Latest news with #Regent'sParkOpenAirTheatre
New European
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New European
Corny country musical Shucked is no Book of Mormon
There's always a cheering atmosphere at the first night of the opening show of Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London as it brings with it the prospect of long summer nights and swimming pools full of chilled rosé wine. I would not say Jack O'Brien's production of Robert Horn's hit US country musical comedy Shucked amounts to vintage Regent's Park – he is a good, spirited director of a very slight sort of show – but the good-nature of the cast and the great set from Scott Pask make it all seem a lot more than the sum of its parts. There's a lot of yee-hawing among the farm hands as Maizy – Sophie McShera – prepares to marry Beau – Ben Joyce – in corn country. But ultimately it all feels a bit like a sub-prime Oklahoma, and, whatever else one might say about Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally's music and lyrics, they sure ain't up there with Rodgers and Hammerstein. It feels ambitious to say, as some have done, that this could be as big as The Book Of Mormon. Its big redeeming feature is Keith Ramsay wisecracking his way through the proceedings, noting, among other things, that the women who want sensitive, intelligent boyfriends seldom notice that those potential boyfriends already have boyfriends.
Time Out
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The best open air theatre shows to see in London this summer
I'm Andrzej, the theatre editor at Time Out, and as I type this we're having a balmy early May and nothing on the planet seems as wonderful as the London open air theatre season, which has just begun. Obviously it's not going to last, but open air season is – as much as anything else – an annual act of defiance of the English weather, and there's nothing wrong with that. Here's my pick of the most exciting open air shows to see this season, which starts now and runs on until basically the end of October Funniest show: Shucked Timothy Sheader was one of London's longest-serving artistic directors, having run the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre – on the whole, brilliantly – for 18 years until he surprisingly went off to the Donmar last year. As far as it's possible to tell from a single summer season, Drew McOnie has not tinkered heavily with the OAT's musicals-heavy formula, but he has got one hell of a musical to open his season. Shucked is a heavyweight Broadway smash that one would have probably expected to go into the West End (and it might still do so). But instead it opens McOnie's tenure at the OAT. Apparently it is very, very funny, a story of corn-loving hillbillies who venture into the big city for the first time after their corn harvest fails. Open Air Theatre, May 10-Jun 14. Book tickets here. Heaviest show: The Crucible The Shakespeare's Globe outdoor season is always pretty damn reliable and while there are a couple of more outre choices for 2025 – Troilus and Cressida, anyone? – you can take my word for it that the whole thing looks like a safe bet. The big point of interest this summer is Ola Ince's revival of Arthur Miller's all time American classic The Crucible – I believe I'm right in saying that there has never been either an American play or a twentieth century play staged there. But with its epic scope, shadings of the magical and close-to-Shakespeare's-day setting, The Crucible feels like a fit so perfect it's incredible it hasn't been done before. Shakespeare in the Squares feels like the sort of concept that should be a decades-old London tradition, but in fact the company has only been around since 2016. The concept is pretty simple: each year the company tours a Shakespeare play around London's most charming garden squares (plus a few other outside spaces so it's not purely a tour of west London, although if you've ever wanted to hit up a posh west London square, this is your chance). And the Shakespeare is decent: none of the big names of the Globe or RSC and the productions are usually somewhat truncated, but thoughtful takes nonetheless. Which should stand them in good stead for this summer's pop hit-drenched take on The Taming of the Shrew, a deeply problematic play that can nonetheless be a lot of fun if approached smartly. Various locations, Jun 4-Jul 12. Most fabulous: West End Live There is nothing else in the UK quite like this enormous free festival of musical theatre, which takes over Trafalgar Square for a weekend every June. The deal is pretty simple: for two days the casts of a load of musicals sing a handful of their greatest hits, and while it's clearly not the same thing as getting a full show, it's a hell of a lot of incredible songs. A word to the wise: a lot of the biggest shows pile their West End Live slots in before their 2.30pm Saturday matinees and the crowd area can hit capacity very quickly at this time. Trafalgar Square, Jun 21 and 22. Best for families: Theatre on Kew Kew Gardens has a longstanding theatrical partnership with the Australian Shakespeare Company, which is a bit odd when you're first presented with it but kind of makes sense insofar as the ASC has a repertoire of all-ages open-air shows ready to go and appears to be happy to decamp to west London during the notoriously harsh Australian winters. It's one of the best spots in London to go for family open-air theatre, not least because your ticket to the show gets you general entry to Kew. This year's kids shows are The Dream Fairies (for little ones) and Alice in Wonderland (for bigger ones), or for an ultra atmospheric bit of more adult theatre there's Macbeth, which should be pretty amazing as darkness falls. Kew Gardens, Jul 18-Aug 31. Sadly not happening: River Stage A bit of a PSA here – the National Theatre has 'paused' its outdoor River Stage weekenders. This is a big shame, although the NT has a new leader (Indhu Rubasingham) who has only just got her feet under the table, but hopefully she'll come up with something next summer. Most spectacular: Greenwich + Docklands International Festival From simulations of the Northern Lights to a bus journey musing on the life of Stephen Lawrence, GDIF has been hugely on form in recent years as the largely free festival of street theatre – which has increasingly embraced spectacular installations post-pandemic – has drifted into a late summer slot. So late, in fact, that we don't have a line up or official dates yet. But expect it to be late August into early September, and also bloody spectacular.
Time Out
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The 10 best new London theatre openings in May 2025
May is here and with it the London open air theatre season gets into full swing. The Globe kicks things off with a cowboy-themed Romeo and Juliet followed shortly thereafter with a rare revival for a modern play – Arthur Miller's peerless The Crucible. Over in Regent's Park and new theatre boss Drew McOnie gets his tenure off with a bang as he bags the much anticipated UK premiere of Broadway comedy musical Shucked. But it's another musical that's the month's big talking point: the National Theatre will host the UK premiere of the late great Stephen Sondheim's final musical. The best London theatre openings in May 2025 What is it? Here We Are is the final work by the greatest composer of musical theatre in history – that is to say, Stephen Sondheim. It is, plot wise, a mash up of two surreal class satire Luis Buñuel films: The Exterminating Angel and The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoise. Joe Mantello's premiere production played a season off-Broadway already and now transfers here with a starry new cast. Why go? Because it's Sondheim. When is the next time you're going to the premiere run of a Sondheim musical? Never, that's when. New York reviews were warm – FWIW the main fault cited is that he didn't quite write enough songs before he passed away – and the cast is insane, including the likes of Rory Kinnear, Jane Krakowski and Martha Plimpton. National Theatre, now until Jun 28. 2. What is it? One of the more unexpected musical theatre success stories of the last few years, Robert Horn, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally's Shucked announced itself on Broadway with an ad campaign that solely revolved around puns about corn. It went on to be a rip-roaring success and is now a spectacularly impressive get for the first season from new Regent's Park Open Air Theatre boss Drew McOnie. Why go? By all accounts it's incredibly funny, probably the first great US comedy musical since The Book of Mormon. Although the plot is notionally meant to be hidden under a veil of corn puns, it basically concerns a corn-obsessed rural community that has no contact with the outside world. But when their crop starts to fail, they must send two representatives to the big city to try and work out what the hell is going on. Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, May 10-Jun 14. Buy tickets here. 3. Shakespeare's Globe: Romeo and Juliet / The Crucible What is it? Sun's out, guns out, Globe's open: the iconic outside theatre's summer season is upon us and the first two shows open this month. It begins with Sean Holmes's take on Romeo and Juliet; next out of the traps is Ola Ince directing The Crucible, a very rare opportunity to see a classic modern play at the iconic theatre. Why go? Because the Globe has never been about boring trad Shakespeare and this looks like a thrilling couple of shows. Holmes's take on Romeo and Juliet is Wild West themed – we literally need say no more. Meanwhile Arthur Miller's awesome Salem Witch Trials/Red Scare allegory is one of the greatest American plays ever written and getting to see it at the stunning Globe should be a real treat. Shakespeare's Globe; Romeo and Juliet now until Aug 2, buy tickets here; The Crucible May 8-Jul 12, buy tickets here. 4. 1536 What is it? Ava Pickett's award-winning drama is set in – you guessed it – 1536, and parallels the lives of its three female protagonists with that of Anne Boleyn, the queen of England who will meet her violent end that year. Why go? Although Pickett is mostly known as a TV writer, the fact is that the Almeida rarely misses when it comes to new plays, and the crack team behind 1536 is hugely promising, with big name Lyndsey Turner directing a cast of the excellent Liv Hill, Siena Kelly and Tanya Reynolds. Almeida Theatre, May 6-Jun 7. 5. Mrs Warren's Profession What is it? A now pretty rare revival for George Bernard Shaw's classic morality play about an aspiring young female lawyer who attempts to befriend her estranged mother, unaware of her past as a prostitute and present as a brothel madam. Why go? Two words: Imelda Staunton. The national treasure has starred in two excellent Dominic Cook-directed musicals recently – Follies at the NT and last year's Hello, Dolly! – and this time they join forces for a third time and their first straight up drama. She'll play Mrs Warren; her own daughter Bessie Carter will play daughter Vivie. It'll be interesting to see if the play stands up still, but if anyone's going to sell it to us, it's Staunton. Garrick Theatre, May 10-Aug 16, buy tickets here. 6. Giant What is it? The biggest new British play of last year, Mark Rosenblatt's morally knotty Roald Dahl drama triumphantly transfers from the Royal Court to the West End. Why go? It's a slightly old fashioned but brilliantly written play that examines Dahl's public flirtation with antisemitism in the early '80s and comes away with no easy answers. The headline event is John Lithgow as the charming, cantankerous, slippery Dahl, reprising the role that just won him an Olivier. Harold Pinter Theatre, until Aug 2, buy tickets here. 7. An Oak Tree What is it? The last show at the Young Vic for a while should be a good 'un: it's the twentieth anniversary revival for Tim Crouch's seminal performance piece An Oak Tree, the work with which the one-time jobbing actor reinvented himself as a metatheatrical provocateur par excellence. Why go? It's an unsettling classic that remains fresh on stage because one of the performers has never done it before: a different guest each night is cast in the role of a grieving parent who has decided to track down the end-of-the-pier hypnotist who killed their child in a car crash three months earlier. It is a complicated and powerful work that's as much about Crouch's right to create this sad drama as it is about the drama itself. Young Vic, May 7-24, buy tickets here. 8. The Fifth Step What is it? Provocative writer David Ireland's Alcoholics Anonymous satire debuted at the Edinburgh International Festival last year, giving a striking return-to-the-stage role to its star Jack Lowden. Now it's back for a West End run with Martin Freeman providing some heavyweight backup: he stars as recovering alcoholic James, the deeply flawed sponsor to Lowden's new-to-the-programme Luka. Why go? That's a pretty damn tasty celebrity cast and if you like Ireland's scabrous comedies – or are in the mood for something decided non-PC – then you'll probably have fun. Maybe not one for AA devotees, though. @sohoplace, May 10-Jul 26. 9. The Deep Blue Sea What is it? Terence Rattigan's masterpiece about Hester, a suicidal woman who has left her stultifyingly old-fashioned husband and must now decide if she wants to live or die. Why go? It's a deeply haunting and beautiful play, dealing with themes far darker and sadder than Rattigan's frothy reputation suggests. This Lindsay Posner-directed production transfers from Theatre Royal Bath, where it attracted great notices for Tamsin Greig's performance as Hester. Theatre Royal Haymarket, May 7-Jun 21, buy tickets here. 10. The Comedy About Spies What is it? The hit factory that is Mischief theatre – best known for long-running West End hit The Play That Goes Wrong – pumps out another surefire smash with this '60s-set spy farce. Why go? Mischief are as edgy as sponge, but if you like a good old fashioned English farce with proper jokes, proper laughs and zero smut then get yourself down.
