PRESS RELEASE

Foursight Theatre in a co-production with Warwick Arts Centre presents

THATCHER THE MUSICAL!
UK TOUR 2006
OCTOBER – NOVEMBER 2006

This play has just been waiting to happen…the time has come.

Foursight Theatre are delighted to be able to announce the first national tour of the smash hit new musical Thatcher – The Musical!  The tour will begin on 3rd October at the Lowry in Salford and continue until the 18th November where it finishes at The West Yorkshire playhouse in Leeds.  Further touring dates for Spring 2007 are to be announced.

What was behind the triumph, the power, the betrayal, the men and the passion?
Join Baroness Margaret Hilda Thatcher as she presents her legacy and claims her position as the greatest leader in history.   The show chronicles the life and times of Margaret Thatcher and includes all new songs including The Cabinet Shuffle, The Tory Blues and A Love Song (It Was Surely Purely Chemistry)

Directed by Naomi Cooke with original songs by Jill Dowse, an all-singing, all-dancing cast of ten romp through the years of the Iron Lady and her Government ...exploding the political and the personal… revealing the contents of the most famous handbag in history with often hilarious results.   From Parliamentary battles to the Falklands War, from the miners' strike to the knife in the back: Foursight Theatre digs deep to uncover the impact Britain's first female Prime Minister had on the world, on British society and on you and me.  Often funny, sometimes moving, this show is a first to explore the career of a major political figure whilst they’re still alive.

Foursight Theatre is renowned for its passionate and expressionistic performances, which weave themes and emotions together in a visual and aural feast.  Previous shows have included Boadicea, Hecuba, Six Dead Queens and an Inflatable Henry and Medea.  This time the company turns its attention to one of the world's most influential, most loved and most hated figures – Margaret Thatcher.

“Slick, vibrant, funny and delightful – whatever your political colour.”

British Theatre Guide

“Sharp, critical, imaginative, intelligent …and extremely funny” BBC Front Row

“A nimble and entertaining robust physical piece of ensemble theatre.”
The Daily Telegraph

“Taps into the terror and ecstasy that Thatcher aroused.” The Independent

“ Tremendous” The Times

“A rollicking performance that runs from childhood to sad old age. This Thatcher has soul beneath her steel, a woman as well as a politician, in a touching exploration of the anxieties of power.” The Guardian

THATCHER – THE MUSICAL, AUTUMN TOUR 2006

3-7 Oct, LOWRY, Salford, 0870 787 5790, thelowry.com
10-14 Oct, OXFORD, Playhouse, 01865 305305, oxfordplayhouse.com
17-21 Oct, POOLE, Lighthouse, 08700 668701, lighthousepoole.co.uk
26-28 Oct, CANTERBURY, Gulbenkian, 01227 769075, gulbenkiantheatre.co.uk
31 Oct – 4 Nov, COVENTRY, Warwick Arts Centre, 024 7652 4524, warwickartscentre.co.uk
14-18 Nov, LEEDS, West Yorkshire Playhouse, 0113 213 7700, wyp.org.uk