Yet another special screening of Derek Jarman’s The Tempest in 2016. This time debuting in India, at the “Shakespeare on Film Collection”.
Screening of Shakespeare’s The Tempest By British Council India
Wed, 21 Sep 2016: 6:30PM
As part of the Shakespeare on Film Collection, the British Film Institute and British Council present Derek Jarman’s “The Tempest” for the first time to audiences in New Delhi.
Starring Elizabeth Welch & Heathcote Williams, this depiction of Shakespeare’s play is a true representation of colonialism, revenge, retribution and reconciliation.
Toyah guests on ITV’s Lorraine this Friday morning, chatting about next year’s 80s Invasion Tour, and more.
Lorraine: ITV: Friday 9th September: 8.30am
Morning show with a topical mix of entertainment, discussion and showbiz glamour, as well as featuring the latest fashion, food and celebrity gossip.
Listen out for a number of forthcoming Toyah radio interviews, just confirmed by the Breaking Through newsletter. These will be promotion for the 80s Invasion Tour 2017.
Toyah is guesting on Jo Good’s BBC Radio London show this Friday (9th September). The programme begins at 1pm.
There will also be Toyah interviews on BBC Surrey, BBC Hereford, BBC Stoke, Metro Radio, Gaydio and Talk Radio. As well as another visit to Sara Cox’s Sounds of the 80s on BBC Radio 2.
Review | ‘Crime & Punishment’ at The Scoop amphitheatre in London
Dostoyevsky meets steam punk in this bold retelling of the literary classic.
Setting a theatrical performance of Dostoyevsky’s brooding novel Crime and Punishment in a world of steam punk is a brave choice; accompanying it with a soundtrack made up of Toyah Willcox’s classic rock anthems is even braver. The production team at Gods and Monsters Theatre Company have not only attempted this, they’ve pulled it off with all the brazen authority of an axe-wielding Raskolnikov.
The classic Russian tale opens the new season at The Scoop in London, a 1,000-person sunken amphitheatre, and follows Raskolnikov as he justifies the brutal murder of a pawn broker with his belief that it was for the greater good of mankind, that by using the money he steals for good causes he has the right to go above and beyond the law. Directed by Phil Willmott, songs like ‘Love Crazy’ and ‘Who Let the Beast Out’ are intermingled with the tale, fitting surprisingly well with the heavy story and lifting it into a lighter tone that can be enjoyed more readily by all.
Crime and Punishment: A Rock Musical is a semi-jukebox musical, in that Willcox’s back catalogue is raided for some of the numbers, and some brand new songs have been provided specifically for the show. Somehow it all works surprisingly well! The jukebox musical approach can sometimes make a show feel forced, as songs are shoe-horned into a storyline, but everything (bar an inadvertently funny It’s A Mystery) gels really well together. It may help if you are unfamiliar with Willcox’s work, as I am, however the themes in the chosen songs fit the feeling of the scenes in which they are included. Given Raskolnikov’s frustration & revolutionary fervour, rock music is definitely the best way to express these feelings. It’s also impressive that quite a sizeable novel can be condensed into a 100-minute show, that still has a tangible storyline running through it.
Crime and Punishment: A Rock Musical runs at the Scoop (London Bridge City) until 25 September 2016. Entry is free – donations can be made & programmes bought on the day.
• Continue reading at Mind The Blog. Read other reviews of Crime and Punishmenthere.
Talented singer and actor Toyah admits her pop stardom was literally a case of “life imitating art”, coming soon after she was cast in a BBC play as a wannabe pop star who breaks into the Top of the Pops recording studios.
Speaking at the Rewind 80s Festival in Henley-on-Thames, Toyah recalled her first acting break aged 18 in the BBC play Glitter, playing alongside Phil Daniels, who was later to act alongside her again in the cult mod film Quadrophenia.
Toyah said: “I was spotted on the streets of Birmingham around 1973/74 because I had green and yellow hair! A director asked me to come and audition with Phil Daniels, and to play his girlfriend in a BBC2 drama and I got the part.
“The biggest irony was that I was playing a girl who wrote a song and broke into the Top of the Pops studios to sing the song in the studios; so talk about life imitating art!
“I was pretty instantly well known as an actress from the age of 18 and I was very successful as an actress right up until 1981 when I started having hit singles. I was the hottest name in the acting industry after I started at the National Theatre.”
Celebrity Fantasy Homes: Really: Sunday 18th September: 5pm
Celebrities hunt for a new home. Gaby Roslin helps punk-pop princess Toyah Willcox search for a second home, in Richmond upon Thames, with a budget of £650,000.
Meet & greet will include meeting with Paul Young, Toyah & China Crisis where you will be able to talk to the artistes, take photographs and they will sign souvenir items
Seats will be in the first two rows of the venue, except London & Leicester. These venues have standing as well as seating, therefore you can choose either standing or the best available seats for these two venues
It will take place at 6.15pm in the venue, arrive at the venue by 5.45pm. Tickets are priced at £75 and are subject to venue booking fees.
Just announced! Toyah will be one of the artists on next Spring’s 80s Invasion Tour 2017. Playing 15 dates around the UK during March. Tickets go on general sale on Friday, with a pre-sale on Wednesday.
80s Invasion Tour 2017: Paul Young + Martika + Toyah Willcox + China Crisis
Due to overwhelming public demand after this year’s hugely successful run, the ‘80’s Invasion’ tour is back in 2017 with four iconic artists from the decade performing on the same bill.
The new line-up features Paul Young – one of the most popular solo artists from the era, legendary pop punk princess Toyah, Liverpool’s finest guitar duo China Crisis and for the first time performing in the UK in over 25 years, flying in especially from the USA the gorgeous Martika!
The tour will take in 15 dates and starts on 2nd March at Rhyl’s Pavillion, culminating on 19th March at Liverpool’s Philharmonic, with London’s Indigo2 on 16th March.
Crime and Punishment review at the Scoop, London – ‘Dostoyevsky gets the steam-punk treatment’
Gods and Monsters Theatre has been creating exciting open-air theatre at the Scoop for the last 14 years. Unlike the cosy, enclave of Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, the venue is subject to the surrounding bustle of life on the Thames embankment and director Phil Willmott’s production employs the broad strokes necessary to attract and engage with an outdoor audience.
This year Dostoyevsky gets the steam-punk treatment. Willmott has tuned Crime and Punishment into a musical with the help of songwriter and composers Toyah Willcox and Simon Darlow.
The revolutionary undercurrent of nineteenth century St Petersburg seems an appropriate match for Willcox and Darlow’s soft punk score and a couple of crowd-pleasing hits including I Want to be Free and It’s a Mystery sit comfortably in Willmott’s accessible adaptation.
Somerset bands to support Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel and Toyah Willcox
A group of Somerset bands will perform alongside rock legends Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel and Toyah Willcox at the Music In The Meadow festival.
The event, which will be held at Secret World Wildlife Rescue in East Huntspill, will see the artists take to the stage to support the charity while performing alongside their idols on September 10. Bands including Storm, A Cunning Plan, Daytona, Twerzels and Luna-C will perform alongside punk singer Toyah Willcox and London band Steve Harley And Cockney Rebel.
Music In The Meadow will raise money for the charity which works to provide rescue services for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. The charity is responsible for rescuing more than 5,000 animals each year.
Tickets are available online via www.secretworld.org/musicinthemeadow or can be bought at the Secret World gift shop.
Toyah guested on Gaby Roslin’s BBC Radio London show yesterday afternoon, a three-hour marathon of chat and music.
The interview begins at approximately 15 minutes into the show with a play of It’s A Mystery, and lasted for 15 minutes but Toyah was a studio guest for most of the programme.
She chatted about how busy she currently is with gigs, films etc, discussed her music being used in Crime and Punishment, not letting technology completely take over, her health, her mindset “I’m still a punk” and much more.
Phil Willmott has managed to cut Dostoyevsky’s novel down to a ninety-minute musical. Concentrating on protagonist Rodiom Raskalnikov, he has carved out storyline that presents the main plot clearly and uses Toyah Willcox’s songs (mainly old ones, some specially written) not as decoration but integrated so that they contribute to the storytelling.
Philip Eddoll’s steampunk set, all cogwheels and smoking chimneys, has already been used for The Wawel Dragon (the evening’s earlier offering for a younger audience). Now onion domes are added to make it more Russian but, though the location remains St Petersburg, with the black-goggled cast slowly crawling all over it as the audience assembles, this surreal place could be any- and everywhere.
Toyah’s “We Are” opens the show with an eruption of confidence from the gathering of students: “we are the young ones, we are the chosen ones, we are the only ones!” before Raskolnikov (Alec Porter) declares that he is penniless and must give up his studies.
Win a pair of tickets to ‘Music In The Meadow’ at Secret World Wildlife Rescue on Saturday 10th September.
Somerset’s newest festival, Music in the Meadow, sees Yeovil bands Storm and Daytona, Castle Cary’s A Cunning Plan, Twerzels (the West Country’s finest Wurzels Tribute band) and Luna-C from Wedmore, taking to the stage to support Steve Harley and his band. Punk icon Toyah Willcox will also play at this all-day family event.
• Continue reading/Enter competition at Taunton’s Tone FM. More information on this new one-day festival, which is aiming to raise money for a fantastic cause, here.
• Love London Love Culture: Review: Crime & Punishment – The Rock Musical, The Scoop: This being said there can be no complaints at the music and the songs. From the rousing “We Are” to the more poignant and touching “Legacy”, each song captures the emotions of the story and help the audience to understand the character’s state of mind perfectly. There is an edginess to them that fits in with the aggression and sinisterness of the plot as in “Angels & Demons” – suggesting the conflicting sides to Raskolnikov and which part of him that he is going to follow – Continue reading…
• The Reviews Hub: Crime and Punishment – The Scoop, London: The plundering of Toyah Willcox’s back catalogue of songs also provides some juxtapositions that can’t help but raise a smile, most notably Willmott’s delivery of It’s a Mystery as he begins his investigation into the murder. Throughout, the use of Willcox’s music – most of which is by Willcox and Darlow, with additional contributions from Joel Bogen and Keith Hale – provides a pleasingly uniform and rich rock sound – Continue reading…
Listen out for a number of forthcoming Toyah radio interviews, just confirmed by the 
