WITH DESIGNS BY BUNNY CHRISTIE & PUPPETRY BY TOBY OLIÉ
RUNNING FROM 22 JANUARY – 28 MAY 2022
PRESENTED BY THE CHILDREN’S THEATRE PARTNERSHIP
IN ASSOCIATION WITH BIRMINGHAM REP
Full casting and the complete tour schedule are announced for the highly anticipated upcoming production of George Orwell’s classic satirical fable, Animal Farm, adapted and directed by the multi award-winning Robert Icke (The Doctor, Hamlet, Mary Stuart, Oresteia, 1984).
The brand-new production will embark on an extensive UK tour, opening at Birmingham Rep from 22 January 2022, with press night on Wednesday 2 February. The play then tours to Cambridge, Newcastle, Bath, Norwich, Salford, Plymouth, Nottingham, Coventry, Blackpool, Liverpool, Canterbury, Richmond and Wolverhampton, completing its run on 28 May 2022 at Bromley’s Churchill Theatre.
The cast of Animal Farm includes Matt Churcher, Darcy Collins, Enrico D. Wey, Ailsa Dalling, Elisa De Grey, Edie Edmundson, Michael Jean-Marain, Rayo Patel, Yana Penrose, Markus Schabbing, Sharon Sze, Ben Thompson and Matt Tait.
The production also combine the forces of some of UK theatre’s most talented creatives, including designs by the four-time Olivier Award-winning Bunny Christie (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Company, Ink, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), and puppetry by Toby Olié (War Horse, Running Wild, The Grinning Man, Goodnight Mister Tom).
The animals of Manor Farm drive out the farmer and run the farm themselves.
A revolution. And then what? Then freedom. Every animal will be free.
Old Major, the prize boar, calls the animals of Manor Farm together.
He has had a strange dream of a better future.
George Orwell’s world-famous, biting political novelwas first published in 1945 and tells the story of a revolution and its aftermath. Re-imagined by an award-winning creative team, Animal Farm is a dynamic, daring and contemporary take on a timeless story.
Icke previously worked on another of Orwell’s classics, 1984, which he co-adapted and directed alongside Duncan Macmillan, garnering him his first Olivier Award nomination for Best New Play in 2014, enjoying smash-hit runs in both the West End and on Broadway. Animal Farm also reunites Icke and Christie following their celebrated 2016 collaboration on The Red Barn at the National Theatre.
The production is produced by Children’s Theatre Partnership (CTP) in association with Birmingham Rep. CTP creates bold and imaginative theatre for young people, engaging new audiences and aiming to inspire a life-long love of theatre.
ANIMAL FARM
By George Orwell
Adapted & Directed by Robert Icke
Set & Costume Designs by Bunny Christie
Puppetry Designs & Direction by Toby Olié
Produced by Children’s Theatre Partnership in association with Birmingham Rep
Press Night: Wednesday 2 February @ 7pm – Birmingham Rep
Full casting has been announced for the brand new stage adaptation of beloved British comedy THE GOOD LIFE which tours the UK this Autumn.
The acclaimed cast will include actress and presenter Preeya Kalidas as ‘Margo Leadbetter’, Dominic Rowan as ‘Jerry Leadbetter’, and Sally Tatum as ‘Barbara Good’, joining the previously announced actor and comedian Rufus Hound as ‘Tom Good’. Also featured will be Nigel Betts and Tessa Churchard.
The new comedy by Jeremy Sams, is based on the classic television series by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey which entertained countless millions in the 1970s. Directed by Jeremy Sams, this world premiere production will be the first time that the iconic characters of suburban neighbours the Goods and the Leadbetters will be seen on stage.
THE GOOD LIFE will open at Theatre Royal Bath on 7 October 2021, before dates at Cheltenham Everyman, Salford Lowry, Oxford Playhouse, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Malvern Theatres, Richmond Theatre and Chichester Festival Theatre.
Remember the Goods – Tom and Barbara, suburban eco-warriors? And their next-door neighbours Margo and Jerry Leadbetter, desperately trying to maintain the Surbiton status quo? Jeremy Sams’s comedy leads the well-loved characters through uproarious adventures, some old, some new and often (even today) hilariously familiar. This new play celebrates a time when, whatever our differences, we still managed to get on with our neighbours.
Beloved BBC comedy THE GOOD LIFE ran on British television from 1975 to 1978 starring Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington.
Rufus Hound is an award-winning actor, comedian and presenter equally at home with roles on screen including Doctor Who, Cucumber, Hounded and on the stage including One Man Two Guvnors (Theatre Royal Haymarket), What The Butler Saw (Theatre Royal Bath / Leicester Curve), Don Quixote (RSC), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Savoy Theatre London), Present Laughter and Neville’s Island (Chichester Festival Theatre) and his award-winning role as Mr Toad in The Wind in the Willows (London Palladium, UK tour and cinema broadcast).
Preeya Kalidas made history as the first British Asian female to play the lead in a musical when she originated the role of Priya in the West End production of Bombay Dreams. Notable screen credits include award-winning feature films Four Lions, Bend it like Beckham and as Amira Shah in BBC’s EastEnders. Preeya played the title role in BAFTA nominated Bollywood Carmen and also starred in Britz, Mistresses,Bodies, Banglatown Banquet and England Expects. Major stage credits include Oxford Street (Royal Court Theatre), Chiaroscuro (Bush Theatre) Olivier Award nominated for Bend it like Beckham the Musical (Phoenix Theatre), Joseph and his amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (The Adelphi), School of Rock (Gillian Lynne Theatre), and most recently Everybody’s talking about Jamie (Apollo Theatre).
Dominic Rowan’s work in theatre includes: A Dream Play,Iphigeneia at Aulis, Mourning Becomes Electra, Three Sisters, Happy Now?, The Talking Cure and Private Lives (National Theatre); The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merchant of Venice and Talk of the City (RSC); A Voyage Round My Father, Berenice and Lobby Hero (Donmar Warehouse); A Doll’s House (Young Vic), Playhouse Creatures (Old Vic); Way to Heaven and Forty Winks (Royal Court Theatre); The Importance of Being Earnest (Oxford Playhouse); Sexual Perversity in Chicago (Crucible Theatre); The Rivals, Charley’s Aunt and Look Back in Anger (Royal Exchange); A Collier’s Friday Night (Hampstead Theatre); Wit’s End (New End Theatre); Under The Blue Sky, (Duke of York’s); The Misanthrope (Comedy Theatre), As You Like It (Globe Theatre).
Sally Tatum is an actress, comedian and writer who was placed on the BAFTA Rocliffe Forum List for emerging comedy writers. Stage credits include Present Laughter, and Red Light Winter (Theatre Royal Bath), A Day in the Life of Joe Egg (Liverpool Everyman), Gaslight (Old Vic) and As You Like It, Twelfth Night and Solstice (RSC). Television credits include Episodes, Boy Meets Girl, and My Mad Fat Diary.
Nigel Betts’ work in theatre includes: Steel (Sheffield Theatres), Albion (Almeida Theatre), Three Days in the Country (National Theatre), Wonderland (Hampstead Theatre), Pastoral (Soho Theatre), One Man Two Guv’nors, War Horse (National Theatre/West End), Aladdin, (Lyric Hammersmith),The 39 Steps, Up’n’Under, Henry IV, As You Like It (West End). TV includes: Toast, King Gary, Ridley Road, Grantchester, Casualty, All Creatures Great and Small, Father Brown, The A Word, Pennyworth, Harlots, Killing Eve, Trollied, EastEnders, Scarborough, Outlander, Little Boy Blue, Bliss, Bounty Hunters, Death in Paradise, Boy Meets Girl, Vera, Class, The Coroner, DCI Banks, New Tricks, You, Me & Them, The Wrong Mans, Doctor Who, Waterloo Road, Doctors, Holby City, Downton Abbey, The Escape Artist, The Starlings, Doc Martin, Moving Wallpaper, The Bill, Trial and Retribution, The Catherine Tate Show, Coronation Street, The Street, Emmerdale, Doctors, Grange Hill, Midsomer Murders, SilentWitness, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Sharpe’s Mission, Courtroom, Grease Monkeys, Inspector Lynley Mysteries, A Touch of Frost, Final Demand, Paradise Reclaimed, and As Time Goes By.
Tessa Churchard’s theatre credits include The 39 Steps (Criterion Theatre, West End), As You Desire Me (Playhouse Theatre, West End) Noises Off (Piccadilly Theatre, West End), Family Business, Brighton Beach Memoirs and Blithe Spirit (Watford Palace Theatre), Lady Of Leisure, Still Life/ The Astonished Heart, Point Of Death (Liverpool Playhouse), Gaillileo’s Daughter, Man And Superman, Don Juan (Peter Hall Company, Bath Theatre Royal), Remember This (Royal National Theatre), Communicating Doors, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Richard III (Theatre Royal, Northampton), The Diary Of Anne Frank (Basingstoke Haymarket Theatre), Dying In The Street (The Print Room), and The Fabulist (Old Red Lion). For television and film her credits include The Coroner (BBC), EastEnders (BBC), Call The Midwife (BBC), Casualty (BBC), Dixi (CBBC), Doctors (BBC), The Grain Chest (CK Productions), Family Affairs (Talkback Thames), Harringham Harker (BBC), Jeeves And Wooster (ITV) and The Bill (Talkback Thames).
Jeremy Sams‘s directing credits include the National Theatre’s 2000 West End and Broadway revival of Noises Off, the West End musical Spend, Spend, Spend, the international tour of The Sound of Music and Oklahoma! at Chichester Festival Theatre.
Fiery Angel presents THE GOOD LIFE. Adapted and directed by Jeremy Sams based on the TV series by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey. Set and Costume Design by Michael Taylor, Lighting Design by Mark Henderson, Sound Design by Fergus O’Hare, Composition by Tim Sutton and casting by Ginny Schiller CDG.
Fiery Angel presents… THE GOOD LIFE
Adapted and directed by Jeremy Sams based on the TV series by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey
Set and Costume Design by Michael Taylor
Lighting Design by Mark Henderson
Sound Design by Fergus O’Hare
Composition by Tim Sutton
Casting by Ginny Schiller CDG
7 October – 16 October 2021
Theatre Royal Bath theatreroyal.org.uk | 01225 448 844
‘A variety of musical styles and his self-effacing charm brings laughter and warmth. The multi-coloured coat may have established his place in the West End, but it’s very obviously talent that has kept him there.’The Stage
‘fun, sexy and energetic … (his) fans thrilled to be back in the theatre, listening to charming renditions of the songs they know and love’ Broadway World
With a return to the live arena in June 2021 with a special 40th Birthday concert at the London Palladium, and an 11-date theatre tour, LEE MEAD MY BAND AND ME, the year has suddenly become very busy for the multi-talented star of stage and screen, Lee Mead. Added to this, a live DVD – Lee MeadLive in Concert, recorded at The London Palladium is set for release in November and can be pre-ordered via Lee’s website www.leemead.co.uk.
The theatre tour, LEE MEAD – MY BAND AND ME kicks off on 10 September in Lee’s home county, Essex, at the West Cliff Theatre in Clacton on Sea and runs through 31 October. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by Lee’s website.
Lee will be performing songs from his five hit albums that will include fan favourites and popular songs from the West End and Broadway. Lee will also be presenting some new material that has been written for him and that he has been writing during lockdown.
Lee, who has starred in West End shows including Joseph And The Amazing TechnicolourDreamcoat, Wicked and Legally Blonde, has also starred in touring productions of Phantom Of theOpera,Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and in 2022 will be playing Paul, the lovelorn vicar in Fat FriendsThe Musical. Lee was catapulted to fame when he won the role of Joseph in the TV show Any
Dream Will Do and has since gone on to star in the BBC One dramas, Casualty and Holby City playing Nurse Lofty and recently he played himself in the comedy hit Motherland.
During his career, Lee has performed with Josh Groban, Susan Boyle, Michael Ball and Donny Osmond to name a few and is himself a Gold-selling artist. He is delighted to be back on the road again doing what he loves most, singing fantastic songs with a wonderful live band under the direction of Musical Director Adam Dennis.
Talking about the tour Lee Mead commented “I’m so excited to get back out on the road again, not only to get the chance to play music with my band but also to experience live audiences again. There is nothing like it. I’ve missed performing so much as there is such a unique connection with theatre audience – whatever the size of the venue there is an intimacy about live performance that doesn’t compare to anything else for me.”
Stage and screen actress Dame Penelope Keith will collaborate once again with director Alan Strachan and designer Simon Higlett for Two Cigarettes in the Dark, a brand new play by Stephen Wyatt, produced by Jonathan Church Theatre Productions and Cambridge Arts Theatre.
Bright, witty, and fiercely independent, Isabel is not ready to let go just yet.
In a series of encounters with an old friend and her two sons, by turns funny, startling and poignant, home truths are exchanged, and her past begins to emerge. As Isabel confronts her own hidden regrets and family secrets, we learn what hides below the surface of this proud mother, wife, and friend. Finally, Isabel is able to make peace with her life and say goodbye.
Dame Penelope Keith said: “Following this difficult period for regional theatres I am delighted to be bringing this new play to a group of theatres and audiences who have been important to me over the years. When I read Stephen’s touching and amusing play which has at its centre a (rare to find) role for an actress of a certain age, I knew immediately I wanted to play the part and bring this play to audiences across the country.”
Dame Penelope Keith is renowned for her many acclaimed roles on stage and screen, most notably in the iconic British sitcoms The Good Life and To The Manor Born. Her recent theatre credits include The Chalk Garden, Mrs Pat, The Way of the World and Entertaining Angels (all Chichester Festival Theatre). Her most recent television appearances include Penelope Keith’s Hidden Villages and Penelope Keith’s Coastal Villages on Channel 4. She was appointed Dame Commander of the British Empire in the new year honours 2014.
THE DRESSER – Norman (Julian Clary) & Sir (Matthew Kelly). Photo: Alastair Muir
Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Everyman Theatre Productions are delighted to announce the full tour dates for Ronald Harwood’s highly acclaimed drama The Dresser starring the much loved UK entertainer Julian Clary as Norman and Olivier Award winner Matthew Kelly as ‘Sir’.
Directed by Olivier Award-winning Terry Johnson, The Dresser will run at Theatre Royal Bath from 9 September 2021, before dates at Cheltenham Everyman Theatre, Theatre Royal Brighton, Norwich Theatre Royal, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Richmond Theatre, Malvern Festival Theatre, Oxford Playhouse, Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury and newly announced– the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford and the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh where the tour finishes in February 2022.
Joining Julian Clary and Matthew Kelly in the cast are: Emma Amos as Her Ladyship, Rebecca Charles as Madge, Natalie Servat as Irene, Pip Donaghy as Geoffrey Thornton, Samuel Holmes as Mr Oxenby, Robert ShawCameron as Kent, Peter Yapp as Gloucester, Stephen Cavanagh as Albany, with Claire Jeater and Michaela Bennison in the ensemble.
Inspired by memories of working as Donald Wolfit’s dresser as a young man, Ronald Harwood’s evocative, affectionate and hilarious portrait of backstage life is regarded as one of the most acclaimed dramas of modern theatre.
It is 1942 and in a war-torn provincial theatre an aging actor-manager, known to his loyal acting company as ‘Sir’, is struggling to cling on to his sanity and complete his 227th performance of King Lear. For 16 years Norman, Sir’s devoted dresser, has been there to fix Sir’s wig, massage his ego, remind him of his opening lines and provide the sound effects in the storm scene. It is down to Norman to ensure that in spite of everything, the show goes on.
Julian Clary has performed across the world and is renowned for his many successes across television, radio, film, writing and stand-up comedy. His roles on stage include Leigh Bowery in Boy George’s Taboo (West End and national tour), the Emcee in Rufus Norris’s Olivier Award winning production of Cabaret (West End), and Le Grand Mort (Trafalgar Studios). Julian also regularly performs in panto and will return to the London Palladium this Christmas. His many TV credits include Trick or Treat, Saturday Night Live, Sticky Moments, Terry and Julian, All Rise, Strictly Come Dancing, Have I Got News For You and QI. He toured the UK earlier this year with his latest one-man comedy show Born To Mince.
Matthew Kelly is an Olivier Award winning actor who is also well known for presenting the television series Stars in their Eyes and You Bet!. Matthew Kelly’s West End credits include Waiting For Godot with Ian McKellen and Roger Rees, BigThe Musical (Dominion), Funny Peculiar, Sign of the Times, Lend Me A Tenor!, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and as Lennie in Of Mice and Men (Savoy) for which he received the Olivier Award for Best Actor. Other recent theatre credits include Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art, Pride & Prejudice (Regents Park & UK Tour), and Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare’s Globe). His many television credits include the award-winning Cold Blood, Benidorm, Bleak House and Moving On.
Ronald Harwood was an Academy Award, Palme d’Or and BAFTA-winning screenwriter and playwright. His plays include Taking Sides, Equally Divided and Quartet. His screenplay for the film of The Dresser received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Screenplay. His films include the Academy Award winning The Pianist, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Love in the Time of Cholera.
Terry Johnson is a dramatist and director who has won numerous theatre awards including two Olivier Awards as a playwright for Best Comedy and a Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical for La Cage Aux Folles. Other West End credits include The Libertine, End of the Rainbow, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, The Duck House, Whipping It Up and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. He recently directed Uncle Vanya at the Hampstead Theatre and has previously directed Mrs. Henderson Presents, Hysteria and The Libertine at Bath.
Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Everyman Theatre Productions present… Julian Clary and Matthew Kelly in THE DRESSER
By Ronald Harwood
Directed by Terry Johnson
Designed by Tim Shortall
9 September to 18 September 2021 Theatre Royal Bath
Box Office: 01225 448844 theatreroyal.org.uk
21 September to 25 September 2021 Cheltenham Everyman Theatre
Box office: 01242 572573 everymantheatreorg.uk
The true story of Britain’s strangest ever house haunting, that became a worldwide podcast hit through an 8-part series on BBC Radio Four, is coming to theatres across the UK.
‘The Battersea Poltergeist’ was a multi-million download, genre-busting phenomenon, mixing documentary and drama to tell the incredible and terrifying true story of the 1956 haunting of the
Hitchings family at the hands of a poltergeist they nicknamed Donald.
Now at this exclusive live event, you will meet the show’s creator, writer and journalist Danny Robins – who is currently making his West End writing debut with ‘2:22: A Ghost Story’ at the Noel Coward Theatre, starring Lily Allen, Julia Chan, Hadley Fraser and Jake Wood – and other guest experts from the podcast.
Together they’ll delve deeper into this paranormal cold case, bringing the investigation to life on stage, sharing exclusive footage of Shirley Hitchings and other witnesses, and revealing some stunning (and chilling) new evidence.
London date: ‘The Battersea Poltergeist – Live’ at Clapham Grand, on Halloween, October 31, 2021 at 7.30pm (doors at 6.30pm)
Clapham Grand is located just minutes from the site of the actual haunting at 63 Wycliffe Road.
Dubbed Britain’s strangest ever haunting; it was a poltergeist case that spanned an incredible 12-year period. At its height, became a major national news story, with newspaper headlines about strange noises, flying objects, exorcisms and ghostly communication. An attempt was even made to contact the poltergeist on live prime-time TV on the BBC and it was discussed by the Home Secretary in the House of Commons.
At ‘The Battersea Poltergeist – Live’ there will be a Q&A so you can put your questions about the case and the making of the series to Danny and his team of experts!
Are you #TeamSceptic or #TeamBeliever? Be part of the investigation that’s spurred millions of listeners worldwide to become supernatural sleuths.
Produced by James Seabright.
Danny Robins at Wycliffe Road, Battersea – where the haunting happened. Photo: Simon Barnard
Critically acclaimed and Olivier Award-nominated for their uncanny portrayal of the legendary comedy duo, Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, IAN ASHPITEL & JONTY STEPHENS as ‘ERIC & ERN’ is touring the UK from Tuesday 5 October, 2021 (full tour dates attached).
A festive version of the show, IAN ASHPITEL & JONTY STEPHENS as ERIC & ERN AT CHRISTMAS, will play Plymouth Theatre Royal on 27 November and a week-long season at The Lowry in Salford, 6 – 12 December.
Crammed full of renditions of those famous comedy sketches, and coupled with contemporary references in their unique style, the show evokes memories of times when whole families would huddle around the telly on Sunday evenings to share in the much-loved antics of Britain’s national treasures.
As seen on BBC One’s The One Show and ITV1’s The Alan Titchmarsh Show, the performances contain some of the first new writing in the style of Morecambe & Wise material in over thirty years.
Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stephens have been performing and writing as Eric and Ern for more than five years. The research into their subjects is there for all to see in their staggeringly accurate portrayal of the most successful and much loved British comedy duo of all time. The performers themselves have a wonderful relationship with the families and estates of Morecambe & Wise – with all scripts given the families’ seal of approval before being performed.
“I have been fascinated with Eric Morecambe for as long as I can remember,” says Jonty. “I took on his persona at school and it never really left me. He was the funniest and loveliest of men. We both feel it’s a privilege to play Eric and Ernie and some people have said it’s like we’re channeling them – some nights it does feel like that.”
Ian said: “We do treasure the relationship we have with each other – as did Eric and Ernie – and I think it’s obvious that we love performing the comedy of Morecambe and Wise.”
Ian and Jonty met at drama school over 30 years ago and continued their friendship playing golf together at The Stage Golf Society in Richmond. When Jonty was asked to play Eric at a charity show he knew that with his short fat hairy legs Ian would be the perfect Ernie Wise. Having brought the house down the two then wrote some ‘bespoke’ material for their friends at the golf club.
It was these performances which set them off on an incredible journey, with rave reviews at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, an acclaimed West End season at the Vaudeville Theatre, and an Olivier Award nomination for ‘the play wot we wrote’ – ‘Eric and Little Ern’.
Jonty said: “More importantly, the audiences love watching it – which is always handy. But it’s more than just watching a comedy show – there’s a real emotional connection, because we all remember watching it together. The audience reaction has been amazing.
Creative team:
Director: Daniel Clarkson
Choreographer: Nicola Keen
Set Design: Louie Whitemore
Lighting Design: Zoe Spurr
Marketing: Karen Benstead
Producers: Ian Ashpitel, Jonty Stephens, Martin Clarkson
Associate Producer: Joshua Beaumont
“I never thought I’d See Morecambe and Wise live. I think I just have!” Ben Elton
“Wonderfully affectionate performances. They were both absolutely brilliant” Lord Grade, former agent to Morecambe and Wise, who negotiated the duo’s move from ATV to BBC2 in 1968
RADLETT – Radlett Centre
Tuesday 5 October at 7.30pm
01923 859 291 radlettcentre.co.uk
Dial M for Murder is to resume UK tour dates this autumn with The X Factor songstress – now renowned for her acting roles – Diana Vickers joining the production alongside Tom Chambers, Christopher Harper and Michael Salami as they resume their roles in the genre-defining thriller.
Performances begin on Tuesday 31 August at Leicester’s Curve Theatre. The show then plays at the Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury; Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool; Churchill Theatre, Bromley; Theatre Clwyd, Mold; Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham; Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield, Milton Keynes Theatre; New Theatre, Cardiff; Palace Theatre, Southend; The Lowry, Salford before concluding its run at the Malvern Theatre in December.
The new production of Frederick Knott’s stage and screenplay – made world-famous by Hitchcock’s iconic 1954 film – is directed by Anthony Banks and began performances at the Richmond Theatre on Tuesday 14 January 2020.
TV and stage favourite, Tom Chambers, (Top Hat, Strictly Come Dancing) stars as the charismatic and manipulative Tony Wendice, a jaded ex-tennis pro who has given it all up for his wife Margot, played by Diana Vickers. When he discovers she has been unfaithful his mind turns to revenge and the pursuit of the ‘perfect crime’. Christopher Harper(Coronation Street, Strangers on a Train) performs in the dual roles of Captain Lesgate and Inspector Hubbard and Michael Salami (Hollyoaks) as Max Halliday, Margot’s lover.
Tom Chambers plays Tony Wendice. Tom’s theatre credits include: Crazy For You (UK tour); Private Lives (UK tour); White Christmas (Dominion); Top Hat (Aldwych); White Christmas (Sunderland Empire); The Rover (Young Vic Studio); Journey’s End (Courtyard Theatre); Bloody Poetry (Brockley Jack Theatre); Pendragon (City Theatre Broadway NYMT and Sadler’s Wells); October’s Children (NYMT and Hammersmith Lyric); Cyrano De Bergerac and Macbeth (Derby Rep Theatre); Damn Yankees (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre); The Innocents (Derby Playhouse) and Stepping Out (Electric GSA). Film includes: Fakers and Great in Britain: the Movie. Television includes: Midsomer Murders, Emmerdale, Casualty, Father Brown, The Great Train Robbery, Waterloo Road and Holby City. Radio includes: Mellow Magic every Saturday 10am-1pm.
Diana Vickers appears as Margot Wendice. Diana first came to public attention as a semi-finalist on The X Factor in 2008 and is remembered for her heart-felt, barefoot performances. Her theatre credits include: The Entertainer(dir. Sean O’Connor); Little Voice (West End); I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical, Myth (dir. Arlene Philips); Son of A Preacher Man (dir. Craig Revel-Howood); Big (Theatre Royal Plymouth); The Rocky Horror Show (ATG tour) and The Duck House (dir Terry Johnson). Film includes: Awaiting (dir. Mark Murphy); To Dream (dir. Nicole Albarelli)and The Perfect Wave (dir. Bruce MacDonald). Television work includes: Josh (BBC3), Top Coppers and Give out Girls.
Christopher Harper performs as Captian Lesgate and Inspector Hubbard. Christopher’s theatre credits include: Strangers on a Train (UK tour); Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s’ Globe); Slipping (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough); The Wind in the Willows,Man of the Moment and Private Fears in Public Places (Royal & Derngate); I Know How I Feel About Eve (Hampstead Downstairs); The Night Before Christmas (Different Breed); The Village Bike (Sheffield Crucible Studio); A Kid Like Jake (Old Vic New Voices); OurCountry’s Good and Journey’s End (Original Theatre Company); Persuasion, After Miss Julie and People at Sea (Salisbury Playhouse); Saturn Returns (Finborough Theatre); Light Shining in Buckinghamshire and Lie of the Land (Arcola). Television includes: Holby City, Endeavour, Coronation Street, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, Doctors, Upstairs Downstairs, The Bill, Heartbeat, The Roman Mysteries, Housewife 49,Life on Mars and Rosemary and Thyme. Chris also produced and voiced the award-winning charity animation The Mouse.
Michael Salami is Max Halliday. Michael Salami is a multi-award-winning actor. Born in America and raised in London, Salami discovered his passion for acting in 2007. Salami made his first on-stage appearance at Oval Theatre in 2010 and has since then performed at The Old Vic, Soho Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, Southwark Playhouse and Theatre503. Salami studied at Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York graduating in 2016 and since then has appeared in Hollyoaks; Catastrophe; The Temple and Magic Hour. His leading role in Just A Couple has landed him a number of nominations and awards such as a Screen Nation Award for Best Actor. Just A Couple is now in full development with Channel 4.
During lockdown Tom Chambers, Christopher Harper and Michael Salami continued their theatrical collaboration, starring together in Apollo 13: The Dark Side of the Moon, an online dramatization of the troubled 1970 lunar mission which won celebrated reviews.
Anthony Banks directs Frederick Knott’s Dial M For Murder,adding to credits that recently includeGaslight andStrangers on a Train. His production of the hit thriller, Girl on a Train, continues to tour the UK. The creative team is completed by David Woodhead, Designer; Katy Osborne, Resident Director; Lizzie Powell, Lighting Designer; Ben & Max Ringham, Sound Design; Betty Marini, Wigs Supervisor; Siobhan Boyd, Costume Supervisor, Luke Child as Production Manager and Alison de Burgh as Fight Director.
Dial M For Murder is produced by Simon Friend and Gavin Kalin.
DIAL M FOR MURDER 2021 TOUR DATES
Curve Theatre, Leicester / Box Office: 0116 242 3595 / Tue 31 Aug – Sat 4 Sept / www.curveonline.co.uk
Perry and Croft’s classic BBC sitcom is brought gloriously to life in three episodes of the hugely popular television series hilariously and lovingly enacted by two master performers.
David Benson (‘Goodnight Sweetheart’ and ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’) and Jack Lane (‘Wisdom of a Fool’ and ‘7 Days’) transport the audience right back to Walmington, working from original radio scripts – complete with sound effects, vintage music and all of Perry and Croft’s beloved characters and catchphrases. Highly acclaimed by critics and by audiences of all ages.
Featuring three episodes newly adapted for stage:
‘When You’ve Got To Go’
Prviate Pike passes his call-up medical A1 (in spite of his chronically bad chest, his painful sinuses, his weak ankles and recently acquired nervous twitch). At the evening’s parade, Mainwaring and the platoon decide to celebrate Private Pike’s departure with a dinner in his honor at the local fish and chip restaurant.
‘My Brother and I’
Just as Captain Mainwaring gives the go-ahead for a sherry party with local dignitaries, his drunken brother, Barry, turns up to spoil the occasion.
‘Never Too Old’
The final ever episode of ‘Dad’s Army’, originally broadcast on Sunday 13 November 1977. The wedding reception of Lance Corporal Jones and Mrs Fox is interrupted as the platoon are put on full invasion alert.
Jack Lane said, “We love ‘Dad’s Army’ as much our audiences do and it is a privilege for us to have the opportunity to share our delight in our nation’s best-loved sit-com with audience’s all over the UK, Our aim has always been to be as true to the original, in finding the voices and mannerisms of the characters, as possible. No messing about it with it or trying to be ‘cleverer than it was’ by sending it up.”
Sound Designer Daniel Barnes. Original Production directed by Owen Lewis. Produced by Engine Shed and Something For The Weekend.
David Benson
Best-known for his performance as Noel Coward in the BBC’s classic war-time comedy ‘Goodnight Sweetheart’. David exploded onto the theatre scene with his first solo show ‘Think No Evil of Us: My Life With Kenneth Williams’, in 1996. The show became an instant classic, winning praises from audiences, critics and Dames Maggie Smith and Barbara Windsor for the accuracy of his portrayal as the ‘Carry On’ star. He followed this with a succession of solo shows on a wide variety of subjects, including Frankie Howerd, Dr. Johnson, the death of Diana Princess of Wales and an award-winning examination of the Lockerbie bombing.
David was a member of the National Theatre’s smash hit comedy ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’ with James Corden, playing 1,015 performances of the show. He appears in the film ‘Blade Runner 2049’ as a hologram of Liberace!
David was nominated for a BBC Audio Best Actor Award for his portrayal as Frankie Howerd in ‘Frankie Takes a Trip’.
David describes Dad’s Army Radio Show as “the best idea I ever had” and inviting Jack Lane to perform it with him, “the second best idea I ever had!”
Jack Lane
Jack founded Engine Shed Theatre Company in 2010. He soon adapted three episodes and two Christmas specials of the classic BBC sitcom ‘Steptoe and Son’ receiving approval from the original writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. In 2015 Jack premiered ‘Wisdom of a Fool’, a self-penned one-man play based on the life and career of comedy icon, Norman Widsom. The play opened to critical acclaim and was endorsed by Wisdom’s estate before embarking on an extensive tour.
Theatre includes: ‘A Christmas Carol’, ‘Dad’s Army Radio Show’ (Edinburgh Festival/National Tour), ‘Wisdom of a Fool’ (National Tour), ‘The Ambassadress’ (workshop), ‘Great Britain’ (ASM, Theatre Royal Haymarket), ‘Gretel and Hansel,’ ‘Cue for a Song’, ‘Steptoe & Son’, ‘From Turner To Houston’, ‘National Theatre Connections’, ‘Steptoe & Son Christmas Special’, ‘The Wizard of Oz’, ‘Aladdin’, ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens’, ‘Confusions’, ‘Annie’, ‘That’s
Entertainment’ (The Capitol, Horsham) and as Max Bialystock in ‘The Producers’ (The Hawth).
Film includes: ‘7 Days’ (Pixel Revolution Films)
TV includes: ‘Twirlywoos’ (BBC/Ragdoll)
Radio includes: ‘Casting the Runes ‘(Bafflegab Productions) and ‘Barbara Windsor Celebrates’ (BBC Radio 2)
Cast: David Benson (@DavidBensonSays)
Jack Lane (@RealJackLane)
Joe Pasquale as Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do ‘Av ‘Em. Photo: Scott Rylander
The producers of the highly acclaimed UK tour of Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em are delighted to announce rescheduled dates in 2022. This second UK tour was cut short when theatres were closed by the Government because of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, but is due to recommence on Tuesday 29 March 2022 at The Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage.
The stage adaptation of Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em is by Guy Unsworth, based on the original TV series by Raymond Allen.
Joe Pasquale will reprise the role of the loveable but accident-prone Frank Spencer, with Sarah Earnshaw as his long-suffering wife Betty. Both are due to star in the UK tour of April in Paris from 17 May 2021, making it one of the very first stage shows to open this year.
Joe Pasquale said “sadly we had to close the show just three weeks into the tour in March 2020 when the pandemic started, so I cannot wait until I can once again don the iconic mac of Frank Spencer in one of Britain’s funniest comedies of all time.”
Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em will now play The Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage from 29 March – 2 April, Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford from 5 – 9 April, The Beck Theatre, Hayes from 12 – 16 April, Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Newcastle from 17 – 21 May, Richmond Theatre from 31 May – 4 June, The Orchard Theatre, Dartford from 7 – 11 June, Aylesbury Waterside Theatre from 21 – 25 June, Palace Theatre, Southend from 12 – 16 July, The Alexandra, Birmingham from 19 – 23 July, Stoke Regent Theatre from 26 – 30 July, St Helens Theatre Royal from 2 – 6 August and Kings Theatre Portsmouth from 9 – 13 August. Further venues to be announced.
Comedian Joe Pasquale has delighted audiences with his live stand-up tours for over 30 years. Along the way, he’s voiced characters for Hollywood movies Garfield: A Tale of Two Kittens and Horton Hears a Who!, children’s television animation Frankenstein’s Cat and starred in The Muppets’ 25th Anniversary Show. Joe made his theatrical debut in 1999 in Larry Shue’s The Nerd, followed by the touring productions of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Mel Brooks’s The Producers. In addition, Joe took part recently in ITV1’s The All New Monty: Who Bares Wins, he was crowned ‘King of the Jungle’ in ITV’s I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here in 2004, appeared on five Royal Variety Performances, hosted his own ITV special An Audience with Joe Pasquale, at times hosted ThePaul O’Grady Show for Channel 4 and hosted the long-running television series The Price is Right for ITV. Other recent TV credits include a celebrity edition of Total Wipeout; Guinness World Records Smashed and Virgin One’s The Prisoner X.
Prior to playing Betty in Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Sarah Earnshaw most recently starred as Connie in The Nightingales (Theatre Royal Bath & UK Tour) and Jennifer Lore in the UK Tour of Nativity – The Musical. Her other theatre credits include Travels With My Aunt (Chichester Festival), The Lady of the Lake in Spamalot (West End and UK Tour) and the original London cast of Wicked.
Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em is directed by Guy Unsworth and designed by Simon Higlett, with lighting design by Matt Haskins, sound design by Ian Horrocks-Taylor and choreography by Jenny Arnold.
The UK Tour will be produced by Limelight Productions.