Boy With a Suitcase, Mike Kenny’s powerful story of refugee children crossing Europe recently opened in the Duško Radović Little Theatre in Belgrade.
Twelve-year-old Naz is forced to leave his home and embark on a long and dangerous journey towards a better life in the "promised land": London. In the small suitcase he carries with him is his greatest treasure - the stories his parents told him before bed. With the help of these stories and Krisja, a girl he meets on the way, Naz manages to meet his brother safely and tell a new story.
While dealing with heavy topics such as war, separation from family, and cruelty, the play exudes lightness and humour, shining a light into even the darkest of corners.
Find out more here:
Stuart Paterson's adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson's classic fairytale has just opened at Jyväskylä City Theatre in Finland.
When the mighty Snow Queen breaks the mirror of evil, the fragments shatter and freeze the emotions of anyone unfortunate enough to cross her path, including a little boy, Kaihi. The Snow Queen fights the Sun-Keeper Freyr to bring about an eternal winter, and so begins a dizzying adventure where good and evil take on each other.
Find out more here:
In a special partnership with the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Abbey Theatre in Dublin are marking the 100th anniversary of Bloody Sunday with a broadcast from Croke Park.
14 Voices From The Bloodied Field brings together 14 writers, 14 directors, and 14 actors to give voice to the men, woman and children who were killed in Bloody Sunday on 21 November 1920.
The monologue for each victim will be performed at or near the site where they lost their life, in what promises to be a highly moving evening.
Due to Covid restrictions, the production will now be entirely online and will be streamed on Friday, November 20th at 7pm through their social media channels. Find out more here.
A play written by John Godber during lockdown is to be performed by the playwright, his wife and their daughter at the Stephen Joseph theatre in Scarborough. It is the centrepiece of an autumn season of work that marks the theatre’s long-awaited reopening for socially distanced audiences.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/aug/19/scarborough-stephen-joseph-theatre-reopens-for-autumn-john-godber
Angélique is a gifted chocolate maker crippled by social anxiety and Jean-René is the boss of a failing chocolate factory. When Angélique takes a job in Jean-René’s struggling factory, a fragile love affair unfolds. Funny, tender and painfully awkward, Romantics Anonymous is a delicious love story about breaking the mould and finding the courage to be happy.
https://www.wisechildrendigital.com/booktickets
A flat in Ladbroke Grove, West London. 1952.
When Hester Collyer (Helen McCrory) is found by her neighbours in the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt, the story of her tempestuous affair with a former RAF pilot and the breakdown of her marriage to a High Court judge begins to emerge. With it comes a portrait of need, loneliness and long-repressed passion.
Behind the fragile veneer of post-war civility burns a brutal sense of loss and longing.
The National Theatre have been bringing the best of their productions to the public to watch for free during the UK coronavirus lockdown. Joining the brilliant collection of productions that have been streaming weekly from #NationalTheatreAtHome is our Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea, which played at the National in 2016. It will be available to watch in the week of July 9th - 16th 2020. Catch all the details of this fantastic (and free!) production here: https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/nt-at-home-the-deep-blue-sea.
Jermyn Street Theatre of London's West End are streaming Terence Rattigan's illustrious play In Praise of Love tonight at 7:30pm. First performed at the Duchess Theatre, London in 1973, In Praise of Love is a powerful story of deception and fatality in relationships. Egotistical left-wing literary critic Sebastian and his East European refugee wife Lydia, with the best of intentions, deceive each other over Lydia's fatal illness. The play was based in part on the relationship between Rattigan's friend, the actor Rex Harrison, and his wife Kay Kendall, who died of leukaemia. Rex Harrison went on to play the part based on himself in the Broadway production of the play at the Morosco Theatre in 1974.
Catch the live reading of the play on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIspZ8jyAbc&feature=youtu.be
The most recent work to come from John Godber and Jane Thornton is the six part radio drama called 'Essentials', which takes place over breakfast in the kitchen of a Yorkshire family. Tension, comedy and burnt toast whilst they wrestle with the realities of Lockdown UK. Short, punchy episodes to keep us going amidst the current crisis!
Have a listen here: https://essentials_johngodber.buzzsprout.com/?fbclid=IwAR0wGPUNswv4Y1pV1_ae1t3bLtiolUDaYx_fTLlnwS96HgqiRatQ9VPsQxg.
The Stage have published a review of Noël Coward's debut play from May 6, 1920; 100 years ago today!
I'll Leave It To You opened on May 3 at the Gaiety Theatre in Manchester. The critic commented that "the dialogue is witty at times, and many pungent allusions catch the fancy of the audience. The piece throughout was greatly relished on Monday; it is some time since the Gaiety rang with such hearty and continuous laughter". It was also noted that "Noël Coward gives a spirited performance as Bobbie".
I'll Leave It To You later transferred to the West End, opening on July 21, 1920. The Stage again praised it, describing it as "clever young Noël Coward's bright and entertaining piece".
What a delightful throwback!