WILTSHIRE CREATIVE ANNOUNCE THEIR AUTUMN 2021 PROGRAMME
Wiltshire Creative today announce their programme for Autumn 2021, featuring theatre, live music, comedy nights, film screenings, craft workshops and more. Throughout the season they will also continue their commitment to engaging communities in the South West and encouraging creativity in audiences of all ages, from an extensive youth arts programme to celebrating older generations.
Wiltshire Creative’s autumn season features three main stage productions at Salisbury Playhouse, opening with John Godber’s September in the Rain (16 September – 9 October), followed by Julian Barnes’ The Lemon Table (14 October – 23 October) with Ian McDiarmid and directed by Michael Grandage, and concluding with Mike Ayers’ Snow White and the Happy Ever After Beauty Salon (3 December – 31 December), directed by Gareth Machin with music by Tayo Akinbode.
Also included in the autumn programme, Original Theatre Company returns to Salisbury Playhouse with Arthur Conan Doyle’s Hound of the Baskervilles (15-20 November), there will be sets from top comedians including Phil Wang and Shaparak Khorsandi, with the chance to see the best of the London comedy scene’s emerging talent with Barnstormers comedy nights. There are also live music nights from an array of acts, including Something About Simon: The Paul Simon Story from Gary Edward Jones, hip-hop reggae ska band The Tribe and singer-songwriter and guitarist Nick Harper.
Highlights of the autumn community offering include Take Part, a selection of activities and events for people aged 21 and under, including Wiltshire Creative’s youth groups Stage 65 and SHIFT Social Club from the SHIFT Young Ambassadors (30 October) following the success of SHIFT Now and The Late SHIFT: Social. There will also be Audition Workshops for drama school applicants and fortnightly Youth Arts: Play Reading workshops throughout October and November.
In celebration of International Older People’s Day on 1 October, Silver Salisbury will include the Jazz Social Afternoon Tea (30 September) offering afternoon tea, poetry and live performances of jazz classics in the beautiful setting of Salisbury Arts Centre. Silver Salisbury concludes on 2 October with The Parkinson Monologues, a live reading of local writer Jim Read’s comic monologues about living with Parkinson’s disease, and excerpts from his new project Let’s Talk About Walking – observations about himself and Salisbury pedestrians before and after lockdowns.
Following the Summer Open Exhibition (8 July – 4 September), Art in the Arches returns to Salisbury Arts Centre for 2021 with a showcase of work celebrating local artists. The popular Friday Nights at Salisbury Arts Centre (Fridays throughout October and November) also return for 2021, with live music from local talent and open mic nights.
As well as an extensive programme of live events, there will be film screenings at Salisbury Playhouse of NT Live’s Follies on 3 November and Nomadland on 10 November.
To book tickets for events and workshops, please visit https://www.wiltshirecreative.co.uk/whats-on/.
Autumn at Wiltshire Creative
SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN
By John Godber
Directed by Gareth Machin
16 September – 9 October
Socially distanced performances: 20, 23 and 29 September, 4 and 6 October
Director Gareth Machin; Designer Toots Butcher; Lighting Designer Johanna Town
Sound Designer Andrea J Cox;Casting Director Gabrielle Dawes CDG
1950. Blackpool. Newly-wed Yorkshire couple, Jack and Liz have crossed the Pennines for their first trip to the seaside mecca. Beneath an uncertain September sky, they holiday in a world of stripy deckchairs, sandy sandwiches and stroppy donkeys. As the Wurlitzer organ plays, they sway together on the dance floor of the Tower Ballroom.
For thirty years, come rain or shine, they never miss their annual week-long holiday on the Blackpool sands. Three decades of boarding houses, talent contests and fish and chips on the prom. Moving backwards and forward through time, a married life unfolds through squabbles, children, laughter and tears against the backdrop of the heyday of the British seaside.
YOUTH ARTS ONLINE: PLAY READING
Mondays 13 and 27 September, October 11, 1, 15 and 29 November
5:15pm -6:15pm online via Zoom, for 14+
Do you want to expand your knowledge of plays and playwrights? Join us to simply read plays and discuss them together. We will look at a diverse range of playwrights, themes and influences. You are welcome to get involved and read or just sit back and listen. These sessions are an excellent introduction to the world of theatre.
STAGE 65 AUTUMN
Stage 65 25 September – 6 November
Friday Under 5s 3 September – 10 December
Mind The Gap 10 Sep – 17 December
Dance SIX-0 Term 1 8 September – 13 October
Term 2 3 November – 8 December
Stage 65 Youth Theatre offers weekly workshops, end of term performances, productions on our stages and a range of discounts to anyone aged 6-25 years. These workshops are a fantastic opportunity if you want a career in theatre, or even if you would just like to meet new friends and take part in the arts.
SILVER SALISBURY: THE JAZZ SOCIAL AFTERNOON TEA
Thursday 30 September, 3.30pm – 5.30pm at Salisbury Arts Centre
Enjoy an afternoon of live music and poetry in the beautiful setting of Salisbury Arts Centre. Celebrating Age Wiltshire musicians will play a selection of jazz classics and Wiltshire College Performance Arts Students will perform poetry, with refreshments from the Arts Centre Café.
AUDITION WORKSHOPS
30 September, 28 October and 25 November, 5pm – 7.30pm at Salisbury Playhouse
The aim of this group is to provide a welcoming and inclusive hub for young people applying for drama school. Members of the hub can practice audition speeches with professional directors, ask questions about applications or just share experiences and advice with other members of the group currently undergoing the same experience.
THE PARKINSON MONOLOGUES
Saturday 2 October, 2.30pm – 4.30pm
Local writer Jim Read presents his comic monologues about living with Parkinson’s disease and his new project ‘Let’s Talk about Walking’, observing himself and Salisbury pedestrians before and after lockdowns.
The talk will be followed by a Q&A.
Wiltshire Creative, Malvern Theatres, Sheffield Theatres and HOME
in association with MGC present
THE LEMON TABLE
By Julian Barnes
Cast: Ian McDiarmid
Directed by Michael Grandage
14 October – 23 October
In The Lemon Table, Julian Barnes brings his unsentimental, wryly comic, perspective to the complicated business of ageing, with its attendant, and often bizarrely, fluctuating emotions.
Olivier and Tony Award-winning Ian McDiarmid and Michael Grandage have collaborated to bring The Lemon Table to the stage for the first time. In McDiarmid ’s own adaptation for performance, we encounter a spectrum of bitter-sweet pleasures, wild eccentricity and dark secrets.
Following the run at Wiltshire Creative, the production tours to Sheffield Theatres; Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford; HOME Manchester and Malvern Theatres.
FRIDAY NIGHTS AT SALISBURY ARTS CENTRE
15 October, 22 October, 12th November, 7-11pm
The very popular Friday Nights at Salisbury Arts Centre are returning this autumn.
Enjoy a drink at Salisbury Arts Centre from 7pm with live entertainment from 7.30pm, featuring local talent, an open mic night, and freshly prepared homemade meals.
GET CREATIVE – MAKE MUSIC!
Thursday 21 October 2021, 9.30am or 1.30pm at Salisbury Arts Centre
An engaging and fun introduction to music making for children age 7-11 (school years 3-6) in partnership with Salisbury Area Young Musicians.
Come and make music with two music leaders Alice Poppleton and David Garcia. No prior experience is necessary. All are welcome to take part and explore different musical activities and build music making skills.
Tickets are £5 and will be released soon.
SHIFT SOCIAL CLUB
Saturday 30 October 2021, 7pm at Salisbury Arts Centre
Building on the success of SHIFT NOW and The Late SHIFT Social, Wiltshire Creative’s Young Ambassadors present The SHIFT Social Club at Salisbury Arts Centre: an evening of fun, food & drink, entertainment and live music from some of Salisbury’s most promising young bands.
Wiltshire Creative’s Young Ambassadors are a group of young people aged 14-21 who meet monthly to ensure that our programmes are relevant and exciting for young people in the local community.
BARNSTORMERS COMEDY
Friday 29 October and Friday 26 November 8.30pm at Salisbury Arts Centre
A night of up-and-coming stand-up comedians from the London comedy circuit introduced by a guest compere.
Tickets are £13.50 and will be released soon.
STAND-UP COMEDY FOR BEGINNERS
Saturday 30 October 2021 at 10am
Always fancied trying your hand at stand-up comedy but never got around to it? Ever watched stand-up comedy and thought ‘I’d love to give that a go’? Or maybe, you’re thinking – quite rightly – stand-up would be a great way to boost your presentation skills, and improve the business of public speaking? Well now’s your chance to give it a go…
This workshop is designed to introduce participants to writing and performing stand -up comedy. They will learn about and understand methods and techniques that will help generate self-authored comedy material; combined with the ability to deliver the material in the form of a stand-up comedy performance.
THE TRIBE
5 November at Salisbury Arts Centre
Live Music from The Tribe, the UK’s freshest Hip Hop Reggae Ska Energy Collective. Their high energy interactive performance have made them a festival favourite, popular with audiences of all ages, they spread positive melodic vibes and spit fire with verses through their infectious multi-genre original songs.
NT ENCORE: FOLLIES
Wednesday 3 November at Salisbury Playhouse
New York, 1971. There’s a party on the stage of the Weismann Theatre. Tomorrow the iconic building will be demolished. Thirty years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs and lie about themselves.
Tracie Bennett, Janie Dee and Imelda Staunton play the magnificent Follies in this dazzling production. Featuring a cast of 37 and an orchestra of 21, Stephen Sondheim’s legendary musical was directed by Dominic Cooke and filmed live on stage at the National Theatre in 2017.
Winner of Academy, Tony, Grammy and Olivier awards, Sondheim’s previous work includes A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George.
WILTSHIRE CREATIVE COMEDY CLUB: PHIL WANG SUPPORTED BY ANIA MAGLIANO, MC PIERRE NOVELLIE
Thursday 4 November at Salisbury Playhouse
Phil Wang is a comedian and writer. He has made a name for himself exploring sex, romance, politics, and his mixed British-Malaysian heritage, in shows that delight in his unique Wang brand of smart/silly stupidity. His credits include Have I Got News For You, hosting Live at the Apollo, Taskmaster, The Comedy Line-Up, QI, Would I Lie to You?, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, The Last Leg, Unspun With Matt Forde, Roast Battle, Drunk History, and Jack Dee’s Helpdesk. Wang recently used his outsider perspective to dissect the increasingly binary debates dividing Britain in a new BBC Radio 4 stand-up show, Wangsplaining. He has also written and starred in two series of Daphne Sounds Expensive for BBC Radio 4 with his Foster’s Newcomer Award nominated sketch trio, Daphne. Earlier this year he began co-hosting podcast BudPod with Phil Wang & Pierre Novellie.
An internationally acclaimed live act, he has performed at festivals including Montreal Just for Laughs Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the New Zealand Comedy Festival. His last critically acclaimed live show, Kinabalu, sold out at Edinburgh Festival in 2017 and the subsequent national tour was extended through 2018 including four weeks at London’s Soho Theatre.
Ania Magliano is a comedian and writer based in London. She has written for Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, Newsjack, The Now Show and the Have I Got News For You Twitter account. She is a writer on Amelia’s Cooking Show, a new web-series by Amelia Dimoldenberg which features guests such as Maya Jama and Romesh Ranganathan. She presents HSBC’s Level Up campaign, a 6-part YouTube series teaching Gen Z how to handle their money.
Pierre Novellie has been seen and heard on The Mash Report, Stand Up Central, The Now Show and co-hosts the hit podcast BudPod with Phil Wang. As a writer, his credits include Mock the Week, The News Quiz, The Mash Report, Newzoids and Adam Buxton’s Shed of Christmas.
SIMON YATES: TOUCHING THE VOID MOUNTAINEER
Friday 5 November at 7.30pm
On the remote Siula Grande in Peru in June 1985, mountaineer Simon Yates found himself in a desperately unenviable position. He was slowly being pulled off the mountain face by his injured partner, Joe Simpson, dangling on the rope 50 metres below. His decision to cut the rope saved both their lives in the epic of survival that followed and with the publication of the book Touching The Void, later film and stage play, both climbers became household names.
It was an experience that could have put many off the sport of mountaineering, but not Simon. Over 30 years later, he is still a very active exploratory climber and guide, making several expeditions to the mountains each year. From the Arctic to the Antarctic, Alaska to Central Asia there is hardly a significant range that he has not visited.
Come along and witness his tireless journey from that mountain in Peru to some of the remotest on the planet and share with him the drama, excitement and beauty of modern, lightweight alpinism. Told with wit, dry humour and lavishly illustrated with images and film collected on his great climbs.
ART IN THE ARCHES
Saturday 6 November at Salisbury Arts Centre
Art in the Arches continues in 2021, an opportunity to buy from and support local artists whilst grabbing a coffee and a homemade meal or cake from the Arts Centre Café.
(SHAPPI) SHAPARAK KHORSANDI: IT WAS THE 90S!
Saturday 6 November at Salisbury Playhouse
Ah, the 90s! The decade that Shaparak was in her twenties and ‘ladette’ culture ruled the school. The decade when there was nothing to be done but party, and Shaparak found herself flying about London with hope in her heart, a tenner in her pocket and spare knickers in her handbag. She matched the boys pint-for-pint and frequently woke up in parts of London she’d never heard of.
With hindsight though, the way people behaved back then looks like the ultimate in self harm. In those days, ‘mindfulness’ was making sure you had enough money for the night bus and ‘self care’ was putting your flat shoes in a handbag. This is a show about how we 90s kids are looking to young people to learn how to take care of ourselves.
FILM: NOMADLAND
Wednesday 10 November at Salisbury Playhouse
Following the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada, Fern packs her van and sets off on the road exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad.
MOSCOW DRUG CLUB
Thursday 11 November at Salisbury Playhouse
Imagine having a few to drink and staggering arm in arm into the darkness of an eastern European cobbled street and stumbling into a bar where Django Reinhardt and Tom Waits are having an after-hours jam with the local Tziganes.
Moscow Drug Club is a curious musical place where elements of Berlin Cabaret, Hot Club de France, French Musette and Storytelling meet.
Combining their original material with songs by the likes of Jaques Brel, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and Eartha Kitt. Moscow Drug Club deliver an intoxicating and intimate musical experience.
NICK HARPER AAAND.. WE’RE BACK IN THE ROOM
Friday 12 November, 7:30pm at Salisbury Playhouse
Nick Harper is one the UK’s best kept musical secrets. Those who have witnessed the spellbinding, one-man show will tell you this. A childhood growing up surrounded by the musical prowess of some of the 60’s most revered songwriters & musicians, not to mention being son of Roy Harper, along with 20 years of crafting songs & touring the land has spawned a truly one-off, original guitarist & songwriter who stands alone as a UK great, to be cherished & revered.
For over two decades, he has been dazzling audiences, reviewers & fellow artists alike with his heady mix of virtuosity, boyish charm, showmanship & sheer bravado. An imagination bursting with ideas has seen him release 11 solo albums to critical acclaim, earning a Number 1 spot in the charts with the seminal hit Blue Sky Thinking.
SOMETHING ABOUT SIMON: THE PAUL SIMON STORY
Saturday 13 November at Salisbury Playhouse
Paul Simon is a name that has cemented itself into the “hearts and bones” of audiences all over the world. As an artist, his name has become synonymous, not only with music, but with cultural history. In this brand-new show, singer-songwriter Gary Edward Jones not only recites the music of one of his idols, but also tells the unique story of Paul Simon combining visuals, stage design and music.
With classic ballads like The Sound of Silence, America and Kathy’s Song, to the more upbeat Wristband and The Boxer to the much-loved Bridge Over Troubled Water, the show will have you both reliving and rediscovering these great songs again.
HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES
by Arthur Conan Doyle
Adapted for the stage by Steven Canny and John Nicholson for Peepolykus
Directed by Lotte Wakeham
15 – 20 November
Mr Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound…
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated adventure gets a brilliantly farcical overhaul in Lotte Wakeman’s acclaimed production.
World-renowned detective Sherlock Holmes and his colleague Dr Watson are asked to unravel the mystery surrounding the untimely death of Sir Charles Baskerville. With rumours of a cursed giant hound loose on the loose moors, they must act fast in order to save the Baskerville family’s last remaining heir.
A hit in the West End, this ingenious adaptation combines an exhilarating collision of farce, theatrical invention and wonderfully comic performances to offer a brand-new twist on the greatest detective story of all time.
SNOW WHITE AND THE HAPPY EVER AFTER BEAUTY SALON
Written by Mike Akers
Music by Tayo Akinbode, Lyrics by Mike Akers, with additional songs by Christopher Peake
Directed by Gareth Machin
3- 31 December at Salisbury Playhouse
In a magical 1950s fairy-tale wonderland, young apprentice Snow is working hard in her Aunt Trish’s Beauty Salon. She curls the tails of the three little pigs, sharpens the teeth of the Big Bad Wolf, and perfectly sets Prince Charming’s quiff. But, suddenly stumbling upon Aunt Trish’s magic mirror puts Snow’s life in peril.
Will she be able to survive as she heads underground and attempts to carve her own path to a happily ever after?
With toe-tapping live music, dazzling design, puppetry and laugh out loud entertainment, the show will delight the whole family this Christmas.
ALEX HOARE GLASS
Saturday 20 November at 10am
A full-day workshop in which you will have the opportunity to learn about fused or kiln formed glass with Linescapes exhibition artist Alex Hoare.
During the workshop participants will be taught about design, form and making techniques which include cutting glass, working with powders and frits, fusing and slumping glass.
Alex Hoare has 20 years’ experience working as an artist in a variety of creative disciplines, including kiln-formed glass, scenography, art installation, performance, textiles and arts administration. Her work is strongly influenced by her background in scenography observing how experience can be altered and enhanced when colour, light, objects and sound are carefully curated together. Reoccurring themes in her work include creation of moments of contemplation and calm and observing how glass alters and intervenes in our experience of the world: as a lens, a vessel/container, a carrier of data, a screen onto the world – creating a barrier and a window – ancient yet completely contemporary.