The SCANDAL Season Comes to Jermyn Street Theatre Spring 2018

Jermyn Street Theatre's dynamic Spring Season 2018 focuses on scandal and its impact. Putting on stage four shocking stories that will outrage, delight, and open our eyes to new perspectives, this season casts light on some of the extraordinary women who didn't mind being the subject of scandal as long as they could remain true to themselves.

Lanie Robertson's Woman Before A Glass brings Peggy Guggenheim's remarkable story to life - showing how her love life was as colourful as her art collection and how her passionate loyalties changed the face of twentieth century art. ‎Mad as Hell, written by Cassie McFarlane and Adrian Hope, will reveal for the first time how the backdrop to Peter Finch's iconic Oscar- winning performance in Network was as fiery as the role he played. It was a battle of race, prejudice and love that scandalised Hollywood.

Maureen Duffy's double-bill, Hilda & Virginia, looks back on Virginia Woolf's life, uncovering the hidden stories behind her iconic novels from the torture of depression to the scandal of her lesbian affairs. Closing the season, part madcap misadventure, part piercing social satire, Proud Haddock presents The Dog Beneath the Skin by Christopher Isherwood and W. H. Auden - a vivid depiction of a world on the brink of collapse that has never seemed so timely.

Tom Littler, Jermyn Street Theatre's Artistic Director, comments, "Following the wonderful reception for our Escape Season so far, I am excited to announce our Scandal Season, which runs from the New Year until Easter 2018. It features three world premieres, one UK premiere, and a rare revival of a truly remarkable 1930s drama. The plays tell the stories of some incredible, path-breaking women, and we are especially proud to present the UK premiere of Lanie Robertson's Woman Before a Glass, in a beautiful production by one of New York's great directors, Austin Pendleton."

Jermyn Street Theatre's Spring Season 2018 is as follows:

Woman Before A Glass

17 January - 3 February (Mon - Sat 7.30pm, Sat 3.30pm)

Peggy Guggenheim collected art, and artists. Married to Max Ernst, lover of Samuel Beckett, champion of Jackson Pollock and Pablo Picasso, Peggy's love life was as colourful as her art collection. She moved to Venice in the late 1940s and quickly became one of its most glamorous, scandalous residents. Lanie Robertson's play brings Peggy's remarkable story to life. Peggy's passionate loyalties and prejudices changed the face of twentieth century art - but at what cost?

Mad as Hell

7- 24 February (Mon - Sat 7:30pm, Thurs & Sat 3:30pm)

A bar in Jamaica. The early 1960s. When womanizing, hell-raising film star Peter Finch meets Eletha Barrett, a charismatic island girl, they both get more than they bargained for. The relationship between Peter and Eletha scandalises Hollywood, and culminates in Finch's Oscar- winning performance in Network. A battle between the 'isms and schisms' of race and prejudice and the courage of love, Mad as Hell reveals for the first time how the backdrop to Finch's iconic performance was as fiery as the role he played.

Hilda & Virginia

27 February - 3 March (Tues - Sat 7:30pm, Thurs & Sat, 3.30pm)

Maureen Duffy's double-bill tells the story of two remarkable women. The Choice is the story of a very unsaintly saint. Hilda of Whitby, who brought Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons, was a businesswoman, teacher and adviser to kings.

In A Nightingale in Bloomsbury Square, Virginia Woolf looks back on her life, uncovering the hidden stories behind her iconic novels. From the torture of depression to the scandal of her lesbian affairs, Virginia goes down fighting. As the saying goes: well-behaved women don't make history...

Proud Haddock presents The Dog Beneath the Skin

7 - 31 March (Mon - Sat 7.30pm, Sat 3.30pm)

The sleepy English village of Pressan Ambo has a secret. Ten years ago, Sir Francis Crewe, heir to the local estate disappeared. Every year a young man is chosen by lot to go searching for him. Alan Norman, accompanied by a surprisingly intelligent dog, sets out on a journey through pre-War Europe. Part madcap misadventure, part piercing social satire, Auden and Isherwood's vivid depiction of a world on the brink of collapse has never seemed so timely.

Tickets are available priced £30. Preview tickets are £15. Scandal Season Ticket are priced £100 (Includes one ticket and a complimentary drink at all four shows of the season). A limited number of tickets at £10 for under 30s are available, bookable online and by telephone. Available from Jermyn Street Box Office and www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk, 020 7287 2875.

Jermyn Street Theatre is an arthouse theatre in the heart of the West End. A 70-seat studio, it opened in 1994, and has since won numerous awards and transferred many productions to the West End and Broadway. This summer Tom Littler became Artistic Director. Littler relaunched the venue as a producing house with The ESCAPE Season. The ESCAPE season opened with the world premiere of Howard Brenton's The Blinding Light, directed by Tom Littler, which was nominated for four OffWestEnd Awards. This was followed by the world premiere of Judith Burnley's Anything That Flies directed by Alice Hamilton. The ESCAPE season continues with Howard Brenton's new version of Miss Julie, co-produced with Theatre by the Lake, and The Hound of the Baskervilles, directed by Lotte Wakeham and co-produced with English Theatre Frankfurt. Jermyn Street Theatre is signed up to the Equity Fringe Agreement and has committed to gender parity on and off stage.

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