Donmar Warehouse: Artistic Director Michael Grandage Announces His Farewell Season At Donmar Warehouse: Ruth Wilson, Jude Law, Douglas Hodge And Eddie Redmayne Return To The Donmar For Grandage’s Final Productions

KING LEAR TO TRANSFER TO BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC FOLLOWING UK TOUR

DONMAR TO PURCHASE NEW REHEARSAL AND OFFICE SPACE

THE CHALK GARDEN COMPANY REUNITES FOR BBC RADIO 3 BROADCAST

With his critically acclaimed production of King Lear soon to embark on a national tour, Michael Grandage today announces his farewell season as Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse, stepping down from the role in December 2011.

Following the run of the musical comedy The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; David Bradley, Deborah Findlay and Daniel Mays lead the company of Pinter’s Moonlight before Michael Grandage directs Felicity Jones in Schiller’s Luise Miller in a new version by Mike Poulton. His final season, announced today, sees the return of many Donmar alumni in new productions of Anna Christie by Eugene O’Neill, Inadmissible Evidence by John Osborne and Richard II by William Shakespeare. He is joined in his final season by his two outgoing Associate Directors Jamie Lloyd and Rob Ashford.

On becoming Artistic Director in 2002, Grandage took over a company that owned neither theatre nor rehearsal space. Under his tenure the company have purchased the lease of the theatre (taking ownership in 2016), and today he also announces their intention to purchase an office, education and rehearsal space for the company before he departs. This legacy will help secure the long term future of the Donmar in uncertain financial times.

Michael Grandage said today “After nearly ten years running the Donmar, it is a very exciting and emotional moment to announce my farewell season. From next month to February 2012 we will be presenting six new productions and I am delighted this final year celebrates so much of the repertoire we have presented over the last decade. It is particularly wonderful to be joined by so many friends and colleagues in this last season of work – it is these collaborations and creative partnerships both on stage and with the staff at the Donmar, that have made the achievements of the past ten years possible, and I hope the range and diversity of our programme continues to reach out to many more people in the year ahead”.

Grandage took over as Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse in November 2002 and his final production of Richard II will close in February 2012. During a decade of leading the organisation he has created an international theatre with a commitment to connecting with as many people as possible through touring, education and affordable ticket prices, as well as continuing to produce work of the highest quality at the company’s home base in Covent Garden.

Between 2002 and 2012 Grandage will have presented seventy productions. Under his leadership, the company have garnered over eighty major awards including Oliviers, Tonys, Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard Awards. For Grandage personally this includes, Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Director of a Play for Red, Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Director for Ivanov, Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Director for The Chalk Garden, Evening Standard Award for Best Director for Othello, Critics’ Circle Award for Best Director for The Wild Duck, Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production for Guys and Dolls, Evening Standard Award for Best Director and Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production for Grand Hotel, and Olivier Award for Best Director for Caligula.

Grandage’s inaugural production in 2002 was The Vortex with Chiwetel Ejiofor, a relationship he was to renew five years later with his multi-award-winning production of Othello. He has put the European repertoire at the heart of his programming, engaging with leading writers to offer new adaptations of foreign classics including David Greig (Caligula and Creditors), Tom Stoppard (Pirandello’s Henry IV and Ivanov) and David Eldridge (The Wild Duck and John Gabriel Borkman). The Donmar’s award-winning production of Schiller’s Mary Stuart, in a new version by Peter Oswald, transferred to the West End and Broadway.

He has also continued to present musicals re-imagined in the intimate Donmar surroundings, including Grand Hotel, Parade, and most recently Passion; as well as work from the contemporary American repertoire such as A Streetcar Named Desire, and twentieth century British plays including The Chalk Garden, Old Times, Betrayal and a festival of work devoted to T.S. Eliot, with a revival of The Family Reunion as its centrepiece. New writing has provided the company with two of its biggest successes in recent years – Peter Morgan’s Frost/Nixon which enjoyed a West End transfer and a run on Broadway, and John Logan’s Red which saw the company return to Broadway and win six Tonys at the 2010 awards.

During his tenure, Grandage put accessibility at the forefront of the company’s ethos – he introduced a national touring programme and an extensive education programme which has grown annually over the last nine years. In 2009 he led the company into the West End for a year long season of work at the Wyndham’s Theatre – Donmar West End – at Donmar prices, a top price of £32.50 and with over 130 tickets for each performance at just £10. The season – Ivanov with Kenneth Branagh, Twelfth Night with Derek Jacobi, Madame de Sade with Judi Dench and Hamlet with Jude Law – played to 98% capacity.

In addition to a national touring programme, Grandage has also overseen the expansion of the company internationally – in 2009 the Donmar’s work played across 4 continents. Recent US work includes Red, Creditors, Hamlet, Frost/Nixon and Mary Stuart; in Australia, the Donmar’s award-winning Guys and Dolls; in Argentina, Piaf and in Europe, Piaf (Spain) and Hamlet (Denmark).

Grandage is a keen supporter of new talent, both on stage and behind the scenes. The company’s most recent venture, Donmar Trafalgar, is a three year initiative to promote the work of recent graduates of the Donmar’s Resident Assistant Director scheme. The second season of work will begin at the end of this year with work directed by Hamish Pirie, Abbey Wright and Paul Hart.

From 2000 to 2005 he served as Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres where he produced over 40 plays with predominantly young directors and designers. His own work there included Richard III with Kenneth Branagh, Edward II with Joseph Fiennes, The Tempest with Derek Jacobi and an award- winning production of Don Carlos which transferred to the West End.

ANNA CHRISTIE
by Eugene O’Neill

Cast includes: Jude Law, Ruth Wilson
Director: Rob Ashford; Designer: Paul Wills
Composer and Sound Designer: Adam Cork

4 August – 8 October
Press night: 9 August

‘We’re all poor nuts, and things happen, and we just get mixed in wrong’

Exiled from her home by the Old Devil Sea to the inland plains, Anna Christie’s life changed forever at just five years of age. Fifteen years later, she is reunited with the father who sent her away and sets sail in search of a new beginning.

Eugene O’Neill’s epic Pulitzer Award-winning play about love and forgiveness charts one woman’s longing to forget the dark secrets of her past and hope for salvation.

Jude Law returns to the Donmar to plat Mat Burke. He previously played the title role in Michael Grandage’s production of Hamlet for the Donmar West End season for which he won the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Shakespearean Performance. Law’s other theatre work includes Dr Faustus and ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore (Young Vic), Les Parents Terribles (National Theatre and Broadway) and Death of a Salesman (West Yorkshire Playhouse). His film work includes Hugo Cabret, Contagion, Repo Men, Sherlock Holmes, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus, The Repossession Mambo, Sleuth, My Blueberry Nights, The Holiday, Closer, Alfie, The Aviator, Cold Mountain, Road to Perdition, The Talented Mr Ripley and Wilde.

Ruth Wilson returns to the Donmar to play Anna Christie reuniting her with director Rob Ashford. He directed her as Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire for which she won the Olivier for Best Supporting Actress. Her other theatre work includes Through a Glass Darkly (Almeida Theatre), Philistines (National Theatre) and Good (Sound Theatre). Her television credits include Luther, The Prisoner, Freezing, Mad, A Real Summer, Capturing Mary, Jane Eyre and Suburban Shootout; and for film, Get Off My Land.

Eugene O’Neill (1888 – 1936) was one of the greatest American playwrights. His many works for the stage include Beyond the Horizon, The Emperor Jones, Desire Under the Elms, Strange Interlude, Mourning Becomes Electra, The Iceman Cometh, Long Day’s Journey into Night and A Moon for the Misbegotten. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936.

Rob Ashford returns to the Donmar to direct. His previous work for the company includes the critically acclaimed productions of A Streetcar Named Desire (South Bank Theatre Award) and Parade – which marked his directorial debut. As a director his work includes Promises, Promises (Broadway Theater) and How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying (opening March 2011 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre). He was the choreographer on Michael Grandage’s Guys and Dolls for the Donmar at the Piccadilly Theatre. His other credits include Candide (ENO, La Scala and La Chatelet Theatre), Michael Grandage’s production of Evita (Adelphi Theatre); Thoroughly Modern Millie (both UK and US – Tony Award for Best Choreography) and the films Love Walked In and Beyond the Sea. Ashford serves on the Board of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

INADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE
by John Osborne

Cast includes: Douglas Hodge

Director: Jamie Lloyd; Designer: Soutra Gilmour; Lighting Designer: James Farncombe
Composer and Sound Designers: Ben and Max Ringham

13 October – 26 November
Press night: 18 October

‘I can’t escape it. I can’t forget it. And I begin again.’

Bill Maitland, a middle aged lawyer, struggles to avoid the harsh truths of his life and keep a hold on reality. As those closest to him begin to draw away, he puts himself on trial to fight for his sanity.

John Osborne’s poignant, witty and intensely compelling portrait of loss, betrayal and defeat releases the author’s characteristic display of soaring rhetorical venom to powerful effect.

Douglas Hodge returns to the company to play Bill Maitland. His previous work for the Donmar includes Michael Grandage’s production of Guys and Dolls (Piccadilly Theatre) and The Collection/The Lover; and as an Associate Director for the Donmar, he directed Dimetos, Murder in the Cathedral (part of the Donmar’s TS Eliot Festival) and Absurdia. His other theatre work includes his celebrated performance as Albin in Les Cages Aux Folles for which he won the Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical (Menier, Playhouse Theatre and Longacre Theatre on Broadway). His other theatre work includes A Matter of Life and Death, Betrayal and Burned by the Sun (National Theatre), The Caretaker (Comedy Theatre) and Dumb Show (Royal Court). For television, his credits include Outnumbered, Skins, Whistleblowers, Lift, Mansfield Park, Spooks, The Way We Live Now and The Russian Bride; and for film, Robin Hood, Scenes of a Sexual Nature and Vanity Fair.

John Osborne (1929 – 1994) was a playwright, screenwriter and actor. His principal works for the stage include Look Back in Anger, The Entertainer, Epitaph for George Dillon, Luther, A Patriot for Me and The Hotel in Amsterdam (revived by the Donmar under Michael Grandage in 2003).

Jamie Lloyd directs. As Associate Director of the Donmar, Lloyd’s work for the company includes The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – currently in rehearsals, Passion – centrepiece of the company’s Sondheim at 80 Season and winner of the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical, Polar Bears, Piaf (Donmar Warehouse, Vaudeville Theatre, Buenos Aires – ADEET Award for Best Production and Clarin Award for Best Musical Production – and Spain) and readings as part of the TS Eliot Festival and the Tennessee Williams’ season. His other credits include Salome (Headlong), The Little Dog Laughed (Garrick Theatre) Three Days of Rain (Apollo Theatre), Eric’s (Liverpool Playhouse), The Pride (Royal Court – Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement), The Lover and The Collection (Comedy Theatre) and The Caretaker (Sheffield Crucible and Tricycle).

RICHARD II
by William Shakespeare

Cast includes: Eddie Redmayne

Director: Michael Grandage; Designer: Richard Kent; Lighting Designer: David Plater

1 December 2011 – 4 February 2012
Press night: 6 December

‘O call back yesterday, bid time return’

King Richard banishes his noblemen and seizes their land to fuel his own wars. As anger mounts, a battle for the soul of England begins and one man’s divine right to rule is called into question.

Shakespeare’s poetic masterpiece is an epic tale of destruction, ruin and decay that casts light on the decline of a kingdom and the solitude of power.

Richard II reunites Grandage and Redmayne who recently worked together on the multi-award-winning production of John Logan’s Red. Following performances at the Donmar, the production transferred to Broadway winning 6 Tony Awards, including Best Director for Grandage and Best Performance by a Featured Actor for Redmayne.

Eddie Redmayne returns to the Donmar to play Richard II. He previously appeared in Red (Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Supporting Actor) and Hecuba. His other theatre work includes Now or Later (Royal Court) and The Goat (Almeida Theatre and Apollo Theatre). His television credits include Miraculous Year, The Pillars of the Earth, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Elizabeth I and In Search of Shakespeare; and for film, My Week with Marilyn, Black Death, Glorious 1939, Powder Blue, Yellow Handkerchief, The Other Boleyn Girl, Savage Grace, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and The Good Shepherd.

Donmar Artistic Director Michael Grandage directs his final production for the company. Previous work for the Donmar includes King Lear, Red (also Broadway – Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Director of a Play), The Chalk Garden (Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Director), Othello (Evening Standard Award for Best Director), John Gabriel Borkman, Don Juan in Soho, Frost/Nixon (also West End and Broadway), The Cut, The Wild Duck (Critics’ Circle Award for Best Director), Guys and Dolls (Donmar in the West End – Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production), Grand Hotel (Evening Standard Award for Best Director, Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production), Henry IV, After Miss Julie, Caligula (Olivier Award for Best Director) and The Vortex. As part of the Donmar in the West End season Grandage directed Ivanov – Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Director, Twelfth Night, Madame de Sade and Hamlet (also Kronborg Castle and Broadway). Other West End work includes Evita. He was the Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres 1999 – 2005, where his many productions included Don Carlos (Evening Standard Award for Best Director).

DONMAR – U.S.A.

KING LEAR
by William Shakespeare

At the Brooklyn Academy of Music
28 April – 5 June

Cast includes: Harry Atwell, Tom Beard, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Stefano Braschi, Ron Cook, Michael Hadley, Derek Hutchinson, Derek Jacobi, Paul Jesson, Gwilym Lee, Gina McKee, Justine Mitchell, Alec Newman, Amit Shah, Gideon Turner, Ashley Zhangazha

Director: Michael Grandage; Designer: Christopher Oram
Lighting Designer: Neil Austin; Composer and Sound Designer: Adam Cork

The Donmar Warehouse returns to BAM following last year’s critically acclaimed production of Strindberg’s Creditors directed by Alan Rickman. The company made their BAM debut in 2003 with Sam Mendes’ productions of Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya.

Prior to performances at BAM, King Lear will be broadcast to cinemas worldwide on 3 February as part of NT Live, and embark on an 8 week national tour to Venue Cymru, Llandudno (21 – 26 February), Belfast Opera House (28 February – 5 March), Glasgow Theatre Royal (7 – 12 March), Milton Keynes Theatre (14 – 19 March), The Lowry, Salford (21 – 26 March), Richmond Theatre (28 March – 2 April), Bath Theatre Royal (4 – 9 April) and Hall for Cornwall, Truro (11 – 16 April).

“Who is it that can tell me who I am?”

An ageing monarch. A kingdom divided. A child’s love rejected. As Lear’s world descends into chaos, all that he once believed is brought into question.

One of the greatest works in western literature, King Lear explores the very nature of human existence: love and duty, power and loss, good and evil.

Derek Jacobi and Michael Grandage renew their collaboration, having previously worked together on The Tempest, Don Carlos and Twelfth Night. Grandage’s creative team – Christopher Oram, Neil Austin and Adam Cork are the Tony Award-winning team behind the company’s recent Broadway smash hit Red.

SECURING THE DONMAR’S LONG TERM FUTURE

Under Michael Grandage’s tenure, the Donmar Warehouse has secured two major capital assets in purchasing both a property in Covent Garden for rehearsal, education and office space on a 112 year lease, and the theatre site on Earlham Street on a 125 year lease. This marks a significant step for the charity and for the independent future of the Donmar as a producing theatre.

The Donmar, which, until now, hasn’t owned its own offices, rehearsal rooms or theatre site, has set aside reserves over the last few years to make these capital purchases a priority. The revenue has been generated from many of Grandage’s productions staged outside the Donmar from Guys and Dolls to last year’s Red, and has enabled the company to build a designated capital fund under his tenure. This reserve will now form the springboard for a fundraising campaign to complete these plans.

The Donmar Warehouse currently has to rent a variety of different spaces across London for its rehearsal, auditions, office staff and education work. The Donmar Board recently committed to the purchase of a building in Covent Garden to become its creative home. This will enable the company to continue to achieve all its artistic ambitions to the highest standards and also overcome many practical and financial constraints imposed by the present situation.

The purchase of the theatre site in Earlham Street went ahead in 2008 and the Donmar charity will continue to work closely with its current landlord, ATG, for the remaining five years of ATG’s lease on the theatre before taking sole possession.

DONMAR ON BBC RADIO

THE CHALK GARDEN
by Enid Bagnold

Cast: Steph Bramwell, Suzanne Burden, Jamie Glover, Felicity Jones, Clifford Rose, Una Stubbs, Margaret Tyzack, Penelope Wilton

Director: Michael Grandage

Michael Grandage’s production of The Chalk Garden is being recorded for BBC Radio 3 with the company reuniting for this special event – it will be broadcast on Sunday 13 March at 8pm. Previously BBC Radio 3 broadcast Michael Grandage’s production of Othello with Chiwetel Ejiofor.

The Chalk Garden opened at the Donmar in 2008 to great critical acclaim winning many awards, including the Olivier, Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard Awards for Best Actress for Margaret Tyzack, the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress for Penelope Wilton, and the Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Award for Best Director for Michael Grandage.

The child’s a flower. She grows in liberty.

Raised in a manor house beside the sea, where the flowers struggle to grow, sixteen-year-old Laurel runs wild. As her eccentric grandmother tends to the garden, Laurel’s need for love forces her into a world of fantasy. But things begin to change with the sudden appointment of a governess who brings a mysterious new presence to an already dysfunctional household.

The Chalk Garden was first staged in London at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 1956 – John Gielgud directed Edith Evans and Peggy Ashcroft. The garden of the play was inspired by Bagnold’s own garden at North End House in Rottingdean.

DONMAR EDUCATION

To complement the Donmar’s productions the company continues to undertake a programme of education and outreach work led by their team of Education practitioners, including Education specialists and former Resident Assistant Directors.

Around the forthcoming season, the Donmar will deliver its playwriting project Write Up around the production of Moonlight. The project aims to inspire participants to write a short play, which is developed with the help of professional writing practitioners and performed on the Donmar stage by a cast of professional actors. For this project, participants will be encouraged to use the Donmar’s production of Pinter’s Moonlight as their inspiration and stimulus.

Also, in keeping with its commitment to access, the Donmar is providing a programme of work to compliment King Lear on its nationwide tour. The project, Reuniting the Kingdom will see the Donmar recreate their Schools Matinee programme with schools in each of the eight venues. Donmar Education practitioners will deliver workshops inspired by the rehearsal process, focusing on text, voice, character and the themes of the Donmar’s production. Students who would not necessarily be able to afford to attend the production will be offered a discounted ticket price and will receive a complimentary resource and edited version of the text.

As part of the core Education programme there is a Schools Matinee for each production. This programme allows over 200 young people to attend a production, participate in a post-show discussion with the cast which is led by the Resident Assistant Director, and also undertake a preparatory workshop in their school led by one of the Education Associates. To support the teachers through this programme a Teachers Preview Performance and a Resource Pack are provided.

Release issued by: Donmar Warehouse press office

LINKS

Donmar Warehouse website

Opening this week: Cinderella, A Flea

This week’s new West End shows include Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella, the RSC’s winter season at the Roundhouse and Tom Hollander in A Flea in her Ear at the Old Vic.

RSC at the Roundhouse

The RSC takes residence at the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm for its Winter season, from 30 Noevmber. The ten-week repertoire of eight plays by Shakespeare – six full-scale productions and two specially adapted for children and families, will feature the RSC’s current 44-strong ensemble. The season opens on 30 November with Rupert Goold’s production of Romeo and Juliet and runs in repertoire to 5 February next year, with Michael Boyd’s production of Antony and Cleopatra; The Winter’s Tale directed by David Farr; Julius Caesar directed by Lucy Bailey; As You Like It directed by Michael Boyd; and David Farr’s King Lear. Book tickets to the RSC at the Roundhouse.

Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella

Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella makes a glamorous return to Sadler’s Wells on 30 November, featuring a brand new production of his dazzling ballet set in London during the Second World War and played against Prokofiev’s haunting score. First seen in the West End in 1997, but now completely revised, this new production is created to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Blitz. It features design by Lez Brotherston who won an Olivier Award for his original designs, and new lighting by Neil Austin. Cinderella will be performed in Surround Sound, designed by Paul Groothius. Featuring a specially commissioned new recording of the score, New Adventures will create a cinematic experience, taking the audience into the heart of Prokofiev’s magnificent music and the sound world of war-torn London. Book tickets to Cinderella.

King Lear at the Donmar

Derek Jacobi gives his King Lear at the Donmar Warehouse from 3 December, in a new production by Michael Grandage. Also starring Gina McKee. Book tickets.

A Flea in her Ear

Tom Hollander starts previews of A Flea in Her Ear at the Old Vic from 4 December. Written by Georges Feydeau in 1907, A Flea In Her Ear is a classic French farce set against a backdrop of jealousy, misunderstandings and confrontation. Richard Eyre directs an all-star cast including Tom Hollander (Rev), Lisa Dillon (Design for Living) and Jonathan Cake (Mosely). This adaptation of A Flea in her Ear by John Mortimer is returning home to the Old Vic, where it was originally performed by the National Theatre in 1966 starring Albert Finney. It was later revived in 1989 starring Jim Broadbent. Other cast include Di Botcher, Oliver Cotton, Freddie Fox, Fiona Glascott, Lloyd Hutchinson, Tim McMullan, John Marquez, William Maxwell, Rebecca Night, Maggie Service and Walter van Dyk.

COMING SOON

And next week… Love Story gets its official opening night at the Duchess starring Emma Williams and Michael Xavier on 6 December; those CBBC rascals Dan and Jeff bring Pantomime mayhem to the Vaudeville with Edinburgh family hit Potted Panto on 10 December; and on the same night English National Ballet open their seasonal production of The Nutcracker at the London Coliseum in a sumptuous new production by Artistic Director Wayne Eagling to celebrate the Company’s 60th birthday.

Evening Standard Theatre Awards – Shortlist 2010

Awards announced: Sunday 28 November 2010, Savoy Hotel London

BEST ACTOR
Roger Allam Henry IV Parts One and Two (Shakespeare’s Globe)
Rory Kinnear Hamlet (National’s Olivier)/Measure For Measure (Almeida)
David Suchet All My Sons (Apollo)

THE NATASHA RICHARDSON AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS
Nancy Carroll After The Dance (National Lyttelton)
Elena Roger Passion (Donmar Warehouse)
Sheridan Smith Legally Blonde (Savoy)
Sophie Thompson Clybourne Park (Royal Court)

BEST PLAY
Mike Bartlett Cock (Royal Court)
Bruce Norris Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
Roy Williams Sucker Punch (Royal Court)

THE NED SHERRIN AWARD FOR BEST MUSICAL
Legally Blonde Savoy Theatre
Les Misérables Cameron Mackintosh 2010 production at Barbican Theatre
Passion Donmar Warehouse

BEST DIRECTOR
Howard Davies The White Guard (National Lyttelton)/All My Sons (Apollo)
Nicholas Hytner The Habit Of Art (National Lyttelton)/London Assurance (National Olivier)/Hamlet (National Olivier)
Laurie Sansom Beyond The Horizon and Spring Storm (National Cottesloe)
Thea Sharrock After The Dance (National Lyttelton)

BEST DESIGN
Miriam Buether Sucker Punch (Royal Court)/Earthquakes In London (National Cottesloe)
Bunny Christie The White Guard (National Lyttelton)
Christopher Oram Passion (Donmar Warehouse)/Red (Donmar Warehouse)

CHARLES WINTOUR AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING PLAYWRIGHT
DC Moore The Empire (Royal Court)
Nick Payne If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet (Bush)/Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Anya Reiss Spur Of The Moment (Royal Court)

THE MILTON SHULMAN AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER
Melanie Chisholm for her performance in Blood Brothers (Phoenix)
Daniel Kaluuya for his performance in Sucker Punch (Royal Court)
Isabella Laughland for her performance in Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Shannon Tarbet for her performance in Spur Of The Moment (Royal Court)
You Me Bum Bum Train created by Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd (LEB Building, E2)

THE GOLDEN SEAGULL AWARD
Presented on behalf of Moscow Art Theatre.

THE LEBEDEV SPECIAL AWARD
For outstanding contribution to theatre.

Bush’s Josie Rourke for Donmar head?

Evening Standard nominees announced

This year’s London Evening Standard Theatre Awards long-list of nominees has been announced.

The nominees cover some of the most high-profile of this year’s West End shows with a starry list of performers, directors and playwrights alongside some serious new talent. The Royal Court scores particularly highly with a range of acting and creative nods – including four nominations for Clybourne Park.

See the full list of London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2010 nominees here

The shortlist of nominees will be announced a week prior to the awards ceremony, which will be held this year on 28 November at the newly reopened Savoy Hotel. The judging panel for the awards includes theatre critics Henry Hitchings of the Standard, Charles Spencer of the Telegraph, Susannah Clapp of the Observer, Georgina Brown of the Mail on Sunday and Matt Wolf of the Herald Tribune. Chair will be Evgeny Lebedev, who is chairman of the Standard and also the son of the proprietor Alexander Lebedev.

In terms of musicals it’s a good list for Sir Cameron Mackintosh who sees his 25th anniversary production of Les Misérables tapped, plus his West End transfer of Broadway hit of Hair – which closed after a relatively short run at the Gielgud Theatre. Also listed is the Menier’s Sweet Charity at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, which is about to close on 6 November, alongside long-runner Legally Blonde at the Savoy and current critical success Passion at the Donmar Warehouse.

In the Best Actor category up-and-coming stars such as Benedict Cumberbatch and Rory Kinnear are matched alongside established heavy-weights, from Roger Allam and Jonathan Pryce to David Suchet and Simon Russell Beale, the later for his turns in the National’s London Assurance and current West End hit Deathtrap. Alfred Molina also gets a nod for the Donmar’s Red after losing out at the Tony’s to co-star Eddie Redmayne.

Best Actress nominees feature a range of talent from high-profile crowd-pleasers that will guarantee plenty of red carpet coverage (Keira Knightley, Gemma Arterton, Sheridan Smith) to hard-hitters Judi Dench, Zoe Wannamaker and Fiona Shaw.

Best Plays feature both boxing shows to have played in London this year – Beautiful Burnout by Bryony Lavery at the York Hall and Sucker Punch by Roy Williams at the Royal Court. It’s a big awards for the Court who also get nods for Cock by Mike Bartlett, Clybourne Park by Mike Bartlett and Posh by Laura Wade.

Director nods feature a who’s who of current hitmakers, ticking pretty much every director box including Howard Davies, Rupert Goold, Michael Grandage, Nicholas Hytner, and director of the moment Thea Sharrock. Also Dominic Cooke gets a well-deserved nod for Clybourne Park, which transfers from the Royal Court to the West End in January.

Lez Brotherston is a notable inclusion in the Designer category with four of his productions credited: The Rise and Fall of Little Voice at the Vaudeville, Measure for Measure at the Almeida, Women Beware Women at the National and Design for Living at the Old Vic.

Most Promising Playwright nominees pay tribute to the Royal Court’s progressive programme of nurturing new writing talent, with 3 playwrights nominated: DC Moore for The Empire, Anya Reiss for Spur of the Moment and Nick Payne for Wanderlust. Equally impressive is the Bush, which is once again proving to punch well above its weight, with James Graham for The Whisky Taster, Nick Payne (again) for If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet and Penelope Skinner for Eigengrau all nominated.

The Outstanding Newcomer category is dominated by onstage talent, with a surprise nod to the Spice Girls’ Melanie Chrisholm for her much-praised stint in Blood Brothers, alongside upstarts including Laura Dos Santos for Educating Rita, Henry Lloyd-Hughes for Rope and Posh, and Simon Godwin for his direction, and Isabella Laughland and James Musgrave for their performances, in the Royal Court’s Wanderlust.

See the full list of London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2010 nominees here

Evening Standard Theatre Awards – Nominees 2010

Awards announced: 28 November 2010

BEST ACTOR

Roger Allam: Henry IV Parts One and Two (Shakespeare’s Globe)
Bertie Carvel: Rope (Almeida)
Benedict Cumberbatch: After the Dance (National’s Lyttelton)
Martin Freeman: Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
Alex Jennings: The Habit of Art (National’s Lyttelton)
Rory Kinnear: Measure for Measure (Almeida)/ Hamlet (National’s Olivier)
Adrian Lester: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Novello)
Alfred Molina: Red (Donmar Warehouse)
Jonathan Pryce: The Caretaker (Trafalgar Studios)
Simon Russell Beale: London Assurance (National’s Olivier)/ Deathtrap (Noël Coward)
Adrian Scarborough: After the Dance (National’s Lyttelton)
David Suchet: All My Sons (Apollo)

THE NATASHA RICHARDSON AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS

Gemma Arterton: The Little Dog Laughed (Garrick)
Nancy Carroll: After the Dance (National’s Lyttelton)
Judi Dench: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Rose, Kingston)
Tamsin Greig: The Little Dog Laughed (Garrick)
Jenny Jules: Ruined (Almeida)
Keira Knightley: The Misanthrope (Comedy Theatre)
Amanda Lawrence: Jiggery Pokery (BAC)/ Henry VIII (Shakespeare’s Globe)
Rosaleen Linehan: The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Young Vic)
Helen McCrory: The Late Middle Classes (Donmar Warehouse)
Lesley Manville: Six Degrees of Separation (Old Vic)
Anna Maxwell Martin: Measure for Measure (Almeida)
Elena Roger: Passion (Donmar Warehouse)
Fiona Shaw: London Assurance (National’s Olivier)
Sheridan Smith: Legally Blonde (Savoy)
Sophie Thompson: Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
Zoë Wanamaker: All My Sons (Apollo)

BEST PLAY

Cock by Mike Bartlett (Royal Court)
The Big Fellah by Richard Bean (Lyric Hammersmith)
The Habit of Art by Alan Bennett (National’s Lyttelton)
Beautiful Burnout by Bryony Lavery (York Hall)
Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris (Royal Court)
Ruined by Lynn Nottage (Almeida)
Posh by Laura Wade (Royal Court)
Sucker Punch by Roy Williams (Royal Court)

THE NED SHERRIN AWARD FOR BEST MUSICAL

Hair – Gielgud Theatre
The Human Comedy - A Young Vic/The Opera Group production co-produced with Watford Palace Theatre
Legally Blonde - Savoy Theatre
Les Misérables (2010) - Cameron Mackintosh production at Barbican Theatre
Passion - Donmar Warehouse
Sweet Charity - Menier Chocolate Factory; transferred to Theatre Royal Haymarket

BEST DIRECTOR

Dominic Cooke: Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
Howard Davies: The White Guard (National’s Lyttelton)/ All My Sons (Apollo)
Rupert Goold: Romeo and Juliet (RSC Stratford)/Earthquakes in London (National’s Cottesloe)
Michael Grandage: Red (Donmar Warehouse)/ Danton’s Death (National’s Olivier)
Jeremy Herrin: Spur of the Moment (Royal Court)
Joe Hill-Gibbins: The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Young Vic)
Nicholas Hytner: The Habit of Art (National’s Lyttelton/London Assurance (National’s Olivier)/Hamlet (National’s Olivier)
James MacDonald: Cock (Royal Court)
Roger Michell: Rope (Almeida)
Laurie Sansom: Beyond the Horizon and Spring Storm (National’s Cottesloe)
Thea Sharrock: After the Dance (National’s Lyttelton)
Lyndsey Turner: Posh (Royal Court)

BEST DESIGN

Lez Brotherston: The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Vaudeville)/Measure for Measure (Almeida)/Women Beware Women (National’s Olivier)/Design for Living (Old Vic)
Miriam Buether: Sucker Punch (Royal Court)/Earthquakes in London (National’s Cottesloe)
Bunny Christie: The White Guard (National’s Lyttelton)
Rob Howell: Private Lives (Vaudeville)/Deathtrap (Noël Coward)
Vicki Mortimer: The Cat in the Hat (National’s Cottesloe; transferred to Young Vic)
Christopher Oram: Passion (Donmar Warehouse)/Red (Donmar Warehouse)
Mark Thompson: London Assurance (National’s Olivier)

THE CHARLES WINTOUR AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING PLAYWRIGHT

James Graham: The Whisky Taster (Bush)/The Man (Finborough)
DC Moore: The Empire (Royal Court)
Nick Payne: If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet (Bush)/Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Anya Reiss: Spur of the Moment (Royal Court)
Atiha Sen Gupta: What Fatima Did (Hampstead)
Penelope Skinner: Eigengrau (Bush)

THE MILTON SHULMAN AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER

You Me Bum Bum Train created by Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd (LEB Building, E2)
Melanie Chisholm for her performance in Blood Brothers (Phoenix)
Laura Dos Santos for her performance in Educating Rita (Menier Chocolate Factory, transferred to Trafalgar Studios)
Simon Godwin for his direction of Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Daniel Kaluuya for his performance in Sucker Punch (Royal Court)
Isabella Laughland for her performance in Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Henry Lloyd-Hughes for his performances in Rope (Almeida) and Posh (Royal Court)
James Mcardle for his performance in Spur of the Moment (Royal Court)
James Musgrave for his performance in Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Nikesh Patel for his performance in Disconnect (Royal Court)
Shannon Tarbet for her performance in Spur of the Moment (Royal Court)

THE GOLDEN SEAGULL AWARD
Presented on behalf of Moscow Art Theatre.

THE LEBEDEV SPECIAL AWARD
For outstanding contribution to theatre.

Goodbye Into The Woods, hello Passion

As one Sondheim door closes…

This Saturday we bid farewell to the Open Air Theatre’s excellent production of Into The Woods starring Hannah Waddingham and Jenna Russell (see reviews).

But all is not lost, as tomorrow, Friday 10 September, sees the start of Passion at the Donmar Warehouse starring the sexy, stellar Elena Roger (Evita, Piaf).

Given that the whole run (until 27 November) is largely sold out at the theatre, here’s hoping that the critics are kind and it gets a swift West End transfer. Time will be of the essence given that Elena has to pop to Broadway in 2011 and shake it about with Ricky Martin in the West End transfer of Donmar supremo Michael Grandage’s production of Evita.

LINKS

The Telegraph’s recent interview with Elena Roger, “I don’t play normal women”

BBC Radio 2 – The Musical

Don’t miss this excellent new series on BBC Radio 2 all about the musical.

The eight part series started on Monday, 6 September 2010, at 10pm UK time (listen again here) and each week will cover a different aspect of the world of musical theatre and its 80 year history.

The Musical is presented by a different name in musical theatre each week – with this Monday’s show voiced by award-winning actress Sian Phillips.

This first programme, “Stories with Songs”, revealed the importance of a good book – or story – in a musical, and the contradiction between this and why so few musicals choose to adapt existing stories rather than originate their own. Shows used to demonstrate include The Boy Friend, A Chorus Line, Chess, Starlight Express and Sunday In The Park With George, with lots of showbiz contributions from the likes of Stephen Sondheim, Patti Lupone, John Barrowman, Elaine Stritch, Maria Friedman, Sandy Wilson, Ruthie Henshall, Tim Rice, Elaine Paige, Marvin Hamlisch and Michael Grandage.

Episode two, “Drawn From Life” will be presented by musicals star, Sondheim aficionado and current artistic director of Sheffield Theatres, Daniel Evans, and covers some of the life-stories of real people used in musicals, from Gypsy and Evita to The King and I.

The Musical is produced by Malcolm Prince, who also produces Elaine Paige’s Sunday show on Radio 2.

A number of other theatrical documentaries will come to Radio 2 this autumn including a look at the history of the London Palladium in its centenary year.

LINKS

Listen to The Musical – Episode 1

BBC Radio 2 – The Musical

Donmar announces 2011 season

The Donmar Warehouse in London has announced its 2011 season, including a revival of Harold Pinter’s Moonlight, the UK premiere of Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Beeand Felicity Jones in Schiller’s Luise Miller.

Michael Grandage, artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden, has announced the venue’s new 2011 season.

Tony-award winning Broadway musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will open at the London venue on 11 February 2011.The hit show, about six teenagers competing in an American spelling competition, has a book by Rachel Sheinkin and music and lyrics by William Finn. The musical will be directed by Jamie Lloyd, who opens his new production of Sondheim’s Passion this week at the Donmar, starring Elena Roger.

The new season will also feature Harold Pinter’s 1993 play about a dysfunctional family, Moonlight, which will receive its first major London revival, directed by Bijan Sheibani (7 April to 28, May 2011).

Finally, the season ends with up-and-coming actress Felicity Jones, who recently starred in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s movie Cemetery Junction, in a new version of Schiller’s Luise Miller, from 8 June. The play will be directed by Michael Grandage and adapted by Mike Poulton. No stranger to the Donmar, Felicity appeared in their acclaimed 2008 production of The Chalk Garden.

Also, as previously announced, the new season will open with Derek Jacobi giving his King Lear, following his hugely successful Donmar West End performance as Malvolio in Twelfth Night in 2009. The production will also star Gina McKee.

ELENA ROGER in Passion

Argentinean actress continues to forge acclaimed career

By the time 2012 is out, Elena Roger is going to be considerably more famous than she is now.

That’s because Michael Grandage’s 2006 production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita is to be revived on Broadway in Spring 2012 starring Roger as Eva Peron, and joined by Latino superstar Ricky Martin as Che.

The Argentinean actress won an Olivier award for her role in the show – and if the reaction to her London performance in that role is anything to go by, America is going to fall in love with her.

She followed Evita in London with a 2009 Olivier Award win for her performance as Edith Piaf  in the Jamie Lloyd directed Piaf at the Donmar Warehouse and in the West End.

And she is about to return to the Donmar to star in a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Passion alongside Scarlett Strallen and David Thaxton, again directed by Jamie Lloyd.

The show is part of the Donmar’s celebration of Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday, that will also include concert performances of Merrily We Roll Along and Company at the Queen’s Theatre, featuring members of the original Donmar productions including Anna Francolini, Adrian Lester, Clive Rowe, Michael Simkins and Sophie Thompson in Company and Daniel Evans, Julian Ovenden and Samantha Spiro in Merrily We Roll Along.

Elena Roger’s other credits include Matthew Warchus’s Boeing Boeing, and in her native Buenos Aires she played Nine, Beauty and the Beast, Les Misérables, Saturday Night Fever and Mina, che cosa sei, with director Valeria Ambrosio.

Links:

News: West End Evita to transfer to Broadway

Donmar Warehouse

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