Following the previously announced line up of new musicals for MTFestUK 2020, the full cast is announced below, production by production.
After premiering at Edinburgh Fringe in 2008, Jet Set Go!will take you on a trip to New York that you’ll never forget! And your cabin crew will star Siubhan Harrison, Lizzy Connolly, Michael Mather, Tyrone Huntley and Simon Bailey. They will sing up the aisles and tap-dance down Broadway in this unforgettable musical comedy.
Louise Dearman leads a cast including Ben Richards, Laura Pitt Pulford, Clive Rowe and Bobbie Little in Soapdish, based on the infamous 1991 film starring Sally Field, Kevin Kline, Robert Downey Jr and Whoopi Goldberg. When Celeste Talbert, long time star of popular day-time soap opera The Sun Also Sets, is targeted by her ambitious younger co-star, a chain of events are set in motion which leads to the dramatic revelation of Celeste’s secret love child.
The cast of revival, The Assassination of Katie Hopkinswill comprise of Maimuna Memon, Bethzienna Williams, Kirby Hughes, Rakesh Boury, Derek Hutchinson and Matthew Woodyatt.It’s easy to have an opinion online, safe behind the anonymity of a keyboard, just like, share and subscribe. But as the digital mob polish their pitchforks, the world starts to question just how free should free speech be?
Directed by Poppy Burton Morgan,Coldfront sees Anna Francolini, and Robbie Curran as two unlikely lovers who frequent the same park in this in this heart-warming new British musical about a blossoming romance between an autistic weather analyst and a tattooed park attendant. From award winning composer Jason Carr and librettist Poppy Burton-Morgan, Natalie Rozario will accompany on the cello.
Vinegar Stokes (Daniel Jacob) will play your host for Eurobeat: Pride of Europe, the latest iteration of the loving parody of the Eurovision Song Contest. This sequin-soaked satire will also star Matt Croke, Scott Paige, Bronte Barbe and Amy Ross. Who takes the crown? You decide!
Musical parody of HBO’s Game of Thrones, Tyrell, will take you back to a not too distant medieval patriarchy. Telling the untold backstory of House Tyrell, the only Great House of Westeros to be lead by a woman. Kim Criswell will take on the role of the matriarch with Luke Bayer and Emma Kingston as the grandchildren she is grooming for greatness.
Playing brothers Reid and Jackson in Works of Art are Robin Simões da Silva and Javez Sykes with Siubhan Harrison playing Cassie and Natalie Dunne playing Iris. This intimate new folk musical about grief, new beginnings, and brotherly love follows them as they re-navigate their relationship as brothers after Reid’s transition and Jackson’s years away studying, and the unexpected loss of their Mother.
The rest of the cast for Blood Brothers includes Tim Churchill, Paul Westwood, Josh Capper, Shaun McCourt, Graeme Kinniburgh, Hannah Barr and Grace Galloway.
This epic tale of Liverpool life started as a play, performed at a Liverpool comprehensive school in 1981 before opening at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1983, completing sell out seasons in the US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Japan. Blood Brothers also ran in London’s West End for 24 years, exceeding 10,000 performances, one of only three musicals ever to achieve such a milestone.
Blood Brothers tells the captivating and moving story of twin boys separated at birth, only to be reunited by a twist of fate and a mother’s haunting secret. The memorable score includes A Bright New Day, Marilyn Monroe and the emotionally charged hit Tell Me It’s Not True.
When Mrs Johnstone, a young mother, is deserted by her husband and left to her own devices to provide for seven hungry children she takes a job as a housekeeper in order to make ends meet. It is not long before her brittle world crashes around her when she discovers herself to be pregnant yet again – this time with twins! In a moment of weakness and desperation, she enters a secret pact with her employer which leads inexorably to the show’s shattering climax.
Willy Russellis undeniably one of this country’s leading contemporary dramatists. His countless credits include Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine. Educating Rita, originally commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, enjoyed a two-year run in the West End and was made into a movie starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters. Shirley Valentine also made the move from stage to screen in an enormously popular film starring Pauline Collins and Tom Conti.
BACK TO THE FUTURE The Musical is directed by Tony Award-winning director John Rando (Urinetown, On The Town) and stars Roger Bart (Desperate Housewives, Stepford Wives, The Producers) as ‘Doctor Emmett Brown’, Olly Dobson as ‘Marty McFly’, Hugh Coles as ‘George McFly’, Rosanna Hyland as ‘Lorraine Baines’ and Cedric Neal as ‘Goldie Wilson’.
Based on the Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment film, BACK TO THE FUTURE The Musical will have a book by Bob Gale, featuring 16 new song with music and lyrics by Emmy and Grammy Award-winning Alan Silvestri and six-time Grammy Award-winning Glen Ballard, with additional songs from the film including The Power of Love and Johnny B. Goode.
Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and Music & Lyrics Limited are delighted to announce a new UK & Ireland Tour of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a musical comedy, with book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, the creators of multi award-winning Jersey Boys, and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, based on the characters created by Charles Addams. This follows a highly successful premiere tour in 2017. The 2020 Tour will play the Liverpool Empire from 11th to 15th August and will once again be directed by Matthew White. Casting is to be announced.
Pre-sale for ATG TheatreCard Members opens 10am Monday 27th January
General on-sale opens 10am Tuesday 28th January
Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and has a shocking secret that only Gomez knows; she’s fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family! Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before — keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents. All the usual clan are present – Uncle Fester, Lurch, Pugsley et al.
Academy Award-winner Marshall Brickman wrote or co-wrote the film screenplays for Sleeper, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Manhattan Murder Mystery, For the Boys and Intersection, and was head writer for The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Rick Elice’s play, Peter and the Starcatcher, received nine nominations and won five 2012 Tony Awards. He also wrote the book for The Cher Show, a musical based on the early life and career of Cher, which opened at the Neil Simon Theatre on Broadway in December 2018. Andrew Lippa wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical, Big Fish, the music for the Broadway production of Aaron Sorkin’s play The Farnsworth Invention and the book, music and lyrics for the Drama Desk award-winning musical The Wild Party. He wrote the song called ‘Evil Like Me’, which was sung by Dove Cameron and Kristin Chenoweth in the 2015 Disney film Descendants.
British director Matthew White has directed the UK Tours of Mr Stink, Carousel and The Producers, the UK Tour and West End run of the multi award-winning Top Hat, and, for the Menier Chocolate Factory, The Boy Friend, She Loves Me, Candide, Sweet Charity (and West End) and Little Shop of Horrors (and West End).
THE ADDAMS FAMILY 2020 UK & Ireland Tour is produced by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and Music & Lyrics Limited, and is presented through special arrangement with Theatrical Rights Worldwide.
Samantha Womack to join Strictly winner Tom Chambers in thriller classic.
‘Dial M for Murder’ is at The Lowry Tue 16 – Sat 20 June 2020
A brand new production of the classic thriller, Dial M for Murder, tours the UK in 2020, playing at The Lowry from Tue 16 – Sat 20 June. The genre-defining thriller – based on Frederick Knott’s stage and screen play, made world-famous by Hitchcock’s iconic 1954 film – will be directed by Anthony Banks.
TV and stage favourite, Tom Chambers, (Top Hat, Strictly Come Dancing) stars as the charismatic and manipulative Tony Wendice, a jaded ex-tennis pro who has given it all up for his wife Margot, played by Samantha Womack (The Girl on the Train, The Addams Family, Eastenders). When he discovers she has been unfaithful his mind turns to revenge and the pursuit of the ‘perfect crime’. Christopher Harper (Coronation Street, Strangers on a Train) performs in the dual roles of Captain Lesgate and Inspector Hubbard and Michael Salami (Hollyoaks) as Max Halliday, Margot’s lover.
Tom Chambers plays Tony Wendice. Tom’s theatre credits include: Crazy For You (UK tour); Private Lives (UK tour); White Christmas (Dominion); Top Hat (Aldwych); White Christmas (Sunderland Empire); The Rover (Young Vic Studio); Journey’s End (Courtyard Theatre); Bloody Poetry (Brockley Jack Theatre); Pendragon (City Theatre Broadway NYMT and Sadler’s Wells); October’s Children (NYMT and Hammersmith Lyric); Cyrano De Bergerac and Macbeth (Derby Rep Theatre); Damn Yankees (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre); The Innocents (Derby Playhouse) and Stepping Out (Electric GSA). Film includes: Fakers and Great in Britain: the Movie. Television includes: Midsomer Murders, Emmerdale, Casualty, Father Brown, The Great Train Robbery, Waterloo Road and Holby City. Radio includes: Mellow Magic every Saturday 10am-1pm.
Samantha Womack appears as Margot Wendice. Samantha Womack is best known for playing Ronnie Mitchell in BBC1’s EastEnders.
Her television credits include the leading roles of: Tanya in three series of Mount Pleasant, Ingrid in Home Again, Ruth in Babes in the Wood, Imogen in Imogen’s Face and Mandy in the hugely popular Game On. Samantha has also starred in Forgiven, The Last Detective, Strange, Judge John Deed, Liverpool 1, Pie in the Sky and The Grimleys. She also appeared in Silent Witness on BBC1. Samantha’s film credits include the box-office-breaking Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Kingsman: The Secret Service, One Night in Istanbul, Dead Man’s Cards, Lighthouse Hill, The Baby Juice Express, Up N Under and Breeders. Theatre credits include: The Girl on the Train (UK tour); The Addams Family (UK tour); Hope (Royal Court Liverpool); The Lincoln Centre’s production of South Pacific in the lead role of Nellie Forbush (Barbican and UK tour); Michael Grandage’s Guys and Dolls alongside Patrick Swayze (Piccadilly Theatre); Earth & Sky (UK tour) and Peter Hall’s production of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal (Theatre Royal Bath).
Christopher Harper performs as Captain Lesgate and Inspector Hubbard. Christopher’s theatre credits include: Strangers on a Train (UK tour); Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s’ Globe); Slipping (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough); The Wind in the Willows, Man of the Moment and Private Fears in Public Places (Royal & Derngate); I Know How I Feel About Eve (Hampstead Downstairs); The Night Before Christmas (Different Breed); The Village Bike (Sheffield Crucible Studio); A Kid Like Jake (Old Vic New Voices); Our Country’s Good and Journey’s End (Original Theatre Company); Persuasion, After Miss Julie and People at Sea (Salisbury Playhouse); Saturn Returns (Finborough Theatre); Light Shining in Buckinghamshire and Lie of the Land (Arcola). Television includes: Holby City, Endeavour, Coronation Street, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, Doctors, Upstairs Downstairs, The Bill, Heartbeat, The Roman Mysteries, Housewife 49, Life on Mars and Rosemary and Thyme. Chris also produced and voiced the award-winning charity animation The Mouse.
Michael Salami is Max Halliday. Michael Salami is a multi-award-winning actor. Born in America and raised in London, Salami discovered his passion for acting in 2007. Salami made his first on stage appearance at Oval Theatre in 2010 and has since then performed at The Old Vic, Soho Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, Southwark Playhouse and Theatre503. Salami studied at Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York graduating in 2016 and since then has appeared in Hollyoaks; Catastrophe; The Temple and Magic Hour. His leading role in Just A Couple has landed him a number of nominations and awards such as a Screen Nation Award for Best Actor. Just A Couple is now in full development with Channel 4.
Anthony Banks directs Frederick Knott’s Dial M For Murder, adding to credits that recently include Gaslight and Strangers on a Train. His production of the hit thriller, The Girl on the Train, continues to tour the UK. The creative team is completed by David Woodhead, Designer; Katy Osborne, Resident Director; Lizzie Powell, Lighting Designer; Ben & Max Ringham, Sound Design; Betty Marini, Wigs Supervisor; Siobhan Boyd, Costume Supervisor, Luke Child as Production Manager and Alison de Burgh as Fight Director.
New take on classic Greek drama brings climate crisis to the egg
Bath Theatre Academy presents
ANTIGONE
Thursday 6 – Saturday 8 February
Timely drama comes to the egg theatre next month, as teenagers from the Bath Theatre Academy revisit one of the most famous of Greek tragedies in a startling new production.
ANTIGONE is a timeless thriller, interrogating truth and loyalty, honour and pride, as one girl, the eponymous Antigone, is driven to defend her family and beliefs in a fight against the tyranny of the state. Sophocles’ inspiring classic challenges the actions of a person who disobeys the authorities, rallying on behalf of Earth’s greater powers. This new version, directed by Kate Pasco, sets the tale against the backdrop of the current climate crisis, bringing the urgent story bang up to date.
This version of the classic Greek play was translated by Don Taylor, highly regarded for his work on BBC radio and television dramas during the 70s and 80s, alongside running a children’s theatre in Chiswick – the perfect combination for creating powerful adaptations for teenage audiences and performers. Kate Pasco is a director and associate director for the award-winning Little Echo Theatre Company, and Group 64, both highly acclaimed for their productions for young audiences.
ANTIGONE is at the egg theatre from Thursday 6 – Saturday 8 February. Tickets for all productions are on sale from the egg reception on 01225 823409, the Theatre Royal Box Office on 01225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk.
Antigone is performed by the final year students of Bath Theatre Academy, the egg theatre’s unique partnership with the City of Bath College, offering unparalleled training, education and an insight into the theatre industry, culminating in a Level 3 UAL Performing and Production Arts qualification. This practical course is based at the Theatre Royal and Bath College, aimed at students aged 16 and over. Spaces are still available for dedicated and committed students to join from September 2020. For more details, please call 01225 823 421.
The Guild of Misrule’s critically acclaimed THE GREAT GATSBY, created and directed by Alexander Wright, is currently wowing audiences in its new West End venue IMMERSIVE | LDN.
Jay Gatsby invites you to one of his infamous large parties. While the champagne flows and the drama unfolds the man himself will be the perfect host. As invites go, this is the hottest in town – why would you want to be anywhere else?
Due to overwhelming demand, thousands of new tickets have been released – audiences can now book for the show and the recently launched dining experience through the summer until 26 July via www.immersivegatsby.com. The Great Gatsby is currently the UK’s longest running immersive production and has become an international phenomenon, with productions across three continents, including South Korea, Belgium (currently playing in three different languages) and Moscow in 2020.
THE GREAT GATSBY allows audiences to fully immerse themselves into the world of Jay Gatsby – a world of red-hot rhythms, bootleg liquor and pure jazz age self-indulgence. With cocktails, dancing and scandal, this heart-racing adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s seminal tale of the Roaring Twenties puts the audience at the heart of the action.
Audiences can opt to enjoy a bespoke fine dining experience before the show begins, designed by Immersive LDN catering partnersFlavourology. Hosted by F Scott Fitzgerald himself, along with his wife Zelda, audiences can begin their journey into the world of Jay Gatsby with an unforgettable edible adventure, with a menu that includes dishes inspired by The Great Gatsby: an amuse-bouche made of buttermilk fried chicken with champagne hollandaise and caviar ‘From St Louis to West Egg’, a main of bourbon cured salmon with celeriac puree and remoulade ‘Bootleg Bourbon Salmon’ and a pudding of spotted dick under a white chocolate dome with custard parfait and salted caramel source ‘Gatsby was an Oxford Man’ (all with vegan alternatives),
Olivier Award winning producers Louis Hartshorn and Brian Hook, who are currently co-producing the immersive production of DR WHO TIME FRACTURE – launched a new company in 2019, IMMERSIVE EVERYWHERE, entirely dedicated to developing and staging theatre-led immersive experiences, and IMMERSIVE | LDN is the newest of their network of venues, which will house cafes, bars and rehearsal and workshop spaces to help the development of new work.
Louis Hartshorn and Brian Hook said, “we are incredibly proud of our show and stunning new venue – and particularly that West End audiences can come and eat an opulent three course meal, drink and see a quality show for the average price of one stalls seat in a traditional theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue.”
IMMERSIVE | LDN is a 32,000sq ft historic building in the heart of Mayfair, which was home to the Queen Victoria’s Rifles Association until 2017. It includes three floors of immersive theatre and event spaces designated for performance, live gaming, events, escape rooms and private parties. For information about programming and venue hire visit www.immersiveldn.com
Directed and adapted by Alexander Wright, The Guild of Misrule’s THE GREAT GATSBY company features with cast members Oliver Towse as ‘Gatsby’, Lucinda Turner as ‘Daisy’, James Lawrence as ‘Nick’, Prince Plockey as ‘Tom’, Humphrey Sitima as ‘George’, Jessica Hern as ‘Jordan’, Hannah Edwards as ‘Myrtle’, Charlie Cassen as ‘Rosy Rosenthal’, Lizzie Grace as ‘Lucille’ and Louis Sparks as ‘Joey’.
First conceived in 2015 when director Alexander Wright and producer Brian Hook were running The Fleeting Arms – a pop arts and community pub in an abandoned building in York, the show then ran in York in 2016 with a parallel production in Sheffield in partnership with Theatre Deli. The Great Gatsby first came to London as part of VAULT Festival in 2017 and sold out before the show opened. Since then the show has run in Wales in co-production with Theatr Clwyd, at Halifax’s Square Chapel, and at Castle Howard in North Yorkshire. All the while the show has played night after night at Gatsby’s Drugstore in London SE1, inviting audiences into the hedonistic world of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s extraordinary tale, and in 2018 it became the UK’s longest running immersive production.
Amie Burns Walker and Oliver Tilney are Associate Directors and Fiona Kingwill is Resident Director. Choreography is by Holly Beasley-Garrigan, design by Casey Jay Andrews, sound design by Phil Grainger and lighting design by Rachel Sampley. The original production was created by Holly Beasley-Garrigan, Amie Burns Walker, Hannah Davies, Phil Grainger, Michael Lambourne, Thomas Maller and Oliver Tilney. This new production of The Guild of Misrule’s THE GREAT GATSBY is produced by Immersive Everywhere, with co-producers Gavin Kalin Productions and Glynis Henderson Productions, with Theatr Clwyd and We Culture Connects as Associate Producers.
Can I Help You? The North Wall, South Parade, Oxford, OX2 7JN Thursday 13th February 2020, 7.30pm Omnibus Theatre, 1 Clapham Common Northside, London, SW4 0QW Tuesday 3rd – Saturday 21st March 2020
Bringing to life their late co-founder Philip Osment’s final play, Playing ON will present the world premiere of Can I Help You? at The North Wall and Omnibus Theatre this spring. Susan Aderin (Guerrilla, Sky Atlantic; Peer Gynt, National Theatre) will appear as Fifi alongside Gabriel Vick (Les Misérables, BBC; Once, West End) as Francis in this poetic and uplifting examination of how race and gender intersect with issues of mental health.
An off-duty English policeman is about to throw himself off Beachy Head when he is met by a Ghanaian woman carrying a laundry bag and a cat box. Over the course of one night, two very different people learn what it truly means to be touched by the magic of hope. A nuanced and compassionate piece, it finds hope in the bleakest of circumstances.
Drawn from their community mental health programmes, the piece is partly inspired by characters created by service users and clinicians in a six-week theatre engagement programme with East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) and Theatre Royal Stratford East, as well as several interviews with members of the Ghanaian community. Playing ON looks to marry professional theatre and socially engaged practise, using theatre as a method for the powerless and the powerful to explore common issues and find insight into the others perspective.
Director Jim Pope comments, The most precious thing Philip gave to me was the understanding that the real way to engage a group is to listen, respect, honour who they are and treat their offerings as precious gifts. This leads to trust and the permission to interpret, challenge, question, and makes stories. Philip was a teacher, mentor, therapist and so many other things to me; he was a friend. His practise is the bedrock of our work which I take forward into every creative space we enter.
Playing ON will also host wraparound workshops and events across the run including an NHS night, panel discussions and an evening celebration of Philip Osment’s work. Can I Help You? will also embark on a community tour to take the work to the very people whose stories are represented in the play. This February it will go to Dragon Café – the flagship project of Mental Fight Club, We are Spotlight – a creative youth service, St Pancras Hospital, and Blackfriars Settlement – a community services centre
National Theatre and Penguin Live announce onstage talks with Booker Prize-winner Bernardine Evaristo and Michael Palin
The National Theatre and Penguin Live announce two events in March as celebrated authors Bernardine Evaristo and Michael Palin take to the Lyttelton stage.
Bernardine Evaristo on her Booker Prize-winning novel Girl, Woman, Other
Thursday 12 March
What can this new decade mean for writers and artists of colour in Britain? How can we ensure that the explosion of books and art by people, and particularly women, of colour aren’t a fad but are the foundations of our future?
These are some of the themes that will be discussed by Bernardine Evaristo whose acclaimed novel Girl, Woman, Other has been described as ‘beautiful’, ‘triumphant’, ‘exceptional’ and a ‘novel of our times’ and was named by Barack Obama as one of his favourite books of 2019.
Bernardine will talk about Girl, Woman, Other, how it feels to be the first black woman to win the Booker Prize and why she considers it such an exciting time to be a black female writer.
Michael Palin: On North Korea and Other Travels
Tuesday 17 March
Michael will discuss his most recent travels into the notoriously secretive Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. A land without internet or phone signal, where the countryside still operates as a peasant economy while the cities boast gleaming skyscrapers and luxurious underground commuter stations; a country that inspires fear and fascination in equal measure.
Michael Palin’s travels have taken him all around the world, and he will also regale us with tales of his personal journey from a life of comedy to adventurer and historian.
Tickets will be available via the National Theatre website with member booking from Monday 27 January, and public on sale on Tuesday 28 January.
Theatr Clwyd today announces its Writers in Residence and Companies in Residence for 2020, as part of the TYFU|GROW Creative Development Programme.Writers’ residencies have been awarded to Hannah Daniel, Katie Elin-Salt, Jennifer Lunn, Wyn Mason, Lisa Parry, and Kristian Phillips. Companies’ residencies have been awarded to Archipelago, Francesca Goodridge and Dan Lloyd, PRIDD, and Signdance Collective.
The six 2020 Writers in Residence will be connected to Theatr Clwyd’s in-house productions of Milky Peaks, For The Grace of You Go I, and Project Hush, with two writers on attachment during each production. The residencies give writers the chance to build relationships with the company of each production and with the Theatr Clwyd team, to spend time observing rehearsals, and to develop ideas in a supportive environment. The writers’ programme is supported by Gladstone’s Library, in whose beautiful rooms the playwrights stay during their time in North Wales.
The Companies’ residencies include up to 2 weeks of rehearsal space, office space, one-to-one support from Theatr Clwyd’s Producing & Programming, Creative Engagement, Communications & Giving, Production and Finance teams, support with funding applications, and the opportunity to share work in progress at the end of each residency.
Tamara Harvey, Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd today said “Some of the most exciting work we’ve produced has been introduced to us through our TYFU|GROW programme, including the brilliant Milky Peaks, premiering at Theatr Clwyd this spring. It’s exhilarating to share our home with writers and emerging companies so they can bounce around ideas and challenge us with new stories and new ways of telling them. I can’t wait to build relationships with these amazing artists over the coming year.”
WRITERS IN RESIDENCE
In connection with Milky Peaks by Seiriol Davies and devised by Seiriol Davies, Matthew Blake and Dylan Townley, 10-21 March
Katie Elin-Salt
Elin-Salt is an actor and writer from Bridgend, South Wales. Her debut play Sprinkles is currently being developed alongside Dirty Protest. She is also a member of the Royal Court New Writers Group and Chippy Lane’s Welsh female writers. Her acting credits include many productions at Theatr Clwyd including the Paines Plough Roundabout season, Educating Rita,and Jack and the Beanstalk.
Lisa Parry
Parry is a playwright based in Cardiff. Her play The Merthyr Stigmatist was recently shortlisted for Theatre Uncut’s Political Playwriting Award and will be staged at the Sherman Theatre in October 2020. Her other writing includes 2023. Her work has been staged by leading new writing companies in the UK and USA, including Dirty Protest, The Miniaturists and PopUp Theatrics, and has been produced at The Barbican, The Other Room, Wales Millennium Centre, and TACT Studio (Broadway, NYC), The Arches, Bridewell Theatre London and Martin E Segal Theatre (NYC) amongst others. In 2016, Parry co-founded Illumine Theatre Company with director Zoë Waterman. She co-founded Agent 160 Theatre Company in 2012 and produced work by female playwrights from across the UK.
In connection with For the Grace of You Go I by Alan Harris, 6 – 17 April Jennifer Lunn
Lunn’s first full length play Es and Flo was shortlisted for the Verity Bargate Award and long listed for the Bruntwood Prize in 2017, and was commissioned by Wales Millennium Centre. Herother writing credits includeDiaries of a Miserable Unicorn(UK tour), Dining with Copernicus(The Lab Collective & Polish Cultural Institute), Belief, Lockdown(The Other Room), and Imagine, Clash of the Cosmos (Dirty Protest). Lunn has worked extensively with new writing; co-founding the Write Now new writing festival at Brockley Jack Theatre; two years as Head of Projects and Events Production at the National Theatre in London; and the current Head of Production for Ellie Keel Productions. She also works as a Storyteller for Read For Good, a charity working with children and families in Hospitals across the UK.
Wyn Mason
Mason’s previous writing credits include Rhith Gân / Song of Illusion (which was awarded the Drama Medal at the National Eisteddfod 2015), Gwlad yr Asyn / Donkeyland, and the forthcoming The Lady Speaks in Welsh, inspired by one of Shakespeare’s characters. He has recently established an independent theatre company Os Nad Nawr with playwright Branwen Davies.
In connection with Project Hush by Matthew Bulgo with Manon Wyn Jones and Yasuro Ito, 14-25 September Hannah Daniel
Daniel is a writer and actor from Cardiff. In 2017, Daniel and Georgia Lee wrote and directed their first short film Destination, and last year were awarded Ffilm Cymru/BBC Wales’ Beacons Fund to shoot their second short film Burial/O Dad yn Deulu Dedwydd. She is currently developing original comedy-drama, Cardiff is the Capital of the World, with Vertigo Films. Her short play Eros(Cuntstruck) premièred at The Old Red Lion Theatre in March 2019. As an actor, her theatre credits include Road (Bloomsbury Theatre), and For All I Care (National Theatre Wales). And for television, Hinterland and Keeping Faith. She has improvised with The Groundlings and UCB Theatre in Los Angeles.
Kristian Phillips
Phillips is a writer/actor from Port Talbot. His debut play Drift was researched and developed under the Tyfu|Grow scheme at Theatr Clwyd and will head into full production in 2020.
ARTISTS AND COMPANIES IN RESIDENCE
Archipelago
Archipelago is a self-styled national theatre collective. Their work is about what it means to be a person living on this tiny island. The artists who are part of the collective are based all over the country. Their work crosses genres, styles, and art forms, but is united under the banner of new, live, political work that provides a great night out. They are committed to inclusivity, accessibility, and communities being embedded in the heart of their practice. The work is both local and national; in conversation with each other and the country.
Francesca Goodridge and Dan Lloyd
Francesca Goodridge is an actor, choreographer and director. She trained at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA), is a recipient of the Theatr Clwyd Carne Traineeship for Directors in Wales and is the former Trainee Director of The Other Room Theatre in Cardiff. Her directing credits include The Crocodile (Cornerstone Theatre), BARK! The Musical (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Adam, Eve and Steve (The Kings Head Theatre), Shout! The Mod Musical (The Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool) and Secret The Musical (Epstein Theatre). As Assistant Director at Theatr Clwyd, her credits include A Christmas Carol, Pavilion, Wave Me Goodbye, Dick Whittington and The Importance of Being Earnest.
Daniel Lloyd is an actor, director and musician. He was raised in Rhosllannerchrugog and trained at East 15 Acting School. As an actor, his theatre credits include Eye of the Storm (UK tour), The Commitments (Palace Theatre), Tom: The Tom Jones Musical (UK tour), As You Like It (Ludlow and Stafford Castle), Some Like It Hotter (UK tour), Mods and Rox (The New Wolsey Theatre), and Spring Awakening (Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru/Elen Bowman). For Theatr Clwyd, his acting credits include Little Shop of Horrors, The Hub, The Taming of the Shrew, Animal Farm, and twelve consecutive rock ‘n’ roll pantos. For television, his credits include the recurring character Aled in Rownd a Rownd, Asra, Dau Dŷ a Ni, Tipyn o Stad, and A470. His directing credits include The White Feather (Theatr na n’Og), and Shane (S4C). His credits as Musical Director include Rownd a Rownd Nadolig 2019, ASRA, Y Doniolis (S4C).
PRIDD
PRIDD (soil) is a new Welsh theatre company formed by Awen Blandford (RNCM) and Carys Jones (UEA). Having both grown up in Mold and left to study, they have now come together to celebrate their shared experience of being raised surrounded by Welsh folk culture. PRIDD’s aim is to tell bilingual stories that incorporate Welsh tradition, language and Music. As part of this residency, they will be developing their gig theatre piece Enya, a story inspired by the folk tale The Fire Bird.
Signdance Collective
Signdance Collective is a culturally diverse touring company established in 2001 with experienced Deaf & Disabled artists at the helm. Inclusion and diversity inform the artistic process. In 1987, Signdance Theatre trailblazed fusing sign-theatre, dance and live original music. Since 2001 they have also undertaken cultural exchange/international collaborative practice. Signdance Collective successfully produces and tours its works both nationally and internationally. The Turtle Trials is a new development in storytelling through their art form and immersive practice, engaging disabled and non-disabled Deaf and hearing children and their families.
