An awfully good line-up at the Theatre Royal
A host of famous names are coming to Bath in an exceptional season!
A list of illustrious names are on their way to the Theatre Royal over the coming months. Some have played Bath before while others are visiting for the first time.
Jonathan Church, Artistic Director of the Theatre Royal Bath Summer Season, has programmed a feast of summer productions. The first of these, Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory’s HENRY V, is now open in the Ustinov Studio where Ben Hall’s performance as Henry is receiving great acclaim. Having played to fantastic reviews in the West End at the Vaudeville Theatre, Oscar Wilde’s stylish comedy AN IDEAL HUSBAND arrives shortly at the Theatre Royal with a distinguished cast which includes real-life father and son Edward and Freddie Fox, Susan Hampshire, Nathaniel Parker, Sally Bretton and Frances Barber.
Three of the best-loved stars of Downton Abbey are heading to Bath. Phyllis Logan (who played housekeeper Mrs Hughes) will star in a gripping psychological thriller, SWITZERLAND, about the reclusive author Patricia Highsmith; Brendan Coyle (who played Mr Bates, valet to the Earl of Grantham) stars alongside David Suchet, in Arthur Miller’s electrifying drama, THE PRICE, and Elizabeth Mcgovern (formerly Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham) stars with Amanda Abbington (Sherlock, Dr. Who), Ralf Little (The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps) and Nigel Lindsay (Shrek, the Musical, Four Lions) in GOD OF CARNAGE, a hilarious comedy of bad manners by Yasmina Reza, the author of Art.
Jonathan Church will make his Ustinov Studio debut later in the year when he directs Terence Rattigan’s moving love story about the concealed truths and veiled emotions in a marriage, IN PRAISE OF LOVE, starring Robert Lindsay (G.B.H., My Family, Citizen Smith) and Tara Fitzgerald (Waking the Dead, Game of Thrones). This is an opportunity no theatre-lover should miss to see two superb actors performing in such an intimate space.
Florian Zeller’s THE HEIGHT OF THE STORM is a beautifully compelling family drama visiting Bath immediately prior to the West End, which stars two of the greatest actors of their generation, Jonathan Pryce (Brazil, Evita, Miss Saigon, Game of Thrones) and Eileen Atkins (Cranford, Gosford Park, The Hours, The Crown). The cast also includes Amanda Drew (Eastenders, The Last Post), Lucy Cohu (Broadchurch, Ripper Street, Death in Paradise) and Anna Madeley (Patrick Melrose).
Inspired by the heart-warming Oscar winning film, and presented by the newly-formed Classic Screen to Stage Theatre Company, RAIN MAN tells the touching and funny story of salesman Charlie Babbitt and his older brother Raymond, an autistic savant with an amazing memory and a genius for numbers. The pair embark on a road trip across America when Charlie abducts Raymond from the institution where he has spent most of his life.
In 2014 Lee Hall, the writer of Billy Elliot and The Pitmen Painters, adapted the smash hit film SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE for the stage and it now plays the Theatre Royal for the first time. This is a witty and epic Elizabethan extravaganza about a young William Shakespeare struggling to find inspiration to write until he falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy merchant, desperate to fulfil her dream on the London stage.
Shakespeare of course went on to become the greatest writer in the English language, and his infamous exploration of betrayal, MACBETH, comes to Bath direct from a sell-out run at the National Theatre. This epic production is directed by the NT’S award-winning Artistic Director, Rufus Norris and features designs by Rae Smith who worked on War Horse and This House.
Two of the greatest names in British comedy, Adrian Edmondson (The Young Ones, Bottom) and Nigel Planer (The Young Ones, Nicholas Craig), star in VULCAN 7, a hilarious new comedy they have also co-written about two actors with a ‘history’, who have achieved varying levels of success in their careers, and who are sharing a trailer in an Icelandic wasteland on the set of a fantasy film.
Ruth Jones, best-known as the co-writer and star of award-winning BBC comedy Gavin and Stacey, winner of an Ultimate Funny Woman Award, and now a best-selling novelist, will star in THE NIGHTINGALES, about a woman who gatecrashes a tight-knit village choir. Christopher Luscombe directs this intriguing new play written by actor and screenwriter William Gaminara (Silent
Witness, The Archers).
ENGLISH TOURING OPERA returns with RADAMISTO, a much-loved work by Handel and a triple bill of 17th century music and opera including works by Purcell, Carissimi and the princemurderer-composer Carlo Gesualdo, which will be performed in candlelight.
RAMBERT, Britain’s national dance company, returns with a chance for Bath audiences to see the final ever performances of the best-loved piece in the company’s repertoire, GHOST DANCES and a programme performed by a new ensemble of the world’s most thrilling young dancers - E2 7SD by Rafael Bonachela, KILLER PIG by Sharon Eyal and a new creation by Benoit Swan Pouffer.
42nd STREET brings Bath Light Operatic Group back to the Theatre Royal for their annual visit with the ultimate showbiz musical and a chance for talented local amateur performers to display their tap-dancing prowess.
After the success of Gangsta Granny in spring, Birmingham Stage Company presents a second adaptation from the UK’S best-selling author for children. David Walliams’s AWFUL AUNTIE is an amazing story of frights, fights and friendship for family audiences.
This year’s traditional family pantomime will be J.m.barrie’s muchloved PETER PAN, complete with CGI, special effects and flying. Paul Nicholas, the star of numerous legendary West End musicals; the comedy series Just Good Friends; Eastenders and, recently, The Real Marigold Hotel, will star as Captain Hook with the role of Smee played by hugely popular local comedian JON MONIE (making his one thousandth Bath pantomime appearance in the course of the run).
Theatre sponsor for the panto is the Bath Chronicle, while Moore Stephens are sponsoring the goody bags.