Access to all theatres is in Malet Street
|
The
Summer Production Season 2008 John
Guilgud Theatre This play is presented
by special arrangement with The University of the South, Sewanee, Set in a cramped St. Louis apartment during the US depression of the mid-1930s, A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur focuses on Dorothea, a high school teacher whose romantic illusions regarding the school's principal collapse in the jostling exchange between two other characters: her protective roommate, Bodey, and Dorothea's domineering colleague, Helena, who is desperate to move Dorothea into an expensive duplex with shared expenses. In the background hovers the grotesquely comic Miss Gluck, whimpering in German over the recent loss of her mother. Running time 120 mins including interval Katharine
Rogers (Director) GBS
Theatre In the sun-drenched hills of Messina, Sicily, a young man returning victorious from war falls in love and immediately plans to marry, but the villainous brother of his commander plots to ruin his happiness. Returning from the same war his fellow officer refuses to recognise that he is himself in love with a woman he fled from once before, spurring his commander and comrades to devise a plan to trick him into regaining his senses. Shakespeare seems to place the action of Much Ado in 1285 as the King of Aragon and his forces return triumphant from aiding the Sicilians in evicting their hated French overlords. But there also seems to be a nod to Pedro's contentious offspring, James and Frederick, who did indeed fight against one another for control of the island only years after their father’s death, with the younger brother (read Don Pedro) besting his older brother (Don John) as in the play. Celebrations of peace, love pursued and run away from, battles of will, brotherly rivalry and spite, and, in the midst of this most Italianate setting, the introduction of a very Elizabethan Watch to tie it all together and save the day. Running time 150 mins including interval Wilson
Milam (Director) 12 June performance supported by RADA Patrons Jerwood
Vanbrugh Theatre The Trojan War has reached a bloody stalemate. The exhausted and disillusioned Greeks learn of a vast army of Amazons coming to the aid of Troy and race out to fight back the women. But the Amazons' arrival has nothing to do with the affairs of the men and everything to do with their own bloody and brutalized history. As their true intentions become clear, Penthesilea, the Queen of the Amazons, and Achilles, the Greek golden boy, become entangled in a savage obsession and their two nations are dragged into the vortex of their desire. Heinrich von Kleist was the enfant terrible of German Romanticism. Having fought in the Prussian army at the age of 15, he embarked upon a restless literary career, which saw frequent clashes with the establishment: Goethe was appalled by the brutality of the classical world portrayed in Penthesilea. Kleist committed suicide in 1811 at the age of 34 having written several plays, including The Prince of Homburg and the comedy The Broken Jug, and eight novellas, which were a great influence on Kafka. Running time 130 mins with no interval Edward
Kemp (Director) Rada Certificate In Theatre Directing GBS
Theatre Thérèse is in love. She has fought for it and will keep it at any cost. But the mind is a fragile thing… A story of love corrupted by guilt, Zola's original play shocked audiences and critics alike with its unflinching depiction of human desire. His earlier novel of the same name had created a whole world, visibly tainted; in the play Zola locks us into one room with no way out. My version, newly translated delves into that stifling sense of intimacy and shows the remorseless pull of conscience however violent the rebellion against morality. Oliver
Baird (Director) GBS
Theatre Ashes to Ashes
was first presented by the Royal Court Theatre at the Ashes to Ashes is a fiercely personal and political work from one of our finest writers; mysterious and unnervingly resonant. The play reveals itself as many things; a struggle for power between two fractured people, an exploration of the enduring horror of memory - real or imagined, and an uncompromising cry for humanity in a world which has lost its way. Harold Pinter is one of the world's most important playwrights. He wrote his first play The Room in 1956 whilst working as an actor. Since then he has written over 30 plays including The Caretaker, The Homecoming, No Man's Land and Betrayal. He is an actor, director, writer and one of the principal political voices of our time. In 2005 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, cited as 'The foremost representative of British drama in the second half of the twentieth century.' Paul
Christie
(Director) GBS
Theatre Sam Shepard directed the first production of Fool For Love in 1983 at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco. The fierce passions explored in the play are just as powerful for audiences today. Eddie tracks down his lover May, to a run-down American motel on the edge of the Mojave Desert. An old man watches as they play out their games of love and hatred and circle around the secret that binds them all. Ashleigh
Nguyen (Director) Second Year Public Productions For Young Audiences Jerwood
Vanbrugh Theatre The Great and Inestimable Chronicle of the Huge and Mighty Giant Gargantua! A preposterous tale from the famous 15th century Doctor Rabelais, whose name has become a byword for the comic celebration of all things physical. It tells of a giant Gargantua and his extraordinary exploits: his miraculous birth through his mother’s ear, his kidnapping of the great bells of Paris, his ending of a world war precipitated by a dust-off between some shepherds and bakers, and his founding of a new monastic order whose motto is “Do What Thou Wilt”. Mixed in with the comedy are advanced ideas about education and some well-aimed satirical shots at people in authority. This story is brought to the stage in robust, physical style with a combination of live actors, giant puppets and masks accompanied with song, music and dance inspired by the period. “St Anthony’s Fire burn you, mahoom’s disease whirl you, the squinance with a stitch in your side, and the wolf in your stomach truss you, the bloody flux cease upon you, the cursed sharp inflammations of wild fire, as slender and thin as cow’s hair strengthened with quicksilver, enter into your fundaments, and like those of Sodom and Gomorrha, may you fall into sulphur, fire, and bottomless pits, in case you do not firmly believe all that I shall relate unto you in this present Chronicle!” Francois Rabelais Running time 105 mins Carl
Heap (Director) 4, 9, 11 July
at 7.30pm Jerwood
Vanbrugh Theatre Troy has fallen – its great women lie enslaved in the rubble. Andromache fights to save her son’s life, Polyxena burns with love for the slain enemy Achilles, Helen sits in isolation, hated on all sides. Only mad Cassandra sees what’s coming, but can’t bear what she sees, while old Queen Hecabe’s forlorn hopes come one by one to nothing. But tiny flowers grow in the ruins – sudden kindnesses between foes, an unlikely love-affair, and a man of conscience among the warriors, struggling to keep Troy’s culture from vanishing forever. Several of Glyn Maxwell’s plays have been staged in London, Edinburgh and New York, including The Lifeblood, Wolfpit, The Forever Waltz and The Only Girl in the World, which was revived this year at the Arcola, directed by Alex Clifton. Liberty, his play about the French Revolutionary Terror, will be staged at the Globe this summer before a UK tour. He is also a poet, novelist and librettist. Running time 110 mins Alex
Clifton (Director) Jerwood
Vanbrugh Theatre Boxing is a sport that rouses tempers. Fierce fights (verbal, of course) are forever breaking out about its rules and regulations. Those who hate it question whether it should be tolerated at all in a civilised society like our own. Those who love it call it the very noblest sport of all, with Mohammed Ali its greatest and most respected champion. All this antagonism is bad enough, but what if girls started boxing too? There are hundreds of reasons against training a female fighter; lots of people simply don’t like seeing women getting hit, no matter how good they get. Well, of course, girls already have started boxing, and in the most unlikely places – GIRL BOXERS ARE A KNOCKOUT AT THE TALIBAN'S FORMER STADIUM OF DEATH - The cavernous, dingy interior of the National Stadium in Kabul has echoed with many sounds during its eventful history. Communist rallies roared from its terraces, the condemned screamed for mercy at Taliban executions, and now there is a new and surprising sound: teenage girls practising boxing in its Spartan training gyms. “Hit harder, go on do it,” squeaked one tiny 15-year-old as her colleague pounded her with outsize boxing gloves. The sight of 30 determined girls, many in headscarves, sparring and shadow-boxing, is extraordinary in Kabul. Women in burkas stalk the streets outside huddled against icy winds.’ The Times January 18th 2008 BOXERGIRL explores this explosive subject in a story set in a ring full of energy and passion. Running time 95 mins Nona
Shepphard ( Writer/director) RADA
Foyer Bar Jerwood
Vanbrugh Theatre The
Two Noble Kinsmen was written between 1612 and 1614 after The Tempest,
published in 1632 Fletcher was a prominent actor and Shakespeare's close friend and succeeded him as the foremost dramatist for the King's Men after Shakespeare's death in 1616. Based on Chaucer's The Knight's Tale, this tragicomedy tells the story of Palamon and Arcite. The war between Thebes and Athens is finally over and these two noble kinsmen, cousins and close friends, are imprisoned by the Athenians following the defeat of their city. From their jail cell they both see and fall in love with Princess Emelia and soon become bitter rivals. Their problems in this foreign land have only just begun. Love, war, deception,
chivalry, madness, execution and a royal tournament all make up part
of the RADA Youth Group's colourful and lyrical ensemble production
of the final surviving play of the Shakespeare canon. Ticket
Price Subscription Service •
If you book 1 production in the season you will pay £11.00 for
your adult tickets * Simply
complete the booking form with the production dates and number of
tickets as usual. Once you know the total number of performances you
have booked, please tick the appropriate box below to indicate how
much each ticket will cost. Please note, to qualify for the discount
all tickets for the season must be booked at the same time. The discount
applies to customers attending multiple If
you have any questions please call the Box Office on Tickets for all the performances and events listed in this website are available from the RADA Box Office only. The Box Office entrance is situated in Malet Street and is open Monday-Friday from 10am to 6pm. RADA Stars advance booking opens Monday 7 January. Public booking opens on Monday 14 January. Ticket prices apply to all the third year and second year student performances in the Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre, GBS Theatre and the John Gielgud Theatre. Adults
£11.00 *CONCESSIONS: Senior Citizens, Under 16s, Students, UB40s, Equity Members, Camden/Westminster Rescard holders and Disabled Patrons. (One companion accompanying a disabled patron may be admitted at the concessionary rate.) I.D. will be required upon collection of tickets. Tickets can be reserved for a maximum of three days. Tickets reserved within three days of a performance must be paid for within 24 hours. Unpaid tickets may be released for resale, therefore we recommend payment in advance. **RADA
Global Network is available to all graduates of RADA core courses.
The Box Office accepts: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Switch, Solo, Cheques and Postal Orders. Cheques should be made payable to: The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. PLEASE BOOK IN ADVANCE. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND POSTAL BOOKINGS WHEREVER POSSIBLE TO ENSURE YOUR REQUEST IS PROCESSED EFFICIENTLY. Tickets are usually non-refundable. Tickets can only be refunded in cases of show cancellation or in exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the Box Office Manager. Refunds will be made by cheque. Tickets can be exchanged if the performances are in the same run and there is availability. No exchange fee will be charged. Currently all seating in our three auditoria is unreserved. There is no admittance to the auditorium without a ticket. Each ticket represents a single seat though not a specific one. If tickets are lost, please inform the Box Office Manager to obtain a duplicate ticket slip, which will serve to gain access to the auditorium and override the original ticket. Specific seating requirements such as an aisle seat or wheelchair spaces should be made known to the Box Office at the time of booking so that the appropriate arrangements can be made. Latecomers will not be admitted until a suitable break in the performance. In the event of a show being fully booked, the Box Office staff wil make every effort to inform you that this is the case and arrange an alternative date. Names will be placed on the waiting list in order of receipt and any returned tickets will be distributed at the discretion of the Box Office staff. Whilst the Box Office does its best to ensure that everyone on the waiting list is accommodated, tickets cannot be guaranteed. |