RIVERSIDE STUDIOS ANNOUNCES FINAL 50TH ANNIVERSARY EVENTS
HAYLEY MILLS IN CONVERSATION (8 NOVEMBER)
HANIF KUREISHI IN CONVERSATION (10 JANUARY)
LEIGH LAWSON: NOW & THEN (21 FEBRURARY)
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IMAGES AVAILABLE HERE
The whole team at Riverside Studios is thrilled to announce further details of the final special events being staged to celebrate the West London venue’s 50th anniversary.
Opened in 1976, Riverside Studios has built a reputation for excellence and innovation across theatre, dance, visual art, television, comedy and music. This anniversary season takes inspiration from the past in the form of special performances and creative partnerships, while welcoming back some of the key figures who have helped shape the iconic venue’s rich history. Announced today, the 50th anniversary celebrations at London's Riverside Studios will culminate in three special events with former alumni of the West London arts centre.
On Thursday 8th November, Riverside will welcome the BAFTA, Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning actress Hayley Mills back to Riverside Studios for a very specialfundraising event, Hayley Mills in Conversation.
In 1976, Mills helped to launch the late Peter Gill's tenure as Riverside's very first artistic director.
By then, she was already internationally famous - not merely as a member of a British acting dynasty, but for her celebrated collaborations with Walt Disney: Polyanna (1960), The Parent Trap (1961), In Search of the Castaways (1962), Summer Magic (1963), The Moon Spinners(1964) and That Darn Cat! (1965). She had also starred in the box office hit film Whistle Down the Wind with Alan Bates, The Trouble with Angels, Twisted Nerve and The Family Way alongside her father John Mills. In 1970, she made her West End theatrical debut in The Wild Duck with Michael Denison and Dulcie Gray.
In subsequent years, Mills returned to working with Disney on The Wonderful World of Disney, three sequels to The Parent Trap and the 1987 television series Good Morning, Miss Bliss. She also appeared in the films Appointment with Death with Peter Ustinov and Lauren Bacall, Foster, Last Train to Christmas, Arthur's Whisky, Fackham Hall, and in 2024 starred in M. Night Shayamalan's psychological thriller Trap opposite Josh Hartnett. Additionally, she took a leading role in the long-running ITV series Wild at Heart and appeared in the BBC's popular detective series Death in Paradise.
On 10th January 2027, writer Hanif Kureishi returns to Riverside Studios for Hanif Kureshi in Conversation. Having begun his literary career as manager of Riverside's bookshop in the late 1970s, Hanif Kureshi has gone on to become one of the world's most popular and celebrated writers.
Kureishi will be interviewed on stage about his remarkable life and career, as a playwright (Sammy and Rosie Get Laid), novelist (The Buddha of Suburbia, My Son the Fanatic, Intimacy), screenwriter (The Mother, Le Week-End and the Oscar-nominated My Beautiful Laundrette) and memoirist with Shattered, which powerfully documents the accident in Italy in 2022 which left him tetraplegic.
Kureishi's latest memoir Are You with Me Now? - published by Penguin in November - is a fiercely funny, unflinching account of survival – and of creativity, desire and companionship persisting when the body, and conventional life, fall apart. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
On 21st February 2027, Riverside's 50th anniversary events come to a close with Leigh Lawson: Now & Then in which actor, writer and director Lawson - who starred in Riverside’s very first in-house production, The Cherry Orchard, in 1978 – will share his captivating poetry and reveal the remarkable stories behind them.
Published in the collection Now & Then, Lawson’s funny, moving and quietly profound poems explore memory, resilience and the lives we’ve lived. They also trace a fascinating journey from a difficult childhood to a celebrated career, which includes principal roles in over twenty feature films including Tess (dir: Roman Polanski), Brother Sun, Sister Moon dir: Franco Zeffirelli, Love Among the Ruins (dir: George Cukor) and Being Julia (dir: Istvan Szabo). His many performances on television include leading roles in the series Travelling Man, Kinsey, The Duchess of Duke Street and Disney’s Stick with Me, Kid. Copies of his poetry collection Now & Then will be available for purchase and signing by the author.
Since March this year, Riverside Studios has staged special on-stage events with Dame Helen Mirren, Sir Lenny Henry, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kulvinder Ghir, Nina Wadia, Robert Lindsay, Simon Callow and Lindsay Duncan, as well as the production teams behind TFI Friday and Top of the Pops.
Due to the success of the In Conversation series, Riverside will continue the format into its 51st year. By signing up to Riverside's mailing list, audiences will be kept informed of the latest special guests and ticket release dates.
Tickets for the above events are now on general sale.
Season curator Daniel Thurman said: “It has been a genuine pleasure to welcome these very special guests back to Riverside Studios, a place which holds treasured memories for all of them. Their enthusiasm and that of the audiences we’ve had has meant that these events have been full of warmth and laughter. Just how a celebration should be!”.
Rhys Williamson, Head of Programming, said: “For half a century Riverside Studios has been a launchpad for groundbreaking work across theatre, film, comedy and the visual arts. Our anniversary season has honoured that legacy while reaffirming our commitment to championing new voices and new ideas for the future, and we can’t wait to continue the events into 2027.”
