THE MARIGOLD SESSION — An Evening of Jazz & Cabaret

Cool jazz, in a room of 55.

Circle & Star is honoured to host Marigold Productions for one summer evening — a jazz-infused fundraiser in aid of 2.36, their September production.

Standards, played properly. Moanin'. Spain. A full band finding the groove and staying there — two saxophones, trumpet, piano, drums and double bass — with cabaret turns threaded between the sets: a duologue, a sketch, a little poetry, a little stand-up.

Plus live musical theatre songs by lyricist Estee Stimler and composer Yuval Havkin, performed by Luka Bayer and Michaela Stern.

Hosted by Anoushka Cowan and Elijah Lifton. Marigold Productions counts the playwrights Richard Bean and Anna Ziegler among its patrons.

✨ Three special guests...

5:30pm show

Nicole Ansari-Cox — award-winning actor, writer, producer and activist. Most recently on the West End in The Score at the Theatre Royal Haymarket; on screen, Sally-Anne in Succession and a lead in Dirty Business, with an executive-producer credit on Glenrothan, Brian Cox's directorial debut.

Christopher Biggins — actor, presenter and genuine national treasure. Known to a generation for Porridge, Poldark and I, Claudius, and ever since as one of Britain's most-loved pantomime dames.

Richard Bean — patron of Marigold Productions and one of Britain's most-produced playwrights, best known for One Man, Two Guvnors, the comedy that took the West End and Broadway by storm. Recent work includes Jack Absolute Flies Again, To Have and To Hold and Reykjavik.

On the night

Elijah Lifton — alto sax
Wesley Frankel — saxophone
Sammy Fielden — trumpet
Raphael Freedman — piano
Ashley Summerfield — double bass
Aidan Pick — drums

Highlights

★ A full jazz ensemble, playing the standards the way they were meant to be heard
★ Live musical theatre songs by Estee Stimler & Yuval Havkin, sung by Luka Bayer and Michaela Stern
★ Three special guests — Nicole Ansari-Cox & Christopher Biggins, Richard Bean
★ Cabaret between the sets — duologues, sketches, poetry, stand-up
★ A genuine fundraiser — every ticket helps put 2.36 on its feet

The play you're helping make: 2.36

What's better than sibling drama written by two only children?

2.36 is a two-hander following Keira and Josh Carrington in Luxembourg over one long night. The world they know changes overnight as secrets within the Carrington family arise, and the siblings' agendas go beyond reconnecting. As the night spirals out of control, so do the facades that Josh and Keira display.

A razor-sharp comedy about inheritance, identity and the lies families inherit. At Circle & Star, 8–10 September 2026.

This is not a concert hall, and it isn't a club. It's a room where the music has nowhere to hide and everywhere to land — close enough to feel the brass breathe.

🗓 Sunday 5 July 2026 · Two shows
Doors 5:00pm · Show 5:30pm
📍 28 Heath Street, Hampstead NW3
🎟 55 seats per show

This is a fundraising event, with proceeds supporting Marigold Productions' 2.36.

STEP IN. COME UP. BE PART OF THE STORY.