LAMDA’s new theatre is almost finished. The first production is a musical, Assassins by Sondheim. The eponymous assassins are the men and women who have attempted, successfully or not, to assassinate Presidents of the United States and the music is a reflection of popular music in their times.
There are nine assassins in the show starting with John Wilkes Booth (he bagged President Lincoln) and ending with Sara Jane Moore. She tried to kill President Ford. It was first performed in New York in 1990 and there have been acclaimed productions in London at the Donmar, the Union Theatre and the Menier.
LAMDA’s Principal, Joanna Read, directs Assassins. I saw her production of Sondheim’s Into the Woods there shortly after I had seen it at Regent’s Park. It is a complex piece and I couldn’t imagine how she would pull it off. Using a couple of ladders and some planks she conjured up castles, beanstalks and all the magic of fairy tales.
Her new theatre is almost finished.
