UK Theatre Network

Oliver Award-winning Our Country’s Good tours UK theatres

Original Theatre, with Anvil Arts, presents Aden Gillet and Phillip Whitchurch in new production of Wertenbaker’s classic

The acclaimed Original Theatre Company, in association with Anvil Arts, is set to tour a new production of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Olivier Award-winning play Our Country’s Good this season, performing at theatres across the UK, starring Aden Gillet (Accolade, The Winslow Boy, The Queen’s Sister, House of Elliot, Mary Poppins) and Phillip Whitchurch (Billy Elliot, Sharpe, The Bill, My Hero)

 "A play is a world in itself. A tiny colony we could say. And you are in charge of it. That is a great responsibility."

Australia. 1788. A British ship arrives with a cargo of soldiers and convicts transported abroad for their country’s good. As the soldiers struggle to impose order on the outcasts of the old society, a benevolent governor seizes on the notion of a play. In the shadow of the gallows and the gum tree the convicts gather under the direction of 2nd Lieutenant Ralph Clarke and rehearsals begin for The Recruiting Officer.

Based on real events, Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Olivier Award-winning modern classic is an inspiring tale of the transforming power of theatre. This major touring revival, at a time when the argument over publicly funded theatre is raging once again, is produced by the acclaimed Original Theatre Company and follows the success of their recent productions of See How They Run, Twelfth Night, Dancing at Lughnasa, The Madness of George III and Journey’s End.

Our Country’s Good is touring UK theatres this winter/spring 2012. For more information, or to book tickets, visit www.originaltheatre.com

 

“Wertenbaker has searched history and found in it a humanistic lesson for hard modern times: rough, sombre, undogmatic and warm”

-THE SUNDAY TIMES

“Highly theatrical, often funny and at times dark and disturbing”

-THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, CHARLES SPENCER

 
 

Original Theatre Company - Formed in 2004 by Creative Director Alastair Whatley, The Original Theatre Company is an acclaimed touring company based in the market town of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. We have built up an ever increasing reputation, performing both classical and contemporary texts with our own brand of daring innovation and bloody minded determination.

From our early days playing in often unconventional locations (cliff tops, stately homes and football grounds) in often unconventional weather (rain, hail and flooding), we have gone on to produce ten touring shows, travelling over 220,000 miles up and down the length and breadth of the UK, playing to hundreds of thousands of people in some of the classic repertory venues. We have gained a reputation for work that is carefully conceived, crystal clear, challenging and always entertaining.

Touring theatre is at the heart and soul of everything we do, taking diverse and engaging theatre of the highest quality to as much of the UK as possible. We passionately believe that great theatre does not have to be elitist and that people everywhere expect and deserve the best. We like to think that our work is characterised by its vitality, honesty and humour alongside a dynamic and dedicated approach by everyone both in front of and behind the curtain.

 

TOUR SCHEDULE /

 

JAN ‘12                

Wed 25 – Sat 28           BASINGSTOKE               The Haymarket                        01256 844244
Mon 30 - Tues 31         KINGSTON                    The Rose                                  0208 546 6983 

FEB ‘12

Wed 1 – Sat 4               KINGSTON                    The Rose                                  0208 546 6983
Mon 6 – Tues 7             READING                       The Hexagon                            0118 960 6060
Thurs 9 – Sat 11           BERWICK                      The Maltings                            01289 330999
Tues 21 – Sat 25           JERSEY                         The Opera House                     01534 511115
Tues 28 – Wed 29        NEWBURY                     The Corn Exchange                  01635 522733 

MAR ‘12

Thurs 1                        NEWBURY                     The Corn Exchange                  01635 522733
Fri 2 – Sat 3                  PETERBOROUGH           The Key Theatre                      01753 207239
Tues 06 – Sat 10           HARROGATE                  Harrogate Theatre                   01423 502116
Mon 12 – Wed 14          CHIPPING NORTON       The Theatre                             01608 624350
Mon 19                         BUXTON                       Opera House                            0845 127 2190
Tues 20 – Sat 24           MOLD                            Theatr Clwyd                           01352 755114
Mon 26 – Sat 31            GREENWICH                  Greenwich Theatre                  0208 858 7755 

APR ‘12

Mon 2 – Wed 4              LLANDUDNO                  Venue Cymru                           01492 879771
Tues 17 – Sat 21           EASTBOURNE                Devonshire Park Theatre         01323 412000
Mon 23 – Tues 24         BRACKNELL                   South Hill Park Arts Centre      01344 484123
Wed 25 – Thurs 26       FINCHLEY                     Arts Depot                                0208 369 5454 

Review by Douglas McFarlane


Whew !

Have you seen Lysistrata ? It's a play that I've seen advertised on the Edinburgh Fringe and selected by many an ambitious artistic team to showcase their talents and win new audiences.  Originally performed in Athens around 2500 years ago Lysistrata persuades the women of Greece to withhold intimacy from their husbands and lovers to force men to negotiate peace. 

Think about that for a minute and imagine how that might be represented on stage. Yes, it's awkward, yes, it's adults only, and yes, it can be embarrassing depending on your company. So choose a close friend who is usually unschockable, and be prepared for a laugh.

As this is a family site, I can't go into much detail, other than to say that it is cringeworthy at times and really funny most of the time. The performers really push it to the limits and their "costumes", if you can call them that, were designed to shock the audience of white haired elderly couples, and groups of students alike. And they all roared with laughter.

It's a polished production with excellent lighting, sound and direction clearly in evidence in this one act play. The flow of the performance was to perfection with just enough one-liners and quick quips to keep it interesting, and each actor commanded your attention from the moment they stepped foot on stage.  Despite their unusual costumes and naughty behaviour, they manage not to cross the line of indecency, somehow. Although that imaginary line we have in our heads, probably changes during the performance.

I would recommend going along, if only to watch a talented team of actors committed to their roles while wearing some of the most hilarious outfits. A personal favourite of mine was the parody of Gerard Butler's '300' performance when "Spartan woman" bounds onto the stage.

Actors Of Dionysys perform this classic at the Rose Theatre, Kingston and will be touring.  Tickets can be purchased using the link below, or visit the official production site.

Ticket site:
https://uk.patronbase.com/_RoseTheatreKingston/Sections/Choose?prod_id=0010&perf_id=7

Production site:
http://www.actorsofdionysus.com/projects/current/lysistrata/

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.

Stephen Unwin selected Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy as the eleventh production of the Rose Theatre. Rosalind, the daughter of a banished duke falls in love with Orlando, the disinherited son of one of the duke’s friends. When she is banished from the court by her usurping uncle, Duke Frederick, Rosalind takes on the appearance of a boy - Ganymede - and escapes with her cousin Celia and the jester Touchstone to the Forest of Arden, where her father and his friends live in exile like Robin Hood’s Merry Men.

Unwin’s production is fast-paced and exciting and his cast is extremely good. However, the star of the evening has to be Adrian Lukis. I have never heard a better delivery of the “Seven Ages of Men” speech. Lukis’s performance as the melancholy Jaques alone makes this production worth seeing. Georgina Rich’s Rosalind seemed rather subdued before she changed into Ganymede but the necklace scene is very funny and charming. David Sturzaker as the romantic hero presents a great fight in the wrestling scene and there undoubtably is a chemical reaction between him and Rosalind. Michael Feast, who so impressed me as Feste in Twelfth Night, is the fast talking jester Touchstone who falls for feisty Audrey (Claire Prempeh). Paul Shelley gives a fine performance as both Dukes.     

The stage design byJonathan Fensom is comprised of a mound of earth and three boughs that are lowered during the performance. It seemed more suited to the forest scenes and somewhat inconvenient with the actors stumbling about the mound rather awkwardly at times. However, when the action moved to the Forest of Arden it became quite suitable and variable.

This production is thoroughly enjoyable. 

Until 26 March 2010

See Tickets - 0871 230 1552

The Rose Theatre

24-26 High Street, Kingston

www.rosetheatrekingston.org

 

 Treasure Island is arguably one of the greatest works of storytelling in the English language. It developed from an imaginary map that Stevenson and his stepson Lloyd Osbourne had devised on holiday and this goes some way towards explaining the book's appeal among children. The tale is the archetypal nineteenth century ripping yarn, set in the “golden age of piracy.” Our narrator is Jim Hawkins, son of a guesthouse owner on the west coast of England sometime in the early eighteenth century. To the inn come firstly an old buccaneer who has a map of Captain Flint's treasure, and secondly a group of pirates under the command of ominous blind man Pew. Jim Hawkins, in an act of bravery and cunning, gets hold of the map before this rabid mob gets it. He delivers the map to Squire Trelawney, and together they set off for Treasure Island in the Squire's schooner. The rest of the crew, apart from Dr Livesey, are selected by Long John Silver. The latter and his men try to mutiny and get hold of the treasure themselves but Jim intervenes and through a series of enthralling adventures we find ourselves on Treasure Island with the marooned Ben Gunn and ever closer to the treasure itself.

The auditorium of the Rose is changed into a pirates' paradise (set design – Paul Wills) complete with treasure map, anchors, boats, fishing nets, ropes, and a treasure chest. The floor is transformed into the ocean by the beautiful lighting (designed by Ben Ormerod) and the sound of waves crashing against the shore. There are many cheerful seafaring songs in the show including What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor, 15 Men on the Dead Man’s Chest, The Good Ship Hispaniola, and the highly addictive tune Treasure Island Bound which set the right mood for this great swashbuckling adventure.  There are good performances throughout - Harry McEntire plays an endearing Jim Hawkins, Richard Bremmer convinces as the charismatic Long John Silver, and Daniel Goode provides the comic element of the show as the hilarious but touching Squire Trelawny.

This show is great fun and a Christmas treat for the whole family!         

11 December - 9 January
Tickets £7 - £29.50
Box office: 0871 230 1552
© Rose Theatre - Kingston 2008. 24-26 High Street, Kingston, KT1 1HL

Peter Hall sets this successful revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s  social comedy “Bedroom Farce” in the 1970s – a distant age without mobile phones, ipods or even the internet. Three bedrooms, side by side, fill the Rose Theatre stage and allow us a peep into the lives of four married couples.

The elderly couple Delia (Jane Asher) and Ernest (Nicholas Le Prevost) are getting ready for their yearly dinner at a fancy restaurant.  Delia tries to discuss their son Trevor’s marital problems but Ernest is more interested in the leaky roof.  Jan (Lucy Briers) is off to a housewarming party whilst her husband Nick (Tony Gardner) is grounded with a bad back.  Malcolm (Daniel Betts) and Kate (Finty Williams) are playing childish pranks on each other whilst waiting for their first guests to arrive. Chaotic Trevor (Orlando Seale) and his unstable wife Susannah embark on a journey of destruction by successfully ruining their party with a savage fight culminating in Trevor kissing Jan. A distraught Susannah disrupts Delia’s and Ernest’s romantic dinner in bed and Trevor rushes to Jan only to fall asleep on Nick’s bed, making Nick’s night pure agony.

Prepare yourself for a highly entertaining evening with an outstanding cast in Ayckbourn’s exploration of marriage and beyond.

The Rose Theatre, Kingston

1 Oct – 28 Nov 2009

See Tickets - 0871 230 1552

www.rosetheatrekingston.org