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Full Casting Announced for Macbeth at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre

Posted on: January 21st, 2025 by ettEditor

ETT today announce full casting for Artistic Director Richard Twyman’s version of Macbeth, which is excitingly reworked for 2025 for a limited run at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. Joining the previously announced Alex Austin (Macbeth) and Lois Chimimba (Lady Macbeth) are Gabriel Akuwudike (Banquo), Bella Aubin (Malcolm), David Colvin (Lennox), Ammar Haj Ahmad (Macduff), Daniel Hawksford (Duncan), Bianca Stephens (Lady Macduff) and Sophie Stone (Ross).

Macbeth opens on 5 March, with previews from 28 February and runs until 29 March 2025.

Artistic Director Richard Twyman and Executive Producer Sophie Scull said today, “We feel very lucky to have been able to put together such an extraordinary team for our reworked Macbeth. It’s a real thrill that audiences in London will have a chance to see this production and the work of the brilliantly talented people involved in it. Audiences can expect a Macbeth that’s surprising, exciting, dangerous and playful. We’d like to thank all of the partners, actors, creatives, artists and freelancers involved in making and realising it for audiences across the UK, internationally, digitally and now in London.”

Rachel O’Riordan, Artistic Director and CEO of Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, added “I am thrilled to be welcoming English Touring Theatre’s production of Macbeth to the Lyric. We are delighted to bring this compelling and thought-provoking production to our stage in West London.”

UK Premiere of Marie and Rosetta Starring Beverley Knight

Posted on: January 14th, 2025 by ettEditor

AN ETT, ROSE THEATRE AND CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE CO-PRODUCTION

ETT, Rose Theatre and Chichester Festival Theatre today announce the UK premiere of George Brant’s (Grounded) critically-acclaimed Marie and Rosetta, the roof-raising play with music telling the true story of American singer and songwriter Rosetta Tharpe and her protégé Marie Knight. Directed by Monique Touko (The Boy at the Back of the Class; School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play), this production featuring gospel and blues hits is an electrifying portrait of the godmother of rock ’n’ roll.   

Celebrating her professional play debut as Rosetta, is multi award-winning  singer and actress Beverley Knight, whose many West End performances include Memphis, The Drifters Girl, Sylvia (for which she won an Olivier Award) and Sister Act. Full cast and creative team to be announced.

Marie and Rosetta runs at the Rose Theatre in Kingston 2 – 24 May before transferring to Chichester Festival Theatre 25 June – 26 July. 

Beverley Knight, said: “It is a great honour to be cast in the role of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, one of the unsung architects of rock ‘n’ roll. I am and have always been a storyteller, whether it be in a purely music form or in a theatrical setting. I’m excited to be able to tell the Sister Rosetta story in this important play about her life, trailblazing career and her relationship with the legendary gospel singer Marie Knight. This will be my first role in a professional play; I have performed many times in plays at an amateur level and I’m so thrilled that I get to tell HERstory as my debut. Sister Rosetta Tharpe, with her powerful expressive voice, her electrifying guitar and her Gospel message laid the foundations on which Chuck Berry, Ike Turner, Elvis Presley and literally everyone else has walked. The Godmother of rock ‘n’ roll deserves to be celebrated and remembered”.

Monique Touko, Director, said: “It is truly an honour to stage the UK premiere of Marie and Rosetta by George Brant. Returning to both Rose and Chichester with this needed and powerful story feels very timely.  This play allows us to not only celebrate the incredible lives of two trailblazing Black female musicians, but to immerse ourselves in their world, blending song and spectacle to bring their legacy to life. We’ll zoom in on the moments of their lives, big and small, and amplify their voices—both literally and metaphorically. It’s a privilege and a responsibility to depict these women in their full glory, ensuring they receive the recognition they so deeply deserve for their monumental contributions to music and culture.”



Lead Cast Announced for Macbeth 2025

Posted on: November 22nd, 2024 by ettEditor

Following the UK and international tour in 2023 and 2024, ETT today announces Macbeth will return to the stage for a limited run. Artistic Director of ETT, Richard Twyman will direct Alex Austin in the titular role as Macbeth and Lois Chimimba as Lady Macbeth in the 2025 production at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre.

Macbeth will open on 5 March, with previews from 28 February and runs until 29 March 2025 at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre.

ETT’s Artistic Director Richard Twyman and Executive Producer Sophie Scull said today, “Following a UK and international tour in 2023/2024, seen by more than 40,000 people, we are delighted to be bringing our production of Macbeth to the Lyric Hammersmith, with the exciting talent of Alex Austin and Lois Chimimba playing Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. We can’t wait to introduce you to the rest of the cast and hope that audiences in London will find something both familiar and provocative in the story and society that unfolds on stage.”

Full cast to be announced shortly.

Production Shots for Abigail’s Party

Posted on: September 26th, 2024 by ettEditor

New photography by Pamela Raith taken at Northern Stage in Newcastle upon Tyne, ahead of our national tour.

Full tour dates HERE.

Cast announced for RTST National Tour of Mike Leigh’s Cult-Classic Abigail’s Party

Posted on: July 31st, 2024 by ettEditor

A sparkling new production of Mike Leigh’s cult-classic comedy, Abigail’s Party will premiere at Northern Stage in September, then on to Mercury Theatre, Blackpool Grand and Rose Theatre.

Jack Bradfield, winner of the prestigious RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award presented by Sir Ian McKellen, will bring a fresh new perspective to Leigh’s ground-breaking play which garnered cult status following the 1977 BBC TV Play for Today starring Alison Steadman.

An award-winning playwright and director, Jack is Artistic Director of Poltergeist and is currently Associate Director on Player Kings in the West End and on tour. He said, “I’m thrilled to be reviving Mike Leigh’s savage suburban comedy. We’re ratcheting up the awkward, the inappropriate, the unbearable and the plain strange, and staging the play in a whole new way. At Northern Stage and across the country, our incredible cast and creative team are going to light a fire under this classic and bring it bright and burning into 2024.

ETT and Office of Everyone Announce Groundbreaking, Free Augmented Reality Project Bringing the Magic of Theatre and Untold Queer Stories to New Audiences

Posted on: June 26th, 2024 by ettEditor

ETT and Office of Everyone announce the cast for In Time which is the first series launched on their newly created augmented reality app Through the Cracks. Co-created by Office of Everyone’s Jack Hardiker and ETT’s Artistic Director Richard Twyman, the instalment is written by Sonali Bhattacharyya. Jennifer Bakst directs Ian McKellen(Narrator), Sophie Melville (Milly), Annabel Baldwin (Patricia/Pearl), and Dorothea Meyer-Bennet (Maggie).

This brand new free Augmented Reality app which shares untold stories of people whose tales have fallen – both figuratively and literally – through the cracks. Using the app on their smartphones or tablets, audiences will see a virtual crack appear on the physical floor beneath them. Through this crack, they will watch and listen to a story unfold beneath their feet. This method of presenting stories through Augmented Reality has the quality of an intimate performance that can be experienced anywhere.

Macbeth at Lyric Hammersmith: 2025

Posted on: March 13th, 2024 by ettEditor

After a successful UK and international tour across England, Luxembourg and Dubai in 2023 and 2024, our production of Macbeth celebrates its London premiere at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre from 28 February – 29 March 2025.

Richard Twyman, Artistic Director of ETT, directs this stylish and formidable contemporary production of Shakespeare’sseminal play, presenting a ruthless anatomy of ambition, power, and paranoia.

Lyric Hammersmith Theatre today announces ETT’s critically acclaimed, contemporary re-imagining of Macbeth (originally co-produced by ETT, Shakespeare North Playhouse, Northern Stage and Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, in association with Bristol Old Vic) as part of its 2025 programming, playing from 28 February – 29 March 2025. Directed by ETT Artistic Director Richard Twyman, this production of Shakespeare’s cautionary tale, celebrated an extensive UK and international tour, culminating in this London transfer.

Full casting will be announced in due course.

Rachel O’Riordan, Artistic Director and CEO of Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, said:
I am delighted to be welcoming English Touring Theatre (ETT) in 2025, bringing their production of Macbeth to London audiences. Their re-lensing of Shakespeare’s iconic drama, directed by Richard Twyman, interrogates the psychological breakdown of the characters, set against a backdrop of modern society controlled by CCTV, paranoia, and desire. Lyric audiences will be drawn into the visceral re-imagined world of Macbeth and will get to experience the thought-provoking story unfold on our beautiful stage here in West London.”

Richard Twyman, Artistic Director & CEO, and Sophie Scull, Executive Producer of ETT, said: “We are hugely proud to have toured Macbeth across England, and internationally, to over 41,000 people, including over 10,000 school children, and excited that audiences in London will get a chance to see the production. We had a wonderful time working with the team at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre on The Good Person of Szechwan last year, and we can’t wait to bring Macbeth here, it feels like the perfect space to bring it in to.”

Cast Announced for the World Premiere of Samuel Adamson’s The Ballad of Hattie and James

Posted on: March 1st, 2024 by ettEditor

Kiln Theatre and ETT today announce the cast for the world première of The Ballad of Hattie and James by Samuel Adamson. Artistic Director of ETT, Richard Twyman directs Sophie Thompson and Charles Edwards as Hattie and James, with Suzette Llewellyn as Bo, Mrs Arbuthnot, Rosamund, Louise, Eve and Madame Schultz.

The production opens at Kiln Theatre on 18 April, with previews from 11 April, and runs until 18 May.

Kiln Artistic Director Amit Sharma said today, “We are thrilled to unveil the phenomenal cast who will bring The Ballad of Hattie and James to life. The combined talents of Sophie Thompson, Charles Edwards and Suzette Llewellyn promise an unforgettable exploration of lifelong friendship in Samuel Adamson’s poignant play. Under Richard Twyman’s harmonious direction, I’m confident audiences will be deeply moved by this powerful story. All of us at Kiln are delighted to be working with ETT on this epic play.”

Richard Twyman added, “We’ve managed to put together a truly brilliant cast and creative team for the Ballad of Hattie & James, and I can’t wait to start work with them to realise Sam’s beautiful and quietly radical new play. It’s shaping up to be a really exciting collaboration between the whole team, and between Kiln and ETT, and we look forward to sharing what we make with audiences.”

Full Casting Announced for UK Premiere of Kate Attwell’s Testmatch at Orange Tree Theatre

Posted on: February 15th, 2024 by ettEditor

Orange Tree Theatre (OT) with co-producers ETT (English Touring Theatre) and Octagon Theatre Bolton today announces full casting for the UK première of Kate Attwell’s Testmatch. Diane Page directs Aiyana Bartlett (India Two and Daanya), Aarushi Ganju (India One and Messenger), Haylie Jones (England Three and Two), Tanya Katyal (India Three and Abhi), Bea Svistunenko (England One and One) and Mia Turner (England Two and Memsahib). Testmatch opens at the Orange Tree on 24 April and runs until 18 May, with previews from 24 April and will then tour to Octagon Theatre Bolton from 24 May until 1 June, with previews from 23 May.

Diane Page said today, “I’m really excited to be directing the UK premiere of Kate Attwell’s play Testmatch and to be back again at the Orange Tree. I’m looking forward to working on the play with our fantastic cast and team, and to sharing it with audiences in both Richmond and Bolton.

Macbeth Production Shots

Posted on: October 5th, 2023 by ettEditor

New photography by The Other Richard taken at Northern Stage in Newcastle upon Tyne, ahead of our national and international tour.

Full tour dates HERE.