SHEFFIELD THEATRES ANNOUNCES NEW SEASON FOR 2016
Sheffield Theatres’ Artistic Director Daniel Evans today announces the company’s most ambitious season to date. Highlights include three world premières – of new plays from Richard Bean (One Man, Two Guvnors), Chris Bush and a co-production with Third Angel, a new British musical, Flowers For Mrs Harris, by Richard Taylor and Rachel Wagstaff, a regional premiere of Mike Bartlett’s (Bull, Doctor Foster) Contractions and two major new productions of 20th century classics – A Raisin In The Sun and Waiting For Godot.
Opening the season, Sheffield-based Third Angel and Sheffield Theatres present Partus, a show about birth. Based on conversations with mothers, fathers and healthcare professionals, Partus (Fri 15 – Wed 20 January) examines ones of the most familiar, yet mysterious aspects of humanity.
Dawn Walton directs a major new revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s 20th Century classic, A Raisin in the Sun (Thu 28 Jan – Sat 13 Feb) in a co-production between her company, Eclipse Theatre Company, Sheffield Theatres and Belgrade Theatre Coventry. This powerful snapshot of American working class life on the cusp of the civil rights era bursts with intense family conflict, racial politics and social consciousness. A Raisin in the Sun sees the return of Ian Charleson Award-winning Ashley Zhangazha (Macbeth) to theCrucible to play Walter Lee Younger, alongside The Real McCoy’s Llewella Gideon as Lena Younger.
Sheffield Theatres’ Associate Director Charlotte Gwinner (Crave, 4:48 Psychosis) then directs a brand new production of Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece of modern theatre, Waiting For Godot, from Thursday 4 to Saturday 27 February. Ahead of the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible, in March Associate Director Richard Wilson (Love Your Soldiers, Lungs) directs the world première of award-winning writerRichard Bean’s (One Man Two Guvnors) new comedy thriller, The Nap set in the world of snooker and starring BAFTA Award-winning Jack O’ Connell (Skins, Starred Up, Unbroken) as Dylan. (Thu 10 – Sat 26 March). Sheffield Theatres’ Artistic Director Daniel Evans (This Is My Family, Oliver, Anything Goes) directs the heart-warming Flowers For Mrs Harris – a new British musical by Richard Taylor andRachel Wagstaff, based on the novel by Paul Gallico. Clare Burt (This Is My Family) returns to Sheffield Theatres to play the title role.
Office politics come under the spotlight in Olivier Award-winning Mike Bartlett’s (Bull – UK Theatre Award for Best New Play, King Charles III, Doctor Foster,) Contractions which has its regional première in theStudio from Thursday 23 June – Saturday 16 July. Lisa Blair directs this darkly funny play about intrusion, management and ever-decreasing privacy.
Sheffield People’s Theatre (20 Tiny Plays about Sheffield, Camelot: The Shining City) return to theCrucible stage from Wednesday 13 – Saturday 16 July with A Dream – a modern day mash-up of Shakespearean romance. Written by Chris Bush (The Sheffield Mysteries) and set in Sheffield on Midsummer’s Eve, A Dream will feature over 100 members of Sheffield People’s Theatre directed byEmily Hutchinson.
Sheffield Theatres also play host to some of the country’s biggest and most popular touring shows this season.
Award-winning drama, King Charles III by Mike Bartlett (Doctor Foster), visits the Lyceum fromMonday 1 – Saturday 6 February starring Robert Powell (Jesus of Nazareth). With Camilla by his side, Prince Charles finally ascends to the throne. With his family looking on, he prepares for the future of power that lies before him but faces one huge question – how to rule?
For musicals fans, the season is packed with delights. A brand new production of Hairspray shimmies into town from Monday 8 – Saturday 13 February taking audiences to 1960s Baltimore in a riot of feel-good fun.Guys and Dolls, the sizzling West End production featuring fabulous songs including Luck Be A Lady, My Time of Day and the show-stopping Sit Down You’re Rockin’ The Boat, comes to Sheffield from Tuesday 19 – Saturday 23 April. Later in the year Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Monday 23 – Saturday 28 May) and The Rocky Horror Show (Monday 20 – Saturday 25 June) will bring some frothy, risqué fun, before classic family favourite Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, starring Lee Mead (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat) as Caractactus Potts and Michelle Collins (EastEnders, Coronation Street) as Baroness Bomburst visits the Lyceum from Wednesday 29 June – Saturday 17 July.
Music fans will be delighted to see the return of Let It Be (Monday 22 – Saturday 27 February). The hit show celebrates the music of The Beatles and is packed with over 40 of their hits, including Twist and Shout,Yesterday and of course, Let It Be. The music continues from Tuesday 29 March – Saturday 2 April withThriller Live. A spectacular concert-style show celebrating the songs and career of Michael Jackson. Another legend is celebrated on the Lyceum stage in a brand new production TOM. A Story of Tom Jones. The Musical (Tuesday 12 – Saturday 16 April), which features songs from the ’60s and a string of chart-toppers including What’s New Pussy Cat, Delilah and It’s Not Unusual.
On its 10th Anniversary Tour, Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps is brilliantly and hilariously recreated by four actors, playing 130 characters in 100 action-packed minutes from Tuesday 16 – Saturday 20 February and the humour continues at the Lyceum with Alan Bennett’s comedy masterpiece Single Spies (Tuesday 26 – Saturday 30 April) starring Nicholas Farrell (Chariots of Fire, The Iron Lady), an amusing glimpse into a life full of espionage, secret identities and even an interrogation by the Queen.
Family fun can be had from Friday 29 – Saturday 30 January when Michael Rosen’s classic adventure book We’re Going On A Bear Hunt is brought vividly and noisily to life on the Lyceum stage and in April, audiences can join Dr Longitude, his caravan of curiosities and its crew of mysterious misfits, in theMarvellous Imaginary Menagerie (Sat 9 April), the most magnifical, tremendible and fantasticulous experience in town!
Blistering comedy Land of Our Fathers (Mon 22 – Sat 24 February) and Iphigenia in Splott (Tuesday 8 – Wednesday 9 March), a powerful drama inspired by Greek myth that’s guaranteed to break your heart visit the Studio this season and four electric new short plays, written by some of the UK’s most promising writers and inspired by A Raisin In The Sun, will be showcased in Fuse on Wednesday 30 March.
From Friday 17 – Saturday 25 June, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, in association with Ramps on the Moon present Gogol’s satirical masterpiece The Government Inspector on the Crucible stage. A hilarious riot of corruption, lies and greed, The Government Inspector is part of Ramps On The Moon, a ground-breaking touring project that aims to change the way theatre made by and for D/deaf and disabled people is seen, stimulating awareness of disability issues within arts and culture.
Bringing the season to a close is Cuttin’ It (Wed 20 – Sat 23 July), a Young Vic/Royal Court Theatre co-production with Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Sheffield Theatres and The Yard Theatre. This devastating award-winning play by Charlene James, tackles the urgent issue of FGM in Britain, though the eyes of two Somalian teenagers who, as their friendship develops, realise that their families share a secret.
Artistic Director Daniel Evans said today, ‘This is, without doubt, our boldest season to date. We’re announcing 7 original productions: three new plays, a new British musical, a regional première and two major revivals of 20th century classics. We’re delighted to be working in partnership with our resident companies Eclipse, the country’s foremost black theatre company, and Third Angel, a local company with an international profile. We’re looking forward to welcoming actors of the calibre of Jack O’Connell, Ashley Zhangazha and Clare Burt to the Crucible to collaborate with us and I’m thrilled that Lisa Blair makes her directorial debut here this summer with Mike Bartlett’s Contractions. As preparations begin for Christmas at Sheffield Theatres, I’m overjoyed that spring and summer hold so much in store for audiences in our city region.’
The new season will go on sale to Sheffield Theatres Centre Stage Members on Saturday 24 October and on general sale from Saturday 31 October from 10.00am. For full details of the spring 2016 season, visit sheffieldtheatres.co.uk or call Box Office on 0114 249 6000.