Property Moves - An immersive Monopoly experience is the first show to be announced under a new partnership between Selladoor Worldwide and games company Hasbro Inc. The collaboration will see the theatre company and Hasbro adapt more boardgames into live experiences in the future. While further productions have not yet been confirmed, other boardgames in Hasbro’s portfolio include Cluedo, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Twister and Operation.
Monopoly will run at a location in London which is yet to be announced in 2020. The experience will include a 75-minute segment where teams will compete to win tasks in order to move along the board, buy properties, and attempt to win the game. Features from the game including famous London landmarks, chance, community chest and jail will all be “brought to life” in a space that will also feature cafes, bars and shops.
David Hutchinson, chief executive of Selladoor Worldwide, said: “We’ve been working for over a year with Hasbro on this exciting partnership, developing our concept and vision to bring one of the world’s biggest board game brands to life in this thrilling experiential theatre landscape. Trends in our sector are moving in a very exciting direction with demand from a new generation of theatregoers looking to experience live theatre differently, and to be immersed in the world of the narrative in a different way.”
Vice-president of location-based entertainment at Hasbro, Matt Proulx, added: “Launching the Monopoly experience in London next year is just the beginning and we’re excited to bring more of our iconic brands to the stage in the future.”
On The Fringe - The King’s Head has been named the inaugural London Pub Theatre of the Year at an awards ceremony celebrating pub theatres’ role in the industry. The fringe venue, based behind the pub of the same name in Islington, won the main prize at a ceremony at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre.
Set up this year by online magazine London Pub Theatres, the awards celebrate the contribution of the capital’s pub theatres to the wider industry, with the King’s Head beating 17 other venues to the title in recognition of its “outstanding track record for nurturing theatre talent”, and championing fair pay with its Equity agreement. One of London’s oldest pub theatres, the King’s Head has been situated in its current home since it was founded in 1970, However, it is planning a move to a £5.6m purpose-built premises next year.
Coming Home - The unpredictable Diana Ross has announced her first UK tour in 15 years. The former Supremes star's six-date tour will follow her Sunday legends slot at next year's Glastonbury Festival. The Diamond Diana Top of the World Tour shows will also be her first live appearances in this country since 2008. Ross described her return to the UK as "like coming home".
In The Saleroom - A stained, cigarette-burned cardigan unwashed in nearly three decades has sold at auction for $334,000 (£260,000). Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain wore the green button-up during the band's MTV Unplugged performance in 1993. It has not been cleaned since he last wore it.
The piece of clothing is now reportedly the most expensive sweater ever sold at auction after it was snapped up in New York. Darren Julien, president of Julien's Auction, called Cobain's mohair cardigan "the holy grail of any article of clothing that he ever wore".
Cobain's custom-made Fender Mustang guitar - which he used during Nirvana's In Utero tour - was also on sale, and fetched $340,000 (£265,000). It had been on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for several years.
(Jim Evans)
29 October 2019

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