Everything Theatre Reviews, interviews and news for theatre lovers, London and beyond
We’re currently seeing lots of theatres gearing up for 2021, after all, we all want to see the back of 2020 don’t we. So whilst we can’t highlight every theatre, we’ll do our best to highlight a few of our regular haunts. So next up is Kingston’s Rose Theatre, a theatre that can sometimes be easily overlooked, located as it is on the outskirts of London’s theatreland in South West London. But it is a theatre that is a joy to visit, even if we do have a slight question over those shared double seats!
The great news is that the theatre has reopened already, and is putting on a limited Christmas season, including one for the kids, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s much-loved Stick Man. On top of that are a number of one-off nights with some well known comedians popping along. Well worth checking out if you want to dip your toe back into theatreland before the year is over.
But what about the 2021 then and their spring season? Well, the big centre piece is the world premiere of Colin Teevan‘s The Seven Pomegranate Seeds. This is brought to the Rose by the same creative team behind My Brilliant Friend (National Theatre transfer, 2019) and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (West End transfer, 2019).
The Seven Pomegranate Seeds, playing between 4 and 27 March, sees seven contemporary stories grounded in prominent, mythical origins all brought to life. Persephone, Hypsipyle, Medea, Alcestis, Phaedra, Creusa and Demeter: the women of Euripides’ plays are reimagined as people of today in an unexpected fusion of celebrity, inappropriate desires, historical police investigations and missing children.
Another highlights for play lovers look to be Woke. This award-winning production is a story about the 20th Century African American experience, following two women’s fight for civil rights. One is notorious Black Panther Assata Shakur; the other, a present-day university student enrolling as the Ferguson riots begin.
Set against a powerful soundtrack of original music and traditional gospel and blues sung live, the two women challenge the American justice system, become criminalised through political activism, and ultimately are faced with the same choice: stay and fight, or flee?
Of course, being The Rose, we all know they cater strongly for the younger audience as well. That will include another Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler work, The Gruffalo’s Child (12 – 21 February), as well as Horrible Histories: The Best of Barmy Britain (13 – 18 April).
Details of these and all other shows currently planned can be found on their website.
