Playhouse Theatre London Tickets - News & Reviews

The PLAYHOUSE THEATRE

The Royal Avenue Theatre had its first production on the 11th March 1882 with a revival of Offenbach’s Madame Favart. The prefix “Royal” was very soon dropped from the theatre’s name. Comic operas, burlesques and similar shows remained the main source of entertainment for several years. For much of this time, Arthur Roberts, a very popular star of music halls led the company at the Avenue Theatre.

In the early 1890s the emphasis of productions changed to drama and in 1894 Miss Horniman, the tea heiress, later a pioneer of the repertory movement, anonymously sponsored actress Florence Farr in a season of plays. Unfortunately, the first production wasn’t successful, however Miss Farr persuaded her friend, George Bernard Shaw, to complete his play, Arms and the Man, as a quick replacement which resulted in his first West End production.

It was enough to convince him to drop his music critique in favour of play writing. The theatre re-opened as The Playhouse Theatre on 28th January 1907 with a one-act play called The Drums of Oudh together with a play called Toddles, by Tristan Bernard and Andre Godferneaux. Since that time the Playhouse has hosted the likes of W S Gilbert, legendary actress-manager Gladys Cooper, the BBC, The Almeida Theatre Company, The Peter Hall Company, and Janet McTeer. In January 2003, Maidstone Productions took over the ownership of the Theatre.

Maidstone Productions, owned by London and Broadway producers Ted and Norman Tulchin, has been behind a number of hit productions on both sides of the Atlantic. In March 2003, the Ambassador Theatre Group took over the ownership of the Playhouse Theatre.

David Tennant to Star in West End Revival of C.P. Taylor’s Play GOOD

February 11, 2020 Last updated: April 14, 2020 7:06 pm By Admin

Dominic Cooke and Kate Horton launch their company Fictionhouse with a new West End production of C. P. Taylor’s GOOD, starring David Tennant, Fenella Woolgar and Elliot Levey. Produced by Fictionhouse and Playful Productions, GOOD will play at the Playhouse Theatre for a strictly limited season from Tuesday 6th October (Press performance Wednesday 14th October).

John Halder is a good man.
But John Halder must adapt to survive.

How is it possible to be a good person when things are falling apart?

As the world faces its Second World War, John Halder, a decent, intelligent, music-loving German professor, finds himself swept along in a movement that crescendos towards an unthinkable finale. Good is a warning for our times.

Olivier Award-winning director Dominic Cooke reimagines one of Britain’s most powerful, political plays with David Tennant returning to the West End, for 10 weeks only.

GOOD is produced in the West End by Fictionhouse and Playful Productions.

Speaking about making his West End return in GOOD, David Tennant said: “Dominic is one of the UK’s all-time great theatre directors. I am really inspired and delighted to finally get a chance to work with him, and especially on a wonderful play like C P Taylor’s GOOD – a fantastic bit of writing that is more pertinent and resonant now than it has ever been.”

Speaking about launching Fictionhouse with GOOD in the West End, Dominic Cooke said: “I have known David Tennant since he was a student and have wanted to work with him ever since. He is one of our finest actors and has the ideal combination of wit, warmth and charisma to bring John Halder vividly to life. I can’t wait to start work with him and the amazing Elliot Levey and Fenella Woolgar on this dazzling play. CP Taylor’s modern classic about the perils of moral compromise is an apposite fable for our troubled times and it feels like an exciting first project for Fictionhouse. Ever since we left the Royal Court, the incredible Kate Horton and I have been plotting about how we could find a way to work together again. Fictionhouse has been a long time coming and I couldn’t be happier to be developing the successful partnership Kate and I built together at Sloane Square.”

Speaking about the launch of Fictionhouse, Kate Horton said: “Dominic, David, Fenella, Elliot and the entire Good creative team are the best people I could imagine coming together to realise C.P. Taylor’s extraordinary, vital play. Good encompasses all we hope for with our work at Fictionhouse – brilliant and absorbing writing that illuminates our world, made by our greatest actors, directors and designers. As well as being a remarkable artist of rare and brilliant talent, Dominic Cooke is my favourite creative and business partner. I am overjoyed that our many happy years of collaborating are starting again with Fictionhouse.”

GOOD is the first stage production for Fictionhouse, the newly formed commercial producing partnership of Dominic Cooke and Kate Horton. Their long and fruitful working relationship, which began at the Royal Shakespeare Company, developed into a celebrated partnership at the Royal Court Theatre. Whilst at the Royal Court they produced over 100 new plays, including the world premieres of Jerusalem, Constellations, Posh and UK premier of Clybourne Park all of which they transferred to the West End. Their productions have been nominated for 210 major awards, winning 59 and their partnership saw the development and launch of an exciting new generation of playwrights including Mike Bartlett, Polly Stenham, Bola Agbaje, Nick Payne, Lucy Kirkwood and Tarell Alvin McCraney.

Fictionhouse and Playful Productions Present
C.P. Taylor’s
GOOD
Tuesday 6 October – Saturday 19 December 2020
Press night: Wednesday 14 October 2020, 7pm
Playhouse Theatre

Director: Dominic Cooke
Designer: Vicki Mortimer
Lighting Designer: Paule Constable
Sound Designer: Paul Arditti
Musical Director: Nigel Lilley
Cast: David Tennant (Halder), Fenella Woolgar (Helen+) and Elliot Levey (Maurice+)

The Jamie Lloyd Company Announces A Doll’s House – London West End

October 25, 2019 Last updated: April 14, 2020 7:06 pm By Admin

The Jamie Lloyd Company, the hugely successful partnership between the UK’s leading theatre company Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) and Artistic Director Jamie Lloyd, in association with British Airways, today announce two-time Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe Award-winner Jessica Chastain is to make her UK theatre debut leading the company of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, in a version by Frank McGuiness.

The production is part of a new season directed by Jamie Lloyd at the Playhouse Theatre, which previews from 27 November, with James McAvoy in Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, freely adapted by Martin Crimp. A Doll’s House opens at Playhouse Theatre on 18 June, with previews from 10 June and runs until 5 September 2020.

Jamie Lloyd said today, “At The Jamie Lloyd Company, our aim is to work with the most exceptional actors in the world, offering them new and unexpected challenges. Jessica Chastain is a gifted artist and is, of course, well known and respected for her extraordinary screen performances. However, I’m delighted she is now returning to the stage – where her career began – in this bold reappraisal of Ibsen’s great masterpiece.”

The season sees The Jamie Lloyd Company and Ambassador Theatre Group offering 15,000 free tickets and 15,000 £15 tickets for under 30s, key workers and those receiving job seeker’s allowance and other government benefits, supported by British Airways.

£15 tickets
These will be available for specific Monday evening and Thursday matinee performances across the season. The first four of these performances will be for Cyrano de Bergerac and go on sale on Monday 4 November at 12pm with further dates to be announced.

Free tickets
A dedicated outreach manager will be distributing these tickets amongst both secondary state schools and community organisations who otherwise would not have access to the theatre. If you work with a group who does not have the means or opportunity to visit the theatre, please register your interest here.

With design by Soutra Gilmour. Full cast and creative team to be announced.

Two-time Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain plays Nora in her UK stage debut. Her theatre credits include The Heiress (Walter Kerr Theater), Salome (Wadsworth Theater), and The Cherry Orchard and Rodney’s Wife (Williamstown Theatre Festival). Her film credits include It Chapter Two, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Molly’s Game – for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, Woman Walks Ahead, The Zookeeper’s Wife, Miss Sloane – for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, A Most Violent Year – for which she received the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe nomination and Film Independent Spirit Award nomination, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, Miss Julie, Interstellar, Mama, Tree of Life, The Debt, Take Shelter, The Help – for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress, Zero Dark 30 – for which she won a Critics’ Choice Award and Golden Globe, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She was honored with the first-ever Critics’ Choice MVP Award in recognition of the breadth of her accomplishments in 2014 and has received numerous global nominations and accolades for her work from the LA Film Critics, British Academy of Film and Television, Broadcast Film Critics, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, National Board of Review, Screen Actors Guild, Film Independent and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. In addition, Chastain launched Freckle Films, a New York based film and television production company, in 2016; forthcoming films include 355, Ava and The Eyes of Tammy Faye in which she will also star.

Frank McGuinness’ original plays include The Factory Girls (Abbey Theatre Dublin/Tricycle Theatre/Arcola Theatre), Baglady (Abbey Theatre, Dublin), Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (Abbey Theatre Dublin/Hampstead Theatre – for which he received a London Evening Standard for Most Promising Playwright, the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, Harvey’s Best Play Award, the Cheltenham Literary Prize Plays and Players Award, the Ewart- Briggs Peace Prize and the London Fringe Award), Innocence (Gate Theatre, Dublin), Carthaginians (Abbey Theatre, Dublin/Hampstead Theatre), Mary and Lizzie (RSC), The Bread Man (Gate Theatre, Dublin), The Bird Sanctuary (Abbey Theatre, Dublin), Mutabilitie (National Theatre), Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me (Hampstead Theatre/Vaudeville Theatre/New Ambassadors Theatre/Booth Theatre – he received the New York Critics’ Circle Award and Writers’ Guild Award for Best Play), Dolly West’s Kitchen (Abbey Theatre, Dublin/The Old Vic), Gates of Gold (Gate Theatre, Dublin), Speaking Like Magpies (RSC/Trafalgar Studios), There Came A Gypsy Riding (Almeida Theatre), Greta Garbo Came to Donegal (Tricycle Theatre), Crocodile (Sky Arts Live/Riverside Studios), The Match Box (Liverpool Playhouse), The Hanging Gardens (Abbey Theatre, Dublin) and Donegal – with music by Kevin Doherty (Abbey Theatre, Dublin).

Jamie Lloyd directs. His credits as Artistic Director of the company include Betrayal (Harold Pinter Theatre/Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Broadway), One For The Road, The New World Order, Mountain Language, The Lover, The Collection, Landscape, A Kind of Alaska, Monologue, Party Time, Celebration, A Slight Ache, The Dumb Waiter (Pinter at the Pinter, Harold Pinter Theatre), Doctor Faustus (Duke of York’s Theatre), The Maids, The Homecoming, The Ruling Class, Richard III, The Pride, The Hothouse, Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios). Other theatre credits include Evita (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Guards at the Taj (Bush Theatre), The Pitchfork Disney, Killer (Shoreditch Town Hall), Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory) and Urinetown (The Other Palace/Apollo Theatre).

Season Listings
Playhouse Theatre
Northumberland Avenue, Charing Cross, London WC2N 5DE
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
27 November 2019 – 29 February 2020
Press Night: Friday 6 December, 7pm
Please note reviews are embargoed until Monday 9 December 2019.
A DOLL’S HOUSE
10 June – 5 September 2020
Press Night: Thursday 18 June

A Doll’s Housee tickets booking now for the Playhouse Theatre.

The Jamie Lloyd Company announces Cyrano de Bergerac

July 29, 2019 Last updated: October 15, 2019 4:22 pm By Admin

THE JAMIE LLOYD COMPANY ANNOUNCES CYRANO DE BERGERAC STARRING JAMES MCAVOY AS THE OPENING PRODUCTION IN NEW WEST END SEASON.

The Jamie Lloyd Company and Ambassador Theatre Group, supported by British Airways, offer 15,000 free tickets to first-time theatregoers and 15,000 £15 tickets for under 30s, key workers and those receiving job seeker’s allowance and other government benefits

The Jamie Lloyd Company, the hugely successful partnership between the UK’s leading theatre company Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) and Artistic Director Jamie Lloyd, today announces Golden Globe and Olivier Award-nominated James McAvoy is to lead the company of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, freely adapted by Martin Crimp. The production marks the first in a new season directed by Jamie Lloyd at the Playhouse Theatre from November 2019 to August 2020. Further productions to be announced.

Cyrano de Bergerac sees Jamie Lloyd and James McAvoy continue their long-standing collaboration following The Ruling Class and Macbeth at Trafalgar Studios, Three Days of Rain at Apollo Theatre and Heart of Darkness for BBC Radio 4. The production opens at Playhouse Theatre on 6 December, with previews from 27 November and runs until 29 February.

The Jamie Lloyd Company, supported by British Airways, deepens its commitment to making theatre more accessible, offering 15,000 free tickets to first time theatre-goers, invited through a special outreach programme and 15,000 tickets for £15 for key workers, under 30s, and those receiving job seeker’s allowance or other government benefits.

The full cast for Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, freely adapted by Martin Crimp, directed by Jamie Lloyd. Joining the Golden Globe and Olivier Award nominated James McAvoy (Cyrano de Bergerac) to complete the cast are Michele Austin (Ragueneau), Adam Best (Le Bret), Sam Black (Armand/Priest), Nari Blair-Mangat (Valvert), Philip Cairns (Referee), Tom Edden (De Guiche), Eben Figueiredo (Christian), Chris Fung (Usher), Adrian Der Gregorian (Montfleury), Carla Harrison-Hodge (Denise/Medic), Seun Shote (Theatre Owner), Kiruna Stamell (Marie-Louise), Nima Taleghani (Ligniere), and Anita-Joy Uwajeh (Roxane) with Vaneeka Dadhria, Mika Johnson and Brinsley Terence

Jamie Lloyd said today, “I can’t wait to get back into the rehearsal room with James McAvoy, who shares my commitment to accessibility in the arts. In a radical move for the West End, we will invite thousands of people who have never visited a theatre before to experience our work, performed by world-class actors, for free. That’s 15,000 completely free tickets across the season, thanks to our relationship with Ambassador Theatre Group and the new partnership with British Airways. Every day, we talk about making theatre more accessible to absolutely everyone, but, inspired by free museum and gallery entry, I believe that true and meaningful access actually means free tickets. I hope that this inspires other theatre companies and producers to investigate similar schemes in the future, changing the landscape of West End theatre forever.”

Carolina Martinoli, Director of Brand and Customer Experience at British Airways added, “Theatre is a central part of Britain’s culture which attracts millions of visitors from all over the world. British Airways has a history of championing British talent, so it is a natural fit to support this season and champion extraordinary creativity in British theatre – both at home and around the World.”

With design by Soutra Gilmour, Lighting Design by Jon Clark, Sound and Composition by Ben and Max Ringham and Fight Direction by Kate Waters. Casting by Stuart Burt CDG.

Martin Crimp’s theatre credits include When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other, In the Republic of Happiness, Play House, The City, Fewer Emergencies, Cruel and Tender, The Country, Attempts on Her Life, The Treatment, Play with Repeats, Dealing with Clair, Definitely the Bahamas, Four Attempted Acts and Living Remains. His work in the UK has been produced by Orange Tree Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Stephen Joseph Theatre, RSC, Young Vic and the Royal Court Theatre where he was writer-in-residence in 1997. In New York his work has been seen at the Public Theater and the Classic Stage Company, as well as on Broadway.

James McAvoy plays Cyrano de Bergerac. His theatre credits include The Ruling Class, Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios), Three Days of Rain (Apollo Theatre), Breathing Corpses (Royal Court Theatre), Privates on Parade (Donmar Warehouse) and Out in the Open (Hampstead Theatre). His television credits include Watership Down, Shameless, Early Door, State of Play and the upcoming His Dark Materials. His film credits include the upcoming It 2, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Glass, Sherlock Gnomes, Submergence, Atomic Blonde, Split, X-Men: Apocalypse, Victor Frankenstein, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Filth – for which he won BIFA Best Actor Award, London Critics Circle Best British Actor Award, British Academy Scotland Best Actor Award and Empire Award for Best Actor, X-Men: First Class, The Conspirator, Gnomeo and Juliet, The Last Station, Atonement – for which he won Best Actor at the London Film Critics Circle, Best Actor at Empire Film Awards and Richard Attenborough Film Awards; and was nominated for a BAFTA and Golden Globe, Becoming Jane, Starter for Ten, The Last King of Scotland – for which he won Best Actor BAFTA Scotland Award, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Bright Young Things.

Jamie Lloyd directs. His credits for the company include Betrayal, Pinter One, Two, Three, Six and Seven (Pinter at the Pinter, Harold Pinter Theatre), Doctor Faustus (Duke of York’s Theatre), The Maids, The Homecoming, The Ruling Class, Richard III, The Pride, The Hothouse, Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios). Other theatre credits include Evita (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Apologia (Trafalgar Studios), Guards at the Taj (Bush Theatre), The Pitchfork Disney, Killer (Shoreditch Town Hall), Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory), Urinetown (St James Theatre/Apollo Theatre), The Commitments (Palace Theatre), The Duchess of Malfi (The Old Vic), She Stoops to Conquer (National Theatre), The Faith Machine, The Pride (Royal Court Theatre – Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre), Inadmissible Evidence, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Polar Bears, Passion (Donmar Warehouse – Evening Standard Award for Best Musical and Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Musical Revival), Piaf (Donmar Warehouse/Vaudeville Theatre – Olivier Award nomination for Best Musical Revival), The Little Dog Laughed (Garrick Theatre), Three Days of Rain (Apollo Theatre – Olivier Award nomination for Best Revival), The Lover, The Collection (Comedy Theatre), Elegies: A Song Cycle (Arts Theatre), The School for Scandal (Theatre Royal Bath), Salome (Headlong), Eric’s (Liverpool Everyman) and The Caretaker (Sheffield Theatres). Lloyd was Associate Director of the Donmar Warehouse from 2008 to 2011 and is a former Associate Artist of Headlong.

Listing
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
Playhouse Theatre
27 November 2019 – 29 February 2020
Press Night: Friday 6 December, 7pm

Review of Fiddler on the Roof at the Playhouse Theatre

June 27, 2019 Last updated: October 8, 2019 11:34 am By Chris Omaweng

It is hardly the salient point in a musical where Russian Jews are singing their stories in English in the first place, but I do wish this cast of Fiddler on the Roof had followed Andy Nyman’s Tevye in being consistent in using one accent for their character throughout the evening. I hasten to add that most of them do. The occasional slips into RSC or RADA-style dulcet tones would have been fine (at least for me) if they had been maintained from start to finish. But then, as the story goes, this is a tale about tradition, and how changes in the world at large are finally taking their toll on Anatevka (not actually fictitious these days, suffice to say the actual Anatevka, near the Ukrainian capital Kiev, was named after the fictional ‘shtetl’ from this musical).

Aside from certain people sounding like a BBC World Service presenter every so often – I’m still not tempted to name names – this production is. It could, perhaps, have been lit better inasmuch as I struggled to tell day from night. Take, for instance, the rushing around in an early scene as people hurried to conclude whatever business they were up to before the Sabbath. Judging by the lighting alone one would have thought Friday night had already started.

Whilst the production has reconfigured the stalls seating to allow for a stage entrance/exit through the rear of the auditorium (particularly effective in the final scene, which seemed to involve more people than the twenty-eight strong company), the stalls seating, whilst at a good rake, is tight, to say the least. The curtain falls the right side of 10:30pm, just about, and there’s something about the acoustics in this production that stops the eight-piece orchestra from sounding anything more than merely the sum of its constituent parts.

A good number of people in my section of the audience at the performance I attended were evidently experiencing Fiddler for the first time ever, and the various narrative twists resulted in audible gasps. For my part, even though I knew what was going to unfold, I still found myself engrossed in proceedings – this is, after all, an entire Jewish community on stage – including a baker, a butcher, an innkeeper and so on – and, ever the village gossip, the Matchmaker, Yente (Anita Dobson) who brims with confidence and energy.

Maria Friedman’s Golde, the matriarch of the five-daughter family, manages to keep all of them fully occupied with some task or other on a full-time basis. Papa may rule, but it is Mama who governs. But it is Tevye’s conversations with the Almighty that are the most engaging bits of dialogue, maintaining a respectful reverence and civility whilst asking some frank questions. He is also not afraid to admit having material ambitions – when Perchik (Stewart Clarke) appeals to his supposed spirituality by suggesting that money “is the world’s curse”, Tevye snaps back, “May the Lord smite me with it. And may I never recover!” Of his five daughters, Chava (Nicola Brown) does something more liberal-minded parents would have accommodated – Tevye says “No!” to her more times than Margaret Thatcher said “No!” to the European Economic Community.

As the play is set in 1905, sometimes the audience knows more than the characters. One couple looks forward with hope to a new start in Poland – their children and grandchildren will either find themselves moving elsewhere eventually, or else pay the ultimate sacrifice. The show is remarkably relevant to 2019, too. In a world where pockets of antisemitism remain, Fiddler on the Roof if anything serves as an important and timely reminder of what can happen when a government actively decides to create a hostile environment. A poignant and gripping production.

Review by Chris Omaweng

Old traditions and young love collide in this joyous and timely celebration of life. Tevye’s daughters’ unexpected choice of husbands opens his heart to new possibilities, as his close-knit community also feel winds of change blowing through their tiny village.

Featuring the iconic score including ‘Tradition’, ‘Matchmaker, Matchmaker’, ‘Sunrise, Sunset’ and ‘If I Were a Rich Man’, and featuring original choreography from Tony Award-winning Jerome Robbins alongside new choreography by Matt Cole, Fiddler on the Roof ‘bursts from the stage’ (Financial Times), bringing new life to one of the most beloved musicals of all time.

Maria Friedman and Anita Dobson join the company of Trevor Nunn’s critically acclaimed production of Fiddler on the Roof, which is currently running at the reconfigured Playhouse Theatre until 28 September. Friedman plays Golde, and Dobson plays Yente from 18 June, taking over from Judy Kuhn and Louise Gold respectively. They join Andy Nyman (Tevye), Nicola Brown (Chava), Harriet Bunton (Hodel), Dermot Canavan (Lazar Wolf), Stewart Clarke (Perchik), Joshua Gannon (Motel), Matthew Hawksley (Fyedka), and Molly Osborne (Tzeitel), as well as Miles Barrow, Sofia Bennett, Philip Bertioli, Lottie Casserley, Elena Cervesi, Lia Cohen, Talia Etherington, Shoshana Ezequiel, Isabella Foat, Fenton Gray, James Hameed, Adam Linstead, Adam Margilewski, Robert Maskell, Benny Maslov, Robyn McIntyre, Gaynor Miles, Ellie Mullane, Tania Newton, Craig Pinder, Valentina Theodoulou and Ed Wade.

Book by Joseph Stein
Music by Jerry Bock
Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Director Trevor Nunn;
Choreographers Jerome Robbins and Matt Cole
Set Designer Robert Jones
Costume Designer Jonathan Lipman
Lighting Designer Tim Lutkin
Sound Designer Gregory Clarke
Hair and Wig Designer Richard Mawbey
Orchestrations Jason Carr
Musical Supervisor Paul Bogaev

Chocolate Factory Productions, Sonia Friedman Productions and Michael Harrison present
The Menier Chocolate Factory production of
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

BOOKING PERIOD: 21st March 2019 – 15th June 2019

PERFORMANCE TIMES: Tuesday- Saturday: 7.30pm, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday: 2.30pm.
RUNNING TIME: 2 hours 50 minutes (including interval)
The Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Ave, London, WC2N 5DE.

Maria Friedman and Anita Dobson join the cast of Fiddler on the Roof

May 3, 2019 Last updated: December 21, 2019 8:59 pm By Admin

Chocolate Factory Productions, Sonia Friedman Productions and Michael Harrison present The Menier Chocolate Factory production of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Book by Joseph Stein Music by Jerry Bock Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick

Director Trevor Nunn; Choreographers Jerome Robbins & Matt Cole; Set Designer Robert Jones Costume Designer Jonathan Lipman; Lighting Designer Tim Lutkin; Sound Designer Gregory Clarke Hair and Wig Designer Richard Mawbey; Orchestrations Jason Carr; Musical Supervisor Paul Bogaev

Maria Friedman and Anita Dobson join the company of Trevor Nunn’s critically acclaimed production of Fiddler on the Roof, which is currently running at the reconfigured Playhouse Theatre until 28 September. Friedman plays Golde, and Dobson plays Yente from 18 June, taking over from Judy Kuhn and Louise Gold respectively. They join Andy Nyman (Tevye), Nicola Brown (Chava), Harriet Bunton (Hodel), Dermot Canavan (Lazar Wolf), Stewart Clarke (Perchik), Joshua Gannon (Motel), Matthew Hawksley (Fyedka), and Molly Osborne (Tzeitel), as well as Miles Barrow, Sofia Bennett, Philip Bertioli, Lottie Casserley, Elena Cervesi, Lia Cohen, Talia Etherington, Shoshana Ezequiel, Isabella Foat, Fenton Gray, James Hameed, Adam Linstead, Adam Margilewski, Robert Maskell, Benny Maslov, Robyn McIntyre, Gaynor Miles, Ellie Mullane, Tania Newton, Craig Pinder, Valentina Theodoulou and Ed Wade.

Direct from its sold-out run at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Tony and Olivier award-winning director Trevor Nunn’s ‘exuberant revival’ (Daily Telegraph) of the classic Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof transfers to the West End for a strictly limited run. The Playhouse Theatre has been specially transformed into an intimate space for this ‘shiveringly intimate chamber musical about family’ (The Times).
Old traditions and young love collide in this joyous and timely celebration of life. Tevye’s daughters’ unexpected choice of husbands opens his heart to new possibilities, as his close-knit community also feel winds of change blowing through their tiny village.

Olivier Award-winning Maria Freidman plays Golde. The recipient of three Olivier Awards for Maria Friedman By Special Arrangement at the Donmar Warehouse (1995), Best Actress in a Musical for her performance of Fosca in the West End production of Stephen Sondheim’s Passion (1996), and for Ragtime (2003). Her other theatre credits include Merrily We Roll Along, Blues in the Night, Chicago, The Witches of Eastwick, Anna in The King and I at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Lady in the Dark. In 2004 she originated the role of Marian Halcombe in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, The Woman in White, both in the West End and on Broadway. She is regularly associated with the work of Stephen Sondheim, having performed principal roles in Merrily We Roll Along, A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George, and as Mrs Lovett in concert performances of Sweeney Todd (Barbican). She also appeared in New York, Washington and the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, in celebration of Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday. She has performed her critically acclaimed one-woman shows – Maria Friedman – By Special Arrangement and Maria Friedman – By Extra Special Arrangement in venues around the UK and in New York including several seasons at Café Carlyle, and has most recently performed her new solo show From the Heart to sell-out audiences at Crazy Coqs. She has featured on many cast recordings and released several solo albums including Maria Friedman, Maria Friedman Live, Now and Then, and Maria Friedman Celebrates The Great British Songbook. On screen, her roles include Elaine Peacock in EastEnders, Trish Baynes in Casualty, Red Dwarf, the Narrator in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (DVD), and Mother Abbas on ITV’s Sound of Music Live. In 2013, she made her directorial debut at the Menier Chocolate Factory with Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along. The production opened to critical acclaim, winning the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Musical and Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival, transferring to the West End and Boston. Her other directing credits include High Society (The Old Vic) and the world première of the new musical Dusty (Theatre Royal Bath).

Anita Dobson plays Yente. Her extensive theatre credits include Annie (UK tour), 3Women (Trafalgar Studios), The Shadow Factory (Nuffield Southampton Theatres), The Merry Wives of Windsor (RSC), Budgie (Cambridge Theatre), The Three Sisters (Royal Court Theatre), Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (National Theatre), Kvetch (Garrick Theatre), Lovely Shayna Maidel (Ambassador’s Theatre), Charley’s Aunt (Aldwych Theatre), The Vagina Monologues (Arts Theatre/UK tour), Frozen (National Theatre / Olivier Award nomination), Chicago (Adelphi Theatre), Thoroughly Modern Milly (Shaftesbury Theatre), Hello Dolly! (Theatre Royal Lincoln/ UK tour), Calendar Girls (Noël Coward Theatre), Bette and Joan (Arts Theatre) and Wicked (Apollo Theatre). For television her extensive work includes EastEnders (as series regular Angie Watts), Leave Him To Heaven, Nanny, Split Ends, The World Of Eddie Weary, Red Dwarf, Smokescreen, I’ll Be Watching You, Dangerfield, The Famous Five, Highlander, Get Well Soon, Junk, Sunburn, The Stretch, Hearts and Bones, Urban Gothic, The Last Detective, Gigglebiz, Hotel Babylon, Moving On, Pompidou, Armada, Call The Midwife and The Rebel; and for film, Seaview Knights, Beyond Bedlam, The Tichborne Claimant, The Revengers’ Comedies, Darkness Falls, Charlie, Solitary, The Rise Of The Krays, The Fall Of The Krays, London Road and The Fight.

LISTING
Playhouse Theatre
Northumberland Ave, London WC2N 5DE

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