The whole team at Riverside Studios is thrilled to announce further details of REP: RADICAL CLASSICAL, an ambitious repertory season of plays presented by Flywheel Theatre Company, Veritas Productions and Riverside Studios as part of the iconic West London venue’s year-long 50th anniversary celebrations.
Inspired by the traditional repertory companies of the past, a single ensemble of five actors will perform five classic plays across five weeks. Each production has a direct connection to Riverside’s theatrical history, revisiting plays, artists and landmark productions from the venue’s first half-century.
Riverside Studios also announces two special fundraising events with acclaimed actors Simon Callow CBE and Lindsay Duncan CBE, both of whom have longstanding connections to the venue.
Running in Studio 3 from Tuesday 8 September to Saturday 10 October, REP: RADICAL CLASSICAL celebrates five decades of Riverside’s theatrical programming through five plays with significant links to the venue.
The season opens with Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard from 8–12 September. The Cherry Orchard was the first play produced at Riverside under Artistic Director Peter Gill in 1978. Gill’s acclaimed minimalist staging became the arts centre’s first theatrical hit, and Flywheel will now offer a new interpretation of Chekhov’s classic drama about a family facing the loss of its home.
From 15–19 September, the company will perform Molière’s The School for Wives, regarded as one of the playwright’s finest comedies. The play was previously presented at Riverside Studios by English Touring Theatre in 1995.
Racine’s 17th-century tragic masterpiece Phaedra follows from 22–26 September. The play was last staged at Riverside in 2002 in a production directed by Deborah Warner.
From 29 September–3 October, Flywheel will present Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Blending comedy, tragedy and moral uncertainty, the play was among the first Shakespeare productions staged at Riverside, appearing at the venue in 1979 with a cast led by Helen Mirren.
The repertory concludes with Dario Fo’s farce The Virtuous Burglar from 6–10 October. Fo was a regular visitor to Riverside Studios during the mid-1980s and hosted a series of theatre workshops at the venue with his wife and creative collaborator, Franca Rame.
Audiences can book all five productions in the REP: RADICAL CLASSICAL season and receive a 25% discount. A press performance for the season will take place on Thursday 10 September at 7.30pm.
The REP: RADICAL CLASSICAL season is led by Artistic Director Benedict Esdale, produced by Adeyinka Akinrinade for Veritas Productions, and associate produced by Nik Haukoh. They are joined by stage and costume designer Rebecca Ward, co-lighting designers Brett Kasza and Thea Bulgin, dramaturg William J Dunleavy, stage manager Lauren Vickers, graphic designer Rebecca Thomas, casting director Fran Cattaneo, assistant producer Mercy Ola, creative associate Jack Robertson, marketing by Cup of Ambition, photographer Miranda Mazzarella, and with costumes supplied by Thespis Theatrical Costumiers.
Simon Callow CBE in Conversation will take place on Sunday 6 September at 3.30pm. Callow has earned the distinction of being the actor who has made the most appearances at Riverside Studios, with productions including Dickens’ Dr Marigold and Mr Chops, Shakespeare: The Man from Stratford and Juvenalia demonstrating his wide-ranging interests and versatility as a performer.
During the event, Callow will discuss his life and career as an actor, writer and director. His extensive credits include originating the role of Mozart in Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus, alongside screen appearances in A Room with a View, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Maurice, Postcards from the Edge, Howards End, Shakespeare in Love, Lewis, Inside No. 9 and Doctor Who.
Lindsay Duncan CBE in Conversation will follow on Sunday 11 October at 3.30pm, welcoming the Tony and Olivier Award-winning actor back to Riverside Studios. Duncan last appeared at the venue in 1980, playing Portia in Peter Gill’s landmark production of Julius Caesar.
Since then, she has become one of Britain’s most celebrated stage and screen actors. Her film credits include Prick Up Your Ears, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Le Week-End, Birdman and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, with television appearances including G.B.H., Shooting the Past, Doctor Who, Rome, Sherlock, Black Mirror, Absolutely Fabulous and The Morning Show. Her theatre work includes the original productions of Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls and Polly Stenham’s That Face at the Royal Court, A Delicate Balance on Broadway and Dear Octopus at the National Theatre.
Both events will offer audiences the opportunity to hear two distinguished Riverside alumni reflect on their lives, careers and relationships with the venue. Each ticket purchased will help Riverside Studios remain inclusive and accessible, supporting the provision of free and affordable space for emerging creatives and initiatives including its annual Bitesize Festival, which develops and showcases new writing.
Further In Conversation events featuring special guests associated with Riverside Studios will be announced in late autumn.
Season curator Daniel Thurman said: “Our previous In Conversation events – with Helen Mirren, Lenny Henry, Robert Lindsay and the cast of Goodness Gracious Me – have been fascinating and joyous occasions, so I am looking forward to welcoming more brilliant actors back to Riverside. These are informal affairs, which allow special insight into their craft and their many influences”.
