Primavera Productions is a professional theatre company founded in 2003 by

Tom Littler Tom Littler is a British theatre director and the Artistic Director of the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, London. He was the founder of theatre company Primavera Productions, a former Associate Director of Theatre503 formerly Artistic Direct ...

, who is also the Artistic Director. It is based in London, UK. Primavera is particularly noted for its revivals of rarely performed plays, although this does not seem to be its exclusive focus. This has included the "Forgotten Classics" series of rehearsed readings at The King's Head Theatre, Islington. These have featured a performance of

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

's Manfred starring young British actor Harry Lloyd, of

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

's Freshwater starring Edmund Kingsley, John Lyly's Gallathea starring Mary Nighy, and Charles Dickens's No Thoroughfare starring Louise Brealey, all directed by Tom Littler. Other plays in the series not directed by Tom Littler included the first play in English by a woman (''Mariam'') and early works by American playwrights. In 2008 Primavera Productions announced a second "Forgotten Classics" series, including the 50th anniversary reading of T.S. Eliot's The Elder Statesman, starring

Christopher Timothy Christopher Timothy (born 14 October 1940) is a British actor and narrator. He is known for his roles as James Herriot in '' All Creatures Great and Small'', Mac McGuire in the BBC One daytime soap opera '' Doctors'' and Ted Murray in the BBC ...

, Harry Lloyd, Joanna Christie, and David Burt; an unperformed play by

John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, and entrepreneur, who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in post-war theatre. Born in London, he briefly worked as a jo ...

, "A Place Calling Itself Rome", which rewrites Shakespeare's

Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ...

; and Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White. Primavera Productions also produced at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

where its 2007 work includes an opera by Ethel Smyth and a play by T. S. Eliot, ''

The Confidential Clerk First edition cover ( Faber and Faber) ''The Confidential Clerk'' is a comic verse play by T. S. Eliot performed in 1953. Synopsis Sir Claude Mulhammer, a wealthy entrepreneur, decides to smuggle his illegitimate son Colby into the househol ...

''. In 2008, Tom Littler directed the first ever revival of ''Jingo: A Farce of War'', a comedy by Charles Wood set in the last days of British occupation of Singapore before the humiliating surrender to the Japanese. Susannah Harker played Gwendoline and Anthony Howell played her ex-husband Ian. The revival was hailed as a rediscovery of a major playwright. Primavera's past productions have also included the Scottish premiere of

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...

's ''Passion'' at the 2006 Edinburgh Festival (Scotsman Critics' Choice for Musicals / Opera), Into the Woods and

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

at the Oxford Playhouse, a production of Frank McGuinness' version of Ibsen's ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' (Danish language, Danish and ; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act Play (theatre), play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 De ...

'' on tour, and

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''As You Like It'' as the inaugural production at the

Said Business School Said can refer to: * Speech, or the act of speaking * Saʽid, a male Arabic given name * Said (honorific), a honorific in Islamic culture * Said, Iran (disambiguation), multiple places in Iran * Port Said, a city in Egypt * Saïd Business Scho ...

in Oxford. All of these productions were directed by Tom Littler. In 2009, Primavera Productions produced the first revival of

's first musical '' Saturday Night'' at the Jermyn Street Theatre. The show sold out for its run and successfully transferred to the Arts Theatre in the West End and to Theatre Royal, Windsor. Primavera also produced Bryony Lavery's play ''Origin of the Species'' later that year at the

Arcola Theatre Arcola Theatre is in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists. The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dalston, houses two studio ...

.News article on Origin of the Species
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References

External links

* {{usurped,
Primavera Productions website
}
The King's Head website

Talent agency profile of Director/Founder Tom Littler, and other folks involved with UK theatre

Review of The Confidential Clerk

Review of As You Like It

Times review of Jingo

Theatre companies in London British companies established in 2003 Arts organizations established in 2003 2003 establishments in England