The British Theatre Guide: News for 25th July, 2004

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Dateline: 25th July, 2004

Shakespeare on Tour
Three Shakespeare productions are set to tour nationally this autumn:

English Touring Theatre performs Twelfth Night at the Oxford Playhouse (9th September) and then goes on to Brighton, Salford, York, Buxton, Yvonne Arnaud and Durham. It is directed by ETT's artistic director Stephen Unwin.
On 10th September Out of Joint start their tour of Macbeth at the Red Brick Mill in Batley. A promenade production, most of its dates are in non-theatre venues. It goes on to Oxford, Bolton, Aberystwyth and Manchester, plus one other date yet to be announced and a four-week season at the Arcola. It is directed by Max Stafford-Clark and designed by Es Devlin.
Hamlet, directed by Yukio Ninagawa, opens on 27th September at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, followed by visits to Norwich, Poole, Edinburgh, Salford, Nottingham and Bath and a three week season at the Barbican (10th to 27th November). It stars Michael Maloney.

Cattrall to Star in Revised Whose Life?
Liverpool-born and LAMDA-trained Kim Cattrall is to star in a revised production of Whose Life Is It Anyway? at the Duke of York's from 25th January, 2005 (previews from 7th). Directed by Sir Peter Hall, the play has been revised by writer Brian Clark to take into account medical advances mades ince the play was first produced in 1978 at the Mermaid where Tom Conti played the laad. It was rewritten in 1979 for a Broadway production with the lead role changed from a man (Ken Harrison) to a woman (Claire Harrison), a production which earned Mary Tyler Moore a Tony for Best Actress in a Play.

Cattrall is best known in the UK for playing Samantha Jones in the US TV series Sex in the City. She was supposed to make her West End debut in 2001, starring alongside Judi Dench in The Royal Family, also directed by Hall, but had to cancel due to filming commitments for the TV series.

Open Air Cancels Henry Performances
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre has cancelled the last five performances of Henry IV Part 1. It was due to run in repertory until 11th September but will now have its final performance on 19th August. Three of the dates (9th, 10th and 11th September) will be filled by additional performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Om Puri OBE
Indian actor Om Puri (Jewel in the Crown, Gandhi and The Canterbury Tales) has been awarded an honorary OBE for services to the British film industry. As he is not a British citizen, he cannot receive a "full" honour, but it is not unknown for "honorary" honours to be given. Pop singer Bob Geldoff, for example, was awarded an honorary knighthood for his charity work.

Kelly Returns in Ayckbourn Revival
Matthew Kelly, who won the Best Actor award for Of Mice and Men at the Oliviers earlier this year, is to return to the stage in a revival of Alan Ayckbourn's 1980 play Season's Greetings. Directed by Ayckbourn, it will open at the Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford, on 4th October and then go on to Windsor, Richmond, Eastbourne, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Plymouth, Bath and Malvern, where it finishes on 11th December.

We Happy Few to Close
Imogen Stubb's play We Happy Few, which opened at the Gielgud on 2nd July (previews from 17th June), is to close on 31st July after a run of only six weeks. It had been booking until 13th November. Directed by Stubb's husband Trevor Nunn, it received very mixed reviews.

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