It’s the first chance to catch the eagerly anticipated Hamlet on Saturday. Pete Smith is Hamlet and Alan Marshall directs a very special version of possibly the most famous play of all.

In an interview in 2007, specially recorded to accompany the release of a DVD compliation of some of her best work at the BBC, Helen Mirren, who played Beatrice-Joanna in a 1974 BBC production of ‘The Changeling’, had this to say about the role and the genre;
“I adore Jacobean tragedy. I have a great affinity for it. I’ve done three altogether; The Duchess of Malfi which I did later, The Changeling and The Revenger’s Tragedy which was my first big role in the theatre. And I still love it and I’d jump at the chance to do another.
  I think it appeals to my romantic nature; to my gothic nature. You know, I think if I was a young girl nowI’d be a goth because I love that sort of dark, but passionate, but emotional, romantic…it just, it appeals to me.
  I think another reason I love Jacobean drama is the women’s roles are fabulous. They’re great; they’re sexy, they’re extreme, they’re incredibly evil and they’re full of dichotomies and complexity and Beatrice-Joanna is an absolute case in point.
  I’d love to do a modern day version of The Changeling because I think it’s a fascinating story of someone who is so repulsed, utterly repulsed by someone but actually finishes up completely obsessed by them. I mean he’s ugly; he’s physically ugly. He’s also lower class, he’s the servant - so she can’t see him even as a human being but he sees himself very much as a human being and he is absolutely obsessed by her. There’s a wonderful story about class.”

(Helen Mirren Remembers, 2007, BBC DVD)

The Crescent Theatre is proud to bring you the Midlands’ non-professional premiere of Victoria Wood’s Olivier Award-winning musical. Auditions are this week so if you want to be in it then check the auditions section at www.crescent-theatre.co.uk and if you’d like to see it then tickets are on sale now at the same address or call the box office on (0121) 643 5858.

This clip is from the 2005 BAFTA tribute to Victoria Wood and features Celia Imrie as Miss Babs in ‘Tip Top Tap’.

The senior Youth Theatre members are currently hard at work on their production of ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’ by Tom Stoppard (directed by Robert Ball). First night is the 24th March - see main site for details.

The Crescent Theatre has been working at full stretch this month; the set is being built for The Indian Boy, Hamlet is in the final month of rehearsals, The Changeling is (nearly) cast and the cast of My Mother Said I Never Should has just started work. To whet your appetite for what’s coming up later in the season here’s an extract from an interview with Charlotte Keatley, the author of My Mother Said… at The West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2005 in which she talks about the origins of the play, how and why she wrote it and its astonishing international success.

Sarah McCaffrey, Matt Banwell, Pete Smith, Andrew Cowie and myself all met at the huge and freshly installed Hamlet billboard this evening to see how it looks. It looks great so after a few quick pictures we retired to The Green Room for a celebration beer and to distribute some more Hamlet flyers.

I think Pete had a second sneaky look on the way home but who can blame him? How many days can you say a huge billboard with your face on it gets put up in Birmingham city centre?

Slightly ahead of schedule the Hamlet billboard poster went up on the morning of Tuesday 16 February and Gary the billposter created a lovely piece of street theatre in the glorious Spring sunshine while he was doing it. In case you can’t place where it is, it’s on the corner between the Birmingham Markets and The Arcadian so go and see the billboard for free and then buy a ticket for the show!

In a bold move, The Crescent Theatre has commissioned a 96-sheet billboard to advertise our forthcoming production of Hamlet. Based on a stunning shot from Renaissance Man Graeme Braidwood, the huge poster will soon be seen towering over the fine people of Birmingham.