Berkoff at Skyros, Cuba

Steven Berkoff will run sessions on Creative Writing from 20- 30 Nov 2011.  It is organised by Skyros and is in Cuba.  Click on the image for more details.

A Beast and other unpublished Berkoff Poems

"Some months ago an English journalist went to Tanzania and gratuitously killed a baboon, for no other reason than satisfying his morbid curiosity. The poem is Steven Berkoff's response."

Click here to read the poems.

Berkoff performs One Man in UK

Steven Berkoff continues his performances of his one man show with The Tell Tale Heart and Dog.  It is on 17 Nov 2011 at The Brewhouse, Taunton, UK.

"Tell Tale Heart is a frighteningly macabre adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s gothic tale of fear, murder and madness. A man, who states that he is sane, tells of how he murdered his neighbour – a fishy-eyed miser. But, not long after the deed is done, paranoia starts to play its part - will the murderer be caught out?

Dog recreates a day in the life of a football hooligan and his pit bull terrier, Roy. Throughout the piece, the action swaps between the skinhead and the loyal pet, showing the vulgarity of the hooligan and the reactions of Roy to the cruel but sometimes loving antics of his owner."

Click on the image for more details.

The Secret Love Life of Ophelia in Eastbourne, UK

Bruce Sibley directs Joanna Trainor and Lukas Habberton in The Secret Love Life of Ophelia.  It is at The Little Theatre in Eastbourne on 5-6 Dec 2011.

"Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship is charted through their letters to one another".  Click on the image for more details.

Greek, Usher and Tell-Tale Heart in Washington, USA

Scena Theatre present Greek from 15 Oct - 27 Nov 2011.

For Halloween the company present The Fall of the House of Usher and The Tell-Tale Heart on 31 Oct 2011.

Click on the image for more details.

East in Surrey, UK

By Moonlight's production of East returns to the cornerHOUSE on 25- 26 Nov 2011 at the arts centre in Surbiton.

"The underbelly of the East End – with its all its brutality, vulgarity and humour - is portrayed in director Tanju Duncan's brilliant adaptation of Steven Berkoff’s powerful elegy to the place where he grew up.
East is a warts-and-all portrayal of a family in conflict – with each other and all about them.

Told to us in verse, the complex monologues of the characters fuse Shakespearean rhythms with cockney street talk to create a raw, explosive, in-the-gutter language that speaks volumes about the people who utter its words.
This fast-paced, hilarious and hugely compelling production is simply “potty mouth poetry at its best”.

Duncan said: “I am delighted to be involved with such a talented cast and keen to present Berkoff’s classic East, in true Total Theatre style, where the actor-audience relationship is immediate, where the expressive physicality and general language of the actors in creating stage pictures and image is not just a display of technical skill, but a pre-requisite of the making of the drama.”

There will be a Q&A with the cast after the show.

Click on the image for more details.  Thanks to Tanju for the information.  The photo is by Claire Harris.

Greek the opera touring the UK

Greek the opera by Mark-Anthony Turnage based on the play is on tour in the UK.  The dates are:

- BRECON Theatr Brycheiniog, 2 Jul 2011
- CHELTENHAM FESTIVALS Parabola Arts Centre, 7 Jul 2011
- BUXTON FESTIVAL Opera House, 14 & 25 Jul 2011
- EDINBURGH Traverse Theatre, 1 & 2 Sept 2011
- OXFORD Playhouse, 6 Sept 2011
- BASINGSTOKE The Anvil, 21 Sept 2011
- MOLD Clwyd Theatr Cymru, 25 Sept 2011
- ABERYSTWYTH Arts Centre, Oct 2011
- HUDDERSFIELD Lawrence Batley Theatre, 26 Oct 2011
- NEWPORT The Riverfront, 10 Nov 2011

"Mark-Anthony Turnage's brilliant and provocative opera exploded onto the stage in 1988. Based on the play by Steven Berkoff, Greek catapults us into the seedy, boozy East End world of Eddy and his family.

Fuelled by anger against the world at large, Eddy ups sticks and roams the streets of London where he ends up picking a fight and killing a man. Against this unlikely backdrop, Eddy meets the love of his life and in her finds contentment - until the day he discovers his true identity.

Greek has received great audience and critical acclaim. In this new production, Music Theatre Wales brings together outstanding singers and musicians and its trademark theatrical approach under the direction of Michael McCarthy."  Recommended.
 

Diary of a Juvenile Delinquent

A new autobiography by Steven is now available.  You can order the book here.

Kvetch in London, UK

Kvetch was to be performed at the Cock Tavern in London, but the theatre lost their licence.  Fortunately the production will now go ahead at the Kings Head Theatre in London.  It is on from 9 Oct- 4 Nov 2011.

The director is Julio Martino.  "Neurotic hilarity and vein-bursting physicality combine to create a cartoon portrait of urban paranoia. In this award-winning comedy by Steven Berkoff, a suburban Jewish family gathering is disrupted by obscene outbursts and irrepressible sexual desires, both gay and straight. Inner demons run riot in this frenzied fantasy of sex, murder and suicide."

Click on the image for more details.  Recommended.

Berkoff in conversation

Steven Berkoff is in conversation at the Museum of London Docklands.  Berkoff will discuss his life and career with director Geoff Colman.  It is on 3 Nov 2011.  Click on the image for more details.

Kvetch in USA

SeaGlass Theatre present Kvetch at the Whitefire Theatre, Sherman Oaks, CA from 17 Sept to 16 Oct 2011.

"Steven Berkoff’s brilliant comedy, Kvetch, is an absurdist look at those secret thoughts that brew within us all. We most often hide our true feelings, and Kvetch exposes all of the deepest fears, desires, and prejudices of one Jewish family, with hilarious results. Berkoff’s play is a savage study on the effect that our anxieties have on us,  and the people who share our lives."

The actors are Matt Kirkwood (Frank), Kimberly Van Luin (Donna), Paul Stroili (Hal), Dale Morris (George) and Annie Abbott (the Mother-in-Law).  The director is Ian Vogt, set and lighting design Scott Legrande, stage manager Matthew Sandlin, props/assistant set designer Susanna Wong and costume designer Jennifer May Nickel.

Click on the image for more details.

Metamorphosis in Japan

Tokyo Players present Metamorphosis in English at Theatre Bonbon, Nakano from 29 Sept- 2 Oct 2011.  The actors are Lawrence Brezer, Elliott Davis, Roberta Hamilton, Stephan Schmidt, Liam Shea, and Rika Wakasugi and the director is Davina McFadyen.

Click on the image for more details.

Greek the opera in Edinburgh, Scotland

Scottish Opera presents Turnage 1988 opera based on Berkoff's Greek.  It is on at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh from 1-2 Sep 2011.  Click on the image for more details.

Berkoff in conversation, UK: CANCELLED

In conversation with Steven Berkoff.  Steven speaks about his memories of growing up in Stepney and how London has influenced his career. Interviewed by London historian and author, Jerry White.  It is on 24 Aug 2011 at the Museum of London Docklands.

Click on the image for more details.  Note this event has been cancelled.

Graft and Hell in Edinburgh

George Dillon's recommended performances of Berkoff's Graft and Hell stories reaches the Edinburgh Festival.  Graft is on 23 and 25 Aug 2011 and Hell is on 24, 26 Aug 2011.

Oedipus in Edinburgh

Berkoff's Oedipus is on from 3- 29 Aug 2011 at the Pleasance Courtyard.  "Acclaimed new version of the enduring classic, brought to vivid life by master director Berkoff and his ensemble of eleven actors."  Click on the image for more details.

More in Edinburgh: Agamemnon

Muchmuchmore Theatre Company present Agamemnon at theSpaces on NorthBridge  from 22-28 Aug 2011.  "At the play's opening, the chorus emerge from the earth to tell the story of Agamemnon's return from the Trojan War. Berkoff's approach to theatre by this young and dynamic cast creates an ensemble performance that will captivate an audience from start to finish. The visual impact of the stage picture, combined with atmospheric music and dance, offers a theatrical experience that will appeal to all the senses. This is choral, physical theatre at its best!".  Click on the image for details.

More in Edinburgh: The Fall of the House of Usher

Perse Players present The Fall of the House of Usher from 23-27 Aug 2011 at theSpace@Venue45.  "A crumbling house ... a crumbling soul ... Steven Berkoff’s gothic masterpiece of physical theatre is brought to the stage by the award-winning Perse Players in this intense, disturbing and nerve-jangling production. Roderick Usher and his sister Madeline live an unsettled life in the confines of their ancestral home. When their delicately balanced existence is shattered by the rare visit of a family friend, the walls of sanity begin to crumble with terrifying consequences."  Click on the image for details.

More in Edinburgh: The Trial

Hymers College present The Trial from 8-13 Aug 2011 at Paradise in Augustine's.  "Josef K wakes up one seemingly ordinary day to find himself unexpectedly arrested for an unknown crime. Josef is then plunged into a nightmare world of an inescapable legal bureaucracy that assumes he is guilty. Hymers College's production brings to the forefront the eccentric characters and physical theatre of this extraordinary story."  Click on the image for details.

East in Kingston-upon-Thames and London, UK

The bymoonlight company perform East at the International Youth Arts Festival in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey from 14-16 Jul 2011.  The production them transfers to the New Wimbledon Theatre Studio on 22-23 Jul 2011.  Click on the image for more details.  Thanks to Tanju for the information.

Decadence in Nottingham, UK

Decadence is on at the Lakeside Arts Centre on 17-18 Jun 2011.  "Refreshingly grotesque, Decadence is an acute, vitriolic study of the British class system."

Click on the image for more details.

Berkoff Presents in London, UK

Steven Berkoff says "At a time of multi-million pound shows and West End celebrity casting, this is a mini-season promoting the finest working actors today.  A season by an artist, for artists".

Two one-man plays The Tragedian and The Man Who Was Hamlet.

Berkoff Presents: The Tragedian written and performed by Alister O'Loughlin.  Direction and dramaturgy by Miranda Henderson.

""Bastard. Drunk. Actor. Genius. On 26th January 1814 Edmund Kean stepped on stage at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and changed British Theatre forever. But he was no overnight success. He was a grieving, drunken, megalomaniac. He was poetry in motion.

Created over six years Prodigal’s multi-award winning Tragedian Trilogy details the Rise to Fame, Fall to Infamy and Decline to Legend of the first trans-Atlantic superstar, who was also our first celebrity hell-raiser. The plays have performed to full houses across the globe."

Berkoff Presents: The Man Who Was Hamlet written and performed by George Dillon.

"The play tells the comical, tragical and utterly scandalous history of the controversial figure who some believe was the true 'William Shakespeare' - Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford."
 

The plays are at The Riverside Studios in London, where Berkoff just completed performing One Man.

The Tragedian                         6 Jun- 2 Jul 2011
The Man Who Was Hamlet    9 Jun- 3 Jul 2011

Click on the images for more details.

The Trial in Tring Park, UK

Tring Park's drama students present The Trial on 19 Jun 2011.  Click on the image for more details.

Bob Dylan radio programme

Steven Berkoff will host a BBC radio programme on Bob Dylan titled Knocking on Heaven’s Door—Dylan’s Spiritual Journey.  It is due for broadcast on 24 May 2011, which is Bob Dylan's 70th birthday.

Update: the documentary ishere for a week, and is well worth listening to, but Berkoff seems to have been replaced by Emma Freud.
 

East, Lunch and Bow of Ulysses in Brighton, UK

Big Pants Theate present East, Lunch and The Bow Of Ulysses as part of the Brighton Festival.  Performances are at The Lecturn, Brighton.

East is on 10- 17 May 2011.
Lunch and The Bow Of Ulysses are on as a double bill 26- 30 May 2011.

Click on the image for more details.  The site calls the play The Beu of Ulysses.

Edgar Allen Poe event

Berkoff is at the Stoke Newington Literary Festival, a day of celebrations to honour former London resident, American writer Edgar Allan Poe.

"First an eminent panel comprising Christopher Fowler, Kim Newman, Barry Forshaw, Pat Cadigan and Stephen Jones discuss the works and incredibly wide ranging and enduring influence of Poe across the cultural landscape. This is followed by the legendary Steven Berkoff discussing his own dramatic adaptation of the Poe classic, The Tell Tale Heart, currently touring. Immediately after this event, Berkoff will be unveiling a bust of Poe outside the Fox Reformed restaurant– the site of the school Poe attended while living in Stoke Newington. This event will have an interval and will last just over 2 hours."  Click on the image for more details.

East in Edinburgh

PASS, the Performing Arts Studio of Scotland in Edinburgh present East from 30 May- 2 Jun 2011.

"Our production of East aims to demonstrate how powerful language can be in the theatre. Steven Berkoff has forged a dynamic poetry from the collision of Shakespearean rhythms and cockney slang, creating a heightened theatrical vernacular that is at once obscene, audacious, dark and beautiful. The language is striking and demands the immediacy of the actor’s physical response."

Click on the image for more details.

Kvetch in London, UK: POSTPONED

Kvetch is on at the Cock Tavern in London- rapidly becoming the best fringe venue.  It is on from 26 Apr- 21 May 2011.  The director is Julio Martino.

"Neurotic hilarity and vein-bursting physicality combine to create a cartoon portrait of urban paranoia. In this award-winning comedy by Steven Berkoff, a suburban Jewish family gathering is disrupted by obscene outbursts and irrepressible sexual desires, both gay and straight. Inner demons run riot in this frenzied fantasy of sex, murder and suicide."

Click on the image for more details.

The theatre (currently the best fringe theatre in London) has problems with the local council and licences, so the theatre has closed.  Hopefully they will find a new venue, and hopefully Kvetch will be performed elsewhere.

Decadence in South Africa

Decadence is on at The Old Mutual Theatre on the Square, Johannesburg in South Africa on 12-30 April 2011.  The actors are Emily Child and Scott Sparrow.

"Sex, temptation, desire and extravagance make up this play, but what would a good plot be without a bit of murder! This is a sexy story about two couples' hysterical love affairs, strange fetishes and their relationship with the great temptations; sex, food and lots of money!"

Click on the image for more details.

Berkoff performs One Man  in UK

Steven Berkoff will perform his one man show with The Tell Tale Heart and Dog.  It is on 12-23 Apr 2011 at the Riverside Studios, London.

"Tell Tale Heart is a frighteningly macabre adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s gothic tale of fear, murder and madness. A man, who states that he is sane, tells of how he murdered his neighbour – a fishy-eyed miser. But, not long after the deed is done, paranoia starts to play its part - will the murderer be caught out?

Dog recreates a day in the life of a football hooligan and his pit bull terrier, Roy. Throughout the piece, the action swaps between the skinhead and the loyal pet, showing the vulgarity of the hooligan and the reactions of Roy to the cruel but sometimes loving antics of his owner."

Click on the image for more details.

Oedipus in Liverpool and Nottingham, UK

Steven Berkoff will present his adaptation of Sophocles' Oedipus.  It is on:

• 18 Feb- 12 Mar 2011 at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse

• 23 Mar- 9 Apr 2011 at the Nottingham Playhouse.

Click on the image for details of Liverpool, orhere for details of Nottingham.

You can watch a trailerhere.

Berkoff protesting to save park

Berkoff is joining protesters fighting to prevent Thames Water from building a super-sewer in King Edward VII Memorial Park in London.

"Berkoff says we should be spending money to try and create more green spaces... Parks and green spaces are critically important, especially in cities; we should value them and appreciate the havens they provide us with – so necessary in providing a contrast to a sterile concrete landscape.”

Click on the image for the source.  Details of the campaign are here.

The Trial and West in Birmingham, UK

Birmingham Theatre School present The Trial and West.

Berkoff's adaption of The Trial is on 5, 7, 9 Apr 2011 at The Old Fire Station, Birmingham.  The director is Chris Rozanski.
 One Year Professional Acting course presents:

West is on 5, 6, 8, 9 Apr 2011.  It is directed by Tracey Street.

Click on the image for more details.  The website spells Steven's name incorrectly.

Agamemnon in London, UK

Agamemnon by Berkoff is part of the Regent's College Artspace Festival on 7- 8 Apr 2011.  It is performed by the BA Acting & Global Theatre Ensemble at The London School of Film, Media and Performance (LSFMP).

The director is Kwong Loke and the actors are Ismail Mahmood (Agamemnon), Jessica Swallow and Hannah JeyaRajah (Clytemnestra), Stephanie Smith (Cassandra), Delroy Ogiste (Atreus), Reis Daniel (Thyestes), Alan Zaki (Aegisthus) and Arron Newton, Aidan Martin, Emma Griffin-Beat, Natalie Hartstone, Safiya Hamilton, Olivia Nixon, Bobby Odenhoven, Sian Bliss.

Jessica Swallow as Clytemnestra is particularly good.

"The glory of war? Disasters of peace? A war hero returns home, to be confronted by the woman he has betrayed."

Click on the image for more details.  The site spells Steven's name incorrectly.

The Fall of the House of Usher in West Midlands, UK

The Aldridge Youth Theatre present The Fall of the House of Usher from 7- 9 Apr 2011.  The director is Richard Howell.

Click on the image for details of the theatre.  Thanks to Richard for the information and photo.

Graft in a national UK tour

A new tour of the recommended performance by George Dillon of Berkoff's Graft stories.

• 23 Sept 2010 (the George Dillon site says 2011 but I presume this is a typo), Gresham's Auden Theatre, Holt, UK

• 4 Oct 2010, Stage @ Leeds, Leeds, UK

• 8 Oct 2010, Campus West Theatre, Welwyn Garden City, UK  

• 15 Jan 2011, Arts Centre, Aylesbury, UK

• 17 Jan 2011, E M Forster Theatre, Tonbridge, UK

• 18 Jan 2011, The Hawth Crawley

• 19 Mar 2011, Underground Theatre, Eastbourne

• 30 Mar 2011, Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre, Taunton, UK

Some dates are provisional so it is worth checking.

Metamorphosis in Suffolk, UK

Suffolk Youth Theatre present Metamorphosis on 1-2 Apr 2011.  It is at The Jerwood DanceHouse.  The director is  Michael Platt, with original music by Pat Whymark.

"Inspired by Franz Kafka's renowned story - Metamorphosis is the parable of a humble, industrious man who, upon waking one morning, finds himself transformed into a gigantic beetle-like insect. The ensuing action reveals humour and pathos in the tangled emotions of a family stretched to breaking point."

Click on the image for more details.

East and Greek in Leicester, UK

A group of 11 drama students from De Montfort University present East and Greek at the Curve theatre in Leicester, UK.  East is directed by Paul Kerryson and Greek is directed by Adel Al-Salloum.  Actors include James Coldrick, and Jenni Smith.

East is on 7, 9 and 11 Mar 2011.  Greek is on 8, 10, 12 Mar 2011.

Click on the image for more details.  The link includes a rehearsal diary and video clip.

Dog and Lunch in Australia

Berkoff in two Acts is presented by Caveat Theatre Company at the World’s End Hotel, Adelaide, Australia from 8-12 Mar 2011.

Berkoff in two Acts is made up of Dog and Lunch.

The director is Jonathan Bragg who also acts in Dog.  The actors in Lunch are Cameron Pike and Lydia Nicholson.

"Dog is a brief 15 minutes of masculine rage and terror as a Cockney boofhead regales us about his beery life and mean junkyard dog via a lot of pop philosophy. Bragg directs himself in this one and he gives an eye-popping performance. His command of suggestive gestures timed with the words infuses this one-hander with a huge amount of energy...".

"...The white pancake make-up with ludicrous eyebrows and lips gave it a sort of Japanese theatrical style, or the harlequin of commedia dell’arte comes to mind. Either way, it mystified identity, making this couple who meet at a bench by the sea seem all the more unknowable to each other, and their often unnaturalistic dialogue appropriately more abstract...".

The quotes are by David Grybowski from The Barefoot Review here.  Click on the images for more details.

Berkoff supports animal rights campaign

"Wielding a menacing-looking pipe like the kind used to force-feed birds, renowned actor, writer and director Steven Berkoff posed for photographs today outside Fortnum & Mason in order to show the public the cruelty inherent in foie gras production.

"The methods by which foie gras is produced are absolutely villainous, so it's little wonder the vast majority of the British public want foie gras sales banned", says Berkoff. "It's time Fortnum & Mason joined other upmarket retailers and stopped selling a product that causes birds agonising pain and death."

"Berkoff took time out to team up with PETA in protest of Fortnum & Mason's shameful sales of a product that the government has deemed too cruel to produce in the UK. The action comes on the eve of a meeting between PETA representatives and Fortnum & Mason management about the department store's continued sale of foie gras.  To create foie gras – French for "fatty liver" – up to two kilograms of mash are pumped into the stomachs of ducks and geese through a pipe two or three times a day. Birds used in foie gras production live in crowded and filthy conditions, and they often become severely depressed, stop grooming themselves and sit shaking in fear and pain as they await the next assault."

"Berkoff joins a host of other celebrities in the fight against foie gras. Kate Winslet narrated PETA's graphic video about foie gras production, and Sir Roger Moore recently placed an ad in London's busy Piccadilly Circus Underground Station urging Fortnum & Mason to stop selling foie gras. Tamara Ecclestone has written to all Formula 1 teams and sponsors asking that they pledge never to serve foie gras at their events, and Joanna Lumley also spoke out against the vile product in a recent interview with PETA US Vice President Dan Mathews. The Brit Awards removed foie gras from its menu after complaints from both PETA and singer Leona Lewis, and Prince Charles has banned foie gras from the menu at his Royal residence."

Click on the image for a link to PETA.

The Trial in Edinburgh, UK

The Trial is performed at Edinburgh's Telford College theatre.  It is presented by the HNC Acting and performance students of Edinburgh's Telford college.

It is on 2- 3 Mar 2010.  Click on the link for more details.

Berkoff  in Bracknall, UK

Steven Berkoff will talk at South Hill Park, Ringmead, Bracknall.  After there is a Q&A session.  It is on 1 Feb 2011.  Click on the image for more details.

The Trial in Watford, UK

Watford Palace Theatre present The Trial from 3-4 Feb 2011. The director is James Williams with design by James Button and movement by Lucy Hind.  Click on the link for more details.

Diary of a Juvenile Delinquent: talk

Steven Berkoff will be discussing his new book at the National Theatre in London on 29 Oct 2010.  Click on the image for details.

The Trial in London, UK

Tower Theatre Company present The Trial at the Bridewell Theatre, London.  It is directed by Andy Marchant and is on from 30 Nov- 4 Dec 2010.

The cast are Brian Tynan, Ian Recordon, Simona Hughes, Howie Ripley, Beth Graham, Ian Hoare, Celia Reynolds, James Killeen, Louisa Shindle, John Irvine and Ewa Prygiel.  The Assistant Director is Sarah Freeman, Lighting Design is Robin Snowdon, Costume Design is Zoë Thomas-Webb and the Stage Manager is Richard Pedersen.

"Berkoff’s adaptation of Kafka’s The Trial brings to life a means for a physical adaptation of a blackly absurdist satire."

Click on the image for more details.  Thanks to Sue for the information.