Blue Elephant Theatre - Autumn 2013
Season preview
THE Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Kyd’s revenge thriller, opens the Blue Elephant Theatre’s Autumn 2013 season. Presented by Lazarus Theatre Company, it runs from September 24 to October 19.
A haunted spirit returns to his homeland to wreak revenge on those responsible for his murder. His lust for the truth is at the heart of one of the bloodiest plays ever written.
This landmark Elizabethan drama comes to the stage in a new ensemble production by Lazarus Theatre Company, told through a fusion of text, movement and music.
The production is directed and designed by Ricky Dukes, with lighting by Miguel Vicente and sound by Alex Paul.
The cast comprises Maria Alexe, Safron Beck, Amy Bowden, George Clarke, Adam Cunis, Joseph Emms, Suzie Grimsdick, Tom McAdam, Roseanna Morris, James Peter-Bennett, Danny Solomon, Felicity Sparks, Jamie Spindlove, Stefan Stuart and Thomas Winsor.
The Spanish Tragedy is said to have inspired other great works of the period including Marlowe’s Dr Faustus, Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi and Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Tickets: £15, £10 concessions and previews (September 24 and 25), £9 Southwark residents.
Time: 8pm.
Post-show discussion: Wednesday, October 9.
Next comes Crazy Glue, which runs from October 22 to October 26.
A Husband. A Wife. A marriage in crisis. Fusing the languages of silent films and cartoons, Crazy Glue is described as a comic and moving exploration of how far we will go to fix a relationship, even when it appears beyond repair.
Using only one table, two chairs and a single bottle of glue, the accomplished physical performers tell a tale of love and loss through gibberish and vocal sounds effects.
Inspired by Etgar Keret’s short story, Crazy Glue is a work-in-progress devised by Filipa Tomas and Bradley Wayne Smith of Single Shoe Productions, who trained at the London International School of Performing Arts. Bradley returns to the Blue Elephant following roles in No Man’s Land (2013) and sell-out Jukai (2010).
Tickets: £7, £6 concessions, £5 Southwark residents.
Time: 8pm.
Post-show discussion: Wednesday, October 23.
Crazy Glue is followed – from October 29 to November 2 – by Retrospective.
How do find your place in life – or even just in your group of friends? When do your feet stop growing? And who decides all these things? These questions – and many more – are explored by five dancers in Nutshell Dance’s new work.
Retrospective deals with topics of adolescence – unknown emotions, budding sexuality, insecurities and unfamiliar identities. Choreographer Mari Frogner explores these topics from a very personal place, combining her Scandinavian point of view with her current perspective as a female choreographer.
The dancers are Antonello Apicella, Hannah Cameron, Sarah Hitch, Jenny Reeves and Harriet Waghorn. The composer is Oli Newman.
Tickets: £7, £6 concessions, £5 Southwark residents.
Time: 8pm.
Post-show discussion: Thursday, October 31.
Next it’s the turn of So It Goes, a wry, touching and visually poetic new play about bereavement from On the Run Theatre, which runs from November 13 to November 16.
Hannah’s father died of cancer when she was seventeen and in the seven years since, she hasn’t talked about it much. Here she opens up in a new show about memory, absence, bereavement…and how hard it is to talk about death.
On the Run are fascinated by the silence which death provokes, by the way grief creeps into our everyday lives and affects us even years after a death.
So It Goes is created and performed by Hannah Moss and David Ralfe, who return to the Blue Elephant following sold-out scratch performances of So It Goes in June.
Tickets: £6, £5 concessions, £4.50 Southwark residents.
Time: 8pm.
The final Autumn 2013 production is Arabian Nights from Hammer and Tongs Theatre, which runs from November 26 to December 14.
According to the press release, Hammer and Tongs Theatre tramples raucously through the far-flung fables of the Arabian Nights, thwarting the murderous intentions of a jilted King.
Kings, princesses, the odd genie, more talking animals than you can shake a stick at and a flying horse all find their way into this madcap physical comedy, played out by a rambunctious ensemble and accompanied by live music.
Arabian Nights is produced by Melinda Burton and directed by Jennifer Rose Lee.
Tickets: £12, £10 concessions, £8.50 Southwark residents and previews (November 26 and 27).
Time: 8pm.
Post-show discussion: Tuesday, December 3.
For more information or to book, call the box office on 020 7701 0100 or visit www.blueelephanttheatre.co.uk/.