Hampstead Theatre Celebrates 50th Anniversary
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
TO CELEBRATE its 50th Anniversary in 2009, Hampstead Theatre is presenting a season of revivals and premieres, plus readings of key plays from the theatre’s history.
The season kicks off – from January 22 to February 28, 2009 – with a revival of Noel Coward’s 1929 comedy Private Lives, which was previously revived by Hampstead Theatre in 1962 and went on to become the venue’s first West End transfer.
In the new production, Claire Price (The White Devil) and Jasper Britton (Oedipus) star as exes Amanda and Elyot who can no more live together than they can live apart. When they discover they’re honeymooning in the same hotel with their new spouses, they not only fall in love all over again, they also learn to hate each other all over again.
Lucy Bailey directs.
Two anniversary readings follow – Dutchman by Amira Baraka (formerly LeRoi Jones) on February 19, and Colin Spencer’s Spitting Image on February 21. Both were produced at Hampstead Theatre in the 1960s.
Next up – from March 5 to April 4, 2009 – comes the world premiere of The Berlin Hanover Express by Ian Kennedy Martin, who has written more than 150 hours of television with dramas such as The Sweeney, Juliet Bravo and The Chinese Detective.
Set in the Irish consulate in Berlin in the autumn of 1942, The Berlin Hanover Express poses the question, can a country remain neutral in a time of war? Michael Rudman, former artistic director of Hampstead Theatre, directs.
It’s followed – from April 16 to May 16, 2009 – by a revival of Michael Frayn’s Alphabetical Order, which premiered at Hampstead in 1975 before transferring to the West End and winning the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy.
Inspired by Frayn’s early career as a journalist, Alphabetical Order is set in a provincial newspaper office in the 1970s. Chaos reigns in the cuttings library – until that is, the arrival of Lesley, Lucy the librarian’s new assistant, who wants nothing less than system and order.
Alphabetical Order is helmed by Christopher Luscombe (The Merry Wives of Windsor, Enjoy) making his directorial debut at Hampstead.
Two more anniversary readings follow – Alfred Fagon’s Death of a Blackman on May 7, and Pam Gems’ Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi on May 9. Both plays were produced at Hampstead in the 1970s.
Next comes the world premiere of April De Angelis’ darkly comic social satire Amongst Friends, which runs from May 21 to June 13, 2009.
Journalist Lara, and her ex-MP and crime writer husband Richard, are happy and successful. Having moved to a fashionable ‘gated community’ they invite their old neighbours Caitlin and Joe to dinner. However, when the security system fails, the food for dinner is delivered by a stranger and the dinner party takes quite a different turn…
Anthony Clark directs.
Next – from June 18 to July 18, 2009 – John Dove directs Frank McGuinness’ First World War drama Observe The Sons Of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme, for which its author received the Evening Standard Most Promising New Playwright Award after its premiere at Hampstead in 1986.
Finally, there are two anniversary readings of works produced at Hampstead Theatre in the 1980s – Michael Wall’s Amongst Barbarians on July 16, and Stephen Jeffreys’ Valued Friends on July 18.
For more information call the box office on 020 7722 9301 or visit the website.