Arts Theatre, London
Running time: 1 hr 20 mins
Age Restrictions: 12+
SAVE UP TO £45 ON SELECTED TICKETS £75 now £30 £68 now £30 £56 now £30 £29.50 PAY NO FEES Valid for all performances 20 September - 23 October 2021 Book by 23 October 2021
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One of the most controversial and celebrated plays of the last thirty years makes its return to the West End, following its acclaimed, five star revival at the Theatre Royal Bath. More relevant than ever in the #Metoo and Everyone’s Invited era, Oleanna brilliantly explores the explosive consequences of a seemingly innocuous conversation on an American campus between a college professor and female student.
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Set on an American campus, a seemingly innocuous conversation between a college professor and his female student warps into a nightmare which threatens to destroy them both, when she files a claim of sexual harassment against him. With its take on the corrosive excesses of political correctness and exploration of the use and abuse of language, this is the ultimate drama of pupil power and student revenge.
A brilliant revival of a masterpiece…this is theatre at its most riveting, sensationally performed by its actors’ - The Guardian
David Mamet’s masterpiece about political correctness and campus sexual harassment returns to the West End, reborn for the #MeToo and Everyone’s Invited era.
Oleanna is at the Arts Theatre from July 2021. Oleanna last ran in the West End at the Garrick Theatre in 2004, starring Julia Stiles and Aaron Eckhart.
Arts Theatre
Arts Theatre
6-7 Great Newport Street
London
WC2H 7JB
THE ARTS THEATRE, LONDON
The Arts Theatre seats 347 in a two-tier basement auditorium. It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamberlain's office. It was one of a small number of committed, independent theatre companies, including the Hampstead Everyman, the Gate Theatre Studio and the Q Theatre, which took risks by producing a diverse range of new and experimental plays, or plays that were thought to be commercially non-viable on the West-End stage. The theatrical producer Norman Marshall referred to these as ‘The Other Theatre’ in his 1947 book of the same name.
The Arts Theatre opened with Picnic a revue by Herbert Farjeon, produced by Harold Scott and music by Beverley Nichols. Its first important production was Young Woodley by John Van Druten, staged in 1928, which later transferred to the Savoy Theatre when the Lord Chamberlain's ban was lifted. In 1938 a four week revival of the Stokes brothers' Oscar Wilde, starring Francis L. Sullivan and produced by Ronald Adam, opened on 25 October. This coincided with a Broadway production of the play. In 1942 Alec Clunes and John Hanau took over running of the theatre, and for ten years produced a wide range of plays, winning a reputation as a 'pocket national theatre.'
In August 1955, Peter Hall, aged 24, directed the English-language premiere of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the theatre. This was an important turning point in modern theatre for Britain. Subsequently, from 1956 to 1959, Hall ran the Arts Theatre.
From 1967 to 1999, the Arts Theatre also became a home for The Unicorn children's theatre under the direction of its founder Caryl Jenner who took over the lease. Meanwhile adult performances continued in the evening, including Tom Stoppard's satirical double-bill, Dirty Linen and Newfoundland which, opening in June 1976, ran for four years at the Arts.
The Arts Theatre's lease was taken over by a consortium of UK and US producers in 2000, for a five-year period, and relaunched as a West End Theatre with the anniversary production of Julian Mitchell's play Another Country, directed by Stephen Henry. Notable productions during this time included The Vagina Monologues and Closer to Heaven the Jonathan Harvey/Pet Shop Boys Musical.
Travel by train: Charing Cross. Nearest tube: Leicester Square/Covent Garden
