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Dateline:
3rd January, 2002
The End of the Line
for the Shaftesbury?
After the closure of the South African musical Umoja as a result
of a Noise Abatement Notice issued by Camden Council, the Shaftesbury
Theatre has attempted to improve the sound-proofing of the party wall
with the block of flats whose residents made the initial complaint to
the council. These attempts have not been successful and now, although
the theatre is appealing against the Notice, there is pessimism about
its ever being able to be used for musicals again.
The Notice is permanent: the same noise level must not be reached in
future, otherwise the offending show will be immediately closed and
the theatre and the show's producers will be liable to a £20,000
fine.
36 of the Shaftesbury's staff have been laid off and more lay-offs
or permanent redundancies arelikely soon. Theatre bosses recognise that
their only chance of keeping the theatre open is for it to host plays,
not musicals, but, as it has 1400 seats, it is seen as a lyric, not
a drama, venue, and the prospects for its remaining open are slim.
Fiennes to Play
at the National
Ralph Fiennes is to return to the London stage to play in Christopher
Hampton's latest play, The Talking Cure, in which he will play
Carl Jung. No dates have yet been announced.
Madonna to Appear
in the West End
Madonna is to make her West End debut in a new Australian satire on
the world of modern art in Wyndham's. Up for Grabs will run from
23rd may (previews from 9th).
The play, by David Williamson, broke box office records in Sydney in
2001.
Buddy
Closes Today
The musical Buddy (Strand) closes after today's matinee performance
(Sunday, 3rd March), after a run of over twelve years. It will be replaced
by a limited run (8th March to 20th April) of Peter Gill's The York
Realist.
New Butterworth
Play for Court
The Royal Court Theatre Downstairs is to premiere Jez Butterworth's
new play, The Night Heron, from 17th April to 11th May (previews
from 11th April). Butterworth's first play, Mojo, was a major
hit when first produced at the Court in 1995, when he won the George
Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright, the Writers' Guild New Writer
of the Year Award, the "Evening Standard" Award for the Most
Promising Playwright and the Olivier Award for Best Comedy.
The Night Heron will be directed by Royal Court artistic director
Ian Rickson and will star Ray Winstone.
Open Air Theatre
Summer Season
The Open Air Theatre in London's Regent Park has announced its 2002
summer rep season . There will be two Shakespeare plays (Romeo and
Juliet and As You Like It) and a revival of Oh What a
Lovely War!, and they will be joined by a children's play, Merlin
the Magnificent by Stuart Paterson.
Romeo and Juliet opens on 5th June, As You Like It on
10th June, Oh What a Lovely War! on 25th July, and Merlin
on 31st July. The season ends on 7th September.
Dillane Show to
Close Early
Life After George, the new play starring Stephen Dillane at the
Duchess, has announced early closure, just a week after it opened. It
will close on 16th March after a run of only four weeks.
Private Lives
to Transfer to Broadway
Noel Coward's Private Lives, starring Lindsay Duncan and Alan
Rickman, is to transfer to Broadway, where it opens on 28th April for
a thirteen week run (previews from 19yh). The entire Albery cast will
also transfer.
Star Quality
to Close
The other Noel Coward presently playing in the West End, Star Quality
(Apollo), is to close at the end of the current booking period (23rd
March), after a six month run.
Extending
Three London shows have extended their booking periods: Mark Ravenhill's
Mother Clap's Molly House (NT) extends one week to 23rd March,
the Almeida's Production of King Lear extends three weeks to
20th April, and Stones in His Pockets (Duke of York's) is now
booking to 4th January, 2003
Nottingham and
Ipswich Mount Rodgers Tribute
Nottingham Playhouse and the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, are mounting
a new production of Pal Joey as part of the celebrations for
Richard Rodgers' centenary. The production opened on 28th February at
the Wolsey (ends on 23rd March). It then transfers to Nottingham, playing
from 4th t0 27th April.
Shared Experience
Revives Edmundon Play
Shared Experience is to revive and tour Helen Edmundon's The Clearing
(1993). It opens in Birmingham on 7th March and will tour to Mold, Guildford,
Ipswich, Cambridge, Newcastle and Oxford, in addition to a month-long
stay at Kilburn's Tricycle Theatre.
Misery
to Tour
A stage version of Stephen King's novel Misery is to tour from
11th March until the end of June. It opens at the Colchester Mercury
and then visits Greenwich, Peterborough, Preston, Torquay, Buxton, Chelmsford,
Hull, Croydon, Billingham, Lincoln, Hastings and Chester. Leslie Grantham
stars.
Index
A-F
Index G-K
Index L-Q
Index R-Z
News
Archive A-L
News Archive M-Z
Production News Archive
Please note that all three Archive
indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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