Key Theatre Brochure

Key Theatre Peterborough What’s o n at the Key The atre March – April 2012

The Merry Widow Sunday 11 March

Key Theatre Box Office: 01733 207239

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Welcome... ...to the first Key Theatre brochure for 2012.

The theatre has been closed throughout January and February while a major building project is taking place. A £1m+ investment from Peterborough City Council has funded these exciting improvements, set to be completed later in the year. It will give the theatre some much needed new backstage facilities including dressing rooms, scenery storage and new offices.

But fear not, we open the doors again at the beginning of March with a great new season of shows in our auditorium and studio theatre.

Our new season for March welcomes back some popular faces and shows as well as a great selection of new productions including comedy, drama, music and fringe theatre.

We are also thrilled to announce some special offers as part of our new season, for more info please visit page 11.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Key Theatre soon.

Our Country’s Good Friday 2 – Saturday 3 March “A play is a world in itself. A tiny colony we could say. And you are in charge of it. That is a great responsibility.”

The setting is Australia in 1788. A boatload of disease and disdain spews onto a foreign shore. As the soldiers struggle to impose order on the outcasts of society, a benevolent governor seizes the notion of a play.

In the shadow of the gallows and the gum tree, the convicts gather and rehearsals begin.

Based on real events, Timberlake Wertenbaker’s award-winning modern classic is an inspiring tale of the transforming power of theatre.

Nightly at 7.30pm Saturday matinee at 2.30pm Tickets: £16 (£13 concessions) Students: £8.50 £9 2

This is a major touring revival produced by the acclaimed Original Theatre Company following on from the success of Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lugnasa and R.C. Sheriff’s Journey’s End.

Box Office: 01733 207239

Key Theatre Main Auditorium

A Bedfull of Foreigners Monday 5 – Wednesday 7 March The ‘master of farce’ Damian Williams returns to the Key in another trouser dropping, bedhopping, laughter raising farce.

It has all the ingredients, including mistaken identities, double-booked rooms, hasty cover-ups and hilarious situations that you would expect in a classic farce.

Nightly at 7.30pm Wednesday matinee at 2.30pm Tickets: Evening shows: £16 (£13 concessions) Wednesday matinee: £12 £9

The Dave Freemans play is set in a French village near the German border on the eve of a local festival.

When Stanley and Brenda, who are on a motoring trip, successfully book a room for the night, they consider themselves lucky – but not for long! In less than an hour, Stanley finds himself (in Brenda’s absence) lowering an attractive, stark naked, girl from the window. But that’s just the start, before long almost everyone’s in the wrong bed as people dressed as nuns and monks rush in and out, while seductions and confrontations run rampant.

A Moment of Mishearing Saturday 10 March Boundary–pushing musician, writer and novelist Amit Chaudhuri presents a night to remember.

With his own band, he introduces his all-new eclectic, multi-media musical production exploring his literary and musical ideas. Amit Chaudhuri is one of India’s leading novelists with five novels under his belt, three works of non-fiction and a volume of poetry.

He is also an accomplished and acclaimed composer, songwriter and singer.

At 7.30pm Tickets: £10 (£8.50 concessions) £7.50

Amit reveals: “…as I was practising raga Todi, (I heard) the riff to Clapton’s Layla. Those moments of mishearing contained my past and the history of Bombay converging with the present”. This “will be a show about memory, chance, music and a city”.

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Key Theatre Main Auditorium

The Merry Widow Sunday 11 March Opera della Luna returns to Peterborough with a new production of Lehár’s classic operetta.

In a sparkling English translation, this imaginative staging captures the glamour and decadence of turn of the century Paris while infusing the production with Opera della Luna’s trademark wit.

The operetta has enjoyed extraordinary international success since its 1905 premier in Vienna.

Based on the comedy play L’attache d’ambassade, the story concerns a rich widow and her countrymen’s attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband.

At 4pm Tickets: £16.50 £15

Opera della Luna, founded in 1994, is a British touring theatre troupe of actorsingers focusing on comic works.

The Trial Tuesday 13 March More than 40 years after its first performance, Steven Berkoff’s brilliant adaptation of Franz Kafka’s masterpiece has become a classic work of 20th century theatre.

The Trial tells the story of Joseph K, an estranged and rootless citizen who is the victim of anonymous governing forces. Deceived by an authoritarian power he is relentlessly hunted down for a crime that remains nameless.

When he is arrested and awaiting trial, K sinks deeper and deeper as he tries to escape through twists and turns that are at once shocking, thrilling and funny.

At 7.30pm Tickets: £12 (£8.50 students) £8.50 It is suitable for age 14+

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Kafka’s universal parable about the human condition is retold in Berkoff’s startlingly original, fresh and endlessly surprising play, which is brought to the Key Theatre by Blackeyed Theatre.

Kafka’s nightmare vision, Berkoff’s crackling script and the company’s trademark ensemble-style physical theatre combine to create an inspiring and unforgettable piece of drama, ideal for lovers of pure theatre.

Box Office: 01733 207239

Key Theatre Main Auditorium

Silly Cow Monday 19 – Wednesday 21 March Prepare for a laugh-out-loud treat when Ben Elton’s comedy rocks the Key Theatre.

This slick, sly satire about the savage world of the tabloid press was originally written with Dawn French in mind, but it could hardly be more topical now in view of the demise of the News of the World and phonehacking inquiries.

It features Doris Wallace, a bitchy queen of the tabloid press, who is on the verge of a glorious venture in TV. She’s not going to let anything get in her way, not even the “silly cow” suing her for libel.

Any skeletons she may have in her cupboard are, like her bondage gear, firmly locked up - or so she thinks.

Nightly at 7.30pm Tickets: £16 (£13 concessions) £9

Elton focuses on actors, the price of ambition, critics and ‘journalistic liberty’ in this astutely observational ‘comic revenge tragedy’.

Murder Mistaken Monday 26 – Wednesday 28 March Set in 1950’s England, this tense psychological thriller by television and screen writer Janet Green gets inside the mind of a killer.

The charming Edward Bare is a cold, calculating man with a passion for older women, or more truthfully their money. So when his rich wife threatens to outlive her usefulness he has a decision to make.

Nightly at 7.30pm Wednesday matinee at 2.30pm Tickets: £16 (£13 concessions) Wednesday matinee: £12 £9

Having hastened her end, he discovers an unpleasant surprise in her will. Determined not to make the same mistake again, Edward marries a rich widow but when an attractive and wealthy lady arrives on the scene, will Edward revisit his murderous past?

Packed with suspense and thrills, the workings of the killer’s mind are explored as the spine-chilling plot thickens.

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Key Theatre Studio

Brett Goldstein Grew Up In A Strip Club Monday 12 March Actor and writer Brett Goldstein turned to stand-up in 2006, basing his show on his own experiences.

At 7.30pm Tickets: £8.50 (£5 students) £7

In 2001, Brett’s father had a spectacular mid-life crisis and instead of buying a sports car, he bought a strip club in Marbella. What followed was surprising, frightening and oddly emotional... LAUGH at the antics of the Mafia! CRY at the loss of a young man’s innocence! MARVEL at the strippers and their magic ways! GASP at the backstage secrets. CLAP politely at the end when you realise you’ve just sat through someone else’s therapy.

Journey to X Thursday 15 – Friday 16 March

Nightly at 7.30pm Tickets £8.50 (£7 students) Suitable for age 14+

The Key Youth Theatre company will stage this fantastic new play as part of the National Theatre’s Connections programme for 2012, for which 10 plays have been commissioned to inspire young theatre companies.

A group of friends have formed a new band, now all they have to do is raise the money to get to London to audition for the world’s biggest talent contest. Their journey for fame and fortune is really a journey for something far less glamorous and the story of the risks teenagers take when plunged into an adult world.

Next Swan Down The River Might Be Black Thursday 22 March

At 7.30pm Tickets: £8.50 £7 6

An offbeat, surprising, unexpected play that shines a light on the darkest corners of our society.

Poet and performer Sean Burn, who has been called ‘one of the county’s foremost experimental writers’, created the drama as a personal response to being sectioned under the mental health act. It follows the shifting alliances of three young women on a psychiatric ward, examining diversity, friendships, sexuality and power in rising uncertainly. A hauntingly lyrical play.

Box Office: 01733 207239

Key Theatre Studio

Private Resistance Friday 23 March

At 7.30pm Tickets: £8.50 £7.50

Eastern Angles Theatre Company presents audiences with the ultimate ‘what-if’ scenario. How would the British have coped with a wartime invasion?

Set in 1940 it’s a thrilling tale of the so-called Auxiliary Units, Churchill’s secret guerrilla army, primed to go underground and fight behind the lines.

Set in rural Essex it’s a story of secrecy, sabotage and the bonds created and destroyed by wartime.

Oh What A Lovely War Tuesday 27 – Thursday 29 March

Nightly at 7.30pm Thursday matinee at 2.30pm Tickets: £8 (£6 students)

Those talented Performing Arts Students from Peterborough Regional College return to the Key with another great show.

Over 90 years on from the Armistice, Oh What A Lovely War remains a classic of the modern theatre. Told through the songs and documents of the period, it’s a satirical attack on the military incompetence that cost so many lives in World War I. At times funny and deeply moving, this play has a style of its own, combining music, dance, songs and sketches to create a vivid picture.

Tales From A Sea Journey Saturday 31 March

At 7.30pm Tickets; £8.50 £7.50

New International Encounter (NIE Theatre Company) return with their new award winning production.

In 2009 eight performers from NIE embarked on a 3500-mile transatlantic voyage aboard a cargo ship bound for Guadeloupe. This experience is intertwined with seafaring myths and shanties from across the world in a very funny and water-filled show.

Using a mix of storytelling, physical theatre and live music, Tales From A Sea Journey explores the pull and power of the sea from both an epic and personal perspective.

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As well as the wide variety of professional touring productions visiting the Key Theatre this spring, we are also pleased to welcome some of the local amateur societies from the city.

The Birthday Party Tuesday 6 – Saturday 10 March Back in 1958, The Birthday Party was a young Harold Pinter’s first full length play.

In the ground floor studio.

Nightly at 7.30pm Saturday Matinee at 2.30pm Tickets: £8 (£6 concessions)

Today it is one of his best known, most celebrated and most performed. It is simply a modern masterpiece and a brilliant demonstration of how comedy and menace can be fused to underscore the light and shade of human existence. It is certain to produce a riveting performance from the Peterborough Mask Theatre team in the intimate atmosphere of the Key’s ground floor studio space.

Singin’ In The Rain Tuesday 17 – Saturday 21 April It’s one of the greatest musicals of all time, and sure to be a hit this April.

Nightly at 7.30pm Saturday Matinee at 2.30pm Tickets: £14 and £12.50 for the matinee performance.

Westward Musical Society, Peterborough has delighted musical fans with hits like Crazy For You, Oklahoma and Beauty and The Beast and will be introducing new faces and talent to bring to life the romance, comedy and entertainment of one of the best loved films. With glamorous 1920s costumes and hit songs like Good Morning, Make ‘Em Laugh and the title song, Singin’ In The Rain is musical sunshine all the way.

The Key Youth Theatre Our very own Youth Theatre, The KYT, was formed in 1992 and with over 200 members, it is regarded as the best in the area.

Celebrating it’s 20th anniversary, the KYT have some great things coming up including their own production of Journey To X (see page 6 for more details) as well as an Easter Drama Workshop and the 21st Summer School.

Call our box office or visit the Youth Theatre section of our website for more details.

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Box Office: 01733 207239

Music in March The Key Theatre is a perfect venue for live music, and we are pleased to announce some great concerts this March

Syd Lawrence Orchestra: Carry On Swinging Thursday 8 March at 7.30pm Tickets: £16.50 Chris Dean’s fabulous big-band return to the Key for another swinging performance from the golden era of Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and more.

One Night of Elvis Friday 9 March at 7.30pm Tickets: £20 (£19 concessions) Lee Memphis King returns with his world class backing singers and orchestra. Covering the whole Presley legend from the pelvispounding 1950s through to the 1968 TV comeback special.

Magic – A Kind of Queen Friday 16 March at 7.30pm Tickets: £18.50 (£17.50 concessions) It is not just a kind of magic, it is MAGIC, the first and still the best tribute to Queen making a welcome return to the Key following last year’s debut performance.

The Johnny Cash Story Saturday 17 March at 7.30pm Tickets: £16 (£14 concessions) Roger Dean returns with his now annual performance of the story of the legend that is Johnny Cash. With hits including Ring of Fire, Hurt and I Walk The Line.

The Barron Knights Friday 30 March at 7.30pm Tickets: £16.50 They were the jokers in the pack when British music dominated the pop scene in the Swinging Sixties. Nicknamed The Guvnors, they have had many a hit with their own send-up versions of the stars of the period. Now they’re back at the Key and sure to be better than any tonic you’ll get on the NHS!

Look out for our next brochure for some other great music events this spring, including The Rat Pack, Marty Wilde, Talon – The Best of The Eagles and Think Floyd vivacity-peterborough.com

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The Key Theatre

STAGE

The Key Theatre Studio

STAGE

Booking info and contact details The Key Theatre, Embankment Road, Peterborough, PE1 1EF

Telephone 01733 207239 or book online 24 hours a day A £1 .50 booking fee applies to all card and cheque transactions.

The Key Theatre Box Office is open from 11am to 8pm, Mondays to Saturdays, and from an hour prior to performances until 30 minutes after curtain up on Sundays.

To find out more about what’s going on at the Key Theatre, please visit our website vivacity-peterborough.com You can can also sign up to receive Key Times+, our free bi-monthly 48 page magazine. Simply contact the box office to be added to our mailing list or register online.

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Spring offers at the Key We are pleased to introduce a new Showdeal offer from this March where you can make great savings by booking three or more productions at the same time. Look for the Showdeal logo throughout this brochure or call the Box Office for more details.

Key Savers Our Country’s Good

T H E MOR E Y OU T H E MOR E Y B O OK A Bedfull of Foreigners OU SAVE!

The Trial

SAVE

Silly Cow

£23

up to if you book 3 or more shows !

Murder Mistaken

Make FURTHER SAVINGS

Become a KEY I.P.

Benefits

of being the Key’s very own version of a VIP.

Save up to 50% on full price tickets on selected performances of professional shows* No booking fee on Credit/Debit card transactions Membership from £6.50 per year Social events throughout the year including ‘meet the cast’ after-show events Free ticket exchange or re-sale facility* *Terms & conditions apply

For more information about these great offers and anything in this brochure please call our friendly Box Office on 01733 207239 or email key.theatre@vivacity-peterborough.com 11

Key Theatre season at a glance Our Country’s Good 2-3 March The acclaimed Original Theatre Company return with this award winning modern classic.

A Bedfull Of Foreigners 5-7 March The master of farce Damian Williams returns in another fantastic, side-splitting comedy.

The Birthday Party 6-10 March Peterborough Mask Theatre perform Harold Pinter’s earliest play.

Syd Lawrence Orchestra Thursday 8 March Chris Dean’s band return with their new show Carry On Swinging.

One Night of Elvis Friday 9 March Lee Memphis King is back with his remarkable new tribute show.

The Trial Tuesday 13 March Steven Berkoff’s brilliant adaptation of the acclaimed German novel by Franz Kafka.

Journey to X 15-16 March The Key Youth Theatre present a play as part of the National Theatre’s Connections for 2012.

Magic – A kind of Queen Friday 16 March Queen’s hits brought to life.

The Johnny Cash Story Saturday 17 March Roger Dean returns with his band The Lazyboys for another performance of some of Johnny Cash’s greatest hits.

Silly Cow 19-21 March Ben Elton’s comedy about a bitchy tabloid queen who had clawed her way to success and celebrity.

Next Swan Down The River Might Be Black

A Moment of Mishearing Thursday 22 March Saturday 10 March Indian musician and author Amit Chaundhuri presents a unique multi-media musical production.

The Merry Widow Sunday 11 March The acclaimed Opera della Luna present Lehár’s classic work.

Brett Goldstein Grew up in a Strip Club Monday 12 March The actor and writer, turned Stand-up comic performs his popular one man show in the Key Theatre Studio.

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Box Office: 01733 207239

A new play featuring actors who have all had problems with mental health.

Private Resistance Friday 23 March Eastern Angles present a new World War II play.

Murder Mistaken 26-28 March A tense psychological thriller from the pen of Janet Green.

Oh What A Lovely War 27-29 March Students from Peterborough Regional College present this classic First World War satire in the Key Theatre Studio. vivacity-peterborough.com