World premiere of David Mamet’s The Anarchist to open in London, autumn 2011

• A new play by David Mamet

• World premiere production in London this autumn

• Directed by Rupert Goold

• By arrangement with Headlong

The Anarchist, a new play by acclaimed, award-winning playwright David Mamet will make its world premiere in London this autumn. Mamet will team up with award-winning director, Rupert Goold who will direct this new production. This will be the third Mamet play to receive its world premiere in London. Glengarry Glen Ross first performed in 1983 at the Cottesloe Theatre at the National Theatre and The Cryptogram premiered at the Ambassadors Theatre in 1994. Further details on this production will be announced soon.

Release issued by: The Corner Shop PR

RSC 50th Birthday Season April – November 2011 announced

• Jonathan Slinger and Aislín McGuckin return to play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Michael Boyd’s production
• Patrick Stewart is Shylock in Rupert Goold’s The Merchant of Venice
• Nancy Meckler returns to direct A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• Anthony Neilson to direct Marat/Sade
• Gregory Doran casts 25 year old newcomer Olly Rix as Cardenio
• Sara Crowe to play Lady Frugal in The City Madam
• David Greig’s Dunsinane reaches Swan Theatre
• Major revival of Pinter’s The Homecoming

2011 is a significant year in the history of the Royal Shakespeare Company. It celebrates its 50th Birthday with a season of nine plays in the newly transformed Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Artistic Director Michael Boyd said: ‘It’s fifty years since Peter Hall founded the Royal Shakespeare Company: fifty years that have seen the Company play a vital role at the beating heart of British theatre, working with, learning from and training a who’s who of playwrights, actors, directors and theatre practitioners. Now we re-open with a season that celebrates this rich heritage and signals our intent for the decades to come.’

‘Two companies of actors will play across both the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and Swan Theatre, presenting a repertoire of work by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, new work and revivals of some of our greatest hits.’

Rehearsals for Macbeth, Cardenio, The City Madam and The Merchant of Venice began last week.

Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Macbeth
By William Shakespeare

16 April – 6 October 2011
Press Night: Tuesday 26 April at 7pm

Michael Boyd directs the first new production to open in the newly transformed Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and Jonathan Slinger takes the title role.

Boyd said of Jonathan Slinger: ‘Jonathan is without doubt one of the finest actors of his generation, and has more than proved himself in the role of disturbed Shakespearean Kings.’

Jonathan was part of the ensemble in Michael’s award-winning Histories cycle, which began in 2006 in The Courtyard Theatre during the Complete Works Festival and went on to play to sell-out houses at the Roundhouse in London. His roles included Richard II and Richard III. Other roles for the RSC include Puck in Greg Doran’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, David Greig’s The American Pilot in The Other Place and Dromio of Syracuse in Nancy Meckler’s The Comedy of Errors (all in 2005). He recently played Richard in Dennis Kelly’s The Gods Weep at the Hampstead Theatre.

Other stage work includes Bernard in Yes, Prime Minister at the Chichester Festival Theatre and the West End and Astrov in Uncle Vanya at the Young Vic. His television credits include: The Adventures of Daniel (BBC), Vexed, Paradox, Krod Mondoon and Hustle. His films include The Veil of Maya (2010) and The Knight’s Tale (2000).

Also making a welcome return to the RSC is Aislín McGuckin as Lady Macbeth. In 2005/6 she played Olivia in Michael Boyd’s production of Twelfth Night, and in 2000 played Countess d’Auvergne and Margery Jourdain in his productions of Henry VI, Part 1 and Part II and Lady Anne in Richard III.

Her other theatre credits include: The Clearing (Shared Experience), and Emma in Our Father at the Almeida Theatre. Films include: Maria in The White Countess and Aislin in The Nephew. Her television work includes: Doctor Liz Merrick in Heartbeat and Emily in David Copperfield.

The cast also includes: Madeline Appiah (Gentlewoman) Jamie Beamish (Porter), Howard Charles (Malcolm), Scott Handy (Ross), Aidan Kelly (Macduff), Caroline Martin (Lady Macduff), Des McAleer (Duncan), Nikesh Patel (Donalbain), Daniel Percival (First Murderer), Daniel Rose (Second Murderer), Steve Toussaint (Banquo), Christopher Wright (Doctor).

Designs are by RSC Associate, Tom Piper, lighting by Jean Kalman, music by Craig Armstrong, sound by Andrew Franks, movement by Struan Leslie and fights by Terry King.

The Merchant of Venice
By William Shakespeare

13 May – 26 September 2011
Press night: Thursday 19 May at 7pm

Following his critically acclaimed production of Romeo and Juliet, RSC Associate Director Rupert Goold directs one of Shakespeare’s most controversial plays, The Merchant of Venice.

Patrick Stewart returns to the RSC to play Shylock. He last performed for the company in 2008 in Hamlet – in Stratford, London and on film playing Claudius and the Ghost opposite David Tennant in the title role. He previously worked with Goold for the RSC in 2006 during the Complete Works Festival playing Prospero in The Tempest. In that same season, Patrick played Antony in Antony and Cleopatra opposite Harriet Walter. Rupert recently directed Patrick as Macbeth – in the UK, New York and on film.

Stewart is probably best known for his television and film roles as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film series as well as the voice of William Shakespeare in the upcoming Disney animation Gnomeo And Juliet. In 2010 he received a knighthood in the New Year Honours list for his services to Drama.

Playing Portia is Susannah Fielding. Her recent stage work includes: An Enemy of the People at The Crucible in Sheffield, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, Hero in Much Ado about Nothing, Philistines and Rosa Delle Rose in The Rose Tattoo – all for the National Theatre. In 2006 she played Trinculo in the Guildhall School/RSC production of The Tempest. Her screen roles include playing the lead in the film, Kill Keith and on TV, Chloe in Pete Versus Life, Doctor Who and Wallander.

The cast also includes: Madeline Appiah, Jamie Beamish (Launcelot Gobbo), Howard Charles (Gratiano), Scott Handy (Antonio), Aidan Kelly, Caroline Martin (Jessica), Des McAleer (Duke of Venice/Old Gobbo), Jason Morell (Arragon), David Ononokpono (Morocco), Nikesh Patel (Balthasar), Daniel Percival (Lorenzo), Emily Plumtree (Nerissa), Richard Riddell (Bassanio), Daniel Rose, Steve Toussaint, Christopher Wright (Tubal)

Designs are by Tom Scutt, lighting by Rick Fisher, music by Adam Cork, sound by Gregory Clarke, choreography by Scott Ambler and music associate and orchestrations by Alex Baranowski.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
By William Shakespeare

29 July – 5 November 2011
Press Night: Thursday 4 August at 7pm

Nancy Meckler returns to the RSC to direct A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her previous productions for the RSC include The Comedy of Errors in the RST in 2005 and House of Desires (part of the Spanish Golden Age Season) in the Swan in 2004.

She said: ‘Having created work for the Swan and the former RST, I am thrilled to be returning to the RSC for the first season on the new stage with a new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’

Pippa Nixon returns to the RSC to play Titania, the Queen of the Fairies and Hippolyta. Her previous work for the company includes Roy Williams’ Days of Significance in 2006 and in 2010, a version of Henry V in New York. Her other theatre credits include: the title role in Bea at Soho Theatre, Mad Forrest at the Battersea Arts Centre, Round 1, The Factory at Hampstead Theatre and a season at The Globe, when her roles included Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Jessica in The Merchant of Venice. Her television work includes Law and Order UK, and Wannabes.

Jo Stone-Fewings plays Oberon, the King of the Fairies and Theseus. His most recent work for the RSC includes Orsino in Twelfth Night in Stratford and the West End in 2009-10, and the Bastard in King John in 2002. Other theatre includes Dancing at Lughnasa at the Old Vic, Richard Hannay in The Thirty Nine Steps at the Criterion and Angels in America for Headlong Theatre at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. Amongst his TV credits are: Misfits, New Tricks and Doctor Who.

Playing the young lovers are: Lucy Briggs-Owen as Helena, Alex Hassell as Demetrius, Matti Houghton as Hermia and Nathaniel Martello-White (Lysander).

The cast also includes: Maya Barcot (Fairy), Christopher Chilton (Fairy), Kammy Darweish (Egeus), Christopher Godwin (Quince), Michael Grady-Hall (Flute), Felix Hayes (Snug), Chiké Okonkwo (Snout) and Timothy Speyer (Starveling).

Joining Nancy on the creative team are designer Katrina Lindsay and lighting designer, Wolfgang Gobbel.

Marat/Sade
The persecution and assassination of Marat as performed by the inmates of the asylum of Charenton under the director of the Marquis de Sade
By Peter Weiss
English adaptation by Geoffrey Skelton
Verse adaptation by Adrian Mitchell

14 October – 5 November 2011
Press Night: Thursday 20 October at 7pm

RSC Literary Associate Anthony Neilson directs this new production of Marat/Sade in the 50th Birthday year. His previous directing work for the RSC includes God in Ruins (his own play) at the Soho Theatre in 2007 and The Drunks in 2009. He recently wrote and directed Get Santa for the Royal Court Theatre.

Neilson said: ‘I look forward to working with the new ensemble on the forthcoming revival of Marat/Sade a production which will, I hope, cast a fresh and contemporary light on Peter Weiss’ seminal play, both formally and contextually; and restore to it at least some of the forceful impact of Peter Brook’s and Adrian Mitchell’s legendary RSC production.’

The RSC’s 1964 production of Peter Weiss’ play, directed by Peter Brook, to this day, remains one of the company’s most important and acclaimed productions. Adrian Mitchell’s verse adaptation combined with Geoffrey Skelton’s English version seeks to present an unflinching and very human commentary on society and revolution.

The play is set in post revolutionary France. The inmates of an asylum present a play about the murder of Jean-Paul Marat under the direction of the notorious Marquis de Sade. As the director of the asylum and his family sit down expecting to see a patriotic display, they are confronted with a performance that is unruly, shocking and outspoken.

Movement is by Anna Morrissey and lighting by Chahine Yavroyan.

Swan Theatre

Cardenio
Shakespeare’s ‘Lost Play’ re-imagined

14 April – 6 October 2011
Press Night: Wednesday 27 April at 7pm

After extensive auditions, a newcomer has landed the part of Cardenio which will celebrate the re-opening of the Swan Theatre. RSC Chief Associate Director, Gregory Doran said: ‘Olly Rix, a 25 year old graduate from Oxford University and LAMDA can’t quite believe he’s landed this major new role. But I believe he will bring something quite exceptional to the role. He’s a very exciting new talent.’

In 1727, Lewis Theobold presented The Double Falsehood at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He claimed it was an adaptation of a lost play by Shakespeare, based on the story of Cardenio in Cervantes’ Don Quixote. Such a play by Shakespeare and John Fletcher was indeed performed at court in 1612.

Gregory Doran has completed a piece of literary archaeology and attempts to reconstruct the extraordinary story of Cardenio, the subject of Fletcher and Shakespeare’s lost play.

The cast also includes: Maya Barcot (Nun), Lucy Briggs-Owen (Luscinda), Christopher Chilton (Priest), Liz Crowther (Duenna), Nicholas Day (Don Bernardo), Christopher Ettridge (Duke), Christopher Godwin (Don Camillo), Michael Grady-Hall (Shepherd), Alex Hassell (Fernando), Felix Hayes (Shepherd), Matti Houghton (Maid), Simeon Moore (Pedro), Harry Myers (Citizen), Pippa Nixon (Dorotea), Chiké Okonkwo (Gerardo) and Timothy Speyer (Master Shepherd).

Joining Gregory Doran on the creative team are: Niki Turner (designer), Tim Mitchell (lighting), Paul Englishby (music), Martin Slavin (sound), Michael Ashcroft (movement) and Terry King (fights).

The City Madam
By Philip Massinger

5 May – 4 October 2011
Press Night: Wednesday 11 May at 7pm

Dominic Hill, Artistic Director of the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh joins the RSC for the first time to direct Massinger’s raucous satire on greed and misplaced pride.

In this biting comedy, wealthy merchant John Frugal takes pity on his penniless and dissolute brother Luke Frugal (played by Jo Stone-Fewings) and invites him to live under his roof together with his own haughty wife and two foolishly conceited daughters.

As Luke plots to steal from his brother and his daughters arrogantly spurn worthy suitors, John plans to teach them all a lesson.
Christopher Godwin makes a welcome return to the RSC to play Sir John Frugal. His many roles for the company include: Gregory Doran’s The Canterbury Tales in the Swan and on tour as well as his productions of The Taming of the Shrew and The Tamer Tamed in 2003 and in 1995 The Devil is an Ass and The Relapse. His recent television credits include: My Family, Forgotten Army and Lead Balloon.

Sara Crowe plays Lady Frugal. Sara has extensive credits on stage, television and film, and is probably best known for her comedy roles. Sara is currently appearing in Rattigan’s Less than Kind at the Jermyn Street Theatre. Her other theatre credits include: an RSC tour of A Woman of No Importance, Olivia in Peter Hall’s Twelfth Night and in she appeared in his West End production of Bedroom Farce. Sara played Ruth in Calendar Girls, Babs in a UK tour of Acorn Antiques and Camilla Parker Bowles in A Right Royal Farce at the King’s Head in Islington. On film she played Laura in Mike Newell’s film Four Weddings and a Funeral and Carry on Columbus and her many television appearances include: Skins, The Rory Bremner Show, The Harry Enfield Show and Doctors.

The cast also includes: Lucy Briggs-Owen (Anne), Christopher Chilton (Dingem), Liz Crowther (Millicent/Secret), Kammy Darweish (Old Tradewell/Fortune), Nicholas Day (Lord Lacy), Christopher Ettridge (Holdfast), Michael Grady-Hall (Scuffle), Alex Hassell (Maurice), Felix Hayes (Mr Plenty), Matti Houghton (Mary), Nathaniel Martello-White (Goldwire), Andrew Melville (Hoist/Old Goldwire), Simeon Moore (Stargaze), Harry Myers (Getall/Serjeant), Pippa Nixon (Shavem), Chiké Okonkwo (Tradewell), Olly Rix and Timothy Speyer (Penury).

RSC Associate Tom Piper is designing the costumes, lighting is by Tim Mitchell, music and sound by Dan Jones, movement by Struan Leslie and fights by Renny Krupinski.

The National Theatre of Scotland presents the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production in association with the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
Dunsinane
By David Greig

15 June – 2 July 2011
Press night: Thursday 16 June at 7pm

RSC Associate Director Roxana Silbert revives her acclaimed production of Dunsinane which premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 2010.

Roxana said: ‘I’m thrilled to be bringing David Greig’s Dunsinane to the Swan. It was actually written for the space, so it’s like bringing it home. Wonderful, too, that it will be seen after Michael Boyd’s Macbeth on the new RST stage providing a gratifying sequel for those who wondered what happened after….’

David Greig added: ‘Dunsinane emerged for me around five years ago when there seemed to be several productions of Macbeth being performed. Macbeth is about the toppling of a king. But I found I was interested in what happened after that king was overthrown. How does an army restore a kingdom to peace? I also had a cheeky desire to respond to the fact that the most famous Scottish play was written by the most famous English writer. I wanted to look at the story from a Scottish point of view. And who could resist the chance to revisit Lady Macbeth, one of the greatest characters in all drama?’

Casting includes: Brian Ferguson (Malcolm), Lisa Hogg (Attendant), Joshua Jenkins (Soldier/Lord), Alex Mann (Egham), Mairi Morrison (Attendant) and Jonny Phillips (Siward) and Siobhan Redmond (Gruach).

Siobhan Redmond’s previous roles for the RSC include The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, The Spanish Tragedy and Much Ado about Nothing. Her television work includes: The Catherine Tate Show, Eastenders, New Tricks, Sea of Souls, The High Life and Holby City.

Joining Roxana on the creative team is Robert Innes Hopkins (designer), Chahine Yavroyan (lighting), Nick Powell (music and sound), Anna Morrissey (movement) and Terry King (fights).

Dunsinane will receive its Scottish premiere at The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh on Friday 13 May followed by dates at Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre in June 201. A version adapted for radio was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 30 January at 8pm.

The Homecoming
By Harold Pinter

28 July – 15 October 2011
Press Night: Wednesday 3 August at 7pm

Premiered by the RSC in 1965, The Homecoming is considered by many to be Pinter’s masterpiece. It is directed by David Farr, and is being revived as part of the RSC’s 50th Birthday celebrations.

David Farr, RSC Associate Director said:’I directed the 50th anniversary production of The Birthday Party at The Lyric shortly before Harold died. He was very much involved, displaying that characteristic passion for the simple act of making theatre. To direct one of the first productions after his death is a great honour. To direct The Homecoming, which I think is possibly his greatest achievement is a genuine thrill. It will be strange doing it without him.’

The cast includes: Des McAleer (Sam), Aislín McGuckin (Ruth), Richard Riddell (Joey), Jonathan Slinger (Lenny) and
Further casting to be announced.

The designer is John Bausor and lighting is by Jon Clark.

Young People’s Shakespeare:

The Taming of the Shrew
By William Shakespeare
Edited by Tim Crouch
In schools from 19 September
Press Performance in a school: 29 September (venue and time to be announced)
In the Swan from 24 September – 15 October 2011

Following its highly successful Young People’s Shakespeare productions of The Comedy of Errors and Hamlet the RSC continues its work with and for young people with a new production of The Taming of the Shrew edited and directed by Tim Crouch.

Tim Crouch, director, writer and performer said: ‘The Taming of the Shrew always felt like a natural choice for the RSC’s Young People’s Shakespeare. Its themes of sibling rivalry, bullying, love, identity and education make it a perfect play for a young, enquiring audience. Shakespeare tells a compelling story but it is not sugar-coated. Its provocation feels particularly relevant in 2011 when the messages of gender equality and emancipation in schools, colleges and elsewhere are still as confused as ever. I am excited about honouring the comedy and the challenge of Shakespeare’s play and enabling it to engage theatrically with young and old minds alike.’

He continued: ‘The cast for The Taming of the Shrew is led by two outstanding young actors, David Ononokpono and Madeline Appiah, as Petruchio and Katherina. I am excited to be putting Christopher Sly (played by Jamie Beamish) back where he belongs – deep into the heart of the audience with some opinions of his own.’

The cast also includes: Caroline Martin (Baptista), Jason Morell (Grumio/Gremio), Nikesh Patel (Lucentio), Daniel Percival (Tranio), Emily Plumtree (Bianca) and Daniel Rose (Hortensio).

The production is an introduction to Shakespeare for children aged eight upwards, and families.

Release issued by: RSC press office

LINKS

RSC website

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.

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.

Oliver! sets date to close

Cameron Mackintosh’s big-budget production of Oliver! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane will close on 8 January 2011.

The show, which originally cast Jodie Prenger in the lead role of Nancy through BBC talent show I’d Do Anything, premiered on 14 January 2009 at the venue. This month the show’s fourth Fagin started work, with Russ Abbot stepping into Griff Rhys Jones’s beard and hat to take on the role. Rowan Atkinson originated the part in the current production.

Lionel Bart’s musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’s classic novel Oliver Twist first premiered in London in 1960. The current production is directed by Rupert Goold (Enron), based on Sam Mendes 1994 production.

Other cast include Kerry Ellis (Wicked) as Nancy, Steven Hartley as Bill Sikes and Stephen Moore as Mr Brownlow.

Large-scale shows hovering as possible replacements for Oliver! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane include a rumoured Broadway transfer of Disney show Shrek.

Special offer: Save £21 on tickets to see Oliver! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Director Winners

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Director Winners

Best Director

2011 Howard Davies for The White Guard
2010 Rupert Goold for Enron
2009 John Tiffany for Black Watch
2008 Rupert Goold for Macbeth
2007 Dominic Cooke for The Crucible
2006 Richard Eyre for Hedda Gabler
2005 Nicholas Hytner for The History Boys
2004 Michael Grandage for Caligula
2003 Sam Mendes for Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya
2002 Michael Boyd for Henry VI Parts I, II and III and Richard III
2001 Howard Davies for All My Sons
2000 Trevor Nunn for Summerfolk, The Merchant Of Venice and Troilus And Cressida
1999 Howard Davies for The Iceman Cometh
1998 Richard Eyre for King Lear
1997 Des McAnuff for Tommy
1996 Sam Mendes for Company and The Glass Menagerie
1989/90 Michael Bogdanov for The Wars Of The Roses
1988 Deborah Warner for Titus Andronicus
1987 Declan Donnellan for The Cid, Twelfth Night and Macbeth
1986 Bill Alexander for The Merry Wives Of Windsor
1985 Bill Bryden for The Mysteries
1984 Christopher Morahan for Wild Honey
1983 Terry Hands for Cyrano De Bergerac
1982 Richard Eyre for Guys And Dolls
1981 Peter Wood for On the Razzle
1980 Trevor Nunn and John Caird for Nicholas Nickleby
1979 Michael Bogdanov for The Taming Of The Shrew
1978 Terry Hands for Henry VI
1977 Clifford Williams for Wild Oats
1976 Jonathan Miller for The Three Sisters

Best Director of a Play

1995 Declan Donnellan for As You Like It
1994 Stephen Daldry for Machinal
1993 Stephen Daldry for An Inspector Calls
1992 Deborah Warner for Hedda Gabler
1991 David Thacker for Pericles
Best Director of a Musical
1995 Scott Ellis for She Loves Me
1994 Declan Donnellan for Sweeney Todd
1993 Nicholas Hytner for Carousel
1992 Simon Callow for Carmen Jones
1991 Richard Jones for Into The Woods

Enron – Save £11

Save £11 on tickets to see Enron at the Noel Coward Theatre in London

Valid Monday to Wednesday performances and Saturday matinees until the 11th July

Lucy Prebble’s acclaimed new play exploring the infamous Enron corporate scandal.

Based on real life events and using music, movement and video, Enron explores one of the most infamous scandals in financial history, reviewing the tumultuous 1990s and casting a new light on the financial turmoil in which the world finds itself in 2009.

Written by Lucy Prebble, whose debut play The Sugar Syndrome won the George Devine Award and the Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, Enron premiered at the Royal Court directed by Rupert Goold. He has previously directed the award-winning Macbeth and Six Characters In Search Of An Author (both Gielgud theatre). More recently he has directed Pete Postlethwaite in King Lear (Young Vic), Michael Gambon and David Bradley in No Man’s Land (Duke of York’s theatre) and Rowan Atkinson in the revival of Lionel Bart’s musical, Oliver! (Theatre Royal Drury Lane).

The Times

Financial Times

Time Out

The Telegraph

The Guardian

BOOK NOW: Save £11 on tickets to see Enron at the Noel Coward Theatre in London

Valid Monday to Wednesday performances and Saturday matinees until the 11th July

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

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