Bath Theatre Royal and Ustinov Summer 2024

[bordeaux]

Some interesting things planned for here.  In the tiny Ustinov Richard Jones will be directing Pinter's The Birthday Party following his success with Machinal.  That takes up the whole of August.  Deborah Warner will be directing Ian Bostridge in Schubert's Die Winterreise with dates in June and September.  Countertenor Iestyn Davies will be performing with a lute-player for a couple of nights in September.  


A revival of Emlyn Williams' Accolade coming over from the Theatre Royal, Windsor, may hit the spot for those of us interested in early 20th century rarities.  Set in a very different world to that of The Corn is Green, it focuses on a successful writer as he is about to be awarded a major prize, the blurb says.  It's directed by Sean Mathias.  Tom Littler's production of Coward's Suite in Three Keys will be coming over from The Orange Tree.

Rather exciting in my view - and I think there'll be more in the Deborah Warner season.

[bordeaux]

A couple more things announced for the Deborah Warner Ustinov season, though no play. In late June, early July a new dance piece from Kim Brandstrup, Echo and Narcissus. Then late July Catherine Wyn-Rogers singing Bach's Ich habe genug and other sacred songs. I must admit I'd like to see Warner direct a play there again.

[bordeaux]

Jane Horrocks is in the Richard Jones Birthday Party. A couple more names like that would be very welcome and make a transfer more likely.

[NeilVHughes]

Thanks for the heads up, missed this, doubled it with the History Boys for a late summer weekend in Bath.

[bordeaux]

The Ian Bostridge Winterreise is superb, if you like Lieder, directed by Deborah Warner and coming back in September.

The programme refers, sadly, to this as her 'third and final season' in the Ustinov, which is a shame, as I was looking forward to years more of her in the west. If it frees her up to do more work at Covent Garden and other big venues, that would be some compensation.

www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jun/12/winterreise-review-schubert-bostridge-drake-warner-ustinov-studio-bath

[Rory]

Cast for The Birthday Party is Jane Horrocks, John Marquez, Sam Swainsbury, Nicolas Tennant, Caolan Byrne and Carla Harrison-Hodge.

[bordeaux]

I thoroughly recommend Richard Jones' production of The Birthday Party at the Ustinov, on till the end of the month. Excellent cast, with Jane Horrocks particularly good and very disturbing as Meg. The language, with its strange everyday banalities and its menace and fear come across very well on an almost comically brown set evocative of a dull 1950s seaside England. A very good introduction to Pinter for my teenage daughters (17 and 19). It's probably not starry enough to transfer, though.

I last saw it in 1994, Sam Mendes' brilliant (and brilliantly cast - Bob Peck, Dora Bryan, Anton Lesser, Nicholas Woodeson) production at the National - great days!