Born and raised in Senegal, St Louis – situated by the coastal West Africa, prolific film stunt helicopter pilot Fred North has contributed significantly to the world of film – his aerial visuals seen in many of our much loved Hollywood blockbusters including Fast and Furious, Bad Boys, Guardians of the Galaxy, Gladiator, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: The Last Stand amongst many others. Celebrating a 30 year career within this unique field of film, Fred has very recently released a memoir highlighting his journey – Flying Sideways: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Stunt Pilot currently available to purchase on various platforms. Talking to us about his memoir, Fred tells us more about his career change from a ‘pilot who films’ to a ‘Film Pilot’, choreographing aerial sequences and what he’s taken away from writing the memoir!
In hip hop’s 50th anniversary year and ahead of the first Olympics to feature breaking as a sport, a new pathway for talented performers has been announced by Sadler’s Wells. Applications open today for Academy Breakin’ Convention, the new hip hop theatre school that’s one of the major initiatives at Sadler’s Wells’ fourth London venue, Sadler’s Wells East, due to open next year as part of the East Bank development in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The theatrical form of Cabaret has entertained audiences alike for over 500 years – a French form fusing dining and entertainment – the end result creating a relaxed atmosphere for theatregoers to shut off from the harsh realities of the outside world. A celebration of variety performance, live performance is given the platform to shine, to dazzle – something increasingly important in our new day and age. Hosting an evening of glamorous, daring, flirtatious live art, Cabaret All Stars Disco promises an experience filled with lots of laughs and entertainment.
Kiln Theatre today announces the appointment of Amit Sharma as Artistic Director and CEO – he takes up the role on 1 December 2023. Sharma is currently Associate Director at Kiln Theatre, and also works as a freelance director.
The 2023 UK Theatre Awards winners were revealed today (Sunday 8 October) in a ceremony at London’s Guildhall, hosted by Musical Theatre star Zoe Birkett. Lyric Theatre Belfast enjoyed double celebrations with The Beauty Queen Of Leenane, a collaborative production between Lyric Theatre Belfast and Prime Cut winning Best Play revival and Garry Hynes winning Best Director for the Druid Theatre production Druid O’Casey, a trilogy of stories written by Irish dramatist Sean O’Casey. In total, Irish theatres and production companies had four nods in the winners list.
The Faber New Play Award, which offers publication to coincide with the premiere, and a prize of £5,000, was granted to the best play written by an unpublished playwright under the WGGB New Play Commission Scheme. The scheme was a response to the decline in new theatre commissions during the Covid-19 pandemic, and offered eighteen commissions for playwrights across England in 2022. Under the scheme, And The Earth Opened Up Under Her has been commissioned by Pilot Theatre, York.
A major new training programme for early-career theatre-makers, THE KNOT brings together a cohort of 25 participants to explore and interrogate the essential skills needed to create work on their own terms at a time when the business of theatre has never felt tougher.