The Board of the Belgrade Theatre today announces a major restructure to the senior leadership team for 2022. Chief Executive and Artistic Director Hamish Glen and Executive Director Joanna Reid will step down at the end of March 2022. Two new posts will be created – a Chief Executive responsible for overall strategy and to run the commercial side of the Belgrade, and a Creative Director, reporting to the CEO, to focus on the Theatre’s artistic output across both its professional and community areas.

There will be a scaled down leadership team of six. This team will lead on producing and programming, technical production, marketing, general management such as fund raising and income generation, financial management and commercial income and operations such as catering and conferencing.

These changes have been driven by two issues. The need to address the financial challenges of the pandemic and its aftermath, and the desire to develop a new vision and way of working for a 21^st century theatre.

Important to this new vision will be the legacy of Coventry’s year as City of Culture and Hamish Glen’s KEYS project. This was inspired by the story of Ira Aldridge, a young African-American actor, went came to Coventry in 1828 to manage a short season of plays at the old Coventry Theatre. 

Not even 21 years of age, he became the country’s first theatre manager of colour at time when slavery was still widespread throughout the British Empire. To honour this unusual event Glen wanted to ‘hand the keys’ of the theatre over to the next generation of young and diverse theatre-makers. 

Corey Campbell, Balisha Karra and Justine Themen were appointed as Co-Artistic Directors of the theatre for 2021, bringing with them a unique perspective that celebrates Coventry’s diversity and drives positive change. The three Co-Artistic Directors have driven the City of Culture programme of work with their own individual projects, as well as learning from Glen about the processes and challenges of running a major venue.

Hamish Glen and Joanna Reid said: “As with all theatres across the UK, the pandemic has proved uniquely challenging for the Belgrade, both financially and logistically.

“We’re proud of the way the whole team has pulled together, that we’re riding the storm with resilience and we’re excited for the work both inside and outside the building during City of Culture year. We feel that now is the right time to look to the future and to step aside, handing over a strong organisation to allow the next generation of talented and innovative theatre leaders to take the Belgrade forward.”

As previously announced, David Hanson will take over as Chairman of the Board later this year from Stewart Ferguson who has served as Chairman since 2012. Hanson is joined by Alan Pollock as Vice Chair, and other trustees joining the Board at this time are Nyasha Pitt, Tyrone Huggins, Thanh Sinden and Colin Bell.

Recruitment for the new CEO and Creative Director posts will begin immediately in July, with the aim that the successful appointees will be in post in January 2022.

Research has revealed that West Yorkshire is the UK’s most dangerous region to drive in.

The study by A-Plan Insurance divided England and Wales by police district and assessed the number of reported dangerous driving offences as a ratio of each district’s population.

There were 515,758 driving offences reported in England and Wales during 2020, of which 431,573 related to dangerous driving offences such as driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, use of a mobile device while driving and incidents causing death or injury.

West Yorkshire topped the list with a total of 34,862 dangerous driving offences reported, and a regional population of 2,332,500, which equates to an offence for every 67 people.

South Wales and Lincolnshire are also in the top three, with South Wales registering 19,707 offences across 1,339,400 citizens and Lincolnshire reporting 10,004 instances of dangerous driving over 761,200 residents.

Among the UK’s safest regions to drive, Wiltshire tops the list with just 2,611 dangerous driving offences reported among a population of 722,200 residents – equivalent to and offence for every 277 people. Also, among the top 10 are regions such as Greater Manchester, Dorset and Hertfordshire.

All driving offences are down 27.5% compared to 2019, during which 711,440 reports were made. This decrease is no doubt affected by the UK’s fluctuating state of lockdowns over the course of the year, and the resulting reduction in personal travel and professional commuting due to home working.

The police statistics, drawn from the criminal justice system’s end of year report, indicate that 2,786 of last year’s driving offences were committed by children under the age of 17, with a further 18,462 offences committed by young adults aged 17-25. 488,000 offences were committed by adults, and 5,819 cases were attributed to “Companies, Public Bodies etc”. A further 691 reports were listed as uncategorised.

Across genders, 379,951 offences were committed by men, while only 94,472 reports were made against the country’s female population.

A spokesperson from A-Plan Insurance commented on the findings: “Despite the obvious impact the UK’s lockdown procedures have had on our use of the roads, a decrease of 27.5% in motoring offences is remarkable. With more employers choosing to persist with remote working solutions moving forward, one hopes that the UK’s roads will remain safer for both drivers and pedestrians.”

The research was carried out by A-Plan Insurance, which has more than 100 high street branches nationwide. The company, established in the 1960s, provides a personalised service to more than 600,000 clients.

Multi-platinum pop-trio Cheat Codes, popularly known for their smash single “No Promises” (ft. Demi Lovato), follow their highly-anticipated debut album Hellraisers, Pt. 1 and its lead single “Lean On Me” (ft. Tinashe), with the release of new single “Never Love You Again”.

The genre-blending single is a collaboration with Grammy award-winning country group Little Big Town, who recently performed their hit “Wine, Beer, Whiskey” live at the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards. The euphoric track also features British singer-songwriter and certified hit-maker Bryn Christopher, whose single with Sigala, “Sweet Lovin’,” reached number 3 on the UK singles chart and has over 500 million streams across platforms.

Cheat Codes have always been known to cross into every corner of the genre spectrum with past collaborations showcasing their musical range by working with everyone from Trippie Red and blackbear to Demi Lovato, Little Mix and Sofia Reyes. One genre they’ve never crossed into but always dreamed of is country and as huge fans of the genre, Little Big Town are one of their favourite acts.

“Never Love You Again” marks a new step for Cheat Codes as they enter the country space and continue to expand their musical diversity with a powerful song that blends each artists’ distinct strengths to perfection - Cheat Codes’ dance pop production, Little Big Town’s intricate vocal harmonies, and Bryn Christopher’s soulful style.

Of the new single, Cheat Codes said: "We’ve been fans of Little Big Town since we started Cheat Codes and to collaborate with the country icons has always been a bucket list goal of ours. Close friend and incredible creative Bryn Christopher sent over the beautiful idea he had started with Andrew Jackson and we just ran with it.

“We love to cross genres with our music and Never Love You Again gave us a natural opportunity to make it happen. We hope this song finds everyone enjoying their summer with friends and family! We can’t wait to see you all on the road..."

Little Big Town's Jimi Westbrook commented: "“Collaborating with artists in other genres has been one of our favourite experiences as a band. Recently, we were thrilled to get the chance to record a song with Cheat Codes. We couldn’t be any prouder of this song…crank it up and dance!"

Cheat Codes and Little Big Town's collaborative single ft. Bryn Christopher "Never Love You Again" is out now.

Comprising of Trevor Dahl, Matthew Russell and Kevi Ford, Los Angeles trio Cheat Codes are an inescapable force throughout popular culture. Their total stream tally eclipses a staggering 6 billion plays. With 4 billion streams on Spotify alone, they average 15 million monthly listeners on the platform, making them one of the “Top 200 Most Listened To Artists in the World.”

Maintaining a prolific pace, they’ve steadily amassed a diverse discography, including the platinum Pop Radio Top 5 smash “No Promises” (ft. Demi Lovato), the gold-certified “Feels Great” (ft. Fetty Wap & CVBZ), and gold-selling breakout “SEX” with Kriss Kross Amsterdam.

“Only You” (ft. Little Mix) soared to #1 on Pop Radio in the UK, while they received dozens of platinum certifications in 20 countries. Not to mention, Liam Payne, Kim Petras, and Sof í a Reyes all jumped at the chance to collaborate and remixes for Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith. Acclaimed by Rolling Stone, Paper, Time, Billboard, and more, the musicians have shut down The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel LIVE! with stunning and show-stopping performances.

The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced initial casting for The Magician’s Elephant, a new musical by Nancy Harris (book/lyrics) and Marc Teitler (music/lyrics) based on the novel by prize-winning children’s author Kate DiCamillo.

The principal cast includes; Keisha Amponsa Banson (Gloria Matienne), Marc Antolin (Leo Matienne), Sam Harrison (Count Quintet), Forbes Masson (Police Chief), Mark Meadows (Vilna Lutz), Alastair Parker (Magician), Summer Strallen (Countess Quintet) and Jack Wolfe (Peter Duchene).

Further cast comprises; Sharif Afifi (Milliner), Alison Arnopp (Baker), Hannah Brown (Swing), Michael Carolan (Swing), Lucca Chadwick-Patel (Fishmonger), Stephen John Davis (Doctor), Zoe Halliday (The Elephant), Wela Mbusi (The Elephant), Suzanne Nixon (The Elephant), Wendy Somerville (Mrs Griswald) and Mandi Symonds (Sister Marie).

The world stage premiere of The Magician’s Elephant will run in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from Thursday 14 October 2021 to Saturday 1 January 2022 with press night on Tuesday 26 October 2021.

The production, which was originally due to run from October 2020 – January 2021, was postponed due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, which included the temporary cancellation of all RSC performances, events and other activities. The production will mark the re-opening of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre following the pandemic and the return of audiences to indoor performances at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Magician’s Elephant tells the story of orphan Peter Augustus Duchene, who lives a frugal life in the lonely town of Baltese. Then one day, a magician conjures an elephant from the sky. The animal’s appearance sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that it changes Baltese forever. Peter is catapulted into the quest of his life, overturning everything he ever thought he knew, and discovering that happiness can come from the most unexpected places.

This new adaptation of Kate DiCamillo’s heart-breaking and darkly magical children’s book by Nancy Harris (book/lyrics) and Marc Teitler (music/lyrics) will be directed by Sarah Tipple, Associate Director to Gregory Doran on The Boy in the Dress. The production will feature design by Colin Richmond whose previous RSC credits include Wendy and Peter Pan and Vice Versa. Lighting is by Oliver Fenwick, Music Supervision and Musical Direction by Tom Brady, Orchestrations by Sarah Travis and Marc Teitler, vocal arrangements by Tom Brady and Marc Teitler, sound by Paul Groothuis and movement by Francesca Jaynes. Dramaturgy is by Réjane Collard-Walker. Puppetry direction is by Mervyn Millar with puppetry design by Mervyn Millar and Tracy Waller. The Magic Consultant is John Bulleid whose previous RSC credits include #WeAreArrested, and video is by Douglas O’Connell.
The role of Peter Duchene will be played by Jack Wolfe, who makes his RSC debut this Christmas. Jack’s previous theatre credits include Sweeney Todd (Lyric Belfast), Pinocchio (National Theatre) The Snow Queen (Rose Theatre Kingston) and The Musician (The Belfast Ensemble). Television credits include Inside No. 9; The Witcher; Father Brown and Hetty Feather.

Jack plays the lead role of Tim Walker/Prince Tamino in the upcoming film adaptation of The Magic Flute (Flute Film/Centropolis Entertainment) opposite Iwan Rheon and F. Murray Abraham, which is due for release in 2022.

He will be joined by Marc Antolin and Keisha Amponsa Banson in the roles of Leo and Gloria Matienne respectively.

Marc is no stranger to the RSC at Christmas. In 2010, he appeared as a member of the original ensemble cast of Matilda the Musical, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary in the West End. Marc continued with the production when it transferred to the West End and later went on to play the role of Rudolpho.

Marc’s other musical theatre credits include playing the role of Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors at Regents Park Open Air Theatre and Marc Chagall in Kneehigh/Bristol Old Vic's production The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk. Other notable stage credits include The Trial (Young Vic) and Taken at Midnight (Theatre Royal Haymarket/Chichester Festival Theatre).

Keisha Amponsa Banson is perhaps best known to musical theatre audiences for playing Ms Sheinkopf in School of Rock - The Musical. Keisha’s previous credits for the RSC include Matilda the Musical (Cambridge Theatre) in which she played the role of Mrs Phelps.

Keisha’s other theatre credits include Caroline, or Change (Chichester Festival Theatre/West End); Beano The Musical (Old Vic); King (Hackney Empire); Dr. FeelGood (The Other Palace); Motown the Musical (Shaftesbury Theatre); I Know All The Secrets In My World (Tiata Fahodzi); Yarico (London Theatre Workshop); City of Angels (Donmar Warehouse); The Pajama Game (Shaftesbury Theatre); From Here to Eternity (Shaftesbury Theatre); The Lion King (UK/Ireland Tour); Believers Anonymous (Rosemary Branch Theatre); Footloose (UK Tour); Woosah (Old Vic); Knight Crew (Glyndebourne Opera); Little Shop of Horrors (Menier Chocolate Factory, UK Tour). Her television credits include Children in Need; Live At The London Palladium; The Sound of Music Live!; Gareth Malone Goes to Glyndebourne; West End Story: What Nancy, Joseph & Maria Did Next and I’d Do Anything.

Four times Olivier award-nominated actress Summer Strallen will make her RSC debut this Autumn playing the role of Countess Quintet alongside Sam Harrison as Count Quintet.

Throughout her career, Summer has performed various leading roles on stage and screen.
Her most notable stage credits include playing Meg Giry in the West End production of Love Never Dies and Maria von Trapp in Andrew Lloyd Webber's revival of The Sound of Music at the London Palladium. Other theatre credits include What’s In A Name (UK Tour); Young Frankenstein (Garrick Theatre); Hysteria (London Classic Theatre Tour); A Damsel In Distress (Chichester Festival Theatre); Ultimate Broadway (Shanghai Culture Square Theatre); Life Of The Party (Menier Chocolate Factory); Top Hat (Aldwych Theatre and National Tour), Company (Queens Theatre); The Drowsy Chaperone (Novello Theatre); Guys and Dolls (Piccadilly Theatre); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London Palladium); Cats (New London Theatre and National Tour); Fosse (European Tour) and The Sound of Music (Sadler’s Wells).

Summer played the role of Nancy Morrell in BBC One’s World War Two drama, Land Girls. She also voiced the part of “Princess Lucy” in The Big Knights, a British animated children’s television series, and played the role of Summer Shaw in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks.

Sam Harrison’s musical theatre credits include playing Bamatabois/Claquesous in Les Misérables (Queen's Theatre), Boris in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (West Yorkshire Playhouse & UK Tour), the Hairdresser in The Phantom of the Opera (25th Anniversary Tour)
and Bobby in Crazy for You (London Palladium). Other stage credits include A Damsel in Distress (Chichester Festival Theatre), By Jeeves (Trinity Theatre) Eastward, Ho! (Shakespeare’s Globe), Salad Days (Riverside Studios) and Avenue Q (Gielgud Theatre).

Returning to the RSC this Christmas following his role as Mr Hawtrey, the Headmaster in The Boy in the Dress in 2019/20 is RSC Associate Artist Forbes Masson, who will play the Police Chief.

Forbes’ previous credits for the RSC include The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, Ahasverus, Morte D’Arthur, Henry VI Part 2, Henry V, The Grain Store, A Tender Thing, Henry VI Parts 1,2 & 3, Richard II, Twelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors, Macbeth and Hamlet. Other theatre credits include Summer and Smoke (West End and The Almeida), Little Shop of Horrors (Regents Park), Big Fish (The Other Palace), Bartholomew Fair, Merry Wives of Windsor, Boudica (all at Shakespeare’s Globe) and Travesties (West End and Menier). Forbes is known for his comedy partnership with Alan Cumming. Together they wrote and starred in The High Life, and created the famous Scottish comedy duo, Victor and Barry. Recent TV credits include Crime, Father Brown, Catastrophe, Shetland and EastEnders

Making his RSC debut this Autumn is Mark Meadows as Vilna Lutz. Mark’s previous musical theatre credits include The Thrill of Love (New Vic, Stoke); Flowers for Mrs Harris (Sheffield Crucible; Chichester Festival Theatre), Betty Blue Eyes (Novello Theatre); Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre); Urinetown (St James); High Society (Sheffield Crucible). Other theatre credits include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Tobacco Factory); A Woman of No Importance (UK Tour); Orpheus Descending (Menier Chocolate Factory); Quiz (Chichester Festival Theatre; Noel Coward Theatre); Tartuffe (Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory) and The Magna Carta Plays (Salisbury Playhouse).

Mark’s TV and radio credits include McDonald & Dodds (Mammoth Screen); Kiri (Channel 4), EastEnders, Casualty, Doctors (all for BBC); Letters From Baghdad; Nicholas Nickleby (United Artists); High Heels & Lowlifes (Fragile Films), Poetry Please; Costing The Earth; The Good Companions; Company; Pal Joey (BBC Radio 3); The Worst Journey in the World; Torchwood-Lost Souls; If Not Now, When?; Abel’s Law; The Von Trapps & Me; Tommy the Voice; I Believe I Have Genius; The Quest and Making Hay (all for BBC Radio 4).

Also returning to the Royal Shakespeare Company this Christmas is Alastair Parker who plays the Magician. Alastair last appeared at the RSC as Sergei in the original cast of Matilda the Musical in 2010. Alastair later went on to understudy the role of Miss Trunchbull during the production’s run at the Cambridge Theatre.
Alastair’s other theatre credits include A Christmas Carol (Old Vic Theatre), Jerry Springer - The Opera (National Theatre, Cambridge Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre); Bed & Sofa (Finborough Theatre); BBC Proms - Sondheim at 80 (Royal Albert Hall); The Secret Garden, Alice in Wonderland (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Silk (Orange Tree Theatre); Wizard of Oz, The Glee Club (New Vic Theatre); Two Women for One Ghost, Cymbeline, Twelfth Night, HMS Pinafore (Regents Park Open Air Theatre); Spittin’ Distance, Jonah Boy, Beginners Guide to Cybershopping (Stephen Joseph Theatre); Is There Life After High School (The Bridewell Theatre); Oklahoma (Perth Theatre) and Oliver (London Palladium).

With wedding season firmly back up and running, best men need to make sure they don’t land themselves (or the groom) in hot water, as it’s revealed Mancunian best men give the most inappropriate speeches. 

The study, by top10casions.com, found more than a quarter (27%) of Mancunian best men gave an inappropriate speech, compared to just 4% of the groomsmen in Southampton. According to the survey, the top 5 locations for a bad wedding speech are: 

Manchester (27%) 

London (19%) 

Glasgow (18%) 

Norwich (14%) 

Sheffield (13%) 

When it comes to wedding bust ups, Manchester is also home to the most argumentative wedding parties, with 38% of grooms falling out with their best man because of their speech. It’s couples in Birmingham however who are least likely to drift off into wedded bliss, with 30% of newlyweds arguing about something mentioned by the best man! 

The survey also asked wedding guests which topics they think are taboo during the speeches. Almost half think it’s okay to be mean to the bride during their speech and just a third think mother-in-law jokes should be off limits to the best man, compared to 60% who say any mention of the groom’s ex partners should be forbidden.

In light of the findings, a joke generator has been created to help nervous best men to navigate the minefield of wedding speech writing. The creators said: “Best men are often the forgotten heroes of weddings, with pressure piled on to pull a hilarious speech out of the bag despite their lack of any previous speech-giving experience.   

“We created the joke generator to help these unwitting soles to get some giggles, without the risk of any embarrassing tumbleweed moments.”

The pioneering, Grammy award-winning composer, conductor, orchestrator, curator and artist Jules Buckley has teamed up with long-time collaborator and producer Chris Wheeler, Heritage Orchestra and percussion collective Ghost-Note to release ‘Apache’, the stunning debut single and fresh take on the Incredible Bongo Band classic. The single release comes alongside the announcement that the album ‘The Breaks’ will be released 3rd September 2021 on Decca Records.

With hip hop embedded into mainstream culture, the music from ‘The Breaks’ promises to appeal across generations of music fans. There will be a string of singles released from the 15-track album, which is a stunning collection of the much-loved, culture-defining music that birthed the Breaking scene and influenced hip hop and scratch DJs in the Bronx since the1970s.

‘The Breaks’ sees Buckley assemble some stellar featured artists, from Kamasi Washington, Vula and Mr Switch, to Mattiel, Mr Talkbox and US keys impresario Cory Henry. The album follows up the acclaimed ‘The Breaks’ BBC Prom in 2019, which saw B-boys and B-girls take to the stage at Royal Albert Hall alongside Buckley, Heritage Orchestra and Ghost-Note, for an exhilarating and spectacular musical celebration.

Among the four pillars of hip-hop culture, MC-ing, DJ-ing, graffiti art and breaking, ‘The Breaks’ has its original roots in disco, funk, soul, latin and beyond. All 15 tracks on ‘The Breaks’ album have been continuously mixed, featuring tunes from James Brown & The J.B’s, The Sugarhill Gang, Incredible Bongo Band, Lyn Collins, Zapp, Babe Ruth, Jimmy Castor Bunch, The Soul Searchers, Herman Kelly & Life, Kool & The Gang, as well as tracks that interweave a number of seminal samples, to delight music lovers, from cratediggers to connoisseurs.

Jules Buckley said: “It’s ace to finally release ‘Apache’ from the forthcoming ‘The Breaks’ album, which has been two years in the making with Chris, Heritage Orchestra, Ghost-Note and our incredible featured artists. We are raising the bar a little more in homage to the music that has helped define the Breaking scene and cemented its place as one of the four pillars of hip-hop culture worldwide. ‘The Breaks’ are the sonic blueprint for the foundation of a scene that birthed hip hop. It’s an honour to share this collection of killer music with the world.”

With a staggering discography of over 70 records, Jules Buckley has worked with some of the hottest names in music and become the widely celebrated, and imitated, originator of innovative, orchestral re-imaginings, blazing a trail across a broad range of genres with his 16 BBC Proms, including his tributes to Quincy Jones, Nina Simone, Scott Walker and Charles Mingus, the 1Xtra Grime Symphony, and the iconic Ibiza Prom, which spawned a major collaboration with Pete Tong, Chris Wheeler and Heritage Orchestra on the globally acclaimed Ibiza Classics live concerts and hugely successful ‘Classic House’ albums, released on Universal Music.

Jules Buckley will present his 17th Prom for the BBC, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the incredible Moses Sumney, on Saturday 21st August at 7.30pm at Royal Albert Hall. ‘The Breaks’ is designed to be listened to non-stop as a continuous mix, and will be released on CD, vinyl and cassette. An unmixed version will also be released digitally.