Welsh playwright Mark Jenkins (acclaimed author of Playing Burton) will be returning to Wales Millennium Centre in March with his exceptional production of Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles, which won two awards at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2004. Rosebud is one of many drama performances making its way to WMC’s Weston Studio in March along with productions by The Trap, Red Shift Theatre Company and The Black Sheep to name but a few. The first performance to feature at the Weston Studio is Edinburgh Fringe Festival smash hit Bad Play (15 March) performed by The Trap. The group has appeared in numerous popular shows including BBC’s Harry Enfield & Chums, My Hero, Channel 4's Distraction and Radio 4's The In Crowd. Bad Play is a two-hour extravaganza guaranteed to have audiences clutching their sides and gasping for breath. Next on Weston Studio’s agenda is Daniel Kitson’s C-90, showing for two nights from 18–19 March. A compelling drama about hope, memory, kindness and a man’s last day in a job that never really existed. C-90 focuses on the little things in life and how hugely important they are: the tiny acts of unobserved kindness, taking time to listen, the importance of marking the ends of things and not holding people and life at arm's length. The performance won Daniel Kitson a Fringe First at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival and Best Solo show at the Stage Awards. Following their brilliant performance of Get Carter last year, Red Shift Theatre Company returns on 21 March with the new drama; Vertigo and a literary retelling of Hitchcock’s classic genre-hopping psychological thriller. This production presents an ending to equal The Usual Suspects. Red Shift uses the original novel of Vertigo, setting the drama against the backdrop of the German invasion of 1940’s Paris. Be prepared for a roller-coaster ride of loud, bruising comedy with our next performance, The Black Sheep: The Joy of Wine (24 March). In this acclaimed hour of character comedy, the Reverend Andrew Jones is on a mission to convert lager-swilling luddites to the drink of kings. Ably assisted by idiot-savant wine taster Ciaran Murtagh, the Reverend will change the way you feel about wine forever. The final piece of theatre in the Weston Studio in March is Jenkins’ Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles which shows for five consecutive nights from 31 March - 4 April. Author Jenkins and director Josh Richards draw liberally from Welles' work and life. Rosebud is biographical piece that details the lives and loves of Orson Welles, arguably the most enigmatic genius of our time. Rosebud revisits the glories of Welles’ youth and the subsequent exile from Hollywood, telling the story of a man who started at the top and then worked his way down in an award-winning one-man performance. Wales Millennium Centre’s Theatre Programmer Louise Miles-Crust says, “We’ve got a wonderful mix of shows in the Weston Studio throughout March and drama features heavily in the programme. We’re delighted to welcome Mark Jenkins back to WMC after his successful run of Playing Burton in 2004 as well as new comers such as Daniel Kitson and The Trap.” For further information and tickets contact WMC ticket and information office on 08700 40 2000 or see the information and secure e-booking system on www.wmc.org.uk The Trap: Bad Play 15 March at 8pm £10/ £8 “Deliciously subversive…sheer comic genius” – The Scotsman “A wonderfully ridiculous, very funny romp" - The List Edinburgh Fringe favourites ‘The Trap’ were formed in 2000. Following 5 successful years at the Pleasance Theatre in Edinburgh, they have finally decided that it's time the British public had a taste of their silly, surreal, and very funny comedy. Bad play is a spot-on satire of all-too-earnest student theatre, complete with falling props, bad timing, clunky dialogue and poor costumes. Daniel Kitson: C-90 18 March – 19 at 8pm £10/ £8 “A lovely and moving tale of quirky individuals, small kindnesses and the hope of human connection. A moving and funny story of kindness and possibility" – Observer It is Henry’s last day at work. Surrounded by thousands of discarded or undelivered compilation tapes he will start, at last, to listen. And he’ll find in the tapes unheard stories, stories about himself, about people he knows, about everything. It is a tale of people who live quiet, largely ignored lives and how they supply the real heartbeat of humanity. Red Shift & Picture House II: Vertigo 21 March at 8pm £10 / £8 Weston Studio '...a brilliantly controlled, tantalisingly enigmatic masterpiece...' - Daily Telegraph Vertigo is a searing, claustrophobic tale of obsession, madness and murder. Vertigo is a wonderfully plotted thriller; a chilling exploration of identity, objection and patriarchy; a compelling production with a shocking twist. Vertigo is the triumphant last instalment of Red Shift’s Picture House triptych of innovative theatre productions drawing on source material best known through landmark movies. The Black Sheep: The Joy of Wine 24 March at 8pm £10/ £8 “Great comic writing and astounding performances” – The Guardian The Black Sheep have been making theatre and comedy together since 1999 and set up The Black Sheep in 2002. Since then they have toured extensively throughout the UK with a variety of shows for adults and children. Rosebud: The lives of Orson Welles 31 March – 4 April at 8pm £10/ £8 “The stunning impersonation here is by Christian Mckay, who looks uncannily like the young Welles and has his magnificent tone of voice. That would be as nothing, of course, had he not also captured the swaggering confidence and had Jenkins not given him a superb script.” The Herald Rosebud: The Lives of Orson Welles is a project born out of the remarkable prior, and continuing, international success of a previous collaboration between partners Mark Jenkins, the author, and Josh Richards, the director. Welles comes to World Stage via an off-Broadway run and a tour of England after sweeping the prizes at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe. |
| wales millennium centre web site: www.wmc.org.uk |
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Thursday, February 8, 2007 |
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