PLEASANCE THEATRE TRUST ANNOUNCE UNPARALLELED LEVEL OF SUPPORT FOR 2023 CHARLIE HARTILL WINNERS

Supporting an extraordinary six shows with £50,000 direct investment at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the 2023 Charlie Hartill winners have been announced by the Pleasance Theatre Trust. As Pleasance’s flagship fund offering unique and unparalleled support to theatre makers and comedians across the UK, these long-standing accolades provide a unique package of direct investment and mentoring support available across the Fringe. The fund seeks to remove financial risk for companies and allow creativity to take centre stage. Usually offering four opportunities for artists, one for emerging comedians, one for emerging theatre companies and two for UK-based Black, Asian and Global Majority-led theatre shows, this year the fund is supporting an unprecedented six shows due to the overwhelming quality of talent presented.

Past Charlie Hartill theatre winners have gone on to incredible successes. Current New Diorama Theatre Artistic Director David Byrne won the fund in 2009 with his theatre company PIT, and 2017 winners Unpolished Theatre toured to Australia, and won an Olivier with their show Flesh & Bone. Total Theatre Award Winners and fringe favourites In Bed With My Brother won in 2016 with acid house extravaganza We Are Ian and Corey Campbell, current CEO and Creative Director of the Belgrade in Coventry, won in 2018 with Freeman by his company Strictly Arts.

This year’s theatre winners celebrate diversity in subject matter, form and creative voices. Created by queer-led theatre collective Stroud & Notes and winning the 2023 Origins Award at VAULT Festival, new musical Public – The Musical follows four unlikely strangers who find themselves trapped together in a gender neutral public toilet, exploring stories of identity, connection and compassion alongside an electrifying pop/rock score. Pitch by November Theatre (The Stage’s Top Picks of the Fringe 2022) is a bold, joyful, goal-scoring exploration of the relationship between football and the queer community, blending documentary storytelling and theatre to investigate what it means to watch, play and love the beautiful game.

From The Thelmas, award-winning female-led theatre company renowned for their previous Fringe hit Ladykiller, Santi & Naz explores queer love, identity and loyalty against the backdrop of the partition of India. Created by Elisabeth Gunawan & Created a Monster, Unforgettable Girl is an award-winning, irreverent, no-holds-barred bouffonesque myth about the violence our culture inflicts on bodies of colour, with a £19.99 mail order bride at its centre. The performance previously won Gunawan the 2022 Stage Debut Award.

The Pleasance Comedy Reserve is back for its 17^thyear at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a double bill of eight brilliant new acts, hand-picked by the Pleasance and performing at Pleasance Dome and Pleasance Courtyard. With the standard at an all-time high for up-and-coming comics, there will be two Comedy Reserve shows for 2023, with a line up featuring Abby Wambaugh, Ele McKenzie, Jin Hao Li, Kyrah Gray, Micah Hall, Shalaka Kurup, Vlad Ilich and Will Robbins. This is your chance to discover the most exciting comedy newcomers before they become household names, from the show that helped launch the careers of Brett Goldstein, Sophie Duker, Josh Jones, Roisin Conaty, Joe Lycett amongst others.

Established in 2004 in memory of Charlie Hartill, the fund provides opportunities to emerging comedians, emerging theatre companies and UK-based Black, Asian and Global Majority-led theatre shows. The fund is presenting, arguably, the biggest opportunities for artists across the Fringe supporting a wide breadth and range of work, proving that performance really is back with a bang.

Still to be announced are the National Partnerships shows, which sees the Pleasance work with venues nationwide to identify, recognise and fund extraordinary work from across the UK. With more comedy, theatre, circus, magic, dance, kids’ shows and much more to come, there’s nowhere quite like the Pleasance at Fringe!

{🎟 AD: PR Invite – Tickets gifted in exchange for an honest review}

SONG OF SONGS – REVIEW – PARK THEATRE
by Mailí Ní Ghormáin
The Biblical book Song of Songs stands out; unashamedly erotic, for women as well as men, it has long been a subject of controversy, and it is this book that writer, director and lead performer Ofra Daniel takes as the subject of her musical. First performed in Daniel’s home of San Francisco in 2017, this run at the Park Theatre marks the musical’s first visit to London. It is difficult not to be thrilled by the world presented in A Song of Songs. The soundscape is one of klezmer music and infectious rhythms, composed by Daniel and Lior Ben-Hur with collaborators Ali Paris … More SONG OF SONGS – REVIEW – PARK THEATRE
SLEUTH – REVIEW – RICHMOND THEATRE
by Mailí Ní Ghormáin
Who’s afraid of Stephen Sondheim? I certainly would have been, having seen this show. Playwright Anthony Shaffer’s original title, an homage to the Broadway composer and puzzle obsessive, was changed to Sleuth before the play’s 1970 premiere, whereupon it won the Tony for best play, and has since been adapted for screen by both Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Harold Pinter. It is certainly an auspicious beginning, and it is a delight to see that fifty years on, this clever play can still stay a step ahead of its audience. The play opens with Andrew (Todd Boyce), a writer of detective fiction, delivering … More SLEUTH – REVIEW – RICHMOND THEATRE
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR – REVIEW – NEW WIMBLEDON THEATRE
by Anne Reimers
Jesus Christ Superstar reimagines the biblical story of Jesus’ last days through a contemporary lens, portraying him as a rockstar figure navigating betrayal, redemption, and finally crucifixion. At the New Wimbledon Theatre, this iconic musical comes to life with electrifying energy and innovative staging. Fans of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, the dynamic duo of England’s musical theatre scene, will recognise the typical elements of their work; and they are as electrifying as ever. The rock score is performed by a mainly hidden live band, filling the theatre with a pulsating sound. The observant audience member can spot the guitar … More JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR – REVIEW – NEW WIMBLEDON THEATRE
SPIRITED AWAY – REVIEW – LONDON COLISEUM
by Amy Rye
Spirited Away premiered in Tokyo in February 2022 and is now having its European premiere at the London Coliseum. Hitting theatreland following the success of the RSC’s adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro, which is transferring to the West End next year. Based on the 2001 anime film, Spirited Away centres around Chihiro a young girl, who inadvertently winds up in a world ruled by witches and spirits – with her parents turned into pigs. What follows is her quest to save her parents and return to the real world. The highlight of this production is the creative elements; the set, designed by Jon Bausor is vast, imaginative, and transportive, bringing … More SPIRITED AWAY – REVIEW – LONDON COLISEUM
THE ACCOUNTANTS – REVIEW – AVIVA STUDIOS
by Jennifer Roberts
The Accountants is a multimedia stage spectacle, melding dance and modern communication. It premieres at Aviva Studios and is the UK debut performance for the Terrence Lewis Contemporary Dance Company and Xiexin Dance Theatre. Liam (Josh Hart) is trying to find himself while travelling Asia, keeping in contact with his favourite ‘auntie’ Kash (Shobna Gulati). Using Kash’s wisdom to guide him around India and China, Liam tries to understand his own identity as an Asian person while watching the accountants in his head dance. After I picked my ticket up from the box office, I was collared by a (very … More THE ACCOUNTANTS – REVIEW – AVIVA STUDIOS