The first major UK revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman’s Whistle Down the Wind in over a decade will be part of the 2022 season at Newbury’s Watermill Theatre.
Directed by Tom Jackson Greaves, the production which will feature a company of actor-musicians alongside a cast of young people drawn from the local area, will run from 22 July until 10 September 2022.
First seen at the National Theatre in Washington in 1996 ahead of its West End premiere at the Aldwych in 1998, the musical is based on the 1959 novel by Mary Hayley Bell (the wife of British acting legend John Mills) and the Bryan Forbes directed/ Richard Attenborough-produced 1961 film which featured a BAFTA-nominated performance from Bell’s daughter Hayley Mills (screenplay by Willis Hall and Keith Waterhouse).
The stage musical re-working of the story of the children who believe an enigmatic stranger hiding in a barn in their village is Jesus, has music by Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Steinman and a book co-written by Lloyd Webber with Patricia Knop and Gale Edwards.
Announcing the 2022 season which also includes a Christmas production of Annie Siddons’ play with music Rapunzel directed by Watermill creative associate Lucy Betts, the venue’s artistic director Paul Hart and associate artistic director Abigail Pickard said: “This bumper new season features major revivals and three brilliant new plays. We begin with fast-paced comedy from Bleak Expectations, bringing this much-loved radio show to stage for the first time.
“We’re looking forward to filling the theatre with raucous laughter, before this intimate space becomes the perfect home for our epic summer musical: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Whistle Down the Wind.
“A thrillingly updated version of Othello marks the return of the Watermill Ensemble, a young company of actor-musicians who combine Shakespeare’s text with live, contemporary music.
“Resident playwright, Danielle Pearson’s play Camp Albion brings to life the controversial story of the infamous Newbury bypass, exploring environmental responsibility from a generational perspective and Michael Morpurgo’s Sleeping Sword will be brought to innovative theatrical life incorporating audio description and live captioning into every performance.
With this, a revival of A Monster Calls and our Christmas show, Annie Siddons’ joyous adaptation of Rapunzel, there is so much for young people and family audiences to enjoy.
“We continue to strive to create ambitious work despite the challenges we and theatres across the UK are experiencing and we remain incredibly grateful to our audiences for the support they are showing to live theatre and to the next generation of theatre makers through our fundraising campaign: Nurture.”
Angela Thomas
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