King's Head Theatre - January to April 2016
Season preview
AS WELL as Edinburgh transfer hits and female-led new writing, pub opera returns to the King’s Head Theatre in the newly announced season running from January to April 2016. Productions include:
The Long Road South by Paul Minx, which runs from January 12 to January 30 (7pm and 3pm weekend matinees)
It is a hot, humid summer in Indiana, 1965. Andre and Grace, black domestic workers for the Price family, want to leave the house to join the civil rights movement in Alabama. They believe in non-violence.
All summer they have been working hard for the Prices – Jake, the bitter cynical father, Carol Ann, his mostly drunken wife, and the family’s teenage Lolita who is determined to keep Andre around at all costs. They still haven’t been paid, though, and need their summer’s wages.
The Long Road South traces how one man is forced to go to the very limits of his being to get what’s rightly his.
Big Brother Blitzkrieg by Hew Rous Eyre and Max Elton, which runs from January 14 to January 30 (9.15pm).
After a botched suicide attempt, Adolf Hitler awakes to find himself in the Big Brother House. Confused by his situation and surrounded by some of the most loathsome individuals he’s ever met, he struggles to come to terms with the world of reality television. Join Adolf on the journey of a lifetime as he makes friends, faces demons and finds his true voice. But will he win over the hearts and minds of the viewers in the process?
Trainspotting, which returns to the King’s Head for a month – from February 3 to February 27 (7pm and 8.45pm, 5pm matinees Saturdays).
After 5 star critically acclaimed and sell out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe 2015 and in London, In Your Face Theatre and the King’s Head Theatre’s production of Irvine Welsh’s cult, generation-defining novel Trainspotting is back before it tours the UK. This punchy, 75 minute production recaptures the passion and the controversy of the famous novel, then globally successful film, and repackages it into an immersive production – the audience are literally part of the show, including the notorious “Worst Toilet in Scotland” scene.
In March, Mozart’s classic opera Cosi fan tutte will play in rep alongside Louis Nowra’s play by the same name, Cosi.
Così fan tutte runs from March 1 to April 3 (dates alternate with Cosi). 7pm and 3pm weekend matinees.
A cynical gentleman’s conviction that women cannot be faithful sets in motion a chain of deceit, disguise and desire in the most perfect ensemble opera ever written. This new adaptation is directed by Paul Higgins, with musical direction by Elspeth Wilkes.
Cosi runs from March 2 to April 2 (dates alternate with Così fan tutte). 7pm and 3pm weekend matinees.
Young theatre director Lewis is staging a production of Mozart’s comic opera Così fan tutte. The catch? The cast are patients from a mental institution, none of whom can speak Italian… or sing. Can this unlikely cohort, including an obsessive-compulsive, a manic depressive and a junkie, pull it off? Or will a patient with a penchant for pyromania spoil all the fun?
As Vietnam War protests rage outside and Lewis confronts the enormity of his task, he begins to realise the frightening and attractive power of madness, politics, theatre and love.
Artistic director Adam Spreadbury-Maher said: “Two Cosis at the same time?! If a large funded arts centre said they were going to do this, it would raise an eyebrow – the fact that an unfunded pub theatre is doing it is completely bonkers”.
The new season continues with Something Something Lazarus, a new British musical, which runs from March 8 to April 2 (9.30pm).
It’s easy to escape the disaster that was today… the weekend that wasn’t… the one true love you’ll never forget. Enter the world of cabaret, where the wine ain’t fine but the company’s classy. Meet Vee, clinging to the stage. Della, attacking piano. Jay in his pants at the bar. And of course Daniel, as always, barely managing.
Today’s Friday. They haven’t got long to rehearse the song with the knife. But something’s been delivered. Something that can crack open clocks. And their final hour is about to go horribly wrong. See, the problem with the past – it never stays buried. And whatever happens, the show must go on. So laugh, kick back, find whatever comfort you can. Because there’s some things in life that cabaret just can’t cure. Or maybe it can…
April features work exclusively by female playwrights:
To Kill a Machine, which runs from April 6 to April 23 (7pm).
To Kill a Machine tells the life-story of war-time cryptanalyst Alan Turing. It is a story about the importance of truth and injustice and of keeping and revealing secrets. The play examines his pioneering work considering whether a machine could think, asking the questions “what is the difference between a human and a machine?” and “If a human is prevented from thinking, do they then become a machine?”
At the heart of the play is a powerful love story and the importance of freedom, in relation to Turing’s own life, death and posthumous re-evaluation. It is the story of Turing the genius, Turing the victim and Turing the constant in a tumultuous world.
Russian Dolls, which runs from April 5 to April 23 (8.30pm, 3pm weekend matinees).
Hilda is blind, lives alone, and is visited by a carer once a week. Camilla is a young offender looking for her next mark. A surprising and curious relationship sparks off between these opposites as both search for connection and purpose.
Kate Lock’s insightful new play delves into maternal relationships and the line between friendship and family, and contrasts our current culture of blame and instant gratification with the self-worth and determination of the post-war generation. Hamish McDougall directs.
Also at the King’s Head Theatre: Epsilon Productions’ critically acclaimed, award-winning production of The State vs John Hayes (until November 22); Mirror Mirror, Charles Court Opera’s legendary annual ‘Boutique panto’ (December 3, 2015 to January 9, 2016); and a restaging of F***ing Men (December 5, 2015 to January 9, 2016).
For more information call the box office on 0207 193 7845 or visit www.kingsheadtheatre.com/.