The world premiere of a new play by Claire Van Kampen, two plays by John Ford and the return of The Knight Of The Burning Pestle are among the shows announced to play as part of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse’s second season.
Shakespeare’s Globe’s new indoor theatre, which opened its doors in January and sold more than 40,000 tickets for its debut season, will welcome its second programme of productions from 23 October to 18 April.
Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore will kick off the season, bringing its tale of incestuous lust and obsessive revenge to the candlelit venue from 23 October to 7 December. A second tragedy by the English playwright, The Broken Heart, in which Ford explores the darkest recesses of the human psyche, will then close the season from 12 March to 18 April 2015.
Audiences can also look forward to a new production of The Changeling and the world premiere of Van Kampen’s Farinelli And The King. Thomas Middleton’s ferocious tale of madness and passion will play from 15 January to 1 March, while Farinelli’s play with music, which is set in 18th century Spain and Italy, will bring its tale of the world’s most famous castrato who traded fame and fortune for a life of royal servitude to the venue from 11 February to 7 March.
Two productions returning to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse following their success earlier in the year are The Knight And The Burning Pestle and Royal Opera co-production L’Ormindo. Pauline McLynn will reprise her role as the citizen’s wife in Francis Beaumont’s comedy, which returns for the festive period from 11 December to 11 January, with Kasper Holten’s acclaimed production of Cavalli’s L’Ormindo following later in the year from 3 February to 5 March.
Also returning for 2015 are the Bankside venue’s talented team of 12 to 16-year-olds, the Globe Young Players, who follow last month’s production of The Malcontent with Christopher Marlowe’s Dido, Queen Of Carthage. An exploration of the tragic antagonisms that arise when public duty and private passions collide, the production will play six performances alongside The Broken Heart from 9 to 18 April.
While the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse’s second season won’t begin until the autumn, the indoor theatre has much in store for audiences over the summer months. The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air star Joseph Marcell will take to the stage in a new stage adaptation of Omeros by Nobel Prize-winning poet Derek Walcott from 31 May to 9 June. From 27 July to 10 August, choral ensemble The Sixteen will perform Jessica Swale’s specially commissioned piece about the life and work of Tudor composer Thomas Tallis. And, finally, Dominic Dromgoole’s production of Julius Caesar will spend one evening sheltering from the elements as the main house production enters the candlelit venue for a single performance on 14 July.