Page 81 - ASMF Marriner 100 Coverage Book

Saigon, that Boublil and Schönberg Vietnam War juggernaut.

Crucible, Sheffield, Mar 2-30; sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

Opening Night

Here’s an off-the-wall project. The mercurial Sheridan Smith teams up with the equally
unpredictable director Ivo van Hove and the idiosyncratic singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright

for a musical based on a cult John Cassavetes movie of the same name about a Broadway actress

on the verge of a meltdown. Smith’s previous venture was the mainstream hit Shirley Valentine.

This should be very, very different.

Gielgud Theatre, London W1, Mar 6-Jul 27; openingnightmusical.com
Player Kings

He’s still climbing mountains. Not content with giving us a late-career Hamlet and hitting the

road as a panto dame, Ian McKellen continues to defy the years. He’s now taking on the

challenge of portraying Sir John Falstaff in the director Robert Icke’s version of

Shakespeare’s Henry IV Parts One and Two.
Noël Coward Theatre, London WC2, Apr-Jun 22; previewing at New Wimbledon Theatre,

London SW19, Mar 1-9, and Manchester Opera House, Mar 14-23; playerkingstheplay.co.uk

London Tide

Charles Dickens gets a 21st-century makeover as the acclaimed singer-songwriter PJ Harvey

provides the songs for a reworking of Our Mutual Friend. The script is by Ben Power, who
performed miracles on one of the National’s biggest successes of the past decade, The Lehman

Trilogy. Ian Rickson directs the intertwined stories of Lizzie Hexam and Bella Wilfer.

Lyttelton, National Theatre, Apr 10-Jun 22; nationaltheatre.org.uk

Spirited Away

We had a taste of the pulling power of Japanese animation when the adaptation of the Studio

Ghibli hit My Neighbour Totoro had its spectacular debut run at the Barbican in London in
2022. The latest Ghibli import reboots the fantasia that won the Academy Award for best

animated feature film in 2003. The veteran director John Caird has adapted the fey journey into

the spirit world.

London Coliseum, Apr 30-Aug 24; spiritedawayuk.com

Withnail and I

What does it take to turn Bruce Robinson’s film, one of the funniest comedies of all time, into a
stage play? The good news is that this venture is the work of Robinson himself, alongside the

director Sean Foley, co-creator of that glorious homage to Morecambe and Wise, The Play What