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theatreguys.net presents:
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Fredo's Theatre Group
Welcome to our Theatre Group website - we hope you will find all the information you need. This is a not-for-profit UK theatre-going group for our friends and colleagues (see foot of page).
We do not sell tickets to the public.
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>Latest Offers: It's time to make a booking -
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Details of all Available Bookings are shown on the Current Bookings page -
click HERE or on the ads above.
Extra Discounts for our Donmar Friends
Previously advertised shows are now sold out
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IN THE INDIVIDUAL SHOW PANELS, CLICK ON THE UNDERLINED TITLE FOR A LINK TO A REVIEW
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Friday 29 June
at the
Donmar Warehouse
Miss Brodie is formidable, brilliant, passionate and a bit of a mess. And she is a mint of a part. Lia Williams makes the role entirely her own. It's a superb part and Williams emerges from it a complete star.
whatsonstage.com
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Wednesday 4 July
7.00pm performance
at the
London Palladium
Please note early coach departure times:
Palace Theatre 4.00 pm;
Chalkwell Schools 4:05; Elms 4:10; West Leigh 4:12; Thames Drive 4:15; Hadleigh 4:20; Kenneth Road 4:25
Gt Tarpots 4:30; 5 Bells 4.35.
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No pictures or reviews
available yet
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>OnOurOwn:
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Updated 12/06/18 -
What we see without the Group: click HERE or on the ads below to see our comments.
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>News and Information: Please scroll down the page
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IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE TO FIND THE CHEAPEST AGENCIES TO BOOK THEATRE TICKETS, CLICK HERE
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IF YOU’RE IRISH
“Surely you already know all about this subject?” commented the very pleasant woman who was sitting next to me. She was from Holland, and we were both attending a seminar at the National Theatre entitled Introduction to Irish Drama: Boucicault to Friel.
But I know shamefully little, I replied. That’s why I’m here. And I’m looking forward to seeing two of Brian Friel’s plays in the next month – Translations at the National, and Aristocrats at the Donmar. My new Dutch friend was ahead of me: she had seen several plays by the ingenious Mr Friel, and was looking forward to learning more.
The seminar was presented by the very learned Anna McMullan, from the Antrim coast herself, and currently Professor in Theatre at the University of Reading. Anna had a very relaxed platform manner, and demonstrated a firm grasp of her subject in her ability to field questions from the 50 or so participants in the course.
However, it was clear that the seminar was not from Boucicault to Friel, but very definitely Boucicault and Friel. And yes, you have heard of Dion Boucicault; he wrote London Assurance, a great comic hit for the National, with Simon Russell Beale, several years ago.
Attention is focused on him again in a peculiar way. The young Dion Boucicault left Dublin and came to London to pursue a literary career, and had great success as an actor, writer and impresario. There were new worlds to conquer, and he emigrated to America, arriving first in New Orleans, and then heading for New York.
There he was the toast of Broadway, opening the Winter Garden Theater and writing successful melodramas. One of these was The Octoroon, based on incidents he had observed in Louisiana. As is the way with this type of play, Boucicault employed archetypal characters: a damsel in distress, a virtuous hero and a hissable villain – and some stereotypes that might not be acceptable in terms of political correctness
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. Now the contemporary American playwright Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins has written a play called
An Octoroon, and it’s currently playing at the National’s Dorfman Theatre. I quote from the National’s brochure: In 1859, white Irish playwright Dion Boucicault writes a hit play about America. Today, a black American playwright attempts to do the same. Both old and new, An Octoroon gleefully remixes a Victorian melodrama set on a Louisiana plantation into ‘a dazzling deconstruction of racial representation’ (WhatsOnStage).
It sounds mindblowing, and I’m looking forward to it. I was very impressed with Gloria by Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins when we saw it at Hampstead Theatre last year, and this promises to be...
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Allelujah!
At last the casting has been announced for Alan Bennett's Allelujah! at the Bridge Theatre. In no particular order of either age or alphabet, but just as they come to mind are -
Gwen Taylor, Simon Williams, Samuel Barnett, Sacha Dhawan, Deborah Findlay, Jeff Raule, Julia Foster, and Peter Forbes, plus others as seen in the photo below, surrounding Alan Bennett himself. I don't recognise many of the 25+ cast here but I'm sure they will make the right impression on stage. The play features inmates of the Dusty Springfield Geriatric Ward in an old fashioned NHS hospital, a perfect casting opportunity for the older generation of actors, plus some younger parts of those immigrant doctors and nurses that Brexiteers are so keen to keep away from our shores.
Mike 05/06/18
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THE DONMAR IN ITS PRIME - An Introduction to the new season
We're excited by the new season at the Donmar. This small theatre allows us to get so close to scrutinise their productions in detail and gives us a chance to observe the excellent actors with an intimacy that isn't possible in larger venues. And the three plays that they've announced should show them at their best: a new version of a seminal modern novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, a quiet masterpiece that has had far too little exposure, Aristocrats, and a Shakespeare problem play that has been jolted into relevance by recent events Measure For Measure. When the Donmar arranged an insight evening to give us more detail, we hurried along to find out.
The producer Kate Pakenham welcomed us, and told us about their choices. The first, and possibly the most surprising, is The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in a new version of Muriel Spark's novel by David Harrower. It has always surprised me that this story is very well-known, and yet few people have read the short novel that introduced Miss Brodie to the world. . The film was adapted from an early stage adaptation, which Muriel Spark famously did not like (and having seen it in two different productions, I'm on her side). Shortly before her death, Spark wrote to her publisher to tell him that she wanted David Harrower, a fellow Scot, to write a new version.
It appears that Harrower, whose extraordinary Knives in Hens was revived by the Donmar last year, had had writer's block. However, he nailed himself to his desk, with Muriel Spark's fax pinned up in front of him, and set about writing a fresh and truer version. Kate sketched in the story - at the Marcia Blaine Academy in Edinburgh in the 30s, a small group of pupils are groomed by a charismatic teacher, Jean Brodie. The novel looks back at the time when Miss Brodie was in her prime, and questions her influence on her pupils. It leads to a challenging reversal of sympathies.
The obvious question: is a new adaptation necessary? The Casting & Creative Assistant Christopher Worrall pointed out that the film, dominated by an indelible performance from Maggie Smith, was a rose-tinted version of the book, and I agree. It failed to capture the more acerbic tone of the original, and... /continued HERE
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THEATRE NEWS HEADLINES
Theatre News Headlines are automatically updated throughout the day.
You will find articles, reviews, interviews - just click HERE to go to the WhatsOnStage.com website page, or click on the Headlines below for News from OfficialLondonTheatre.com
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OUR PREVIOUS NEWS ITEMS FROM THIS WEBSITE CAN BE SEEN HERE.
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This is a not-for-profit UK theatre-going group for our friends and colleagues and their own extended group of friends. It costs nothing to join us but must be by personal introduction from another member of the group. We provide tickets at group discounts for London theatres (and coach transport from Southend, if required).
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Bookings (Currently on offer)
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Venice Footnotes
+ photos
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Click on the ear (above) to read about
Hearing Devices
now available in many theatres. They may be of help to YOU.
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 theatreCat
Libby Purves
reviews
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Click on the Cat
to read Libby's reviews
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Ticket Price Watch:
For updates on higher prices and what the producers want you to pay. We also give you occasional news on any Discount offers -
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Updated 24/05/18
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Ask us about
Theatre Tokens:
They make ideal gifts for theatre-going friends. They are available in denominations of £20, £10 and £5 and can be used to buy theatre tickets at all West End theatres and the half-price tkts booth in Leicester Square. You can buy them from us and we accept them too.
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This website is now hosted by 1&1.co.uk
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