Mother Courage and Her Children
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)
The old expression “See you in September” definitely applies this month, since there’s almost no end to what’s new to be seen. The highlight in a month of potential highlights could be Mother Courage and Her Children at the National’s Olivier (September 9-October 11). It stars Fiona Shaw, who was born to play the title role in the Bertolt Brecht staple, and is guided by Shaw’s usual collaborator Deborah Warner.
Kevin Spacey and David Troughton star in the Jerome Lawrence-Robert E. Lee play Inherit the Wind at the Old Vic (September 18-December 20) playing, respectively, the Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan counterparts. Trevor Nunn directs. At the Novello, there’s the return of the much-loved Stephen Daldry version of J. B. Priestley’s eerie An Inspector Calls (September 22-November 14).
Also certain to generate publicity is the new David Hare play, The Power of Yes at the National’s Lyttleton (September 29-January 20), which examines — certainly with the author’s standard cynicism — today’s banking woes. Angus Jackson directs, with the cast including Simon Williams. Stephen King’s ripping story The Shawshank Redemption is adapted for the stage by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns. It’s at Wyndham’s (September 4-February 14, 2010) with Kevin Anderson in the part Tim Robbins played on screen.
Simon Bent’s adaptation of critic John Lahr’s Joe Orton biography, Prick Up Your Ears is at the Comedy (September 17-December 6). Orton, whose diaries are also a source here, is the iconoclastic, anarchic playwright who was murdered by his much less successful writer-roommate Kenneth Hallowell. Matt Lucas, known widely for his Little Britain TV series, is Hallowell, and Daniel Kramer directs. Another adaptation that should start tongues wagging is Samuel Adamson’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s that Sean Mathias directs at the Haymarket (September 9-January 1, 2010). The always delightful Anna Friel is Holly Golightly. Moving to the West End after its attention-getting Almeida run is Andrew Bovell’s intriguing Speaking in Tongues at the Duke of York’s (September 18-December 12). It tells the story of a son’s search for his missing father.
Among Off-West End fare is a torrid new item in Lucy Prebble’s Enron at the Royal Court (September 17-October 31), about the notorious corporate scandal. It will star Samuel West and Tim Pigott-Smith, with Rupert Goold helming. Christopher Hampton’s new adaptation of Odon von Horvath’s Judgment Day (September 4-October 17) comes to the Almeida, directed by James MacDonald, who handles these kinds of tense dramas extremely well. There’s also a revival of Philip Ridley’s prize-winning 1992 work, The Fastest Clock in the Universe at the Hampstead (September 17-October 17), featuring Finbar Lynch.
Musical fare includes the revue The Rat Pack – Live From Las Vegas at the Adelphi (September 23-November 21). There’s also The Mysteries – Yiimimangaliso (September 11-October 3), adapted and directed by Mark Dornford-May. The production features Bible stories done up in South African dress. Some tuner lovers might also be interested to know that Jonathan Miller’s long-acclaimed, close-to-musicals treatment of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto, transported to Mafia America, is at the London Coliseum (in repertory from September 21-October 23). There is also yet another return of The Rocky Horror Show at the New Wimbledon (September 17-26).
In the Fringe, a play seemingly worth seeking out is 2nd May 1997 (Bush Theatre, September 8-October 10), which takes a look at the Tories’ loss to the Labor party twelve years ago. Jack Thorne is the author, and he obviously aims this one directly at political science crazoids. Want more contemporary angst? Try Simon Stephens’ Punk Rock at the Lyric Hammersmith (September 3-26), where the focus is on highly educated but discontented contemporary youths.
Those seeking the classic authors of England will be entertained at Shakespeare’s Globe by a return of the winning Love’s Labour’s Lost (September 25-October 10), directed by company head Dominic Dromgoole. The Bard’s Othello plays Trafalgar Studios 1 with comedian Lenny Henry as the jealous Moor. At the Greenwich will be a stage adaptation, by John Goodrum, of Charles Dickens’ ghost story, The Signalman (September 2-5).
