If the coming of the new year has inspired a sudden addiction to list-making – things to do, places to visit, ambitions to achieve – do not worry, you are not alone. Fuelling her own passion for an orderly, doodle-free list that can be attached to the fridge with an available magnet, Caroline Bishop brings you a print-out-and-keep list of Theatreland’s highlights for the first half of 2011. Magnet not included.
Plays
The Children’s Hour / Comedy theatre / from 22 Jan – If you haven’t already bought tickets for Ms Knightley’s return to the stage following her Olivier nomination last year, be prepared to jostle for returns. The star of Atonement and Never Let Me Go is joined by Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss in this tale of scandal at a girls’ boarding school in 1930s New England.
The Heretic / Royal Court / from 4 Feb – Richard Bean on climate change? It is bound to be controversial. The playwright who caused protests outside the National Theatre for his England People Very Nice turns his pen to one of the most pertinent subject of our times.
Frankenstein / National Theatre / from 5 Feb – You will just have to see this one twice. Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternate the roles of Frankenstein and his monster in this new stage adaptation of Mary Shelley’s gothic thriller directed by the Oscar-winning Danny Boyle in his theatrical return.
Clybourne Park / Wyndham’s / from 8 Feb – One of the hits of 2010 at the Royal Court, now this acerbic, achingly funny play about race, class and housing moves into a new home in the West End, packing scene-stealer Sophie Thompson in its suitcase.
Blithe Spirit / Apollo / from 2 Mar – It has had the longest pre-opening germination in recent history, but it is worth the long wait. Alison Steadman, Robert Bathurst, Hermione Norris and Ruthie Henshall team up for Noël Coward’s comedy about a married couple who get a ghost for dinner.
In A Forest Dark And Deep / Vaudeville / from 3 Mar – Matthew Fox has filmed so many US television episodes he has lost count. Now the star of Lost and Party Of Five makes his London stage debut in this new play by feted American writer Neil LaBute. Olivia Williams (The Ghost, An Education) adds a dash of cool Britannia to the mix.
Moonlight / Donmar Warehouse / from 7 Apr – David Bradley, whose Pinter pedigree includes The Caretaker, The Homecoming and No Man’s Land, returns to the oeuvre of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright to depict a dying man in Moonlight. Deborah Findlay co-stars.
Much Ado About Nothing / Wyndham’s / from 16 May – Doctor Who fans will salivate over this one. David Tennant and Catherine Tate are to resurrect their partnership to play sparring lovers Benedick and Beatrice in Shakespeare’s glorious comedy.
Richard III / Old Vic / from 18 Jun – To play one of Shakespeare’s greatest stage villains, Kevin Spacey reunites with director Sam Mendes for the first time since they both won Oscars for the film American Beauty.
Musicals
The Wizard Of Oz / London Palladium / from 7 Feb – Whatever you think of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s BBC-backed casting contests, this new stage production is no rehashed revival. The Lord has reunited with lyricist Tim Rice to create new songs to compliment the familiar favourites, enticed Arlene Phillips to choreograph, cast the West End’s most glamorous witch, Hannah Waddingham, and lured former Phantom Michael Crawford to play the Wizard.
Million Dollar Quartet / Noël Coward / from 8 Feb – Four relative unknowns have the daunting task of trying to emulate four greats of rock ‘n’ roll in this Broadway import about an iconic Memphis jam session in 1956 between Messers Presley, Lee Lewis, Cash and Perkins.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee / Donmar Warehouse / from 11 Feb – A musical about a spelling competition? No, me either. But this leisurely-titled comedy was nominated during six Tony Awards for its three-year stint on Broadway. In the hands of director Jamie Lloyd at the Donmar Warehouse, this new UK production has hit written all over it.
Betty Blue Eyes / Novello / from 19 Mar – Britain is being hit by austerity measures, it is the coldest winter for decades and a royal wedding is on the horizon; no, it’s not today’s news headlines, it’s a Stiles and Drewe musical. Canny producer Cameron Mackintosh couldn’t have chosen a better time to stage this 1947-set comic romp.
Shrek / Theatre Royal Drury Lane / from 6 May – The Broadway production had something of a bumpy ride, but the creative team are bringing new scenes and songs to this London stage version of the hit film. Nigel Lindsay goes green to play the grumpy ogre, with Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden as feisty Princess Fiona.
Ghost The Musical / Piccadilly / from 22 Jun – The 1990 romantic weepie about a murdered man who returns from the dead to save his fiancée (and make a clay pot) has been mined for musicality by none other than Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame and US hit-maker Glen Ballard. It may just turn out to be this year’s guilty pleasure.
Crazy For You / Regent’s Park Open Air / from 28 Jul – After collecting several Laurence Olivier Awards for 2009’s Hello, Dolly!, the Open Air theatre followed this up last year with another stonking musical offering, Into The Woods, which makes this Gershwin revival top of my list for a summer’s night under the stars with a glass of Pimm’s in hand. Blanket advisable.
Opera & Dance
Lucrezia Borgia / London Coliseum / from 31 Jan – Mike Figgis, the Oscar-winning director of Leaving Las Vegas, makes his opera debut with Donizetti’s psychological masterpiece.
Anna Nicole / Royal Opera House / from 17 Feb – It is apt that Richard Thomas, the co-creator of Jerry Springer The Opera, should be writing the libretto for Mark Anthony Turnage’s new opera about the Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith’s soap opera of a life prior to her demise in 2007.
The Centaur And The Animal / Sadler’s Wells / from 1 Mar – The sight of four horses live on stage is surely intriguing enough to draw crowds to this unusual show about the relationship between man and equine.
Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland / Royal Opera House / from 2 Mar – Christopher Wheeldon’s brand new ballet is set in the Victorian world of Lewis Carroll’s Alice, who has some extraordinary adventures.
The Most Incredible Thing / Sadler’s Wells / from 17 Mar – Not content with a multi-award-winning pop career of elephantine proportions, the Pet Shop Boys have moved into theatre of late. Following their music for the Young Vic’s My Dad’s A Birdman, the duo have composed the orchestral score for this modern fairytale based on a Hans Christian Andersen story.
The Damnation Of Faust / London Coliseum / from 6 May – Berlioz’s radically different treatment of the story of Faust provides juicy fodder for former Python and cult film-maker Terry Gilliam, who directs what is bound to be a highly original piece of work.