After a hectic autumn season which began with the world première of It’s A Wonderful Life, The New Wolsey Theatre is delighted to announce that it’s spring 2010 goes on sale at 10am on Monday 30 November. The season opens on 3 February and runs to 22 May and includes two New Wolsey productions:
• Noises Off by Michael Frayn, Directed by Peter Rowe – Friday 19 February to Sat 13 March (Press Night: Tues 23 February)
• Up on the Roof by Simon Moore and Jane Prowse, Directed by Peter Rowe – a New Wolsey/Oldham Coliseum co-production which opens at Oldham Coliseum on 9 April and plays at the New Wolsey Theatre from 5 to 22 May (Press Night: Thurs 6 May).
Noises Off is a glorious opportunity to watch seven slamming doors, one breaking window, ten trips up and down stairs and seventeen false entrances, while listening to seventy-three flubbed lines, forth-six miscues, one dramatic highlight, twenty-two double entendres, six regular entendres and a million laughs - all while trying to find a missing plate of sardines.
The story of Noises Off depicts the onstage and backstage antics of a fifth-rate acting troupe touring Nothing On. The curtain opens on the dress rehearsal of the first act of Nothing On the night before it opens and with things not going well. In the second act we hear the first act of Nothing On from backstage, after it's been running a month. The third act takes us back to the first act of Nothing On yet again, after two months of touring.
Noises Off won both the Evening Standard and the Olivier Awards for Best Comedy when it was first produced, and ran in the West End for nearly five years.
“Frayn's construct is based on the principle that if farce involves watching the wheels come off a well-oiled machine, then nothing could be funnier than seeing the wheels fall off a farce itself. Pure comedy gold.” The Guardian
“Connoisseurs of broad old-fashioned prat-falls and prats will be in their element.” Evening Standard
Rosemary Ashe, renowned for her rich career in the West End, including playing the roles of Carlotta in the original cast of The Phantom of the Opera, Madame Thénardier in Les Misérables, Widow Corney in Oliver!, Felicia Gabriel in The Witches of Eastwick (nominated for Laurence Olivier Award Best Supporting Actress) and Miss Andrew in Mary Poppins, will play Dotty Otley, described in the opening notes of the play, as “a housekeeper of character”, usually seen carrying an imposing plate of sardines!!
Up on the Roof is a bittersweet and affectionate musical comedy that celebrate the enduring power of friendship. The story begins in 1975 where five students at Hull University are up on the roof of their student digs for the last meeting of the Roof Club – the singing group they have formed to perform doo-wop covers of golden oldies. In between the songs they reveal their hopes, dreams and aspirations for the lives they are about to embark upon. But life doesn’t often go the way we planned, and over the next ten years we see how their individual journeys, successes and failures, are reflected in the changing relationships within this tight knit group of friends.
Whatever the tensions within the group, they disappear whenever they sing - and they always sing, any time, any place, anywhere – songs ranging from Up On The Roof, Bohemian Rhapsody, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted, Never can Say Goodbye, I'm Not In Love, My Eyes Adored You and When Will I See You Again.
Up on the Roof was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Musical.
Visiting productions include:
• Rannel Theatre Company and makin projects presenting FLHIP FLHOP - Everything Happens On The Break, a fresh new twist on Hip-Hop theatre combining witty dialogue and intricate choreography to create an energetic and hilarious comedy for all ages;
• Company Gavin Robertson & BEX Productions in association with makin projects presenting 2010: A Space Oddity, every space movie you’ve ever seen in an hour and a bit;
• Fresh Glory Productions in association with Shapeshifter and The Theatre Chipping Norton presenting Huck, written by James Graham, from the novel by Mark Twain;
• Foursight Theatre & Talking Birds in a co-production with The Courtyard – Herefordshire’s Centre For The Arts and Warwick Arts Centre presenting Forever In Your Debt, twelve heart-stopping stories of fiscal failure told in the style of the travelling medicine shows of the 1800s which provided theatre, music and the sale of cure-all potions – but here reinvented to offer a must-see cure for terminal debt;
• The Future is Unwritten presenting Meeting Joe Strummer, a passionate punk comedy celebrating the man who set the agenda for a generation;
• Middle Ground Theatre Company Ltd presenting international film stars Kelly McGillis and Rolf Saxon star in a lavish new production of Terrence McNally’s classic love story Frankie & Johnny In The Clair De Lune;
• 20 Stories High, Contact and Birmingham Rep presenting Ghost Boy, an anarchic, energetic, and challenging piece of theatre fusing Grime, Dubstep, Ska, Puppetry, Hip-Hop Theatre, Street Art and Dance;
• Mimbre presenting Until Now, a beautifully improbable acrobatic adventure;
• European Arts Company presenting The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, a chilling, thrilling and highly entertaining reinvention of this classic tale;
• Theatre Alibi with Exeter Northcott & Oxford Playhouse presenting The Ministry Of Fear by Graham Greene, a taut espionage thriller and an unnerving portrait of a mind in free fall;
• Teatro Kismet (Italy) presenting The Mermaid Princess, a captivating new adaptation of Andersen’s The Little Mermaid and
• Graeae Theatre Company in association with Theatre Royal Stratford East presenting Signs Of A Diva, a one woman tour-de-force with Caroline Parker, known as ‘Britain’s favourite deaf diva’ at the helm.
Music in the season includes internationally acclaimed harmony voice ensemble Black Voices who will thrill you with their journey tracking the development of reggae in Jamaica and Britain, The Guitar Whisperer, a ground-breaking multi media concert performed by Richard Durrant, one of the leading virtuosos of his generation, Opera della Luna’s brilliantly fast and hilarious production of HMS Pinafore and God Bless The Child, a one woman show takes that the audience on an intimate and personal journey - with Katrina Beckford as Billie Holiday.
Children’s shows include Lighter Than Air by Circo Ridiculoso, Finding Alice, an interactive adventure by A Single Leaf for children (and big kids too) involving characters we all know and love, Olypuppet presenting Suitcase Circus, a fun and colourful miniature circus performed from behind a jacket and hosted by a threadbare ringmaster's sock… and Peut-Etre Theatre presenting This Is A That, a magnificent, magical, physical, musical journey about a father and daughter who let their imagination run away with them.
The season open on 3 February with Stewart Lee, widely regarded as on of the UK’s most influential live performers with more comedy on 11 April when Up for A Laugh features MC Chris Cairns, Tanyalee Davis, Mike Newall and Junior Simpson and on 12 April the next Under 18 Comedy Night featuring MC Chris Cairns again with Patrick Monahan, Lucy Porter and Howard Read.
The New Wolsey Young Company presents Woyzeck, the heartbreaking story of a young soldier’s descent into madness by Georg Büchner, from Tuesday 20 to Saturday 24 April.
The New Wolsey continues to take a lead in developing audiences for accessible performances with growing attendances at Captioned and Audio Described performances in the autumn season. For spring 2010 the following accessible performances have been scheduled:
Noises Off
Captioned Performance: Thursday 11 March at 2.30pm
Audio Described Performance: Saturday 13 March at 2.30pm
The Ministry Of Fear
Captioned Performance: Saturday 10 April at 2.30pm
Signs Of A Diva
Captioned dialogue, BSL Interpreted songs and audio description: Friday 23 and Saturday 24 April at 7.45pm –
Up On The Roof
Captioned Performance: Thursday 20 May at 7.45pm
Audio Described Performance: Friday 21 May at 7.45pm / Touch Tour at 6.45pm
The New Wolsey has introduced an improved group discount for spring ’10 offering £3 off each ticket for groups of 10+, £4 off for groups of 25+ and £5 off for groups of 50+ and Schools, Colleges and Youth Groups can now secure an £8.50 flat rate. The matinee rate stays at £8.50 and Under 26s can secure tickets for just £5 on the day of a performance.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.wolseytheatre.co.uk or by calling the Box Office on 01473 295900 from Monday 30 November.
-ends-
To download images for the shows above you will need to access the press members area. Please email Marketing & Press Officer Sharon Jenkins at to request a password.