Don’t be an April Fool, here are five great productions opening this month in London. They include a transfer from The Edinburgh Fringe, returns to the West End after a few months, and a few decades! Plus the London debut of German actress Sarah Alles.
Our Must See This Month Choices
Chess – London Coliseum
The first West End production of Chess since 1986 stars Michael Ball as Anatoly, Alexandra Burke as Svetlana and Cassidy Janson as Florence.
Chess tells a story of love and political intrigue, set against the background of the Cold War in the late 1970s/early 1980s, in which superpowers attempt to manipulate an international chess championship for political ends. Two of the world’s greatest chess masters, one American, one Russian, are in danger of becoming the pawns of their governments as their battle for the world title gets under way. Simultaneously their lives are thrown into further confusion by a Hungarian refugee, a remarkable woman who becomes the centre of their emotional triangle.
Chess was written in 1984 by ABBA songwriters Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and Tim Rice.
Moormaid – Arcola Theatre
Set in Berlin, Moormaid is a thrilling chamber-play about self-destruction and rebirth that attempts to understand the fear currently gripping the European psyche, and the threats that may be posed by our own alienated youth. Bott’s inspiration for Moormaid came in 2014, when she discovered that two of her old classmates had travelled to Syria to fight for IS and didn’t come back. She was shocked by the banality with which the news was discussed and how this absurdity has now become a normality.
Moormaid tackles challenging and important issues that are often neglected: cultural differences, radicalisation, mental health, self-acceptance and isolation. It seeks to better understand the human beings caught up in extremism and the cages we build for ourselves that form our point of view.
The Nature of Forgetting – Shoreditch Townhall
Following a highly successful run at Edinburgh Fringe 2017, Theatre Re’s The Nature of Forgetting now launches an exciting international tour. It is a powerful, explosive and joyous piece about what is left when memory and recollection are gone.
Tom has just turned 55. As he dresses for his birthday party, tangled threads of disappearing memories spark him into life, unravelling as a tale of friendship, love and guilt. This ambitious project with actors, mimes and musicians has been created in collaboration with UCL Neuroscience Professor Kate Jeffery and inspired by interviews and workshops with organisations such as the Alzheimer’s Society. While the medium of performance may be an unusual resource for the transmission of science, it shines a light on issues around memory that offers a new perspective.
Bat Out of Hell – Dominion Theatre
Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical wowed critics and public alike when it played limited seasons at Manchester Opera House, London Coliseum and Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre in 2017, and has been seen by nearly 500,000 people so far. The show received the joint most nominations for a musical in the 2018 WhatsOnStage Awards, with eight nominations.
The show’s stellar leads, Andrew Polec and Christina Bennington, reprise their roles.
The Moderate Soprano – Duke of York’s Theatre
David Hare’s critically acclaimed play The Moderate Soprano will make its West End premiere at the Duke of York’s Theatre, with performances from 5th April to 30th June 2018.
Jeremy Herrin, whose celebrated production enjoyed a sold out run at Hampstead Theatre in 2015, will return to direct the play with brand new set and costume designs by the multi award-winning theatre and opera designer, Bob Crowley. Olivier Award winners Roger Allam and Nancy Carroll will reprise the roles of Glyndebourne founder John Christie and soprano Audrey Mildmay.
The two great passions in John Christie’s life were opera and a beautiful young soprano, Audrey Mildmay, with whom he was completely smitten. Together with his formidable drive, they fuelled what many first saw as a monumental folly in the South Downs. Glyndebourne was triumphantly born amidst stiff manhattans, rolling lawns and the sound of sheep from across the HaHa. It was to become revered the world over.
