2020 at Jermyn Street Theatre
Season preview
FOR the first time in its twenty-five year history, Jermyn Street Theatre is able to announce a full year of programming.
Artistic Director Tom Littler has revealed the full 2020 Season, with an array of work that ranges from world premieres to rare revivals, theatre legends to new talent and literary classics to new writing.
Highlights include the world premiere of a new play by Peter Gill directed by the author, alongside Gill’s new version of Three Sisters; a triple bill of Samuel Beckett plays directed by Trevor Nunn; and Michael Pennington playing Prospero in The Tempest in a partnership with Theatre Royal Bath.
Tom Littler said: “It has been a pleasure and a privilege to assemble this year of work, bringing together vibrant undiscovered talents with some of the world’s most respected directors, actors, and playwrights. Jermyn Street Theatre continues to be an intimate home for drama of the highest quality.”
FULL LISTINGS
Krapp’s Last Tape/Eh Joe/The Old Tune by Samuel Beckett, directed by Trevor Nunn – January 15 to February 8.
Trevor Nunn directs a triple bill of plays with an all-star cast including Lisa Dwan, James Hayes, Niall Buggy and David Threlfall.
In Krapp’s Last Tape, James Hayes plays the 69-year-old Krapp as he listens and responds to the cassette tapes he recorded in his youth. In Eh Joe, Niall Buggy interacts with the voice of celebrated Beckett specialist Lisa Dwan. And in The Old Tune, adapted by Beckett from a radio play by Robert Pinget, receiving its first London production since the 1960s, Buggy and David Threlfall pass the time by remembering – and misremembering – the past.
Trevor Nunn said: “The focus of these plays is Beckett’s fascination with memory. All three are universal but also emphatically Irish.”
The world premiere of The Dog Walker by Paul Minx, directed by Harry Burton – February 12 to March 7.
Harry Burton, best known for his acclaimed productions of Harold Pinter’s work, directs the world premiere of a new comedy by Paul Minx about loneliness and friendship in the big city.
The Tempest by William Shakespeare, directed by Tom Littler – March 11 to April 4.
Michael Pennington, one of the foremost actors of his generation, plays Prospero in a production helmed by the venue’s Artistic Director, Tom Littler, and later moves to Theatre Royal Bath. This follows Littler’s production of All’s Well That Ends Well, starring Hannah Morrish and Gavin Fowler.
Michael Pennington said: “I’ve declined playing Prospero a few times – it’s so often described as Shakespeare’s farewell to the stage, and I wouldn’t want it to be mine… More seriously, I welcome the chance to play it in the intimacy of Jermyn Street Theatre, and then at Theatre Royal Bath. When all’s said and done it’s a great play and part, with layer upon layer of meaning.”
Relatively Speaking by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by Robin Herford – April 21 to May 16.
Alan Ayckbourn’s first major success is directed by his long-term collaborator Robin Herford (The Woman in Black), in a production transferring from The Mill at Sonning. Relatively Speaking is a comedy of misunderstandings and mistaken identities.
The European premiere of The Marriage of Alice B Toklas by Gertrude Stein by Edward Einhorn, directed by Edward Einhorn – May 20 to June 20.
When it premiered in 2017, Edward Einhorn’s work became a major off-Broadway hit, earning rave reviews. Einhorn directs his own ‘marriage farce’ about one of the most famous same-sex partnerships of the 20th century, in which he imagines a celebrity wedding populated by all the literary greats of the age.
Orlando by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Stella Powell-Jones – June 24 to July 18.
Virginia Woolf’s celebrated time and gender shifting novel is adapted by Sarah Ruhl (In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play, Dear Elizabeth) and directed by the theatre’s former Associate Artistic Director, Stella Powell-Jones.
The world premiere of Peter Gill’s new version of Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, directed by Tom Littler – September 9 to October 3.
The world premiere of Something in the Air by Peter Gill, co-directed by Peter Gill and Alice Hamilton – October 7 to October 31.
The autumn opens with two world premieres by the celebrated playwright and director Peter Gill (The York Realist). The first is his new version of Chekhov’s Three Sisters directed by Tom Littler. Gill has previously adapted Chekhov’s The Seagull, Uncle Vanya and The Cherry Orchard. This is followed by Gill’s new play Something in the Air, a play about love and memory set in London, co-directed by Gill and Alice Hamilton.
Peter Gill said: “I am delighted to be co-directing my new play Something in the Air with Alice Hamilton, and – because Chekhov has always been a big influence on my work as a director and a writer – that my new version of Three Sisters will open in such an intimate studio.”
After Darwin – by Timberlake Wertenbaker, directed by Jimmy Walters – November 4 to November 28.
After Darwin, Wertenbaker’s play about progress, immigration and theatre, was last seen at the Hampstead Theatre and receives its first revival directed by Jimmy Walters in a co-production with Proud Haddock.
The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary! by John Nicholson – December 2, 2020 to January 16, 2021.
The year concludes with the London premiere of the acclaimed Peepolykus work, which was previously seen at the Liverpool Everyman.
The theatre has announced new ticketing, with concessionary prices now available throughout each run. Prices are in three bands – The Half, The Quarter, and Beginners – and are cheaper the earlier you book.
Jermyn Street Theatre is also introducing 5@5 – each day at 5pm, subject to availability, five unsold tickets will be made available to under-30s and Equity members for £5.
Booking for Krapp’s Last Tape/Eh Joe/The Old Tune, The Dog Walker, The Tempest, Relatively Speaking, The Marriage of Alice B Toklas By Gerrrude Stein and Orlando is open now.
Booking for Three Sisters, Something in the Air, After Darwin and The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary! opens in Spring 2020.