Any theatre that can muster the talents of Sir Derek Jacobi and Sir Mark Rylance has plenty going for it.
That's exactly what Marylebone Theatre's Artistic Director Alexander Gifford will enjoy when patron Rylance performs Shakespeare’s 1593 poem Venus and Adonis alongside Sir Derek on November 17.
The event is a fundraiser for a theatre that was built in 1925 as the performance space for Grade II listed Rudolf Steiner House.
Following a refurbishment in 2022, the cultural hub, therapy and wellness centre became a receiving and producing venue which has punched above its weight in awards and critical plaudits.
Gifford says: "Mark has been our patron from the beginning, he trained in Steiner Speech and Drama, and has been a real friend and ally, especially for our work with verse drama.
"Ted Hughes once said Venus and Adonis was the key to understanding the complete works.
"It is perhaps the most exquisite long poem in the English language. Performed by two of Shakespeare's greatest modern interpreters, it will be the centre-piece of a fundraiser, whose goal is to secure the Marylebone's future as a major, new producing house."
Rylance whose screen roles include the BFG, Bridge of Spies and Wolf Hall, said: "In the early 1990's I was a month away from performing Venus and Adonis when the production had to be cancelled. Thirty years later, I am excited to be revisiting my plans to play Shakespeare's first known published work as a gala fundraiser for the Marylebone Theatre.
"This excellent new venue stages original, wonderful plays, often in verse. I am delighted that my dear friend Derek Jacobi will be joining me n stage to support a venue with a unique calling to explore and refresh the great classical tradition."
The event is part of Marylebone Theatre's autumn /winter season that includes The Last Word, a searing multimedia performance based on the verbatim words of women accused of political crimes in Russian courts - including Pussy Riot.
It's followed by What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, a "serious comedy" written by Nathan Englander, helmed by director Patrick Marber, and starring Joshua Malina of West Wing and Big Bang Theory fame.
Finally there's the return of A Sherlock Carol , a "crossover mystery" which returns to the theatre near Baker Street for a third Christmas following two sold-out runs.
Singer songwriter Nerina Pallot also brings her first one-woman show, I Digress, to the theatre for two performances in December.
In two years the venue has staged an eclectic programme of theatre, spoken word, music and events, winning the Off West End award for Best Production alongside critical acclaim for shows including, The Dry House, a world premiere by Eugene O’Hare, Grenfell: System Failure, and The White Factory.
This year has included The Most Precious of Goods, translated and directed by Nicolas Kent, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, starring Greg Hicks, and The Government Inspector, a new adaptation of Gogol’s masterpiece.
To make the venue, which survives on "ticket sales and donations" financially viable, they are boosting the seating capacity in September from 200 seats to 266 seats.
"It's a lovely space, quite a hidden gem that has been here for 100 years and in the early days saw performances by Alec Guinness and Margot Fonteyn," says Gifford, a trained actor and Steiner teacher.
"It fell into less usage and got a bit run down, until three years ago when the board received a legacy and used it to refresh the theatre.
"I was appointed artistic director and thought we could do something quite big and really go for it. We are aiming high. We set out to be a new venue for London, offering high quality, intelligent, meaningful work that goes into the deeper spiritual dimensions of human existence - to be a new Donmar Warehouse staging substantial and important new writing
"We are doing OK, by the end of the year we will have made a small profit and the extra seats will really help us make more money and pivot towards being a producing house rather than predominantly a receiving house."
He says the season, which begins on September 5th combines "the urgently political with the eternally poetic".
"The Last Word is a cry from the heart of oppressed Russian women, and Anne Frank is about two former Jewish schoolfriends, one living in America the other in Jerusalem, discussing everything from Jewishness to the state of Israel that is very funny, serious and topical, and should spark debate.
"I hope the season consolidates our reputation as an important, new venue and that more people come through our doors to enjoy our unique offering of West End quality in an intimate setting, at local prices."
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