BBC puts theatre centre stage with major season this November

With BBC Two’s major new adaptation of Sir Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Ian McKellen leading the season across television, radio and, online, new content announced today includes:

• Lenny Henry to present major 10-part Radio 4 documentary series on 100 year history of black British theatre and screen
• Across the regions, BBC One will be broadcasting 11 half-hour theatre specials, with actors including Sheila Hancock, Antony Sher and Alison Steadman talking about the health of regional theatres and the role they have played in their careers
• BBC English Regions will announce the findings of the first ever comprehensive analysis of box office data and audience trends gathered by UK Theatres at a range of venues around the country
• CBeebies broadcasts acclaimed stage show The Tale Of Mr Tumble starring Justin Fletcher
• Derek Jacobi presents BBC Four documentary on godfather of British stage David Garrick
• Royal Court artistic director Vicky Featherstone to curate BBC Arts online for a week, focussing on the migrant crisis
• Regular BBC Arts strands Imagine, Artsnight and Radio 2’s Arts Show dedicate special programmes to theatre
• Plus already announced: the BBC is partnering with Battersea Arts Centre and Arts Council England for Live from Television Centre on BBC Four, Harriet Walter’s season of drama on Radio 3 and Radio 2’s partnership with the Evening Standard Theatre Awards

Jonty Claypole, Director of Arts, BBC says: "British actors, writers and directors are famous across the globe. This is down in no small part to the extraordinary commitment and passion of theatres and theatre companies right across the UK. Working with our partners, BBC On Stage puts a spotlight on that world. It celebrates the everyday heroism of our theatres, the diversity of the work and talent they support, and the ambition and derring-do that makes British theatre the best in the world.”

In a major 10-part documentary series for Radio 4, Lenny Henry will tell the story of black British theatre and screen through ten landmark works and events. The series will span more than 100 years, from the first professional and successful black actor in Britain to the confident black performers and productions in the West End mainstream today. The exuberant story of this transformation will cover major markers of the period’s black history, riots, sus laws and legal injustices.

Commenting on his BBC Radio 4 series, Raising the Bar: 100 Years of Black British Theatre and Screen, Lenny Henry (pictured with playwright Winsome Pinnock) says: “I wanted to make a series which tells the history and struggle of black British creativity, which looks at the diaspora contribution to the UK’s cultural scene, predating the arrival of the Windrush generation, and which elicits passion, excitement and perhaps even anger amongst listeners due to some of our heroes remaining unsung.

"This Radio 4 series covers a huge span of black British theatre, TV and film - from Ira Aldridge to Steve McQueen and Nina Baden Semper to Bola Agbaje - it’s a great sweep of history that excites and stimulates the imagination. It is easy to forget that there were precedents to our current age of BAME breakthroughs, and by talking to the likes of Roy Williams and Mustapha Matura we acknowledge that the young reach their current heights by standing on the shoulders of those that went before.”

On BBC One across the regions, eleven documentaries will capture the challenges facing theatres across England. Actors including Sheila Hancock, Antony Sher and Alison Steadman talk about the health of regional theatres and the role they have played in their careers, while narrators of the programmes include Richard Wilson, Maureen Lipman, Derek Jacobi and Miriam Margolyes.

In addition BBC English Regions will announce the findings of box office data from theatres across the UK and gathered by UK Theatres.

On BBC Four, Sir Derek Jacobi presents a documentary on the most famous actor of the 18th century, David Garrick, and the In Conversation series returns as Mark Lawson talks to award-winning writer Sir David Hare. The Dresser writer Sir Ronald Harwood talks to The Dresser director Sir Richard Eyre, and Sue MacGregor talks to RSC artistic director Greg Doran and award-winning actor Sir Antony Sher.

CBeebies brings the hit stage show The Tale Of Mr Tumble from Manchester International Festival to the screen. The show follows Mr Tumble’s journey from a bouncing baby Tumble to the joyful entertainer familiar to so many.

Royal Court Theatre artistic director Vicky Featherstone will curate the BBC Arts Online for a week, focussing on British theatre’s response to the refugee and migrant crisis including a look at Good Chance, a creative space in the refugee camp in Calais.

KM

Television

Regional Theatre documentaries
9 November TBC, BBC One (English Regions)
Eleven documentaries will capture the challenges facing regional theatres across England, shown simultaneously on BBC One. Actors including Sheila Hancock, Sir Antony Sher and Alison Steadman talk about the health of regional theatres and the role they have played in their careers, while narrators of the programmes include Richard Wilson, Maureen Lipman, Sir Derek Jacobi and Miriam Margolyes. The theatres featured are Theatre by the Lake Keswick, Everyman Theatre Liverpool, The Curve Leicester, T.i.E Coventry, Frinton Summer Theatre, York Theatre Royal, Bristol Old Vic , theatres in Soho London, Exeter Northcott, New Theatre and The Kings Portsmouth, Theatre Royal Margate.

imagine… My Curious Documentary
10 November TBC, BBC One
Opening in 2012 at the National Theatre, the stage production of Mark Haddon’s bestselling book The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time has gone on to win seven Olivier Awards, is touring the UK and Ireland, and the Tony Award-winning Broadway production is taking New York by storm. The story in both the book and the play is told by a 15 year-old boy who finds other people frightening and confusing, and it has helped transform our understanding of a neurological condition that affects one in 100 children. Imagine... meets those involved in the play from early rehearsals and research to stage performances in both London and New York. This is interwoven with moving testimony from other children and families on the challenges they face as they live with autism.

imagine… The Last Impresario
17 November TBC, BBC One
In Gracie Otto’s film, we meet the most famous man you have never heard of - Michael White. White’s career as a theatre and film producer has spanned over 50 years. He paved the way for internationally acclaimed stage hits including A Chorus Line, Sleuth, Monty Python’s The Holy Grail and The Rocky Horror Show and has produced more than 300 shows, often against the odds and at great personal cost. His gregarious personality and philanthropic largesse have endeared him to some of the world’s most celebrated stars.

Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser
31 October TBC, BBC Two
One of the greatest portraits of life in the theatre, Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser has been adapted for television. The production brings Ian McKellen and Anthony Hopkins together on screen for the first time. Reverting to Harwood’s original text, adapted for television and directed by Richard Eyre, the play tells the story of one fateful night in a small regional theatre during World War Two as a troupe of touring actors stage a production of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Bombs are falling, the sirens are wailing, the curtain is up in an hour but the actor/manager Sir (Hopkins) who is playing Lear is nowhere to be seen. His dresser Norman (McKellen) must scramble to keep the production alive, but will Sir turn up in time and if he does, will he be able to perform that night? The Dresser is a wickedly funny and deeply moving story of friendship and loyalty as Sir reflects on his lifelong accomplishments and seeks to reconcile his turbulent friendships with those in his employ before the final curtain.

Artsnight special curated by Josie Rourke - Does Art Mirror Life?
20 November TBC, BBC Two
Josie Rourke, artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, delves into the complicated relationship between art and representation by asking the question: does art mirror life? Josie considers the difficulty of depicting real-life people in films and discusses ‘colour-blind’ casting in theatre.

Live from Television Centre
15 November TBC, BBC Four
The BBC is partnering with Battersea Arts Centre and Arts Council England in a collaboration with independent theatre-makers from across England, bringing them together to create five pieces of genre-busting theatre for BBC Four and iPlayer.

Live From Television Centre will feature interweaving and eclectic performances from Gecko, Richard Dedomenici, Touretteshero and Common Wealth across a two-hour live broadcast on BBC Four on Sunday 15 November 2015 at 9pm (transmission date TBC). Islington Community Theatre will create a fifth performance released exclusively on BBC iPlayer the same day.

All will be filmed in the iconic Television Centre complex, the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013, at locations within Studio One and the Drama Block for the BBC’s first live broadcast there since 2013. This exciting development in theatre for television will include brand new performances and adaptations of existing pieces, with short pre-recorded segments integrated with the live broadcast.

David Garrick: Godfather Of British Stage
Week 44, BBC Four
At the height of his fame in the mid 18th century, David Garrick was the most famous actor the world had ever seen. During his undisputed reign as lord and master of London’s theatreland he reinvented acting for the modern era and fashioned the cult of celebrity as we know it today. In this special Secret Knowledge Sir Derek Jacobi uncovers the secret of Garrick’s success, to tell the story of how a penniless young man from Lichfield became a national cultural icon.

In Conversation… Mark Lawson talks to David Hare
Week 46, BBC Four
Critically acclaimed award winning writer and director Sir David Hare talks to Mark Lawson, following the publication of his much anticipated memoir The Blue Touch Paper. Hare, one of Britain’s foremost political playwrights, made his name in the 1960s and rose to fame in the 1970s with Plenty, his play about post-war disillusion. He then went on to write a string of successes for The National Theatre, most notably his trilogy, of plays Racing Demon, Murmuring Judges and The Absence Of War, which critiqued Britain’s public institutions.

Hare has also written extensively for film and television, including The Reader, The Hours and Licking Hitler. In The Blue Touch Paper which begins with his birth in 1947 to the election of Margaret Thatcher, he interweaves the history of that period with the story of how a young boy from suburbia became a writer.

In Conversation… Sue MacGregor talks to Antony Sher and Greg Doran 
Tx TBC, BBC Four
Sue MacGregor talks to Antony Sher and Greg Doran about their stage work together and their shared passion for Shakespeare. Over the last two decades the actor and director have collaborated on ten shows including Macbeth, Henry IV pts 1 and 2 and Death Of A Salesman. Next year Doran will direct Sher in King Lear for the RSC, the company of which he is artistic director. The conversation affords an intimate insight into their long-running professional and personal partnership that is unique in British theatre.

In Conversation… Ronald Harwood talks to Richard Eyre
1 November TBC, BBC Four
To coincide with Richard Eyre’s new television version of Ronald Harwood’s play The Dresser, the two knights discuss Harwood’s long and distinguished career as a writer of plays and screenplays. The conversation will cover how Harwood’s own experience as dresser to the great Shakespearean actor Sir Donald Wolfit inspired The Dresser and take in other highlights of Harwood’s theatrical career, including Taking Sides and Collaboration, as well as films such as Quartet, The Diving Bell And The Butterfly and The Pianist, for which he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2003.

The Tale of Mr Tumble
7 November TBC, CBeebies
This original stage show starring Justin Fletcher premiered to great acclaim at Manchester International Festival in July. It was recorded for transmission on CBeebies and will air as two 40’ programmes.

The show tells how Mr Tumble became the joyful entertainer familiar to so many, following his journey from bouncing baby Tumble (with his bright red nose already in place), through his singing and dancing school years, right up to the present day.

Mr Tumble is joined by his friends and family, including Grandad Tumble and features Miss Eerie (Ronni Ancona) who runs a very serious stage school. There are lots of songs to join in with, comedy routines and Makaton signs. Find out how Mr Tumble got his starry waistcoat, spotty bag and bow tie in this funny, exciting show recorded at Manchester Opera House in front of a live theatre audience.

Radio

Radio 2

Friday Night is Music Night
Friday 13 November, 2000 – 2200 TBC
This special Friday Night Is Music Night will celebrate the Dance Masters of stage and screen, from Gene Kelly to Bob Fosse, Busby Berkely to Gillian Lynne, and Hermes Pan to Tommy Tune.

In the words of the Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen song, these are the choreographers who left their 'footsteps on the sands of rhythm and rhyme'. Coming from The Mermaid, London, the evening will feature three leading West End stars - Michael Xavier (Showboat), Stephen Ashfield (Book Of Mormon), and Louise Dearman (Wicked). Broadway maestro Larry Blank conducts the 70-piece BBC Concert Orchestra as they perform music from stage favourites including West Side Story, Sweet Charity, White Christmas, Saturday Night Fever, Cats, Dirty Dancing, Top Hat and many more.

Arts Show Theatre Special
Friday 27 November, 2200-2300 TBC
In a new media partnership with BBC Radio 2 and the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards, Radio 2 launched the inaugural Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical on Elaine Paige’s programme in October this year, with listeners casting their vote for the winner at bbc.co.uk/radio2
In its 61st year, the annual London Evening Standard Theatre Awards celebrate outstanding achievement and performance in London theatre.

The winner of the award will be announced live from the awards ceremony on Sunday 22 November 2015, as part of Claire Teal’s Radio 2 Sunday night programme between 9-11pm. On Friday 27 November at 10pm and presented by Anneka Rice, BBC Radio 2 will broadcast highlights of the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards with backstage interviews, performances and reporting from the red carpet in a special Radio 2 Arts Show.

Radio 3

Harriet Walter-curated season in Drama
Radio 3 presents three new productions starring or chosen by one of our leading stage actors, Dame Harriet Walter, as part of the BBC’s On Stage season in November 2015.

Ashes To Ashes/A Kind Of Alaska, by Harold Pinter
Sunday 15 November 2100-2230 TBC, Radio 3
Two new productions of powerful Pinter plays, starring Harriet Walter. In Ashes To Ashes from 1996, a troubling conversation between a wife and her husband about the past merges into the violence of unnamed political barbarity. A Kind of Alaska from 1982 tells the story of a woman emerging from 'sleeping sickness' and was written by Pinter after reading the book Awakenings by neurologist Oliver Sacks, who died in August of this year. Harriet Walter takes the role played by Judi Dench in the original production.

Dinner, by Moira Buffini
Sunday 22 November 2100-2230 TBC, Radio 3
Harriet Walter reprises her role as a Paige, a sharp-tongued hostess in this West End black comedy about an evening party. On the surprise menu to celebrate the publication of her husband’s new book, she lists Primordial Soup, Apocalypse of Lobster - and for dessert, Frozen Waste. It soon becomes a darkly comic dinner party from hell.

A Human Being Died That Night, by Nicholas Wright
Sunday 29 November 2100-2230 TBC, Radio 3
In Pretoria Central Prison, South Africa, a black psychologist prepares to sit opposite the apartheid regime's most notorious assassin: Eugene de Kock, nicknamed Prime Evil. She is a member of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and is interviewing de Kock while he serves 212 years for crimes against humanity, murder, conspiracy to murder, attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, illegal possession of firearms, and fraud. How did he become one of the most reviled figures in apartheid history? A Human Being Died That Night is based on the best-selling book by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and explores her extraordinary interviews with Eugene de Kock - and how a fundamentally moral person could become a mass murderer.

The original cast of the stage production bring this play to Radio 3 at Harriet Walter’s request. Since the play was recorded for Radio 3 Eugene de Kock has himself - controversially - been released on parole.

Sunday Feature: Making an Entrance – Asian Theatre in Britain
Sunday 22 November 1845-1930 TBC, Radio 3
Sarfraz Manzoor charts the history of Asian theatre in Britain, a tale which ranges from The Bayaderes, 'Priestesses of Pondicherry' - temple dancers who came to London from India in the 1830s, through to the current generation of actors, directors and writers.

Sarfraz examines how political and social unrest in the 1970s sparked the founding of the first high-profile Asian theatre company in Britain, and looks at how the 21st century has seen an increasingly wide range of work – from controversial plays and new, sometimes radical versions of classic texts to Bollywood-inspired musicals. With contributors including Hanif Kureishi, Tanika Gupta, Ayub Khan-Din, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Jatinder Verma and Sudha Bhuchar.

Radio 4

Raising the Bar – 100 Years of Black British Theatre and Screen
Monday 9 November – Friday 20 November TBC
Monday-Friday, 13:45-14:00 (10 part series)
Radio 4
Lenny Henry tells the story of black British theatre and screen through ten landmark works and events. In 1833 Ira Aldridge, the first professional and successful black actor in Britain (American by birth, he settled here and toured across the whole of Europe) performed Othello at Covent Garden. The press was outraged and after only two performances Aldridge was forced to leave the London mainstream theatre. A century later, playing Desdemona opposite the legendary Paul Robeson’s Othello, Peggy Ashcroft was asked by the press if she minded kissing him.

In the eight decades since then, black writers and performers have become a major presence on Britain’s stages, screens and TV. In a narrative history built round ten canonical works, creative artists and events, Lenny Henry tells the exuberant story of this transformation, weaving themes of roots, racism, colonialism, slavery, black consciousness, gender, sexuality, criminality - and not an inconsiderable dose of laughter - with the major markers of the period’s black history, riots, sus laws and legal injustices.

By the early days of this century, black theatre had moved from the territory of the subsidised theatre and ambitious but confident black theatre companies into the West End mainstream, which is where the series begins. It was a very long journey from the uncomfortable experiences of the 1930s and the racism of the early 1950s, when so many of the Empire Windrush generation arrived in the UK from the Caribbean.

The series will have theatre - playwrights, texts and performers - at its heart; but screenwriting, for both film and TV audience, was for many more recent performers and writers their point of realisation that a career in stage and screen drama was a realistic possibility. Featuring interviews with Mustapha Matura, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Steve McQueen, Winsome Pinnock, Yvonne Brewster, Paulette Randall, Roy Williams, Bola Agbaje, Lolita Chakrabarti, Isaac Julien, Michael Buffong, Alby James and Stephen Bourne amongst others.

Online

Vicky Featherstone curates BBC Arts Online 
Royal Court Theatre artistic director Vicky Featherstone will curate BBC Arts Online for a week, focussing on British theatre’s response to the refugee and migrant crisis including a look at Good Chance, a creative space in the refugee camp in Calais.

RSC’s Volpone
BBC Arts Online
We’ll capture Trevor Nunn’s brilliant adaptation from Stratford as co-commissioned by The Space.

iWonder
BBC iWonder will be publishing two guides as part of the season: one celebrating the qualities our great British actors bring to the stage, and the other a timeline of our rich theatrical culture. Included in these guides will be performance clips from our most treasured theatrical actors and audiences will be invited to vote for their favourite theatre actor from our shortlist. Look out for them on the 31 October and 8 November 2015.

BBC Get Creative
On Saturday 21 November the public will be invited behind the scenes of theatres around the country to experience the magic of the stage. Organised by UK Theatre and ITC in support of Get Creative, events will be free to take part and details will be listed on the BBC’s Get Creative website.

Production Credits

Arts Show Theatre
Producer: Anna Richards

Ashes to Ashes/A Kind of Alaska, by Harold Pinter
Producer: Toby Swift for the BBC

Dinner, by Moira Buffini
Producer: Jonquil Panting for the BBC

A Human Being Died That Night, by Nicholas Wright
Producer: Toby Swift for the BBC

Sunday Feature: Making an Entrance – Asian Theatre in Britain
Producer: Mohini Patel for the BBC

Raising the Bar – 100 Years of Black British Theatre and Screen
Producer: Simon Elmes for the BBC

KM

Related BBC Links

• BBC iWonder