Olivier Award-winning actress Maureen Lipman and Let The Right One In’s John Tiffany are among the talent joining our free West End LIVE In Conversation sessions at the brand new Theatre Emporium in Leicester Square this June.
Running over the West End LIVE weekend on 21 and 22 June in the annual festival’s brand new specially built Spielgeltent in Leicester Square, Official London Theatre will take to the stage to host the talks featuring a selection of theatre’s most exciting and prolific shows, creatives and actors.
Opening the weekend is the cast of the Olivier Award-winning comedy Handbagged. Taking place at 12:30, the critically acclaimed company will discuss exactly what it’s like to appear in a play that imagines the meetings between the Queen and Margaret Thatcher, and requires each member to share a role with another as the narrative moves between the years.
Esteemed stage and screen actress Lipman will follow at 13:30 to talk about her forthcoming role in the Park Theatre’s first ever West End transfer, Oliver Cotton’s Daytona, a comedy about a couple married 50 years and an unexpected blast from the past.
Taking things on spookier tangent at 15:00 will be Derren Brown’s long-time collaborator, the multi-talented actor, writer and director Andy Nyman, who will be discussing his hit show Ghost Stories alongside cast member Gary Shelford.
Rounding off the first day will be cast members from the hugely anticipated screen to stage adaptation of Shakespeare In Love at 17:40. The cast will offer audiences an insight into rehearsals and how they feel about bringing the Oscar-winning film to life on stage.
Sunday will open with a treat for families as Danyah Miller, star of the stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s I Believe In Unicorns, keeps children captivated with a storytelling session suitable for children aged five and older at 12:00.
The children’s entertainment will then be followed by sessions with two of the most high-profile directors working in London. Tony Award-winning director of Once The Musical, John Tiffany, will be discussing his innovative and unique West End hit Let The Right One In at 14:00, with Jamie Lloyd, Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed Trafalgar Transformed seasons, following at 15:30 to discuss his upcoming production of Richard III starring Martin Freeman.
Bringing the weekend to a close with an insight into the magic – literally – of theatre will be one of the industry’s most established theatre illusionist’s Richard Pinner. Following work on numerous productions including The Haunted Child (Royal Court), Dr Faustus and The Globe Mysteries (Shakespeare’s Globe) and the RSC’s Titus Andronicus, Pinner will stun audiences with his supernatural abilities and discuss the work that goes on from behind the scenes to produce theatre that astounds.
You can book your free place to attend any of the sessions via the links below. For more information on the 10th anniversary West End LIVE, visit our West End LIVE information page.
Official London Theatre In Conversation With… booking links:
Saturday 21 June
12:30-12:50 Official London Theatre In Conversation With… The cast of Handbagged
13:30-13:50 Official London Theatre In Conversation With… Maureen Lipman
15:00-15:20 Official London Theatre In Conversation With… Ghost Stories’ Andy Nyman and Gary Shelford
17:40-18:00 Official London Theatre In Conversation With… The cast of Shakespeare In Love
Sunday 22 June
12:00-12:20 StorytellIng With I Believe In Unicorns
14:00-14:20 Official London Theatre In Conversation With… John Tiffany
15:30-15:50 Official London Theatre In Conversation With… Jamie Lloyd
17:00-17:20 Official London Theatre In Conversation With… Theatre illusionist Richard PInner