NELL GWYNN Returns to Shakespeare's Globe Following UK Tour
By: BWW News Desk Oct. 25, 2016
English Touring Theatre today announces that following its UK tour, Jessica Swale's Olivier Award-winning Nell Gwynn, starring Laura Pitt-Pulford in the title role, returns to Shakespeare's Globe for a two week run from 2 - 13 May 2017.
The production, directed by Christopher Luscombe, begins its tour at the The Lowry in Salford on 1 March, and includes dates at Theatre Royal Brighton, Malvern Theatre, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Guildford's Yvonne Arnaud, Hall for Cornwall, Blackpool's Grand Theatre, Edinburgh's King's Theatre and Theatre Royal Bath, before returning to Shakespeare's Globe where it first played in 2015.
1660 Drury Lane. Charles II has cast off London's drab, puritanical past with a love of all things loud and sexy. A young Nell Gwynn is selling oranges for sixpence in the burgeoning West End theatre scene unaware of who is in the audience one fateful night.
Jessica Swale's warm-hearted, bawdy bio-drama (winner of 2016 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy) tells the story of an unlikely heroine, who went from lowly orange seller to win the adoration of the public and the heart of the King.
Jessica Swale is an award-winning playwright and the Artistic Director of Red Handed Theatre Company. Her first play, Blue Stockings was performed at Shakespeare's Globe in 2012 and is a Drama GCSE set text. Other writing includes, All's Will that Ends Will, Thomas Tallis, The Playhouse Apprentice, adaptations of Sense and Sensibility, Far from the Madding Crowd, The Secret Garden, Stig of the Dump and a new play, The Mission, about illegal adoptions in the 1920s. In 2012 she won a BAFTA JJ Screenwriting Bursary and is current commissions include the screenplay of Nell Gwynn for Working Title, the Horrible Histories Movie and Love [Sic], a new play for BBC Radio 4. As director, Swale set up Red Handed Theatre Company in 2006, where her work includes The Belle's Stratagem, The Busy Body, The Rivals, Someone Who'll Watch Over Me (Southwark Playhouse), The School for Scandal (Park Theatre) and Palace of the End (Arcola).
Laura Pitt-Pulford plays Nell Gwynn. Her theatre credits include Flowers for Mrs Harris (Sheffield Crucible), Oliver!, The Sound of Music, Piaf, Hello Dolly! (Curve), The Smallest Show on Earth (UK tour), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), The Return of the Soldier (Jermyn Street Theatre), The Light Princess (National Theatre), A Man of No Importance (Salisbury Playhouse), Mack and Mabel and Parade (Southwark Playhouse), title role in Sweet Charity (Belfast MAC), The Little Prince (Lyric Belfast), Guys and Dolls (UK tour) and Copacabana (Watermill Theatre, Newbury).
Christopher Luscombe directs. His directing credits in London include The Shakespeare Revue (RSC and Vaudeville Theatre), Star Quality and The Madness of George III (Apollo Theatre), Home and Beauty (Lyric Hammersmith), Fascinating Aïda - One Last Flutter and The Rocky Horror Show (Harold Pinter Theatre), The Comedy of Errors, The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare's Globe), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), Enjoy (Gielgud Theatre), Alphabetical Order (Hampstead Theatre), When We Are Married (Garrick Theatre), Travels With My Aunt (Menier Chocolate Factory) and Spamalot (Playhouse Theatre). His RSC productions of Love's Labour's Lost and Much Ado About Nothing, seen last year in Stratford-upon-Avon, have been screened in cinemas worldwide and released on DVD. They transfer to Chichester later this year, and then to the Theatre Royal, Haymarket for Christmas.
ENGLISH TOURING THEATRE
English Touring Theatre is one of the UK's most successful and exciting production companies, widely regarded as England's national theatre of touring. The company works with leading artists to stage an eclectic mix of new and classic work for audiences throughout the UK and overseas; theatre that is thrilling, popular and, above all, entertaining. Current Productions include Terence Rattigan's French without Tears, a co-production with the Orange Tree Theatre, and Lady Chatterley's Lover, a co-production with Sheffield Theatres, both tour from September. www.ett.org.uk. Twitter: @ETTtweet.
SHAKESPEARE'S GLOBE
Founded by the pioneering American actor and director Sam Wanamaker, Shakespeare's Globe is a unique international resource dedicated to the exploration of Shakespeare's work and The Playhouse for which he wrote, through the connected means of performance and education. The theatre boasts a distinguished track record of critically acclaimed new writing, from playwrights including Howard Brenton (Anne Boleyn, Doctor Scroggy's War, In Extremis), Claire van Kampen (Farinelli and the King), Helen Edmundson (The Heresy of Love) and Richard Bean (Pitcairn). Jessica Swale's Blue Stockings and Nell Gwynn both received their premieres at Shakespeare's Globe. Previous collaborations with English Touring Theatre include national tours of Howard Brenton's Ann Boleyn in 2012 and Eternal Love in 2014.
TOUR DATES
The Lowry, Salford
1-4 March
Box office: 0843 208 6000
Theatre Royal Brighton
7-11 March
Box office: 0844 871 7627
Malvern Theatre
14-18 March
Box office: 01684 892 277
Cambridge Arts Theatre
21-25 March
Box office: 01223 503 333
Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford
28 March - 1 April
Box office: 01483 440000
Hall for Cornwall
4-8 April
Box office: 01872 262 466
www.hallforcornwall.co.uk/Online/
The Grand, Blackpool
11-15 April
Box office: 01253 290 190
https://www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk/
Edinburgh King's Theatre
18-22 April
Box office: 0131 529 6000
http://www.edtheatres.com/kings
Theatre Royal Bath
25-29 April
Box office: 01225 448 844
Shakespeare's Globe
2 - 13 May 2017
Box office: 020 7902 1400
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