Six East Anglian artists and companies – Aspire Black Suffolk, Jamie Beddard, Martha Loader, Mae Munuo, The Paper Birds and Spinning Wheel – are delighted to have been appointed to work with the New Wolsey Theatre’s Chief Executive/Artistic Director Douglas Rintoul in Ipswich, as part of its inaugural Associate Artists programme celebrating and supporting creativity in the region.

The Associate Artists will be supported by the New Wolsey Theatre over the forthcoming 18 months with a bespoke programme designed to enable individual development or to act as a step change.

The Associate Artists come from a range of artistic backgrounds:

Martha Loader is an Ipswich based award-winning writer, actor and producer whose work has been performed across the UK.

Mae Munuo is an actor, deviser and writer who grew up attending the New Wolsey Theatre’s Youth Theatre and Young Company, most recently returning as a professional actor earlier this year in DNA.

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In a secret room in the heart of London’s Theatreland there is a secret, stagey haven filled with talented West End performers serving dinner and cocktails. SingEasy’s singing waiters host a highly theatrical West End party with delicious food and cocktails every Thursday to Saturday.

At SingEasy everyone is in the front row, and for the first time, they are launching an exclusive membership scheme. New members will be issued a digital wallet membership card granting them SingEasy priority. This entitles them to priority entry, allowing them to skip The Piano Works queue and head straight down to SingEasy, as well as being the first to hear about exclusive events, experiences and offers. The membership scheme has been introduced as SingEasy will only be open to bookings and membership card holders and their guests from 1st June 2023 in order to ensure SingEasy is an exclusive and affirming space.

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Kiln Theatre today announces that Indhu Rubasingham will step down as Artistic Director of the company, leaving early 2024, having led the company for over a decade.

Indhu Rubasingham said today, “I never had an inkling of the journey ahead when I was first was appointed. I immediately felt the responsibility, but what emerged was both challenging and exhilarating, an experience I will carry with me for the rest of my life. It has been an immense honour to be Artistic Director of Kiln Theatre. I have learnt and grown so much over these past 11 years. It has given me the privilege and opportunity to work with many brilliant people, who have contributed to the successes of Kiln; a theatre with a mission that is heartfelt and held by the whole team. I am deeply grateful to the Board of Trustees chaired by Sita McIntosh and former trustees and Chairs for their support and guidance and care of Kiln, and also to the many donors and Arts Council England who have allowed the Kiln to flourish and achieve all the things it has. It is a wonderful space, that welcomes us in to immerse ourselves in different worlds, narratives and experiences. I have been very lucky to be part of its story. It now feels the right moment to pass the baton and herald the next chapter of this unique theatre.”

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The world’s most prolific producer of musicals in theatre history has received the Freedom of the City of London at Guildhalltoday, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to musical theatre.

Over the last 40 years, Sir Cameron Mackintosh has established himself as one of the leading figures in musical theatre, having produced three of the world’s longest-running musicals – Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, and Cats, and other hugely successful productions, including Miss Saigon, Oliver!, My Fair Lady, and The Witches of Eastwick.

Sir Cameron owns and operates eight historic London theatres, including the Gielgud, Wyndham’s, Prince of Wales, and Sondheim, formerly, the Queen’s, and renamed in honour of his late friend, Stephen Sondheim, who was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2018.

He was knighted in the 1996 New Year’s Honours for his services to British theatre and is the first British producer to be elected to Broadway’s Theater Hall of Fame.

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The Musicians’ Union (MU) is proud to launch a Refugee Musicians Membership scheme giving refugee musicians access to one year’s free MU membership. The MU and
Counterpoint Arts hope it will help refugees build their music careers in the UK.

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This season includes two magical new productions in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, whilst the Swan Theatre sees the return of an Elizabethan classic and the stage premiere of a new play, plus a new Shakespeare touring production adapted for ages 8-13 years.

Ben and Imo

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From today, as an exclusive to its annual members, A Spotlight On Leading Ladies, a concert featuring West End stars Alexia Khadime (currently playing Elphaba in Wicked), Christine Allado (Hamilton, Prince of Egypt) and Emma Hatton (Wicked, Evita, We Will Rock You) will be available to stream for a limited time only.

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Policarpa Salavarrieta or La Pola (1795 -1817) was a Colombian seamstress who was ultimately assassinated in 1817 by Spanish Royalists. An integral figure within the struggle for independence from the Spanish, her political ambition would see her spy for the Revolutionary Forces and play her part in securing Colombia’s future. Her fiery legacy living on centuries later through ‘The Day of the Colombian Woman’. Inspired by her unwavering bravery and loyalty, writer and performer Giullianna Martínez presents HóPe, a one woman show also inspired by Martínez’s mother’s battle with Multiple Myeloma.

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Psychologist Harry Harlow (1905-1981) in the late 50s went onto make a landmark discovery within the field of psychology – concluding that ‘comfort’ was an integral force in the formation of attachment within mothers and their children, as opposed to food which would have been the general consensus beforehand. With human connection a vital component helping us to foster relationships and process the world around us, to possibly lose this will be a devastating prospect. Tapping into this fastly emerging world of robots, AI and isolation, Polymorth Theatre and Different Theatre present Chemistry, an urgent look at our current climate, one where we see ourselves on the cusp of a digitally overrun world.

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On Sunday 28th May 2023, the results of the Turkish general elections were revealed. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of right wing party ‘Justice and Development’ securing his position as Turkey’s 12th president which he has held for 20 years now. His opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the centre left ‘Republican People’s Party’ seen as a genuine rival but losing out to Erdogan’s 52.1% victory. A commentary on the many years of political unrest leading up to this year’s final result, Turkish native Betal presents Goodbye Erdogan – political theatre at its purest.

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