Plymouth. Barbican Theatre’s ‘Flourish’

Uncanny Theatre at the Barbican, Plymouth and on tour

The Barbican Theatre embarks on its second year of Flourish after a sell out first season. The new theatre company Uncanny Theatre are thrilled to be opening Flourish 2012. Uncanny Theatre will perform ‘Optimism’ on Friday 10th February at 7.30pm. All tickets £5 – £10.

Uncanny Theatre are performing the dark comedy as part of a national tour, the show has received enthusiastic reviews wherever it has played, including from Iain Bloomfield, of Bradford Theatre in the Mill, who said: “Optimism is a total, if dark, delight that wryly fillets our notions of romantic love and the body beautiful. Clever in both its use of the physical and the emotional it is, in turns, hilarious and horrific without ever losing its sense of ‘fun’… and by that I mean genuine, childlike, fun that can at one time be ridiculous and deeply, deeply serious. An absolute joy of a first show by a new company.”

The show, a twisted tale of desire and self-worth told through the eyes of an idiot, is based on the premise that most people know when they’ve made a wrong decision but what happens when someone is convinced that theirs is the right one?

Papatango Playwriting Competition Opens 14 Feb 2012

Foxfinder was last year's Papatango winner

The Papatango Playwriting Competition 2012 offers two playwrights the opportunity to have their plays professionally produced at the Finborough Theatre in December 2012. The winner will receive a four week run at the Finborough Theatre and have their script published by Nick Hern Books, and one runner-up will receive a three week run.

The winning plays will be picked by a panel of judges that will include, amongst others, Howard Davies (Director), Matt Charman (Playwright), Neil McPherson (Artistic Director of the Finborough Theatre), Francis Grin (Senior Reader at the Finborough Theatre), Con O’Neill (Actor), Tanya Tillett (Rod Hall Agency), Blanche McIntyre (former Leverhulme Bursary Associate Director at the National Theatre Studio and the Finborough Theatre, and director of last year’s winning play) and the writer of last year’s winner, Dawn King.

Please send submissions via email only to scripts.papatango@gmail.com

The Competition opening date is 14 February 2012.
The final deadline for entries is 1 May 2012 at midnight.
The longlist will be announced around 1 July 2012.
The final shortlist will be announced around 21 August 2012.
The winning plays will be announced on 1 September 2012.
The winning productions will run at the Finborough Theatre, London, from Tuesday, 27 November to Friday, 22 December 2012.

For a full list of all the judges and full details on how to enter, please visit the Papatango website at www.papatango.co.uk

 

 

Fringe Report Awards Announced

The winners of the last ever Fringe Report awards have been announced. The presentation of the Awards will take place at the Leicester Square Theatre on 6 February.

Elliot Grove (Outstanding Achievement Award – Film)

Steve Forster (Best PR – Theatre)

Flavia Fraser-Cannon (Best Creative – Producer, Photographer, Publicist)

Paul L Martin (Best Producer – Cabaret)

Sibyl Madrigal (Best Music Curator – for Boat-Ting)

Performers Without Borders (Best Encouragers of Talent)

Steve Henwood & Wendy Matthews (Best Festival Directors)

Guy Chapman (Outstanding Achievement Award – PR)

Kiki Kendrick - Best creative, actor and writer

Kiki Kendrick (Best Creative – Actor and Writer)

Becky Talbot (Best Presenter – Radio)

Kevin Sampson (Outstanding Achievement Award – Literature & Film)

Vocal Motions Elastic Theatre (Best Theatre Company)

Sasha Regan (Best Venue Director)

Adam Morley (Best Director – Theatre & Film)

Ricky Dukes (Best Artistic Director (Lazarus Theatre Company))

James Hyland (Best Performer – Solo Show (for A Christmas Carol / Jacob Marley))

Paul Sayers & Simon Bolton (Best Shakespeare Producers (Rooftop Theatre))

Paul Levy (Best Publisher)

Tactful Cactus (Best Short Film – Starcrossed)

Alison Wright (Best PR – Arts)

Stuart Price (Best Creative – Director & Writer)

Laura Pitt-Pulford (Best Performer – Musical (for Parade at Southwark Playhouse)

Alexander Parsonage (Best Artistic Director (Finger In The Pie))

Andy McQuade (Best Director – Theatre)

Catherine Brogan (Best Poet)

These awards will be presented in London on Monday 6 February 2012 – details of the event are at http://www.fringereport.com/12awards.php

Paper Cinema’s Odyssey – Battersea Arts Centre in Feb

Live Animation for Adults

Raging storms and supernatural forces prevail over one man’s almighty quest to get home. Immerse yourself in a journey through the high seas, soak up the adventure and encounter danger and exhilaration.

Homer’s cornerstone of literature is vividly told with beautiful illustration and masterful puppetry. Cinematic projection and cunning tricks transform a suitcase full of cut-out paper puppets into an array of living characters and striking landscapes. A silent film is created before your eyes, set to a captivating live score from exceptional musicians.

2 – 25 Feb, 7:30pm
Price: £15, £10 concs (£8 previews)
Booking and info: http://www.bac.org.uk/whats-on/paper-cinemas-odyssey-scratch/

The Last Ever Fringe Report Awards – Reserve Your Place!

The last ever Fringe Report awards will be held on 6th February 2012 at the Leicester Square Theatre in London’s West End. It’s free to attend and now is the time to reserve your place. For full details, go to:

http://www.fringereport.com/12awards.php

Celebrating everything that is best in fringe performance and events, this will be a landmark occasion, so if you want to come, reserve your place now.

 

 

Festival of emerging mime, puppetry and cabaret

Coming to Enfield in June

This June, Finger in the Pie are curating a month long festival of emerging Mime, Puppetry and Cabaret performances  in the Dugdale Theatre part of Millfield Arts Centre, in Enfield north London. They are currently programming stand-alone mime, puppetry and cabaret performances. Organisers are also considering screenings of films, documentaries and animations related to the themes.

Slots range from short runs, to one off nights, and there are a variety of different slot lengths and times available. If you’d be interested in submitting your show, then you will need to fill in the online application form at this address:
http://www.fingerinthepie.com/emerging/EmergingFestival/Submission_Form.html

The organisers are not currently looking for individual acts and performers – they will be announcing opportunities for individuals to get involved later.

 

 

Open Audition for British Musical

Show opens at West Yorkshire Playhouse 16 June

Young, fresh and undiscovered performers from across the country have the opportunity to audition for new British musical Loserville, written by Elliot Davis and James Bourne (a former member of pop-rock bands Busted and Son of Dork). On Saturday 28 January at West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, and on Monday 6 February in London, open auditions are being held to find talented actors, singers and dancers to fill principal roles for this original musical. Loserville – if you can’t predict the future…invent it!

Internationally renowned director Steven Dexter and the creative team behind Loserville are throwing open the doors of their auditioning rooms and inviting everyone with a passion for performance to come and showcase their talent. Strong actors/singers/dancers are required with a playing age of 17 – 19. All performers must be available from 14 May – 14 July for all rehearsals and performances. To audition performers must be at least 16 on the day of the auditions. All audition spots must be booked in advance.

To book an open audition in Leeds at West Yorkshire Playhouse call the box office on 0113 213 7700.

To book an open audition in London please visit http://www.vosser-casting.co.uk/news.html to download an application form.

 

 

Greenwich Playhouse set to close

Ends with a bloody tragedy

Closing in April - The Greenwich Playhouse

The Greenwich Playhouse will close its doors on the 10th April 2012 after twenty years of service to theatre and following a final production by Galleon Theatre Company of Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi. The theatre’s landlords have decided not to renew the venue’s lease, in order to exploit commercial opportunities offered by the Olympics.

The Playhouse is located in a building which has housed a studio theatre since 1989. Galleon Theatre Company took residency at the venue in 1995 and has since staged an impressive body of work. The theatre stages in the region of 12-14 theatre productions each year and these generate work and entertainment for some 15,000 people.

Discussions are taking place with Greenwich Council, who have been active supporters of the organisation, to find a new home in the borough.

 

www.galleontheatre.co.uk

Lion and Unicorn announces plans for Jan to March

World Premieres plus Irish and French Shows

The Lion and Unicorn theatre has announced its plans for early 2012.

Dance Class - on now at the Lion and Unicorn

They include World Premieres of ‘Dance Class’ by Andre Radmall and John Thompson’s ‘A Russian Play’ directed by David Salter, run throughout January and February respectively.

The season concludes in March over the week of St Patrick’s day with ‘Recovery Position’ by Irish playwrights Maria Kennedy & Caroline Byrne.

Exchange Theatre will be returning in February and July with some fresh French Theatre. after their sell out Bastille Week in 2011.

The Lion and Unicorn has been nominated for 11 Offwestend.com awards. If you would like to vote for them (or anyone else!), go to www.offwestend.com and register there.

More info on the Lion and Unicorn at www.giantolive.com

 

 

 

 

Body Heat: Second Skin’s ‘La Chunga’

‘When a woman falls in love, she becomes weak’

Second Skin Theatre has announced the return of La Chunga, by Mario Vargas Llosa, 2010 Nobel Prize Winner for Literature. This dark and disturbing drama set in 1950s Peru runs from January 24th to February 19th 2012 at the Phoenix Artist Club in the West End.

Victoria Grove

Under Artistic Director Andy McQuade’s powerful direction, this masterful tale of fantasy and delusion finds self-styled ‘superstuds’ whiling away the hours over endless drinking and games of dice at the infamous ‘Chunga’s Bar’. The arrival of the beautiful Meche exposes their innermost desires and dreams until even the impervious bar owner, Chunga herself, falls under the spell of this enigmatic beauty.

In Llosa’s own words, La Chunga was written ”to project into dramatic fiction the human totality of actions and dreams, acts and fantasies.”

The Phoenix Artist Club provides a subterranean setting for this exploration of morality and sexuality that reveals what occurs deep in the Peruvian psyche.

www.phoenixartistclub.com