Riverside Studios Announces Full Programme Of Theatre, Exhibitions, Workshops and Talks

Riverside Studios today announces its full programme of theatre, exhibitions, workshops and talks to enjoy throughout the festive season at its West London cultural hub. Leading the Christmas programme is the supercharged urban circus, 360 Allstars, which opens on 21 December. This high-energy show from Onyx Productions, already booking fast, will be a dynamic change from panto season - appealing to kids, teens, and adults alike.

Whilst interactive sculpture exhibition Damage Control fills the Riverside Studios atrium until 31 December, the multi-award nominated multimedia journey from ChewBoy Productions DJ Bazzer's Year 6 Disco written by Georgie Bailey, runs this week until 20 November. The dance and theatre programme includes Amina Khayyam Dance Company's A Thousand Faces, Samuel Barnett's Medium, and Eddie Izzard's Great Expectations, before Karl Sydow presents Ava: The Secret Conversations that begins in the New Year and runs until April 2022.

Riverside Studios today announces its full programme of theatre, exhibitions, workshops and talks to enjoy throughout the festive season at its West London cultural hub. Leading the Christmas programme is the supercharged urban circus, 360 Allstars, which opens on 21 December. This high-energy show from Onyx Productions, already booking fast, will be a dynamic change from panto season - appealing to kids, teens, and adults alike.a Q&A with author Tim Walker, Bond Night: In Conversation with Tim Walker and live stream event with Will Smith: An Evening of Stories with Friends moderated by Idris Elba on 18 November, as well as workshops on film production for 16-30-year-olds and drama for the over 50s.

Onyx Productions presents:

360 ALLSTARS

21 December - 8 January 2022

BMX, basketball, breakdancing, beatboxing, acrobatics and drumming, all together in a supercharged production like nothing you've seen before!

360 ALLSTARS brings together an international dream team cast of World Champion athletes and artists, to reinvent the circus.

Sold out on Broadway. Sold out in Edinburgh. Sold out at the Sydney Opera House. Don't miss this opportunity to see the worldwide smash hit live in London. Perfect for all the family.

ChewBoy Productions presents:

DJ BAZZER'S YEAR 6 DISCO

Written by Georgie Bailey, performed by Jack Sunderland

16 - 20 November at 7.30pm

Baz is the resident DJ of Brigdale Primary. Next week, it's the Year 6 Leavers Disco: the biggest gig of the year. With a might setlist of early-noughties bangers cued up, Baz is raring to go for the event of a lifetime. That is, until their old school rival barges his way back onto the scene, forcing Baz to recollect the things he'd kept buried for years, and face up to moments in his past that will define his future...

Join Baz in the multi-award nominated multimedia, solo adventure of the century: DJ BAZZER's YEAR 6 DISCO, exploring childhood dreams that never wake up and the things that keep you up at night through a journey of Magaluf rooftop raves, hospital wards and the glow stick laden school halls of years gone by.

Content Advisory: Contains strong language and heavily emotional scenes exploring anxiety.

Amina Khayyam Dance Company presents:

A Thousand Faces

24 - 27 November 2021

A bold dance-theatre that features Amina Khayyam working with Kathak's intricate and detailed theatrical gestures of ang abhinaya, to subvert imagery of Bollywood beauty and Hollywood glamour that objectify women in indiscriminate abuse and violence. A Thousand Faces follows the story of a woman confronting a past violent relationship...

Ang Abhinaya is part of Kathak that is often paid less attention to in its current progression within a neo-classical approach. It is the expression of the body using major and minor limbs within kathak movement. However, Amina Khayyam, renowned for her abhinaya, has developed new approaches in this new work by bringing influences of European experimental forms of physical theatre and mime movement to give the piece a wholly unique and innovative treatment, highlighting the contemporary condition.

Samuel Barnett presents:

Medium

9-11 December 2021

Samuel Barnett is an actor. It's in his blood.

In 2020, Samuel made the surprising discovery that he descends from a long line of mentalists, conjurers, illusionists and magicians. This revelation led him to spend lockdown studying some of his family's most famous and celebrated routines and investigating his show-business DNA.

Samuel's new one-man show is born out of this ancestral exploration and the practice of his newly honed craft. In MEDIUM, he presents a magical journey through his family tree and reveals some of the amazing discoveries that he has made along the way.

Full of twists and turns, MEDIUM plays with illusion. Whether you'd like to participate on stage, or marvel from your seat, this is not a show for the faint of heart nor the closed of mind.

Eddie Izzard presents:

Great Expectations

Performed by Eddie Izzard

20-23 December 2021 8pm

Eddie Izzard invites you to a preview of her solo performance of Charles Dickens' classic epic Great Expectations.

A tale of convicts, mystery, friendship, rivalry, unrequited love, revenge, and redemption.

Actor, comedian - Eddie's career spans both of these with record-breaking comedy tours and critically acclaimed film, TV and theatre performances. But few know that it was acting that was Eddie's first love. This preview show offers the chance to see Eddie as she follows in Dickens' footsteps with her live performance of the master storyteller's much-loved classic.

Karl Sydow presents:

Ava: The Secret Conversations

14 January - 16 April 2022

Based on the book "The Secret Conversations" by Peter Evans and Ava Gardner.

A fading star of Hollywood's golden age, now living a quiet life in 1980s London, hires a journalist to write her biography in order to bring in much needed income. The journalist can't believe his luck. From poor Southern farm girl to a powerful Hollywood goddess her story is pure celluloid. A devastating beauty whose hard drinking, hard loving lifestyle kept the gossip columnists busy as her movies thrilled the punters. The ultimate femme fatale - Ava Gardner.

Not always intentionally, Ava spills the beans on her three husbands to often humorous affect: Mickey Rooney, a serial cheater so notorious that even his mother warned Gardner about him; bandleader Artie Shaw "a dominating son of a bitch - always putting me down" and Frank Sinatra. "We were fighting all the time. Fighting and boozing. It was madness. But he was good in the feathers". This compelling new play explores the fractured relationship between the public and private lives of one of Hollywood's great icons. Produced by Karl Sydow, the production will star Elizabeth McGovern who also adapted the book Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations by Peter Evans & Ava Gardner for the stage.

The Playground Theatre and Riverside Studios Present:

Damage Control

An interactive sculpture exhibition: Polly Wiseman's audio play is set amongst sculptures by Josie Spencer.

Until 31 December

Damage Control is written in response to pieces made by Josie Spencer and explores the language of emergency from The Great Fire of London through to the current global pandemic. Taken from historical accounts and first-person interviews with west London locals, Polly Wiseman's play asks whether the lives of the poor are worth less than the property of the rich.

Josie Spencer's sculptures evoke a sense of both vulnerability and resilience. Are they broken or breaking free? After this last difficult year, which are we? By placing the words amidst the sculptures and directly into an audience's ears, we aim to create an immersive experience through voices, thoughts and emotions of people caught up in disaster and ultimately, celebrate the resilience of London and Londoners.

Livestreamed from the Savoy Theatre:

Will Smith: An Evening of Stories with Friends

Moderated by Idris Elba

18 November 7pm

Will Smith's transformation from a West Philadelphia kid to one of the biggest rap stars of his era and then one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood history is an epic tale - but it's only half the story. For the first time, Will Smith opens up fully about his life, tracing his learning curve to a place where outer success, inner happiness, and human connection are aligned.

Joined by special guests, this will be an unforgettable evening sharing the profound journey that self-knowledge brings, a reckoning with all that your will can get you and all that it can leave behind. Every ticket includes a copy of Will Smith's memoir, WILL, written with the help of Mark Manson, author of the multi-million-copy bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.

Pitchblack Playback presents:

Tame Impala 'Currents'

1 December 2021 8.30pm

Pitchblack Playback's immersive listening sessions in the dark launch at Riverside Studios with their most in-demand album in their five-and-a-half year history: Tame Impala's breathtaking 'Currents'. Experience it like never before on our powerful surround sound system with no distractions. Feel every frequency and discover new details. It's the ultimate way to listen to this note-perfect record.

Tim Walker presents:

Bond Night: In Conversation with Tim Walker

3 December 2021 7.30pm

Riverside Studios will be joined by the playwright of Bloody Difficult Women, Tim Walker, who will be discussing his latest book, Star Turns: Secrets of Stage and Screen Legends. As a journalist on Fleet Street, Walker got to know many of the luminaries from the James Bond films: Diana Rigg, Toby Stephens, Christopher Lee, and 007 icons, Roger Moore and Sean Connery, who all feature in his book. In a one-off Riverside Studios exclusive, Walker appears for your eyes only to discuss how the personalities made the films so special.

Uncovering Film: Workshops for 16-30-year-olds

24 November - 15 December

Interested in a career in film but not sure where to start? Riverside Studios are partnering with West London based production company Alookinto and the Bollo Youth Centre to bring you a series of weekly workshops uncovering different options of working in the film industry.

Each week will have a specific focus, from unlocking the business of production, the role of sound designers, art direction, cinematography to a session on film and activism. There will also be special guest speakers joining us for some weeks.

Drama Workshop for the Over 50s

14 January 2022

Interested in learning a new skill, meeting new people or building your self-confidence? Join drama teacher and director Carol Allen from local charity, Cat's Whiskers Community Arts for these fun and informative weekly drama workshops.

Workshop leader, Carol Allen has been teaching adult drama classes for over ten years, in which time her students have taken part in live performances at venues including Kensington Palace, the Drayton Arms Theatre and the Bush Theatre, and her students have also appeared in short films.

These drama workshops at Riverside Studios include voice and speech training, movement, improvisation, character creation and work with texts. They aim to improve posture, confidence and energy levels, all the while having fun!

Please note these workshops are currently suspended to new members while the group rehearse for their January show - The Seven Ages of Us. Booking is now available for when the workshops reopen to the public again in January.

For more information visit www.riversidestudios.co.uk.

To post a comment, you must register and login.