Month: February 2022

UK Theatre launches biggest ever 2-for-1 ticket offer for National Lottery players through Love Your Local Theatre campaign

• Over 100 theatres nationwide have signed up for the new campaign, for which The National Lottery is providing up to £2 million to subsidise over 150,000 tickets
• Throughout March, National Lottery players can get 2-for-1 theatre tickets for performances of shows including Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Blood Brothers, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Jersey Boys, Abigail’s Party, Magic Goes Wrong and Peppa Pig
• Supported by TV presenter, Girls Aloud singer and star of the stage Kimberley Walsh, the campaign encourages the public to support local theatres as they recover from the pandemic

• Tickets available to purchase from Tuesday 1 February at 10am via www.loveyourlocaltheatre.com

Today (Tuesday 1 February), UK Theatre is launching Love Your Local Theatre,a new campaign encouraging the public to support their local theatres as they begin to recover from the impact of Covid. Over 100 theatres UK-wide have come together to join in on the effort and offer the biggest ever 2-for-1 ticket offer to National Lottery players who attend a show during the month of March.

The campaign, run by leading theatre membership body UK Theatre and made possible by the support of The National Lottery, is providing up to £2 million to subsidise an estimated 150,000 tickets nationwide. National Lottery players are being offered the chance to buy one ticket and get another free for participating shows as a thank you for the £30 million they raise every week for Good Causes, including support for the performing arts and theatres during the pandemic.

From classic musicals and beloved plays to family shows, comedy, dance and more, Love Your Local Theatrehas brought together local theatres from Southend to Scarborough, Cornwall to Cardiff and Newcastle to Norwich, to give players the chance to experience the magic of live entertainment for less this spring, whilst giving back to their local entertainment communities. 

In addition to the strong support from theatres across the UK, Love Your Local Theatre is also being supported by TV presenter, singer and Girls Aloud star, Kimberley Walsh, who has enjoyed performing at theatres and entertainment venues around the UK, many of which have received funding from The National Lottery.

Stephanie Sirr, President of UK Theatre, said: “We are delighted to be working with The National Lottery on Love Your Local Theatre, the first time UK Theatre members across the country have united for a ticket promotion of this scale. We should be hugely proud in this country to have such an extensive, vibrant and diverse range of regional theatres, all of which play a vital role in the theatre landscape of the UK and beyond. After such a turbulent two years, we want to shout about the fact that theatres are open and ready to reward audiences for their patience and loyalty – please visit your local theatre and help them continue to make brilliant creative work!”

Kimberley Walsh, TV presenter, Girls Aloud singer and star of the stage, said: “We are so privileged to have so many incredible theatres and entertainment venues across the UK. I have been lucky enough to perform in many of them. Without our local theatres, the face of UK entertainment would look very different and it’s amazing The National Lottery is providing £2 million to support them. The entertainment industry was particularly impacted by the pandemic, and that’s why the Love Your Local Theatre campaign is so important in supporting their recovery.”

Sir Matthew Bourne, Choreographer and Artistic Director of New Adventures, said: “My dance-theatre company New Adventures prides itself on being truly national, and touring is built into the fabric of what we do. As we continue on our current UK tour of Nutcracker!, visiting theatres across the country, I am reminded of how vitally important it is that we celebrate and protect our much-loved regional venues, especially during this crucial time for the theatre industry as it begins a long recovery from the ravages of the pandemic. I support the Love Your Local Theatre campaign, and hope it helps bring as many people as possible back to their local theatres for the thrill of live performance.” 

Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, said: “I’m delighted that The National Lottery is offering 2 for 1 tickets so that people can support their local theatre while enjoying an afternoon or evening out. As well as being great fun, a trip to the theatre can have an inspirational impact on people’s lives – which is why we want everyone, no matter where they are from, to have better access to the arts. The Government has supported theatres throughout the pandemic, with more than £280 million in grants and loans from our Culture Recovery Fund, and initiatives such as ‘Love your Local Theatre’ can only help encourage audiences to get out and enjoy some brilliant productions.”

Nigel Railton, CEO of National Lottery operator Camelot, added: “The UK’s entertainment industry is world-class thanks to the huge variety of venues and projects across the four nations. National Lottery players raise £30 million a week to help fund Good Causes, many of which lie in the entertainment industry. The National Lottery is proud to have teamed up with UK Theatre to launch the Love Your Local Theatrecampaign, giving local theatres the support they need to get on the road to recovery following the pandemic, whilst saying thank you to National Lottery players who have helped support many theatres during the last two years.”

The Love Your Local Theatre promotion is available to anyone who is a National Lottery player and possesses a National Lottery ticket. From 1 February, players can purchase tickets at available performances taking place during the month of March. Keep checking the website for more venues being added each day.

THE INTERNATIONAL SMASH HIT MUSICAL SIX ANNOUNCES NEW CAST FOR THE UK TOUR

The multi award-winning musical phenomenon SIX, written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, today announces a new cast for the UK tour. The current company will play their final performance on Sunday 6 March with the new company taking over from Tuesday 8 March at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford. The new touring Queens will be played by Chlöe Hart (Catherine of Aragon), Jennifer Caldwell (Anne Boleyn), Casey Al-Shaqsy (Jane Seymour), Aiesha Pease (Anna of Cleves), Jaina Brock-Patel (Katherine Howard) and Alana M Robinson (Catherine Parr). Grace Melville, Leesa Tulley and Natalie Pilkington (Dance Captain) will be joining the cast as Alternates, with Super Swing Harriet Caplan-Dean. The cast are backed by the show’s all-female band, The Ladies in Waiting.

SIX follows the six wives of Henry VIII as they take to the mic to tell their own personal tales, remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an 80-minute celebration of 21st century girl power. 

Since its early days as a student production in a 100-seat room at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the show has fast become a global musical phenomenon. SIX currently has productions playing on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre and at the Sydney Opera House prior to an Australian and New Zealand tour, with a major US tour coming soon. Meanwhile, back on home turf, the London production is now enjoying its third royal residence in the West End at the Vaudeville Theatre and the UK tour continues its nationwide sold-out reign, now booking through to 2023.

SIX was nominated for five Olivier Awards including Best New Musical. It won the BBC Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical at the Whatsonstage Awards and was invited to perform on the results show of ITV’s ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ and BBC’s ‘Children in Need Appeal Show’. Celebrating the global success of its songs with over 300 million streams and over 3 billion views on TikTok, the original studio album of SIX has officially turned Gold, marking over 100,000 sales in the UK and will be released on vinyl next month. 

Written by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, SIX is co-directed by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage, featuring choreography by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille. The design team includes Emma Bailey (Set Design), Gabriella Slade (Costume Design), Tim Deiling (Lighting Design) and Paul Gatehouse (Sound Design). The score features orchestrations by Tom Curran with music supervision and vocal arrangements by Joe Beighton. Musical Director Jennifer Deacon and UK Musical Supervisor Katy Richardson. Casting is by Pearson Casting. SIX is produced by Kenny Wax, Wendy & Andy Barnes and George Stiles.

Mikron Theatre Company announce productions for 50^th anniversary tour

·       Mikron Theatre to celebrate 50 years of touring 66 new plays by travelling 34,000 hours by river and over 545,000 by road to over 436,000 people

·       Tour to feature the World Premiere of Lindsay Rodden’s new play Red Sky at Night and a revival of the company’s hugely successful 2015 production of Raising Agents 

·       This year the company will tour to over 140 venues by river and road 

·       Productions will be performed in theatres, pubs, fish and chip shops, community halls and on allotments

·       Productions will tour from 7 April till 22 October 2022

50 years of Mikron Theatre

130 venues, four actors, two plays, one van, one narrowboat

Mikron Theatre, one of the country’s most versatile touring theatre companies, is delighted to announce that from April it will commence its celebrations of 50 years of touring on the river and by road with the premiere of Red Sky At Night, Lindsay Rodden’s new play about the nation’s obsession with the wild and wonderful world of weather, and a remount of the acclaimed Yorkshire theatre company’s hugely successful 2015 production of Maeve Larkin’s play about the Women’s Institute- Raising Agents.

Based in the village of Marsden, at the foot of the Yorkshire Pennines, the company are like no other. For starters, over the last 50 years they have toured 66 productions on board a vintage narrowboat and spent over 34,000 boating hours on the inland waterways. Secondly, they perform their shows in places that other theatre companies wouldn’t dream of; a play about growing-your-own on an allotment; a play about bees performed next to hives, a play about fish and chips to audiences in a fish and chip restaurant, as well as plays about hostelling performed in YHA Youth hostels and the RNLI, performed at several Lifeboat Stations around the UK. Over the last 50 years the company has performed 5200 times to over a staggering 436,000 people. 

Mikron Theatre’s Artistic Director Marianne McNamara said:

“We are so blooming chuffed to have reached our golden jubilee year, half a century. There have been times that we did not think we would make it; funding challenges, boat stoppages and a pandemic have been hurdles along the way. The reason we are still here is because of the incredible support that we have received from our friends and supporters up and down the country. We are so grateful to them.”

Featuring music written by Mikron’s Marsden neighbours, the acclaimed folk duo O’Hooley and Tidow (Gentleman Jack, HBO/BBC), the 50^th anniversary tour will start with Maeve Larkin’s Raising Agents which tells the story of Bunnington Women’s Institute, a down-at-heel WI with memberships dwindling and who can barely afford the hall, let alone a decent speaker. So, when a PR guru becomes a member, the women are glad of new blood.

Initially, the milk of WI kindness begins to sour when she re-brands them as the Bunnington Bunnies. They are hopping. With stakes higher than a five-tiered cake stand, a battle ensues for the very soul of Bunnington, perhaps the WI itself!

On the threshold of one century into the next, this tale of hobbyists and lobbyists asks how much we should know our past, or how much we should let go of it.

Playwright Maeve Larkin said:

“I am so thrilled that Mikron Theatre will be restaging Raising Agents for their 50^th Anniversary tour. As with the WI’s old paradoxical motto ‘Grave and Gay’, it aims to transcend the sum of its parts by celebrating the timeless principles of community, activism and sisterhood.”

Touring alongside Raising Agents, the company will premiere Red Sky At Night, Lindsay Rodden’s (Here, Northern Stage and Curious Monkey co-production and The Story Giant, Everyman Theatre Liverpool) new play about the nation’s obsession with the wild and wonderful world of weather.

Through the chronicles of history, people have gazed up and marvelled at the mysteries of the weather. Generations have tried to master the elements and understand the magic of the skies.

Hayley’s sunny, beloved dad was the nation’s favourite weatherman. He could make a typhoon sound like a tickle. Hayley is now following in his footsteps, to join the ranks of the forecasting fraternity. Or at least, local shoestring teatime television.

When the pressure drops and dark clouds gather, Hayley is melting faster than a lonely snowflake. She has seen the future’s forecast, but will anyone listen?

Playwright Lindsay Rodden said:

“Through an incredible half-a-century, whatever the weather, Mikron have travelled the country, chronicling our histories, our struggles, our passions and our lives. I am over the moon to write just one of these stories, and say Happy Birthday Mikron, fighting fit and fifty years young! 

Raising Agents will be touring nationally from 7 April and Red Sky At Night from 14 May with both shows ending on 22 October.

For further information and tour dates on Raising Agents and Red Sky At Night please visit https://www.mikron.org.uk/shows

A BRAND-NEW BRITISH MUSICAL IS COMING TO LONDON!

“But… don’t you miss bacon?”

Producer Tanya Truman is pleased to announce that Little Sausage, a new musical, is coming to The Other Palace Studio in March 2022. Tickets for Little Sausage are on sale now!

After three years of development – and a few national lockdowns – creative team of this brand-new musical are thrilled to premiere the full hour-long version of Little Sausage in a work-in-progress showcase at The Other Palace Studio. 

Directed by Annabelle Hollingdale (From Here, Spring Awakening), Little Sausage is a new verbatim musical about the nation’s most controversial sausage. It uses the real words of ‘real’ men to explore toxic masculinity, plant-based dating, and the game-changing Gregg’s vegan sausage roll.

Little Sausage is a new verbatim musical about the relationship between veganism and masculinity.  

With music and lyrics by Joshua Fowley and book Deborah Vogt, Little Sausage follows a Yorkshire lad and how his relationship with friends and family changes during his journey from cheese addict to animal activist!

With words and lyrics comprised entirely of interviews with everyone from an Australian activist to a non-vegan who grew up in farming communities in Northern England, Little Sausage uses real words and folk-pop music to explore the myth that meat equals manliness.

Tickets are available now via The Other Palace website. Casting to be announced soon.