Coalhouse cast announced
The cast has been announced for the Live Theatre/Northern Stage co-production of Close the Coalhouse Door: Adam Barlow (The Vicar), Chris Connel (Jackie), Louisa Farrant (Ruth), Jane Holman (Mary), Nicholas Lumley (Thomas), Tarek Merchant (The Expert), David Nellist (Geordie), Jack Wilkinson (Frank )and Paul Woodson (John).
Samuel West directs the production which runs at Northern Stage from 18th April (previews from 13th) until 5th May prior to a national tour.
The play was written by Alan Plater, based on stories by Sid Chaplin, with music by Alex Glasgow. It was first performed in 1968 and this revival has additional material by Lee Hall to being it up to date.
NE playwrights in the news
Newcastle-based playwright Roz Wyllie's play Free is to be revived at Theatre503 in London this week (5th to 10th March as part of their Rapid Write - Rewind week. The theatre has chosen favourite plays from over 100 Rapid Write plays during the last two years and they are being brought back to life for one week only.
She is also part of the nabakov & Live Theatre collaboration, Present Tens, at Live Theatre on 17th March. There are four writers - Wyllie, Alison Carr, Paddy Campbell and Brad Birch (From London) who will be given a news story at the PLAYlist event on 9th March and then have a few days to write a 20 minute play which directors and actors will then work on and perform the following Saturday.
The Mysteries at the Customs House
The Customs House in South Shields is to present a community production of The Mysteries at Arbeia Roman Fort in June. Written and directed by the BTG's Peter Lathan, this will be the theatre's first community production in over a decade and would-be participants from across the region are invited to email [email protected] to express their interest in taking part.
"There are fifty named parts," said Lathan, "so there is a lot of scope for experienced and inexperienced actors to be part of the show.
The Mysteries was originally commissioned in the seventies by the Wearabout Theatre Company which toured it around NE churches. It has since been performed in various parts of the UK and in the US but this will be its first production in the region since the mid-eighties.
The Mysteries runs at Arbeia Roman Fort from 22nd to 24th June.
What's on this week
- Opera North return to Newcastle Theatre Royal this week, presenting Madama Butterfly on Tuesday and Thursday, Norma on Wednesday and Saturday and Giulio Cesare on Friday. Meanwhile in the Studio from Tuesday to Thursday, The Radio Revellers present Mission into Space
- From Thursday to Saturday Gecko presents Missing at Northern Stage
- FUSES: Live Lab 2012, Live Theatre's biennial New Writing Festival, opens on Friday and runs until 17th March. PLAYlist opens the festival on Friday, followed by a Q&A session with writer Dennis Kelly on Saturday at 5pm followed at 7.30 by Black River Falls. On Sunday at 1pm and 5pm there's a playwriting workshop with Mike Kenny, followed by the monologue all that is solid melts into air at 7.30
The Chinese State Circus is at the Journal Tyne Theatre on Tuesday and Wednesday- From Tuesday to Thursday at 10.30 and 1.30 balletLORENT presents its dance piece for the under-5s Underneath the Floorboards
- From Wednesday to Saturday Birmingham Royal Ballet presents Coppelia at Sunderland Empire
- On Thursday Publick Transport present Discombobulated at Arts Centre Washington
- The International Magic Festival is at the Customs House from Wednesday to Saturday
- Theatre Hullabaloo brings Angel to Alnwick Playhouse on Wednesday
- Northumberland Theatre Company presents 4Words: Love, Life, Longing and Laughter at The Maltings in Berwick on Thursday
- Angel is at the Queen's Hall, Hexham, on Tuesday, followed by Hide by Northern Bites on Wednesday
- Musical Her Benny is at Billingham Forum from Tuesday to Saturday
- The touring musical Swallows and Amazons comes to Darlington Civic from Tuesday to Saturday
- A new adaptation of Great Expectations is at Darlington Arts Centre on Friday, followed on Saturday by Edinburgh Fringe hit The Games
- Theatre Hullabaloo brings Angel to the Georgian Theatre in Richmond on Saturday at 2pm
- Reform Theatre's My Favourite Summer is in the Harrogate Theatre Studio from Tuesday to Saturday and the Original Theatre Company's revival of Our Country's Good runs in the Main House from Wednesday to Saturday. The performance of Swan Lake in the Royal Hall on Monday is sold out.