National Theatre to tour The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
- Alan Hulme
- 9 minutes ago
- 2 min read
The National Theatre's new production of hit northern comedy The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, which opens in London in December, will tour to three northern dates in the New Year: the Theatre Royal in Newcastle (February 3-6), Sheffield's Lyceum (February 9-13) and the Lowry in Salford (February 23-27).
The new production of Jim Cartwright's best-known play will feature Francesca Mills (Silent Witness), who will play the title role of Little Voice, with Olivier award-winning Jill Halfpenny (The Long Shadow) as her mother and BAFTA award-winning Paul Chuckle (The Madam Blanc Mysteries) - and yes, formerly of the Chuckle Brothers and really Paul Elliott - as Mr Boo, the night club owner. Further casting is still to be announced.
Written by Bolton's Cartwright in 1992, Little Voice is one of his most successful plays and has been seen in various translations around the world.
Alone in the sanctuary of her small bedroom, Little Voice fills the air with pitch‑perfect renditions of her deceased dad’s prized record collection of the great divas, from Judy Garland to Billie Holiday. But when her mother Mari's latest fling, local wheeler-dealer
Ray, hears her sing, he’s certain he has struck gold. Will Little Voice be pushed into a spotlight she never asked for?
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice will be the first National Theatre production to tour as part of NT Nationwide - a partnership with regional theatres - supported by funding from Arts Council England. It will be directed by the National's recently-appointed deputy artistic director, Robert Hastie.
The partnership brings together the expertise and reach of the Lowry, Belgrade Coventry, Birmingham Hippodrome, Leeds Heritage Theatres, Curve in Leicester, the Marlowe in Canterbury, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Norwich Theatre, Sheffield Theatres, Southampton's Mayflower, the Theatre Royal, Plymouth and Theatre Royal Nottingham.
This first initiative for the network is designed to boost touring of
National Theatre productions direct from London with original
casts to all English regions, with Arts Council England support.
This comes with subsidised tickets and new schools touring productions across the country, intended to revive the flagging nature of touring drama. Recent research from ACE shows the number of plays touring England has fallen by 64 per cent since 2019 - a consequence of Covid and other events that have hit the nature of touring as well as increasing costs.
The new nationwide schools touring programme will also deliver original, curriculum-linked productions into primary and secondary schools and local venues.
The first, this autumn, will see writer Nima Taleghani and director Hannah Hauer-King create an adapted version of Euripides’ ancient Greek tragedy The Bacchae, following its debut at the National. This modern retelling will be brought to life with rhythm, movement and music.
The production will visit secondary schools and colleges across the North West from November 16-21, including public performances at the Lowry (November 20-21).
More info and tickets here