ACCLAIMED MUSICAL COMES TO GREENWICH THEATRE AS PART OF UK TOUR
A dance marathon in a northern town forms the backdrop for a foot-stomping and thought-provoking new musical that promises to have audiences on their feet across the UK.
No Miracles Here is set to embark on a 15-date national tour in spring 2019, opening at Northern Stage in Newcastle on February 15 and visiting Greenwich Theatre on Thu 14 – Sat 16 March.
The Letter Room presents a sweat-soaked marathon with a northern soul – a tale of resilience, strength and the need to stay on your feet.
Ray is young man with a big night ahead of him. The music has started, and he can’t leave the floor. He just has to keep going.
Follow the journey of Ray and his band The Raylettes in what is an uplifting and joyful look at how you can overcome depression through dancing.
Packed with live music and dance, No Miracles Here is an anthem to feeling alive and keeping the faith.
The raw and vibrant musical production was made in association with the charity Mind, and developed through support from the RSC, Northern Stage, Shoreditch Town Hall and The New Wolsey Theatre. It is brought to the stage on this new tour by producer Max Emmerson.
Stan Hodgson, co-artistic director of The Letter Room, said: “We’re delighted to be performing No Miracles Here, our music-filled story of resilience and hope set in a dance marathon.
“The show had a wonderful reception when it was initially staged in Edinburgh, Salford and London. We tried to tell a personal story of human struggle, but fill it with music, movement and humour. And we can’t wait to pick up our instruments, get our sweatbands on and bring it to new audiences across the country in 2019!”
MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2019 THEATRE AND PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
Manchester International Festival, the world’s first festival of original, new work and special events, today unveils its 2019 programme, which will take place across 18 days (4-21 July 2019). An array of internationally-acclaimed artists from all over the world will present UK and world premieres at the cross-art form biennial festival, the second with John McGrath as Artistic Director.
THEATRE COMMISSIONS FOR THE 2019 FESTIVAL INCLUDE:
IN A MAJOR NEW COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP TWO WORLD CLASS ARTISTS, IDRIS ELBA AND KWAME KWEI-ARMAH, COME TOGETHER TO PRESENT THE WORLD PREMIERE OF TREE
WORLD PREMIERE OF INVISIBLE CITIES FROM DIRECTOR LEO WARNER, CO-DIRECTOR AND CHOREOGRAPHER SIDI LARBI CHERKAOUI AND PERFORMED BY RAMBERT
THE FOUNTAINHEAD BASED ON AYN RANDS’ NOVEL AND DIRECTED BY IVO VAN HOVE RECEIVES ITS UK PREMIERE
JULIET STEVENSON TO FEATURE IN RE:CREATING EUROPE, AN EVENING OF TEXTS AND SPEECHES THAT HAVE SHAPED THE CONTINENT
MAGGIE THE CAT, A NEW WORK BY CHOREOGRAPHER TRAJAL HARRELL TO HAVE ITS WORLD PREMIERE AT MIF19
MAXINE PEAKE AND SARAH FRANKCOM PRESENT THE NICO PROJECT
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, A NEW DANCE WORK FROM CLAIRE CUNNINGHAM LOOKING AT IDENTITY THROUGH THE PRISM OF THE ELVIS TRIBUTE ARTIST
A UNIQUE COLLABORATION BETWEEN PHILIP GLASS AND IMPROBABLE’S PHELIM MCDERMOTT, TAO OF GLASS RECEIVES WORLD PREMIERE
THOMAS MORE’S UTOPIA, THE MANCHESTER CHOLERA EPIDEMIC OF THE 1830s AND THE 200th ANNIVERSARY OF THE PETERLOO MASSACRE ARE THE INSPIRATIONS FOR THREE NEW SITE-SPECIFIC COMMISSIONS FOR MIF19
John McGrath, MIF Artistic Director and Chief Executive says: “At MIF19 we see a whole host of artists looking to the future – some with hope, some with imagination and some with concern. We never impose themes on the artists we work with, but it’s striking how this year’s programme reflects our complicated times in often surprisingly joyous and unexpected ways. Featuring artists from more than 20 countries, the Festival also has strong local roots, with several commissions featuring the people of Manchester as participants. MIF19 will be a feast of energy, which I hope will inspire debate and delight for the festival’s 18 days and far beyond.”
For the full festival programme, please visit mif.co.uk
TREE
MIF, Young Vic and Green Door Productions today announce that Alfred Enoch (Harry Potter film series, How to Get Away with Murder) will star in the production and the first images of rehearsals have been released. Created by Idris Elba and Kwame Kwei-Armah, this musical collaboration is an electrifying new blend of drama, music and dance as it follows one man’s journey into the heart and soul of contemporary South Africa – with the audience at the centre of the action. Directed by Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director of London’s Young Vic, with music inspired by Elba’s album Mi Mandela, Tree is an exhilarating show about identity, family and belonging, seen through the eyes of one man on the toughest journey of his life. Elba will produce along with his Green Door Productions. Tree will premiere this summer at Manchester International Festival, before transferring to London’s Young Vic.
It’s just 12 hours from London to his parents’ homeland, but to Kaleo (Alfred Enoch), South Africa is another world. A family tragedy finally forces him to visit for the first time – and as he takes his journey of healing, Kaleo must confront hidden histories and right the wrongs of the past. But first he must face the present: a shattered family, fighting to hold on to what they believe is theirs, in a nation haunted by the ghosts of its own turbulent past.
Creative Team
Created by Idris Elba and Kwame Kwei-Armah Kwame Kwei-Armah Director Jon Bausor Set & Costume Designer Gregory Maqoma Choreography Jon Clark Lighting Designer Paul Arditti Sound Designer Duncan McLean Video Designer Michael Asante Music Supervisor/Composer Mongi Mthombeni Dramaturg Pippa Ailion CDG Casting Director
A Manchester International Festival, Young Vic and Green Door Pictures co-production. In association with Eleanor Lloyd Productions, Bob Benton for Anthology Theatre and Eilene Davidson.
INVISIBLE CITIES
Lolita Chakrabarti adapts the renowned novel for major new production starring Danny Sapani as Kublai Khan and Matthew Leonhart as Marco Polo
MIF19 commission interweaves dance, theatre, music, plus architectural design and projections by 59 Productions, to conjure up magical worlds
Manchester International Festival 2019 (MIF19) presents the world premiere of Invisible Cities, inspired by the renowned 1972 novel, which centres on the relationship between Kublai Khan, the volatile head of a vast empire, and explorer Marco Polo, who must transcend the barriers of language to describe it for him.
Director Leo Warner, choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, writer Lolita Chakrabarti, architects and artists 59 Productions and contemporary dance company Rambert have come together for the first time to create this extraordinary new, site-specific work, which reimagines the possibilities of live performance.
Conceived by 59 Productions, Invisible Cities will see Manchester’s atmospheric venue the Mayfield, a vast disused train depot, transformed through a spellbinding mix of theatre, choreography, music, architectural design and projection mapping.
Zenobia, a city of joy. Beersheba, a celestial city of gold. Isadora, a city of promise, seduction and desire. City by unseen city, the young explorer conjures from the ether a vast and spectacular empire – and all for the benefit of an emperor, his master, who may never get to see it for himself.
Performed by Rambert, with Danny Sapani as Kublai Khan and Matthew Leonhart as Marco Polo, Invisible Citiesfeatures design and projection by 59 Productions’ Olivier and Tony Award-winning team of architects, designers and animators. With a score by Dustin O’Halloran and Adam Wiltzie of the ambient music duo A Winged Victory for the Sullen, soundscapes by award-winning Gareth Fry, Invisible Cities will transport audiences through time and space.
Creative Team Leo Warner Director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Co-Director and Choreographer Lolita Chakrabarti Adaptor Dustin O’Halloran and Adam Wiltzie Composers Jenny Melville Set Designer Laura Hopkins Costume Designer Fabiana Piccioli Lighting Designer Gareth Fry Sound Designer Nicol Scott Video Designer Sam Jones CDG Casting Director Benoit Swan Pouffer Creative Advisor
Produced by Manchester International Festival, 59 Productions, Rambert and Karl Sydow.
Commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Brisbane Festival, Hong Kong New Vision Arts Festival, Sadler’s Wells, SMG Live, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Cultural Centre (JACC) and Karl Sydow
THE FOUNTAINHEAD & RE:CREATING EUROPE
Ivo van Hove brings his Internationaal Theater Amsterdam to the Lowry to perform his most controversial work.
Juliet Stevenson to feature in Re:creating Europe an evening of texts and speeches that have shaped the continent taking place on 12 July
One of the world’s most acclaimed directors, Ivo van Hove, will bring this gripping adaptation of Ayn Rand’s uncompromising 20th-century classic, a major inspiration for libertarian politicians on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Fountainhead is a portrait of Howard Roark, a brilliant young architect who rejects easy routes to commercial success in favour of innovation and independence. Van Hove describes the novel as “a war of ideas”, encompassing art and architecture, commerce and capitalism, coupled with a passionate hymn to individualism and a dark, violent love story.
Published in 1943, Ayn Rand’s 700-page canonical novel has a long-established cult following. Donald Trump referenced ‘The Fountainhead’ as one of the only books he ever liked whilst Sajid Javid claims to read certain passages twice a year. Ivo van Hove first adapted and staged the novel in 2014 Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (ITA) and it received its American premiere at Brooklyn Academy of Music last year.
On 12 July, ITA and De Balie, a leading venue for cutting-edge debates and art projects in the Netherlands, present Re:Creating Europe, an exploration of Europe through the literature that has defined its history. Featuring Juliet Stevenson and directed by Ivo van Hove, the performance forces you to reflect on what Europe is, and what it could be. In a year when a deeply divided Britain is set to leave the European Union, this production uses the words of artists, thinkers and political leaders – from Shakespeare to Goethe, Churchill to Obama – to evoke the very notion of Europe, forcing us to reflect on what it is, what it was and what it could become, performed here by members of his Internationaal Theater Amsterdam ensemble with further guest performers to be announced.
Creative Team for The Fountainhead
Ivo van Hove Director Janni Goslinga Performers Aus Greidanus jr. Maarten Heijmans Hans Kesting Hugo Koolschijn Ramsey Nasr Frieda Pittoors Halina Reijn Bart Slegers Jan van Rheenen, Erica van Rijsewijk Translators Koen Tachelet Adaptor Peter van Kraaij Dramaturg Jan Versweyveld Scenography & Lighting Designer Eric Sleichim Composer An D’Huys Costume Designer Tal Yarden Video Designer Bl!ndman (drums): Yves Goemaere Musicians Hannes Nieuwlaet Christiaan Saris
Emmerique Grandpré Moliere Private Producer
Presented as a pre-Factory event, The Fountainhead receives its UK premiere at MIF19.
Re:Creating Europe is produced by Manchester International Festival, De Balie and Internationaal Theater Amsterdam.
MAGGIE THE CAT
The acclaimed American choreographer Trajal Harrell comes to Manchester International Festival (MIF19) for the world premiere of Maggie the Cat, a new dance work inspired by one of Tennessee Williams’ most well-known characters, from the classic play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Focused on the inhabitants of a house, including Big Mama played by Harrell, Maggie the Cat is a provocative fusion of high art and pop culture, with multiple influences, ranging from ancient Greek theatre to the Harlem voguing underground, and a soundtrack that crosses genres, from electro and pop to classical music.
Directed and choreographed by Harrell, Maggie the Cat is the first part of a trilogy inspired by women who had to navigate treacherous waters to gain or retain their power. It addresses power, gender, rejection and inclusion through the prism of one of modern theatre’s most celebrated characters and asks questions about how we can represent powerful women without tearing them down to make room for powerful men.
Produced by MIF and presented at Manchester’s Dancehouse, the audience will be taken on a journey that, whilst tragic and thought-provoking, will also be entertaining and joyous.
Produced by Manchester International Festival, Maggie the Cat forms one part of a trilogy, Porca Miseria, commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Schauspielhaus Zürich, ONASSIS STEGI, Kampnagel (Hamburg), Holland Festival, the Barbican and Dance Umbrella, NYU Skirball, Berliner Festspiele and The Arts Centre at NYU Abu Dhabi.
THE NICO PROJECT
Survivor. Muse. Creator. Destroyer. From her 1967 debut with The Velvet Underground to her premature death just two decades later, Nico was one of pop culture’s most enigmatic figures. Now, long time admirers Maxine Peake(performer) and SarahFrankcom (director) are conjuring the visionary artist up from the shadows with a stirring theatrical immersion into her sound, her identity and the world in which she fought to be heard.
The Nico Project is inspired by the icon’s stark, bleak and beautiful 1968 album The Marble Index. Ignored on its original release, the album is now rightly regarded as one of the defining masterpieces of 1960s counterculture. With text by award-winning playwright EV Crowe and music by acclaimed composer Anna Clyne, The Nico Projectbrings us closer to the ghosts that haunted Nico and the devastating past that shaped her, and celebrates the potency of female creativity in a field dominated by men.
The piece marks a lesser known Manchester music scene story. Nico moved to the city in 1982, having performed a gig there. Finding herself with nowhere to go afterwards she was found a room by a promoter and subsequently made Manchester her home and the base from which she toured Europe and played the live music circuit in the North until her death at the age of 48 in 1988.
Creative Team
Co-created by Maxine Peake and Sarah Frankcom Anna Clyne Music EV Crowe Text Imogen Knight Movement Lizzie Clachan Design Paule Constable Lighting Design Helen Atkinson Sound Design With musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music
Commissioned and produced by Manchester International Festival and the Royal Court Theatre.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
Created with an international team of leading performers, Claire Cunningham’s new dance work troubles notions of being told who or what we should be and explores the idea of self-tribute.
‘There are impersonators or tribute artists of every colour, sex, size, culture, age… What am I missing?’ Patty Carroll, Living the Life’: The World of Elvis Tribute Artists
Down at the end of Lonely Street – or Smedley Lane, as they call it in North Manchester – choreographer Claire Cunningham and her ensemble of leading disabled performers will invite audiences to join them for a drink at a Cheetham Hill social club as they pull back the curtain on the glittering world of the Elvis tribute artist.
Fresh from a crash course in Elvis-ing and intimate conversations with a range of tribute artists, Thank You Very Much takes to the floor in witty and revealing fashion. The company will pull on their rhinestone-studded jumpsuits to ask: are we caught in a trap? Who have we been trying to be all our lives? Has it ever been our choice? And is anyone ever truly incomparable?
Creative Team
Claire Cunningham Concept & Choreography Dan Watson Associate Director Bethany Wells Designer Chris Copland Lighting Designer Matthias Herrmann Sound Designer & Composer Shanti Freed Costume Designer Luke Pell Dramaturg
Commissioned by Manchester International Festival, National Theatre of Scotland and Perth Festival in association with tanzhaus nrw and Dance Umbrella. Produced by Manchester International Festival andNational Theatre of Scotland.
TAO OF GLASS
Part-concert, part-performance Tao of Glass presents ten new pieces of music exploring life, loss and inspiration.
Created in the round for the Royal Exchange Theatre.
Following their acclaimed opera productions across the globe, world renowned composer PhiIip Glass and Obie and Olivier-Award winning performer-director Phelim McDermott reunite to create Tao of Glass with an ensemble of musicians and puppeteers.
Commissioned by MIF and Improbable, Tao of Glass is scored with ten pieces of Glass’ mesmerising music, all in response to provocations on life, death and wisdom, shot with Improbable’s trademark theatricality. In a rare opportunity to experience the legendary American composer in a setting completely contrasting to his signature larger scale productions, this world premiere will give audiences a rare chance to experience the personal and experimental process shared by these two collaborators.
Using a series of fragments from their own lives as artistic provocations, the artists – who have previously worked together on Akhnaten, Satyagraha and The Perfect American – have embarked on a playful creative journey, investigating ‘big questions’ in an intimate conversation with music, poetry and puppetry. Weaving evocative visual vocabulary, memoir and personal obsessions, the chamber-scale piece is reminiscent of Glass’ early experimental work.
An exploration of life, loss and a single question: Where does true inspiration come from? Tao of Glass is a storytelling tapestry.
Creative Team
Philip Glass Composer Phelim McDermott Writer, Performer & Co-Director Kirsty Housley Co-Director Fly Davis Designer Colin Grenfell Lighting Designer Giles Thomas Sound Designer Ragnar Freidank Documentary Maker & Collaborator
Commissioned by Manchester International Festival, Improbable, Perth Festival and Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen.
Produced by Manchester International Festival, Improbable and the Royal Exchange Theatre.
UTOPOLIS MANCHESTER – Rimini Protokoll Can a group of disparate individuals come together to create a utopian state? And how big can this system become before it falls apart?
Author-directors Helgard Haug, Stefan Kaegi and Daniel Wetzel, have been developing complex immersive formats for interacting audiences under the Berlin-based collective label Rimini Protokoll since 2002. Utopolis Manchester is a visionary new work that transforms people’s view of the city as they discover the people and places that create Manchester’s daily life.
Gathering in dozens of small groups, in many different locations, audiences will head out to explore the city and its citizens and discover the many different ways in which people in the city create society, communities, and democracy.
Created by Rimini Protokoll and inspired by Thomas More’s Utopia, Utopolis Manchester asks whether another society might exist, if only for a utopian moment.
Utopolis Manchester is commissioned by Manchester International Festival and Schauspiel Köln.
A DRUNK PANDEMIC – Chim↑Pom The Manchester cholera epidemic of the 1830s is the unlikely inspiration for the first major UK project by one of the world’s most playful and provocative art collectives, Tokyo’s Chim↑Pom – invited to MIF19 by Contact Young Curators, five emerging local artists brought together by MIF and Contact.
Cholera swept through Manchester almost 200 years ago. Tens of thousands of people were buried in cholera pits in the streets around modern-day Victoria Station and Angel Meadow – and thousands of others only survived because they drank beer instead of water. Chim↑Pom’s A Drunk Pandemic takes place in a temporary brewery, built for the purpose in a secret city-centre location. Audiences are invited to tour the brewery, try the beer, check out the special events – and expect the unexpected.
A Drunk Pandemic is commissioned and produced by Manchester International Festival and Contact Theatre.
THE ANVIL: AN ELEGY FOR PETERLOO
On 16 August 1819, more than 60,000 people flooded into St Peter’s Field from all over Manchester. They came in peace, united in their passion for the right to vote, but as the speeches began, armed troops on horseback charged into the crowd, killing 15 and injuring more than 600. The Peterloo Massacre was a pivotal moment in British history, a landmark on our road to democracy.
MIF is marking its 200th anniversary with an extraordinary day of performance, poetry and music as part of a two-part commission. ANU, one of Europe’s most daring theatre companies, are taking to the streets for a day-long series of immersive performances, all completely free. Inspired by the lives and stories of those who died at Peterloo, the company are collaborating with people from all over Greater Manchester to explore what Peterloo meant then and what it means today – reflecting on the events of 1819 while forging a vital new connection with our 21st-century city.
The evening sees the world premiere of a major new piece of music, by composer Emily Howard, one of our most original musical voices, and poet Michael Symmons Roberts, winner of the Costa Poetry Award. Both an elegy to the fallen and a celebration of our city, the work will be performed at The Bridgewater Hall by the BBC Philharmonic and a massed chorus featuring the BBC Singers and three Hallé choirs – with all tickets priced at just £10.
Commissioned by Manchester International Festival.
Tickets £35 / £30 previews & concessions / £10 for Greater Manchester residents on a lower wage Recommended 14+ / under-18s must be accompanied by an adult mif.co.uk / +44 (0)333 320 2890
Invisible Cities Mayfield, Baring Street, M1 2PZ Friday 5 July – Sat 13 July, 8pm Saturday 13 & Sunday 14 July, also 2.30pm Previews Tuesday 2 – Thursday 4 July, 8pm BSL performance: Thursday 11 July Captioned performances: Wednesday 10 & Sunday 14 July Tickets £35 / £30 previews & concessions / £10 Greater Manchester residents on a lower wage mif.co.uk / +44 (0)333 320 2890
The Fountainhead The Lowry Pier 8, The Quays, Salford M50 3AZ Wednesday 10 & Thursday 11 July, 6.30pm Saturday 13 July, 2pm Tickets £18–£35 / £13-£30 concessions / £10 for Greater Manchester residents on a lower wage Presented in Dutch with English surtitles mif.co.uk / +44 (0)333 320 2890
Re:Creating Europe The Lowry Pier 8, The Quays, Salford M50 3AZ Friday 12 July, 8pm Tickets £18–£35 / £13–£30 concessions / £10 Greater Manchester residents on a lower wage mif.co.uk / +44 (0)333 320 2890
Maggie the Cat Trajal Harrell The Dancehouse, 10 Oxford Road, M1 5QA Thursday 11 July, 7.30pm Friday 12 & Saturday 13 July, 7.30pm & 10pm Sunday 14 July, 6pm Tickets £20 / £15 concessions / £10 Greater Manchester residents on a lower wage mif.co.uk / +44 (0)333 320 2890
The Nico Project Maxine Peake & Sarah Frankcom The Stoller Hall, Chetham’s School of Music, Hunts Bank, M3 1DA Friday 12, Saturday 13, Tuesday 16, Thursday 18 & Saturday 20, 7.30pm Saturday 13 & Saturday 20 July, also 3pm Wednesday 17 & Friday 19 July, 6pm & 9pm Previews Wednesday 10 July & Thursday 11 July, 7.30pm Press night: Friday 12 July, 7.30pm BSL performance: Tuesday 16 July, 7.30pm AD performance: Wednesday 17 July, 6pm Tickets £35 / £30 concessions / £10 Greater Manchester residents on a lower wage mif.co.uk / +44 (0)333 320 2890
Thank You Very Much Claire Cunningham Ukrainian Cultural Centre, 31 Smedley Lane, M8 8XB Wed 17 – Sat 20 July, 7.30pm Press night: Wed 17 July Tickets £20 / £15 concessions / £10 Greater Manchester residents on a lower wage mif.co.uk / +44 (0)333 320 2890
Tao of Glass Philip Glass & Phelim McDermott Royal Exchange Theatre, St Ann’s Square, M2 7DH Thursday 11 – Saturday 20 July, 7.30pm 13, 18 & 20 July, 2.30pm Tickets £18–£41 / £13–£30 concessions / £13–£33 previews £10 Greater Manchester residents on a lower wage mif.co.uk / +44 (0)333 320 2890
Utopolis Manchester Rimini Protokoll Multiple locations, Manchester city centre Wednesday 10 – Saturday 13 July, 6–10.30pm Tickets £20 / £15 concessions / £10 for Greater Manchester residents on a lower wage Recommended 12+ / under-16s must be accompanied by an adult mif.co.uk / +44 (0)333 320 2890
A Drunk Pandemic Chim↑Pom & Contact Young Curators Friday 5 – Sunday 21 July A secret location Times and ticket information to be announced Age 18+ mif.co.uk
The Anvil: An Elegy for Peterloo Emily Howard, Michael Symmons Roberts, BBC Philharmonic The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, M2 3WS Sunday 7 July, 6pm Tickets £10 mif.co.uk / +44 (0) 333 320 2890
BALLETBOYZ ARE BACK WITH INNOVATIVE NEW PRODUCTION
THEM/US
FROM AWARD-WINNING CHOEROGRAPHER CHIRSTOPHER WHEELDON AND SCORE BY ENGLISH FOLK ROCK MUSICIAN KEATON HENSON
This spring, the internationally lauded dance troupe BalletBoyz will present the premiere of THEM/US, an innovative double bill and a brand new collaboration from the company’s own critically acclaimed dancers and the Olivier Award-winning choreographerChristopher Wheeldon. A co-production with Sadler’s Wells, Them/Us will arrive at Richmond Theatre Sat 6 – Sun 7 Apr. Press are invited to attend for review on Saturday 6th April at 7.30pm.
With their home studio located in Kingston upon Thames, BalletBoyz are known worldwide for their ground-breaking live performances, films and TV appearances. The new productions are both set to original scores by world-class composers and asks where we see ourselves in relation to the “other”.
Marking a first for BalletBoyz, Them is the work of the company’s very own in-house talent, and set to a score by emerging composer Charlotte Harding. Us is inspired by the critically acclaimed Christopher Wheeldon duet featured in the company’s last show at Richmond, Fourteen Days. With an extended score by cult singer/songwriter, Keaton Henson, Wheeldon develops this new work which explores the possibilities of before, during and after.
Christopher Wheeldon, choreographer for Us, said: “I’m relishing the opportunity to work with BalletBoyz again to create a new work that expands on my previous work with the company, Us. It’s a pleasure to be working with Keaton Henson once again after his music for Us inspired me to investigate a new style of movement.” Wheeldon is a British choreographer who trained at The Royal Ballet School and danced with the Company between 1991 and 1993. With the New York City Ballet he performed as a soloist and became the company’s first-ever artist in residence and first resident choreographer. Christopher has created productions for all the world’s major ballet companies, and in 2007 he founded Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and became the first British choreographer to create a new work for the Bolshoi Ballet. His awards include the Tony Award for Best Choreography for An American in Paris, and he was made an OBE in 2016. Christopher has worked with BalletBoyz on numerous occasions in the past, including Mesmerics.
Charlotte Harding recently composed for Craig Revel Horwood’s The Indicator Line in BalletBoyz’ Fourteen Days. She graduated from the Royal College of Music, London with a first-class honours degree and won the prestigious Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother Rosebowl, presented by HRH Prince Charles. Charlotte is passionate about the role music can play in both health and education. She is also an accompanist with BalletBoyz, working for the Parkinson’s CAN Dance classes. Charlotte has also been involved in leading and assisting educational workshops for BBC Symphony Orchestra and Teenage Cancer Trust.
Keaton Henson is an English folk rock musician, visual artist and poet from London. Henson has released six studio albums. His music video for “Charon” was shortlisted for a UK MVA award in Best Budget Indie/Rock Category. “Small Hands” won Best Music Video at the Rushes Soho Shorts Film Festival in 2012. In November 2012, Henson designed a t-shirt for the Yellow Bird Project to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Henson also composed the score for the multiple Award-nominated film Young Men by BalletBoyz and BBC 2.
The current BalletBoyz Company includes: Sean Flanagan, Benjamin Knapper, Harry Price, Liam Riddick, Matthew Sandiford and Bradley Waller.
Sean Flanagan trained with The Royal Ballet School in London and has performed works by esteemed choreographers including Kenneth MacMillan, Frederick Ashton, Ohad Naharin and Liam Scarlett. He joined BalletBoyz in 2017 and has toured the UK, Italy, Florida and China with the company.
Benjamin Knapper recently graduated from Rambert School of Ballet & Contemporary Dance and has worked with choreographers including Richard Alston, Mark Baldwin and Ashley Page. Ben has also performed with Rambert Dance Company on their spring and autumn tours performing A Linha Curva choreographed by Itzik Galilli.
Harry Price has previously performed in the international tour of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake across Asia, Australia and Europe. He joined BalletBoyz in 2015, has toured globally with the company and has been involved in various film and TV projects. This will mark his fifth season with the company. Harry trained with Italia Conti Theatre Arts, Elmhurst Ballet School and the English National Ballet School. He has performed with the Baltic Dance Theatre and in national tours with English National Ballet and ENBII.
Liam Riddick is BalletBoyz’ newest member, joining this month. He trained with London Contemporary Dance School and has toured nationally and internationally with the Richard Alston Dance Company for eight years. He received 7 nominations for the Critics Circle National Dance Awards, and in February 2018 won Best Male Dancer. He has also danced for James Cousins Dance, and featured in Rick Guest’s exhibition and book What Lies Beneath.
Matthew Sandiford joined BalletBoyz in September 2012 and will now make his seventh season with the company. As part of BalletBoyz, he has toured the UK, Europe, the USA and Australia, performing work by Kristen McNally, Christopher Wheeldon and Alexander Whitley amongst others. Matthew has also danced with Charlie Dixon Dance Company and was a featured dancer in the London 2012 Closing Ceremony.
Bradley Waller trained at the NECB School and Rambert School for Ballet and Contemporary Dance. Originally joining as an apprentice, Bradley became a full-time member of BalletBoyz in three months and is now also one of the directors of the Dancer’s Course. He has toured nationally and internationally and will make his fifth season with the company.
Six new plays from writers and companies selected by Live Theatre for their exceptional new ideas will be show-cased in Elevator Festival, which returns for its fourth edition between Thursday 21 to Saturday 30 March 2019. Picked as ones to watch in the new generation of theatre-makers, five of the companies were awarded a coveted Live Theatre bursary to develop their plays.
Graeme Thompson, Creative Producer, Live Theatre said;
“Elevator Festival is a real celebration of talent and has a huge amount of quality work on offer. It’s a chance see six fantastic new plays which are all are very different but all fabulous stories and a great night out. These artists are all on the rise, so we’ll be seeing more their work in the future so it’s worth seeing them here at Elevator Festival first.”
Alt-Right on the Night written and performed by Matthew Greenhough explores friendship and disenfranchisement in modern Britain, with a punk rock sound track. Matthew trained as an actor at Northumbria University (and whilst studying worked on the bar at Live Theatre). His play Bismillah! – a play exploring radicalism with a Queen soundtrack played to a packed studio theatre when it came to Live Theatre last year.
West End Girlsfollows three different women’s stories across three housing estates and three moments in time, and was inspired by writer Adam’s Hughes’ research into local history in Newcastle. Adam is an Offie Award winning playwright who is linked to Finborough Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse and is part of BBC Writers Room Shadow Scheme. This is performed in a Double Bill withW*nk Buddies, a show which explores identity, gender, and sexuality. Written and performed by Jake Jarratt and Cameron Sharp and is inspired by their own meeting as students on the Northumbria University performing arts course. Both now graduates, Cameron is co-founder and performer in drag cabaret theatre group Bonnie and The Bonnettes whilst Jake makes theatre exploring identity.
Pops by Charlotte Josephine looks at the relationship between a father and daughter and their attempts to honestly connect. Josephine wrote and performed Edinburgh hit shows Bitch Boxer andBlush and is currently under commission at BBC Films. See this in a Double Bill with Locks, a play about a mixed-race English lad goes to find his identity in Jamaica and spends his 18th birthday in prison. Locks is written and performed by Ashleigh Nugent and adapted from his own memoir which wonthe 2013 Commonword Memoir Competition.
The Devil Danced in our Eyes by Jonluke McKie explores sexuality, mental health and the mother-son relationship through storytelling, sound and music. The play was in last year’s Elevator Scratch Night as Preconceived, and has been supported by Live Theatre into a longer show for this year’s Elevator Festival.
Audiences at Elevator Festival last year said:
‘Enjoyable, Eye-opening, Funny.’ on Preconceived by Jonluke McKie
“Two brilliant plays about stories that need to be told – I’d pay to come and see full length plays developed from these- amazing work.” Elevator Festival 2018 audience member
Accompanying the plays are a series of workshops and masterclasses in which leading theatre professionals share their insight into making new work. Talks include Working Class Representation on the Stage with Ishy Din, writer of Approaching Empty, Adam Hughes, writer of West End Girls, theatre maker Sian Armstrong, Stupid, Northern Stage and Graeme Thompson, Creative Producer, Live Theatre. Future of Playwriting with playwrights Vinay Patel and Chris Bush and alongside Chris Foxon, of playwright development agency Papatango, Charlotte Bennett, Associate Director, Soho Theatre, and Joe Douglas, Artistic Director, Live Theatre. Women and The World with Writer and actor Tracy Gillman, Live Theatre Writer-in-Residence Chinonyerem Odimba, Charlotte Josephine writer of Pops and a FREE Introduction to Producing Discussion with Live Theatre’sGraeme Thompson and a range of theatre producers.
Live Theatre has also launched it’s call out for its 2019 Bursary offering £2,000, support and space to develop innovative new theatre for next year’s Elevator Festival. See www.live.org.uk/bursary for details.
As well as the companies performing in this year’s Elevator Festival, previous Live Theatre Bursary winners include Rat Boy by Christina Berriman Dawson and Lee Mattinson, who are now currently working on a full length version of the play for Live Theatre, The Soaking of Vera Shrimp by Alison Carr and Captain Amazing by Alistair McDowall, both of which were produced a full length productions by live Theatre and transferred to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
“For young artists, it is a luxury to have the time to dedicate to the process of making a show, without constantly have to think about the end product. Having the support of Live Theatre gave us more confidence, we got to meet other artists working in the building and we had a space to develop and thrive.”Cameron Sharp and Jake Jarratt, 2018 Bursary recipients
Tickets for playsin ElevatorFestival cost between £8 and £10, with concessions £8 and £6. Discussions are £3. Live Theatre has extended availability of its concession priced tickets to includeall young people aged 25 and under, proof of age is needed when booking or collecting tickets.
To book tickets and to find out more contact Live Theatre’s box office on (0191) 232 1232 orvisit www.live.org.uk/elevator.
PARK HILL RESIDENTS GIVEN CHANCE TO SEE NEW MUSICAL FIRST
The landmark new musical, Standing at the Sky’s Edge, opens at the Crucible on Friday 15March, and Sheffield Theatres is giving the people of Park Hill a chance to see it first.
Throughout the process of creating Standing at the Sky’s Edge, the theatres have worked closely with both ex and current residents of Park Hill and surrounding areas. On Thursday 14 March, these local groups, individuals and organisations will be invited to be the first to see the show in its Public Dress Rehearsal.
As part of this engagement project with the communities of Park Hill, Sheffield Theatres has created the ‘People of Park Hill’ project, speaking to ex and current residents of the estate about their history, lives and stories of living in Sheffield’s most iconic building – these stories are available on social media and will be played within the Crucible during the run of Standing at the Sky’s Edge.
In addition, ‘Songs from the Sky’s Edge’, has seen Sheffield Theatres bringing the community-based Everyone’s Singing Group, a based in the Manor & Castle Park and Arbourthorne neighbourhoods of Sheffield together with professional musician, Luke Carver Goss. Across several weeks the group are creating a song, giving voice to their own stories and experiences of community, place and heritage, culminating in performances in the Crucible foyer before Standing at the Sky’s Edge on Wednesday 27 March.
Finally, with thanks to Urban Splash, the photographic work of Bill Stephenson – which was recently part of the hugely successful Love Among the Ruins exhibition at Park Hill – will be displayed at the Crucible and Park Hill-based cafe, South Street Kitchen, throughout the run of Standing at the Sky’s Edge. The theatres is also putting a call out to people who have lived in or around Park Hill over the last 60 years to share their photos with them.
Dan Bates, Chief Executive at Sheffield Theatres, said: ‘”Standing at the Sky’s Edge is the story of our city. We’ve connected with so many people have contributed to the show’s development or are participating in music, photography or oral history projects that are inspired by it. These people, most of whom have never been to our theatres before, are at the heart of this musical and I’m delighted that we’re able to share the show with them first.”
Standing at the Sky’s Edge runs at the Crucible Theatre from Friday 15 March – Saturday 6 April. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased from Sheffield Theatres’ Box Office in-person, by phone on 0114 249 6000 or online at sheffieldtheatres.co.uk.
Theatr Clwyd Announces Writers in Residence for 2019
Theatr Clwyd announces six Writers in Residence who will be attached to its in-house productions this year. The bursary gives emerging writers the opportunity to spend time observing rehearsals, develop ideas in a creative environment, get to know other artists working at the theatre and, if appropriate, get feedback on their work.
Each writer will spend ten days at the theatre and the bursary will cover travel, subsistence and expenses. The Writers in Residence scheme is generously supported by Gladstone’s Library, where accommodation is provided at the Grade 1 listed building in Hawarden which is the only Prime Ministerial Library in Britain.
Theatr Clwyd is a home for writers in Wales and the residencies represent the beginning of a relationship with a network of writers.
Sami Ibrahim and Carys Lewis are Writers in Residence for Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending. Ibrahim’s most recent play Wind Bit Bitter, Bit, Bit, Bit Her was part of last year’s VAULT Festival, following its shortlisting for Soho Theatre’s Tony Craze Award. Carys Lewis is a Welsh-Canadian writer and director, currently Filmmaker in Residence at Welsh National Opera where she has created a trilogy of films each responding to the theme of ‘revolution’.
In the summer Theatr Clwyd and Paines Plough will present three new plays in the Roundabout season. Louise Osborn and Samantha O’Rourke are writers in residence. Louise has worked with Mersey TV, Channel 4 and Radio 4. She was Artistic Director at Theatr Powys and has worked in Wales with Sherman Theatre and Hijinx. Earlier in her career she wrote over 40 episodes of the serial dramaHollyoaks. Samantha O’Rourke lives in North Wales and is Writer on Attachment at Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre.
Ming Ho and Hefin Robinson are the Writers in Residence for Theatr Clwyd’s autumn production, which will be announced next month. Ming has written for EastEnders, Casualty,Heartbeat and The Bill. She looks forward to exploring stories inspired by her Welsh mother’s family during her residency. Hefin Robinson is a bilingual writer who works in English and Welsh. His prize-winning play Estron(Alien) toured Wales last year in a Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru production and he has worked with other Welsh companies including Dirty Protest and The Other Room.
Felicity Ward to lead the cast ofKill Climate Deniers Pleasance Theatre, Carpenters Mews, North Road, London N7 9EF Tuesday 4th – Friday 28th June 2019
Is it okay to upset and offend people with a hyperbolic title like this? Does the end justify the means?
In her first UK theatre role, Felicity Ward will lead the cast of the European premiere of David Finnigan’s provocative and incendiary play Kill Climate Deniers. One of Australia’s hottest comics, Felicity Ward has taken the British comedy scene by storm. With critically acclaimed hit runs at the Edinburgh Fringe, London and beyond, she has also headlined Live from the BBC and appeared on Mock the Week, Russell Howard’s Good News and starred in The Inbetweeners Movie 2.
An action film wrapped in a TED talk, Kill Climate Deniers won the Griffin Playwriting Award ahead of its 2018 premiere in Sydney, Australia, where it provoked, enraged and delighted audiences and critics alike. On at the Pleasance this June, it is a bold new satire which blends fact and fiction as it explores in parallel a hostage situation teetering on the brink of calamity and what happened when Finnigan first tried to stage this play.
What would it take to actually stop climate change dead in its tracks? Science? Recycling? Experts? Or maybe: techno, guns and revolution? Environment Minister Gwen Malkin’s plan to stop climate change is rudely interrupted when a group of eco-terrorists storm Australia’s Parliament House during a Fleetwood Mac concert.
More than just a play about climate change and the end of civilisation as we know it, it’s about the power of echo chambers, about political division and allegiances, about a public increasingly distrustful and disinterested in experts. This is a play about failing to talk about the issues that matter most
Felicity Ward comments, I am absolutely delighted to be involved with Kill Climate Deniers. It’s the coolest play I’ve ever read and quite frankly what is not to love about the words: a self-aware post-modern comedy AND action play about climate change, politics, and media hysteria.
Writer David Finnigan comments, I wrote the first draft of this play back in 2014, and I really hoped it would be dated and irrelevant by now. The fact that more and more people are finding their way to it – including, excitingly, in the UK – is great, but also, a really bad sign. This play is saying: I’m scared, turn the volume all the way up, panic euphoria, hold hands tightly, let’s go.
Director Nic Connaughton adds, Last month schoolchildren went on strike across the country to protest about government inaction on climate change, in response climate change was debated in the main chamber of the House of Commons for the first time in two years. Only a handful of MPs attended. This play couldn’t be more timely. This is not a play about Australian politics; it is a play about how as a society we are failing to confront the realities of climate change. Kill Climate Deniers is a provocative and necessary satire that appeals to those on both sides of the debate to listen to one another, and to save the planet
There will be no place like Peterborough this Christmas as the newly relaunched New Theatre announces The Wizard of Oz as their pantomime spectacular running from 14 – 31 December with tickets on sale now.
Join Dorothy on a whirlwind adventure through the Emerald City as she and her loyal friends: the brainless but cheeky scarecrow, the cowardly lion, and the heartless (literally!) tap-dancing tin man, navigate through the magical Land of Oz in search of the mighty and mysterious wizard. With the Wicked Witch of the West determined to stop them by any means necessary, however, will the spirit of friendship triumph over evil?
With a star cast to be announced, the Wizard of Oz promises to be the biggest panto in town, a perfect treat for the whole family – expect lashings of audience participation, dazzling costumes and plenty of laughter with guaranteed to have you shouting, clapping, and singing along to a host of chart-topping hits!
The Wizard of Oz will be brought to the stage by Prime Pantomimes as part of their debut season. Prime Pantomimes is a dedicated pantomime production company founded by award-winning Selladoor Worldwide and Immersion Theatre Company. Both companies are passionate about pantomime and promise to create story-driven, localised, and highly interactive productions.
Prime Pantomimes producer James Tobias said: “We couldn’t be more delighted to be part of the inaugural season at the New Theatre Peterborough and are looking forward to bringing the wonderful story of Oz to life this Christmas in a spectacular show for all the family full of all of your favourite panto ingredients”
Click your heels together and book your tickets at www.newtheatre-peterborough.com from just £12 – book before Easter Monday for an early bird offer of 10% off tickets.
Following their success of Romeo and Juliet which was played in the Playhouse two years ago Shakespeare’s Hamlet is brought on stage during their exciting Pop-Up season. Amy Leach (who directed Romeo and Juliet) directs Hamlet, a modern contemporary retelling of the classic tragedy, and it stars Tessa Parr (who starred as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet) in the lead role.
It is about a young woman who returns from university to only find out her father, the King of Denmark, is dead and her mother, Gertrude (Jo Mousley), very soon after remarried her uncle, Claudius (Joe Alessi). Hamlet’s grief turns to anger when she finds out through the ghost of her father (Robert Pickavance) that her uncle murdered him and she seeks revenge.
Hamlet is certainly the tragedy of all Shakespeare’s tragedies and looks in detail how the tragedy affects all the characters and the impact it has on the families and the community. This production allows a thorough exploration of the characters amid the strong emerging themes of greed, power, revenge and ultimately murder and death. Mental health and distress play a big part and they are defining factors particularly among Hamlet as she is declared “mad” by her family. It also affects Ophelia (Simona Bitmate) who struggles with the events that affected their relationship between her and Hamlet.
The play tragically ends with an all-out fencing fight between Hamlet and Laertes (Dan Parr) which immediately changes the future of Denmark and the play also creatively underlines the political struggles with the other neighbouring kingdoms.
Hayley Grindle’s dark stunning staging is ambient, atmospheric and it represents the mood and spirit of Hamlet particularly with its strong themes. The space is versatile and creatively well used and every inch is certainly not wasted and symmetries well with Joshua Carr’s dimmed but effective lighting.
Parr plays this unique re-gendering role and crucially adds a fresh dimension to Hamlet. The re-gendering of Hamlet offers artists and creators opportunities to re-address the tragedy’s well known themes and how they and also its characters can relate to the world today particularly with regards to gender, sexuality and equality. This production had reignited the imagination of many that Hamlet can be a play for the 21st Century as much as when it was first written.
Parr is absolutely outstanding as Hamlet and articulately portrays this troubled character on stage and she is supported by the rest of an amazing cast including the Pop-Up season’s ensemble and young actors from the Playhouse’s youth programmes. An outstanding play from beginning to end and a big thanks to the cast and also to Leach and her talented creative team. Certainly a must see production and is on at the Playhouse until the end of March.
THE NATIONAL THEATRE’S 2019 RIVER STAGE LINE UP ANNOUNCED: THE GLORY, SHUBBAK FESTIVAL, NATIONAL PARK CITY FESTIVAL AND FRANTIC ASSEMBLY
The National Theatre today announces the creative partners for the 2019 River Stage Festival. The annual festival on London’s South Bank runs throughout the summer with leading arts and performance companies celebrating the best of British and International culture, drag artists and London’s green and blue spaces, including the River Thames. The line-up is as follows:
The Glory (5-7 July)
East London’s cabaret mecca and drag pub The Glory celebrate Pride at the NT with a tour-de-force weekend of back-to-back shows and parties, including the best of their sensational drag queen contest LIPSYNC1000, plus their drag king battle Man Up.
Shubbak Festival (12-14 July)
Mixing family activities with bands, spoken word and DJ sets, Shubbak presented in partnership with Amal – a Saïd Foundation programme – brings the best of the Arab cultural scene to the River Stage.
National Park City Festival (19-21 July)
A line-up dedicated to all things green and wild in celebration of London becoming the world’s first National Park City.
Frantic Assembly (26-28 July)
Celebrating their 25th Birthday Frantic Assembly kick off celebrations at the River Stage with DJ’s, live music, movement workshops, performances and much more.
National Theatre takeover (2-4 August).
A joyful party weekend to close the River Stage festival 2019. The National Theatre will throw open its doors and let the creativity spill out bringing you the very best in family theatre, dance, music and more.
Rufus Norris, Director of the National Theatre, says: “River Stage has become synonymous with London’s summer festival scene: a month long celebration of the arts on the banks of the River Thames that welcomes revellers, the culturally curious and families to come and experience an abundance of talented performers and artists for free. This year, we are thrilled to once again partner with The Glory, partners new to River Stage Shubbak Festival, National Park City Festivaland Frantic Assembly, as well as curating our own National Theatre take-over for the final weekend.”
No festival would be complete without an exciting food and drinks offer, and River Stage will be no different. Set alongside the backdrop of the National Theatre will be: Wine Box, Melt Ice Cream, The Cheese Iron, Campfire Pizza, The Otherstudy and Apothecary.
The complete line-up of acts, artists and performers will be announced at a later date.
