Forthcoming Productions
Caruso and the Monkey House Trial
Wednesday 11 January7.45pm
Prodigal Theatre
Celebrity. Scandal. Monkeys. Opera! When legendary Tenor Enrico Caruso is accused of pinching women's bottoms at the Central Park Zoo in New York, it's not his reputation but his whole career that's at stake. With text drawn from contemporary newspaper accounts, the audience plays the jury and must pass judgement: did Caruso commit an act of gross indecency? Was he a notorious womaniser or the victim of police entrapment?
The hugely talented Ignacio Jarquin returns to The Stahl by popular demand in a new collaboration with Andrew G Marshall, and featuring live singing from Puccini and Verdi.
Hardeep Singh Kohli - The Nearly Naked Chef
Monday 23 January
7.45pm
Seabright Productions
Grab a seat and tuck in, as a guest of Hardeep Singh Kohli. This celebrated broadcaster, raconteur, writer and cook combines comedy with inventive cuisine in a wonderfully funny, laid back evening's entertainment.
Think Ready Steady Cook but with great cooking and funny anecdotes, all delivered by Glaswegian Hardeep in his own unique, articulate and utterly charming way. Running time 100 mins plus interval (age 14+).
DNA
By Dennis Kelly
Thursday to Saturday, 17 - 19 January
7.45pm
at D5, Old Dryden
Oundle School, directed by Andrew Martens with a cast drawn from the Sixth
Form
A group of teenagers do something bad, really bad, then panic and cover the
whole thing up. But when they find that the cover-up unites them and brings
harmony to their once fractious lives, where's the incentive to put things
right?
Profits from ticket sales for this production will go towards Oundle AfricaLink,
to build a school for a local community in Mashungu, a remote rural area of
Mozambique. A group of Oundle pupils will be going there to work on the project
in July.
The Comedy of Errors
By William Shakespeare
Tuesday to Thursday, 7 – 9 February7.45pm
Oundle School, directed by Matt Burlington
Egeon, a Syracusian merchant searching for his missing son, finds himself in the mysterious port city of Ephesus only to discover that the Duke has vowed to put any traveller from Syracuse to death. Meanwhile his son, Antipholus, is searching for his lost twin in the company of his servant Dromio who likewise has lost a twin brother of his own. Two sets of twins separated by a storm? A man searching for his sons before being put to death? A wife concerned that her husband may be having an affair? What could possibly go wrong?
One of Shakespeare’s earliest plays, The Comedy of Errors contains many of the ingredients that are to become familiar in his later works and includes all the elements of farce that one would expect. Talented pupils from the Fourth and Fifth Forms bring to life this story of loss and discovery with pace, energy and more than just a helping of slapstick humour.
The Boy Friend
Book, lyrics and music by Sandy Wilson
Wednesday to Saturday, 7-10 March
7.45pm
Oundle School, directed by Ali Boag
Madame Dubonnet’s School for Young Ladies at the Villa Caprice is a-buzz
with excitement. The carnival ball is taking place soon – who will dance
with whom? Will Polly Browne’s boyfriend actually materialise in time?
Love, both new and remembered, is in the air as old flames reunite and the
truth about Polly and Tony the errand boy emerges – via afternoons on
the beach, the Charleston and a celebration of joie de vivre on the 1920s
French Riviera.
Sandy Wilson’s impossible-not-to-tap-your-feet-to score transports a
talented cast of Oundle School performers back to this heyday of glamour and
fun. In association with Samuel French Ltd.
The Trial
By Steven Berkoff, adapted from the novel by Franz Kafka
Wednesday 14 March7.45pm
Blackeyed Theatre, in association with North Devon Theatres and South Hill Park, directed by Ella Vale
Joseph K, an estranged and rootless citizen, is the victim of anonymous governing
forces beyond his control. Deceived by authoritarian power, he is relentlessly
hunted down for a crime that remains nameless. Finding himself arrested and
awaiting trial, K sinks deeper and deeper as he tries to escape through twists
and turns that are at once shocking, thrilling and funny.
More than forty years after its first performance, Steven Berkoff’s
brilliant adaptation of Franz Kafka’s masterpiece has become a classic
work of twentieth century theatre and a widely studied syllabus piece. Kafka’s
nightmare vision, Berkoff’s crackling script and Blackeyed Theatre’s
trademark ensemble-style physical theatre combine to create an inspiring and
unforgettable piece of drama. Running time approx 2 hours (age 14+).
A2 Theatre Studies Practical Exam Pieces
Thursday 22 March
7.45pm
Oundle School
For their final assessment, A Level Theatre Studies pupils present exciting and often challenging new work of their own devising. Drawing on their understanding of style, genre and theatre practice, young actors and technicians take to the stage in an evening that is part examination and part celebration.
The Servant of Two Masters
By Carlo Goldoni, adapted by Lee Hall
Thursday and Friday, 26 – 27 April
7.45pm
at Laundimer House
Laundimer House, directed by Fred Wienand and Will Roberts
All is well and good at the House of Pantalone as they celebrate the marriage
of Clarice and Silvio, until Truffaldino arrives to inform the happy family
of the arrival of Federico Rasponi, who was supposedly killed by Foldoni,
his sister Beatrice’s lover, in a duel. Clarice is torn between her
new fiancée and Rasponi, whom she swore to marry. Florindo then arrives
in Venice and employs Truffaldino as a servant. How will Truffaldino cope
with the demands of two masters and will the truth about Federico Rasponi’s
identity be revealed? The Servant of Two Masters is one of the most celebrated
farces ever written.
The Van Man
Wednesday and Thursday, 2 – 3 May6.00pm and 9.00pm
Performed in Bramston Paddock
C-12 Dance Theatre, choreographed by Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster
Delivering live, pop-up, explosive dance theatre - from the back of a van.
The Van Man delivers a high tempo, high impact and heartfelt story through
video projection and contemporary dance theatre. Immersed in the van and the
van’s contents, audiences are fully absorbed within the performances.
Contemporary dance, physical theatre and a Luton Van combine with exciting movement, video and a rich original sound score to bring this innovative première show to Oundle. Three eclectic performers deliver a multitude of characters and personalities in a powerful exploration of the lonely but wacky world of the courier driver!
Celebrating Dickens – A Heart that Never Hardens
Wednesday 13 June7.45pm
Oundle School, devised and directed by Ali Boag
The worlds of Dickens’ novels are populated by some of the most theatrical characters in Literature and they will be pouring onto The Stahl stage in this joyful celebration of the great man’s bicentenary. LAUGH at the pomposity of Mr Bumble! WEEP at the death of Little Nell! GASP at the wickedness of Uriah Heep! Above all, REVEL in one of the greatest imaginations ever to have turned a phrase in the English language. A talented ensemble takes you on a tour of scenes from Dickens’ works in a colourful evening of comedy, tragedy, grotesquery and sentimentality.