Donmar Warehouse
Encyclopedia
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre
in the Covent Garden
area of London
, with a capacity of 251.
, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical acclaim at home and abroad.
The theatre has a diverse artistic policy that includes new writing, contemporary reappraisals of European classics, British and American drama and small-scale musical theatre.
Over the last 19 years the theatre has created a reputation associated with artistic excellence: it has showcased the talent of some of the industry’s premier creative artists, and built an unparalleled catalogue of work. As well as presenting at least six productions a year at its home in Covent Garden
, the Donmar presents work nationally and internationally. Every year the Donmar tours one in-house production in the UK.
Donald Albery
formed the Donmar company in 1953, the name reputedly formed from the first three letters of the names Donald Albery and Dame Margot Fonteyn
, the prima ballerina and a friend.
In 1961, Albery bought the site, a space that was once the vat room and hops
warehouse of a brewery
. He adapted it for use as a private drama
studio and rehearsal room for Fonteyn's London Festival Ballet.
In 1977 the Royal Shakespeare Company
acquired it as a theatre and renamed it the Warehouse, converting and equipping at "immense speed". The first show was a transfer of Schweyk in the Second World War, Directed by Howard Davies, transferred from the Other Place
in Stratford and opening on 18 July 1977; the electricity for the theatre was turned on just 30 minutes before curtain up and the concrete steps up to the theatre still wet (Sally Beauman, ibid).
The Warehouse was an RSC workshop as much as a showcase and the seasons were remarkably innovative, including Trevor Nunn
's acclaimed Stratford 1976 Macbeth
, starring Judi Dench
and Ian McKellen
, which opened at the Covent Garden venue in September 1977 before transferring to the Young Vic. The RSC went on to stage numerous acclaimed productions, both original and transfers from The Other Place, Stratford
. In 1980 nearly all the RSC company were involved in Nicholas Nickleby
so a new two hander was found from the pile of submitted scripts. Educating Rita
, with Julie Walters
and Mark Kingston directed by Mike Ockrent
, went on to be one of the RSC's biggest successes.
From 1983-89 it came under the artistic directorship of Nica Burns
.
In 1990 Roger Wingate was responsible for the acquisition of the Donmar Warehouse. He completely rebuilt and re-equipped it in the form it is known today. Prior to its reopening in 1992, Roger Wingate
appointed Sam Mendes
as the theatre’s first Artistic Director. As a board member and theatrical producer, Roger Wingate remains closely involved with the Donmar to the present day.
as artistic director. Mendes quickly transformed the theatre into one of the most exciting venues in the city. His opening production was Stephen Sondheim
's Assassins
which revelled in the show's dark, comic brilliance and rescued it from the critical opprobrium it had suffered on its American opening. He followed this with a series of excellent classic revivals, many of which attracted some of the finest actors and biggest stars of the decade.
Among Mendes's productions were John Kander
and Fred Ebb
's Cabaret
, Tennessee Williams
's The Glass Menagerie
, Stephen Sondheim
's Company
, Alan Bennett
's Habeas Corpus
and his farewell duo of Chekhov
's Uncle Vanya
and Twelfth Night, which transferred to the Brooklyn Academy of Music
.
As artistic director Mendes gave opportunities to many young directors. Matthew Warchus
's production of Sam Shepard
's True West
, Katie Mitchell
's of Beckett
's Endgame
, David Leveaux
's of Sophocles
's Elektra
and Tom Stoppard
's The Real Thing
were amongst the most critically acclaimed of the decade. The Donmar's present artistic director Michael Grandage
directed some of the key productions of the later part of Mendes's tenure, including Peter Nichols
's Passion
and Privates on Parade
and Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along
.
succeeded Sam Mendes
as Artistic Director. Grandage appointed Douglas Hodge
and Jamie Lloyd
as Associate Directors; in 2007 Rob Ashford
succeeded Hodge.
The Donmar Warehouse produces a mixed programme of new plays, revivals and musicals. For its revivals of foreign plays, the company regularly commissions new translations or versions, including Ibsen's The Wild Duck
(David Eldridge
), Racine
's Phaedra
(Frank McGuinness), Dario Fo
's Accidental Death of An Anarchist
(Simon Nye
) and Strindberg
's Creditors (David Greig
).
Its musical productions have included Grand Hotel
and the Stephen Sondheim
works, Pacific Overtures
, Merrily We Roll Along
, Company
, Into the Woods
and the 1992 production of Assassins
that opened Sam Mendes
' tenure as Artistic Director.
Under the umbrella of Warehouse Productions, the theatre sometimes opens shows in the West End. Examples of this include 1999's Suddenly Last Summer and 2005's Guys and Dolls.
Many well-known actors have appeared at the theatre, including Nicole Kidman
(The Blue Room), Gwyneth Paltrow
(Proof), Ian McKellen
(The Cut) and Ewan McGregor
(Othello
).
With only 250 seats, the tickets for Othello starring McGregor were in such demand that Grandage feared it could become "a bad news story". His response was to plan a one-year season at the 750-seat Wyndham's Theatre
, four major new productions presented by Donmar West End. It commenced on 12 September 2008, with Kenneth Branagh
in the title role of Chekhov
's Ivanov, given in a new version by Tom Stoppard
and directed by Grandage. The West End season continued with Derek Jacobi
in Twelfth Night, Judi Dench
in Yukio Mishima
's Madame de Sade
and Jude Law
in Hamlet
, all directed by Grandage.
Following the Donmar West End season, the Donmar held three productions internationally: transfers of Red
, Piaf
and Creditors, to Broadway, Madrid and BAM
respectively. Furthermore, starting from the 30th of September until December, the Donmar will have the first of three year resident spots at Trafalgar Studios 2
, in order to showcase its past Resident Assistant Directors.
In late 2010, the Donmar will lead the UK celebrations to mark Stephen Sondheim
's 80th birthday to recognise his long association with the theatre. It will include a new production of Passion
directed by Jamie Lloyd
.
In February 2011, the Donmar collaborated with the National Theatre Live
programme to broadcast its production of King Lear
, starring Derek Jacobi
, to cinemas around the world. With over 350 screens in 20 countries, this single performance of King Lear was seen by more than 30,000 people.
will take over as Artistic Director of The Donmar Warehouse.
, two South Bank Award and 20 Tony Awards from ten Broadway productions.
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
in the Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
area of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, with a capacity of 251.
About
Under the artistic leadership of Michael GrandageMichael Grandage
Michael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer, and current Artistic Director at the Donmar Warehouse, London. Grandage won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Red.-Early years:...
, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical acclaim at home and abroad.
The theatre has a diverse artistic policy that includes new writing, contemporary reappraisals of European classics, British and American drama and small-scale musical theatre.
Over the last 19 years the theatre has created a reputation associated with artistic excellence: it has showcased the talent of some of the industry’s premier creative artists, and built an unparalleled catalogue of work. As well as presenting at least six productions a year at its home in Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, the Donmar presents work nationally and internationally. Every year the Donmar tours one in-house production in the UK.
History
Theatrical producerTheatrical producer
A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...
Donald Albery
Donald Albery
Sir Donald Arthur Rolleston Albery was an English theatre impressario who did much to translate the adventurous spirit of London in the 1960s into theatrical reality....
formed the Donmar company in 1953, the name reputedly formed from the first three letters of the names Donald Albery and Dame Margot Fonteyn
Margot Fonteyn
Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias, DBE , was an English ballerina of the 20th century. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of all time...
, the prima ballerina and a friend.
In 1961, Albery bought the site, a space that was once the vat room and hops
Hops
Hops are the female flower clusters , of a hop species, Humulus lupulus. They are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer, to which they impart a bitter, tangy flavor, though hops are also used for various purposes in other beverages and herbal medicine...
warehouse of a brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
. He adapted it for use as a private drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
studio and rehearsal room for Fonteyn's London Festival Ballet.
In 1977 the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
acquired it as a theatre and renamed it the Warehouse, converting and equipping at "immense speed". The first show was a transfer of Schweyk in the Second World War, Directed by Howard Davies, transferred from the Other Place
The Other Place (theatre)
The Other Place was a black box theatre on Southern Lane, near to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It was owned and operated by the Royal Shakespeare Company....
in Stratford and opening on 18 July 1977; the electricity for the theatre was turned on just 30 minutes before curtain up and the concrete steps up to the theatre still wet (Sally Beauman, ibid).
The Warehouse was an RSC workshop as much as a showcase and the seasons were remarkably innovative, including Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
's acclaimed Stratford 1976 Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, starring Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
and Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
, which opened at the Covent Garden venue in September 1977 before transferring to the Young Vic. The RSC went on to stage numerous acclaimed productions, both original and transfers from The Other Place, Stratford
The Other Place (theatre)
The Other Place was a black box theatre on Southern Lane, near to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It was owned and operated by the Royal Shakespeare Company....
. In 1980 nearly all the RSC company were involved in Nicholas Nickleby
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (play)
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is an eight-hour stage play, presented over two performances, adapted from the Charles Dickens novel of the same name by David Edgar. Directed by John Caird and Trevor Nunn, it opened on 5 June 1980 at the Aldwych Theatre in London. The music and lyrics...
so a new two hander was found from the pile of submitted scripts. Educating Rita
Educating Rita
Educating Rita is a stage comedy by British playwright Willy Russell. It is a play for two actors set entirely in the office of an Open University lecturer....
, with Julie Walters
Julie Walters
Julie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist. She came to international prominence in 1983 for Educating Rita, performing in the title role opposite Michael Caine. It was a role she had created on the West End stage and it won her BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actress...
and Mark Kingston directed by Mike Ockrent
Mike Ockrent
Mike Ockrent was a British stage director, well-known both for his Broadway musicals and smaller niche plays. He was educated at Highgate School. Through directing Educating Rita and Follies, he became an established figure in London theatre...
, went on to be one of the RSC's biggest successes.
From 1983-89 it came under the artistic directorship of Nica Burns
Nica Burns
Nica Burns is director and producer of the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Awards , the UK's leading live comedy awards, and the joint-owner and Chief Executive of Nimax Theatres Limited since September 2005...
.
In 1990 Roger Wingate was responsible for the acquisition of the Donmar Warehouse. He completely rebuilt and re-equipped it in the form it is known today. Prior to its reopening in 1992, Roger Wingate
Roger Wingate
Roger Christopher Wingate was born 29 November 1940 in Montreal. He returned to the UK with his family in 1942. Educated at Clifton College Bristol and London University he took over the Chairmanship of Chesterfield Properties PLC in the mid 60s which was subsequently sold in 1999.Roger Wingate’s...
appointed Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
as the theatre’s first Artistic Director. As a board member and theatrical producer, Roger Wingate remains closely involved with the Donmar to the present day.
Under Sam Mendes (1992-2002)
The Donmar became an independent producing house in 1992 with Sam MendesSam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
as artistic director. Mendes quickly transformed the theatre into one of the most exciting venues in the city. His opening production was Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's Assassins
Assassins (musical)
Assassins is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman, based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr. It uses the premise of a murderous carnival game to produce a revue-style portrayal of men and women who attempted to assassinate Presidents of the United States...
which revelled in the show's dark, comic brilliance and rescued it from the critical opprobrium it had suffered on its American opening. He followed this with a series of excellent classic revivals, many of which attracted some of the finest actors and biggest stars of the decade.
Among Mendes's productions were John Kander
John Kander
John Harold Kander is the American composer of a number of musicals as part of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb.-Life and career:Kander was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Bernice and Harold S. Kander...
and Fred Ebb
Fred Ebb
Fred Ebb was an American musical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera....
's Cabaret
Cabaret (musical)
Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
, Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
's The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
, Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
, Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett is a British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research mediaeval history at the university for several years...
's Habeas Corpus
Habeas Corpus (play)
Habeas Corpus is a comedy stage play by the English author Alan Bennett. It was first performed at the Lyric Theatre in London on 10 May 1973, with Alec Guinness and Margaret Courtenay in the lead roles....
and his farewell duo of Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
and Twelfth Night, which transferred to the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
.
As artistic director Mendes gave opportunities to many young directors. Matthew Warchus
Matthew Warchus
-Life:Warchus studied music and drama at Bristol University. He has directed for the National Youth Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Donmar Warehouse, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre, Opera North, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Welsh National Opera, English National Opera and in the West...
's production of Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
's True West
True West (play)
True West is a play by American playwright Sam Shepard. Like most of his works it is inspired by myths of American life and popular culture. The play is a more traditional narrative than most of the plays that Shepard has written.-Plot:...
, Katie Mitchell
Katie Mitchell
Katrina Jane Mitchell OBE is an English theatre director. She is an Associate of the Royal National Theatre.-Life and career:Mitchell was raised in Hermitage, Berkshire and educated at Oakham School. Upon leaving Oakham she went up to Magdalen College, Oxford to read English...
's of Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
's Endgame
Endgame (play)
Endgame, by Samuel Beckett, is a one-act play with four characters, written in a style associated with the Theatre of the Absurd. It was originally written in French ; as was his custom, Beckett himself translated it into English. The play was first performed in a French-language production at the...
, David Leveaux
David Leveaux
David Leveaux is a British theatre director who has been nominated for five Tony Awards as director of both plays and musicals...
's of Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
's Elektra
Electra (Sophocles)
Electra or Elektra is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Its date is not known, but various stylistic similarities with the Philoctetes and the Oedipus at Colonus lead scholars to suppose that it was written towards the end of Sophocles' career.Set in the city of Argos a few years after the Trojan...
and Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
's The Real Thing
The Real Thing (play)
The Real Thing is a play by Tom Stoppard, first performed in 1982. It examines the nature of honesty, and its use of a play within a play is one of many levels on which the author teases the audience with the difference between semblance and reality....
were amongst the most critically acclaimed of the decade. The Donmar's present artistic director Michael Grandage
Michael Grandage
Michael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer, and current Artistic Director at the Donmar Warehouse, London. Grandage won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Red.-Early years:...
directed some of the key productions of the later part of Mendes's tenure, including Peter Nichols
Peter Nichols
Peter Nichols FRSL is an English writer of stage plays, film and television.Born in Bristol, England, he was educated at Bristol Grammar School, and served his compulsory National Service as a clerk in Calcutta and later in the Combined Services Entertainments Unit in Singapore where he...
's Passion
Passion (play)
Passion Play is a 1981 play by British playwright Peter Nichols dealing with adultery and betrayal. It was originally intended to open the Royal Shakespeare Company's new Barbican Theatre but was produced by them at the London's Aldwych Theatre in 1981...
and Privates on Parade
Privates on Parade
Privates on Parade: A Play with Songs in Two Acts is a 1977 farce by English playwright Peter Nichols , with music by Denis King.-Plot:...
and Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along
Merrily We Roll Along (musical)
Merrily We Roll Along is a musical with a book by George Furth and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart....
.
Under Michael Grandage (2002-2011)
In 2002 Michael GrandageMichael Grandage
Michael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer, and current Artistic Director at the Donmar Warehouse, London. Grandage won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Red.-Early years:...
succeeded Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
as Artistic Director. Grandage appointed Douglas Hodge
Douglas Hodge
Douglas Hodge is an English actor, director, and musician who trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.Hodge is a council member of the National Youth Theatre for whom, in 1989, he co-wrote Pacha Mama's Blessing about the Amazon rain forests staged at the Almeida...
and Jamie Lloyd
Jamie Lloyd (director)
Jamie Lloyd is a British theatre director, and currently an Associate Director of the Donmar Warehouse, where he recently directed The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Passion, which won the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical and Piaf starring Elena Roger...
as Associate Directors; in 2007 Rob Ashford
Rob Ashford
Rob Ashford is an American choreographer and director. He is a seven-time Tony Award nominee , five-time Olivier Award nominee, Emmy Award winner, Drama Desk winner, and Outer Critics Circle Award winner.-Biography:...
succeeded Hodge.
The Donmar Warehouse produces a mixed programme of new plays, revivals and musicals. For its revivals of foreign plays, the company regularly commissions new translations or versions, including Ibsen's The Wild Duck
The Wild Duck
The Wild Duck is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.-Plot:The first act opens with a dinner party hosted by Håkon Werle, a wealthy merchant and industrialist. The gathering is attended by his son, Gregers Werle, who has just returned to his father's home following a self-imposed...
(David Eldridge
David Eldridge
David Eldridge is the earliest known person of European descent to die in the Western Reserve, and the first person to be buried in the newly-created city of Cleveland...
), Racine
Jean Racine
Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
's Phaedra
Phèdre
Phèdre is a dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Jean Racine, first performed in 1677.-Composition and premiere:...
(Frank McGuinness), Dario Fo
Dario Fo
Dario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor and composer. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes. He currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress...
's Accidental Death of An Anarchist
Accidental Death of an Anarchist
Accidental Death of an Anarchist is perhaps the best-known play by the Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo.- About the play :...
(Simon Nye
Simon Nye
Simon Nye is an English comic television writer, best known for creating the hit sitcom Men Behaving Badly, writing all of the four ITV Panto, co-writing the 2006 film Flushed Away, co-writing Reggie Perrin and creating the latest adaption of William Brown in the Just William CBBC...
) and Strindberg
Strindberg
Strindberg may refer to:People* August Strindberg , Swedish dramatist and painter* Nils Strindberg , Swedish photographer* Anita Strindberg , Swedish actor* Henrik Strindberg , Swedish composerOther...
's Creditors (David Greig
David Greig (dramatist)
David Greig is a Scottish playwright and theatre director.Greig was born in Edinburgh in 1969 and was brought up in Nigeria. He studied drama at Bristol University. He has been commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company amongst others.His...
).
Its musical productions have included Grand Hotel
Grand Hotel (musical)
Grand Hotel is a musical with a book by Luther Davis and music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, with additional lyrics and music by Maury Yeston....
and the Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
works, Pacific Overtures
Pacific Overtures
Pacific Overtures is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is set in 1853 Japan and follows the difficult Westernization of Japan, through the lives of two friends caught in the change...
, Merrily We Roll Along
Merrily We Roll Along (musical)
Merrily We Roll Along is a musical with a book by George Furth and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart....
, Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
, Into the Woods
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
and the 1992 production of Assassins
Assassins (musical)
Assassins is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman, based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr. It uses the premise of a murderous carnival game to produce a revue-style portrayal of men and women who attempted to assassinate Presidents of the United States...
that opened Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
' tenure as Artistic Director.
Under the umbrella of Warehouse Productions, the theatre sometimes opens shows in the West End. Examples of this include 1999's Suddenly Last Summer and 2005's Guys and Dolls.
Many well-known actors have appeared at the theatre, including Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
(The Blue Room), Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
(Proof), Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
(The Cut) and Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
(Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
).
With only 250 seats, the tickets for Othello starring McGregor were in such demand that Grandage feared it could become "a bad news story". His response was to plan a one-year season at the 750-seat Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham . Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916...
, four major new productions presented by Donmar West End. It commenced on 12 September 2008, with Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
in the title role of Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's Ivanov, given in a new version by Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
and directed by Grandage. The West End season continued with Derek Jacobi
Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
in Twelfth Night, Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
in Yukio Mishima
Yukio Mishima
was the pen name of , a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director, also remembered for his ritual suicide by seppuku after a failed coup d'état...
's Madame de Sade
Madame de Sade
Madame de Sade is a 1965 play written by Yukio Mishima. It was first published in English, translated by Donald Keene by Grove Press and is currently out of print....
and Jude Law
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
in Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, all directed by Grandage.
Following the Donmar West End season, the Donmar held three productions internationally: transfers of Red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
, Piaf
Piaf
Piaf is a French word:* Édith Piaf* Musée Édith Piaf* Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, à Paris: Martha Wainwright's Piaf Record* Piaf * 3772 Piaf , a main-belt asteroid discovered on 1982 by L. G. Karachkina...
and Creditors, to Broadway, Madrid and BAM
Bam
Bam is commonly used as an onomatopoeia for a sound, mostly that of an impact or collision.Bam or BAM may also refer to:Places:*Bam, Iran, a city*Bam County, an administrative subdivision of Iran*Bam Province, Burkina Faso...
respectively. Furthermore, starting from the 30th of September until December, the Donmar will have the first of three year resident spots at Trafalgar Studios 2
Trafalgar Studios
Trafalgar Studios, formerly The Whitehall Theatre until 2004, is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London....
, in order to showcase its past Resident Assistant Directors.
In late 2010, the Donmar will lead the UK celebrations to mark Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's 80th birthday to recognise his long association with the theatre. It will include a new production of Passion
Passion (musical)
Passion is a musical adapted from Ettore Scola's film Passione d'Amore . The book is by James Lapine, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Central subjects include obsession, beauty, power, manipulation, passion, illness, and love...
directed by Jamie Lloyd
Jamie Lloyd (director)
Jamie Lloyd is a British theatre director, and currently an Associate Director of the Donmar Warehouse, where he recently directed The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Passion, which won the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical and Piaf starring Elena Roger...
.
In February 2011, the Donmar collaborated with the National Theatre Live
National Theatre Live
National Theatre Live is an initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London, which broadcasts live via satellite, performances of their productions to movie theaters, cinemas and arts centres around the world.-About:...
programme to broadcast its production of King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
, starring Derek Jacobi
Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
, to cinemas around the world. With over 350 screens in 20 countries, this single performance of King Lear was seen by more than 30,000 people.
Under Josie Rourke (2012-onwards)
In March 2011, it was announced - from 1st January 2012 - Josie RourkeJosie Rourke
Josie Rourke is a British theatre director.She attended St Patricks RC High School in Eccles, Salford and her first notable work was as assistant director to Peter Gill in his premiere of The York Realist in 2002...
will take over as Artistic Director of The Donmar Warehouse.
Productions
- Huis Clos (Donmar Trafalgar; 5 - 28 January 2012)
- Dublin CarolDublin CarolDublin Carol is a three-handed play by Conor McPherson-Story:John, a middle-aged employee of a funeral home in Dublin, returns from a funeral on Christmas Eve with Mark, a 20-year-old who has helped out that day and to whom John tells his sad history about how he has destroyed much of his life and...
(Donmar Trafalgar; 8 - 31 December 2011) - Richard IIRichard II (play)King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
(1 December 2011 - 4 February 2012) - Salt, Root & Roe (Donmar Trafalgar; 10 November - 3 December 2011)
- Inadmissible EvidenceInadmissible EvidenceInadmissible Evidence is a play written by John Osborne in November 1964. It was also filmed in 1968.The protagonist of the play is William Maitland, a middle-aged English solicitor who has come to hate his entire life. Much of the play consists of lengthy monologues in which Maitland tells the...
(13 October - 26 November 2011) - Anna ChristieAnna ChristieAnna Christie is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his work.-Plot summary:...
(4 August - 8 October 2011) - Luise Miller (8 June - 30 July 2011)
- MoonlightMoonlight (play)Moonlight is a play written by Harold Pinter, which premiered at the Almeida Theatre, in London, in September 1993.-Setting:THREE MAIN PLAYING AREAS:rehashes his youth, loves, lusts, and betrayals with his wife, [Bel], while simultaneously his two sons [Fred and Jake] — clinical, conspiratorial,...
(7 April - 28 May 2011) - The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling BeeThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling BeeThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a one act musical comedy conceived by Rebecca Feldman with music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley...
(11 February - 2 April 2011) - King LearKing LearKing Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
(3 December 2010 - 5 February 2011) - Les Parents TerriblesLes parents terriblesLes Parents terribles is a 1938 French play written by Jean Cocteau. Despite initial problems with censorship, it was revived on the French stage several times after its original production, and in 1948 a film adaptation directed by Cocteau himself was released...
(Donmar Trafalgar; 25 November - 18 December 2010) - NovecentoThe Legend of 1900The Legend of 1900 is a 1998 film directed by the Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore, starring Tim Roth. This is Tornatore's first English-language film. The film is inspired by a theater monologue, Novecento, by Alessandro Baricco...
(Donmar Trafalgar; 28 October - 20 November 2010) - Lower Ninth (Donmar Trafalgar; 30 September - 23 October 2010)
- PassionPassion (musical)Passion is a musical adapted from Ettore Scola's film Passione d'Amore . The book is by James Lapine, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Central subjects include obsession, beauty, power, manipulation, passion, illness, and love...
(10 September - 27 November 2010) - The Prince of HomburgThe Prince of Homburg (play)The Prince of Homburg is a play by Heinrich von Kleist written in 1809-10, but not performed until 1821, after the author's death. A performance during his lifetime was not possible because Princess Marianne of Prussia , by birth a member of the Hesse-Homburg family, to whom Kleist had given sight...
(22 July - 4 September 2010) - The Late Middle Classes (27 May - 17 July 2010)
- Polar BearsPolar Bears (play)Polar Bears is a play by British writer Mark Haddon first produced by the Donmar Warehouse in London. Following previews from 1 April 2010, the play opened on 6 April 2010 where it ran until 22 May...
(1 April - 22 May 2010) - Serenading LouieSerenading Louie-Production History:A 1976 Off-Broadway production played at the Circle Repertory Company from May 2 to May 30 1976. Marshall W. Mason won an Obie Award for his direction. The cast consisted of Tanya Berezin as Mary, Trish Hawkins as Gabrielle, Edward J. Moore as Carl and Michael Storm as Alex...
(11 February – 27 March 2010) - RedRed (play)Red is a play by American writer John Logan about artist Mark Rothko first produced by the Donmar Warehouse, London in December 2009. The original production was directed by Michael Grandage and performed by Alfred Molina as Rothko and Eddie Redmayne as his assistant Ken.The production, with its...
(3 December 2009 – 6 February 2010) - Life is a Dream (8 October – 28 November 2009)
- A Streetcar Named DesireA Streetcar Named Desire (play)A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
(23 July 2009 – October 3, 2009) - HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
(Donmar West End; 29 May 2009 – 22 August 2009) - A Doll's HouseA Doll's HouseA Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premièred at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month....
(14 May – 18 July 2009) - Madame de SadeMadame de SadeMadame de Sade is a 1965 play written by Yukio Mishima. It was first published in English, translated by Donald Keene by Grove Press and is currently out of print....
(Donmar West End; 23 March 2009 – 23 May 2009) - Dimetos (19 March - 9 May 2009)
- Be Near MeAndrew O'HaganAndrew O'Hagan, FRSL is a Scottish novelist and non-fiction author. He is also an Editor at Large of Esquire and is currently a creative writing fellow at King's College London. He was selected by for inclusion in their 2003 list of the top 20 young British novelists. His novels appear...
(22 January - 14 March 2009) - Twelfth Night (Donmar West End; 5 December 2008 – 7 March 2009)
- The Family ReunionThe Family ReunionThe Family Reunion is a play by T. S. Eliot. Written mostly in blank verse, it incorporates elements from Greek drama and mid-twentieth-century detective plays to portray the hero's journey from guilt to redemption. The play was unsuccessful when first presented in 1939, and was later regarded as...
(20 November 2008 – 17 Jan 2009) - Creditors (25 September – 15 November 2008)
- Ivanov (Donmar West End; 12 September – 29 November 2008)
- PiafPiaf (play)Piaf is a play by Pam Gems that focuses on the life and career of French chanteuse Edith Piaf. The biographical drama with music portrays the singer in a most unflattering light...
(8 August - 20 September 2008) - The Chalk GardenThe Chalk GardenThe Chalk Garden is a play by Enid Bagnold that premiered on Broadway in 1955. The play tells the story of Mrs. St Maugham and her granddaughter Laurel, a disturbed child under Miss Madrigal's care. The setting of the play was inspired by Bagnold's own garden at North End House in Rottingdean, near...
(5 June – 2 August 2008) - Small Change (10 April - 31 May 2008)
- The Man Who Had All the LuckThe Man Who Had All the LuckThe Man Who Had All the Luck is a play by Arthur Miller.David Beeves is a young Midwestern automobile mechanic who discovers he is blessed with what appears to be almost supernatural good fortune that allows him to overcome every seemingly insurmountable obstacle that crosses his path while those...
(28 February - 5 April 2008) - OthelloOthelloThe Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
(4 December 2007 – 23 February 2008) - ParadeParade (musical)Parade is a musical with a book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The musical was first produced on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on December 17, 1998. The production was directed by Harold Prince and closed 28 February 1999 after only 39 previews and 84 regular...
(14 September – 24 November 2007) - Absurdia (26 July – 8 September 2007)
- BetrayalBetrayal (play)Betrayal is a play written by Harold Pinter in 1978. Critically regarded as one of the English playwright's major dramatic works, it features his characteristically economical dialogue, characters' hidden emotions and veiled motivations, and their self-absorbed competitive one-upmanship,...
(31 May – 21 July 2007) - Kiss of the Spider WomanKiss of the Spider Woman (play)The 1983 stage play Kiss of the Spider Woman is an adaptation of Manuel Puig's same title novel by the author himself.Novelist, screenwriter and playwright Manuel Puig wrote two plays while living in exile...
(19 April – 26 May 2007) - John Gabriel BorkmanJohn Gabriel BorkmanJohn Gabriel Borkman is the penultimate composition of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, written in 1896.-Plot:The Borkman family fortunes have been brought low by the imprisonment of John Gabriel who used his position as a bank manager to illegally speculate with his investors' money...
(15 February – 14 April 2007) - Don Juan in SohoDon Juan in SohoDon Juan in Soho is a play by the British playwright Patrick Marber after Molière .Directed by Michael Grandage, it premiered at the Donmar Warehouse theatre in London on 6 December 2006, running until 10 February 2007,...
(30 November 2006 – 10 February 2007) - The CryptogramThe CryptogramThe Cryptogram is a 1995 play by American playwright David Mamet. The play concerns the moment when childhood is lost. The story is set in 1959 on the night before a young boy is to go on a camping trip with his father....
(12 October – 25 November 2006) - Frost/Nixon (10 August – 7 October 2006)
- A Voyage Round My FatherA Voyage Round My FatherA Voyage Round My Father is an autobiographical play by John Mortimer, later adapted for television.The first version of the play appeared as a series of three half-hour sketches for BBC radio in 1963. It then became a television play with Ian Richardson playing Mortimer, Tim Good as the young...
(8 June – 5 August 2006) - PhèdrePhèdrePhèdre is a dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Jean Racine, first performed in 1677.-Composition and premiere:...
(6 April – 3 June 2006) - The CutThe Cut (play)The Cut is a 2006 theatre play by Mark Ravenhill. It is a dystopia that relates the life of Paul, a practitioner of a mysterious operation who is greatly disturbed by its practice...
(23 February – 1 April 2006) - The Wild DuckThe Wild DuckThe Wild Duck is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.-Plot:The first act opens with a dinner party hosted by Håkon Werle, a wealthy merchant and industrialist. The gathering is attended by his son, Gregers Werle, who has just returned to his father's home following a self-imposed...
(8 December 2005 – 18 February 2006) - The God of HellThe God of HellThe God of Hell is a play by American playwright Sam Shepard. The play was written in part as a response to the events of September 11, 2001, and has been described by Shepard as "a take-off on Republican fascism." The plot concerns Wisconsin dairy farmer Frank and his wife Emma, and how their...
(20 October – 2 December 2005) - The PhilanthropistThe PhilanthropistThe Philanthropist is a quarterly academic journal devoted to the legal, management and accounting issues facing charitable and not-for-profit organizations in Canada. It was founded as an occasional publication of the Trusts and Estates Section of the Canadian Bar Association - Ontario in...
(8 September – 15 October 2005) - Mary Stuart (14 July – 3 September 2005)
- This Is How It GoesThis Is How It GoesThis Is How It Goes is a 2005 play by Neil LaBute set in small town America, about the repercussions of an interracial love triangle.High school sweethearts — the star of the high school track team and a cheerleader — marry. He becomes a successful businessman; she's a stay-at-home mom...
(26 May – 9 July 2005) - Guys and Dolls (West End; 20 May 2005 – 6 December 2007)
- The Cosmonaut's Last Message…The Cosmonaut's Last Message To The Woman He Once Loved In The Former Soviet UnionThe Cosmonaut's Last Message To The Woman He Once Loved In The Former Soviet Union is a 2005 play by David Greig set during the collapse of the Soviet Union.-External links:...
(7 April – 21 May 2005) - Days of Wine and Roses (17 February – 2 April 2005)
- Grand HotelGrand Hotel (musical)Grand Hotel is a musical with a book by Luther Davis and music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, with additional lyrics and music by Maury Yeston....
(19 November 2004 – 12 February 2005) - HecubaHecuba (play)Hecuba is a tragedy by Euripides written c. 424 BC. It takes place after the Trojan War, but before the Greeks have departed Troy . The central figure is Hecuba, wife of King Priam, formerly Queen of the now-fallen city...
(9 September – 12 November 2004) - Old TimesOld TimesOld Times is a play by the Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London on June 1, 1971. It starred Colin Blakely, Dorothy Tutin, and Vivien Merchant, and was directed by Peter Hall...
(1 July – 4 September 2004) - Pirandello's Henry IVEnrico IVHenry IV is a play by Luigi Pirandello. A study on madness with comic and tragic sides, it has been translated into English by Tom Stoppard and others...
(29 April – 26 June 2004) - Dark (18 March – 24 April 2004)
- World MusicWorld musicWorld music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
(12 February – 13 March 2004) - After Miss JulieAfter Miss JulieAfter Miss Julie is a play which relocates August Strindberg's naturalist tragedy, Miss Julie , to an English country house in July 1945...
(20 November 2003 – 7 February 2004) - Hotel in Amsterdam (11 September – 15 November 2003)
- Pacific OverturesPacific OverturesPacific Overtures is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is set in 1853 Japan and follows the difficult Westernization of Japan, through the lives of two friends caught in the change...
(20 June – 6 September 2003) - CaligulaCaligula (play)Caligula is a play written by Albert Camus, begun in 1938 and published for the first time in May 1944 by Éditions Gallimard. The play was later the subject of numerous revisions. It was part of what the author called the "Cycle of the Absurd", with the novel The Outsider and the essay The Myth...
(24 April – 14 June 2003) - Accidental Death of an AnarchistAccidental Death of an AnarchistAccidental Death of an Anarchist is perhaps the best-known play by the Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo.- About the play :...
(20 February – 18 April 2003) - The VortexThe VortexThe Vortex is a play by the English writer and actor Noël Coward. The story focuses on sexual vanity and drug abuse among the upper classes. The play was Coward's first great commercial success....
(5 December 2002 – 15 February 2003) - Twelfth Night (11 October - 30 November 2002)
- Uncle VanyaUncle VanyaUncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
(6 September - 20 November 2002) - Divas at the Donmar with Janie DeeJanie DeeJanie Dee is an English actress and singer.She is married to the actor Rupert Wickham.-Theatre:Dee is presently part of the Globe Theatre 2011 season playing The Countess of Roussillion in Shakespeare's "All's Well that Ends Well" and in October she goes to Nottingham Playhouse to play Amanda in ...
, Ruby TurnerRuby TurnerRuby Turner is a British R&B and soul singer, songwriter and actress. In 1967, she relocated with her family to Handsworth, Birmingham, England when she was nine years old...
, Philip QuastPhilip QuastPhilip Quast is an Australian actor perhaps best known for his role as Inspector Javert in the stage musical version of Les Misérables, or for appearances in numerous Australian soap operas including Sons and Daughters, The Young Doctors and Police Rescue.-Personal life:Quast was born in 1957 in...
and Kristen Chenoweth (5 - 31 August 2002) - Take Me Out (20 June - 3 August 2002)
- ProofProof (play)Proof is a play by David Auburn originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club on 23 May 2000. It then went to Broadway on 24 October 2000 at the Walter Kerr Theatre, and was directed by Daniel J. Sullivan, with Mary-Louise Parker as Catherine, Larry Bryggman as Robert, Ben Shenkman as Hal, and...
(9 May - 15 June 2002) - Lobby HeroLobby Hero-Production history:Lobby Hero was first performed at the Playwrights Horizons, on March 13, 2001. The cast was as follows:*Jeff - Glenn Fitzgerald*William - Dion Graham*Dawn - Heather Burns*Bill - Tate Donovan*Directed by Mark Brokaw...
(10 April – 4 May 2002) - Frame 312 (11 - 30 March 2002)
- Jesus Hopped the 'A' TrainJesus Hopped the 'A' TrainJesus Hopped The 'A' Train is a theatrical production created by Stephen Adly Guirgis.-Plot synopsis:The play takes place in a prison setting, portraying two men who face murder charges.-Productions:...
(6 - 30 March 2002) - Privates on ParadePrivates on ParadePrivates on Parade: A Play with Songs in Two Acts is a 1977 farce by English playwright Peter Nichols , with music by Denis King.-Plot:...
(30 November 2001 - 2 March 2002) - The Little FoxesThe Little FoxesThe Little Foxes is a 1939 play by Lillian Hellman. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15 in the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, which reads, "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes." Set in a small town in Alabama in...
(4 October - 24 November 2001)
- Divas at the Donmar with Clive RoweClive RoweClive Rowe is a British actor, probably best known for his role as "Duke" in BBC Children's drama The Story of Tracy Beaker. Rowe grew up in Shaw, Lancashire, in the parish of East Crompton and attended St. James Primary School...
, Siân PhillipsSiân PhillipsJane Elizabeth Ailwên "Siân" Phillips, CBE, is a Welsh actress.-Early life:Phillips was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, the daughter of Sally , a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman...
and Michael BallMichael Ball (singer)Michael Ashley Ball, born 27 June 1962) is a British actor, singer, and radio and TV presenter who is best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Edna Turnblad...
(3 - 29 September 2001) - A Lie of the MindA Lie of the MindA Lie of the Mind is a play written by Sam Shepard, first staged at the off-Broadway Promenade Theater on 5 December 1985. The play was directed by Shepard himself with stars Harvey Keitel as Jake, Amanda Plummer as Beth, Aidan Quinn as Frankie, Geraldine Page as Lorraine, and Will Patton as Mike...
(28 June - 1 September 2001) - Tales from Hollywood (19 April - 23 June 2001)
- Boston MarriageBoston Marriage (play)Boston Marriage is a 1999 play by American playwright David Mamet. The play concerns two women at the turn of the 20th century who are in a "Boston marriage," a relationship between two females that may involve both physical and emotional intimacy...
(8 March - 14 April 2001) - Merrily We Roll AlongMerrily We Roll Along (musical)Merrily We Roll Along is a musical with a book by George Furth and lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim. It is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart....
(1 December 2000 - 3 March 2001) - To the Green Fields BeyondTo the Green Fields Beyond (play)To the Green Fields Beyond is a 2000 play by Nick Whitby, dealing with the experiences of a tank crew in 1916 during the First World War. It takes its title from the unofficial motto of the Royal Tank Regiment From Mud, through Blood, to the Green Fields Beyond...
(14 September - 25 November 2000) - Divas at the Donmar with Betty BuckleyBetty BuckleyBetty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
and Clive RoweClive RoweClive Rowe is a British actor, probably best known for his role as "Duke" in BBC Children's drama The Story of Tracy Beaker. Rowe grew up in Shaw, Lancashire, in the parish of East Crompton and attended St. James Primary School...
(21 August - 9 September 2000) - Orpheus DescendingOrpheus DescendingOrpheus Descending is a play by Tennessee Williams. It was first presented on Broadway in 1957 where it enjoyed a brief run with only modest success. The play is basically a rewrite of an earlier play by Williams called Battle of Angels, which was written in 1940, but had been closed on its opening...
(15 June - 12 August 2000) - Passion PlayPassion (play)Passion Play is a 1981 play by British playwright Peter Nichols dealing with adultery and betrayal. It was originally intended to open the Royal Shakespeare Company's new Barbican Theatre but was produced by them at the London's Aldwych Theatre in 1981...
(13 April - 10 June 2000) - Helpless (2 March - 8 April 2000)
- American BuffaloAmerican Buffalo (play)American Buffalo is a 1975 play by American playwright David Mamet which had its premiere in a showcase production at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago. After two more showcase productions, it opened on Broadway on February 16, 1977...
(28 January - 26 February 2000) - Three Days of RainThree Days of RainThree Days of Rain is a play by Richard Greenberg that was commissioned and produced by South Coast Repertory in 1997. The title comes from a line from W. S. Merwin's poem, "For the Anniversary of My Death"...
(9 November - 22 December 1999 & 5 - 22 January 2000) - Juno and the PaycockJuno and the PaycockJuno and the Paycock is a play by Sean O'Casey, and one of the most highly regarded and oft-performed plays in Ireland. It was first staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1924...
(9 September - 6 November 1999) - AntigoneAntigone (Sophocles)Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written in or before 442 BC. Chronologically, it is the third of the three Theban plays but was written first...
(Tour: 6 - 25 September 1999, West End: 27 September - 18 December 1999) - Divas at the Donmar with Patti LuPonePatti LuPonePatti Ann LuPone is an American singer and actress, known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical Evita and as Madame Rose in the 2008 Broadway revival of Gypsy, and for her Olivier Award-winning performance as Fantine in the original London cast of Les...
, Audra McDonaldAudra McDonaldAudra Ann McDonald is an American actress and singer. She currently stars in the ABC television drama Private Practice as Dr. Naomi Bennett. She has appeared on the stage in both musicals and dramas, such as Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun...
and Sam Brown (9 August - 4 September 1999) - The Real ThingThe Real Thing (play)The Real Thing is a play by Tom Stoppard, first performed in 1982. It examines the nature of honesty, and its use of a play within a play is one of many levels on which the author teases the audience with the difference between semblance and reality....
(27 May - 7 August 1999) - Good (18 March - 22 May 1999)
- Suddenly, Last SummerSuddenly, Last SummerSuddenly, Last Summer is a one-act play by Tennessee Williams. It opened off Broadway on January 7, 1958, as part of a double bill with another of Williams's one-acts, Something Unspoken. The presentation of the two plays was given the overall title Garden District, but Suddenly, Last Summer is...
(Tour: 3 March - 3 April 1999, West End: 8 April - 17 July 1999) - Three Days of RainThree Days of RainThree Days of Rain is a play by Richard Greenberg that was commissioned and produced by South Coast Repertory in 1997. The title comes from a line from W. S. Merwin's poem, "For the Anniversary of My Death"...
(1 - 13 March 1999) - Morphic Resonance (17 - 27 February 1999)
- Splash Hatch on the E Going Down (16 - 27 February 1999)
- Into the WoodsInto the WoodsInto the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
(6 November 1998 - 13 February 1999) - The Blue Room (10 September - 31 October 1998)
- Divas at the Donmar with Ann Hampton CallawayAnn Hampton CallawayAnn Hampton Callaway is a multiplatinum-selling singer, composer, lyricist, pianist, and actress. She is best known for writing and singing the theme to the TV series The Nanny, writing songs for Barbra Streisand and starring in the Broadway musical Swing!.-Career:Callaway was described by the New...
& Liz CallawayLiz CallawayLiz Callaway is an American actress and singer, famous for providing the singing voices of many female characters in films, such as Anya in Anastasia, Odette in The Swan Princess, and Kiara in The Lion King II:Simba's Pride....
, Barbara CookBarbara CookBarbara Cook is an American singer and actress who first came to prominence in the 1950s after starring in the original Broadway musicals Candide and The Music Man among others, winning a Tony Award for the latter...
and Imelda StauntonImelda StauntonImelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, OBE is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the British comedy television series Up the Garden Path, the Harry Potter film series and Vera Drake...
(10 August - 5 September 1998) - How I Learned to DriveHow I Learned To DriveHow I Learned to Drive is a play written by American playwright Paula Vogel. The play premiered on March 16, 1997 off-broadway at the Vineyard Theatre...
(18 June - 8 August 1998) - A Kind of AlaskaA Kind of AlaskaA Kind of Alaska is a one-act play written in 1982 by Harold Pinter , the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature.-Summary:A middle-aged woman named Deborah, who has been in a comatose state for thirty years as a result of contracting sleeping sickness, awakes with a mind still that of a sixteen-year-old...
and The LoverThe Lover (play)The Lover is a 1962 one-act play by Harold Pinter. Pinter leads the audience to believe that there are three characters in the play: the wife, the husband and the lover. But the lover who comes to call in the afternoons is revealed to be the husband adopting a role. He plays the lover for her: she...
& The CollectionThe Collection (play)The Collection is a 1961 play by Harold Pinter featuring two couples, James and Stella and Harry and Bill. It is a comedy laced with typically "Pinteresque" ambiguity and "implications of threat and strong feeling produced through colloquial language, apparent triviality, and long pauses"...
(7 May - 13 June 1998) - The Bullet (2 April - 2 May 1998)
- The Real Inspector HoundThe Real Inspector HoundThe Real Inspector Hound is a short, one-act play by Tom Stoppard. The plot follows two theatre critics named Moon and Birdboot who are watching a ludicrous setup of a country house murder mystery, in the style of a whodunit...
/Black ComedyBlack ComedyBlack Comedy is a one-act farce by Peter Shaffer, first performed in 1965.The play is written to be staged under a reversed lighting scheme: the play opens on a darkened stage...
(Tour: 25 March - 11 April 1998, West End: 16 April - 31 October 1998, Tour: 18 August - 23 October 1999) - Sleeping Around (23 - 28 March 1998)
- Timeless (17 - 21 March 1998)
- Tell Me (9 - 14 March 1998)
- In a Little World of our Own (3 - 7 March 1998)
- The Front PageThe Front PageThe Front Page is a hit Broadway comedy about tabloid newspaper reporters on the police beat, written by one-time Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur which was first produced in 1928.-Synopsis:...
(10 December 1997 - 28 February 1998) - ElectraElectra (Sophocles)Electra or Elektra is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Its date is not known, but various stylistic similarities with the Philoctetes and the Oedipus at Colonus lead scholars to suppose that it was written towards the end of Sophocles' career.Set in the city of Argos a few years after the Trojan...
(21 October - 6 December 1997) - Enter the Guardsman (11 September - 18 October 1997)
- The SeagullThe SeagullThe Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
(12 August - 6 September 1997) - The MaidsThe MaidsThe Maids is a play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. It was first performed at the Théâtre de l'Athénée in Paris in a production that opened on 17 April 1947, which Louis Jouvet directed...
(19 June - 9 August 1997) - The FixThe Fix (musical)The Fix is a musical with book and lyrics by John Dempsey and music by Dana P. Rowe. It concerns the career of a fictional U.S. politician who gets mixed up with the Mafia.It premiered at London's Donmar Warehouse in 1997.-Production history:...
(26 April - 14 June 1997) - Halloween Night (8 - 19 April 1997)
- Summer Begins (25 March - 5 April 1997)
- Badfinger (11 - 22 March 1997)
- NineNine (musical)Nine is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. The story is based on Federico Fellini's semi-autobiographical film 8½...
(6 December 1996 - 8 March 1997) - Fool for LoveFool for Love (play)Fool for Love is a play written by American playwright/actor Sam Shepard.-Plot:The "fools" in the play are battling lovers at a Mojave Desert motel. May is hiding out at said motel when an old childhood friend and old flame, Eddie. Eddie tries to convince May to come back home with him and live in...
(3 October - 30 November 1996) - Pentecost (3 - 28 September 1996)
- Hedda GablerHedda GablerHedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
(30 July - 31 August 1996) - Habeas CorpusHabeas Corpus (play)Habeas Corpus is a comedy stage play by the English author Alan Bennett. It was first performed at the Lyric Theatre in London on 10 May 1973, with Alec Guinness and Margaret Courtenay in the lead roles....
(30 May - 27 July 1996) - EndgameEndgame (play)Endgame, by Samuel Beckett, is a one-act play with four characters, written in a style associated with the Theatre of the Absurd. It was originally written in French ; as was his custom, Beckett himself translated it into English. The play was first performed in a French-language production at the...
(11 April - 25 May 1996) - Bondagers (27 March - 6 April 1996)
- Song from a Forgotten City (18 - 23 March 1996)
- Buddleia (12 - 16 March 1996)
- The King of Prussia (4 - 9 March 1996)
- CompanyCompany (musical)Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
(1 December 1995 - 2 March 1996) - Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club (7 - 25 November 1995)
- The Glass MenagerieThe Glass MenagerieThe Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
(7 September - 5 November 1995) - Insignificance (1 June - 6 August 1995)
- Our Boys (11 April - 13 May 1995)
- Highland FlingNew AdventuresNew Adventures is a British dance company, specialising in contemporary dance. Founded by the choreographer Matthew Bourne in 2002, the company developed from an earlier company Adventures in Motion Pictures, which was later dissolved....
(21 March - 8 April 1995) - The Threepenny OperaThe Threepenny OperaThe Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
(8 December 1994 - 18 March 1995) - True WestTrue West (play)True West is a play by American playwright Sam Shepard. Like most of his works it is inspired by myths of American life and popular culture. The play is a more traditional narrative than most of the plays that Shepard has written.-Plot:...
(9 November - 3 December 1994) - Design for LivingDesign for LivingDesign for Living is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Coward, it was premiered on Broadway, partly because its risqué...
(1 September - 5 November 1994) - Glengarry Glen RossGlengarry Glen RossGlengarry Glen Ross is a 1984 play written by David Mamet. The play shows parts of two days in the lives of four desperate Chicago real estate agents who are prepared to engage in any number of unethical, illegal acts—from lies and flattery to bribery, threats, intimidation and burglary—to sell...
(16 June - 27 August 1994) - Maria Friedman by Special Arrangement by Further ArrangementMaria FriedmanMaria Friedman is an English actress working in television, musical theatre, and concerts. She has won three Olivier Awards for her stage work.-Early years:...
(23 May - 11 June 1994) - Beautiful ThingBeautiful ThingOriginally Beautiful Thing is a play written by Jonathan Harvey and first performed in 1993. A screen adaptation of the play was released in 1996 by Channel 4 Films, with a revised screenplay also by Harvey. Initially, the film was only intended for television broadcast but it was so well-received...
(29 March - 23 April 1994) - Maria Friedman by Special ArrangementMaria FriedmanMaria Friedman is an English actress working in television, musical theatre, and concerts. She has won three Olivier Awards for her stage work.-Early years:...
(20, 27 February and 6 March 1994) - Half Time (4, 5, 11 and 12 February 1994)
- CabaretCabaret (musical)Cabaret is a musical based on a book written by Christopher Isherwood, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
(2 December 1993 - 26 March 1994) - HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
(10 - 27 November 1993) - The Life of Stuff (16 September - 6 November 1993)
- HereHere (play)Here is a 1993 philosophical comedic play by British playwright Michael Frayn....
(9 July - 11 September 1993) - Translations (3 June - 24 July 1993)
- Don't Fool With Love (22 April - 15 May 1993)
- Playland (25 February - 17 April 1993)
- Richard IIIRichard III (play)Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
(14 January - 20 February 1993) - AssassinsAssassins (musical)Assassins is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman, based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr. It uses the premise of a murderous carnival game to produce a revue-style portrayal of men and women who attempted to assassinate Presidents of the United States...
(22 October 1992 - 9 January 1993)
Awards
Donmar-generated productions have received 35 Olivier Awards, 23 Critics’ Circle Awards, 21 Evening Standard AwardsEvening Standard Awards
The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre. Sponsored by the Evening Standard newspaper, they are announced in late November or early December...
, two South Bank Award and 20 Tony Awards from ten Broadway productions.