Menagerie Theatre Company

Hotbed Festival Thurs 26 – Sun 29 Jan at The Junction

Menagerie — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:42:06 +0000

Hotbed Festival at The Junction returns with 45 fantastic events for you to choose from. We have 12 new commissions from the cream of British writing talent, including Chris O’Connell (multiple Fringe First Winner), Steve Waters (The Bush), Janice Okoh (Bruntwood Award Winner 2011), as well as many workshops including from award winning playwrights, Mike Bartlett and Thomas Eccleshare.

Guardian Theatre Critic, Lyn Gardner, will be hosting a panel discussion on new writing on Saturday 28th at 2.00pm, alongside other influential theatre practitioners. Also, we have our brilliant guest production, SILENT, from Ireland’s leading new play company Fishamble.

For a full list of events, see our PROGRAMME and DIARY pages.

Box Office: 01223 511511 (open: Mon-Sat)

Book Online: www.junction.co.uk

Guardian theatre critic, LYN GARDNER, to chair Hotbed panel discussion

Menagerie — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:52:59 +0000

STATE OF THE NATION: a discussion on new writing

Come and listen to Lyn Gardner and a panel of other highly influential theatre makers and observers discuss new writing.

Saturday 28th January, 2.00pm at The Junction. No booking necessary. Pay-what-you-want to attend.

Mike Bartlett to lead Hotbed Masterclass

Menagerie — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:45:39 +0000

Mike Bartlett is a multi-award winning writer. In 2007, he held the position of “writer in residence” at the Royal Court Theatre. He has had work performed at The Bush Theatre and by new-writing company Nabokov. In 2010 Bartlett’s play Cock (Royal Court Theatre) won the 2010 Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement In An Affiliate Theatre. Recent work includes: Love Love Love (Paines Plough, 2010 and touring), Earthquakes in London (The National Theatre 2010 and touring) and 13 (The National Theatre 2011-12).

Sunday 29th January, 11.00am – 1.oopm at The Junction.

£30 / £20

To book your place, email: office@menagerie.uk.com NOW or book through The Junction in early January.

Hotbed and Sparks writer, Dawn King, receives rave reviews in the Guardian

Menagerie — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 23:23:09 +0000

Hotbed and Sparks writer Dawn King has had her play FOXFINDER described by Michael Billington in the Guardian as “the most compelling new work I have seen this year”. The play is on at the Finborough Theatre until Friday 23rd December (Tuesdays to Sundays), and is selling out fast. More info at http://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk.

Other early reviews:

Time Out (4 stars): “Riveting… A thrillingly original piece of writing… Rich, rare and deeply unsettling.”
Evening Standard (4 stars): “An elliptical, intriguing piece of writing… We may not find any foxes here but we’ll certainly uncover some terrific young talent.”
Times (3 stars): “Excitingly unusual… This is a bold and often brilliant stab at something new.”
Guardian (4 stars): “In a wan year for new writing, Dawn King’s play shines out like a beacon.”

Dawn is currently writing a play for West Yorkshire Playhouse as one of the BBC Writersroom 10, and she will be the Pearson Playwright-in-Residence at the Finborough in 2012.

Menagerie Associate Writer Janice Okoh wins the Bruntwood Award!

Menagerie — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:27:22 +0000

Congratulations to Janice Okoh! In November, she won the UK’s most prestigious playwriting award: The Bruntwood. She is now seen as one of the UK’s brightest talents.

In May 2012, Paul Bourne will be directing the co-production of Janice’s play EGUSI SOUP with SOHO theatre for touring (which will come to the Mumford theatre in Cambridge. Click the link below to see Janice on the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15738470

Four For Jericho – Preview & Fundraiser

Menagerie — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:45:11 +0000

Following sucsess in Edinburgh our production of Four For Jericho has been invited to the prestigious Think Fest in Goa, India, in November. See http://goathinkfest.com for more details.

By Richard Fredman. Directed by Patrick Morris. Produced by Paul Bourne.

Diving into the red-hot passions of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, hapless tourist Michael Crossley sets out to film the Holy Land for his Sunday school. There’s one place he has to go – Jericho. With high-decibel history lessons, mistaken identities, biblical visions and the most dangerous car chase ever, this riotous political comedy dares to laugh at the absurdities and tragedies of today’s Promised Land. Richard lives in Cambridge and has written many plays, particularly for young audiences. This is his first professional commission that seizes upon his experiences in Israel and on the West Bank.

Book online www.anglia.ac.uk/mumfordtheatre

Four For Jericho – Preview & Fundraiser

Menagerie — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:39:27 +0000

Following sucsess in Edinburgh our production of Four For Jericho has been invited to the prestigious Think Fest in Goa, India, in November. See http://goathinkfest.com for more details.

By Richard Fredman. Directed by Patrick Morris. Produced by Paul Bourne.

Book online www.anglia.ac.uk/mumfordtheatre

Think Fest in Goa

Menagerie — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:45:32 +0000

Following success in Edinburgh our production of Four For Jericho has been invited to the prestigious Think Fest in Goa, India, in November. see http://goathinkfest.com/default.aspx for more details.

Stage Review 44J

Menagerie — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 17:56:24 +0000

Menagerie Theatre Company

Pleasance Courtyard

Farce, comedy and physical theatre combine to provide both a smooth blend and an explosive mix in Menagerie Theatre Company’s excellent examination of the reality of life for those of the various religions which have an interest in the West Bank.

The company’s physical style of story-telling, choreographed with flair and precision by Patrick Morris, throws you straight into the tale. Michael is on a mission to film the Holy Lands for his church’s Sunday School class, his naive blundering fuelled in no small part by a desire to please his estranged wife.
Paul Brendan is utterly believable as Michael, as his naivety takes him away from the tourist track and into the hills of the occupied territories. Here he encounters Chandrika Chevli’s humanitarian observer Izzy – and her Arab academic Dr Reem – Josh Becker’s Palestinian farmer Fouad and Emma Beattie’s very-pregnant settler, Rachel.
Without going into the complexities of the whole Arab-Israeli conflict, Richard Fredman’s script succeeds, in what ends up as a tall tale of a taxi ride shared by the conflicting characters, in highlighting exactly how complex the whole situation is. There can be no happy ending, if veracity is to be maintained, and Fredman ensures that there is none, while keeping the energy high in getting there.

Review by Thom Dibdin

44J Review

Menagerie — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:50:05 +0000

Theatre review: Four For Jericho
By David Pollock Published: 24/8/2011

You wouldn’t expect the words “comedy romp” and “West Bank” to sit well together, but playwright Richard Fredman and director Patrick Morris have produced a piece that’s thoughtful and amusing.

Paul Brendan is Michael, a wide-eyed and utterly naive Sunday school teacher who’s journeyed to the Holy Land – a “Christian who dresses like a Jew” – to shoot a film for his class and impress his estranged wife with his adventuring ways. Yet Michael isn’t that convincing, says Josh Becker’s Fouad, the poor Palestinian farmer who drives him to Jericho; “a proper settler Jew would have a machine gun”.

This is a strong play filled with compelling performances, including Chandrika Chevli as Michael’s principled love interest Izzy, and Emma Beattie with a star turn as the brash, pregnant, anti-Palestinian Jewish-American migrant Rachel, whose baby-booming mission is “repopulating the Holy Land”.

Perhaps it’s long on jovial daytime radio-play humour, but Fredman’s experience of living in the region adds richness and depth, while balanced political points are slipped in rather than hammered home.

• Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)