The Unearthing of a Dada-esque Libretto: Cecilia Stinton on Spectra Ensemble’s COLLISION

Director Cecilia Stinton on how she discovered the libretto of Collision and how Spectra Ensemble decided to bring Schwitters’ text to life. Collision if part of Grimeborn 2017, on stage 17-19 August. More info and tickets (£17, £14 concessions) here. One summer afternoon after finishing my Master’s degree, I found myself in the library, aimlessly leafing through …

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Arcola Creative Engagement to present opera for under 5s and a new musical devised and performed by Hackney young people

Arcola’s Creative Engagement department – which works with the local community and creates over 11,000 opportunities for participation and talent development – is to present two productions as part of this year’s Grimeborn opera festival. The first, OPERA MOUSE, extends Grimeborn’s inclusive and captivating programme to under 5s. The production follows Tilly Mouse who lives under an …

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Whatever happened to Elvira Bonturi?

Ahead of Il Letto‘s premiere at Grimeborn 2017, librettist and playwright Christopher Hogg goes in search of Elvira Bonturi, an amateur soprano who married the composer Giacomo Puccini. I don’t think I have ever felt a colder January wind, than that which whips down from the mountains and across Lake Massaciuccoli to the gates of …

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Arcola announces Summer/Autumn season

Arcola revives smash-hit, critically-acclaimed THEBES LAND – winner of Best Production at the 2016 Off West End awards First London revival for 35 years of Terry Johnson’s comedy INSIGNIFICANCE, about an imagined meeting between Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe Olivier Award-winning OperaUpClose comes to Arcola for the first time with a new English version of …

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Richard III to transfer to Alcalá Festival, Spain

Arcola’s critically-acclaimed production of RICHARD III has been selected to open the 2017 Alcalá Classics Festival in Madrid, Spain. The festival showcases thrilling productions of classical plays from national and international companies. RICHARD III is, this year, the only entry from the United Kingdom. Arcola’s Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen will direct the 18-strong cast, with …

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Arcola MARVELS at diversity

As the global Marvel brand sparks controversy online, Martin Thomas reflects on Arcola’s plans for more diverse and representative art. Like hundreds of other arts organisations across England, Arcola was recently involved in reviewing its contribution to excellent and diverse art and work with children and young people. The review was part of its National Portfolio Organisation application to Arts Council …

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Cabaret, theatre and music combine for the immersive These Trees are Made of Blood

Spectacular and arresting, These Trees are Made of Blood blends cabaret and an original musical score to tell a vital, human story from Argentina’s Dirty War. Following a sold-out premiere in 2015 at Southwark Playhouse, the cabaret coup reignites at Arcola for four weeks only even bolder than before. Based on an original story by …

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Our future in Dalston

Hackney Council has announced that it intends to develop several publicly-owned sites around Arcola, creating a new ‘Dalston Quarter’. They are running a public consultation, which closes this Sunday, to determine the principles which should guide the development. This is an unprecedented opportunity to help shape the future of Dalston, and to secure a place …

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Richard III cast announced

The full cast has been announced for Arcola’s thrilling new production of William Shakespeare’s RICHARD III, starring RSC Associate Artist Greg Hicks and directed by Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen. Following his celebrated performances as Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Coriolanus and King Lear for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Greg Hicks takes on the role of the tyrant …

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Staging a Plague

Neil Bartlett was Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith from 1994 to 2005. Since then he has created acclaimed work with Artangel, the National Theatre and for festivals across the UK. Here he writes about the inspiration for his new stage adaptation of The Plague, playing at Arcola from 5 April to 6 May 2017. …

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Arcola announces Spring/Summer season

Neil Bartlett to direct his new adaptation of Albert Camus’ modern classic, THE PLAGUE RSC Associate Artist Greg Hicks to play the title role in William Shakespeare’s RICHARD III, directed by Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen Amy Draper to direct THESE TREES ARE MADE OF BLOOD, blending cabaret and original music to tell a vital story …

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Mehmet Ergen on The Cherry Orchard

Ahead of his major new production of The Cherry Orchard, Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen discusses the play and its salience on the hundredth anniversary of the Russian Revolution. What are the main themes you are seeking to bring out in The Cherry Orchard? Change; change in society. What’s fascinating about Chekhov is that he’s writing …

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WORDS, WORDS, WORDS: Kitty Hunter Blair on translating The Lower Depths

Kitty Hunter Blair and Jeremy Brooks’ translation of The Lower Depths was first performed  by the Royal Shakespeare Company on 29 June 1972. 100 years after the Russian Revolution, it’s back on stage in our production of The Lower Depths, directed by Helena Kaut-Howson. In this exclusive article, Kitty Hunter Blair talks about the process of translating Russian plays, …

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Arcola Theatre announces REVOLUTION season, marking centenary of Russian Revolution

THE LOWER DEPTHS by Maxim Gorky, translated by Jeremy Brooks & Kitty Hunter-Blair, directed by Helena Kaut-Howson THE CHERRY ORCHARD by Anton Chekhov, in an English version by Trevor Griffiths (London premiere) from a translation by Helen Rappaport, directed by Arcola Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen NEW NIGERIANS by Oladipo Agboluaje (world premiere), directed by Rosamunde …

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