This week there has been news of two productions for next year at London's Southwark Playhouse.
Bat Boy: The Musical is back in London in the New Year, playing The Large, the main space at the venue.
It has been a decade since the show about a strange bat-child discovered in a dark cave has been seen in London. It received its UK première in 2004 at West Yorkshire Playhouse prior to a West End run at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
When it first premièred in the US, Bat Boy: The Musical won New York’s Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards for Best Off-Broadway Musical.
In the cast is Matthew White, Olivier Award nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Ragtime, counting amongst his other credits roles in The Phantom of the Opera, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Les Misérables.
White also has directing credits including the forthcoming UK Tour of The Producers.
Lauren Ward will play opposite him. She originated the role of Miss Honey in Matilda and amongst her other stage work includes The Sound of Music, The Philadelphia Story and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Bat Boy: The Musical has a story and book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming with music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe. It is directed by Luke Fredericks.
Playing The Little in April is Scarlet, a new play commissioned by Theatre Renegade from Sam H Freeman, a participant of the Royal Court and Lyric Young Writers’ Programmes.
The play tells the story of young woman, Scarlet, who finds that a video she doesn’t remember making is on the Internet.
Joe Hufton will direct a cast which is yet to be announced.
- Bat Boy: The Musical plays The Large from 9 January
- Scarlet plays The Little from 15 April – recommended for ages 14+