How To Make A Musical
Three leading lights of West End musical theatre discuss all aspects of writing, producing and performing in musicals: with Tom Chambers, star of Top Hat; Ruthie Henshall, Broadway and West End star and the author of So You Want to Be in Musicals? and Julian Woolford, director, librettist and the author of How Musicals Work.
Time: 12noon (1 hour)
Tickets: £8
Lecture: 'Shakespeare in performance' with Gregory Doran and Antony Sher
Incoming Artistic Director of the RSC Gregory Doran and award-winning actor and author Sir Antony Sher discuss Shakespeare in performance, inspired by their work together and Gregory’s production of Julius Caesar for the World Shakespeare Festival.
Harriet Walter at Edinburgh Book Festival
'Ageing with Pride'
Dame Harriet Walter’s glittering career as an actor on stage and screen has seen film credits including Atonement and Sense and Sensibility. Now, she has embarked on an ambitious photography project to celebrate the beauty of older women.
James Kelman with Liz Lochhead
'Ordinary People, Extraordinary Voices'
James Kelman, winner of the 1994 Man Booker Prize, is joined by Scotland's Poet Laureate Liz Lochhead to discuss Kelman's latest novel: a tender and deeply affecting story of a Glasgow woman in London, Mo Said She Was Quirky.
Tickets: £10/8 (concessions)
Duration: 1 hour
'So You Want To Do a Solo Show' at Surviving Actors
'An Attitude for Acting' at Surviving Actors
Liz Lochhead: Making Nothing Happen
Scotland’s National Poet, and veteran Fringe performer, in a celebration of the word - poems, monologues, characters, lyrics, theatre pieces. And, daily, a guest artist - a song, a wee bit of music - from a friend in town today.
Tickets: £10/9 (concessions)
Duration: 1 hour
‘brilliantly, raucously and scabrously funny’ Sunday Times
‘it’s the beautiful, lyrical meditation … which lingers longest in the imagination’ Scotman
I Am Shakespeare - with author Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance reads from, and discusses, his play I Am Shakespeare, after the matinee performance of Richard III at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The event will be followed by a book signing.
Meet in the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre foyer at 5.15pm to be guided to the event location.
Tickets are free but advance booking is essential - email: rosie.t@shakespearesglobe.com
Commedia Studies with Barry Grantham
An exploration of the techniques used by the 'Laughter Makers' of the Commedia dell Arte: skills inherited by Pantomime, Music Hall, and Silent Film. The workshop will be led by Barry Grantham, author of Playing Commedia and Commedia Plays, and will run over the last weekend in July at London's famous Sands Films Studios.
Cost: £75 (includes lunch)
Michael Pennington at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
A literary event with Michael Pennington, talking about his book Sweet William: Twenty Thousand Hours with Shakespeare, and his acclaimed one man show of the same name.
Tickets will be available on the door, or in advance from The Shakespeare Bookshop.
Michael Pennington at Chichester Festivities
Michael Pennington, who plays Antony in Chichester Festival Theatre’s forthcoming production of Antony and Cleopatra, discusses his book Sweet William: Twenty Thousand Hours with Shakespeare.
There will be a book signing following the talk.
Tickets must be booked in advance (£13).
Harriet Walter In Conversation with John Coldstream
A refreshing, revitalising and empowering talk from one of the world’s most gifted, celebrated and beautiful actresses. In Facing It: Reflections on images of older women Dame Harriet Walter encourages women to look the mirror full in the face, enjoy what they see and glorify the lines that time and experience have placed there.
In Other People's Shoes, Harriet offers a wonderfully practical - and personal - introduction to acting:
'A fascinating insight into the working life of an actor... very enjoyable' The Times
'Love Charing Cross Road' festival featuring Simon Callow and Michael Pennington
Join the multi-talented Simon Callow (My Life in Pieces) and Michael Pennington (Sweet William, Shakespeare User Guides) in conversation with Don Paterson for a Shakespeare-themed panel discussion.
Blackwell Bookshop, 100 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0JG.
Tickets are free but booking is essential - email events.london@blackwell.co.uk.
Max Stafford-Clark – Directing New Writing
Max Stafford-Clark has directed first productions by Timberlake Wertenbaker, David Hare, Stephen Jeffreys and Caryl Churchill to name but a few, and was Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre, and now heads Out of Joint theatre company.
In this invaluable workshop, he demonstrates a unique approach to directing a piece of new writing.
A second date for this workshop will take place on 26th June, 10am (1 hour).
Part of the International Student Drama Festival taking place in Sheffield, 22nd – 30th Jun 2012.
Gbolahan Lekan Obisesan – Now, Then, Tomorrow
Writers can write from experiences, knowledge of the past, comments and observations of the present or their predictions and the future. Work with playwright and theatre director Gbolahan Obisesan (author of Fringe-First winning Mad About The Boy) on character led and driven stories.
Part of the International Student Drama Festival taking place in Sheffield, 22nd – 30th Jun 2012.
2012 Wickham Lecture: 'Plays for Today'
'Plays for Today' - the playwright’s place in British Theatre – then and now'
Presented by writer David Edgar.
David Edgar has been at the forefront of playwriting in Britain for three decades, exploring political and social issues in this country (such as in the award-winning Destiny and Maydays) and abroad (as in The Shape of the Table, Pentecost and The Prisoner's Dilemma, a trilogy about Eastern Europe after the Cold War). He won a Tony Award for The Life and Times of Nicholas Nickelby - his adaptation of Charles Dickens’s novel. His most recent play, Written on the Heart, about the penning of the 1611 King James Bible, has recently transferred to the West End following its RSC debut. In 1989 he founded the UK’s first postgraduate playwriting programme at Birmingham University, becoming its Professor of Playwriting Studies in 1995. In addition to his plays, he is a regular commentator in the press on the relationship between the arts and society, a frequent broadcaster and the author of How Plays Work, a practically focused analysis of the dramatist’s art. He is President of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain.
The lecture will be followed by a Q & A session. Admission free.
HighTide Festival Symposium: A Changing Tide?
The opportunities to produce new plays in the UK are highlighted as some of the best in the world; we are a nation of writers, a theatre industry inspired by discovery. However, with the need for a changing tide in new models to discover, develop, produce and support writers, how have these opportunities changed and what of their impact? Who is producing? How are they producing? What is being produced and where? Who are the writers and where are they discovered, nurtured and supported towards a long term career?
Join HighTide and a host of important writers and artists from the vibrant world of theatre for an exciting day of conversation around new writing. Highlights include a Q&A with writers Steve Waters (The Secret Life of Plays) and Tony Ramsay titled 'Beyond that First Play', and playwright David Edgar (How Plays Work) discussing the rise of new writing in his session 'From Written Off to Written Large'.
Tickets are available here and cost £25/£20 (students).
Enda Walsh on Misterman
Enda Walsh discusses his play (also published in Enda Walsh: Plays One), playing in the Lyttelton Theatre 14th April - 28th May 2012.
Lifelines with Michael Pennington
Burgh House and Hampstead Museum are excited to welcome Michael Pennington to host an evening talk and supper. The Burgh House is a beautiful Queen Anne house in the heart of Hampstead Village in London. Tickets for the talk only cost £12, or for the talk followed by reception £30.
Jez Butterworth in conversation with Andrew Dickson
Playwright Jez Butterworth reflects on his work and the extraordinary success of his play Jerusalem in an interview with theatre critic Andrew Dickson. Part of the Guardian's 'Open Weekend' held at the newspaper's offices, King's Place, London.
