Dateline: 10th October, 1999
Royal Court goes home in January
The Royal Court will reurn to Sloane Square in January after an absence of three years while both theatres have been completely refurbished.
The new programme includes:
New plays to appear in the Theatre Upsatirs will include Breath, Boom by Kia Corthron (opening 11th January), The Ftrce of Change by Gary Mitchell (11th February), and Other People by Christopher Shinn (10th March).
Plans for BITE:00
The Barbican has announeced plans for the third summer BITE festival. This season of international drama will include Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the Comedie Francaise with Moliere's Les Fourberies de Scapin, and Thomas Kilroy's The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin.
Madonna to star in Coward film
Madonna is to star in a new film of Noel Coward's Quadrille, which begins shooting in London and the south of France early next year. It is partly funded by a grant from ACE.
Deryck Guyler dies
Veteran comedy actor Deryck Guyler has died at the age of 85 in Australia. According to his agent, Felix De Wolfe, he simply died of old age.
Guyler is probably best known for his part as Potter, the school caretaker, in the TV and film versions of Please Sir! and Korky the policeman in Sykes (BBC1). He also appeared in A Hard Day's Night, Carry On Doctor and One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing.
Witches in the West End
Cameron Mackintopsh has confirmed that the musical The Witches of Eastwick will open at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on 13th June, 2000, after previewing from 26th May. Casting has yet to be confirmed.
More Dawn French
The BBC has announced that there will be four new episodes of the sitcom The Vicar of Dibley, starring Dawn French, before the New Year. The full cast of the original series will take part.
Tess to tranfer to the West End
The musical Tess, based on Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles, will transfer to the West End's Savoy Theatre on 10th November. It was premiered at the Sheffield Lyceum in September.