Alphabetti's opening season announced

Published: 19 July 2017
Reporter: Peter Lathan

Overdue
The Game's a Foot, Try the Fish (and The Man with the Twisted Hip)
Above the Mealy-mouthed Sea

Newcastle’s Alphabetti Theatre has announced its first season in its new premises, which will open on Saturday 2 September. Its new home is in St James’ Boulevard, across Blandford Square from the Discovery Museum and just along the Boulevard and over the road from Dance City.

The season begins with a regular night: Alphabetti Soup, featuring comedy, music, poetry and theatre. And free soup for the first fifty people!

This September, Alphabetti Soup has comedy from young North East performer Lauren Pattison, music from South Shields-born Natasha Haws and Diji Solanke who comes from Nigeria by way of Ireland. There will also be poetry from Newcastle-based Zoe Murtagh.

  • 5 – 16 September (not Sunday and Monday)
    Coracle in partnership with Alphabetti Theatre
    Overdue
    By Arabella Arnott
    Performed by Rosie Stancliffe and Christopher Price and directed by Matt Jamie

    Beth and John are happily married. But they’re not always happy. There are a lot of things they need to talk about. Beth’s chance encounter with a young single mum, Izzie, reminds her a lot of her past, and conversations with an enigmatic young stranger, Jack, bring Beth’s thoughts and fears into focus.

  • 19 September
    Singer/songwriter Gavin Osborn

  • 21 and 23 September
    The Game's a Foot, Try the Fish (and The Man with the Twisted Hip)
    Two one-man plays, written and performed by Tom Taylor

    Weaving Wodehousian witticisms, farce and quotable one-liners into a pair of intriguing 1930s whodunits, rakish aristocrat and first-time detective Charlie Montague must prevent a murder. The chap dies.

    Not put off in the slightest, Charlie attends the opening of a new art exhibition where he is presented with a double-threat: murder and modern art. He is equally baffled by both.

  • 22 September
    Liberty Hodes and Lauren Stone present
    A Fourth Comedy Night That Passes The Bechdel Test

  • 26 September
    Tidy Carnage presents
    Underworlds

    A sensory experience that taps into our deepest desires through an informal evening of illusion, poetry, music and discussion. This work-in-progress evening will offer spoken word, music, video and the chance to interact with magic and illusion, led by illusionist and mentalist Scott Silven.

  • 28 – 30 September
    Movement 89 presents
    Quarter Life Crisis

    Alicia is a hot mess. She doesn't know what she's doing with her life. Everyone around her seems to know where they're going in life, but she's trying to find ways to cheat growing up and keep her 16-25 railcard. What does it mean to be an adult, and when do you become one?

  • 4 – 6 October
    Bonnie and The Bonnettes present
    Drag Me To Love

    It's golden stilettos, ripped fishnets, shoulder pads, and neon bobs. It’s Doncaster, 2009. This autobiographical three-person show combines drag performance with theatrical storytelling following Cameron as he throws himself into a pair of 6-inch stilettos. You are bound to fall, as they drag you, into love.

  • 10 -12 October
    Unholy Mess in Association with Omnibus Theatre present
    Above the Mealy-mouthed Sea

    A woman stands at a microphone. She’s forgotten the punchline. Fusing poetry and song, Jemima Foxtrot presents a play about memory and childhood.

  • 20 October
    Liberty Hodes and Lauren Stone present
    A Fifth Comedy Night That Passes The Bechdel Test

  • 24 October – 3 November (not Sunday and Monday) at 4.00
    The Worriers in partnership with Alphabetti Theatre presents
    Walter
    By Steve Byron

    Meet Walter the pigeon as he embarks on an adventure to end all adventures in this family production. For ages 8+.

  • 24 October – 3 November (not Sunday and Monday) at 7.30
    The Worriers in partnership with Alphabetti Theatre presents
    Wilfred
    By Gary Kitching

    Wilfred Owen wasn’t the only poet to fight in the First World War; he also wasn't the only person called Wilfred.

    This is is the story of Wilfred Wright. Injured during the battle of the Somme and recovering in a field hospital, Wilfred tries to come to terms with the horrors he’s witnessed through poetry. Unfortunately, his poems are terrible. Will he be able to write a lasting legacy before he heads back to the front?

  • 7 – 10 November
    Honky Bonk Theatre in partnership with CaroleW Productions presents
    The Establishment: Eton Mess

    Stiff-upper-lipped comedy. Two ultra-privileged British gents struggling to hold onto their whimsical world of cricket, tea and secret arms deals.

  • 17 November
    Liberty Hodes and Lauren Stone present
    A Sixth Comedy Night That Passes The Bechdel Test

  • 21 – 24 November
    Tooth+Nail Theatre Company in partnership with CaroleW Productions presents
    Hummingbird

    A dark, seductive tale of love and murder in 1950s America, blending acrobatics, action and a striking visual style.

  • 5 – 8 December
    Roisin Crowley Linton in partnership with CaroleW Productions presents
    Be More, Do Better But Don't Change

    A blend of poetry, stand-up and personal storytelling exploring Love with a capital “L” and all of its tragic, sweaty, embarrassing parts. Is it really so important?

  • 13 – 15 December
    Men With Coconuts in partnership with CaroleW Productions presents
    Improvised Bond

    A fully improvised Bond film. There'll be villains, gadgets and femme fatales galore—all improvised live on stage with a musical accompaniment.

  • 14 December at 9.00
    MC Hammersmith in partnership with CaroleW Productions presents
    MC Hammersmith’s Magical Freestyle Factory

    MC Hammersmith (a.k.a. Will Naameh, the tall skinny one from Men With Coconuts) and friends present an hour of white people performing improvised hip hop comedy based on audience suggestions.

*Some links, including Amazon, Stageplays.com, ATG Tickets, LOVEtheatre, BTG Tickets, Ticketmaster, The Ticket Factory, LW Theatres and QuayTickets, are affiliate links for which BTG may earn a small fee at no extra cost to the purchaser.

Are you sure?