Attention Love Actually Fans! Richard Curtis, the writer and director of the classic Christmas film, is bringing a Christmas-themed live show to London’s Royal Festival Hall for a limited 8-show run this December to raise funds for Comic Relief.
Senbla and Roast Productions in partnership with Comic Relief are delighted to announce Christmas Actually a brand-new festive show curated by Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’ Diary) and directed by Daniel Raggett (Accidental Death of an Anarchist, West End; ANNA X, West End) that will run at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall from 7-11 December 2023. Tickets go on sale at 10 am BST on Wednesday 19 July at www.southbankcentre.co.uk, and a percentage of ticket sales will go to Comic Relief to support projects changing lives across the UK and around the world.
I suspect tickets will sell out very quickly!
A festive feast for the senses, this witty and enchanting evening will capture all of the fun and laughter of Christmas through a treasure trove of entertainment. Family and friends are invited to come together for the ultimate Christmas variety show with a celebrity line up performing live music, Christmas stories, poetry and comedy.
Through a partnership with Comic Relief, Christmas Actually is excited to be using the power of entertainment to help raise funds for the charity during the festive period. Richard Curtis is co-founder of Comic Relief, and the charity has raised over £1.5 billion to support projects that tackle poverty in the UK and around the world during that time.
Richard Curtis said: “I hope this will be the perfect Christmas show: noisy and emotional, and full of surprises and jokes with some proper celebrity sparkle. And I know it will help support brilliant projects changing people’s lives, both in the UK and around the world, 365 days a year.”
Unfolding against a beautiful backdrop of live illustrations from some of the world’s most well-known artists and illustrators, the evening will feature some of the finest Christmas classics performed by a live band, powerful real-life stories and moving poetry brought to life by the multi-talented cast. With many more surprises to be revealed, in the true spirit of Christmas, the evening would not be complete without some brilliantly terrible Christmas cracker jokes read by celebrities on screen, children’s hilarious letters to Father Christmas and a good old-fashioned singalong. Full cast, creative team and celebrity guests to be announced.
Richard Curtis CBE is a multi-award-winning film writer and director whose films include Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’ Diary, Mr Bean, Love Actually, The Boat That Rocked, About Time and most recently Danny Boyle’s Yesterday.
How the classic Christmas film will appear in the show remains to be seen – as well as if any of the surviving original cast will be participating.
Christmas Actually
7 – 11 December 2023
Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre
Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/performance-dance/christmas-actually
Tel. 0203 879 9555
Tickets from £25.50
Author: Jonathan Thomas
Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile who launched Anglotopia.net in 2007 to channel his passion for Britain. Londontopia is its sister publication dedicated to everything London.