Richard Curtis’ NEW play headlines West End night of theatre shorts - on this month
A NEW piece from Richard Curtis headlines a night of short plays in London’s West End this month.
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Feast From The East - a collection of nine bitesize pieces from Suffolk’s Ink Festival - opened in the capital’s Tristan Bates Theatre last night.
The event, which also features a new piece by Shappi Khorsandi, is slated to continue until May 18.
Curtis is one of the UK’s most successful writers, having penned iconic films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Love Actually and About Time.
He also worked on the story for last year’s Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!, and has TV credits including The Vicar of Dibley, Blackadder and Doctor Who.
His short, Another Suitcase In Another Hall, is directed by Julia Sowerbutts with Huw Brentnall, and performed by Ed Jones, William Kempsell and Amber Muldoon.
Elsewhere, Muldoon also performs Khorsandi’s piece, Nina’s Not Okay; while Curtis’s daughter Scarlett is on the bill with her own play, Wellington - which takes place during the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Jackie Carreira, Ed Jones, Martha Loader, James McDermott and Christopher Reason have also written shorts for the night, which is priced at £18 for adults and £10 for concessions.
Sowerbutts, the INK Festival artistic director, said: “We are delighted that 8 of the best brand-new short plays which premiered at INK Festival 2019 are transferring to Tristan Bates Theatre for this exciting run.
“They have been selected from over 350 new submissions by new and experienced writers – all with East Anglian connections.
“We can’t wait to show London what is happening in East Anglia.”
Khorsandi based her piece on her own novel of the same name, and told Metro earlier this month: “It’s amazing and I can’t wait.
“I’m also going to extend it and make it into an adaptation of my whole novel. That’s something we can expect to see soon.”
Tonight my 92 year old mother is appearing in the west end in a short play written by my 23 year old daughter. It's an evening of great short plays from @InkFestival - and they're REALLY worth seeing. (also, please tell my mum I sent you). https://t.co/iNUulsie9d pic.twitter.com/IXkoPhKSqo
— emma freud ?????? (@emmafreud) May 7, 2019
Other actors taking part include Ann Bryson, Holly Ashman, Will Howard, William Kempsell, Tess Wojtczak, Joseph Clayton, Jill Freud, Barbara Horne, Chris Larner and Hilary Greatorex.
Directors include Peter Kavanagh, James Christopher, Jane Zarins, Paul Schlesinger, Tim Bentinck and Dugald Bruce-Lockhart.
Feast From The East runs at Tristan Bates Theatre until May 18, except May 13, at 7:45pm.
Matinees are scheduled for Wednesday and Saturday afternoons at 2:30pm.
Tickets are available from the box office here.