Dragons and Mythical Beasts announces cast for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre & UK Tour
Brand new family theatre show, Dragons and Mythical Beasts, written by Derek Bond, today announces casting for its forthcoming UK Tour and summer season at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London. The cast includes: Ben Galpin (Dave the Hero Trainer), Antony Antunes (Puppeteer / Puppet Captain), Emily Cooper (Puppeteer / Puppet Technician), Elaine Hartley (Puppeteer), Samuel Parker (Puppeteer / Understudy Host), and Liam Wright (Puppeteer).
From the creators of the West End smash hit Dinosaur World Live, this brand-new family theatre show brings a host of mythical creatures to life on stage with spectacular life-like puppetry. Receiving its world premiere at Congress Theatre, Eastbourne on Wednesday 21 July, the production will visit over 30 venues nationwide, including a summer season at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, from Friday 13 August to Sunday 5 September 2021. Tickets are on sale.
Enter into a magical world of myths and legends as Dragons and Mythical Beasts unveils a myriad of dark secrets. Come face to face with some of the most fantastical creatures and terrifying beasts ever to walk the earth. Meet the colossal Stone Troll, the mysterious Indrik and Japanese Baku; the Tooth Fairy (not as sweet as you’d think), an adorable Unicorn and majestic Griffin. Take your place among legendary heroes, just don’t wake the Dragon…
This entertaining (and educational) new show offers an adventurous live theatre experience for all the family, ages 3 and above.
Dragons and Mythical Beasts reunites the creative team behind Dinosaur World Live. The production is co-directed by Derek Bond (Sweet Charity, Manchester Theatre Awards 2017 winner, Little Shop of Horrors Manchester Royal Exchange) and Laura Cubitt (Running Wild, Chichester Festival Theatre; Don Quixote, RSC; War Horse NT Berlin), with Associate Director Emma Brunton, Assistant Director Nicky Allpress, Puppet Designer Max Humphries (National Theatre, Royal Opera House, Cirque de Soleil), Set and Costume Designer James Perkins, Costume Supervisor Louise Smith, Composer and Sound Designer Max Pappenheim, and Lighting Designer John Maddox. Produced by Nicoll Entertainment Ltd.
Nicoll Entertainment Ltd are delighted to be a part of the #HereForCulture initiative, bringing the thrill of live theatre back to family audiences and young children once again.
Hampstead Theatre announces Tennessee Williams’ The Two Character Play and world premiere of Tom Well’s Big Big Sky
Big Big Blue Sky and The Two Character Play
Hampstead Theatre is delighted to announce further live productions for 2021. Tennessee Williams’ The Two Character Play will run from 17 July until 28 August. Sam Yates will direct this innovative, psychological thriller by one of the world’s great dramatists which originally premiered at the theatre in 1967. Yates is making a highly anticipated return to the theatre following his Olivier-nominated production of The Phlebotomist (2019). The world premiere of Big Big Sky, by Tom Wells will also run from 30 July until 11 September at Hampstead Downstairs. This beautifully tender new play which explores nature’s influence on love, friendship and family will be directed by Tessa Walker, Hampstead Theatre’s new Associate Director. Both productions will remain as originally sold, with reduced capacity and social distancing, for the duration of their runs should national restrictions be lifted. Tickets will go on sale from Thursday 20 May at 10:30am.
Roxana Silbert, Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive of Hampstead Theatre said: “Hampstead Theatre has historically embraced playwrights at all stages of their careers. Tennessee Williams was at the height of his when he chose to offer the world premiere of The Two Character Play, a very personal play, to James Roose Evans to direct. It speaks volumes of the regard in which he held Hampstead as a leading artistic space for experimental work and I am excited by Sam’s vision for this gem from our Originals series. Tom Wells’ play is a very different theatrical voice: naturalistic, understated, bursting with humour and humanity. I’m thrilled he has also trusted us with his Hampstead debut, the world premiere of Big Big Sky, which continues his longstanding collaboration with Hampstead’s newly appointed Associate Director, Tessa Walker.”
Click here for more details.
A new play from Olivier Award-winning writer of Emilia and acclaimed producer of Fleabag and Baby Reindeer
Francesca Moody, Abigail Graham with her baby Jonah Graham-Hughes and Morgan Lloyd Malcom. (Photo credit: Jeremy Freedman)
Francesca Moody Productions, Soho Theatre and Theatre Royal Plymouth in association with Popcorn Group are delighted to announce MUM an urgent new play by Olivier Award-winning playwright Morgan Lloyd Malcolm (Emilia, The Globe/ West End), directed by Abigail Graham (The Tyler Sisters, Hampstead Theatre; soon to direct Aladdin at Lyric Hammersmith). MUM will run at Theatre Royal Plymouth from 30 September – 16 October before transferring to Soho Theatre, London from 20 October – 20 November. Press Night will take place at Soho Theatre on 26 October. Casting will be announced in due course.
This unmissable new play is a collaboration between Francesca Moody Productions, original producer of Fleabag and the Olivier Award-winning Baby Reindeer, and writer Morgan Lloyd Malcolm whose hit show Emilia won three Olivier Awards in 2020.
All you wanted was one night of unbroken sleep, what have you done?
Motherhood. No one can prepare you for it. No matter how much you tell yourself you can do it – can you? Where’s the rush of love? When will you sleep again? What if the thing you fear most is also the thing you crave? All you wanted was one night of unbroken sleep, what have you done?
Nina is a new mum and tonight is her first night off. Tonight is about pizza and wine and letting go. But Nina didn’t feel prepared for motherhood and isn’t sure she fits the job description. Nina feels like she’s losing her grip.
This thought-provoking, funny and honest new play shines a light on early motherhood, anxiety and mental health. MUM examines the pressures, neuroses and complex emotions many women experience when they have a baby. At a time when mothers have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic, never has it been more pertinent to explore these issues.
Morgan Lloyd Malcolm said:
‘I wrote this play to understand my own experiences post birth. I wanted to explore the anxieties and fears that can emerge in those early months when you are sleep deprived, overwhelmed and struggling. I also wanted to write something that would say to other new parents ‘you aren’t the only one’ but that also delivered some hope. It’s certainly a bit of a rollercoaster terror ride but it’s also testament to the love of a new mum and what we are capable of. I hope it continues the conversations already happening around postnatal care and parental mental health.’
Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane major revival opening this autumn
The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre today announces a major revival of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, the Tony Award-winning play by Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; The Lieutenant of Inishmore), directed by Artistic Director Rachel O’Riordan in a new co-production with Chichester Festival Theatre. The play will open at Chichester’s Minerva Theatre where it runs from 03 September to 02 October before transferring to the Lyric from 09 October to 06 November. The production will star Ingrid Craigie(Roadkill; The Cripple of Inishmaan) and Kwaku Fortune (Line of Duty; Normal People) with further casting to be announced. Tickets for the Lyric are on sale today.
The production will be designed by Good Teeth Theatre, with lighting design by Kevin Treacy, music and sound design by Anna Clock and casting by Sam Stevenson.
In the mountains of Connemara, County Galway, Maureen Folan – a plain, lonely woman, tied to her manipulative and ageing mother, Mag – comes alive at her first and possibly last prospect of a loving relationship. But Mag has other ideas; and her interference sets in motion a train of events that leads inexorably towards the play’s breathtaking conclusion.
The Beauty Queen of Leenane was Martin McDonagh’s debut play which premiered in Galway in 1996, produced by Ireland’s Druid Theatre Company, and established him as one of Ireland’s most exciting new writers. The West End transfer received an Olivier Award nomination for Play of the Year and on Broadway the play received six Tony Award nominations and won four.
The Beauty Queen of Leenane was originally announced as part of Rachel O’Riordan’s inaugural season as Artistic Director of the Lyric for Autumn 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic. The Lyric’s reopening season will launch in summer 2021 with the world premiere trilogy Out West featuring plays by Tanika Gupta, Simon Stephens and Roy Williams running from 18 June to 24 July, followed by Heart of Hammersmith, the Lyric’s first large-scale community play celebrating West London stories which runs from 12-14 August, ahead of The Beauty Queen of Leenane from 09 October to 06 November. Click here for more.