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Plenty Moyet to come
You can’t accuse Kathy Burke of being afraid of hard work. The God of Hell finished earlier this month, and she’s already signed up for another directing stint. Smaller, written by TV writer Carmel Morgan (Coronation St, Brookside, Shameless), will star comic legend Dawn French alongside songstress and friend Alison Moyet, and will open in Milton Keynes on 20 February. From then it will go to Brighton, Birmingham and then settle in for a six-week run at the Lyric Theatre in London (on Shaftesbury Avenue). All details and links below. Smaller is a musical play and tells the story of Bernice Clulow (Dawn French), a teacher and the life and soul of the staff room,…
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Bloody hell
The God of Hell press reviews have come in and well… there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that no one likes it. The Telegraph has been the most forthright, calling it a “dismayingly glib piece of right-on, left-wing paranoia”. Most of the others have found the satire a bit, well, obvious. The Stage says: “as is often the case with those who rail against the establishment, he goes a bit too far”. And so on and so forth. The good news is that the “he” in the last quote refers to the writer, well-known US playwright Sam Shepard. All the reviews just don’t like the play. However, they are…
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Opening the gates to Hell
Thursday was the opening night of Kathy’s new play. She’s directing the European premiere of Sam Shepard’s The God of Hell, a strong criticism of the current Republican administration in power in the US. It’s at the Donmar Theatre, from 20 October to 3 December. Box Office: 0870 060 6624. To tie in with it, she’s been interviewed in The Observer today. Quite a long piece. And interesting in that Kathy talks about going to see a therapist, as well as how deals with the job, works with people, why she dislike acting (again) and other stuff. I’ve stuck it in the Media section. No reviews as yet.
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Shepard’s delight
The Quare Fellow has opened and is in the middle of its run. It’s got positive reviews in the FT, The Guardian and The Stage. Meanwhile, Kathy’s next play has been announced. She’ll be directing the European premiere of Sam Shepard’s The God Of Hell at the Donmar Warehouse, Covent Garden, between 20 October and 3 December. The black comedy, described by Shepard as “a take-off on Republican fascism”, follows dairy farmers Frank and Emma, who led an uneventful life until a mysterious man starts hiding in their basement and a government official knocks at their door. Sam Shepard has written 45 plays (11 of which have won Obie Awards) including True West, Fool for Love and A Lie of the Mind (Donmar)…
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60-second interview: Kathy Burke
The Metro Kathy Burke is one of Britain’s best loved actresses for parts including the comedy roles of Waynetta Slob and Linda in Gimme, Gimme, Gimme. She won Best Actress at Cannes in 1997 for Nil By Mouth but gave up acting to direct in 2001. Her latest play, Brendan Behan’s The Quare Fellow, returns to London’s Tricycle Theatre after a sell-out national tour. The Quare Fellow has had great reviews. Does that bolster your confidence as a director?Not really – but it does get people in to see the play. Good reviews obviously help a lot more than bad reviews. We’ve done this play before and we know that it works and that…
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Behan on your bike
Some more details on the upcoming re-run of The Quare Fellow at The Tricycle in Kilburn, courtesy of the Oxford Stage Company. Running from 25 May to 2 July, as previously mentioned. Directed by Kathy, obviously. Original music by ex-Pogues guitarist Philip Chevron. Actors are (big cast): Sean Gallagher (TV’s Linda Green), Sean Campion (Stones in his Pockets), Jason Kavanagh (Brookside), Kieran Cunningham (Speed the Plow at Contact), Tony Rohr (TV’s The Lakes and The Weir), David Ganly (John Bull’s Other Island), Noel McAlley, Ciaran McIntyre (Dancing at Lughnasa – UK tour), Nick Danan (This Lime Tree Bower, Belgrade Theatre Coventry), Matthew Dunphy (The Lieutenant of Inishmore), Gary Lilburn (The Weir at the Royal Court), Patrick Lynch (Juno & the Paycock, Abbey Theatre Dublin), Paul Lloyd (The Cripple of Inishmaan at Leicester Haymarket), Christopher Logan (professional debut), Gerard Rooney (Rough Beginnings at Lyric Theatre Belfast), Jay Simpson (Mother Clap’s Molly House at the…
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Second run on Tricycle
Kathy’s production of Behan’s The Quare Fellow is to get a second run at the Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn, London. She took the classic play about prison on a UK tour between February and May last year to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Now, a year on, it’s back at the Tricycle from 25 May to 2 July. Tickets will be on sale from midnight tonight.
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Orange on tour
Blue/Orange is to finish its Sheffield run this weekend and then move onto Northampton, Brighton and finally Cambridge, full details below. Coincidentally, a televised version of the play featuring the terrific John Simm, Shaun Parkes and Brian Cox was shown last night (23 Feb) at 9pm on BBC4. It is pretty good, although you always lose something when plays are put on TV because the immediate connection with the actors is lost. 1-5 Mar Northampton Theatre Royal 01604 624811 www.royalandderngate.com 8-12 Mar Brighton Theatre Royal 08700 606 650 www.theambassadors.com/theatreroyal/ 22-26 Mar Cambridge Arts Theatre 01223 503 333 www.cambridgeartstheatre.com Links to reviews of Blue/Orange has been added to the Career/Directing section, and an article in…
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Kathy stars in a change of role
Tonight, actress Kathy Burke makes her Sheffield Crucible directorial debut. Yorkshire Post. I’m standing upstairs in the Sheffield Lyceum Theatre, talking to a photographer, when I sense a movement down the corridor. Turning, I see it’s an old friend. I’m about to say hello when I realise I’m mistaken, this is no old friend. “Awright, ah’m Kaffi,” says Kathy Burke. That’s the thing with Kathy Burke. You would never mistake, say Kim Basinger (one of the actresses also nominated when Burke won the Best Actress award at Cannes in 1997) for an old friend. But Burke, you would. Maybe it’s because she looks so much the opposite of a movie…
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Orange concentrate
Dates are out for Blue/Orange at The Crucible in Sheffield. Kathy is directing the play from 2 to 26 February. You can find out more and book tickets on the theatre’s website. Set in a London psychiatric hospital. Christopher claims he is the son of the late Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin and that oranges are blue. Set against the backdrop of a crumbling National Health Service, this edgy comedy examines the unspoken politics of institutions, challenges assumptions about ‘normality’ and questions whether ‘sanity’ is dependent on the colour of your skin.
