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Dateline:
24th March, 2002
New RSC Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company has created a new trading arm, RSC Enterprises
Ltd., which will operate commerical activities in order to finance its
core business - producing plays. Elaine Bedell, Managing Director of
Chrysalis Entertainment, has been appointed Executive Director. Chrysalis
is an independent producer of radio and television arts programmes.
New National Theatre
Space
Between May and September the RNT's Lyttelton will be transformed into
two performance spaces, the Lyttelton itself and the Lyttelton Loft,
a studio space. During this period the Lyttelton will see productions
of five contemporary plays and the Loft eight.
Lyttelton
- The Powerbook (Winterson, Warner and Shaw) from 9th May
to 4th June
- A Prayer for Owen Meany (Irving and Bent) from 10th to
29th June
- The Adventures of the Stoneheads (Toby Wilsher) from 4th
to 13th July
- The Birds (Aristophanes, adapted O'Brien) from 22nd July
to 14th Aug
- Play Without Words (Matthew Bourne) from 20th August to
14th September
Loft
- Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads (Williams) from 29th April
to 15th May
- Free (Simon Bowen) from 20th May to 8th June
- Life After Life (Paul Jepson and Tony Parker) from 28th
May to 8th June
- The Shadow of a Boy (Gary Owen) from 13th to 29th June
- The Mentalists (Richard Bean) from 4th to 20th July
- Sanctuary (Tanika Gupta) from 25th July to 10th August
- The Associate (Simon Bent) from 15th to 31st August
- Closing Time (Owen McCafferty) from 5th to 21st September
BECTU Votes "Yes"
to Strike but Discussions Continue
Members of BECTU in the West End have voted to strike over pay. A ballot
resulted in 96.3% of members in favour of industrial action. However,
the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) made an improved offer and now
union members will decide whether to accept and call off the action.
The new offer gives an across-the-board increase of 11.3% by October,
as against the previous offer of 3.25%. This will bring the average
hourly rate to £7.15, as against the current average of £6.33.
The rise would also be backdated to 11th February.
Union members now have just under a month to decide whether to accept
the revised offer or continue with the strike plans. Under current law,
any industrial action must be taken within 28 days of the ballot or
a new ballot must be held. The closing date for the ballot was Tuesday
19th March so any action must begin by 16th April.
If the strike goes ahead, it could close 37 West End theatres, however
union officials describe the revised offer as "a signifcant and
quite considerable improvement" and the indications are that the
membership will accept it.
Madonna Matinees
Cancelled
All the matinee performances for Up For Grabs, Madonna's West
End debut show by David Williamson, have been cancelled due to "unforeseen
recording commitments."
Humble Boy
Extends
The RNT production of Charlotte Jones' Humble Boy, recently transferred
to the Gielgud, has extended its booking period to 1st June.
Almeida on Tour
London's Almeida has begun a tour of Thomas Middleton's A Chaste
maid in Cheapside, opening last week at the Oxford Playhouse and
continuing to Malvern, Richmond, Bath, Huddersfield and Guildford. The
tour lasts until the end of April.
Radio 3 to Broadcast
More Plays
BBC Radio 3, best known for its classical music output, is to broadcast
more plays in future. It will concentrate on new writing and shorter
pieces. It also plans to collaborate with the London International Festival
of Theatre and the Theatre Royal Stratford East.
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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