Ian McKellen on Stage - Tolkien, Shakespeare, others …and you!

9th November 2018

Ian McKellen is to celebrate his 8oth birthday next year by raising funds for theatres, with a new solo show which will play on 80 stages across the UK including Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre for the Arts on 2^nd July 2019

It all begins in January 2019 with a Tour of London from the National Theatre to the Theatre Royal Stratford East, as well as performances in the West End and Outer London. Then, across the country, he will visit theatres large and small with which he has personal connections, including amateur groups he knew as a child and notable playhouses he has played in as a professional actor over the last half-century.

His intimate show is a mixture of anecdote and acting, including Tolkien, Shakespeare, others...and you the audience.

Ian McKellen says: “I’m celebrating my 80th birthday by touring a new solo show to theatres I know well and a few that I don’t. The show starts with Gandalf and will probably end with an invitation to act with me on stage. In-between there will be anecdotes and acting. I open at my local arts centre in January and end up by August in Orkney.

Live theatre has always been thrilling to me, as an actor and in the audience. Growing up in Lancashire, I was grateful to those companies who toured beyond London and I’ve always enjoyed repaying that debt by touring up and down the country myself, with the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Prospect Theatre, the Actors’ Company, as well as with commercial productions. Sean Mathias, the director and I have worked together for stage and screen, many happy times.

I was last onstage in Poole with the RSC’s small scale tour of “Twelfth Night” and “Three Sisters” 40 years ago. I’m delighted to be back as I revisit other theatres up and down the UK. All profits will benefit The Lighthouse aptly named “Poole’s Centre For The Arts”.

Proceeds will go towards ‘Bright Sparks’, a programme that will enable and inspire talented people to develop professionally in a wide range of roles across the arts sector. Developing young talent is not just about giving opportunities to artists, but also to the huge range of people that work hard behind the scenes. Bright Sparks will give opportunities to countless young people and will ensure that the arts in Dorset will continue to flourish.

In the past 3 years, Lighthouse have worked with over 80 young people on Lighthouse-led learning initiatives, and all money raised from Ian Mckellen’s performance will support the bright sparks of the future. 

Bright Sparks includes activity such as:

• Projects like our Young Technicians programme give hands-on experience of all areas associated with lighting, sound and AV for theatre, concerts, cinema & live events. 

• Over the last four years, our Internship scheme has given 9 local graduates their first full-time paid roles in a career in arts administration.

• Through our writing project, DO:Wright, we will employ a writer-in-residence and also give teenagers from our partner schools the opportunity to spend a year

Tickets on sale at: www.lighthousepoole.co.uk