The Icarus Theatre Collective is a British theatre company, set up to explore the brutal side of contemporary and classical drama.

Background

Icarus is unique as a mid-scale theatre company in that it functions as a collective. A team of highly qualified Producers lead the company under the measured Artistic Direction of company founder Max Lewendel. Each Producer acts part-time on each project and has set tasks and responsibilities. In this way, many projects can happen simultaneously and the company maintains a clear, strong Artistic Vision.

Productions

• The Lesson (2004) by Eugène Ionesco
  Eugène Ionesco
  Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
  
  
• Coyote Ugly (2004) by Lynn Seifert, Critics' Choice in Time Out and The Church of England Newsletter
• Albert's Boy (2005) starring Tony Award winner Victor Spinetti
  Victor Spinetti
  Victor Spinetti is a Welsh comic actor.-Early life:Spinetti was born in Cwm, Ebbw Vale, Wales of Welsh and Italian heritage from a grandfather who was said to have walked from Italy to Wales to work as a coal miner...
  
  , winning the esteemed Pearson Playwright Award
• Re-mount of The Lesson (2007–2008) by Eugène Ionesco
  Eugène Ionesco
  Eugène Ionesco was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, and one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd...
  
   which toured to 37 venues across the country, transferred to Assembly Rooms at Hill Street Theatre, the Old Red Lion Theatre, and Romania. Won two major awards and received four-star-or-better reviews in 15 publications.
• The Time of Your Life
  The Time of Your Life
  The Time of Your Life is a 1939 five-act play by American playwright William Saroyan. The play is the first drama to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The play opened 25 October 1939 at the Booth Theatre in New York City...
  
   (2008) used 25 actors in one of the smallest, most prestigious Off-West-End theatres, The Finborough Theatre.
• Vincent in Brixton
  Vincent in Brixton
  Vincent in Brixton is a 2003 play by Nicholas Wright. The play premiered at London's National Theatre. It transferred to the Playhouse Theatre and later to Broadway....
  
   (2009) by Nicholas Wright
  Nicholas Wright (playwright)
  Nicholas Wright is a British dramatist. He opened and ran the Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, was joint artistic director of the Royal Court and is a former literary manager and associate director of the Royal National Theatre. Wright began acting as a child, and trained at The...
  
    produced alongside The Original Theatre Company transferred to three number one touring houses including the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Devonshire Park Theatre, and Theatre Royal Windsor.
• Othello
  Othello
  The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
  
   (2009) by William Shakespeare
  William Shakespeare
  William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
  
  , co-produced with The Original Theatre Company and in association with South Hill Park Arts Centre. The production visited venues such as Buxton Opera House and the New Theatre Royal
  New Theatre Royal
  The New Theatre Royal is a Victorian theatre in the centre of Portsmouth, Hampshire, United Kingdom. The building was constructed in 1854 as Landport Hall. It was converted to a theatre two years later. It was rebuilt in 1884 by Charles J. Phipps and again in 1900 by Frank Matcham...
  
  , Portsmouth.

Forthcoming productions

In Spring 2010, Icarus will be touring Journey’s End, starring Graham Seed

Graham Seed

Graham Seed is an English actor.He trained at RADA and is best known for his role playing Nigel Pargetter in the BBC radio series The Archers from 1983 until January 2011, although actor Nigel Carrington briefly played the role when Graham Seed took a break in the late 1980s...

 and Adam Best

Adam Best

Adam Best is an Northern Irish actor who trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for 3 years. He attended Donaghadee Primary School and Bangor Grammar School and gained experience with the Ulster Youth Theatre and Drama School.He is probably most famous for his role as Matt Parker on...

.

Later on in the year, from Autumn 2010, Hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

 and The Madness of George III

The Madness of George III (play)

The Madness of George III is a 1991 play by Alan Bennett. It is a fictionalised biographical study of the latter half of the reign of George III of Great Britain, his battle with mental illness and the inability of his court to handle his condition...

will be touring.