Royal Theatrical Fund Christmas Festival

The Royal Theatrical Fund provides support for people of all ages who have worked professionally in the world of entertainment for seven years or more. They provide monthly allowances, special grant awards and shortfalls in nursing and residential home fees but their support isn’t just financial; they also assist with emotional support as well as benefit and debt advice.

The Christmas Festival stars Dame Maggie Smith, Sir Derek Jacobi, Janie Dee and Peter Polycarpou, featuring The Royal Theatrical Fund Choir and more special guests on the night (all subject to availability).

Musical Director: Stefan Bednarczyk

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Mrs President

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Mrs President
Art Pond Foundation presents
MRS PRESIDENT
Written by John Ransom Phillips
Directed by Bronagh Lagan

Keala Settle is Mrs President.

Mary Lincoln is a woman under siege — with her grief, her detractors, and herself. In the shadow of her late husband, President Abraham Lincoln, she battles a world eager to define her and a conscience that will not rest. Accused of treason and shunned by society, she turns to Mathew Brady, the world’s first celebrity photographer — played by Hal Fowler (Les Miserables, Aspects of Love, Flowers for Mrs Harris) — to help her reclaim her story. But as the lens turns between them, the power shifts, and their collaboration spirals into a fierce struggle for authorship, truth, and control.

Following its original staging in 2025, Mrs President opens at the Charing Cross Theatre in a newly reimagined version — the result of deep dramaturgical development and a creative workshop period in New York that uncovered bold new layers within the piece.

This is not a remount, but a reinvention — richer in scope, sharper in focus, and more hauntingly human.

Re-envisioned under the direction of Bronagh Lagan (Cruise, Broken Wings) and written by artist, playwright, and historian John Ransom Phillips, the production features Broadway musical theatre star Keala Settle (The Greatest Showman, Waitress, Les Miserables) in a rare non-singing dramatic role that showcases her extraordinary depth and power.

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