Cast Announced For Chicken Soup With Barley At Royal Court Theatre

The cast has been announced for Dominic Cooke’s revival of Arnold Wesker’s seminal play Chicken Soup with Barley, which returns to the Royal Court Theatre in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from 2 June (press night 7 June).

Samantha Spiro, as previously announced will play the pivotal role of the matriarch Sarah Kahn and will be joined by Jenna Augen, Steve Furst, Joel Gillman, Ilan Goodman, Harry Peacock, Tom Rosenthal, Danny Webb and Alexis Zegerman.

Chicken Soup with Barley, the first in a trilogy that includes Roots and I’m Talking about Jerusalem was first performed at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in 1958 and transferred to the Royal Court in the same year. The full trilogy was performed at the Royal Court in 1960.

The kettle boils in 1936 as the fascists are marching. Tea is brewed in 1946, with disillusion in the air at the end of the war. Twenty years on, in 1956, as rumours spread of Hungarian revolution, the cup is empty.

Sarah Kahn, an East End Jewish mother, is a feisty political fighter and a staunch communist. Battling against the State and her shirking husband she desperately tries to keep her family together.

A moving and important state-of-the-nation play capturing the collapse of an ideology alongside the disintegration of a family.

Jenna Augen will make her stage debut after graduating from Rada to play Ada Kahn. Steve Furst will play Hymie Kossof. His credits include Wet Weather Cover at the King’s Head Theatre, on television, he is well-known for his comic roles in Little Britain, CBBC’s Dick and Dom and appeared in the BBC1 adaptation of Wuthering Heights. On film, his credits include St Trinian’s.

Joel Gillman plays Dave Simmonds, making his stage debut after graduating from the Drama Centre. His TV credits include Being Human, Casualty and Garrow’s Law. Ilan Goodman plays Prince Silver. His previous credits include Miss Nightingale at the Lowry, Danton’s Death at the National Theatre and Six Degrees of Separation at the Old Vic.

Harry Peacock plays Monty Blatt. His credits include As You Like It at the Sheffield Crucible, Henry IV Parts I and II, His Dark Materials and Cyrano de Bergerac at the National Theatre. Tom Rosenthal plays Ronnie Kahn. An award winning stand-up comedian, he is currently starring in Friday Night Dinner on Channel 4.

Samantha Spiro plays Sarah Kahn. She last appeared at the Royal Court in The Family Plays and most recently appeared in Hello Dolly! at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, for which she won an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. On television, she recently won a 2011 Comedy Award in the Best Female Comedy Breakthrough category for her part in the TV sitcom Grandma’s House on BBC 1. Her other credits include Much Ado About Nothing at Regent’s Park, Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse, and Funny Girl at Chichester Festival Theatre and she played Barbara Windsor in Terry Johnson’s TV play Cor, Blimey!

Danny Webb plays Harry Kahn. He previously appeared at the Royal Court in Serious Money , Piano Forte and Trade. His other credits include Blasted at the Lyric Hammersmith, The Philanthropist at the Donmar Warehouse, The Green Man at the Bush Theatre, Richard III at Sheffield Crucible and Art in the West End. On screen, he appeared in the BBC drama Land Girls.

Alexis Zegerman plays Cissie. Her credits include Two Thousand Years at the National Theatre and on screen she played the lead role of Zoe in Mike Leigh’s film Happy Go Lucky for which she won the award for Best Supporting Actress at the British Independent Film Awards. She is also a writer and her first full length play for the stage was Lucky Seven at Hampstead Theatre in 2008.

Arnold Wesker’s plays at the Royal Court have included The Wesker Trilogy (Chicken Soup with Barley, Roots and I’m Talking About Jerusalem), The Kitchen, Chips with Everything, Their Very Own and Golden City and The Old Ones. More recently his plays have included Longitude at Greenwich Theatre, Denial at Bristol Old Vic and Break My Heart at Sherman Theatre, Cardiff. His recent books include Wesker on Theatre, Wesker’s Monologues, Wesker’s Love Plays, Wesker’s Political Plays, Wesker’s Social Plays (all published by Oberon books).

Artistic Director of the Royal Court Dominic Cooke directs. He is currently directing the award-winning production of Clybourne Park, which opened at the Royal Court in September 2010 to critical acclaim and which continues in the West End at the Wyndhams Theatre until 7 May.

Other credits at the Royal Court include Aunt Dan and Lemon, The Fever, Seven Jewish Children, Wig Out!, Now or Later, Rhinoceros and two plays in Mark Ravenhill’s epic play cycle Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat. His credits elsewhere include Arabian Nights and Noughts and Crosses, both for the RSC, as adapter and director. He won the Olivier award for Best Director and Best Revival for The Crucible.

The production will be designed by Ultz, whose previous designs at the Royal Court have included Off the Endz, Jerusalem and Wig Out! Lighting is by Charles Balfour, sound by Gareth Fry and composition by Gary Yershon.

Chicken Soup with Barley will be the first production in the year-long sponsorship of the Royal Court by Coutts & Co, which begins in May 2011.

This is the first time that the Coutts & Co has been the Principal Sponsor of the Royal Court, although the relationship has been ongoing since 2004, with the private bank sponsoring the Royal Court’s 50th anniversary year and most recently its first ever family Christmas show Get Santa!

Chicken Soup with Barley opens in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs from 2 June. Tickets are available online at www.royalcourttheatre.com or from the Box Office on 020 7565 5000.

Release issued by: Royal Court

LINKS

Royal Court website

Royal Court Theatre Celebrates 15 Years Of International Work With International Playwrights Season

The Royal Court Theatre announces its next International Playwrights Season, opening on 11 February, which includes new plays from Colombia and Latvia and a series of readings and events from Latin America and Eastern Europe.

The season, which marks 15 years of the Royal Court’s commitment to finding and developing international work includes full productions of Colombian playwright Pedro Miguel Rozo’s new play Our Private Life and Latvian Aleksey Scherbak’s play Remembrance Day and is the first time that plays from these countries have been presented at the Royal Court.

A series of rehearsed readings accompanies the season, including work from Mexican playwright Zaría Abreu with Cinema Red and Chilean writer Guillermo Calderón with new plays Villa and Speech. From Eastern Europe, there will be readings of The Harvest by Pavel Pryazhko from Belarus and Pagans by Anna Yablonskaya from Ukraine.

In addition to this, there will be a programme of brunch seminars – panel discussions exploring the political situation in both regions and the effects of the Royal Court’s international work on the British theatre artists who have taken part. There will also be live music in the café bar on two late night events in the Royal Court café bar from Arriba la Cumbia, the Hackney globetrotter DJ Russ Jones’ legendary Latin American music night featuring Colombian beats and live bands.
Since 1996 the Royal Court Theatre has travelled the world, running long-term play development projects and building relationships between playwrights, directors, actors and translators. Working with playwrights and theatre artists in 70 countries and in 30 languages, the work is supported by the Genesis Foundation and the British Council.

Our Private Life
By Pedro Miguel Rozo
Translated by Simon Scardifield
Directed by Lyndsey Turner
11 February –12 March 2011
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night, Friday 18 February 2011 7pm

Our Private Life opens in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs on 18 February (previews from 11 February) looks at truth, rumour and slander in this new black comedy of twisted morality set in modern Colombia.

The cast includes Ishia Bennison, Clare Cathcart, Eugene O’Hare, Adrian Schiller, Colin Morgan, Anthony O’Donnell and Joshua Williams.

“This isn’t a village. We’ve got the largest shopping centre in the area. Now there’s somewhere people can go to watch movies, have something to eat, spend money to make sense of their lives.”
When a rumour spreads like wildfire through a Colombian village, a respectable family start to wither in the heat. As long- buried secrets begin to surface, their efforts to discern truth from slander become fused with a desire for justice.

Ishia Bennison plays Mother. Her theatre credits include A Couple of Poor Polish Speaking Romanians at Soho Theatre, The Gunpowder Season at the RSC and Dominic Cooke’s Arabian Nights at the Young Vic. On television, she appeared in At Home with the Braithewaites.

Clare Cathart plays Tania. She last appeared at the Royal Court in Loyal Women. On television she has appeared in Cast Offs on Channel 4, CBBC’s Tracy Beaker and The Little House on ITV.

Eugene O’Hare plays Sergio. His credits include Talent at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme at Hampstead Theatre and A Moon for the Misbegotten at the Old Vic.

Adrian Schiller plays the Psychiatrist. His credits include Every Boy Deserves Favour at the National Theatre and on television his most recent credits include Silk on the BBC and a guest appearance in Dr Who.

Colin Morgan plays Carlos. His credits include Merlin on BBC and in theatre A Prayer for My Daughter and Vernon God Little at the Young Vic and All About My Mother at the Old Vic.

Anthony O’Donnell plays the Father. His credits include As You Like It and The Tempest as part of the Bridge Project, Much Ado About Nothing at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and The Homecoming at the Almeida.

Joshua Williams plays Joaquin making his professional theatre debut.

Pedro Miguel Rozo is a playwright, director and telenovela writer from Bogotá, Colombia. He first worked with the Royal Court in Bogotá in 2004 and developed this play during the 2009 Royal Court International Residency in London.
Lyndsey Turner’s work at the Royal Court includes Laura Wade’s Posh, Mike Bartlett’s Contractions, Molly Davies’ A Miracle and Chronic and Ignition. She has also worked at the Royal Court as Trainee Associate Director and International Associate. Her other credits include My Romantic History at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Alice at Sheffield Theatres, Nocturnal at the Gate Theatre and The Lesson at the Arcola.

As part of her research for this play, Lyndsey Turner traveled to Bogotá and Pedro Miguel Rozo’s home town of Armenia in order to place the play in the political and cultural context of provincial Colombia, where the play is set.
The production is designed by Lizzie Clachan, lighting by Peter Mumford and sound by Carolyn Downing.

Remembrance Day
By Aleksey Scherbak
Translated by Rory Mullarkey
Directed by Michael Longhurst
18 March – 16 April 2011
Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
Press Night, Wednesday 23 March 2011 7pm

Aleksey Scherbak’s Remembrance Day opens in the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs on 23 March (previews from 18 March) and looks at the politically charged tensions in modern day Latvia.

“You can’t tell which ones are still fascists and which ones aren’t, since they’re all dressed up in the same uniform.”

Can you be a hero if you fought for Nazi Germany?

The Latvians who fought for the Third Reich and halted the Red Army parade as heroes every year through the streets of Riga. As a growing number of young Russians campaign to halt the ‘fascist’ march, their Latvian counterparts join the veterans in commemoration.

When teenager Anya becomes a political activist, her father’s attempts to calm the situation stir up a storm of extremist patriotism.

Remembrance Day takes an unflinching look at the fight for the political soul of Latvia.

The cast confirmed so far include Ewan Hooper and Sam Kelly. Ewan Hooper plays Valdis. He last appeared at the Royal Court in Richard Bean’s Toast. His other credits include The Bacchae at the National Theatre of Scotland and on television Trial and Retribution. Sam Kelly plays Paulis. He last appeared at the Royal Court in Under the Whaleback. His other theatre credits include When We Are Married at the Garrick Theatre and Wicked in the West End. He has worked extensively in television and is perhaps best known for his parts in series Barbara, ‘Allo ‘Allo, On the Up and Porridge.

Aleksey Scherbak lives in Latvia and is the author of 11 plays which have been performed in Belarus, Latvia, Russia and Sweden. He developed this play as part of Royal Court’s Moscow workshops in 2008 – 2009.

Director Michael Longhurst’s previous productions include Stovepipe for HighTide with the National Theatre and the Bush Theatre, On The Beach, as part of The Contingency Plan at the Bush Theatre, dirty butterfly at the Young Vic, 1 in 5 as part of Daring Pairings at Hampstead Theatre. He was also assistant director on The Family Plays in the 2007 International Season at the Royal Court.

The production will be designed by Tom Scutt, with lighting by David Holmes and music and sound by Ben and Max Ringham.

Release issued by: Royal Court Theatre press office

LINKS

Royal Court Theatre website

Also see: Clybourne Park at the Wyndham’s Theatre

Power couple top Stage poll

The Stage 100, the entertainment newspaper’s annual list of the 100 most powerful people in UK theatre, has placed Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire, joint chief executives of Ambassador Theatre Group, in first place.

The couple, who are both professional and personal partners, have topped both Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber in the list of the UK’s most senior arts professionals.

Their climb to first place follows their company’s acquisition in 2009 of Live Nation’s UK theatres, which they purchased for £90 million. The deal has made their ATG Group the largest theatre operator in both the West End and across the UK – with almost five times as many seats in their control as rivals.

The poll is usually dominated by Cameron Mackintosh (Les Miserables, Oliver!) and Andrew Lloyd Webber (The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies) who have continually vied for top place, and come in this year at numbers two and three respectively. Other theatre producers in the list include Bill Kenwright (Blood Brothers, Dreamboats and Petticoats) in eighth place, Sonia Friedman (A Little Night Music, La Cage Aux Folles) in 12^th and David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers (Calendar Girls) in 13^th place.

Also in the top 20 of the poll are theatre performers Mark Rylance (Jerusalem) and John Barrowman (la Cage Aux Folles), artistic directors Dominic Cooke of the Royal Court, who rises six places to number seven, Kevin Spacey of the Old Vic at number 10,   Michael Grandage of the Donmar Warehouse,  recent New Year’s Honours List beneficiary Nicholas Hytner of the National Theatre and  Michael Boyd of the RSC.

The full top twenty is as follows [last year’s position]:

1. Howard Panter/Rosemary Squire (ATG) [5]

2. Cameron Mackintosh (producer/ theatre owner)[1]

3. Andrew Lloyd Webber (producer/ theatre owner / composer) [2]

4. Michael Grandage (Donmar Warehouse) [3=]

5. Nicholas Hytner (National Theatre) [3=]

6. Nica Burns / Max Weitzenhoffer (Nimax)[7]

7. Dominic Cooke (Royal Court Theatre)[13]

8. Bill Kenwright (Bill Kenwright Ltd) [6]

9. Michael Boyd (RSC) [8]

10. Kevin Spacey/ Sally Greene (Old Vic Theatre) [11]

11. Nick Thomas / Jon Conway (Qdos Entertainment) [9]

12. Sonia Friedman (Sonia Friedman Productions) [12]

13. David Pugh / Dafydd Rogers (producers) [18]

14. David Babani (Menier Chocolate Factory) [New Entry]

15. Jonathan Church (Chichester Festival Theatre) [16]

16. Bill Taylor (Stage Entertainment) [15]

17. Rupert Goold (director)[14]

18. Alex Poots (Manchester International Festival)[19]

19. John Barrowman (entertainer)[New Entry]

20. Mark Rylance (actor) [New Entry]

New Entry denotes new entry into top 20, not Stage 100

And the rest, by category

N denotes New Entry. i.e. they were not in last year’s Stage 100. There were 38 new entrants in total.

Directors

Howard Davies, Marianne Elliott , Jeremy Herrin (N) Simon McBurney (N) Sam Mendes /Caro Newling (N), Katie Mitchell, Trevor Nunn, Ian Rickson (N) Max Stafford Clarke (N), Matthew Warchus

London venues

Michael Attenborough, Marcus Davey, Dominic Dromgoole, Mehmet Ergen & Leyla Nazli (N), Sean Holmes (N) David Jubb / David Micklem, Jude Kelly, Nicolas Kent (N), David Lan, Kerry Michael, Josie Rourke, Timothy Sheader (N), Graham Sheffield

Producers

Judy Craymer, Michael Harrison, David Ian, Richard Jordan, Michael McCabe (N), Kim Poster, Nick Salmon / Matthew Byam Shaw (N), James Seabright (N), Thomas Schumacher (N), Edward Snape, Paul Walden and Derek Nicol (N), Kenny Wax, Carole Winter / Michael Edwards (N)

Regional

Hedda Beeby, Gemma Bodinetz, Ian Brown, Vicky Featherstone / John Tiffany, Andy Field / Debbie Pearson (N), Peter Hall, Tania Harrison, Paul Kerryson, Danny Moar (N), Braham Murray / Greg Hersov / Sarah Frankcom, Laurie Sansom (N) John Stalker, Rachel Tackley (N)

Performers

Michael Ball, Rebecca Hall (N), Clare Higgins, Rory Kinnear (N), Jude Law (N), Adrian Lester (N), Ian McKellen (N), Clive Rowe (N), Simon Russell Beale, Rachel Weisz (N), Samuel West

Playwrights

Alan Ayckbourn, Alan Bennett (N), Richard Bean, Jez Butterworth (N), Lee Hall, David Hare, Lucy Prebble (N), Polly Stenham, Simon Stephens (N), Roy Williams

Designers

Felix Barrett, Jon Bausor (N), Miriam Buether (N), Ultz (N)

Opera / Dance

Carlos Acosta (N), Matthew Bourne, Daniel Kramer (N), Antonio Pappano/ Monica Mason, Arlene Phillips (N), Alistair Spalding

http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/newsblog/2009/12/the-stage-100—in-full/index.html

Evening Standard Theatre Awards

Last night at a star-studded ceremony at the Royal Opera House, the 55^th annual Evening Standard Theatre Awards recognised a host of London theatre productions and talent.

This was the first year that new guidelines for the awards have ruled out West End commercial theatres, leading to recognition for a range of smaller venues, including an impressive four gongs for the Royal Court Theatre.

Rachel Weisz took the top acting honour for her performance as Blanche Dubois in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire at the Donmar Warehouse. The prize was renamed the Natasha Richardson Best Actress Award in honour of the actress who died in March, and was presented by her mother Vanessa Redgrave.

Also Ian McKellen was presented with a special award for his outstanding contribution to British theatre over the last half a century. The award will sit alongside two other Evening Standard Best Actor awards he has won, as well as Olivier awards and a Tony.

The Royal Court’s production of Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem was named Best Play, and its star Mark Rylance was named Best Actor in the role of Johnny “Rooster” Byron. The play will shortly transfer to the Apollo Theatre in the West End.

Best Director prize went to man of the moment Rupert Goold for Enron -which was another victory for the Royal Court and is also transferring into the West End – this time the Noel Coward theatre.

There were also awards for the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park, with its acclaimed production of Hello Dolly! winning the Best Musical award, the Charles Wintour Most Promising Playwright award went to Alia Bano for Shades, staged at the Royal Court as part of its young writers’ festival, and Best Design was awarded to Mamoru Iriguchi  for Mincemeat at Cordy House in Shoreditch.

The evening also proved special for comedian Lenny Henry, who has officially made the break from comedy to legit theatre by being named Best Newcomer for his lead performance in Othello at the Trafalgar Studios.

Enron – Royal Court Theatre – Review

Review of ENRON at the Royal Court Theatre

The last projected image you see in Lucy Prebble’s timely new play Enron is a large graph showing characteristic peaks and valleys.

‘All our creations are here,’ says the failed company’s CEO. ‘There’s greed, there’s Fear, Joy, Faith, Hope… and the greatest of these is Money.’

‘Money’ is the last word in the play, and it’s also the first item on Prebble’s agenda. Money is what her play is all about – money, the love of it, and the lengths to which the financial world’s movers and shakers will go to acquire it. It’s hardly a shattering observation and it says nothing about greed that hasn’t been said in countless novels, films and plays before.

But apart from its timeliness, what makes Enron so exciting is director Rupert Goold’s and designer Anthony Ward’s bracingly theatrical appoach to the material.

In telling the now familar story of how, in 15 years, Enron, a Texas-based energy company, grew from nothing to become America’s 7th largest company, employing 21,000 people in 40 countries, and how, through creative accounting, debt concealment and fraudulent dealings, they became the architects of the corporate world’s biggest scandal to date, the show’s creative team have made a theatrical killing.

Initially I was worried that their powerhouse production was in danger of overwhelming Prebble’s text through overkill. The first half, in which you gradually get to know the main players, blurred some of the narrative issues through an excess of stage business and visual affects. At times it almost appeared that Goold had lost confidence in the text and was impelled to gussy up the exposition in case the audience grew bored with its boardroom politics.

But as the performances sharpened, and the almost Greek tragedy-like inevitability began to unfurl, the staging melded seamlessly with the text to create a rare kind of stage magic.

Mark Henderson’s lighting, dominated by a series of mobile neon tubes that changed colour to reflect mood, and a backdrop of video images against a moving electric strip of fluctuating share prices, made quite sure that the occasional dead spots in the text passed more or less unnoticed.

Particularly effective was a great setpiece in which Star War-type laser rods were inventively used to create a series of stunning images.

The three executives who featured most prominently in Enron’s collapse in 2001 were Ken Lay, Enron’s chairman (Tim Piggott-Smith), Jeffrey Skilling, the company’s charismatic chief executive (Samuel West), and Andrew Fastow, its chief financial officer (Tom Goodman- Hill) who, (in this version of the story, at any rate) single-handedly was responsible for devising the scandal that ultimately ruined the company as well as the lives of most of its employees. On the distaff side, the play features a woman called Claudia Roe (Amanda Drew) ‘the fourteenth most powerful woman in the world’ who was also Skilling’s occasional sexual bit on the side and an unsuccesful contender for his job.

All deliver strong, convincing performances (as does the rest of the cast), the single most riveting scene being the one in which the ambitious Fastow convinces a worried Skilling that Enron can be saved by the illegal creation of a ‘shadow company’ to support its falling stock.

Not surprisingly, Enron’s run at the Royal Court is completely sold out. The good news is that it’s transferring to the Noel Coward Theatre on 16 January next year. Book now.

CLIVE HIRSCHHORN. Courtesy of This Is London.

Book tickets to Enron at the Noel Coward Theatre in London