Cindy Marcolina - Page 45

The first edition of the Italian Theatre Festival, curated by Monica Capuani and in partnership with the Italian Cultural Institute in London, brings contemporary Italian theatre to London. Presented mainly in Italian with surtitles, it kicks off with Hanno Tutti Regione (which means 'everyone is right'), written by Academy Award winner for The Great Beauty Paolo Sorrentino and directed and performed by Iaia Forte.

Following our journey with the company of Pericles at the National Theatre, we met up with Jim Fortune. The composer and songwriter talked about music, London, and how he found a musical voice for the different worlds of Pericles.

Josh Barrow is reprising his role of Bruce Blakemore in Silk Road (How To Buy Drugs Online). After multiple runs around the country, the show is now playing at Trafalgar Studios.

After his sold-out Sex/Crime (The Glory), Alexis Gregory presents the verbatim Riot Act, directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair. Written especially for King's Head Theatre's Queer Season, the piece explores the role of Stonewall, queer history, activism, drag queens, and loss in three gut-wrenching monologues born out of interviews with Michael-Anthony Nozzi, Lavinia Co-op, and Paul Burston.

It's 1957 and Edith Piaf is rehearsing her for her last concert in the United States, she recounts the heartbreaks in her life singing through her pain. Directed by Damian Cruden, Elizabeth Mansfield becomes Piaf once again - a role she's been doing on-and-off steadily throughout her career - and is, obviously, stunning.

When Fantasia first landed on the scene in 1940, it was a game-changing piece for the world of entertainment as it was the first ever commercial film presented in stereophonic sound. Now, The Vaults present a new production of immersive theatre celebrating the animated flick in the shape of Sound and Sorcery Celebrating Disney Fantasia.

After being turned into a film, Patrick Ness' award-winning novel A Monster Calls becomes a visceral stage play. It analysed the depths of grief and loss in a teen, Conor (Matthew Tennyson), who's slowly losing his mum to cancer. He's visited by a Monster (Stuart Goodwin) who tells him stories and explains the complications of being human.

Written by King's Head Theatre's Junior Associate Catherine Exposito, Immaculate Correction details what it feels like to be a working class Catholic schoolgirl in rural Scotland in 2005. Stacey (Dani Heron) has big dreams of running away and being the first Scottish girl on the X Factor, but small town talk, a single mum, and the growing pains of a failing education system keep her down.

Following our interview with Pericles director Emily Lim, we met up with playwright Chris Bush. She details her journey with Public Acts and chats about the challenges of writing for 200 performers.

Boo Killebrew recounts the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Katrina on her hometown in the autobiographical The Play About My Dad. Seen in Europe for the first time at Jermyn Street Theatre, the piece is a play within a play complete with flashbacks and time travel. Albeit self-indulgent at times, Killebrew manages to keep the narrative interesting and fresh but falls short acting-wise. Directed by Stella Powell-Jones, it's well-executed but feels like it's holding its breath.

After bringing their Calais experience to the Young Vic, playwrights Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson are ready to take The Jungle to the West End. They took time out of their busy rehearsal schedule to tell us what their journey has been like.

Artistic Director of Sphinx Theatre Sue Parrish curates a new collection of short plays written by women and revolving around female characters. Commissioned as part of the Women Centre Stage Festival the plays presented in Women Centre Stage: Eight Short Plays By and About Women are designed to display a wide range of characters and themes that free the potential performers from any staging constrictions.

From a Victorian toilet to haunted venues, Amber Massie-Blomfield takes her readers on a journey around the country visiting picturesque theatres in her descriptive and curiously entertaining Twenty Theatres to See Before You Die. A love letter to the arts, the book is the result of two years of travelling for the former executive director of Camden People's Theatre, who fit her trips around her schedule out of pure passion for theatre.

The summer and fall of 1960 saw Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller struggle with a deteriorating marriage on set of The Misfits. Her crippling drug abuse and illicit affairs with her co-stars lead the two to divorce officially right before the film's premiere in 1961.

Richard Hope and Mark Hawkins have taken over the roles of Arthur Kipps and The Actor in The Woman in Black. The second longest-running play in the West End is going into their 30th year at the Fortune Theatre, where we met the actors to discuss the show, fear, and ghosts.

Jonah (Jonathan Chambers) has been sent on a mission to convince wealthy Claudia (Sandra Dickinson) to sell her huge art collection to a university archive. The exuberant socialite has turned into a recluse and the young man might be the key to find out what her collection actually contains. King's Head Theatre sees the European debut of The Unbuilt City, written by Keith Bunin and directed by Glen Walford, it's regrettably boring.

Lady Anne Tree thought she had a brilliant idea to help convicts. After seeing what the prisoners went through every day firsthand as a visitor, she decided that she would teach them needlecraft, a way to occupy the mind and to set aside a small amount of money through the sale of the artworks. Based on a true story and debuting as an inspiring play by Esther Freud, Stitchers is an extraordinarily crafted piece of theatre.

Third in line in Michelle Terry's first season as Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Globe is The Two Noble Kinsmen. Directed by Barrie Rutter, the Shakespeare-Fletcher collaboration becomes a lighthearted and wonderfully ironic piece of theatre.

The sun graced the West End Bake Off again on Saturday, 19 May. In its fourth edition on the grounds of St. Paul's Church in aid of Acting for Others, the event was in its best form so far.

Writer, actress, and comedian Katy Brand debuts as a playwright with 3Women at Trafalgar Studios. We met up at the theatre to discuss influences, writing, and her play.