Sitting In The Cheap Seats

The Donmar announces full casting for Artistic Director Josie Rourke ’s production of Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare. Joining the previously announced Hayley Atwell and Jack Lowden are Ben Allen, Matt Bardock, Nicholas Burns, Jackie Clune, Rachel Denning, Molly Harris, Adam McNamara, Raad Rawi, Sule Rimi, Anwar Russell and Helena Wilson.

Through the lens of a rock documentary,  Wasted  is a brand new musical that gives an access-all-areas account of the struggles, heartbreaks and triumphs of the three Brontë sisters Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and their brother Branwell.  Brought up in a remote, poverty-stricken town in Yorkshire, without money or opportunity, they fought ill health, unrequited love and family feuds to write some of the most celebrated literature including  Jane Eyre  and  Wuthering Heights .

With Spamilton: An American Parody currently running at the venue, the Menier Chocolate Factory today announces a major revival of Hugh Whitemore ’s Pack of Lies directed by Hannah Chissick . The production opens on 1 October, with previews from 20 September, and runs until 17 November.

I’d not been to the Theatre Royal Brighton for a show before, but as I arrived I already knew this would be a whole new experience. A quick drink in the Colonnade Bar while I surveyed the scenes and got chatting with a group of people at the next table proudly wearing VIP lanyards and fresh from a meet and greet led me to believe a great night was in store, certainly the grins of my new friends suggested they were excited for the evening ahead!

Shrapnel Theatre today announces the return of Alex Oates’ Silk Road (How to Buy Drugs Online) , the first production to be funded through the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Dominic Shaw directs Josh Barrow (Bruce Blakemore) at Trafalgar Studios, Tuesday 7 August to Saturday 1 September.

The Wider Earth It’s been a busy week for theatre news, and while we’ve shared a few choice morsel with you already, here are some of the stories we didn’t get around to posting earlier!

Bruce Robert Harris and Jack W. Batman, New Level Productions and Julian Stoneman are delighted to announce a new and vibrant revival of Gilbert and Sullivan’s hugely popular  The Pirates of Penzance .  PIRATES!, a bold reinvention of their universally renowned and celebrated show loved by audiences the world over, is conceived, directed and choreographed by Daryl Gray, and will open in the UK in 2019.

Mischief Theatre’s slapstick crime caper left a big grin on our face when we saw it in the West End (you can read all about that here ). Now they’re heading out on the run  on tour around the UK!

Chichester Festival Theatre ’s summer musical is always hotly anticipated and this year is no different. Me and My Girl , set to star Matt Lucas as barrow boy turned peer Bill Snibson. Sadly, as we’re informed just before the start of the show Lucas has been ordered by a throat specialist to rest and with a few hours’ notice his understudy is set to take the stage!