Leonardo and Picasso were revolutionaries. Who is revolutionary now?

 

Writer and modern art dealer Caroline Wiseman explores in her original and witty play The Leonardo Question what makes art great and introduces us to many of the artists who have personified modern art as well as to the patrons who supported them. Most of the characters happen to be more than a tad eccentric.  

 

The play is set in an art gallery. A visitor is left behind by a bored and discontent tour guide because she dared ask a challenging question. The inquisitive lady is joined by a sympathetic gentleman who is fascinated by her enthusiasm and agrees to be taken on a journey through the important moments in the history of modern art - from cubism to conceptualism.

 

The story begins in 1907, in Paris – Gertrude Stein introduces her friend Alice B. Toklas to Picasso who pops up wearing an Iberian head that he had stolen from a museum and then immediately tries to seduce Stein’s friend once she has left the room. He exclaims: „Painting is something you do with your balls!“ Next we meet Marcel Duchamp, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, and his patron Peggy Guggenheim whose dog bears the same name as her friend and advisor Sir Herbert. Duchamp declares that a sanitary utensil is art „because I say so!“ Peggy Guggenheim and Sir Herbert now become the commentators on the merits or failings of popular artists. They even return from the dead to express their displeasure with Matthew Barney and the YBA (Young British Artists) such as Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst who seem to be interested in only one thing.

 

The amazing Kyle Ross, Patrick Rogers and Clemmie Reynolds play all the roles in this gloriously funny and intelligent production skillfully directed by Anna Marsland.  

 

4 June – 24 June, Tue – Fri and Sun 7.30 pm, Sat 6.30 pm, Sun matinee 3.00 pm

Tickets: £ 16 / £ 12 (concessions)

BOX OFFICE: 020 7704 6665

The Rosemary Branch, 2 Shepperton Road, London N1 3DT

 

Aren’t we all a work in progress – a kaleidoscope?

 

Second Skin Theatre presents a double bill exploring the nature of truth, honesty, the dark secrets within us and their impact upon who we are and who we love. Aptly directed by Andy McQuade, the two plays delve into a world of human longing, transgender sexuality, lost love, and the basic need to be held tight.

 

Stay With Me Til Dawn is an intense and disturbing play. Graham Farrow weaves a black tale of lonely men and missing children, where guilt and innocence become an indistinguishable grey area. The play began as a rehearsed reading as part of the Branching Out 3 season and has since been developed through a collaboration between director and playwright. Redford, a middle-aged man, is accused by gossip and hearsay of being a paedophile. He returns home, once again with a bloodied nose and cut face, to find a boy hiding in his flat. The boy has fled to him from his violent father who had advised him that Redford „liked young boys“ and he now seeks love and understanding from the lonely man. Soon thereafter, the boy’s father arrives to make enquiries about two 10-year old boys who have been missing. He immediately employs force to get his answers: events now begin to twist and turn as the real truth of Redford’s past is revealed. Peter Glover gives an outstanding performance as the sympathetic loner, David Swain and Matthew Haigh convincingly play the son and his abusive father. This production is not for the squeamish.    

 

Knuckleball by William Whitehurst, the winner of the awards for „Best Drama“ and „Best Production“ at the San Francisco Fringe Festival now arrives for its London premiere. A knuckleball, in baseball terms, is a pitch with an erratic, unpredictable motion. The pitch is thrown so as to minimize the spin of the ball in flight to throw the batter off guard and making a strike. In William Whitehurst’s intriguing play the working class bloke Ross proposes to his classy lover Trish right after they had passionate sex. Trish desperately wants to say yes, but cannot. Ross won’t take no for an answer—she must either marry him or explain why she won’t. Trish tells Ross an extraordinary tale about who—and what—she really is. But is she telling the truth? In this emotionally charged production the charismatic Laura Pradelska plays Trish and Bryan Kaplan repeats his role as the confused and touching Ross.

 

19 January – 7 February 2010, Tue – Fri 7.30 pm, 7.00 Sat and Sun

Tickets: £ 12 / £ 10 (concessions)

BOX OFFICE: 020 7704 6665

The Rosemary Branch, 2 Shepperton Road, London N1 3DT

Fresh from her West End success playing Ella Fitzgerald in Marilyn and Ella the superb Hope Augustus returns to The Rosemary Branch Theatre where she launched her career exactly twenty years ago.

The charming singer presents a programme of unforgettable songs by Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Noel Coward, and other greats. Tom Scott does not simply accompany Hope, he is a jazz piano virtuoso! I was especially impressed by Tom's improvisation of It's All Right With Me and Hope's interpretation of Skylark. There are many highlights in this show and Hope brings so much joy and pure energy to it that I had problems staying in my seat - I wanted to swing with Hope and Tom!
   
Go see the show if you love jazz. Only two days left!

The Rosemary Branch Theatre
Dec. 2-4, 8.00 pm
020 7704 6665