Dream line-up at the Rose (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Dream line-up at the Rose

1:24pm Thursday 28th January 2010

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The Rose Theatre has revealed its new season for the coming year and there is plenty for theatre lovers to get excited about, from the arrival of Judi Dench to star in A Midsummer Night’s Dream to the latest production from legendary director Peter Brook. The theatre’s artistic director Stephen Unwin talked Will Gore through the highlights of the season...

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, February 9-March 20 Judi Dench has grabbed all the headlines as she prepares to return to the stage to star as Titania in the Rose’s homegrown production of Shakespeare’s classic comedy, directed by the theatre’s director emeritus Sir Peter Hall. Tickets are selling fast and are expected to sell out, so book now to avoid disappointment.

Stephen Unwin: “The fantastic thing about Dream is that we have got a great, great cast. There is obviously Judi Dench, but Peter has got a fantastic cast around her. They may not be household names but they are all just amazing. The Rose has only been here for two years and here we are celebrating our second birthday and we’ve got Judi Dench on stage in a homegrown production. It’s a great next step for us.”

Dumb Show, April 1-17 This is the first revival of Joe Penhall’s play, which examines celebrity culture and the price some people pay for fame. Penhall recently wrote the screenplay for the big screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, but is perhaps known best for his play Blue/Orange, that took the West End by storm in 2000. A big name star is expected to take the lead role in this new production.

SU: “I’m following Dream deliberately with something completely different. Dumb Show is a brilliant play that was done at the Royal Court in 2004 and this is its major revival. It’s a play about celebrity and it makes you think about a society that is so interes- ted in celebrity and what a hollow sham that is. It is a fascinating tragedy about a celebrity who is caught in a sting and you think he is a bit unsavoury but that the investigative journalists aren’t much better. I’ve had my eye on it for a few years – it is really special.”

Sweet Nothings, April 20-24 In a coup for the Rose, influential director Peter Brook brings 11 and 12, his version of Marie-Helene Estienne’s play Tierno Bokar to the Rose as part of an internat- ional tour and French director Luc Bondy also brings his latest work, Sweet Nothings, to Kingston.

SU: “We’ve got a mini-international season. One of the things that people have said to me a lot over the past two years is that when the Rose is bold it is at its best and I’m really proud that we’ve got these two international pieces.”

Visit rosetheatrekingston.org

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