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bbclesmis · 5 years

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LES MISERABLES: Dominic West on the new PBS drama – Interview

The actor talks playing Jean Valjean

When most people think about Victor Hugo’s sprawling novel LES MISERABLES, originally published in 1862, they associate it with the hugely popular stage musical and its film adaptation. However, LES MISERABLES has been adapted as a straight drama on a number of occasions.

The newest version of LES MISERABLES, a miniseries originally produced by and aired on the BBC, begins airing in the U.S. on PBS MASTERPIECE on Sunday, April 14. Dominic West stars as reformed criminal Jean Valjean, trying to live a good life as he is pursued over decades by obsessed law officer Javert (David Oyelowo), with revolution in France looming in the background. The miniseries was adapted by Andrew Davies.

Actor West, originally from Yorkshire, England, spent four years in the U.S. on THE WIRE. More recently, he’s starred in the Showtime series THE AFFAIR, which airs its fifth and final season later this year. West’s AFFAIR character, the adulterous, substance-abusing Noah Soloway, is a far cry from LES MISERABLES’s self-sacrificing Jean Valjean. West has played a number of other conflicted souls – Valmont in LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES (the National Theatre Live production), Hector Madden in THE HOUR, Richard Burton in BURTON AND TAYLOR – as well as outright villains, including the rapacious Spartan noble in 300.

West says of being cast as Valjean, “[David Oyelowo] gets people to approach him when they want a great, good man to be played. And people approach me when they want the opposite. And so I get a lot of villains. It was so refreshing to play a hero, who is a profoundly good man, and I only want to do that from now on. Living with Jean Valjean is a wonderful experience. Living with Noah Soloway is not. A few years ago, in one year, I played Fred West, the [real-life] serial killer [in the miniseries APPROPRIATE ADULT], Iago [in OTHELLO], and some other assh*le, and it was a really depressing year. These people get to you. And I’ve discovered that although making evil is more dramatic, it’s more easily made. The Devil has the best jokes, and it’s much easier to make evil interesting. It’s much more interesting to make good interesting. It’s much harder, and I think it’s well worth it, because at the end of the day, I really realized with this, that if you believe in the subject matter, and if you really believe it’s a story that needs to be told, and that will benefit people, it really makes a difference to your day, and getting out of bed, and your motivation.”

ASSIGNMENT X: In 2014, you played a real-life good guy in PRIDE, a gay rights activist who was also a workers’ rights activist. He seemed like a very warm character who did not seem to have a bad side. Did playing him sustain you for any amount of time, or …?

DOMINIC WEST: [chuckles] Actually, yeah. The guy I played is a good friend of mine now, so he’s real. My guy, Jonathan, was the second guy in the U.K. to be diagnosed H.I.V.-positive, and he’s still very much with us.

AX: Do people you seek you out for the darker parts, or do you seek out those characters? And were you surprised to be offered Jean Valjean?

WEST: No, I don’t seek out the darker parts at all, no. But I suppose once you play one, then that’s how people see you [laughs].

AX: 300 is hard to forget …

WEST: [laughs] Yes, exactly. It is tricky, especially with a part like that, where you have to be the villain for other reasons in order to make the hero more heroic, I suppose. But no, I wasn’t really surprised to be offered Jean Valjean. I don’t know what I thought. Well, I suppose I thought, “Well, it’s been done, in the musical and the film, and why are we doing it again?”

AX: Did you come up with a satisfactory answer for LES MISERABLES to “Why are we doing it all again?”

WEST: Oh, absolutely, yeah. To my amazement, it’s only ever been given a two-hour outing for the [most part]. I think the BBC did an adaptation in the ‘60s, but even that was only five half-hours. This is actually the longest adaptation of LES MISERABLES, I think, I don’t know about French television, but I think that’s probably ever been, and therefore there’s every reason to do it, because of the scale of the book, and because, as people have said, people think of it as a musical. And as wonderful a musical as it might be, there’s more to it.

AX: Had you read LES MISERABLES as a novel before you became involved with this version?

WEST: No, I’d never read it. I didn’t really know it. It never really crossed my radar. I did try and watch the film and didn’t get too far [laughs]. So no, I didn’t know it. I read it once I read Andrew’s scripts, which got me into it.

AX: Did you see yourself in the character, or the character in yourself, right away?

WEST: I suppose in any great, very well-written part, you respond to something in it that chimes with you, and a lot chimed with me in this, because the writing’s so great, it’s universal. It’s why it’s lasted this long.

AX: How do you see Valjean?

WEST: Well, apart from the physical – he’s got to be the strongest man in the world, and the greatest superhero ever – apart from that, the psychological difficulty for me was his guilt, the level of his guilt and his feeling of unworthiness. For a long time, I couldn’t understand how you could feel guilty about stealing a loaf of bread and being in jail for nineteen years. But of course, his psychology is so well-charted. It’s the psychology of someone who’s been incarcerated and believes they don’t deserve anything better, that they’re not worthy of being loved and giving love, they’ve been so starved of love and gentleness that they feel that they’re only worthy of prison life. And that’s why he surrenders himself to Javert three times, I think, and I could never understand why. You have to get into that different mindset.

AX: Valjean starts out with a beard of Biblical proportions. Did you have difficulty dealing with the beard?

WEST: [laughs] Actually, it did most of the work for me. Sometimes great hair and makeup does that for you, and costume. And it really did do a lot, that beard. You don’t really have to do anything with that, except that, with your eyes. The wig was far more trouble. The beard, I loved.

AX: How was it working with Derek Jacobi, who plays the Bishop of Digne, the first person to show kindness to Valjean? He’s not in it for very long, but …

WEST: Well, it’s a tricky part. If you hadn’t read the book, it opens with him, and what you realize is that Hugo has written the nicest, greatest man, the most virtuous, the most wonderful, the most compassionate human being who’s ever lived, in the Bishop of Digne, and you think, who the hell can play that? And there’s only one person who could possibly do it. He was actually supposed to be played by Max von Sydow. He was cast, and we were all going, “Max von Sydow, amazing.” But unfortunately, I think he broke his arm just before [shooting, and had to bow out]. Amazingly, we got Derek Jacobi, and you think, it couldn’t be anyone else. He’s a human being who exudes goodness in some way, and it was just wonderful acting with him. And watching him off-set as well – completely contained, slightly detached, not wasting his energy. It was a real education. He’s been a hero of mine for ages, but it was just bliss, acting with him.

AX: When you realized that there’s a large population that are confused about this LES MISERABLES not being a musical, what was your reaction?

WEST: No. It’s been interesting reading the reviews and the Twitter/social media stuff on it when it was airing in the U.K. For the first episode, people were, “Where are the songs? Can you hear the people sing – no, we can’t.” [laughs] But by Episode 2, they were with us. By Episode 2, people were going, “I’m in there.” Is it Episode 2 when Lily [Collins, who plays Fantine] has her teeth pulled out? That’s the scene when everyone went, “Right. I’m here now.”

AX: When you do play darker characters, do you get try to leave it all at work and then go home and be really kind to everybody in real life?

WEST: I think you have to, yes. The worst part was the Fred West part. Anyone who was ever involved in that case, or who wrote a book about it later, had a breakdown. So you have to be very careful with these sorts of characters, and with him, I think we shot the whole thing in three weeks, and it was in Manchester, and I could go home to London and be with my kids.

AX: Now that you’ve gotten to play Jean Valjean, can you imagine yourself in your later years, playing supreme good guy the Bishop of Digne?

WEST: Yeah, I’d love to. If it works out that well, then I’ve led a good life.

This interview was conducted during PBS’s portion of the Winter 2019 Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour.

#les mis bbc #bbc les mis #dominic west #Jean Valjean #Interviews #articles #pbs

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wizardysseus · 7 years

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Top 5 villains?

ASK ME MY TOP 5/TOP 10 ANYTHING

i’m gonna forget someone and beat myself up about it later, but here’s off the top of my head, in no particular order —

slade (teen titans)

slade is easily one of the creepiest villains i’ve ever had the pleasure of watching, especially in the context of a children’s cartoon. he doesn’t even have clear objectives — he doesn’t talk about taking over the world or the city or the tri-state area — but he works as a villain anyway. he’s smooth and cunning and always a step ahead in the game, and the most terrifying thing is that all he really seems to want is the titans’ attention. (well, robin’s.) i didn’t watch this show till i was 18 and holy shit it gets… blatant??? i kind of hate it?? but any narrative to do with children and agency really fucks me up, and in that slade becomes incredibly compelling. i hate him. it’s great

javert (les miserables, particularly in the musical — i’ve read the book but i’m less familiar with it)

i reblogged a post yesterday about how javert isn’t a villain, but he is inarguably an antagonist. and that’s what i like about him. his undoing isn’t extraordinary evilness, but the fact that he’s as much a victim of the human condition as — well, valjean. the musical parallels between them are about as subtle as a brick (ayyy), and i love them, especially the soliloquies. valjean seizes grace, and javert can’t; he built his whole life on justice and judgment, and getting caught between that and his own fall (the fact that he has been shown mercy, that he needed it) totally unravels him. not because he’s guilty, but because everyone is. not because valjean is innocent, but because innocence isn’t a condition of forgiveness. he can’t accept that. and i have a lot of tragic religious feelings about it, my friend.

tarrlok (the legend of korra)

i have never come around on a character faster than i did with tarrlok. one day i was ranting to kaitlin about how i would always hate him with every gut in my body, and the next day “skeletons of the past” aired and called all my beliefs into question. i could talk for a long time about his backstory and how much new light it sheds on his character in retrospect. or how self-hating and complex and trapped tarrlok is. or how his ending devastated me. ultimately, though, tarrlok is part of a throughline in the show where korra could never totally write off her villains as pure evil (somehow without the writers ever slipping into the idea that Maybe The Heroes Are The Real Villains). every season was so clever and hard-hitting that way, but tarrlok is still my favorite. everyone [over an appropriate age] should watch lok.

iago (othello)

sooo i think all the talk about “what could iago’s REAL motive possibly be?” is bullshit — the play is, pretty obviously, about racism. iago hates othello because iago is racist. it’s not a trick question…? the play doesn’t really seem interested in ~drawing me in~ to iago’s version of events. after all, i know every one of his lies. instead, it implicates me in them. much smarter people than me have written a lot on the subject, particularly how iago’s soliloquies force the audience into the position of co-conspirator — that’s supposed to make you squirm. and ideally, seeing exactly how iago pits othello’s innocence against pervasive societal hatred makes it impossible to deny the destructiveness. othello internalizes the hatred. we don’t get to, because we saw it in the manufacturing stages.

or at least, that’s how i think the text is meant to be read. i’m not black, so whether billy shakes Did It Right is not for me to say. but it made an impression on me, so there it is.

loki (marvel)

i love him as a villain. i love him as an ambiguous trickster who might be helping or might (will probably) betray you. i cry about kid!loki every day of my life. i love loki’s relationship with his brother, i love family drama. i love his sad backstory (it is sad! so sue me!). i think tom hiddleston was a really great choice for the mcu, and heck, thor 1 is what got me into marvel. the longer i go without canon content, the less i care if ragnarok is good and the more i just want to see him and thor onscreen together again. i’ve talked about them a lot, and reblogged some good meta, and some really really bad meta, and they are my DUMB, MESSY KIDS, amen and amen.

honorable mentions

dr. heinz doofenshmirtz, because he works hard and he deserves it

obligatory addition that Magneto Is Not A Villain but i would give my life for him

#citizen-of-the-fandom #citizenofthefandom #ask #i really do like all kinds of villains #creepy or tragic or pure evil or believing themselves the hero or morally ambiguous or anything else #and so all forms of the villain discourse are tiring to me lmfao #racism cw #abuse cw #just to be safe #thoughts #long post

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hoenursey · 7 years

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Hi, can I ask the I guess story of Othello real quick even just a summary if you don't want to go in depth because I was excited about hearing about it, but then I was also really thrown off seeing Othello being a slave and all and now I'm just kinda confused?? Because Nursey in silk with a choking kink DOES sound amazing but I guess I'm just confused af now

lmao, okay, so. originally i was writing just an au of nursey and dex playing desdemona and othello, respectively. however, othello’ character background is that he was a former slave and a moorsman, or a person from the moor, and moorsmen are black people.

the beginning of othello starts with roderigo and iago outside of the house of brabantion, desdemona’s father. roderigo is jealous of othello because he’s in love with desdemona and she pretty much turned everyone down and she’s like dainty and pretty and hot as fuck, like the most beautiful fair girl ever and shit, but she’s falling in love with othello. also i’m pretty sure roderigo saw her and othello chilling or w/e. so basically, in the middle of the fuckening night, roderigo and iago start yelling to brabantion to come outside and talk to them. brabantion is generally a pretty cool dad and he’s like “bitch she doesn’t like u stop getting drunk and coming to my house my daughter turned ur ass down already”, rod and iago proceed to say a bunch of racist shit and say “check her bed she’s out being a slut with a black dude lol” to which dadbra says “she would never she’s so sweet and she’s also turned down literally everyone who’s ever wanted to date her” but desi, my girl, is actually gone from her bed, so dadbra is like “you’re right!!! i can’t believe my daughter is fucking around before marriage in the middle of the night!!! i trusted her!!! time to go chase after othello, who i welcomed into my house, with a bunch of pitchforks” which they do. they show up to othello’s crib like “what’s up here’s our accusations time to throw you in jail for fucking my daughter because if she turned down all the hot dudes in the entire city she’s definitely not gonna fuck a black dude out of wedlock unless there was some type of witchcraft involved” to and othello is like “uhh okay cool i’m dealing with the house of senators rn so like. can this wait a second my dudes” and they’re like “perfect! we’re gonna show them what a terrible black dude you are!”

they go in front of the senators and they’re like “what’s the sitch why is this angry mob here my dude” dadbra is like “uh he fucked my daughter, i’m sending him to jail for witchcraft or kidnapping bc there’s literally no other way she’d fuck a black dude when she doesn’t even like these hot white dudes”

othello’s like “uh actually i married her”

everyone: “what”

and he kind of explains like “buddy yeah i’m not super good with words so i’m not gonna bs you. i married your daughter. no kidnapping, drugging, or witchcraft. she fell in love with me and so now we’re married. she’s at the inn down the street also so like i’m def not fucking her since we’re at my house and she’s at a hotel”

everyone except dadbra is like “oh okay that sounds reasonable” but dadbra is like “you’re telling me that my good white upper class daughter fell in love with a black dude who she’d be afraid to look at? i’m calling bullshit it’s clearly witchcraft”

the duke p much is like “uh… but where’s the receipts tho i don’t see any witchcraft” and the senators are like “go get desdemona so we can confirm this also othello bro keep talking”

othello’s like “yeah i was a warrior and i travelled a lot and dadbra used to like me a lot so he invited me over to hear my stories about the wars and how i fought and battles and being on ships. i told him my entire life story from when i was a kid all the way until now, how i was captured and sold as a slave, how i bought my own freedom and just all types of cool shit and then when she did her chores around the house for dadbra she would come around as soon as she finished and ask me more and ask me to tell her more stories” essentially desi thinks he’s hot and a tragic hero and she’s like “everything that happened to you sucks but you’ve also got some sick ass stories so maybe that makes it a little better? idk sorry all this bad shit happened to you but you’re rly interesting to talk to. if any friends had any stories like yours i’d probably fall in love with them”

othello’s like “yeah uh i’m not that smart and i’m more of a military dude than an intellectual but i know a fucking hint when i see one”

he says the sweetest thing too like “she loved me for the horrors i had been through and that i had the strength to come out on top, and i loved her for feeling so strongly about me and having passion. here comes my wife now and she’ll tell you the exact same story”

desi comes in and is like “yeah dad sorry i shouldn’t have like run out in the middle of the night to get married but i really do love him promise no messing around”

and this is part of the reason i think brabantion is kinda cool bc he’s not actually a racist he just said some shit without rly thinking and let the things that he’s used to hearing influence him and he’s like “oh, well, you’re in love. that’s fine then sorry i didn’t realize. i’m super glad you’re my only daughter because after this whole disaster, if you’d had any younger sisters i know i would have overreacted and acted like a prison warden to them and women don’t deserve that. i’m still a little upset abt u sneaking out in the middle of the night but like blessings on your marriage i guess.

so that’s like…. act one

later on some fuckery happens, iago decides to be a dick, because they’re all together for some reason that i don’t feel like saying idk something abt the turks and also because he’s a miserable worm

cassio is one of their friends who’s also there and he’s, like, some type of foreign i think (probably spanish or italian) and has respect for women and his wife (who’s not there) but bc he’s spanish or italian (probably italian as verona is mentioned and shakespeare REALLY has a thing abt italy??? idk he’s a pasta fucker) or whatever he does the thing where he kisses people on the cheek and because it’s the elizabethan era, he kisses women’s hands, and earlier he had like politely greeted desdemona and iago’s wife and called them beautiful and smart and shit and called iago out on being a misogynistic piece of shit. iago like actively hates his wife and also literally anyone else’s happiness so he’s like i’m gonna fuck up cassio’s life and i’m gonna fuck up othello and desi’s and also he’s a jealous racist misogynistic asshole wants to fuck up othello and desdemona’s (healthy, loving, trusting, equal) relationship so he’s like

"hey othello. ur wife’s a slut. she’s fucking cassio behind ur back lol”

and othello, who thinks his wife is the shit, is like *daveed diggs voice* “whaaaaat”

iago: “yeah totes she’s a massive hoe”

and othello is like “nah not my wife. maybe someone else’s wife, but not mine”

and iago is like “no bro im serious. we’re sleeping in the same bed (i don’t know why i mean his fucking wife is there isn’t she) he’s been having like wet dreams about her and saying ‘damn i wish u weren’t with that black dude’ and he’s been rolling over in his sleep and dry humping me whilst moaning ur wife’s name” (honestly iago the reason you don’t like women is because you’re gay and jealous calm down)

(literally that was so extra i can’t believe how overwhelmingly bisexual shakespeare was that he needed to slide that gay ass shit in there)

anyways othello’s like “okay so that’s a little weird but that doesn’t mean she did anything. maybe cassio just wants to bang my wife. that’s understandable, as id also like to bang my wife” (they’re super into PDA they’re so in love)

iago: fair. also iago: i mean there’s no way to prove it but like… maybe your wife gave him something. like, idk, does she have a hand embroidered handkerchief maybe? just a thought just a thought lolothello: ya i gave that to her as like a courtship gift she never goes anywhere without it bc she loves me so muchiago: yeah well uh i cassio wiping his beard with it so they’re definitely fuckingothello, my dumb son: NO!!! THAT DEFINITELY MEANS THEYRE FUCKING IF MY WIFE GAVE AN ITEM OF GREAT SENTIMENTAL AND PERSONAL SIGNIFICANCE TO HIM!!! MY ABSOLUTELY TOTALLY FAITHFUL AND COMPLETELY INNOCENT UP UNTIL THIS POINT WIFE!!!!

so he’s like “uh i have to kill her i guess now :(((((((”

problem is he’s still fucking in love with her like he literally loves her so much and can’t even bear to stab her like a normal person would do if they’re trying to kill their wife, so what does he do? he fucking kisses her awake to explain what he’s doing and why he’s doing it and then gently smothers her to death

so gently, in fact, that she doesn’t actually die, just passes out

a servant walks in and is like “boi what the FUCK”

othello: uh

it’s desi’s handmaiden lmao and he’s like “i had to she’s fucking other men” to which she says “no she’s not you idiot” and then desdemona wakes up to say something dramatic and then properly dies

except no she doesn’t bc othello literally is just really really fucking in love with his wife so he’s an incredibly ineffective murderer despite literally having been in the military for almost all of his life but that’s all i’m explaining bc my hands are tired and i answered this all on mobile plus that’s all you need to know for my story

#othello #aus #anonyomous #fic talk #asks

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harryandmeghan0-blog · 6 years

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Plymouth's Theatre Royal is now a listed building

New Post has been published on http://harryandmeghan.xyz/plymouths-theatre-royal-is-now-a-listed-building/

Plymouth's Theatre Royal is now a listed building

The Theatre Royal holds a special place in the hearts of Plymouth people.

Now the Royal Parade attraction can be enjoyed for generations to come after heritage experts granted it special protection.

The 36-year-old cultural mecca has been Grade II-listed – one of a number of new UK sites safeguarded by Historic England.

Cultural chiefs who signed off the deal praised the venue – opened by Princess Margaret in 1982 – for its ‘sophisticated example’ of 20th century design.

They also lavished praise on the Theatre Royal – commissioned by Plymouth City Council as a venue that could cater both large and small productions – for its ‘distinctive geometric forms’.

The milestone comes as theatre bosses bring to life one of the biggest public artworks to land in Plymouth for some time.

A giant bronze sculpture dubbed ‘Bianca’ (though that is not her official name) will stand proudly outside the Theatre Royal potentially by the end of the year, as reported by Plymouth Live.

Bianca: The key facts

Planning permission for installation of the bronze sculpture was granted by Plymouth City Council on February 9, 2017.

The sculpture is based on a pose struck by the actress playing Bianca in Frantic Assembly’s version of Othello, which was co-produced with the Theatre Royal Plymouth.

Weighing around 3,500kg, the sculpture will measure seven metres tall and nine metres (30ft) wide. To put that into perspective, the average double-decker bus measures 4.38metres tall by 15 metres wide.

The idea for a sculpture was born three years ago and forms part of the Theatre Royal Plymouth’s £7.5million regeneration project.

The artist behind the sculpture is Joseph Hillier, born and raised in Helston, Cornwall, and who studied at Falmouth College of Art before attending Newcastle University.

Frantic Assembly is an award-winning company creating “thrilling, energetic and unforgettable theatre with a unique and physical style”. The company has co-produced seven shows with Theatre Royal Plymouth including Lovesong, The Believers and Othello.

Standing seven-metres (23ft) tall, nine-metres (30ft) wide and weighing in at more than eight tonnes, the sculpture will be a third of the height of Smeaton’s Tower, wider than a tennis court and heavier than an African bull elephant.

It brings the number of buildings and sites under protected status in England to 400,000.

Historic England chief executive Duncan Wilson said: “The list is a treasure trove of special historic places that demonstrates the rich variety of England’s history.

“Reaching 400,000 entries is a milestone – it confirms just how important our heritage is and how much deserves protecting for future generations.”

Construction of Theatre Royal car park, 1980

Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright said: “The National Heritage List for England tells the story of our past, and the people, places and events that shaped it.

“This landmark highlights the huge diversity of historic places that we have protected and the integral role heritage plays in our culture.”

Other national sites adopted by Historic England include the Art Deco terminal at Birmingham Airport and a 200-year-old cottage in Shropshire – which once housed animals and their owner under one roof.

Plymouth’s culture boss, Councillor Peter Smith said: “The Theatre Royal was built as somewhere where arts could thrive and a place for the people of Plymouth as well as the surrounding towns and countryside to enjoy quality performance and entertainment.

“It has become a key part of the city’s night time economy – to put it simply – a great night out for all ages, it has become a cultural powerhouse for the region and we are very proud in our role in making this happen.

“Getting the design right and flexible enough to take the big productions as well as allow experimental and smaller theatre to grow has proved to be so important.”

Theatre Royal: Key facts

It consists of a 1,300-seat main auditorium, The Lyric, which regularly hosts large-scale musicals, opera and ballet; a 200-seat studio, The Drum; and a 50-seat studio, The Lab.

On a separate site, Theatre Royal Plymouth also has a production and learning centre, TR2, featuring rehearsal studios and workshops for the production of set and costumes.

The theatre is a National Portfolio Organisation, receiving regular funding from Arts Council England.

A £7million regeneration Project was completed in September 2013 with a renovated front of house area and community performance space called The Lab.

Time Line

Theatre Royal: A Plymouth success story

1982

HRH Princess Margaret opens the Theatre Royal. Royal Charity Gala held with Leonard Rossiter, Dickie Henderson & Gene Pitney performing

Jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald performs

1983

Eric Sykes performs alongside Matthew Kelly in Alan Ayckbourn’s Time and Time Again

Warren Mitchell performs as Alf Garnett in The Thoughts Of Chairman Alf

The Three Degrees & Eartha Kitt perform

Terry Scott performs in Babes in the Wood

1984

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song & Dance performed at the Theatre Royal. This is the first Cameron Mackintosh production to come to the Theatre Royal. Stars Wayne Sleep & Marti Webb

Roger Redfarn appointed as Artistic Director

Danny la Rue appears in Mother Goose

1985

Lauren Bacall stars in Tennessee Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth

1986

Michael Bogdanov and Michael Pennington found the English Shakespeare Company, the inaugral production premieres here. The company go on to tour across the UK and worldwide

1989

Buddy co-produced with Paul Elliott premieres at the Theatre Royal

1990

Adrian Vinken OBE appointed General Manager

Des O’Connor stars in Cinderella as Buttons

1991

Barbara Windsor stars in Guys & Dolls

High Heels in the Rubble, about the Plymouth Blitz and performed by the people of Plymouth, opened with a guest appearance from Dame Vera Lynn

Sir Ian McKellen appears in Richard III

1992

Theatre Royal takes over operation of Plymouth Pavilions

Les Dawson stars in Dick Whittington

Edward Woodward appears in A Dead Secret

1993

Act Now campaign – Arts Council funding cut threat. Over 57,000 letters of support for the theatre stuck to the theatre’s windows, convoy of 20 coaches taken from Plymouth to Arts Council Head Office where opponents of the cuts sing a song from Les Miserables and hold a torchlight procession. Campaign was a success

Brian Blessed performs his one-man show

Bill Nighy appears in Arcadia

1994

World premiere of Copacabana with Barry Manilow in attendance. Gary Wilmot plays the lead role

Adam Faith performs in Alfie

1995

Out of the Rubble performed with over 500 people from the local community to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of VE Day

World premiere of Jolson starring Brian Conley

1996

Theatre Royal’s Young Company and People’s Company formed

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake performed. The first of many Matthew Bourne productions to be performed at the Theatre Royal

1997

Cameron Mackintosh’s Les Miserables tour opens at the Theatre Royal

First year of a 3 year residency for the Royal Shakespeare Company in the South West – Shakespeare performed in the Theatre Royal, Drum and Pavilions

Russ Abbot starred as Captain Hook in Peter Pan

1998

Cameron Mackintosh’s The Phantom of the Opera starts its UK tour at the Theatre Royal

Simon Stokes joins the Theatre Royal as Artistic Director

1999

Jason Donovan stars in The Rocky Horror Show as Frank ‘n’ Furter

2000

TMA voted the Theatre Royal Plymouth the Most Welcoming Theatre

Simon Callow stars in The Mystery of Charles Dickens

Hundreds of local people involved in Union Street, a story about Plymouth’s most famous street created with local volunteer researchers, performers and backstage teams with the help of a professional creative team

2002

Richard Briers performs in The Tempest

The Green Man performed in the Drum Theatre with Phil Daniels and Danny Webb

2003

TR2 opens – Europe’s first purpose built production and education centre opened by the Earl of Wessex on his own, contrary to the plaque in reception!

Cameron Mackintosh’s UK tour of Cats begins life at TR2 with the workshops undertaking their first major set build while the company are the first to use rehearsal rooms

Theatre Royal’s 21st birthday

Ross Kemp appears in The Taming of the Shrew

2004

Launch of the new touring production of Miss Saigon

Refurbishment of Theatre Royal auditorium – yellow seating replaced with blue seating

Theatre Royal voted whatsonstage.com Best Regional Theatre

2005

Philip Ridley’s controversial play Mercury Fur, a Drum co-production with Paines Plough, opens starring Ben Wishaw

The History Boys with James Corden and Dominic Cooper in the cast

World premiere of Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands

2006

The controversial Jerry Springer – The Opera tour opens at the Theatre Royal

Yukio Ninagawa’s Titus Andronicus performed in Japanese on the Theatre Royal stage

First UK performance of White Christmas on the Theatre Royal stage with Ken Kercheval and Lorna Luft starring alongside Craig McLachlan

2007

Drum Theatre wins The Empty Space Peter Brooke Award

2008

World premieres of the international tour of Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins, Flashdance the Musical and Matthew Bourne’s Dorian Gray

Frantic Assembly present Othello, a co-production with the Theatre Royal and their first production to be performed on the Theatre Royal stage

Lesley Garrett appears in Carousel

2009

Major new touring version of Pete Townshend’s rock opera Quadrophenia opens

Alistair McGowan stars in Measure for Measure

2010

Alison Steadman stars in Alan Bennett’s Enjoy

World premiere of Lend Me A Tenor, a Theatre Royal co-production which goes on to play in the West End

Complicite’s A Disappearing Number broadcast live across the world from the Theatre Royal

2011

Lovesong, a co-production with Frantic Assembly, premieres in the Drum and stars Sian Phillips

Complicite opens The Master and Margarita

2012

Cameron Mackintosh tour of The Phantom of the Opera opens at the Theatre Royal

The Drum Theatre presents its own productions, The Astronaut’s Chair and Horse Piss For Blood

Mathew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty has it’s world premiere on the Theatre Royal Stage

The Theatre Royal Plymouth is awarded the funding for it’s Regeneration Project

2013

Theatre Royal Plymouth productions of Forever House by Glenn Waldron and Solid Air by Doug Lucie open in The Drum

Theatre Royal Plymouth co-production with Told by an Idiot and Young Vic My Perfect Mind

Fight Night; a co-production with Belgian theatre company Ontroerend Goed

2014

Theatre Royal Plymouth productions of MAD MAN, Grand Guignol, Another Placeopen in The Drum

Co-productions include The Believers, SmallWaR, The Angry Brigade and Sirens

2015

Merit, After Electra, and The Whipping Man are Theatre Royal Plymouth productions

The Solid Life of Sugar Water, a co-production with Graeae Theatre opens in The Drum, followed by a successful Edinburgh Fringe Festival run and UK tour, ending at the National Theatre.

Pardon/In Cuffs written by Valentijn Dhaenens previews in The Drum before it’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival run at the Traverse Theatre

2016

The Theatre Royal Plymouth production of James Graham’s Monster Raving Looney opens in The Drum. Followed by a 5-week run in London at Soho Theatre

The Man With The Hammer written by Phil Porter and produced by Theatre Royal Plymouth

Russian playwright Mikhail Durnenkov’s play the war has not yet started produced by Theatre Royal Plymouth opens in The Drum

Shon Dale Jones’s The Duke is co-produced with Hoipolloi, PBJ Management and Theatre Royal Plymouth

Told by an Idiot return to The Drum with Heads Will Roll a co-production with Told by an Idiot

Ontroerend Goed return with World Without Us a co-production with Arts Centre Vooruit Ghent, Theatre Royal Plymouth & Richard Jordan Productions, previews in July and embarks on a hugely successful Edinburgh Fringe Festival run. Winning a Fringe First award before returning to The Drum in November.

Billy Elliot The Musical starts its UK & Ireland tour in Plymouth

BIG The Musical starring Jay McGuiness makes its European Premiere

Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins enjoys a magical run at Theatre Royal Plymouth

Wind in the Willows starring Rufus Hound opens in The Lyric and has now been confirmed for a London Palladium run in 2017

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