Dateline 13th May, 2001
Branagh returns to the stage - in Sheffield
Kenneth Branagh is to appear onstage in the UK next year for the first time in almost ten years. He will star in Richard III at the Crucible, Sheffield, which opens on 19th March (previews from 13th) and runs until 6th April. The production will be directed by Michael Grandage, the Crucible's associate director, who directed Joseph Fiennes in Marlowe's Edward II in March of this year.
The Crucible's 2001-2002 season also includes a retrospctive of the work of Peter Gill, who will direct his latest play Original Sin. Also in the Gill mini-season will be Kick for Touch, Friendly Fire, Mean Tears and Small Change.
Other plays in the 2001-2002 season are Moliere's Don Juan, a double bill consisting of Sexual Perversity in Chicgao and The Shawl (David Mamet), High Society (Cole Porter), and The Birthday Party (Harold Pinter).
New productions
Sam Shepard's Fool for Love at the Lowry, Salford, until 19th May, then tour (English Touring Company)
The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Martin McDonagh) at the Tron, Glasgow until 26th May
Equus (Peter Shaffer) at the Coliseum, Oldham, until 2nd June
Loot (Joe Orton) at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, from 16th May to 23rd June
Crave (Sarah Kane) at the Royal Court until 9th June
Cats is 20
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats celebrated its twentieth birthday last Friday (11th May). Currently booking until 22nd December, it is the world's longest running musical, having achieved that status on 29th January, 1966, when it had its 6,141st performance. It is still running in the same theatre, the New London.
Casting announced for new Berkoff
The cast for Steven Berkoff's latest play The Secret Life of Ophelia, which will premiere at the King's Head on 18th June, will be Martin Hodgson (Hamlet) and Freya Bosworth (Ophelia). Berkoff describes the play as "an epistolary piece" which explores the love affair between Hamlet and Ophelia through a series of imaginary letters. The play will be directed by Berkoff and will run for five weeks.
A new Mrs Robinson
Anne Archer, the Hollywood actress best known as the wife in the film Fatal Attraction, will replace Amanda Donahoe as Mrs Robinson in The Graduate at the Gielgud on 11th June (previews from 21st May), and will play until 29th September. At 53, she will be the oldest of the actresses who have played the part at the Gielgud.
Spend on tour
The musical Spend Spend Spend, starring Barbara Dickson, has begun a national tour. It opened at the Churchill, Bromley, on 30th April and will go on to Norwich, Bristol, Stoke, Newcastle, Southampton, Glasgow, Coventry, Milton Keynes, High Wycombe, Woking and Manchester. The venue for the week of 1st October is yet to be announced.