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Dateline: 4th January, 2004 News from the Midlands New adaptation of Brecht epic goes on tourAfter an absence of 12 years, Carmen Munroe returns to the stage in the lead role in Mother Courage and Her Children which opens next month at Nottingham Playhouse before going on a national tour. A familiar face on British television, Carmen Munroe has an impressive list of credits including the series Mixed Blessings, three years as Sister Washington in General Hospital, Shirley in six series of Desmonds and Vilma in the series The Forsters. She made her stage debut in Tennessee Williams' Period of Adjustment in 1962 at the Royal Court Theatre. Subsequent stage appearances include Raisin in the Sun at the Tricycle Theatre; Trouble in Mind at the same theatre, for which she won the Time Out best actress award; and Cain for the Royal Shakespeare Company. In a new production, Brecht's most extraordinary character, who strives to keep her children and business alive by selling food and clothing to soldiers, is placed in a contemporary African setting by Nigerian-born playwright Oladipo Agboluaje. This new adaptation is produced by Nottingham Playhouse and was commissioned for Eclipse Theatre, founded in 2002 to raise the national profile of black, middle-scale regional theatre in the UK. Mother Courage is the second Eclipse production, following last year's Moon on a Rainbow Shawl. Director is Josette Bushell-Mongo, described as "one of the country's most exciting young directors", whose recent credits include Simply Heavenly at the Young Vic. Mother Courage plays at Nottingham Playhouse from February 6th to 21st before going on to Bristol Old Vic; Contact Theatre, Manchester; Everyman, Cheltenham; Birmingham Rep; Northampton Theatre Royal; New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich; Theatr Clywd; and Liverpool Playhouse. Hilary sets the right tone in Shirley ValentineHilary Tones, who appeared in Franco Zeffirelli's West End production Absolutely (Perhaps), is to star in Willy Russell's one-woman play Shirley Valentine at Derby Playhouse. Her other work includes Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe and she has appeared on television in Judge John Deed, Heartbeat and London's Burning. Premiered in 1986, Shirley Valentine was a success with audiences and critics, winning an Olivier Award for best comedy and enjoying long runs in the West End and on Broadway. The show is directed by Uzma Hameed, co-director of Dracula in Derby Playhouse's autumn season. She says: "Shirley Valentine deals with love, loss and hope and offers that rare commodity, a wonderful female role. The exciting challenge for a director is to do justice to the different moods of the piece and to make sure that we see Shirley as a whole person and not as a caricature of the frumpy housewife." Shirley Valentine opens on January 31st and continues until February 28th. Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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