Kevin Spacey as Richard III in Sam Mendes’s new production of Shakespeare’s play at the Old Vic (from 18 June); and a big-budget new movie-to-stage musical comes to town as Ghost The Musical opens at the Piccadilly Theatre starring Caissie Levy, Richard Fleeshman and Sharon D Clarke, with music by Dave Stewart (from 22 June).
Royal Mail launches RSC stamps
April 12, 2011
The Royal Mail has launched a new set of stamps to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Launched today, 12 April 2011, the Stamps feature six of the RSC’s most acclaimed productions, alongside a Miniature Sheet featuring four stamps showing the theatres where the RSC has performed in Stratford-upon-Avon through the years.
The set features former Dr Who David Tennant as Hamlet, Antony Sher as Prospero in The Tempest, Chuk Iwuji as Henry VI, Paul Schofield as King Lear, Sara Kestelman as the fairy queen Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Ian McKellen and Francesca Annis as Romeo and Juliet.
LINKS
Royal Mail – RSC stamp collection
GALLERY
Royal Mail pays tribute to the RSC with new stamp collection
THUMBNAILS
Casting Update For Josie Rourke’s Production Of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing
April 5, 2011
Full casting is announced for Josie Rourke’s new production of William Shakespeare’s timeless comedy Much Ado About Nothing.
Joining David Tennant (Benedick) and Catherine Tate (Beatrice) are Tom Bateman (Claudio), Alex Beckett (Borachio), Joshua Berg (Titus), Jonathan Coy (Leonato), Anna Farnworth (Innogen), Mike Grady (Verges), Clive Hayward (Hugh Oatcake/Friar Francis), Derek Howard (Angelo), Kathryn Hunt (Ursula), Adam James (Don Pedro), Lee Knight (Conrade), Elliot Levey (Don John), Nicholas Lumley (George Seacole), Sarah MacRae (Hero), John Ramm (Dogberry), Enzo Squillino Jnr (Balthasar/Sexton), Leo Staar (Messenger), Natalie Thomas (Margaret) and Hannah Warren-Green (Maria).
Opening at Wyndham’s Theatre on Wednesday 1 June with previews from Monday 16 May and booking until Saturday 3 September 2011, Much Ado About Nothing is presented in the West End by Sonia Friedman Productions. Designs are by Rob Jones with lighting by Peter Mumford, music by Michael Bruce and sound by Emma Laxton.
Two young lovers, Claudio and Hero, are to be married imminently but the devious scheming of a resentful Prince looks set to thwart the nuptials. Meanwhile, marriage seems inconceivable for reluctant lovers Beatrice (Catherine Tate) and Benedick (David Tennant) whose endless witty sparring threatens to keep them apart forever.
Release issued by: Premier PR
LINKS
Book tickets to Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London
Donmar Warehouse names new head
March 12, 2011
The Donmar Warehouse in London has named Josie Rourke as the new artistic director of the successful Covent Garden venue. She will take over from Michael Grandage at the beginning of 2012.
Josie Rourke
It has been rumoured for some time that Rourke, 34, who is currently artistic director of the Bush Theatre, would take over at the Donmar. Her stewardship of the Bush since 2007 has seen a number of high profile productions, successful funding drives and the relocation of the venue to a new home, which will open in September this year. She has also worked in Sheffield, at the Royal Court, the Old Vic and London’s National Theatre.
Rourke is also directing the forthcoming high-profile production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham’s Theatre (from 16 May) starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate.
Grandage has proved a hugely successful artistic director at the Donmar over the past 10 years through a succession of hit shows including his Olivier and Tony Award winning production of Red starring Alfred Molina . He in turn inherited the venue from Sam Mendes, who cemented the Donmar’s reputation as a world-class theatre.
Rourke said that she was “thrilled and honoured” to be taking up the post and that, “ten years ago, I started my career as the Resident Assistant Director at the Donmar. Nothing could make me more proud than to return to the place where I began. Both Michael Grandage and Sam Mendes have always been great friends and invaluable mentors and when I take over as the Donmar’s Artistic Director I will inherit their legacy of twenty years of wonderful productions, extraordinary performances and great nights out at the theatre.”
Michael Grandage commented that the Donmar’s board of directors had made “an inspired appointment” and that “the Donmar will now benefit from that energy and leadership.”
Grandage’s last season at the Donmar will include Jude Law and Ruth Wilson starring in Eugene O’Neill’s play Anna Christie, Douglas Hodge in John Osborne’s Inadmissible Evidence and Eddie Redmayne in Richard II.
LINKS
Book tickets to Josie Rourke’s new production of Much Ado About Nothing
DAVID TENNANT in Much Ado About Nothing
January 12, 2011
Former Doctor Who David Tennant returns to Shakespeare
In 2008 David Tennant was poised to sweep the West End off its feet. His performance as Hamlet at the RSC in Stratford had been hailed the performance of a generation and the stage was set for him to take London – at the Novello Theatre – by storm.
But it was not to be. Tennant was forced to sit out most of the run when he seriously injured his back, leaving his fans bereft and unfinished business in the West End.
And now Tennant is set to return to the London stage this summer in Shakespeare’s glorious comedy Much Ado About Nothing, playing Benedick alongside his former Doctor Who co-star Catherine Tate as Beatrice.
David Tennant has enjoyed a long and varied stage, TV and film career including roles at most of the UK’s major subsidised theatres, including the Royal Court and the RSC. His stage credits include What the Butler Saw, The Real Inspector Hound, Hurlyburly, Vassa, Look Back in Anger and The Pillowman.
Much Ado About Nothing will be directed at the Wyndham’s theatre by respected artistic director of the Bush theatre, Josie Rourke, and starts previews from 16 May 2011.
CATHERINE TATE in Much Ado About Nothing
January 11, 2011
Queen of comedy to reunite with Doctor Who co-star David Tennant
Catherine Tate has dominated British television for nearly a decade, starring in her own multi-award winning sketch show The Catherine Tate Show, and as Donna Noble in Doctor Who.
And now Tate is set to dominate the London stage as she reunites with her Doctor Who co-star, David Tennant, in a brand new production of Shakespeare’s classic comedy Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London.
Tate is currently appearing in Alan Ayckbourn’s classic comedy Season’s Greetings at the National Theatre in London, alongside Mark Gatiss and David Troughton. Her other stage credits include David Eldridge’s Under the Blue Sky and Neil LaBute’s Some Girls in the West End, and A Servant to Two Masters, The Way of the World and The Exonerated.
Much Ado About Nothing will be directed at the Wyndham’s theatre by respected artistic director of the Bush theatre, Josie Rourke, and starts previews from 16 May 2011.
Tennant and Tate in Much Ado
January 10, 2011
Former Doctor Who stars David Tennant and Catherine Tate will reunite on stage this summer in a brand new production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.
David Tennant and Catherine Tate
The play will be directed at the Wyndham’s theatre by respected artistic director of the Bush theatre, Josie Rourke. Rourke is one of the names tipped to replace Michael Grandage as head of the Donmar Warehouse when he leaves later this year.
David Tennant was last seen on the stage in 2008, in the RSC’s production of Hamlet. Catherine Tate is currently appearing in Alan Ayckbourn’s classic comedy Season’s Greetings at the National Theatre in London, alongside Mark Gatiss and David Troughton.
The pair will play Shakespeare’s sparring lovers Beatrice and Benedick from 16 May at the Wyndham’s Theatre. Prior to Much Ado About Nothing, the theatre will feature the West End transfer of the Royal Court’s acclaimed play Clybourne Park starring Sophie Thompson.
Much Ado About Nothing tickets at the Wyndham’s Theatre starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate
January 10, 2011
Former Doctor Who co-stars David Tennant and Catherine Tate are reunited on stage this summer in a glittering new production of Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Josie Rourke.
