Toyah Willcox stars in Chris Goode’s 40th anniversary production
There is an innate theatricality to Derek Jarman’s cult film. A punk classic celebrating its 40th anniversary next year, Jubilee zaps Queen Elizabeth I into a destitute contemporary Britain. Buckingham Palace has been sold off to a music label and turned into recording studios. The rest of the country has been left to rot and, in the wastelands, anarchic girl gangs and queer artists run riot, shagging and killing anything in sight. They could be the sisters of Anthony Burgess’ droogs – just better dressed.
Designer Chloe Lamford turns the whole Royal Exchange into their squat. Union Jacks are strewn from the balconies. Graffiti is scrawled all over the walls so that political slogans and swearwords fight for space.
• Continue reading at What’s On Stage.
Nihilism, nudity, no future: Derek Jarman’s bleak Britain comes pungently to the stage – Jubilee, Royal Exchange, Manchester, review
How do you take a defining film from the punk era and reconceive it for the stage, 40 years on, when the V-flicking message of punk was “no future”?
Derek Jarman’s 1978 vision of Britannia sinking below the waves during the flag-waving year of the Silver Jubilee revelled in images of dystopian collapse: post-industrial wastelands, dismal interiors that no yet-to-be-conceived TV makeover programme could spruce up, random acts of senseless violence. It was Beckett’s Endgame meets A Clockwork Orange, with melancholy traces of Shakespeare – and it was designed to look like the end of the world was nigh.
Yet here we now are, and many of the gobbing youths of yesteryear turned out fine, some of them doing very nicely indeed thanks to the Thatcher revolution (Malcolm McLaren, “godfather” of punk, at least had the grace and courage to acknowledge that, recalling a “failed, miserable country” before her arrival).
• Continue reading at The Telegraph.
This week’s best theatre shows: Our critics’ picks (November 7)
Jubilee – Royal Exchange, Manchester
Chris Goode’s new stage adaptation of Derek Jarman’s iconic chronicle of the 1970s punk scene opens in Manchester on November 7. Promising to be a remix for a new generation it stars Toyah Willcox, who also appeared in the original.
• Continue reading at The Stage.
The final preview of Jubilee took place at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester last night. View production shots of Toyah as Queen Elizabeth I at Twitter and Instagram. Click below to book tickets. (Photo © Johan Persson)
• West End Theatre: Toyah Willcox to star in stage adaptation of punk film Jubilee: Legendary punk warrior and actress Toyah Willcox will star in a stage adaption of Derek Jarman’s seminal punk film Jubilee. Forty years after Jarman’s film captured punk at its giddy height, the new stage adaption remixes it for the social and political turmoil of 2017 – Continue reading…
• Creative Tourist: Unmissable things to do in Manchester and the North: Jubilee at the Royal Exchange – It’s 40 years since the heyday of the punk movement. An anarchic expression of contempt for society’s stagnation, it produced some of the most interesting (and angriest) music of the ‘70s, much of which has stood the test of time. Now the Royal Exchange is turning one of the iconic films of the era – Jubilee – into a theatre piece, complete with spikey punk soundtrack – Continue reading…
• The Telegraph: Cast of play rebels over reference to Myra Hindley as a ‘hero’, forcing director to delete lines: Toyah Willcox, who was in the film and is now in the play, said that using the lines in the city where Hindley and Ian Brady operated would have “undermined the whole play” – Continue reading…
• BBC News: Manchester theatre cuts Myra Hindley hero-worship lines: A new play in Manchester has cut lines about Moors Murderer Myra Hindley being “a true artist” and a “hero” for fear of offending the audience. The 1978 punk film Jubilee has been adapted for the Royal Exchange theatre – Continue reading…
• The Guardian: Don’t condemn sound judgment as PC behaviour: A stage production of Derek Jarman’s 1978 film, Jubilee, has had lines removed where a character expresses admiration for Myra Hindley… Toyah Willcox, who was in the film, and now appears in the play, was against retaining the lines and made the point that Jarman would have originally included them for shock value – Continue reading…
“1st night has arrived. Soooooo excited“. Jubilee opened at the Royal Exchange Theatre last night. Click below to view the full version of the photo Toyah tweeted. (Photo © Toyah Willcox)
Chris Goode: Everything I know about theatre, I learned first from Derek Jarman
Almost everything I think I know about theatre, I learned from someplace else. Sometimes it’s just easier to spot the clues about theatre that are encoded in some other kind of event or relationship. You glancingly recognise something and immediately know you want to take it into your next rehearsal room.
Something about the obliqueness of the angle matches the radical hospitality of theatre. The understanding that the wholly new and unexpected is ready to rush in and surround us, if only we can remember that we come to theatre not to make things, but to make spaces for things to happen in.
Several years ago, I wrote a blog post ridiculously entitled “The young anarchosyndicalist’s guide to theatre space”…
• Continue reading at The Stage.
Dreaming With Open Eyes – The Films of Derek Jarman
In many ways, it is surprising that Chris Goode’s realisation of Jubilee, Derek Jarman’s 1977 state-of-the-nation punk film fantasia, is the first adaptation for the theatre of an original work by the late, great artist, director, writer, designer, activist and gardener.
There are many lenses through which one can consider this hugely influential maker and his prolific, fecund and diverse oeuvre, but the ‘theatrical’ is certainly absolutely central to Jarman’s vision of creative possibility, regardless of the medium in question.
Even before one encounters his work – and this is most resonant for those who actually met him – the ‘staging’ of his persona, his declared ‘self’, a dynamically creative gay man in a generally hostile culture, suggested how importantly he viewed the productive tensions implicit within the very idea of theatre: I am, and am not, the person I present. This extended to his choice of living space, at once private and public, from the pioneering loft on London’s Bankside to his final years at Prospect Cottage on the windswept shingle of Dungeness.
• Continue reading at the Royal Exchange Theatre.
“40 years since Toyah starred in the cult punk film ‘Jubilee’, she’s back in a new stage version“. Watch a short clip of Toyah discussing Jubilee at BBC Breakfast‘s Twitter.
Further airings for Jubilee on London Live.
Jubilee: London Live: Tuesday 7th November: 10pm
Jubilee: London Live: Saturday 11th November: 1.20am
Queen Elizabeth I travels through time from 1578 to 1978, where she sees what has become of her once glorious kingdom: law and order have broken down and punks roam the streets. Director: Derek Jarman. Starring: Jenny Runacre, Nell Campbell, Toyah Willcox, Hermine Demoriane, Ian Charleson, Karl Johnson. (Click here or below to browse our comprehensive Jubilee news archive) NB: London Live available on: Freeview 8, Sky 117, Virgin 159, YouView 8.
40 Years On Derek Jarman’s Cult Punk Film Is Remixed For The Social And Political Turmoil Of 2017
A free-spirited, gloriously rude, take-no-prisoners blast of a show with a soundtrack to die for. Marking the 40th anniversary of Derek Jarman’s iconic film, the Royal Exchange’s world premiere of Chris Goode’s stage adaptation of Jubilee is sure to appeal to young punks, old punks, and anyone who’s ever wanted to set the world on fire.
A marauding girl gang are on a killing spree and a time-travelling Queen Elizabeth I, played by original film cast member and legendary punk warrior Toyah Willcox, observes it all. An electrifying ensemble cast, including Lucy Ellinson as Ariel and Travis Alabanza as Amyl reimagine JUBILEE for a 2017 audience. A co-production with Chris Goode & Company this riot of a show will run from 2 – 18 November.
• Continue reading at About Manchester.
The spirit of punk — and ‘Jubilee’ — lives on
In director Derek Jarman’s cult punk film Jubilee (1978), three characters stand on a London rooftop considering some high-rise housing. “Never lived beneath the 14th floor till I was old enough to run away,” says Sphinx, a young man who lives in a squat, played by Welsh actor Karl Johnson. “Everything was regulated in that tower block . . . didn’t know I was dead until I was 15 . . . my generation’s the blank generation.”
• Continue reading at the Financial Times.
Two great pics of Toyah in character/preparation as Queen Elizabeth I for Jubilee onstage, and Dr. Bennett in the forthcoming film SwipeRight. (Photos © Toyah Willcox)
• Opening Night: There’s less than a week until Jubilee opens at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. Click here to book tickets.
• QEI: Toyah will play Queen Elizabeth I in the production.
• BBC Breakfast: Toyah guested on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday to discuss the production.
• Toyah @ Twitter: Yesterday Toyah tweeted: “Less than a week to opening. So excited. We are now in the space & learning our routes around this extraordinary theatre.”
• Royal Exchange Theatre: Inside Rehearsals… Week 3 of Jubilee – Alex Hurst – Observer Mondays Director – gives us an insight into the third week of rehearsals for Jubilee, directed by Chris Goode – Continue reading…
The Lyric Hammersmith in London has announced its 2018 season, which will include Chris Goode’s stage adaptation of Jubilee, starring Toyah Willcox.
Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars will also feature in the upcoming season, in a co-production with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Philip Venables’ opera adaptation of 4:48 Psychosis, Sarah Kane’s play, will return to the Lyric as part of the season, produced by the Royal Opera.
Jubilee, based on the 1977 film of the same name, plays at the Lyric in February following its premiere at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, as previously announced. It will be co-produced by the two theatres, with Chris Goode and Company.The Lyric’s auditorium will be reconfigured to recreate the Royal Exchange’s in-the-round space
• Continue reading at The Stage.
Toyah Willcox to star in new season at Lyric Hammersmith
The actress and singer will star in a new stage adaptation of Derek Jarman’s film Jubilee
The Lyric Hammersmith has announced its 2018 season with highlights including a new stage adaptation of Derek Jarman’s punk film Jubilee. The new season will kick off with Frantic Assembly’s Thing I Know To Be True, which returns to the venue following an acclaimed run last year.
Then from 20 February to 10 March, Toyah Willcox will star in a new staging of Derek Jarman’s seminal film, Jubilee, adapted and directed by Chris Goode. Wilcox starred in the original film about the height of punk, forty years later the piece has been remixed for the social and political turmoil of 2017. The Royal Exchange, Lyric Hammersmith and Chris Goode & Company co-production will see the Lyric’s main house reconfigured to recreate the Royal Exchange’s theatre-in-the-round.
• Continue reading at What’s on Stage.
Jubilee: London Live: Tuesday 7th November: 10pm
Queen Elizabeth I travels through time from 1578 to 1978, where she sees what has become of her once glorious kingdom: law and order have broken down and punks roam the streets. Director: Derek Jarman. Starring: Jenny Runacre, Nell Campbell, Toyah Willcox, Hermine Demoriane, Ian Charleson, Karl Johnson. (Click here or below to browse our comprehensive Jubilee news archive)
NB: London Live is available on: Freeview 8, Sky 117, Virgin 159, YouView 8.
How Toyah Willcox lost her punk virginity: the making of Derek Jarman’s Jubilee
There were two Englands in 1977. There was the Establishment England, ready to wave flags and hold street parties as Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her silver jubilee. And then there was the alternative England, embodied by the rise of the punk movement and, in particular, the Sex Pistols whose single God Save the Queen equated the monarchy with fascism. The song was rumoured to have been kept from the number one spot by the British Market Research Bureau on account of its seditious intent.
The film-maker Derek Jarman represented the dichotomy of England at that time. A middle-class, ex-public schoolboy, he was starting to get noticed as a film-maker at the forefront of the avant-garde.
• Continue reading at The Telegraph (subscription required).
Jubilee: London Live: Monday 3rd July: 10pm
Queen Elizabeth I travels through time from 1578 to 1978, where she sees what has become of her once glorious kingdom: law and order have broken down and punks roam the streets. Director: Derek Jarman. Starring: Jenny Runacre, Nell Campbell, Toyah Willcox, Hermine Demoriane, Ian Charleson, Karl Johnson.
Jubilee: London Live: Monday 26th June: 1.05am
Queen Elizabeth I travels through time from 1578 to 1978, where she sees what has become of her once glorious kingdom: law and order have broken down and punks roam the streets. Director: Derek Jarman. Starring: Jenny Runacre, Nell Campbell, Toyah Willcox, Hermine Demoriane, Ian Charleson, Karl Johnson.
NB: London Live is available on: Freeview 8, Sky 117, Virgin 159, YouView 8.
Derek Jarman’s punk classic Jubilee to be reignited on stage
Toyah Willcox plays the time-travelling Elizabeth I in the Royal Exchange’s version of the film that caused outrage after 1977’s silver jubilee
Derek Jarman’s anarchic punk film Jubilee is to be adapted for the stage with a cast including Toyah Willcox who made her screen debut in the original version 40 years ago. Willcox played the cackling pyromaniac Mad, a member of a girl gang whose fights, orgies and random acts of cruelty are witnessed by Queen Elizabeth I when she is magically transported to the 1970s. The new stage version, which will open at Manchester’s Royal Exchange theatre this November, casts Willcox in the role of the time-travelling queen.
“At the time it was made, it was utterly outrageous,” says Willcox of the film, which she describes as the tale of “women who are trying to kind of kill everything that controls them or that has exploited them. It’s a very resonant story today. Nothing’s changed except the technology.” The stage version will be firmly set in the modern day, with the script updated throughout the show’s run to acknowledge current events.
“If there’s something noteworthy in the news at 1pm, hopefully you’ll be hearing a reference to it in the show in the evening,” says Chris Goode, the show’s director. Goode, who first saw Jarman’s film as a teenager and has been influenced by the DIY punk ethos throughout his theatre career, added: “We didn’t want our version to be an exercise in nostalgia. Part of the impulse was thinking about where punk is at now.”
• Continue reading at The Guardian.
