b'| CULT URE CULT URE | ENTERTAINMENTS My Brilliant Friend (To 18 January) getting it: not the King, his own wife, or the Princes in Adapted by April De Angelis from Elena Ferrantesthe Tower. Richards reign of terror is about to begin and Neapolitan Novels Shakespeares monstrously charismatic villain wants you When the most important person in her life goes missingthere for the ride.Theatre Listings without a trace, Lenu Greco, now a celebrated author, beginsSOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSEto recall a relationship of more than 60 years. Even as life repeatedly tries to pull them in separate directions, they remain inextricably bound to one another. 77-85 NEWINGTON CAUSEWAY, SE1 6BDABOVE THE STAG MENIER CHOCOLATE FACTORY The Ocean at the End of the Lane (To 25 January) Potted Panto (To 11 January)72 ALBERT EMBANKMENT, SE1 7TP 53 SOUTHWARK STREET, SE1 1RU adapted by Joel Horwood by Daniel Clarkson, Jefferson Turner, and Richard HurstReturning to his childhood home, Alex finds himselfSeven classic pantomimes in eighty hilarious minutes! In PinocchioNo Strings Attached! (To 11 January) The Boyfriend (To 7 March) standing beside the duck pond of the old Sussex farmhousea madcap ride through the biggest stories and best-loved by Jon Bradfield and Martin Hooper by Sandy Wilson where he used to play. Hes transported to his 12th birthday,characters from the wonderful world of pantomime, our Geppetta, a lonely puppet maker, crafts herself a young manSandy Wilsons all-singing all-dancing love letter to 1920sspring half term. When his dad was struggling to make endsdastardly double act dash from rubbing Aladdins lamp to out of wood. But when a magic spell brings Pinocchio tomusical comedies returns for the first major London revivalmeet and his friend Lettie claimed it wasnt a pond, but anroaming the golden streets of Dick Whittingtons London life she gets more than she bargained for. So begins a greatin over 10 years. Set in Madame Dubonnets finishing schoolocean Recommended for 12+ yrs. and making sure that Cinderella gets to the ball. Its all adventure on land and at sea, about a gay young man within the south of France, these perfect young ladies burst intounmissable fun, whether youre six or 106.a peculiar affliction: whenever he tells a lie, something verysong at the least provocation, and forbidden boy friends areThe Visit (From 31 January)embarrassing happens. forever popping through the French windows to sing andbased on the play by Friedrich Drrenmatt adapted bySuperstar (To 21 December)dance with them.Tony Kushner by Nicola WrenBRIDGE THEATRE In the town of Slurry, New York, post-war recession hasNicola knew from very early on that if she wanted her four SOUTHBANK, SE1 9PX NATIONAL THEATRE bitten. Claire Zachanassian (Lesley Manville), improbablysiblings approval then she would need to impress them, so SOUTHBANK, SE1 9PX beautiful and impenetrably terrifying, returns to hershe set out to become a superstar. But what happens when The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (To 2 February) E N A R R U M T H L E H Y B O O Y P hometown as the worlds richest woman. The locals hopeone of her siblings genuinely does become a superstar? directed by Sally Cookson based on the novel byher arrival signals a change in their fortunes, but they soonWith Chris Martin of Coldplay as her older brother, how long C.S.Lewis realise that prosperity will only come at a terrible price. can she fight to stay out of his shadow? How can she prove Step through the wardrobe this winter into the magicalto her siblings, the world and, eventually, herself, that she is kingdom of Narnia for the most mystical of adventures in aThe Welkin (From 15 January) enough in her own right?faraway land. Join Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter as theyby Lucy Kirkwoodwave goodbye to wartime Britain and say hello to a talkingRural Suffolk, 1759. As the country waits for Halleys comet,THE OLD VICFaun, an unforgettable Lion and the coldest, cruellest WhiteSally Poppy is sentenced to hang for a heinous murder.103 THE CUT, SE1 8NBWitch. When she claims to be pregnant, a jury of 12 matrons are taken from their housework to decide whether shes tellingA Christmas Carol (To 5 October)A Number (14 February To 14 March) the truth, or simply trying to escape the noose. With onlyby Charles Dickens, adapted by Jack Thorneby Caryl Churchill midwife Lizzy Luke prepared to defend the girl, and a mobThe Old Vics A Christmas Carol fills the auditorium to the How might a son feel to discover that he is only one of aMaster Harold.and the boys, at the National withbaying for blood outside, the matrons wrestle with their newbrim with mince pies, music and merriment. A unique number of identical copies? What happens when a fatherHammed Animashaun and Lucian Msamati authority, and the devil in their midst. staging immerses the audience in this uplifting story. is confronted by the results of an outrageous geneticRecommended for ages 8+.experiment? In Caryl Churchills thrilling drama, which wonMaster Harold and the boys (To 17 December) SHAKESPEARES GLOBEthe 2002 Evening Standard Award for Best Play, Roger Allamby Athol Fugard 56 PARK STREET, SE1 9AR THE YOUNG VICplays Salter, the father. Colin Morgan plays all his sons.St Georges Park Tea Room, Port Elizabeth, 1950. On a long66 THE CUT, SE1 8LZrainy afternoon, employees Sam and Willie practise theirHenry VI (To January 26)steps for the finals of the ballroom dancing championship.by William Shakespeare Fairview (To 18 January)Hally arrives from school to hide out in his parents tea room.An England divided under a weak leader spirals fromby Jackie SibbliesPlaywright Jackie These two men have been unlikely best friends to Hally hispolitical unrest to all-out civil war. Allegiances are sworn andDrury Sibblies in rehearsals whole life. But it is apartheid era South Africa: hes Mastermurderous factions fight for power, but with only one crownIts Grandmas birthdayfor Fairview at the Harold, and they are the boys. for the taking, who will be left standing to lead the country?and the Frasier familyYoung VicExperience the Wars of the Roses like never before in thishave gathered to Three Sisters (To 19 February) dynamic production which sees Shakespeares Henry VIcelebrate. Beverly just by Inua Ellams (after Chekhov) condensed into one epic event. wants everything to run Owerri, 1967, on the brink of the Biafran Civil War. Lolo, Nnesmoothly, but Tyrone has Chukwu and Udo are grieving the loss of their father. MonthsRichard III (To January 26) missed his flight, Keisha before, two ruthless military coups plunged the countryby William Shakespeareis freaking out about Roger Allam and Colin Morgan as father and son(s) ininto chaos. Fuelled by foreign intervention, the conflictThe battle scars from the Wars of the Roses are yet to healcollege and Grandma A Number at the Bridge Theatre encroaches on their provincial village, and the sisters long tobut thats not going to deter power-hungry Richard. Thehas locked herself in the return to their former home in Lagos. crown should be his and no one is going to stop him frombathroom.22THE RIVER MAGAZINE|Winter 2019 THE RIVER MAGAZINE|Winter 201923'