Riflemind, the new play by Sydney Theatre Company’s Andrew Upton, will close at Trafalgar Studios on 25 October after a run of just over a month. It had been booking until 3 January.
Riflemind centres on John, the frontman of an iconic rock band whose members plan to get back together 20 years after splitting up. For John, the reunion might be his second chance, but for his wife Lynn, it could be the end of the world as she knows it. One weekend the band descends on John’s country manor in what becomes a test of talent, friendship and loyalty.
In addition to Hannah, the cast comprises Paul Hilton, Susan Prior, Steve Rodgers and Jeremy Sims.
Writer Upton is the co-Artistic Director of Sydney Theatre Company (STC) along with his wife, the actress Cate Blanchett, and the play premiered there in 2007, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Artistic Director of New York’s LAByrinth Theater Company and an acclaimed actor who worked with Blanchett on The Talented Mr Ripley.
Riflemind’s London production, also directed by Hoffman, marked the start of a new international collaboration between Trafalgar Studios, LABryinth and STC, which has been made an Associate Company of the London venue.
As yet no show is scheduled to fill the gap left by Riflemind at Trafalgar Studio 1.
In other news, spoof Eurovision musical Eurobeat is to close at the Novello theatre two weeks early, on 1 November. Craig Christie and Andrew Patterson’s comedy songfest had been booking until 15 November.
A spandex-filled homage to the annual song contest, Eurobeat imagines an edition of the competition held in Sarajevo, and features Mel Giedroyc and Les Dennis as its hosts, who introduce the tongue-in-cheek warblings of 10 countries. The members of the audience – who are each assigned a native country at the theatre door – are then asked to vote for their favourite entry by mobile phone, with the results being revealed by video link, country by country, in a parody of the real contest.
Already scheduled to follow Eurobeat into the Novello is Hamlet, the first of three shows in the annual London residency of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Starring David Tennant in the title role and Patrick Stewart as Claudius, Gregory Doran’s highly anticipated production opens on 9 December. It is followed in the new year by A Midsummer Night’s Dream (15 January to 5 February) and The Taming Of The Shrew (12 February to 7 March).
CB