Olivier award-winner David Haig will star in David Hare’s Racing Demons from 21 June to 8 July, directed by Jonathan Church
BAFTA winner Edward Fox will star in Hugh Whitemore’s Sand in the Sandwiches from 11 to 15 July, directed by Gareth Armstrong
UK premiere of Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest from 21 July to 12 August, directed by Simon Phillips
Oliver award winner Henry Goodman stars in the world premiere of Alan Franks’ Looking at Lucian from 3 August to 2 September at the Ustinov Studio, directed by Tom Attenborough
Alan Bennett’s classic play The Lady in the Van from 16 August to 2 September, directed by Jonathan Church
PRIORITY BOOKING OPENS
SATURDAY 11 MARCH AT 10AM
with general on-sale on Monday 27 March at 10am
Jonathan Church succeeds Peter Hall as Artistic Director, who established the Theatre Royal Bath Summer Season in 2003 with his company’s annual residencies. Church was previously Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre, overseeing over 100 productions including Taken at Midnight, ENRON, Macbeth with Sir Patrick Stewart, Sweeney Todd and Gypsy. Following his departure from Chichester Festival Theatre, Jonathan Church set up his own independent production company, which he will continue to lead alongside his new position at Theatre Royal Bath. Church said:
‘Having regularly seen the work at Theatre Royal Bath under Peter Hall’s directorship, I’m extremely proud to be the new Director of Bath’s summer seasons and hope to continue Peter’s tradition of bringing great artists to Bath and to balance the familiar with the new. A summer season for me always needs an element of festival and celebration about it and I hope that with this programme of work we are celebrating a number of iconic storytellers – David Hare, Alan Bennett, Hugh Whitemore and Alfred Hitchcock, alongside a group of extraordinary actors.’
RACING DEMONS Wednesday 21 June – Saturday 8 July
Jonathan Church will direct Olivier Award-winner David Haig as Lionel Espy in David Hare’s multi-award winning play Racing Demons, which tackles the role of the clergy and the church’s role in modern Britain. Further casting will be announced in due course.
David Haig has previously performed at Theatre Royal Bath in The Madness of George III and King Lear. Other recent theatre credits include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (Old Vic), Blue/Orange (Young Vic), Guys & Dolls (Savoy Theatre) and Our Country’s Good (Royal Court), for which he won the Olivier Award. Notable film and television credits include Four Weddings and a Funeral, Witness for the Prosecution, The Thick of It and Mo.
David Hare is one of the UK’s foremost playwrights and screenwriters with plays including The Judas Kiss, Skylight, Amy’s View and Plenty. He received Academy Award nominations for his adaptations of The Hours and The Reader.
SAND IN THE SANDWICHES Tuesday 11 July – Saturday 15 July
Following an acclaimed sell-out run at Chichester Festival Theatre, triple BAFTA winner Edward Fox will return to Bath in the celebrated one-man play exploring the life and work of poet John Betjeman. Written by Hugh Whitemore and directed by Gareth Armstrong, Sand in the Sandwiches celebrates a man famous not only for light verse and laughter, but for his passions, his sense of purpose and his unforgettable poetry.
Edward Fox’s distinguished career counts iconic British films including the Oscar winning Ghandi, The Day of the Jackal, A Bridge Too Far, Oh! What a Lovely War, The Dresser, The Go-Between and James Bond’s Never Say Never Again. His stage credits include: The Audience, Four Quartets, Hamlet, An Evening with Anthony Trollope and Letter of Resignation.
Hugh Whitemore, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, is an award-winning writer whose work spans stage and screen. Theatre credits include As You Desire Me, Stevie, Pack of Lies and The Best of Friends. Films credits include Jane Eyre (1996) and 84 Charing Cross Road. With over 70 television credits, Whitemore has written for broadcasters in both the UK and USA, winning two Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Awards and two Emmy Awards.
Gareth Armstrong specialises in solo performance and has helped to create a dozen such theatre pieces, including Hugh Whitemore’s My Darling Clemmie and his own dramatisation of Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis, called Wilde Without the Boy.
NORTH BY NORTHWEST Friday 21 July – Saturday 12 August
Following its world premiere in Melbourne, Alfred Hitchcock’s supreme comedy of suspense North by Northwest will receive its UK premiere at Theatre Royal Bath in a new stage adaptation of Hitchcock’s film by Carolyn Burns, directed by Simon Phillips.
Carolyn Burns’ latest work includes the stage adaptation of Australian novel Ladies in Black and Good People which was performed at the International Playwriting Festival in South London.
Simon Phillips is a New Zealand-Australian director and former Artistic Director of Melbourne Theatre Company. Previous theatre credits include Priscilla Queen of the Desert on Broadway and Love Never Dies in Melbourne.
Casting will be announced in due course.
LOOKING AT LUCIAN Thursday 3 August – Saturday 2 September
Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio will stage the World Premiere of mesmerising fly-on-the-wall drama Looking at Lucian by Alan Franks, directed by Tom Attenborough. Olivier Award winner Henry Goodman will star as Lucian Freud, widely regarded to be the greatest living portrait painter of our time, as he works in his Kensington Studio, painting a portrait across the course of ten months.
Henry Goodman’s extensive career includes seasons with the RSC and National Theatre. His awards include both the Olivier Award and Critics’ Circle Award for Best Actor for Trevor Nunn’s The Merchant of Venice and the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for Assassins. Other acclaimed performances include Hysteria in which he played Lucian Freud’s grandfather, Sigmund Freud, Chicago, Fiddler on the Roof, Broken Glass and Jonathan Church’s production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.
Alan Franks was a feature writer and columnist for The Times for 30 years, interviewing numerous international stars from the world of music, theatre and literature. Franks’ playwriting credits include The Mother Tongue, The Edge of the Land and A World Elsewhere.
Tom Attenborough is the Artistic Director of Rhapsody of Words Productions, Associate Director of the Watermill Theatre and Artistic Associate of HighTide Festival Theatre. Attenborough’s directing credits include Burbage’s Farewell (Minerva Theatre Chichester), Twelfth Night, Bell Book & Candle (US & UK Tour), Untold Stories (Watermill) and The 24 Hour Plays (The Old Vic).
THE LADY IN THE VAN Wednesday 16 August – Saturday 2 September
Jonathan Church will direct the closing production of the 2017 Summer Season, Alan Bennett’s classic play The Lady in the Van. Casting will be announced in due course.
Originally a memoir, a radio series, and recently a film, The Lady in the Van is the touching, uplifting and wonderfully funny story of Miss Mary Shepherd, a homeless woman, who temporarily moved her clapped out Bedford van into Alan Bennett’s front garden at Gloucester Crescent, Camden. She remained parked there for the next 15 years.
Alan Bennett’s extensive credits include Single Spies, Talking Heads, The Madness of King George, The History Boys and Enjoy.
Sand in the Sandwiches By Hugh Whitemore Directed by Gareth Armstrong Dates: Tuesday 11 July – Saturday 15 July Performance schedule: Tuesday – Saturday, 7.30pm; Matinees Wednesday & Saturday 2.30pm Prices: £19.50 – £35.50
North by Northwest Adapted for the stage from Alfred Hitchcock’s film by Carolyn Burns Directed by Simon Phillips Dates: Friday 21 July – Saturday 12 August
Looking at Lucian By Alan Franks Directed by Tom Attenborough Designed by Carla Goodman Dates: Thursday 3 August – Saturday 2 September Press Night: Thursday 10 August, 7pm Performance schedule: Monday – Saturday, 7.30pm; Matinees Thursday & Saturday, 2.30pm (No matinees 3 or 10 August) Prices: £24.50 / £17.50 concessions (Previews: £15)
● Neil Bartlett to direct his new adaptation of Albert Camus’ modern classic, THE PLAGUE
● RSC Associate Artist Greg Hicks to play the title role in William Shakespeare’s RICHARD III, directed by Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen
● Amy Draper to direct THESE TREES ARE MADE OF BLOOD, blending cabaret and original music to tell a vital story from Argentina’s Dirty War
● Lourdes Faberes to play TAMBURLAINE in Yellow Earth’s radical retelling of Christopher Marlowe’s classic, adapted and directed by Ng Choon Ping
● Helena Bell, Artistic Director of Kali Theatre, to direct the world premiere of READY OR NOT by Naylah Ahmed, as part of a UK tour
● Award-winning new play THE PULVERISED by Alexandra Badea to receive its UK premiere in a co-production by Arcola, Changing Face & York Theatre Royal
Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen said:
“Arcola’s new season confronts tyranny – the tyranny of people by rulers (Richard III, Tamburlaine, These Trees), states of emergency (The Plague, Ready Or Not) and work in the global economy (The Pulverised). At a time when the world order is under strain – but also when ordinary people are feeling the strain of that change – these plays offer a chance to reflect on our afflictions, and on ways we might resist the worst excesses of power. In-keeping with Arcola’s commitment to diverse theatre, the season features new productions from leading BAMER companies Yellow Earth and Kali Theatre. Half of the shows are directed by women, including two original works by female playwrights.”
Studio 1
Studio 1 is now a fully producing house.
Arcola Theatre presents three productions this season:
5 April – 6 May 2017 Arcola Theatre presents
THE PLAGUE
based on La Peste by Albert Camus
Adapted and directed by Neil Bartlett
“April 29th; lunchtime. Found Mr Michel in the street outside the apartment. Walk unsteady. Eyes unnaturally bright.”
Dr Rieux is noticing things. A rat on the stairs, where it has no right to be. A sore throat becoming a fever. The first signs of panic. It all amounts to a troubling diagnosis… so what’s the cure?
The Plague is Albert Camus’ electrifying story about living through a time of crisis and fighting back against despair.
Written in the aftermath of the Nazis’ march across Europe, it struck a powerful chord with millions struggling to understand the fascist ‘plague’ that had just overwhelmed them.
Now, seventy years later, multi-award-winning director Neil Bartlett (Or You Could Kiss Me, National Theatre; Stella, LIFT) retells Camus’ classic for our own dangerous times. His frank and gripping new stage adaptation puts chaos under the microscope, and plants the germ of hope in the power of our common humanity.
Cast:
Joseph Alessi, Burt Caesar, Billy Postlethwaite, Sara Powell, Martin Turner
Lighting Design: Jack Weir
Sound Design: Dinah Mullen
Monday-Saturday at 7.30pm
Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 3pm
Tickets £12-£22 (previews £10-£17)
11 May – 10 June 2017 Arcola Theatre presents
RICHARD III
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Mehmet Ergen
Cast includes Greg Hicks
King Edward is on the throne, and England is at peace. But don’t worry – it won’t be that way for long.
Gripping and outrageous, Shakespeare’s Richard III is the tale of a ruthless, power-crazed misogynist who lies and cheats his way to the highest seat in the land.
Following his celebrated performances as Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Coriolanus and King Lear for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Greg Hicks takes on the role of the tyrant king Richard in this startling new production, directed by Arcola’s Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen.
“I’ll have this crown of mine cut from my shoulders before I’ll see the crown so foul misplaced.”
Further casting to be announced
Design: Anthony Lamble Lighting Design: David Howe
Photo by Alex Brenner
Monday-Saturday at 7.30pm
Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 3pm
Tickets £12-£22 (previews £10-£17)
14 June – 15 July 2017 Arcola Theatre presents
THESE TREES ARE MADE OF BLOOD
Book by Paul Jenkins
Music and Lyrics by Darren Clark
Directed by Amy Draper
Original story by Amy Draper, Paul Jenkins and Darren Clark
“And for our next act … The Magical Military Junta … Will make 30,000 people disappear before your very eyes.”
1970s Argentina. A violent, right-wing dictatorship. Thousands of citizens, seized by the authorities, have “disappeared”.
Inside the country’s most disreputable club, a mother is about to risk everything to find her missing daughter.
Spectacular, arresting and totally unique, These Trees are Made of Blood blends cabaret and original live music to tell a vital, human story from Argentina’s Dirty War.
Step into Buenos Aires for this immersive theatrical experience, which pulls back the curtain on a secretive state, and shines the spotlight on a powerful act of resistance. Following a sold-out premiere in 2015, the cabaret coup reignites at Arcola for four weeks only.
Monday-Saturday at 7.30pm
Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 3pm
Tickets £12-£22 (previews £10-£17)
Originally produced by Jim Croxford for Theatre Bench at Southwark Playhouse
Studio 2
15 March – 8 April 2017 Yellow Earth presents
TAMBURLAINE
by Christopher Marlowe Adapted and directed by Ng Choon Ping
A lowly shepherd rises to power – and conquers half the known world.
Tamburlaine is a breathtaking interrogation of power, masculinity and the limits of violence.
In his new adaptation for Yellow Earth theatre company, Ng Choon Ping directs a startling production with a British East Asian cast and live taiko drumming. Lourdes Faberes makes her Arcola debut as Tamburlaine.
As ‘strongman’ leaders exert their influence, and new power from the East asserts its growing dominance, Christopher Marlowe’s classic tale takes on a new urgency and relevance for our time.
“I mean to be a terror to the world”
Cast:
Melody Brown, Lourdes Faberes, Fiona Hampton, Susan Hingley, Amanda Maud, Leo Wan
Live taiko drumming by Joji Hirota
Design: Moi Tran Video Design: Gillian Tan Lighting Design: Neill Brinkworth Movement: Rose Ryan Dramaturgy: Stewart Melton Creative Producer: Kumiko Mendl
Photo by Suki Mok
Monday-Saturday at 8pm
Saturday matinees at 3.30pm
Tickets £17 / £14 concessions (previews £12)
Tamburlaine is supported by the Cockayne Foundation and the Foyle Foundation.
11 – 29 April 2017 Kali Theatre presents
READY OR NOT
by Naylah Ahmed Directed by Helena Bell
Why would an ordinary retired teacher take a young Muslim man hostage in her living room?
In this timely political thriller from Naylah Ahmed (winner of the Royal National Theatre Playwrights Award), an innocent encounter soon develops into a dangerous game of hide and seek with the truth.
In a world of 24-hour news, is there any escape from fear? And how can we detect the real enemy at our gates?
Kali Theatre has been presenting groundbreaking new theatre by South Asian women for over 20 years. New Artistic Director Helena Bell directs this sharp, thought-provoking world premiere, arriving in London as part of a UK tour.
Cast:
Joan Blackham, Naeem Hayat, Natasha Rickman
Design: Rajha Shakiry Lighting Design: Katharine Williams Video Design: Daniel Denton Sound Design: Chris Drohan
Monday-Saturday at 8pm
Saturday matinees at 3.30pm
Tickets £17 / £14 concessions (previews £12)
2 – 27 May 2017 Arcola Theatre, Changing Face and York Theatre Royal present
THE PULVERISED
by Alexandra Badea, translated by Lucy Phelps Directed by Andy Sava
“Stop the rat race. Stop time. Stop the money. Stop the anxiety. Stop everything that has made human beings so bitter.”
A quality assurance officer from France, a call centre manager from Senegal, a factory worker from China, and an engineer from Romania. Each leads a life apart, but all work round-the-clock for the same multinational corporation.
When work has no borders, what’s the cost? Alexandra Badea’s captivating drama is a powerful and disturbing portrait of globalisation and its far-reaching effects on our lives.
Following an explosive premiere at the National Theatre of Strasbourg, where it won the prestigious Grand Prix de la Littérature, The Pulverised arrives in the UK with a new English translation.
Cast:
Rebecca Boey, Richard Corgan, Solomon Israel, Kate Miles
Set and Costume Design: Nicolai Hart-Hansen Sound and Video Design: Ashley Ogden Lighting Design: Tom Smith Movement Director: Lanre Malaolu
Monday-Saturday at 8pm
Saturday matinees at 3.30pm
Tickets £17 / £14 concessions (previews £12)
All productions are bookable directly with the Arcola Theatre:
