White Rose Theatre Presents LOST SOUL MUSIC Feb 23-March 14

MUSICAL THEATRE, despite its popularity, is still one of the most critically malignedart forms in the UK. Unsurprising, you might think, with the likes of Footloose, Flashdance and High School Musical 2 currently treading the boards, not to mentionthe seemingly endless line of bored pop stars loosely knotting together their backcatalogues with the ropiest of plots to produce a theatrical experience slightly lesssatisfying than buying a CD of their greatest hits and charging drunken hen parties£50 a pop to come round for a listen while X Factor finalists gyrate around thefurniture. Even the good ones still aren't real theatre, are they? I mean not really, not deep down. You don't get any singing in Ibsen, do you? You wouldn't catch thatnice Mr. Tennant at it.

BUT OF COURSE THAT'S ALL NONSENSE. Back in the days of the Great Dionysiatheatre sang before it could speak. Music and drama have always gone hand in hand. The musical is not a genre in itself, but contains within it infinite permutations ofcomedy, tragedy, history, romance, crime, horror and anything else we might thinkof. It can challenge us, move us, make us think, and while all too often it doesn't, alltoo often it falls foul of the lazy stereotypes detailed above, none of this hasdiminished its power.

LOST SOUL MUSIC is our attempt to save the musical...

White Rose Theatre's LOST SOUL MUSIC Words by Chris Bush

Music by Ian McCluskey PLEASANCE, ISLINGTON.

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 23 RD TO SUNDAY MARCH 14 TH 2010.

LOST SOUL MUSIC is a Talking Heads for the Burlesque generation, a series of six darkly intimate and devilishly funny new shows each offering a unique theatrical treat and original toe-tapping score. Whether sold for a song, sacrificed for love orsimply lost in the post, we're sure you'll never look at your soul in quite the same way again. These deliciously different tales of dalliance and damnation range fromone-man monologues to musical spectaculars; some comic, some tragic, all entertaining, we're sure you'll find nothing else like them: WHITE ROSE THEATRE is a new writing company based in York best known for their 2007 satirical smash TONY!

The Blair Musical, which sold out runs at the YorkTheatre Royal and Edinburgh Fringe before transferring to London as winner of theSunday Times NSDF Edinburgh Competition for a brief off-West End run. InEdinburgh, TONY! Was one of The Telegraph's top 20 shows and The Independent'stop 5. In London it was pick of the day in The Evening Standard and The Metro, andNo. 1 on The Sunday Times' Culture Agenda. Lost Soul Music debuted at theEdinburgh Festival in 2008 as part of Belt Up Theatre's Red Room project, winner ofthe Edinburgh International Festival Award 2008. Now significantly reworked andrecast, Lost Soul Music is ready to take London by storm.

WHERE:The Pleasance Theatre, Carpenters Mews, North Road, London N7 9EF

TUBE: Caledonian Road (Piccadilly Line)WHEN:Tuesday 23 rd February to Sunday 14 th March 2010.

TIMES:Tue. - Fri. @ 7.30pm, Sat. @ 2.00, 5.00 & 8.00, Sun. @ 5.00 & 8.00.

WHAT:We play two shows per sitting - see overleaf for schedule.PRICES:£12 (10 conc.) or see all six shows for £30 (£25).BOX OFFICE: 0207 609 1800 / www.pleasance.co.uk

The Devil You Know: Everyone has demons of their own: only Helen's answer back.She's come to tell her sorry tale of suffering and self-sacrifice, while they're here toremind her the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.Simon Says: A simple tale of unrequited love, and the sacrifices a man will make togain his heart's desire. How much of yourself would you give up to be with yourbeloved? [Commended for both script and performance in Spotlight's Emerging Artists Awards 2008]

Fisher of Men: All of life can be found down by the river - everything's there if youlook close enough. It's here that Johnnie finds his purpose, his plan. There by thebank side at the tender age of seven and three quarters, he finds his life's calling.Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Henry Horatio Swann has a problem - he's lost something,you see - lost it in the post, as it happens, and if he can't get it back he's not quitesure what he'll do. A bittersweet tale of love, devotion and sorting offices.All the Best Tunes: A story as old as the hills: Boy meets girl. Boy loves girl. Boy sellshis soul for a song in order to win her heart. Because the boy is an idiot, naturally.Soldier of Fortune: In the heat of battle a frightened soldier opts for ignoble life overa glorious death. What follows is his story, taking us from the walls of Troy to the fallof Baghdad as he attempts to pay off his debt.

SCHEDULE:TUE. 7.30, FRI. 7.30, SAT. 8.00: The Devil You Know / Simon Says

WED. 7.30, SAT. 5.00, SUN. 8.00: Fisher of Men / Signed, Sealed, Delivered

THU. 7.30, SAT. 2.00, SUN 5.00: All the Best Tunes / Soldier of Fortune

CAST:The Devil You Know: Kristin Atherton, Alex Forsyth, Roxanna KlimaszewskaSimon Says:James DuckworthFisher of Men: Alex Forsyth, Roxanna Klimaszewska, James Duckworth Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Laurence Pears All the Best Tunes: Ian McCluskey, James Duckworth, Kristin Atherton Soldier of Fortune:Alex Forsyth, Kristin Atherton, Roxanna Klimaszewska

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