The Menier Chocolate Factory returns to live performances in September, reopening with the European première of Paula Vogel’s Tony Award-winning Indecent – the production was in previews at the time of national lockdown in March 2020.
Opening in the company’s new smaller studio space, The Mixing Room, is the world première of Brian & Roger – A Highly Offensive Play inspired by their hit podcast Brian & Roger, written and performed by Harry Peacock and Dan Skinner. Artistic Director of the Menier David Babani directs the production opening in October.
December sees the return of the previously announced much-anticipated production of Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus, directed by Patrick Marber.
David Babani said today, “We couldn’t open with any other production – Indecent was days into previews when we had to shut down in March last year, and we were determined to reunite our brilliant company of actors and share Rebecca’s beautiful production with audiences here in the UK; the themes of which could not be more timely and prescient for the moment we find ourselves in. It’s also a joy to also be able to reschedule Habeas Corpus which sees Patrick Marber return to the theatre after his recent success with Travesties. Opening our new smaller studio space, The Mixing Room, is the stage première Brian & Roger – A Highly Offensive Play, bringing a much-needed dose of comedy to our audiences.”
Patrons with existing bookings for Indecent and Habeas Corpus should contact the box office to rebook for the new performance dates.
BOOKING DATES:
Indecent Supporter booking from: 21 June
Public on sale: 28 June
Brian & Roger Supporter booking from: 12 July
Public on sale: 19 July
Habeas Corpus Supporter booking from: 6 September
Public on sale: 13 September
SEE IT SAFELY - We have been granted the use of Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre's See It Safely mark. The mark certifies that we are complying with the latest Government and industry COVID-19 guidelines, to ensure the safety of our staff and audiences. You can find out more here https://officiallondontheatre.com/see-it-safely/ about the measures we have been putting in place ready for your visit, and what you will need to know beforehand.
The productions are being sold at full capacity – as an unsubsidised venue the Menier Chocolate Factory is unable to open with social distancing and remain commercially viable. Should there be further changes to the road map as the country, exits lockdown the Menier is committed to putting audiences first and will honour the option to rearrange or cancel bookings as needed.
MAIN STAGE
The Menier Chocolate Factory presents
The European première of
INDECENT
By Paula Vogel
Cast: Cory English - The Middle (Male); Beverley Klein - The Elder (Female); Finbar Lynch - The Stage Manager; Molly Osborne - The Ingenue (Female); Peter Polycarpou - The Elder (Male); Alexandra Silber - The Middle (Female); Joseph Timms - The Ingenue (Male); Merlin Shepherd - The Clarinettist; Anna Lowenstein - The Violinist, and Josh Middleton - The Accordionist
Director: Rebecca Taichman; Choreography: David Dorfman; Set Design: Riccardo Hernandez; Costume Design: Emily Rebholz; Lighting Design: Christopher Akerlind; US Sound Design: Matt Hubbs; UK Sound Design: Jonathan Everett; Projection Design: Tal Yarden; Music: Lisa Gutkin & Aaron Halva; Music Supervision: Lisa Gutkin; Music Direction: Merlin Shepherd
3 September – 27 November
Press Night: 13 September at 8pm
A seminal work of Jewish culture or an act of traitorous libel? Indecent explores the origins of the highly controversial play The God of Vengeance by Sholem Asch. We follow the path of the artists who risked their careers and lives to perform it in this deeply moving play accompanied by a small live klezmer band.
Indecent reunites Vogel and director Rebecca Taichman who co-created and directed the original production. Indecent had its world première production at Yale Repertory Theatre in October 2015. The play had its New York première Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre in May 2016, and transferred to Broadway in April 2017. It was nominated for the Tony Award for Best New Play and received Tony Awards for Best Direction of a Play for Taichman and Best Lighting Design of a Play for Christopher Akerlind (who will also light the Menier production).
Cory English returns to the Menier to play The Middle (Male) – he previously appeared in She Loves Me. His recent theatre work includes Sleepless in Seattle (Troubadour), Curtains (Wyndham’s Theatre), Young Frankenstein (Garrick Theatre), Guys and Dolls (Royal Albert Hall), Driving Miss Daisy (York Theatre Royal), Kiss Me Kate (Kilworth House), The Tempest (Bedouin Shakespeare Company), The Producers (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Urinetown (St James Theatre and West End), Dream of Perfect Sleep (Finborough Theatre), Chicago (Adelphi Theatre), and on Broadway in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Hello Dolly!, Damn Yankees, Guys and Dolls, Home Play and Gypsy. For television, his work includes Mysti and Oz; and for film The Conjuring 2, Empire II and Mountainaire.
Beverley Klein plays The Elder (Female). Her stage work includes The Beggar’s Opera (Bouffes du Nord, Paris), In Basildon (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch), Deathtrap (Salisbury Playhouse and UK tour), After October (Finborough Theatre), Young Chekhov Trilogy (National Theatre), Cornelius (Finborough Theatre and Brits Off Broadway), Sixty-Six Books (Bush Theatre), Restoration (Headlong), The Holy Terror (Duke of York’s Theatre), Camille (Lyric Theatre Hammersmith), Six Characters in Search of an Author (Young Vic), Romeo and Juliet, The Villain’s Opera and Summerfolk (National Theatre). For television, her work includes Liar, Mr Selfridge, Call the Midwife, Ripper Street, Down to Earth, Gimme Gimme Gimme and The Hello Girls; and for film, Swinging with the Finkels.
Finbar Lynch plays The Stage Manager. His extensive theatre work includes Girl From the North Country (Noel Coward Theatre, Gielgud Theatre and Toronto), The Lady From the Sea, Hecuba, To the Green Fields Beyond, Fool for Love, Translations (Donmar Warehouse), Richard III (Almeida Theatre), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Antony and Cleopatra, Not About the Nightingales (National Theatre), Antigone (Barbican and world tour), Desire Under the Elms (Lyric Hammersmith), The Fairy Queen (Glyndebourne, Paris, New York), The Duchess of Malfi (The Old Vic), Faith Healer (Bristol Old Vic), The Big Fellah (Out of Joint), The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropist (Chichester Festival Theatre), as well as for the RSC, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Measure for Measure, Amphibians, and A Woman Killed with Kindness. For television, his work includes Treasdstone, The Mallorca Files, The Feed, Foyle’s War, DCI Banks, Breathless, Game of Thrones, Silk and Proof; and for film, Adventures of a Mathematician, The World We Knew, Property of the State, Departure, Suffragette, To Kill a King and The Scold’s Bride.
Molly Osborne returns to the Menier Chocolate Factory to play The Ingenue (Female). She previously appeared in Fiddler on the Roof (also Playhouse Theatre).
Peter Polycarpou plays The Elder (Male). His theatre work includes A Very Expensive Poison (The Old Vic), Oslo (Harold Pinter Theatre), Ross, Guys and Dolls, The Pajama Game, Love Story (Chichester Festival Theatre), Sweeney Todd (Chichester Festival Theatre and Adelphi Theatre), Working (Southwark Playhouse), Mrs Henderson Presents (Toronto), The Magistrate (National Theatre), Anna in the Tropics (Hampstead Theatre), Les Miserables (25th Anniversary at the O2, Dubai), Oliver! (Curve, Leicester), City of Angels (Donmar Warehouse), Imagine This (New London Theatre), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London Palladium) and Oklahoma! (National Theatre). For television, his work includes Riviera, Unforgotten, Tyrant, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries, The Family Tree, Hustle, Empathy, and as series regular Chris in Birds of a Feather; and for film, Blue Iguana, Our Cyprus, Clean Skin, O Jerusalem, De-Lovely and Evita.
Alexandra Silber plays The Middle (Female). Her work for the stage in the UK includes Kiss Me Kate (BBC Proms), Carousel (Savoy Theatre – TMA for Best Performance in a Musical), Fiddler on the Roof (Sheffield Crucible and Savoy Theatre) and The Woman in White (Palace Theatre); and in the US, 50th anniversary production of Fiddler on the Roof (Broadway), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Camelot (Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC), My Fair Lady (MUNY), Arlington (Vineyard Theater), Dum Dee Tweedle (Detroit), West Side Story (San Francisco Symphony. Grammy nomination for the critically acclaimed recording), She Loves Me (Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts), Song of Norway (Carnegie Hall), Love Story the Musical (The Walnut Street Theatre), Hello Again (Transport Group) and Master Class (Kennedy Center, Manhattan Theatre Club). For television, her work includes Elementary, The Mysteries of Laura and Law and Order; and for film, 1408.
Joseph Timms plays The Ingenue (Male). His theatre work includes A Christmas Carol (RSC), The White Devil, The Taming of the Shrew, Henry IV Parts 1 &2, Bedlam (Shakespeare’s Globe), A Tale of Two Cities (Theatre Royal and Derngate, Northampton), The Hudsucker Proxy (Nuffield Southampton Theatre and Liverpool Everyman), Twelfth Night and Richard III (Belasco Theatre, Broadway), Bracken More (Tricycle Theatre), Privates on Parade (Noel Coward Theatre), Richard II (Donmar Warehouse) and Twelfth Night (National Theatre). For television, his work includes Atlantis and Amerikan Kanibal.
Paula Vogel is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright whose other plays include How I Learned to Drive (Broadway production set for spring 2022; Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Lortel Prize, OBIE Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics Awards for Best Play), The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Mineola Twins, The Baltimore Waltz, Hot’n’Throbbing, Desdemona, And Baby Makes Seven, The Oldest Profession and A Civil War Christmas. Her plays have been produced across the US and worldwide.
Rebecca Taichman directs. Her credits include Sing Street (New York Theatre Workshop), Time and the Conways (Roundabout Theatre Company at the American Airlines Theatre), School Girls; Or, The Mean African Girls Play (MCC), This Flat Earth, Familiar, Stage Kiss, Milk Like Sugar (Playwrights Horizons), How To Transcend a Happy Marriage (Lincoln Center), Rappaccini's Daughter, Dark Sisters (Gotham Chamber Opera), Luck of the Irish (LCT3), Orlando (Classic Stage Company), Orpheus (New York City Opera), The Scene (Second Stage), Menopausal Gentleman (The Ohio Theatre).
Indecent is being presented in association with Daryl Roth, Elizabeth I McCann and Cody Lassen.
THE MIXING ROOM
The Menier Chocolate Factory presents
The world première of
BRIAN & ROGER – A Highly Offensive Play
Written and performed by Harry Peacock and Dan Skinner
Director: David Babani; Set and Costume Design: Robert Jones
Lighting Design: Paul Anderson; Sound Design: Gregory Clarke
22 October – 18 December
Press night: 1 November at 8pm
Brian and Roger met at a support group for recently divorced men. Roger was attending because he was genuinely grieving the loss of his marriage. Brian was instructed to attend by his solicitor if he wanted to dodge paying alimony. Roger is in need of guidance and support, which Brian willingly supplies. Both are starting again. Both are finding it hard. One of them is nice.
Described as ‘Best British comedy happening right now’ (Daily Telegraph), the original podcast Brian & Roger was written and performed by Harry Peacock and Dan Skinner. It was produced by Marc Haynes and Joel Morris for Great Big Owl.
Harry Peacock plays Brian. His theatre credits include Henry IV (Parts 1&2), His Dark Materials, Cyrano de Bergerac (National Theatre), Macbeth (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Low Road, Chicken Soup with Barley (Royal Court Theatre), The Ladykillers (Gielgud Theatre), The Cherry Orchard (Birmingham Rep Theatre), As You Like It (Sheffield Crucible). His previous television credits include Toast of London, Star Stories, The Kennedys, Kingdom; and for film, Gulliver’s Travels, Far from the Madding Crowd, Cinderella the Musical and Judas.
Dan Skinner plays Roger. He often appears as comedy character Angelos Epithemiou and is a member of the British five-man sketch troupe Dutch Elm Conservatoire. His theatre credits include Angelos Epithemiou: Live at the O2 (Soho Theatre), Angelos and Barry: A Matter of Life and Death (Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2018), The Warp (Wol Wontok) and Dutch Elm Conservatoire (Soho Theatre/Latchmere Theatre). His previous television credits include The Angelos Epithemiou Show, My Family, Friday Night Dinner, Tracey Ullman’s Show, Katy Brand’s Big Ass Show and Not Going Out; and for film, The Spy Who Dumped Me, Swallows and Amazons, and Horrible Histories.
Age recommendation 16+
MAIN STAGE
The Menier Chocolate Factory presents
HABEAS CORPUS
By Alan Bennett
Director: Patrick Marber; Set and Costume Design: Richard Hudson
Lighting Design: Richard Howell; Music and Sound Design: Adam Cork
3 December 2021 – 26 February 2022
Press night: 13 December at 8pm
The antics of the Wicksteed home are a darkly satirical merry-go-round in Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus. Family, friends and the quest for sexual pleasures of the body (“corpus”) are the ruling passions in this farcical comedy of ill-manners. Through an escapade of mistaken identities and carnal encounters, one motto holds fast: “He whose lust lasts, lasts longest.”
Multi-award-winning playwright Alan Bennett is also a screenwriter, actor and author. His other works for the stage include The History Boys, The Habit of Art, The Lady in the Van, Talking Heads, The Madness of George III, Kafka’s Dick, Enjoy, The Old County and A Cuckoo in the Nest.
As a director, Patrick Marber’s work includes Leopoldstadt (Wyndham’s Theatre), Travesties (Menier Chocolate Factory, Apollo Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre), Steve Coogan/John Thompson in Characters (Edinburgh/Purcell Room/Touring), and his own plays Dealer's Choice (National Theatre/Vaudeville Theatre), Closer (National Theatre/Lyric Theatre/Broadway), Howard Katz and Three Days In the Country (both National Theatre). Other productions include '1953' (Almeida Theatre), Blue Remembered Hills (National Theatre), The Old Neighborhood (Royal Court at Duke of York's Theatre), The Caretaker (Comedy Theatre) and I Remember (devised piece at Royal Court). For television, he directed After Miss Julie and The Curator (both for the BBC). As a writer, his other work includes The Musicians (NT Connections) After Miss Julie, Don Juan in Soho (Donmar Warehouse and Wyndham’s) and The Red Lion (National Theatre). For television, his work includes: co-writer of The Day Today, Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge, Paul Calf Video Diaries, The Curator, Natural Born Quizzers (all BBC); for film, Closer (dir. Mike Nichols), Notes on a Scandal (dir. Richard Eyre) and Love You More (dir. Sam Taylor-Wood); and for radio, Hoop Lane (BBC Radio 3) and Bunk Bed with Peter Curran (BBC Radio 4).
INDECENT
3 September – 27 November
Press Night: 13 September at 8pm
BRIAN & ROGER
22 October – 18 December
Press night: 1 November at 8pm
HABEAS CORPUS
3 December 2021 – 26 February 2022
Press night: 13 December at 8pm
Box Office: 020 7378 1713 (£2.50 transaction fee per booking)
Website: www.menierchocolatefactory.com (£1.50 transaction fee per booking)
Tickets: Prices vary, as below from discounted preview tickets to premier seats. With the emphasis on ‘the sooner you book, the better the price’:
Please note at this time the restaurant is unable to open due to circumstances beyond the company’s control.
