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March 1997 ~ -,.~.......... Issue 6 £2.50 Lady in the Dark comes into the light David Nathan talks to I New face I II '" 0] 9 771]64 76]009 I Editor's Letter ime was when new Irish plays, regardless of their quality, rarely performed well at theatre box ulfices in England. Great reviews did not necessarily guarantee great audiences and mounting a new Irish play was something of a high-risk venture. But not anymore. The air is alive with the .J of quolity Blarney as an impressive crop of Iris h dramatists, following in the colourful tradition of " &'ucicault, JB Keane, Oscar Finga l O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, Sean O 'Casey, J M Synge and Samuel =-=_',;<,[( have become de rigueur. The problems of an oppressed, rebellious country, divided both religiously and politically, have for _=: ~J _: been angril y, and poetically expressed by dramatists whose passionate fl air for words is apparent u, -h contemporary Irish pl aywrights as Billy Roche, Tom Murphy, Marina Carr, Frank McGuinness, : ["":b tian Barry, Brian Friel and, the new boy on the block, Martin McDonagh, whose Th e Beauty Q ueen . Lu·"" ne and The CripJlie of Inishmaan have been hits at the Royal Court and the Royal National :-he:Mre respectively. Later in the year the Royal C ourt will be mounting the prolific McDonagh's Connemara trilogy (of ...h lC h Leenane was the first), to be staged in conjunction with the Druid Theatre of Galway; while the " ~ !ll> nal are following lnishmaan with parrs twO and three of their own McDonagh trilogy. Tom Murphy is to have a season of his plays presented by the Royal C ourt, including The \lYake, ':trected by G arry Hines at the Royal Court Downstairs. The Court is also contemplating a season of clr i ~ n Friel plays. The Tricycle Theatre, meanwhile, continues its tradition of presenting some uf the beSt " r irish theatre with Pass ion Machine's Kirchensink by Paul Mercier, and D'Unbelievables, (alias Jon Kenny and Pat Short, twO of lrelands's top comic performers) in I Doubt It. • • It would be invidious of a theatre magazine not to acknowledge television as an important medium for J,sseminating, to the widest poss ible public, dra ma in all its forms. Hence the introduction , this month, of a regular TV column by Ronald Berga n, who kicks off by reviewing the first three (of 5) pl ays to BBC's P"rformance series. There is no point in bewailing the time when viewers had the chance to see frequent adaptati ons of classic pl ays and modern masterpieces as well as almost all the plays of Shakespeare. What makes TV drama exciting today is not only its techincal accomplishments, but the chance it gives both new and eStablished performers, writers and directors to manifest their skills in single dramas or series - both period and contemporary. And because we no longer have a particularly active film industry in this country, there is also more of a TV crossover than ever before in which many stage stats can regularly be seen on the box . Stage and small screen are no longe r rivals but partners supplying each other with an abundance of talent. Lo ng may they continue to be so. applause THE APPLAUSE BUILDING 68 LONG ACRE LONDON WC2E 9JQ PUBLISHED BY APPLAUSE LTD . MANAGING DIRECTOR PA UL BURNETT EDIT O R CLIVE HIRSCHHORN EDITORIAL ASSISTA N T EDIT O R DAVID DONEGAN TELEPHONE 0171 3128051 FAX 0171 3128090 ART DIRECTOR TERRY SESSIONS ADVERTISING ASHLEY HERMAN ADVERTISING MA RKETING PAUL RAVEN TELEPHONE 0171 3128079 FOUNDING EDiTOR RAYNER BOURTON ISSN 136A -7 636 DISTRI8UTION BY COMAG SPECI AliST DIVISIO N, MER CURY CENTRE. CEN f P. Al WAY, FEl t HA M. M,DDX IW l 4 ORX IUEP'H C NE 0 1! 1 8 4141 1000 THEATRE BOOKINGS LONDON 0171 312 1991 A~plam t" uJ':-r1mr1 t m \I.II! K I !~ Jruill tucnr-:s (11d phofOWOl>hs 1>u 1 ca nr,Q[ fx h,M ' ,I(!l)tUJhk II ' .:n)' rl~ IF' Jall'l(1gc . AU m}! n"7.-u r.h"\ , r.,.,t.:l m ~ J ''I A f: r l ... td ~· m , ' ~ rintc is w ch e ~lCs r of EVENTS BOOKINGS ( \IT k "' .!...:4:~.mJ ~ tf 1I.\'T'f( ~t ..J 1 W non.: uJ 1:oinl!, to pr e_H . The UCIO dt' ro~ J m thu m.Ji.a ~I1 ': (J rc lIo t flcccessa ril)' ch ose '.II 5T A LBANS 01727 8A I I 15 1M i.U1~ ,,,. f't..I.·lnhn '.11)\' CH 1997 APPLAUS E 3 THE OLI >VIC • The Peter Hall Company a~ The Old Vic ---- - Become an Old Vic Member and save up to £60 on ticket prices ~ top price tickets for members cost just ,£14 each for the best seat in the house, a saving of £5 on regular ticket prices; In 'addition to these ' excellent price savings membership also offers: • Regular mailings , • Exclusive priority booking for each of the six , booking periods • Talks with the artistic team and the cast Old Vic Membership ,costs just £16 per person, ' To book your membership telephon.e the special membership hotline on 0171 - 928 6655, THE CLASSICS: THE NEW PLAYS: Waste from 4 March Hurlyburly frvm 2.1 ~arc h by Harley Granville- Harker by O'll!id Rahc , Cloud Nine frc >l )l , l0 March Prayers of Sherkin by Ca ryl 'Im""ill from 18 )"by by Sebastiau Ha,rry The Seagull from 28 April by Anton Chekhov Grace Note from 6 July translaled by '10m Stoppard by Samuel ALWlllson Waiting For Godot , Playhouse Creatures from 16 June from '14 Septemher by Sqmuel Beckett by April de Angelis , The Provok'd Wife Snake in th¢ Grass from 23 June from 12 O ctohe r by Sir Johll \/a/lbrugh /;y Roy MacGregor King Lear , from 25 Aug\lst , Shining So~ls hy Willilim , hakespeare from 9 Noyc mbt...'r , by Chris HaJllulII ' Director: Sir Peter Hall New Plays Director: Dominic Dromgoole Producer: David Mirvish in association with Bill Kenwright applause OFFSTAGE 6 News and gossip from around the West End 8 LADY IN THE DARK Dick Vosburgh on a musical that gets its West End premiere 56 years after it was first written MARIA FRIEDMAN 10 David Nathan interviews the actress, and talks about her starring role in Lady in the Dark 15 0NSTAGE Clive Hirschhorn reviews the West End's latest offerings DIARY 18 New productions in and around the West End 20 MAn WOLF .. .questions the wisdom behind this year's awards nominations APPLAUSE THEATRE CLUB 23 Christopher Biggins brings you more great mone)'- saving offers on top West End shows 31 NED SHERRIN Dark Lady. p.I O PEOPLE WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE 33 David Nathan talks to producer Bill Kenwright 35 RICHARD NELSON Sheridan Morley assesses the work of an American playwright who does very well over here REMARKABLE CAREERS 37 A look at the work of actress Constance Cummings, with Michael Arditti 39 BOOK REVIEW Sam Ingleby on Neil Simon's memoirs QUIET AT THE BACK, PLEASE! 40 The theatre nuisance according to Ronala Bergan 42 NEW FACES Ruaidhri Conroy, currently making his mark in The Cripple of lnishmaan SPECTRUM 43 Opera, Dance, TV and Art reviews and previews by Max Loppen, Jeffery Taylor , Ronala Bergan and John Russell-Taylor 49 OFFSTAGE BROADWAY Michael Riedel with news and gossip Remarkable. p.37 from the Big Apple QUIZ 50 50 SHOWS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE ... to Gerala Kaufman, MP iv\A RC H 1997 APPlAUSE 5 stage TED, A NEW MUSICAL by Tony Drew and Rob Stoppard's new one about A E Housman, author SHOCKHOR ROR ! Stephen Fry may return to the Bettinson about a gwup of teddy boys in 1950s' of A Shropshire Lad. I t opens at the Lytte lton stage in a year's time. Outing his las t and Blackpool, is already slated for a March 1998 on I Octoher, the day Trevor N unn takes over. somewhat notorious theatrical outing, a sudden opening in the West End. The musical will no urge to taste Belgian chocolates in situ overcame doubt have the Bettinson feel about it. His two • • • him and he abandoned the production. Plans prior musicals - Buddy and Jolson - could have PLANS TO STAGE OKLAHOMA! at the Open Air for his return to the theatre are very provisional had their darker moments but the composer Theatre have, unfortunately, gone west. as yet, but he may take a cameo role as a waiter director chose to go for the feelgood factor. The However, A rtistic Director Ian Talbot has opted in a multi-med ia theatre event at the ICA. teddy boys in his new production will probably for a highly suitable replacement in Kiss Me Actor Colin McFarlane has devised the piece help o ld ladies with their shopping and are su re Kate, Cole Porter' s adaptation of Th e Taming of which should also feature Frances Barber and to be safely tucked up in hed by nine o'clock. th e Shrew. The musical will join A Midsummer Anita Dobson. Night 's Dream and All's Well That Ends Well in • •• the repertoire in July. ••• ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER'S two new musicals THE OffEN ASKED QUESTION over the last ye ar A Scar is Born and Whistle Down the Wind are has been, Who's going to pay the Rent' The both definitely going to open in the West End American producers seemed to be making such next year, so it seems likely that 1998 will be high demands during the negotiatio ns for a christened the Year of O ur (New) Lord.