To mark their 20th birthday, the Orpheus Centre will mark the occasion with a musical extravaganza at The Other Palace from the 23rd to the 31st March.
To highlight the company’s work, alumni and current students from this disabilities charity will join forces with renowned guests and recent graduates from the Arts Educational School to present Sir Richard Stilgoe’s Orpheus the Mythical.
The story will be told by the Chorus who will be played on different nights by the stars of stage and screen including Rob Brydon, Bertie Carvel, Samuel West, Jane Asher, Barry Cryer,Patricia Hodge, Charles Collingwood and Judy Bennett. The final night of Orpheus the Mythical will see the award-winning Imelda Staunton and Downton Abbey star Jim Carter take to the stage.
This witty musical comedy of a Greek tragedy follows Orpheus on an expedition hindered at every stage by bored, capricious gods and a dodgy satnav. He joins the heroic Argonauts to vanquish a dragon to steal the golden fleece. But on his return, his quest is not over. He must descend to the Underworld to rescue his wife Eurydice from the depths of Hades.
The production is directed by Katie Beard and will feature designs by Jason Denvir, lighting by David Howe and sound by Sebastian Frost.
Talking about the work of the charity Sir Richard Stilgoe said: “We are performing with Arts Educational because we do inclusive stuff and not disabled stuff; the whole purpose of Orpheus is to mix young disabled people up with the real world and not separate them. These are terrific and confident performers who concentrate on what they can do rather than what they can’t. Orpheus changes young disabled people’s lives. It changes the lives of the staff and the 98 volunteers who work with them. It changes the lives of everyone who attends one of their shows. It has changed my life immeasurably.”
Orpheus the Musical will be performed at The Other Palace from the 23rd to the 31st March. For more information and to book tickets visit: https://www.theotherpalace.co.uk/whats-on/orpheus-the-mythical