We’re beginning to see the fruits of some more of the lockdown programming that has seen theatres across England respond in a variety of impressive ways
Nottingham Playhouse’s Unlocked Festival continues to rocket up the must-see list as it announces more details. Their local writing commission has ended up with two winners – Wayward Thread’s Hand Me Down and Lapelle’s Factory’s Shuck, both of which will now receive work-in-progress performances as part of the festival.
Casting has also been announced for James Graham’s Bubble, which will star the marvellous Pearl Mackie and the equally marvellous Jessica Raine. They join the likes of Mark Gatiss and Jade Anouka reading ghost stories on
Halloween, new work from Naomi Obeng and a concert starring Rosalie Craig, Sandra Marvin and Jodie Prenger.
The Barn Theatre has announced casting for their 2020 Theatre Recovery Season productions of Marry Me A Little and Peter Pan. Rob Houchen (Les Misérables, The Light in the Piazza) and Celinde Schoenmaker (Rocketman, The Phantom of the Opera) will star in the new revival production of the Stephen Sondheim musical Marry Me A Little from 16th October to 8th November.
Waylon Jacobs (Hamilton, Memphis, The Last Five Years) will star in the title role of the world premiere of Alan Pollock’s new adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic story Peter Pan. The production, conceived and directed by Kirk Jameson, follows a man determined not to miss bedtime, so he recreates his daughter’s favourite bedtime story in a hotel room three thousand miles from home.
The RSC are marking Black History Month by airing a new online audio dramatisation of Juliet Gilkes-Romero’s The Whip, a play which places Britain’s slave-owning past in the spotlight. The original cast, whose production was cut short by Covid-19, have re-united under Kimberley Sykes’ direction and the recording will premiere on the RSC YouTube channel on Thursday 29th October at 7pm.
And not only that, commemorating the 75th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the original cast and creative team of RSC’s Oppenheimer re-unite for a one-off, online play-reading. Tom Morton-Smith’s production featured a towering lead performance from John Heffernan so be sure to tune in on YouTube on Thursday 15th October at 7pm.
Chichester Festival Theatre’s production of Sarah Kane’s Crave has revealed its full cast. Wendy Kweh and Jonathan Slinger join the already announced Erin Doherty and Alfred Enoch as director Tinuke Craig gets to play in a socially distanced main auditorium. Running from 29th October to 7th November, the play will also be live-streamed in November.
