Victoria Carling
Victoria Carling is an English radio, television, film and theatre actress. She has an MA in English from Cambridge, and graduated from Bristol Old Vic in 1987, winning the Carleton Hobbs Award (with Stephen Tompkinson) in the same year. After many roles for radio on BBC, including a dramatisation of ''The Railway Children'' (1991), she played Harriet Humphrey in the BBC sitcom '' Bonjour la Classe'' in 1993. Subsequent television roles have included '' Drop the Dead Donkey'', ''EastEnders'', ''Coronation Street'', ''Holby City'', ''Silent Witness'', the ITV drama ''Homefront'' and BBC One's ''Doctors'', and also an episode of '' The Green Green Grass''. She appeared in the television mini series ''Anna Karenina'' of 2000, and the film of Harry Mulisch's '' The Discovery of Heaven'' of 2001. Her first theatre appearance was in the premiere of Mr A's Amazing Maze Plays in 1998, directed by the playwright, Alan Ayckbourn. In 1991, she appeared with Dawn French in Ben Elton's ''S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Anna Karenina (2000 TV Mini-series)
''Anna Karenina'' is a four-part British television adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1877 novel of the same name. It was directed by David Blair and aired in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 from 9 to 30 May 2000 and in America on PBS ''Masterpiece Theatre'' in 2001. Plot Anna is travelling by train from St. Petersburg to Moscow to visit her brother, Stiva. Stiva is married to Dolly; however, he has been having an affair with the governess of his children and needs Anna's help to repair his marriage. Anna too is married, to Karenin, an important official, with an 8-year-old son. At the end of the journey she meets Count Vronsky, the son of her travelling companion on the train, and in due course she and Vronsky begin an affair. In the meantime, Stiva's friend Constantine Levin courts Dolly's younger sister Kitty. Levin and Kitty are both unmarried. But Kitty is initially attracted to Vronsky and rejects Levin's first proposal; he leaves Moscow and returns to his farm in the countr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Dancing At Lughnasa
''Dancing at Lughnasa'' is a 1990 play by dramatist Brian Friel set in County Donegal, Ireland in August 1936 in the fictional town of Ballybeg. It is a memory play told from the point of view of the adult Michael Evans, the narrator. He recounts the summer in his aunts' cottage when he was seven years old. Background This play is loosely based on the lives of Friel's mother and aunts who lived in Glenties, a small town in the south-west of County Donegal. Set in the summer of 1936, the play depicts the late summer days when love briefly seems possible for five of the Mundy sisters (Maggie, Chris, Agnes, Rose, and Kate) and the family welcomes home the frail elder brother, Jack, who has returned from a life as a missionary in Africa. However, as the summer ends, the family foresees the sadness and economic privations under which they will suffer as all hopes fade. The play takes place in early August, around the festival of Lughnasadh, the Celtic harvest festival. The pla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Steaming (play)
''Steaming'' is a 1981 play written by English playwright Nell Dunn first staged at Theatre Royal, Stratford East, in London. It won the 1981 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy (at the time known as the Society of West End Theatre Award for Best New Comedy). The play opened on Broadway theatre, Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre on 12 December 1983, running for 65 performances and ten previews. The cast included Judith Ivey, Pauline Flanagan, Lisa Jane Persky, Linda Thorson, and Margaret Whitton. Reviewing the production in ''The New York Times'', Frank Rich praised Ivey's performance, and wrote "Though in no way an accomplished play, ''Steaming'' is still lightly enjoyable when it isn't preaching. The talk is often amusing and seemingly authentic ... The American ''Steaming'' contains far more nudity than the London version, but it's handled un-self-consciously and adds verisimilitude where once there was prurient coyness." During 2010, Jally Entertainment toured A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Manchester Royal Exchange
The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on land bounded by St Ann's Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street. The complex includes the Royal Exchange Theatre and the Royal Exchange Shopping Centre. The Royal Exchange was heavily damaged in the Manchester Blitz and in the 1996 Manchester bombing. The current building is the last of several buildings on the site used for commodities exchange, primarily but not exclusively of cotton and textiles. History, 1729 to 1973 The cotton industry in Lancashire was served by the cotton importers and brokers based in Liverpool who supplied Manchester and surrounding towns with the raw material needed to spin yarns and produce finished textiles. The Liverpool Cotton Exchange traded in imported raw cotton. In the 18th century, the trade was part of the slave trade in which African slaves were transported to America where the cotton was grown an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Chichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. The smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989. The inaugural Artistic Director was Sir Laurence Olivier, and it was at Chichester that the first National Theatre company was formed. Chichester's productions would transfer to the National Theatre's base at the Old Vic in London. The opening productionsFestival - The Stage is Set, 1962 in 1962 were: '' The Chances'' by John Fletcher (first production 1638) which opened on 3 July; '' The Broken Heart'' (1633), by John Ford, opened 9 July; '' Uncle Vanya'' (1896), by Anton Chekov, opened 16 July. Among the actors in the opening season were: Lewis Casson, Fay Compton, Joan Greenwood, Rosemary Harris, Kathleen Harrison, Keith Michell, André Morell, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Watford Palace Theatre
Watford Palace Theatre, opened in 1908, is an Edwardian Grade II listed building in Watford, Hertfordshire. The 600-seat theatre on Clarendon Road was refurbished in 2004. It houses its own rehearsal room, wardrobe, cafe and bar. History The theatre was built for the Watford Hippodrome Co., Ltd. The foundation stone of what was to become the Palace Theatre was laid on 3 June 1908. Five days later Mr H.M. Theobald, the architect, lodged the notification of his intention to build the theatre. Construction was undertaken by Barker Brothers of Maidenhead, and took six months, opening on 14 December 1908. The opening proprietors were the Watford Palace of Varieties Co., the Managing Director: Mr. T.M. Sylvester. In early days it put on variety shows and plays, mostly imported from other theatres. Variety artists who appeared at the Palace included Marie Lloyd, Evie Greene and Lottie Lennox. The theatre also puts on regular Christmas pantomimes. For almost a decade (around the ear ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Kafka's Dick
''Kafka's Dick'' is a 1986 play by Alan Bennett which premiered in 1986 at the Royal Court Theatre London. It is a play about the nature of fame, and how reputation is gained. Plot Set in the 1980s in a Yorkshire suburban dwelling, Kafka aficionado Sydney and his wife Linda are visited by Franz Kafka and his friend Max Brod who are both long dead. (Kafka had left instructions for all his works to be burned, which Brod chose to ignore.) As the play progresses, it becomes clear that Kafka's wish was for anonymity, and that he had serious issues with his father, who turns up. The father knows a very personal secret about his son, which Kafka is terrified will be disclosed. Original cast * Kafka - Roger Lloyd-Pack * Brod - Andrew Sachs * Linda - Alison Steadman * Father - Charles Lamb * Sydney - Geoffrey Palmer * Hermann K - Jim Broadbent * Julie - Vivian Pickles The director was Richard Eyre, designer William Dudley, with music by George Fenton.Taken from Bennett, Alan. ''Kafka's ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre in Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote acquired the lease in 1747, and in 1766 he gained a patent theatre, royal patent to play legitimate drama (meaning spoken drama, as opposed to opera, concerts or plays with music) in the summer months. The original building was a little further north in the same street. It has been at its current location since 1821, when it was redesigned by John Nash (architect), John Nash. It is a Grade I listed building, with a seating capacity of 888. The freehold of the theatre is owned by the Crown Estate. The Haymarket has been the site of a significant innovation in theatre. In 1873, it was the venue for the first scheduled matinée performance, establishing a custom soon followed in theatres everywhere. Its managers have includ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles Elton is a British comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. One of the major figures in the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, his early stand-up style was Left-wing politics, left-wing political satire. He co-wrote the sitcoms ''The Young Ones (TV series), The Young Ones'', ''Blackadder'' and ''Mr. Bean'', and was the sole writer for other sitcoms such as ''Filthy Rich & Catflap'', ''The Thin Blue Line (British TV series), The Thin Blue Line'' and ''Upstart Crow''. He has published many novels in dystopian, comedy, and Crime Fiction, crime genres, as well as written the musicals ''The Beautiful Game (musical), The Beautiful Game'' (2000), ''We Will Rock You (musical), We Will Rock You'' (2002), ''Tonight's the Night (2003 musical), Tonight's the Night'' (2003), and ''Love Never Dies (musical), Love Never Dies'' (2010). Early life and education Benjamin Charles Elton was born at University College Hospital in Fitzrovia, London, the son o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Dawn French
Dawn Roma French (born 11 October 1957) is a British actress, comedian and writer. She is known for writing and starring on the BBC sketch comedy series '' French and Saunders'' (1987–2007) with her best friend and comedy partner Jennifer Saunders, and for starring in the BBC comedy anthology series '' Murder Most Horrid'' (1991–1999) and the BBC sitcom '' The Vicar of Dibley'' (1994–2007). French has been nominated for seven British Academy Television Awards and won a BAFTA Fellowship with Saunders in 2009. Early life French was born on 11 October 1957 in Holyhead, Wales, to English parents Felicity Roma (née O'Brien; 1934 – 2012) and Denys Vernon French (5 August 1932 – 11 September 1977), who married in their home town of Plymouth in 1953. French has an older brother, Gary. Her father served in the Royal Air Force, stationed at RAF Valley and later RAF Leconfield, where Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother went to tea at French's home when French was three years ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Alan Ayckbourn
Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. As of 2025, he has written and produced 90 full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their first performance. More than 40 have subsequently been produced in the West End, at the Royal National Theatre or by the Royal Shakespeare Company since his first hit '' Relatively Speaking'' opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1967. Major successes include '' Absurd Person Singular'' (1972), '' The Norman Conquests'' trilogy (1973), '' Absent Friends'' (1974), ''Bedroom Farce'' (1975), ''Just Between Ourselves'' (1976), '' A Chorus of Disapproval'' (1984), '' Woman in Mind'' (1985), '' A Small Family Business'' (1987), '' Man of the Moment'' (1988), ''House'' & ''Garden'' (1999) and '' Private Fears in Public Places'' (2004). His plays have won numer ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |