Today (Thursday 30 March), Executive Producer Joe Hisaishi and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), in collaboration with Improbable and Nippon TV, announce that the record-breaking production of Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro will return to the Barbican Theatre for a strictly limited run in Autumn 2023.
A fundamental need we all share, is that needing to belong – family forming our initial foundations and place in the world. Family circumstances however something that we ourselves can’t determine, yet plays an integral part of our lives. Family, a structure that differs dependent on circumstance. An exploration of what ‘family’ looks like to three young people brought up within the care system, Tangled Feet and Rowan Tree‘s Belongings beautifully amplifies the voices of the often unheard – and contributes an honest look at the impact of these challenging circumstances.
The 2023 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has been awarded to U.S. playwright Sarah Mantell for their play In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot. Awarded annually since 1978, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is the largest and oldest international award recognising women+ who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. Women+ includes trans and non binary playwrights.
On March 27th, the theatre and playwriting community gathered at Playwrights Horizons in New York City to celebrate the 45thAnniversary of the Prize and to honour Mantell and the 9 Finalists. Mantell, the first out, non binary playwright to win the Prize, garnered a cash award of $25,000, and a signed limited-edition print by renowned artist Willem de Kooning, created especially for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. The 9 finalists each received an award of $5,000.
Mantell describes In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot as “a play about queer aging, capitalism, campfires and falling in love as the world ends”. Set on the precipice of the end of a world wracked by climate change, the play tells the story of a group of itinerant friends travelling together between warehouses, working night shifts and checking the address labels of the packages searching for people they’ve lost. The cast of seven consists of women, trans and non binary actors, all over 50.
In celebration of World Theatre Day 2023, leading West End and Broadway theatre producers have announced that in April 2023 they will be illuminating your curiosity with A Spotlight On. They will soon be shining a light on the people, artistry, and culture of theatre like never before as they launch something special that will ignite the passion of every theatre lover.
Seemingly a way of escaping the here and now, addiction has that silently sinister way of starting off in the periphery of one’s life before unknowingly rooting itself into every fibre of one’s being. A coping strategy for life’s harsh realities, battling an addiction is a tough prospect within itself. Delving into this facet of life in timely piece Follow the Lines, Olivia Pryle crafts a dynamic monologue carving out the ups and downs of someone trying their best to get by.
The Olivier Awards 2023with Mastercardhave officially announced the shows performing in this year’s ceremony. The Awards will take place on Sunday 2 April at the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Hannah Waddingham.
A performing arts franchise in Swansea is under new ownership thanks to a six-figure funding package from HSBC UK. The Stagecoach Performing Arts franchise in Swansea, which includes eight schools catering for aspiring performing arts students from the age of 4 to 18, has been acquired by teacher Kelly-Marie Rosina Williams and her husband Benn.
Seven Dials Playhouse has developed a new Associate Artist Scheme, announcing its first two Associate Artists. The Scheme provides an opportunity for artists and creatives, working nationally and internationally, to engage with and collaborate on the organisation’s programmes. Seven Dials Playhouse has also introduced a new Artistic Policy to shape the organisation’s ongoing programmes, and this policy will form the basis of their new season of work.
Magic Radio’s Magic at the Musicals has added a further six phenomenal theatre shows to its 2023 line-up. The six shows, Ain’t Too Proud, Cabaret, Disney’s Frozen, Disney’s The Lion King, Grease The Musical and Wicked were revealed by Magic Radio Breakfast presenters Ronan Keating and Harriet Scott this morning live on air.
Launched last month, The Evening Standard have welcomed a host of the UK’s brightest theatrical talents in The Evening Standard Theatre Podcast. Opening up the theatrical-sphere to theatregoers, theatre makers and those intrigued by the theatrical world, the podcast incorporates reviews and interviews with the likes of television writer and producer Steven Moffat OBE, BAFTA nominated actress Jenna Coleman, Academy Award and BAFTA nominated theatre and film director Josie Rourke and actress and writer Tracy-Ann Oberman amongst other talents.
