Clwyd Theatr Cymru unveils details of autumn season at Mold

Sep 9 2009 Ellesmere Port Pioneer

Tennessee Williams, Bernard Shaw and rock ’n’ roll will make it an autumn to remember as Clwyd Theatr Cymru gears up for the new season in Mold.

Kate Wasserberg, Clwyd Theatr Cymru’s recently appointed Director of New Plays, opens the season in the Emlyn Williams Theatre with a new production of The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.

Williams’ first major drama, The Glass Menagerie is one of the great classics of the American stage. Conspicuously biographical, the play is both a heartbreaking family drama and a poetic examination of the pain of rejection.

The Glass Menagerie won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and was followed by A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Rose Tattoo.

It can be seen from September 17 to October 10 in Mold before embarking on a tour of Wales.

In the Anthony Hopkins Theatre, Terry Hands will direct Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw from October 8–31. A staple of the repertoire for almost 100 years, Shaw’s comic vision of the independent, determined woman is a commentary on the battle between the sexes and the British class system.

In this new production, designed by Mark Bailey, Professor Henry Higgins is played by Philip Bretherton and Eliza Doolittle by Hedydd Dylan. Both actors starred in Terry Hands’ production of Noises Off last season.

Tim Baker, Clwyd Theatr Cymru’s associate director, directs Festen, the stage hit based on the Danish Dogme film, in the Emlyn Williams Theatre from October 22 to November 14.

From the opening moments of the play there is a sense of momentous events in this psychological drama, which exposes a family’s darkest secrets. Festen is a provocative, moving and disturbing drama which raises the most profound questions about family and society.

This year’s rock ’n’ roll Christmas pantomime is Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood, written and directed by Peter Rowe with design by Judith Croft, in the Anthony Hopkins Theatre from November 20 to January 23.

Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood is a heady cocktail of traditional panto laced with a string of smash hits – over 20 rock ’n’ roll and soul favourites – including Girls Just Want To Have Fun, I Shot the Sheriff and Signed, Sealed, Delivered – played live by a multi-talented cast of actor/musicians.

Visiting drama highlights include Peter Bowles in The Browning Version by Terence Rattigan.

This Theatre Royal Bath production is a double bill, which also includes Chekhov’s classic one-act play Swan Song, in which an actor reminiscences about his career in an empty theatre after his final performance.

The Browning Version with Swan Song are both directed by Peter Hall and play in the Anthony Hopkins Theatre from September 14-19.

However, the national tour of the Theatre Royal Bath production of Balmoral has been cancelled. This is because Rik Mayall is ill and unable to perform.

Balmoral is replaced with another touring production, Write Me A Murder by Frederick Knott, starring Leslie Grantham.

Frederick Knott is considered one of the most successful thriller writers of all time. His work includes Dial ‘M’ For Murder and Wait Until Dark.

Write Me A Murder, an intense and gripping thriller with many surprises, is in the Anthony Hopkins Theatre from September 22-26.

The Clwyd Theatr Cymru Celebrity Classical Concert Season combines some of the brightest young British musicians with established international stars in a high-quality season.

It begins with musical fireworks from the young British violin virtuoso Chloë Hanslip on Sunday, September 27.

Details of all events, including an extensive autumn film programme, the latest information on production casting and up-to-the-minute programme updates, are available from the theatre’s website www.clwyd-theatr-cymru.co.uk.