Press Releases

THE STARS ARE SHINING ON LONDON’S MOST EXCITING VENUE

Issued : 18 April 2008

London’s most innovative theatre venue, Trafalgar Studios, has unveiled its summer season for 2008 with a stellar line up of stars. Operated by Ambassador Theatre Group, Trafalgar Studios is attracting a wider audience to the West End. Trafalgar Studios acts as a gateway for diverse and cutting edge theatre that does not take place anywhere else in the West End.

STUDIO 1
Currently playing in Studio 1 is poignant must see comedy VISITING MR GREEN (until 10 May). Following rave reviews across the UK, acclaimed actor Warren Mitchell (best known as the opinionated Alf Garnett in Till Death Us Do Part) returns to the London stage for the first time since winning Best Actor at the Olivier Awards for The Price in 2004. Widower Mr. Green is almost hit by a speeding car driven by corporate executive Ross Gardiner. Found guilty of reckless driving, Ross is ordered to spend the next six months making weekly visits to Mr. Green.

Following Warren into Studio 1 are some of today’s hottest young television comedians. Kris Marshall (Love Actually, My Family), Joanna Page (Gavin and Stacey), Ella Smith (Meadowlands) and Robert Webb (Peep Show, That Mitchell and Webb Look), star in FAT PIG (16 May – 6 Sept), a new larger than life comedy written and directed by Neil LaBute. When Tom (Webb) first meets Helen (Smith) there is an instant connection, but it’s not exactly love at first sight. Helen happens to be plus-sized – and then some – and it’s not long before the insults start flying from Tom’s shallow yet shockingly funny office buddies (Marshall and Page).


STUDIO 2
The stars are also shining in Studio 2 as Saskia Reeves (Dune, Spooks) and Rafe Spall (A Room With A View, He Kills Coppers, Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) unearth buried secrets in HELLO AND GOODBYE (22 April – 17 May). A raw and profound autobiographical masterpiece, award-winning playwright Fugard dramatically captures the explosive conflict that emerges when family ties are fully exposed.

New comedy LIFECOACH (20 May – 14 June) stars funnyman Phill Jupitus (Never Mind the Buzzcocks), a renaissance man with a jester’s mind, a comic crusader with a kryptonite wit. He’s part Jedi, part Nick Hornby and part merry prankster with a crackingly good sense of humour. Wendy needs help. Unfortunately, so does her Lifecoach!

Olivier Award winning David Bradley (Argus Filch from the Harry Potter movies) stars in dark comedy THE QUIZ (17 – 28 June). If you’ve been performing ‘The Grand Inquisitor’ for too many years and it’s always been your dream to die on stage like Kean, Irving and Tommy Cooper – is tonight the night to make the ultimate leap?

In the hilarious I, LEAR (21 July – 16 August), two of the country’s finest actors present the entirety of British Theatre in one single evening! Be moved to Yorkshire by Alan Gordon Bennett’s Talking Faeces, dutifully appreciative of the obligatory Chekhov and rendered speechless by the show stopping Shakespearean finale!

There is fantastic family entertainment as Whose Line is it Anyway? meets Jackanory in the crackpot comedy of made-up madness, PROFESSOR BUMM’S STORY MACHINE (22 July – 16 August). Two eggheads race to avoid getting egg on their faces by turning words and ideas from the audience into hilarious new stories! As performed on BBC1’s The Slammer and Radio 4’s Go 4 It, this comedy show is suitable for children over six and their families.

As an alternative to the Edinburgh Festival, Trafalgar Studios presents THE MAD FRINGE (18 – 23 August) in aid of Theatrecares. This fundraising festival is packed full of cabaret, comedy, theatre and music. Watch out for some big names and hot young talent as Theatrecares takes over Studio 2 for a week.

Booking information: Box Office: 0870 060 6632
Online: www.theambassadors.com/trafalgarstudios

For further information, please contact David Bradbury, ATG Group Press Officer on 01782 211 206 or email davidbradbury@theambassadors.com

PRESS NIGHTS
FAT PIG 27th May - 7pm
HELLO AND GOODBYE 24th April - 7pm
LIFECOACH 22nd May - 7pm
THE QUIZ 18th June - 7.45pm
I, LEAR 24th July - 7pm


Editorial Note:
The £750k redevelopment of Trafalgar Studios began in May 2004 with the opening of the 400-seat Studio 1, with a sell-out run of the RSC’s Othello starring Anthony Sher. The intimate 100-seat Studio 2 was opened in November 2005, thanks to a generous donation by entrepreneur and patron of the arts, Christina Smith. Ambassador Theatre Group is currently the largest theatre group in the West End and the second largest in the UK, with a total of 23 venues.

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