Day: February 1, 2017

NEWS: Victoria and Albert Museum Announces First UK Exhibition Dedicated to Fashion Designer Cristóbal Balenciaga

February 1, 2017

The Victoria and Albert Museum has today confirmed that it will be presenting the first UK exhibition exploring the career and legacy of Cristóbal Balenciaga. 

2007BM6247

Evening dress, silk taffeta, Cristobal Balenciaga, Paris, 1955. (c) Victoria and Albert Museum. 

This first UK display devoted to the designer will look at his approach to making and will showcase pieces by his protégés and contemporary designers working in the same innovative way today.

Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion will mark the centenary of the opening of Balenciaga’s first fashion house in San Sebastian and the 80th anniversary of the opening of his famous fashion house in Paris.

flamenco-style-evening-dress-cristobal-balenciaga-paris-1961-photograph-by-cecil-beaton-1971-cecil-beaton-studio-archive-at-sothebys

Flamenco style evening dress, Cristobal Balenciaga, Paris, 1961. (c) Victoria and Albert Museum.

But instead of being simply a retrospective, the exhibition will focus in detail on the latter part of Balenciaga’s long career in the 1950s and 1960s, considered to be one of his most creative periods as the ‘master’ of haute couture.

During this time, he not only dressed some of the most iconic women of the era but also introduced shapes such as the tunic, the sack, ‘baby doll’ and shift dress – all of which remain influential styles today.

Some of the highlights of the exhibition will include ensembles made by Balenciaga for Hollywood actress Ava Gardner, dresses and hats belonging to socialite and 1960s fashion icon Gloria Guinness, and pieces worn by one of the world’s wealthiest women, Mona von Bismarck, who commissioned everything from ballgowns to gardening shorts from the couturier.

There will be over 100 garments and twenty hats on display – many of which have not been exhibited before. Visitors can also expect to see archive sketches, patterns, photographs, fabric samples and catwalk footage, all revealing the designer’s creativity.

Most of the exhibition will depend upon V&A’s fashion holdings – the largest collection of Balenciaga in the UK. The collection was initiated for the Museum by Cecil Beaton in the 1970s.

Cassie Davies-Strodder, V&A exhibition curator, said: “For the first time, this exhibition will take a forensic look at Balenciaga’s most iconic ensembles from the V&A’s collections to reveal what made his designs so exceptional. His lasting impact on fashion will be explored through the work of those who trained with him and through recent garments by designers including Molly Goddard, Demna Gvasalia and J.W. Anderson who reflect the legacy of his vision today.”

The exhibition will be organised around three main sections ‘Front of House’, including Balenciaga’s salons, behind the scenes in Balenciaga’s ‘Workrooms’ and the lasting impact of ‘Balenciaga’s Legacy’.

Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion will be on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum from the 27th May until the 18th February 2018. For more information and to book tickets visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/balenciaga-shaping-fashion. 

PREVIEW: Big Guns, The Yard Theatre

February 1, 2017

Following the success of In the Night Time (Before The Sun Rises) at the Gate Theatre, Big Guns is the new play from Nina Segal, playing at The Yard Theatre from the 21st March. 

big-guns

Directed by Dan Hutton, Big Guns is an unsettling play that looks at a society that is preoccupied by violence and how we engage violent content through the media and online.  Segal explores that moment just before something terrible or mundane happens.

Big Guns is the prickling at the back of your neck, the faint taste of blood on your teeth, the couldbe sounds of a strange figure in the semi-darkness. The YouTube clip you hope doesn’t load but can’t help watching. Privacy. Pornography. Flat-pack furniture. Big Guns is violence. Against others. Against ourselves. It’s paranoia. It’s a society living in fear. It’s the moment just – before.

Talking about the play Nina Segal said: “Our appetite for fictionalised violence – on TV, in the cinema – hasn’t waned; our appetite for real violence, streamed live through Facebook or on a grainy YouTube video, is still being negotiated. We’re statistically safer than we’ve ever been and yet often  feel more under threat than ever. Big Guns is about the space between threat and violence, between the fictional and the real – and between looking at and looking away.”

The show will be performed by Debra Baker and Jessye Romeo.

Big Guns will feature set and costume designs by Rosie Elnile, lighting by Katharine Williams, sound by Kieran Lucas and is produced by Martha Rose Wilson.

Big Guns will play at The Yard Theatre from the 21st March until the 8th April. For more information and to book tickets visit: http://www.theyardtheatre.co.uk/event/big-guns/. 

NEWS: The Royal Opera Announces New Opera by George Benjamin and Martin Crimp

February 1, 2017

The Royal Opera has announced that it will be co-commissioning and co-producing a new opera with Dutch National Opera , Hamburg State Opera, Opéra de Lyon , Lyric Opera of Chicago, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona  and Teatro Real, Madrid – written by George Benjamin and Martin Crimp. 

Premiering May 2018, Lessons in Love and Violence is George Benjamin’s third opera, following Written on Skin which premiered in 2012.

This new opera sees George Benjamin working once more with playwright Martin Crimp who provided the text for his opera Into the Little Hill and his first full length opera Written on Skin which received its UK premiere at the Royal Opera House in 2013.

Talking about the news, Kasper Holten, Director of Opera at The Royal Opera said: “I am truly grateful that George, together with Martin Crimp, is writing his next major opera for us at Covent Garden, with six major partner opera houses around the world, and it has been a fascinating journey for me to be in conversation with George and Martin from the very first moments of discussion about this new piece. I think they have found an extraordinary subject and given it a treatment that feels deeply original and should make for an evening of exciting music theatre.” 

A king, compelled to choose between love and political hard-headedness, makes a fatal decision, allowing his country to slide into civil war, and setting his own wife and son implacably against him. But when the son in turn has been given bruising lessons in realpolitik and the surgical use of force, he performs in front of his mother ― albeit with the object of restoring peace ― a terrifying act of violence.

Just as for Written on Skin, George Benjamin will be conducting all of the performances at the Royal Opera House.

The production will be directed by Katie Mitchell who also directed the world and UK premieres of Written on Skin.

Cast for the production is set to include Stéphane Degout, Barbara Hannigan, Peter Hoare,  Gyula Orendt, Samuel Boden , Jennifer France, Andri Björn Róbertsson and Krisztina Szabó.

Lessons in Love and Violence will appear at the Royal Opera House from the 10th to the 26th May 2018. 

NEWS: Collecting Europe Opens at the Victoria and Albert Museum

February 1, 2017

As the debate about the future of Europe continues, the Victoria and Albert Museum will showcase twelve contemporary art installations which imagines what Europe will look like in 2000 years time. 

jasleen-kaur-yoorup-the-francoise-and-georges-selz-gallery-va-c-victoria-and-albert-museum-1

‘Yoorup’, Jasleen Kaur. The Francoise and Georges Selz Gallery, V&A (c) Victoria and Albert Museum.

All of the installations on display have been commissioned by the Goethe-Institut London and the V&A, exhibited as part of the free week-long festival Collecting Europe.

As well as the installations, the festival also includes a range of talks discussions, live performances and workshops to encourage debate around what Europe and European identity means to people today, following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

avm-curiosities-tasha-marks-alabaster-ruins-the-dorothy-and-michael-hintze-sculpture-galleries-va-c-victoria-and-albert-museum-london-4

AVM Curiosities, Tasha Marks ‘Alabaster Ruins’. (c) Victoria and Albert Museum.

All of the works on display across the museum have been created in a variety of media including digital and interactive installations to film, sugar sculpture, tapestry, live performance, musical interventions and pocket-sized publications.

Visitors can discover all of the pieces in places such as the Europe 1600-1815 Galleries, the British Galleries, the Dorothy and Michael Hintze Sculpture Galleries, and the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries.

Fru Fru - 'Eurasic Bath', 2017 (c) Fru Fru.jpg

Fru Fru, ‘Eurasic Bath’, 2017. (c) Fru Fru.

Each of the artists who were commissioned to take part in this festival offer a new perspective of Europe both from within and on the outside of it. The artists and their work taking part are:

Rosa Barba, Let Me See It, Italy (based in Germany)

Thibaut de Ruyter, A Song for Europe, France (based in Germany)

Constant Dullaart, The European Classes, The Netherlands

Fru*Fru, Eurasic Bath, Spain

IC-98 in collaboration with Kustaa Saksi, A World in Waiting, Finland

IF in collaboration with 00, Europa, UK

Jasleen Kaur, Yoorop, Scotland (based in London)

Onkar Kular and Common Initiative, 4017 Enacted, UK

Tasha Marks – AVM Curiosities, Alabaster Ruins, UK

Raqs Media Collective, The Return of Tipu’s Tiger, India

Remco Torenbosch, EU, 2017, The Netherlands

Tu Wei-Cheng, Enfolded World: Mysteries of Lost Civilisations, Taiwan

Tim Reeve, Acting Director of the V&A, said: “As major global events continue to unfold, citizens are inevitably questioning what Europe stands for and how they see their place within it, the arts have a unique and important role to play in encouraging debate around the big questions of the day. Collecting Europe is a responsive and thought-provoking project, tackling these issues through the lens of art and design.”

Collecting Europe is a free festival which runs at the Victoria and Albert Museum from the 1st February until the 7th February. For more information visit: https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/collecting-europe. 

 

 

Review Round Up: Dirty Great Love Story, Arts Theatre

February 1, 2017

Having begun as a 10 minute poetry duet in 2010, Katie Bonna and Richard Marsh’s has been developed into a play about the modern difficulties of dating. But does it charm the critics? 

The Stage: *** “Dirty Great Love Story is packed with unexpected rhymes and deft comic imagery. These are the best, most inventive element of a feel-good show that beats a well-worn path.”

A Younger Theatre: “Somewhere between Shakespeare and Richard Curtis, Dirty Great Love Story is a 2017 fairy tale that will leave you swooning, warts and all.”

The Guardian: *** “the ideal show for couples on an apprehensive first date.”

British Theatre.com:**** “boasts slick imaginative storytelling and, above all, innovative and intelligent writing.”

WhatsOnStage: ** “there’s nothing beneath the surface here: no deeper ideas about the tightrope of love, no interrogation of the pressure to pair up.”

Radio Times: **** “Dirty Great Love Story is short but perfectly formed: hilarious, poignant, superbly constructed and beautifully played.”

Love London Love Culture: ***** “Dirty Great Love Story is a play that makes you fall in love with love all over again and leaves you with hope in your heart.”

London Theatre1: **** “it was ‘dirty’, yes, but I wouldn’t call it ‘great’. It is, however, highly entertaining and hugely likeable.”

Carn’s Theatre Passion: ***** “Go and see this play if you want a genuine giggle at life.”

London Theatre.co.uk: *** “It may not be the greatest or dirtiest love story in existence but it is affectionately played and provides some much needed January joy.”

There Ought to be Clowns: “Sure, there’s a knowingness to much of the writing but there’s also a great big twinkle in its eye that makes it impossible to resist.”

Everything Theatre: ***** ” Furtado’s direction resulted in a witty and fresh night out.”

Broadway World: **** “there’s plenty of genuinely insightful reflections on the ups and downs of dating.”

Theatre Bubble: *** “accomplished and enjoyable, full of recognizable love story tropes, but original enough to hold attention.”

Time Out: *** “This might be poetry, but it’s definitely not pretentious.”

The Reviews Hub: **** “Dirty Great Love Story isn’t always as laugh-out-loud hilarious as one might want a comedy to be but the writing is sharp and witty.”

Theatre Cat: “Bautiful, funny, eloquently original.”

The Upcoming: *** “the production remains enjoyable with genuine laughs; an ideal remedy to the January blues.”

British Theatre Guide: “the performers not only make Richard and Katie real but they play all the other characters encountered too—they’re great, you’ll see a lot of yourself or your friends in them.”

The Times: *** “There some laugh-out-loud moments in this boozy rom-com, but the plot is so thin it should have been invented by a scientist.”

Live Theatre: **** “Dirty Great Love Story is not just an evening of great humour.  It is a piece filled with great insight, superb acting, and many ‘laugh out loud’ moments shared by both sexes.”

Dirty Great Love Story continues to play at the Arts Theatre until the 18th March. To book tickets visit: Discount Theatre.com, Theatre Tickets Direct.co.uk,Love Theatre.com, Theatre People.com and UK Tickets.co.uk. 

 

NEWS: London Musical Theatre Orchestra Announces First Concerts of 2017

February 1, 2017

Following the successful performances of State Fair at Cadogan Hall and A Christmas Carol at the Lyceum Theatre, the London Musical Theatre Orchestra has announced its first shows for 2017. 

london-musical-theatre-orchestra

Today, the orchestra confirmed that in March they will be taking to the London Palladium stage to perform the stylish score of Honeymoon in Vegas, conducted by the orchestra’s first guest conductor Jason Robert Brown.

Honeymoon in Vegas is based on the 1992 film that starred  Sarah Jessica Parker and Nicholas Cage. The musical has a book by Andrew Bergman and score by Tony-Award winning Jason Robert Brown (Parade, Songs For A New World, The Last Five Years and The Bridges of Madison County) and originally ran on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre. This is the very first time the musical will be performed in London.

The musical tells the story of  mild-mannered Brooklynite, Jack, who haunted by the fear of a promise to his dying mother never to get married, avoids proposing to his new girlfriend Betsy. He finally summons the nerve and takes Betsy to Las Vegas only to have his plans compromised by a dashing gambler with an eye for luxury and Jack’s new fiancée.

Talking about the news Jason Robert Brown said: “Honeymoon in Vegas is the show I always aspired to write. All of these sounds – the swing, the samba, the disco, the boogie, the rock’n’roll – make up what I hear in my head when I think of what a ‘Broadway musical’ should be. I’m so gratified to have actually written it, and thrilled to get a chance – finally! – to present it in London.”

This concert performance will then be followed in July by the London Musical Theatre’s performance of Leonard Bernstein’s  Candide, which also features lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler.

Candide will see the London Musical Theatre Orchestra return to the Cadogan Hall, where they last appeared performing State Fair for audiences in their first public performance. This show will be conducted by founder and principal conductor Freddie Tapner.

First seen on Broadway in 1956 and  most recently in a critically acclaimed production in 2013 at The Menier Chocolate Factory, Candide tells the story of Candide, the bastard cousin of Baron Thunder-Ten-Tonck, who is expelled from home, dragged into the Bulgarian army, brought before the Spanish Inquisition, swindled out of a fortune, shipwrecked on a desert isle, and separated time and again from his true love Cunegonde.

Casting for both productions will be announced in coming weeks, as will a further three shows in the LMTO’s 2017 programme.

To find out more about the London Musical Theatre Orchestra visit: http://www.lmto.org/. 

To book tickets for Honeymoon in Vegas at the London Palladium on the 12th March visit: http://rutlive.co.uk/event/honeymoon-in-vegas/

To book tickets for Candide at the Cadogan Hall on the 21st July visit: http://www.cadoganhall.com/event/candide-in-concert-170721/ 

 

NEWS: Royal Shakespeare Company’s Queen Anne to Transfer to the West End

February 1, 2017

It has been confirmed that the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Queen Anne will transfer to the Theatre Royal Haymarket from the 30th June. 

Romola Garai (Sarah, Duchess of Malborough) and Emma Cunniffe (Queen Anne) in Queen Anne. Credit Darren Bell.jpg.jpg

Romala Garai (Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough) and Emma Cunniffe (Queen Anne). (c)Darren Bell.

It was also confirmed that Romala Garai and Emma Cunniffe will be starring in this West End transfer, running at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from the 30th June until the 30th September.

Written by Helen Edmundson and directed by Natalie Abrahami, Queen Anne explores the life of one of England’s little known monarchs.

1702. William III is on the throne and England is on the verge of war.

Princess Anne is soon to become Queen, and her advisors vie for influence over the future monarch. Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, a close friend with whom Anne has an intensely personal relationship, begins to exert increasing pressure as she pursues her own designs on power.

Contending with deceit and blackmail, Anne must decide where her allegiances lie, and whether to sacrifice her closest relationships for the sake of the country.

Tickets for the transfer will go on sale to the public on the 13th February.

Romala Garai will play Sarah, the Duchess of Marlborough. She is best known for her roles in films such as Atonement and I Capture a Castle. Her previous stage credits include Calico , Village Bike (Royal Court Theatre) and Measure for Measure (Young Vic Theatre).

Meanwhile, Emma Cunniffe will play Queen Anne. Her stage work includes performances in Tales from Hollywood (Donmar), Losing Louis (Hampstead/West End), Women Beware Women (RSC) and  Proof (Menier Chocolate Factory).

Helen Edmundson’s plays include Mother Teresa is Dead, (Royal Court), Mary Shelley,(Shared Experience at The Tricycle and on tour), and The Heresy of Love (RSC). She is currently working on a new play commissioned by the National Theatre.

Queen Anne will appear at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from the 30th June until the 30th September.  To book tickets visit: Ticketmaster.co.uk, Discount Theatre.com, Theatre Tickets Direct.co.uk, Theatre People.com and UK Tickets.co.uk.Â