The Stage

Stars to appear In the Raw at Rose of Kingston

Published Tuesday 21 September 2004 at 12:40 by Ruth Gillespie

Judi Dench and Jimmy Tarbuck are to appear in Peter Hall’s first season as artistic director of the Rose of Kingston, the new £8.5 million theatre in west London.

Due to open in autumn next year as a producing house with its own ensemble company, the theatre will be temporarily made fit for audiences from November for the special In the Raw season.

The programme begins with a limited three-week run of the Bath Theatre Royal production of As You Like It from November 30, while Dench and Tarbuck will each host fundraising gala evenings on December 5 and 12.

Hall said: “As You Like It is a play that celebrates life and love. It is a particular joy for me that we are able to perform it in this extraordinary new theatre. This special season gives us all a wonderful opportunity to show the world what the Rose of Kingston will be capable of when the theatre is fully fitted out and can be at the forefront of staging classical theatre at the highest level.”

The venue, which has been inspired by the Elizabethan Rose Theatre, will comprise a 1,120-seat main auditorium, with a 90-seat education space and a 240-seat studio space.