Apr to Jul 2018 Box office: 0333 666 3366
Welcome to The RONDO – Summer 2018
Welcome… …to Summer at The Rondo Theatre – and our fab Ticketing System. The Rondo has a great Box Office service for our shows. We’ve teamed up with the lovely people from TicketSource to provide a modern booking facility that’s more convenient for audiences. You can book directly online via www.ticketsource.co.uk/rondotheatre. And once you’ve made your booking, Ticket Source gives you a variety of options to receive your tickets: Ticket Source can email you an ‘e-ticket’ to print at home - all you have to do is bring your printout with you to the theatre. Mobile tickets can be sent to your smartphone and include the unique booking reference and barcode for us to validate or scan at the theatre. And TicketSource also offers a Physical Ticket printing option so you can have the tickets posted to you for that ‘Retro’ Experience – handy if you don’t have access to a printer or mobile phone, or if you’d like to gift tickets to someone else. And if you’re ‘Old Skool’, you can still book your tickets over the phone, if that is your preference: our booking line is: 0333 666 3366. Happy Booking! Please note that Booking Fees apply – but we’ve kept these as low as possible!
SPARE ROOM THEATRE
The Story Of My Life Music & Lyrics: Neil Bartram; Book: Brian Hill Thu 19 – Sat 21 Apr • 8pm Full £12 Concs £10 • Community Theatre Spare Room Theatre returns with another truly special show after their previous successful productions of Urinetown, Spring Awakening and the hilarious Gutenberg! The Musical! The Story Of My Life follows a lifelong friendship between two men, Alvin and Thomas, whose childhood bond continues throughout their adult years. An authentic and affecting work, told through a series of songs in turn playful, touching and dramatic. One New York critic predicted, “When the original cast recording comes out, see if you don’t find yourself moved to google the name of some long-lost friend with whom you simply lost touch. The Story Of My Life inspires us to reconnect with those who were part of the earliest chapters of our own life stories”.
Box office 0333 666 3366
BATH DRAMA
She Stoops to Conquer By Oliver Goldsmith Wed 25 – Sat 28 Apr • 7.30pm Full £12 Concs £10 • Community Theatre This classic comedy was first performed in 1773 and has kept audiences laughing ever since. Step back in time to the rather dilapidated Somerset home of landed gentleman Mr Hardcastle, where the tangled love affairs of two young couples are hindered – and sometime aided – by Mr Hardcastle’s rowdy but good-hearted stepson, Tony Lumpkin, but are almost brought to disaster by his mother – frustrated social climber and arch-manipulator, Mrs Hardcastle. As confusion, trickery and mayhem pile up, the events of a single evening threaten everyone’s happiness…
BEYOND THE HORIZON THEATRE COMPANY
Oedipus And Antigone By Sophocles Fri 4 – Sat 5 May • 7.30pm Full £14 Concs £12 • Professional Theatre Following their critically-acclaimed 2017 tour of Richard III, Beyond The Horizon present their spectacular reimagining of Sophocles’ greatest works, Oedipus and Antigone. Oedipus is a murder-mystery in its most twisted of forms. Thebes is suffering from a brutal plague. The gods demand that the killer of the old king Laius must be brought to justice. King Oedipus steps forward to uncover the truth, but in doing so reveals a nightmarish prophecy decades in the making... Years later, Antigone tells the story of Oedipus’ children. Eteocles and Polyneices have killed each other fighting for the crown. The State rules that Polyneices be left to rot, while Eteocles is given full burial honours. Whoever disobeys this order will be punished with death. In defiance, Antigone stands alone against the State, challenging the power of the law with the unwritten law of the gods... Critical acclaim for Beyond The Horizon:
“fizzes with imaginative energy from the get-go... Stunning” – Theatre Bath
Web bookings: www.ticketsource.co.uk/rondotheatre
Too Pretty To Punch By Edward Day Thu 10 May • 8pm • Full £10 • Professional Theatre What if you woke up one morning as the opposite gender? What if that was the day you were born and you had to wait 25 years before anyone believed you? A ukulele in one hand and a mouthful of broken words, Too Pretty To Punch grapples with what it means to be human when you don’t fit in any of the boxes. Part spoken word/part digital comedy cabaret, join multi award nominated Edalia in this celebration of transgender visibility. Edalia/Edward is a transgender/non-binary poet, theatre maker, animator and musician based in Swindon and Norwich.
“Day never ceased to impress, effortlessly switching between characters... the best original play I have seen” – Theatre Bath
SOMETHING FOR THE WEEKEND
The Man on the Moor By Max Dickins Fri 11 May • 8pm Full £14 Concs £12 • Professional Theatre On 12th December 2015, an elderly looking man was found dead on Saddleworth Moor. He was carrying no ID. In his pockets were just £130 in cash and return train tickets from London from the previous day. Despite a national campaign, he remained unidentified. He appeared to have no family, no friends, and no home. He didn’t even have a name. After police went public with the man’s image, forty different people reached out to claim ‘the man on the moor’ as their missing husband, father or brother. These people are ‘the left behind’. Those who pick up the pieces when someone they love leaves and simply never comes home again. This is their story.
“Beautifully written and incredibly poetic… His words and his message will stay with you long after the show ends” – Voice Magazine
Box office 0333 666 3366
Stuart Goldsmith: Like I Mean It Sat 12 May • 8pm • Full £11 • Comedy Comedian’s Comedian Podcast host and ‘expert stand-up’ (Times) Goldsmith now commits to the bit. This year: second international tour, seven million downloads, critically-acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe run, and look, honestly? My best ever show. I’m so goddamn proud of this, it’s stupider and less clever-clogs and just the funniest stuff I’ve ever created. OK? Back to the PR... Come see how ‘a master of the form’ (Independent) ‘makes it look easy’ (Chortle.co.uk). Via As Yet Untitled and Russell Howard’s Stand Up Central. Winner: Leicester Comedy Festival Best New Show 2017. British Comedy Guide Top 20 Best Reviewed Edinburgh Fringe Shows 2017
MERRIMAN PRODUCTIONS
Monty Python’s Spamalot Book & Lyrics: Eric Idle; Music: Eric Idle & John Du Prez Wed 16 – Sat 19 May • 7.30pm Full £12 • Community Theatre Funnier than the black death! Lovingly ripped off from the hugely successful 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot is a riotous comedy full of misfit knights, killer rabbits, dancing nuns and ferocious Frenchmen. Join King Arthur as he travels with his hapless Knights of the Round Table on a divine mission to locate the illusive Holy Grail – with uproarious consequences. Winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Best New Musical, the hilarious Spamalot was written by Python legend Eric Idle, with a fantastic score co-written by John DuPrez including Always Look On The Bright Side of Life. Merriman Productions return to the Rondo Theatre whether you like it or not, with yet another musical comedy after previous success with Lucky Stiff, Acorn Antiques and The Drowsy Chaperone.
Web bookings: www.ticketsource.co.uk/rondotheatre
MUSIC IS LIFE PRODUCTIONS
Busk
By Dan Lashbrook
Wed 23 – Sat 26 May • 8pm Sat Mat: 3pm Full £15 Concs £13 • Community Theatre A girl. Her voice. A chance encounter. A darker underworld. Busk is the tale of a voice from within the dark and is the stirring brand-new musical from Music is Life Productions, the awardwinning team that created The Decent Rogues and Pencoweth. Written by Dan Lashbrook and directed by Petra Schofield, Busk is an edgy, urban tale with a brand new script and lavish score. Advisory 16+ due to adult themes and some strong language.
ACT V THEATRE
Venus and Adonis By William Shakespeare Wed 30 May • 8pm • Full £10 Concs £8 Professional Theatre Venus and Adonis was Shakespeare’s first ‘bestseller’. Written in 1593, when the theatres were closed because of the plague, it was an immediate success, running to 16 editions over the next few years. It tells the story of the goddess Venus, her obsession for the mortal Adonis and their passionate encounter. In Venus and Adonis’ dazzling verbal virtuosity, the young Shakespeare explores love with the wit and pathos that would be later found in his best-loved romantic comedies. Shakespeare’s classic has been adapted into a play for four actors and violinist, with the stripped-back technique that Act V specialises in.
Box office 0333 666 3366
SOFTSOD PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS
UnSpoken By David Martin Thu 31 May • 8pm Full £10 Concs £8 • Professional Theatre As funeral bells chime, a mysterious woman whispers a terrible secret to a grieving wife. Some years later, now in therapy, the woman pieces together the jigsaw of her life, the damning relationship with her father and the disturbing truth behind that secret whisper. Written by David Martin, directed by Jacqs Graham and featuring Lucy Elzic and David Martin, UnSpoken is a dark and thought-provoking tale of survival against the odds. It raises the profile on childhood abuse, our mental and emotional struggle to be human and our search for truth. An original musical score adds an evocative soundscape.
Ritchie-Parrish-Ritchie: UnTangled Again Fri 1 Jun • 8pm • Full £14 Concs £12 • Music For years, Steve Ritchie, Al Parrish and Rob Ritchie rocked the UK folk music scene as the rhythm section of the Canadian powerhouse band Tanglefoot (Best Vocal Group, 2007 Canadian Folk Music Awards). With their brand-new album “Longview” in hand, Steve Ritchie, Al Parrish, Rob Ritchie and Beaker Granger return to Bath and the Rondo Theatre. It’s a chance to see the band up-close-and-personal in an intimate setting that still affords the opportunity for the band to deliver a “full after-burner” show.
“This superb band gave not just of their friendship, but blew us away totally. They are not ‘very good’, just stunning and brilliant” – Chris Simpson, Magna Carta “They sing raucously and passionately with big stirring harmonies....at times with roaring vigour at others with sparse intensity, creating many moods...songs full of humour, pathos and love” – The Beat Magazine, March 2013.
Web bookings: www.ticketsource.co.uk/rondotheatre
The Quantum Physics of My Heart By Amy Tobias Sat 2 Jun • 8pm Full £12 Concs £10 • Professional Theatre If Amy’s dad is a kick-ass scientist then she can be one too, right? Isn’t that probability, or logic, or something? Using neither probability nor logic, Amy invites you to her comedy science lecture about growing up in the 90s. Inspired by her dad’s work as a scientist, Amy has always tried to understand the world around her using science. Now, with the help of some complex scientific theories (not really), Amy grapples with the teenage experiences that shaped her, such as a) teacher crushes, b) best friend betrayals, c) an inappropriate advance from an older man and d) trying to be a good Jew. An eccentric, inquisitive show about how we make sense of the world. Expect 90s bangers, some ultra-immersive group Hubba Bubba chewing and a test tube or two. Developed with support from JW3 and fresh from premiering at The VAULT Festival 2018.
“Amy is an enthusiastic pupil” – Mr Murray, Science teacher “Fully charming… popping with humour” – The Reviews Hub “Deliciously eccentric… masterful comedy… and a whole lot of heart” – Arthur’s Seat
THE INCUNABULA COLLECTIVE
#Gunsh0w By Connor Macleod Wed 6 & Thu 7 Jun • 8pm Full £10 Concs £8 • Professional Theatre #Gunsh0w is a hard-hitting, one woman exploration into the dangers of language online, our current ‘YouTube’ generation and the effects of living in an online world. Gabe is an aspiring YouTube star, filming her reviews of guns whilst alone in her basement. Overnight, she becomes a viral sensation, but when new information about Gabe is revealed she soon realises that online, fame can change in an instance. Please note that this show contains explicit language, strong themes and scenes which some audiences may find upsetting. Suitable for 18+.
Box office 0333 666 3366
THE ACTOR’S WHEEL
The Trial Adapted by Steven Berkoff Fri 8 Jun • 7.30pm Full £12 Concs £10 • Community Theatre ‘But I’m not guilty, there’s been a mistake’… … ‘But that is exactly how the guilty speak’ The Actor’s Wheel return with a visually striking production of Kafka’s infamous literary classic, painting a dark, kaleidoscopic, absurdist world, which questions our freedom, explores our paranoia, examines the human condition and challenges our perceptions of guilt. Berkoff’s visceral adaptation is brought to life by a dynamic and vibrant ensemble in this highly physical, and mind-boggling production.
“The Actor’s Wheel have produced a truly powerful performance. Flawless and captivating from start to finish” – The Caucasian Chalk Circle tour 2016
SUGAR BUTTIES
Trolley Girls By Jessica Forrest and Olivia Nicholson Sat 9 Jun • 8pm Full £10 Concs £8 • Professional Theatre ATTENTION ALL SHOPPERS! Ever found oneself staring down the down the stark and soulless void of the freezer aisle wondering to yourself ‘Who am I? How did I get here? Do I really need that reduced vanilla slice?’ The Trolley Girls know exactly how you feel. As the pressures of growing up and growing apart become more apparent for this Lancashire duo, Jess and Liv begin to wonder what’s beyond those double doors of shopper’s paradise... A world at their feet or a world of disappointment? You can travel the world and become a career girl, but does the man at the local shop know your name? And come on, it’s nice having your mum next door isn’t it? This heartfelt, rib tickling story paired with parodies of power ballads is a guaranteed belly laugh! So grab your bag for life as we take you on a double date dancing down the whoopsie aisle! Champion.
Box office 0333 666 3366
Tim Key: Megadate Sat 16 June • 8pm • Full £16 • Comedy A brand new 70 minutes, blending poeticals, talking, standing, spotlights, cables, Kronenburg, foot-stamping and old school wistfulness. Edinburgh Comedy Award winner years ago. Key has appeared in Taskmaster, Inside Number 9 and the Alan Partridge franchise.
“Flabbergastingly funny ... I have never enjoyed myself in a comedy show more” – The Times “If this is love, Key’s hard to resist” – The Metro “Megadate is another Tim Key delight: delicate, yet a feat of comic strength” – The Independent
OOOH ARRR PRODUCTIONS
A Night at the Movies Sat 23 June • 8pm • Full £12 Concs £10 • Music Walk straight up the red carpet at The Rondo Theatre where OOOH ARRR Productions will take you on a trip through time with their brand-new show. Featuring songs from all your favourite movies such as James Bond, Pitch Perfect and even some Disney ones for the young and young at heart. This show is a feel-good concert with everyone singing and clapping along throughout the show. There is something for everyone with this show no matter how old you are!
Web bookings: www.ticketsource.co.uk/rondotheatre PROVOCATION IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE RONDO
My Brave Face By Ian McGlynn Wed 27 – Sat 30 Jun • 8pm Full £14 Concs £12 • Professional Theatre Bam! You’re suddenly, unexpectedly single. So – you try to move on with your life. But what on earth do you do to get a date when you’re middle-aged, confused and confronted with a weird world full of websites and apps? When all you’ve ever done in your life before is ask someone out down the pub? And even that not for a couple of decades. When everyone else seems to know the rules, but you haven’t got a clue. Rondo Artistic Director Ian McGlynn’s first one-man show explores the ups, downs, ins, outs and total, mystifying confusion of being abruptly single when you’re – ahem – of a slightly more mature vintage. Directed by Siouxsie Easter, Associate Professor of Theatre, Wells College, New York, with kind assistance from the Endeavour Foundation.
RONDO THEATRE COMPANY
Tales From the Jazz Age By F. Scott Fitzgerald Wed 4 – Sat 7 July • 7:30pm Full £12 Concs £10 • Community Theatre Three plays by F. Scott Fitzgerald This Fourth of July week the Rondo Theatre Company brings you three plays by one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tales From the Jazz Age is an unmissable evening of theatre featuring three little-known plays. Porcelain and Pink, The Broken Lute and The Debutante are tales of romance, intrigue, mistaken identity and one wild party! You will be transported back in time and across the Atlantic to the glitter and glamour of the Roaring Twenties… the era of flappers, jazz, and prohibition, in this rare chance to see three seldom performed plays by the author of The Great Gatsby. RTC’s annual charity show is this year in aid of the Rondo Theatre.
Web bookings: www.ticketsource.co.uk/rondotheatre
LAKIN MCCARTHY
Mark Thomas: Check Up – Work-In-Progress Tue 10 July • 8pm • Full £11 • Comedy
Our NHS @70 Mark Thomas is 54, the NHS is 70, UK national average life expectancy is 84. If Mark makes it to 84 the NHS will be 100, what will they both look like? Based on a series of interviews with leading experts in and on the NHS and residencies in hospitals and surgeries and with director Nicolas Kent, Thomas uses his own demise to explore the state we’re in. What’s going wrong in our NHS, how it can go right and what the future might hold for all of us.
BATH OPERA
La Boheme By Puccini Fri 13 – Sat 14 Jul • 7.30pm Full £14 Concs £13 • Opera Bath Opera’s touring company returns to the Rondo with a new production of Puccini’s best loved opera, La Boheme. Packed with wonderful arias (Your Tiny Hand is Frozen, They call me Mimi) and intense emotion, it takes the audience on a roller-coaster ride of love and tragedy. On Christmas Eve around 1830, Rodolfo stays in his Paris attic to finish a poem while his three artist friends go to a bar. Mimi a neighbour knocks at his door, asking him to light her candle, and one of opera’s most famous love affairs is born. But Mimi is sick, and tragedy follows. Musical direction by Peter Blackwood, stage direction Tom Magnone.
Box office 0333 666 3366
EXIT STAGE LEFT
Disenchanted Book, Music & Lyrics by Dennis T. Giacino Tues 17 – Sat 21 July • 8pm Full £11 Concs £9 • Community Theatre BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND Following their 2017 South West premiere production, this Exit Stage Left are proud to return to the Rondo with a second run of Dennis T. Giacino’s hilarious off-Broadway hit Disenchanted! From lands far, far away, the fairy twist in the tale, fun-filled musical Disenchanted! introduces you to the princesses from the original fairy tales who are none too happy with the way all those ‘magical’ storybooks and ‘classic’ animated movies – not to mention their ol’ buddy Walt – portray them. Forget the princesses you think you know. When these royal rebels toss off their tiaras, this hilariously subversive, not-for-the-kiddies musical cleverly reveals what happened to Snow White and her storybook princess friends *after* ‘Happily Ever After’! Exit Stage Left have brought back their amazing cast to play the sassy princesses who have a bone to pick with the way they’ve been portrayed.
“A fabulous farrago of fantastically funny fine-tuned feminist fun. A 5-Star show. Unmissable” – Theatre Bath Ages: 12 and over
OOOH ARRR PRODUCTIONS
Avenue Q By Jeff Whitty, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx Wed 25 – Sat 28 July • 7:30pm • Full £13 • Professional Theatre Winner of the Tony Triple Crown for Best Musical, Best Score, and Best Book, the hilarious Avenue Q tells the timeless story of a recent college graduate trying to find his way in the world. Set in New York City all the way out on Avenue Q (he couldn’t afford anything better), we are introduced to fresh-faced Princeton as he struggles to find his purpose: meeting friends, finding love, losing love, and finding it again, along the way. Inspired by the beloved children’s show Sesame Street, Avenue Q creates a puppet-filled world that is a little more reflective of the difficult, R-rated realities that we face when we learn that real life isn’t as simple as we dreamed it might be – but perhaps, suggests Avenue Q, life is all the more colourful and worthwhile for it. Note: despite featuring puppets, Avenue Q is X-rated, featuring adult topics, offensive language, and an onstage portrayal of puppet sex.
Web bookings: www.ticketsource.co.uk/rondotheatre
AT ST. SAVIOUR’S
Rondo Drama Summer School Rondo Drama Club
in Conjunction with Platforms Drama Club
The Rondo Drama Summer School is a unique experience where you’re encouraged to share your creative ideas (however crazy or bizarre!). You then get the chance to devise a play, improvise it and perform it to your parents and friends under the lights on the famous Rondo Stage. The sessions are run by Paulo Baigent, an experienced theatre director and drama workshop leader. Week A: Mon 30 July – Fri 3 Aug Week B: Tue 28 Aug – Fri 1 Sep Mon – Thurs: 10am – 4pm; Fri 10am – 7pm Cost £95 per week For more information, please email Paulo at: speaktomegabriel@gmail.com or book via www.ticketsource.co.uk/rondotheatre
Building confidence through creative theatre. For young people aged 7 - 12 £65 for the term
Autumn Term: Tuesdays 4.45 - 6.00pm from Tuesday 18th September
The Rondo Drama Club is teaming up with Platforms Drama Club to offer a wonderful experience this Autumn. Starting with your own ideas you’ll work with youth director, Paulo Baigent, to devise a play. At the end of term you’ll get to perform it on the Rondo stage to your friends and family. It doesn’t matter how experienced you are or whether you know anyone else beforehand - we are very experienced at helping a group get to know each other. You’ll be able to develop your own story and character and make your own decisions about staging, costumes and props. So whatever school you go to, come along and join a group who’ll use their imagination and creativity to produce a totally original theatrical event. Weekly sessions take place at Newbridge Primary School and participants must be available for the final rehearsal (2nd December) and end of term show (3rd December), both at The Rondo Theatre. For more information, please email Paulo at: speaktomegabriel@gmail.com or book via www. ticketsource.co.uk/rondotheatre
Box office 0333 666 3366 Become a Rondo Volunteer Acting as a Rondo Theatre volunteer is a great way of getting closer to the theatre, music, comedy and other fantastic events on offer at this fantastic venue. In return, you get to see the shows for free, as well as to make new friends and socialise.
Our volunteers work mainly as bar staff or on front of house and are an essential part of the success of The Rondo. Volunteering normally means working on two or three shows a month. It’s great fun – and you get to see a huge variety of performances for free! If you’d like to volunteer, please contact the Theatre Director, Ian McGlynn: ian@rondotheatre.co.uk
The RONDO Theatre ST. SAVIOURS ROAD, Larkhall, Bath, BA1 6RT www.rondotheatre.co.uk
INFO Box Office: Ticket Agent - TicketSource www.ticketsource.co.uk/rondotheatre
Find us on…
Booking Line: 0333 666 3366 Please note: booking fees apply - but we’ve kept these as low as we can! Concessions: Concession prices are available to children under 18, full-time students, Equity Members, unemployed benefit claimants, disabled people and those whose sole source of income is a DSS state retirement pension.
Charity No: 1000051 Parking: On street after 6pm. The Rondo Theatre Company is our resident community theatre company. If you want to get involved in performing or backstage work, visit www.rondotheatrecompany.org
Door Sales: Doors open 30 minutes before the show. Tickets are available to buy on the door for all events at The Rondo.
Theatre Director: Ian McGlynn. email: director@rondotheatre.co.uk
Latecomers: For security reasons, it may not be possible to admit latecomers. So please be prompt!
Marketing Coordinator: Alison Farina. email: marketing@rondotheatre.co.uk
Access: The main entrance to The Rondo has excellent disabled access. We have a disabled toilet and the front row is available for wheelchairs. Pre-booking recommended.
Intern Director: Pippa Thornton. email: office@rondotheatre.co.uk
Associate Directors: Hannah Drake, Alison Farina, Jazz Hazelwood, Philippa Howard, Shane Morgan. Programme Design: GAS Design. Tel. 01249 712657 www.gas-design.co.uk
RONDO DIARY
Box office 0333 666 3366 Web bookings: www.ticketsource.co.uk/rondotheatre
DATE
SHOW
GENRE
18 – 21 Apr
The Story Of My Life
Community
25 – 28 Apr
She Stoops to Conquer
Community
4 & 5 May
Oedipus & Antigone
Theatre
10 May
Too Pretty To Punch
Theatre
11 May
The Man on the Moor
Theatre
12 May
Stuart Goldsmith
Comedy
16 – 19 May
Spamalot!
Community
23 – 26 May
Busk
Community
30 May
Venus & Adonis
Theatre
31 May
UnSpoken
Theatre
1 Jun
Ritchie-Parrish-Ritchie
Music
2 Jun
The Quantum Physics Of My Heart
Theatre
6 & 7 Jun
#Gunsh0w
Theatre
8 Jun
The Trial
Community
9 Jun
Trolley Girls
Theatre
16 Jun
Tim Key
Comedy
23 Jun
A Night At The Movies
Music
27 – 30 Jun
My Brave Face
Theatre
4 – 7 Jul
Tales from The Jazz Age
Community
10 & 11 Jul
Mark Thomas
Comedy
13 & 14 Jul
La Boheme
Opera
17 – 21 Jul
Disenchanted
Community
25 – 28 Jul
Avenue Q
Theatre