Joe Cooper News

“I shall gain me glory, or grim-death shall take me”, says the titular hero in the thousand-year-old epic poem. Last night, however, it was the turn of composer Iain Bell to seek a different kind of glory as his new adaptation of Beowulf (commissioned by the BBC) made its world première at Barbican Hall. Conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus was Martyn Brabbins, and they were joined by actor Ruth Wilson as narrator, and tenor Charles Styles (standing in for Stuart Skelton at short notice).

With themes such as life, death, reflection and the nature of humanity, there’s a risk that a Prom could end up feeling a touch on the heavy side – or overly gloomy – however, the pieces combine to provide as much light as shade across the course of the night.

The Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program is proud to present Noel Coward's classic comedy Hay Fever. This madcap play about a weekend with the eccentric Bliss family will star the MFA Class of 2020 and a guest performer.  Director Jerrold Scott's production will take the audience back to the 1920's and remind them of the joy of life and fear of boredom. The show will run from February 27th-March 9th in Helen Theatre at Playhouse Square.

For the first time, L.I.P. Service is diving, headfirst, into the world of musical theatre. In our continuing efforts to grow and bring challenging theatre to audiences, we present to you the Penny Dreadful fantasia of Stephen Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (A MUSICAL THRILLER; directed by Shawn Gann).

For the first time, L.I.P. Service is diving, headfirst, into the world of musical theatre. In our continuing efforts to grow and bring challenging theatre to audiences, we present to you the Penny Dreadful fantasia of Stephen Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (A MUSICAL THRILLER; directed by Shawn Gann).

The Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program is proud to begin their season with a modern reimagining of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. Chekhov's classic play about artistic rebellion, translated by Paul Schmidt, will star the MFA Class of 2020 and guests. Director Sarah Wansley's staging will shed light on the show's poetic realism. Press opening will be on October 9th at the Helen Theatre in Playhouse Square and the show will run from October 10th-October 20th. 

It has been reported that stage and screen actor Orlando Bloom halted a performance of the play Killer Joe twice last evening to shame an audience member who appeared to be using an iPad to film the performance.

Orlando Bloom leads the cast in Tracy Letts' black comedy thriller Killer Joe for a strictly limited 13-week run at Trafalgar Studios. Let's see what the critics had to say...

After spending several months as the Trafalgar Fair, a Texas trailer park takes root at Trafalgar Studios as a new production of Tracy Letts' Killer Joe begins its run. It is directed by Simon Evans, who previously helmed a production of Letts' Bug at the short-lived venue Found111 - the show also marks the return of Orlando Bloom to the London stage, starring alongside Steffan Rhodri, Neve McIntosh, Sophie Cookson and Adam Gillen.

Orlando Bloom leads the cast in Tracy Letts' black comedy thriller Killer Joe for a strictly limited 13-week run. Killer Joe, directed by Simon Evans at Trafalgar Studios 1 until 18 August 2018, is produced by Emily Dobbs Productions and Empire Street Productions.

The full cast is announced to join Hollywood star Orlando Bloom starring as a cop who moonlights as a killer-for-hire in multi award-winning Tracy Letts' blackly comic thriller, Killer Joe in the West End.

The Smith family hatch a plan to murder their estranged matriarch for her insurance money. They hire Joe Cooper, a police detective and part-time contract killer, to do the job. But once he enters their trailer home and comes face to face with their innocent daughter, the plan spirals out of control... A tense, gut-twisting thriller, Killer Joe, asks where the moral line is drawn in the fight for survival.

The full cast is announced to join Hollywood star Orlando Bloom starring as a cop who moonlights as a killer-for-hire in multi award-winning Tracy Letts' blackly comic thriller, Killer Joe in the West End.

Orlando Bloom (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, the Pirates of the Caribbean series) is to star in the West End as a cop who moonlights as a killer-for-hire in multi award-winning Tracy Letts' blackly comic thriller, Killer Joe. Book tickets here!

The Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program announces the debut performance of the Class of 2020. Fifth of July, from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson, will run in the Helen Theatre at Playhouse Square.

The Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program today announced its Class of 2020.  The four women and four men represent eight different undergraduate programs from across the United States.

The Coal Mine Theatre solidifies itself as a key player in the Toronto theatre scene with its gritty production of Tracy Lett's KILLER JOE. Starring Madison Walsh, Matthew Edison, Matthew Gouveia, Paul Fauteux and Vivien Endicott-Douglas, the play encompasses a son's plot to murder his mother in an attempt to collect an insurance sum from her death. This immoral, dark and gory narrative is brought to life by director Peter Pasyk in usual Coal Mine quality - to put it simply, it's a hit.

Coal Mine Theatre presents the Toronto premiere of the in-your-face balls-to-the-wall black comedy, KILLER JOE, written by American playwright Tracy Letts and directed by Peter Pasyk (13/14 Urjo Kareda  Artist-in-Residence), from April 3-24, 2016 at the Coal Mine Theatre.

"Mary's Wedding" premiers January 28 - February 21, 2016 at the Malibu Playhouse, officially launching their 2016 season under the helm of Jeremy Skidmore, world-renowned theater director and formerly Artistic Director of Theater Alliance in Washington, D.C.  Written by Stephen Massicotte and performed by Hallie Cooper and Mark Jude Sullivan, "MARY'S WEDDING," produced and directed by Skidmore, is a brilliant, romantic and historical dream play. When Mary and Charlie unexpectedly find one another sheltered in a barn during a thunderstorm, a tentative love is born. But the year is 1914, and their first flirtations ignite right as World War I begins to engulf the western world.  Nevertheless, their bond begins to fracture the hard rules of time as their story unfolds across vast prairies, on the decks of silently sailing war ships, and entwined with the chaotic trenches of Europe's no-man's land.  Mary's Wedding captures an extraordinary moment of innocence and courage with rare sensitivity and beauty.

Traubert Productions presents Tracy Letts' KILLER JOE at The Players' Ring in Portsmouth, NH. Performance dates are tonight, October 16 - November 1, 2015. Todays at 8pm. Saturday 10/17 and 10/24 at 8pm. Special Saturday 10/31 at 9pm after The Portsmouth Halloween Parade. Sunday 10/18 and 10/25 at 7pm. Sunday 11/1 at 3pm. Directed by Todd Hunter. The Players' Ring is located at 105 Marcy Street, near Prescott Park. Tickets are $15-cash or credit at the door or online at http://playersring.org/box-office/ . Phone reservations can be made at 603.436.8123.