WILTSHIRE CREATIVE ANNOUNCES SPRING 2022 AT
SALISBURY PLAYHOUSE AND SALISBURY ARTS CENTRE
Following the re-opening of Salisbury Playhouse with John Godber’s September in the Rain, and Ian McDiarmid and Michael Grandage in rehearsals for the world première of Julian Barnes’ The Lemon Table, Artistic Director Gareth Machin and Executive Director Sebastian Warrack today announce the Spring 2022 season at Wiltshire Creative. Wiltshire Creative will stage a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical revue A Grand Night for Singing, celebrating the legendary music of the greatest duo in musical theatre history, with further productions to be announced in due course.
With two new main house productions alongside a host of touring productions at Salisbury Playhouse and a collaborative art installation at Salisbury Arts Centre, the Spring season showcases the rich cultural heritage of the South West and beyond, and celebrates community, togetherness, and healing through collaboration and locally produced arts.
Gareth Machin, Artistic Director of Wiltshire Creative, said today, ‘Welcoming back audiences to Salisbury Playhouse this Autumn has been joyous. The Playhouse plays such an important role in Salisbury’s cultural heritage and within the community, and this is evidenced by the diversity of audiences we attract. We are particularly excited to be producing new productions of A Grand Night for Singing, cementing Salisbury Playhouse on the map as a significant producing theatre in the South-West’.
Highlights of the visiting programme will include the Fascinating Aïda; stand-up comedian Stewart Lee’s Snowflake/Tornado; Middle Ground Theatre’s A Murder is Announced; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow starring Wendi Peters and Bill Ward; Mark Bruce Company’s Phantoms: A Triple Bill; an adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel Private Peaceful, adapted for stage by Simon Reade; Tim Firth’s Sheila’s Island starring Sara Crowe and Judy Flynn; and Ian Kelsey returning to Salisbury Playhouse in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice alongside Christina Bianco.
The centerpiece of Salisbury Arts Centre in Spring will be Same Sea, Different Boat, a collaborative art installation by Sue Brown in collaboration with artists Liske Johnson, Louise Asher and Cath Kingzett displayed from 11 January – 5 March 2022. The piece consists of hundreds of hand-printed and stitched stories lovingly produced by individual artists from across the UK and abroad, responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. Sue Brown will also be hosting a calligraphy workshop on 12 February, continuing the diverse offer of community workshops at Salisbury Arts Centre.
The Spring season goes on sale for members on 14 October, and on general sale on 19 October at 10am. Same Sea, Different Boat will be a free exhibition.
Spring 2022 at Salisbury Playhouse
Wiltshire Creative Presents
A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING
Directed by Gareth Machin; Musical direction by Christopher Peake
Music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Orchestration by Michael Gibson and Jonathan Tunick; Conceived by Walter Bobbie
3 – 19 February
This dazzling staged musical revue weaves a moving new storyline through iconic songs, including I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair, Oh What A Beautiful Morning, Something Wonderful and Maria, bringing all the glitz and glamour of the Golden Age of musical theatre to the stage like you’ve never seen before.
Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II are a multi-award-winning composer and librettist/lyricist duo. During the ‘Golden Age’ of American musical theatre, they wrote several hit musicals including Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPRING 2022 VISITING THEATRE PROGRAMME INCLUDE:
4 March
FASCINATING AÏDA
With Dillie Keane, Adèle Anderson and Liza Pulman
They’re back at last and heading out on tour.
Fascinating Aïda is back with a selection of old favourites, songs you haven’t heard before, and some you wish you’d never heard in the first place. The songs are hilarious and topical – the glamour is unstoppable.
With three Olivier Award nominations and over 25 million YouTube and Facebook hits for Cheap Flights and their incredibly rude Christmas song how can you possibly miss them?
Age guidance: 14+
5 March
STEWART LEE: SNOWFLAKE/TORNADO
Stewart Lee comes to Salisbury Playhouse with his new stand-up show, Snowflake/Tornado.
The first half, Snowflake, will be heavily rewritten in the light of the two years the show has been laid off, looking at how the Covid-Brexit era has impacted on the culture war declared on lovely woke snowflakes by horrible people.
The second half, Tornado, questions Stew’s position in the comedy marketplace after Netflix mistakenly listed his show as ‘reports of sharks falling from the skies are on the rise again. Nobody on the Eastern Seaboard is safe’.
Age guidance: 14+
7 – 12 March
Middle Ground Theatre Company Ltd presents;
AGATHA CHRISTIE’S A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED – A MISS MARPLE MYSTERY
Adapted by Leslie Darbon
Directed and designed by Michael Lunney
The residents of Chipping Cleghorn are astonished to read an advert in the local newspaper that a murder will take place this coming Friday at Little Paddocks, the home of Letitia Blacklock.
Unable to resist, the group gather at the house at the appointed time, when the lights go out and a gun is fired. Enter Miss Marple, who must unravel a complex series of relationships and events to solve the mystery of the killer.
Now in its sixth year of touring, this lavish production has delighted packed audiences across the UK and Ireland and is brought to you by the company and director who produced the critically acclaimed courtroom thriller The Verdict.
14 – 19 March
Tilted Wig, Malvern Theatres and Churchill Theatre Bromley presents;
THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
Written by Philip Meeks
Cast includes: Wendi Peters and Bill Ward
Directed by Jake Smith
With Hallowmas celebrations fast approaching, the residents of Sleepy Hollow spin tall tales of legends and unsightly entities. But who can tell truth from nightmare?
Wendi Peters and Bill Wardlead an incredible ensemble in this thrilling new adaptation. Transforming the American Dream into the American Gothic, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow unleashes one of the most terrifying monsters from the horror canon –the Headless Horseman.
Age guidance: 12+
24 – 26 March
PHANTOMS: A TRIPLE BILL
Written, choreographed, and directed by Mark Bruce
Performed by Eleanor Duval, Jonathan Goddard, Carina Howard, Sharol Mackenzie, Christopher Thomas
Multi-award-winning Mark Bruce Company return to Salisbury Playhouse with a stunning Triple Bill of cinematic dance theatre:
Green Apples -Bruce’s highly popular commanding work choreographed to music by The White Stripes. A visceral and immediate live experience as two dancers perform within the confines of a rope circle, creating a space of powerful physical intensity and magnetic energy.
Folk Tales – Characters from the myths of our past dance to the evocative music of Martin Simpson, including renditions of Beaulampkins, Soldier’s Joy and Betsy the Serving Maid among others. A collection of life affirming pieces; at once mysterious, fiery, and celebrational.
Phantoms – A stunning dance theatre tale of love, tragedy and revenge in a land where our phantoms roam free. Mark Bruce Company presents its trademark cinematic vision; a carousel of dream-like characters in a beautifully savage world falling into chaos, culminating in a surreal, classic showdown on the road. Phantoms features the creative team that brought you Dracula, Macbeth and Return to Heaven, and an originally composed score.
Age guidance: 11+
25 –30 April
Michael Morpurgo’s
PRIVATE PEACEFUL
Adapted by Simon Reade
Directed by Elle While
Award-winning Private Peaceful was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, won the Red House Children’s Book Award and the Blue Peter Book Award. Acknowledged by Michael Morpurgo (War Horse, The Butterfly Lion) as his favourite work, this thrilling new ensemble retelling by Simon Reade, directed by Elle While, explores the lengths a young soldier will go to, to fight for what is right.
Age Guidance: 9+
3 – 7 May
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre presents;
SHEILA’S ISLAND
By Tim Firth
Cast: Sara Crowe, and Judy Flynn and Abigail Thaw
The Office meets Lord of the Flies meets Miranda.
Sheila’s Island is a sparkling, sharp-witted new comedy from writer Tim Firth (Calendar Girls, Kinky Boots, The Band), starring Olivier Award-winner Sara Crowe (Private Lives, Calendar Girls, Four Weddings and a Funeral), and Judy Flynn (The Brittas Empire, Dinnerladies).
Age Guidance: 13+
9 – 14 May
Aria Entertainment presents;
THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE
By Jim Cartwright
Cast includes: Christina Bianco, Shobna Gulati and Ian Kelsey
Jim Cartwright’s Olivier-Award winning comedy-drama The Rise and Fall of Little Voice embarks on a UK tour next year.
Starring Shobna Gulati (Coronation Street, Dinnerladies, Loose Women), British soap royalty Ian Kelsey (Emmerdale, Casualty) and two-time Drama Desk Award Nominee Christina Bianco, as Little Voice.
With humour, heart and countless powerhouse ballads all performed live on stage, including music from Judy Garland and Shirley Bassey, Cartwright’s iconic Northern fairy-tale explores the highs and the lows of small-town dreams, family rivalry and finding your voice in a noisy world.
Age Guidance: 12+
Spring 2022 at Salisbury Arts Centre
11 January – 5 March
SAME SEA, DIFFERENT BOAT
by Sue Brown in collaboration with Louise Asher, Liske Johnson and Cath Kingzett
Same Sea, Different Boat is a quilt with a difference instigated by the project founder artist Sue Brown in collaboration with artists Liske Johnson, Louise Asher and Cath Kingzett. This textile artwork is an uplifting artwork, a combination of craftivism and social documentary. The piece consists of hundreds of hand-printed and stitched stories lovingly produced by individual artists from across the UK and abroad. Each participant in this piece is reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Same Sea, Different Boat was originally programmed to be exhibited at Salisbury Arts Centre in January 2021, but due to the third Covid 19 lockdown they were not able to host the exhibition then. During the last year, the quilts which form the piece have continued to grow as the piece took to its UK tour fulfilling its mission to collect stories, share experience, and to make people laugh or cry whilst reflecting on the unknown world in which we now live.
This exhibition will also showcase a selection of artworks created by the four founding artists of the Same Sea, Different Boat project.
Sue Brown has been a professional artist for 15 years. Her work is inspired by nature and been driven by exploring intaglio printmaking techniques. In 2009 she embarked on a 3-year part time MA in Multi-disciplinary Printmaking at the University of the West of England, graduating with a distinction in 2012. It was during this period of study that she explored printmaking with enamel and added 3 dimensional pieces in enamel and metal to her body of work.
Louise Asher is an artist and founder of the Hope and Elvis Studios in Nottinghamshire, showcasing art from around the UK and Europe and running bespoke arts and crafts workshops.
Liske Johnson is an artist and runs Littleheath Barn Studio with Claire Lundy. The studio runs a wide range of fabric printing, dyeing and art textile workshops.
Cath Kingzett is a textile artist. She studied Soft Furnishings at City & Guilds, graduating in 1996. She was one-time part owner of the shop Two Fat Quarters, in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, which sold patchwork and quilting fabrics. After the shop closed, Kingzett began to explore other forms of stitching and textile art and went on to complete another City and Guilds, this time in Creative Embroidery. In 2009, she opened her sewing workshop in Nailsworth, One Fat Quarter, a place for her to work and share her love of sewing.
WILTSHIRE CREATIVE
Wiltshire Creative brings together Salisbury Arts Centre, Salisbury International Arts Festival and Salisbury Playhouse. Salisbury Playhouse is one of Britain’s leading producing theatres, with a national reputation for home-grown work of the highest quality that attracts audiences from across Wiltshire, Hampshire, Dorset and beyond. Recent theatre productions include the world premieres of Blood Wedding by Barney Norris and The Mirror Crack’d by Rachel Wagstaff. Recent audio and digital productions includes the world première of Making Massinger by Simon Butteriss, the British première of Call Cutta at Home by Rimini Protokoll and Shift a significant youth led project amplifying young voices.
Twitter, Instagram and Facebook: @WiltsCreative
WILTSHIRE CREATIVE
LISTINGS
Salisbury Arts Centre
Bedwin Street, Salisbury, SP1 3UT
Salisbury Playhouse
Malthouse Lane, Salisbury, SP2 7RA
Box Office:
www.wiltshirecreative.co.uk / 01722 320 333
SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN
Until 9 October
SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN (Livestreamed)
4 October – 9 October
THE LEMON TABLE
14 October – 23 October
HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES
15 November – 20 November
SNOW WHITE AND THE HAPPY EVER AFTER BEAUTY SALON
3 December – 31 December
SPRING 2022:
SAME SEA, DIFFERENT BOAT
11 January – 5 March 2022
A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING
3 – 19 February 2022
FASCINATING AIDA
4 March 2022
SNOWFLAKE/TORNADO
5 March 2022
A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED – A MISS MARPLE MYSTERY
7 – 12 March 2022
THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
14 – 19 March 2022
PHANTOMS: A TRIPLE BILL
24 – 26 March 2022
PRIVATE PEACEFUL
25 –30 April 2022
SHEILA’S ISLAND
3 – 7 May 2022
THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE
9 – 14 May 2022
WILTSHIRE CREATIVE :
THE LEMON TABLE:
Sheffield Theatres
26 – 30 October
Cambridge Arts Theatre
2 – 6 November
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
9 – 13 November
HOME Manchester
16 – 20 November
Malvern Theatres
23 – 27 November