Sheffield Theatres today announces their new production of Talent, written by Victoria Wood, at the Crucible Theatre from Wednesday 30 June to Saturday 24 July 2021.
Cast in the play are: Richard Cant (The Country Wife), Daniel Crossley (Me and My Girl), Jamie-Rose Monk (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Jonathon Ojinnaka, (Coronation Street), James Quinn (Democracy) and Lucie Shorthouse (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie). Directing Talent is Paul Foster (Kiss Me, Kate). Originally scheduled for the summer of 2020, Talent tells the story of a young woman with dreams of showbiz glory.
'My hands are shaking you know. I haven’t been so keyed up about anything since I was the Virgin Mary.'
It’s 1978. Bunters club is hosting its Friday Talent Night – the acts on the bill hope that it’s a stepping stone to New Faces or Opportunity Knocks. 24-year-old Julie dreams of stardom, escape from her dead-end job and the chance to leave the drudgery of living at home with her mother. Her less worldly-wise friend Maureen has come along to offer support.
Full of Victoria Wood’s unmatched wit and observation, Talent is a play with music about friendship, ambition and the lower rungs of the showbiz ladder.
Robert Hastie, Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres anticipates the opening of the play at the Crucible:
‘Victoria Wood was - and remains - unrivalled in combining wit, heart and musical brilliance in her comedy, and Talent reminds us that as a playwright she was every bit as skilled creating characters and songs for the stage as she was for the screen. This was her debut play, which she wrote for Sheffield Theatres Studio in 1978 at the age of 25. It makes me proud of Sheffield’s long history of supporting emerging artists, which we continue today, and I’m excited to be bringing Talent back to the Crucible as we welcome audiences returning to live theatre. This play will be a delight for everyone who’s missed that feeling of togetherness you get from sharing laughter and music at a live performance.’
Richard Cant returns to the Crucible after performing in Original Sin and The Country Wife, alongside Daniel Crossley who is welcomed back having featured in Me and My Girl and A Chorus Line. Jamie-Rose Monk makes her debut at the Crucible following a role in the Bridge Theatre’s production of A Midsummer Might's Dream and Jonathon Ojinnaka, known to audiences on screen in Coronation Street and Emmerdale, also makes his Crucible debut. James Quinn, formerly from the Sheffield Theatres’ production Democracy, is welcomed back. Lucie Shorthouse returns to Sheffield Theatres having originated the role of Pritti Pasha in the hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which subsequently transferred from Sheffield to London’s West End.
Directing the production is Paul Foster, whose most recent credits with Sheffield Theatres include Kiss Me, Kate and Annie Get Your Gun. Talent was written by Victoria Wood, the writer, director, actor and musician who created unforgettable works such as dinnerladies, Acorn Antiques and Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, the likes of which have since entered the canon of iconic British comedy and inspired countless other talents in the industry.
Alongside Talent, Sheffield Theatres will also be going on sale with two new and three rescheduled productions. In August, Tell Me On A Sunday tells the romantic misadventures of an English girl in New York during the heady days of the 1980s. This iconic musical features Andrew Lloyd Weber’s wonderful score and includes an intimate post-show chat with Jodie Prenger(The Band Plays On, A Taste of Honey) charting her life, love and experience playing the role of ‘Emma’. Bedknobs and Broomsticks debuts in October: the much-loved story of the three orphaned Rawlins children evacuated from wartime London to live with the mysterious Eglantine Price. With the help of a bewitched broomstick and an enchanted bed, they embark on a series of fantastical adventures from Portobello Road to the depths of the beautiful briny sea. Following their rescheduling, the chilling mystery Looking Good Dead plays in August, and dark high-school comedy Heathers and Mischief Theatre’s latest rollick Groan Ups take the stage in September.
Talent will run at the Crucible theatre from Wednesday 30 June to Saturday 24 July 2021, with the performance on Wednesday 7 July live-streamed and available to watch online. Tickets for all productions listed can be booked online from Wednesday 5 May for members and Wednesday 12 May 2021 for non-members at sheffieldtheatres.co.uk. The Together Season has been generously supported by the Victoria Wood Foundation.
