Artistic Director James Brining and Chief Executive Sheena Wrigley have announced the first season of their tenure at Leeds’ West Yorkshire Playhouse.
It will begin (26 September – 26 October) with Brining’s revival (in a co-production with the Royal Exchange in Manchester) of his production of Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street which won a TMA Award in Dundee in 2010. The production will move to Manchester from 1st to 30th November.
From 5th to 28th October the theatre will premiere Alice Nutter’s new play, My Generation. Set in Leeds, the play explores the lives of one family across four decades, the 70s, 80s, 90s and the present day. Political tensions, family relationships and social responsibility are examined against a backdrop of the Yorkshire Ripper, the miners' strike, music festivals and radical feminism.
At Christmas dance, physical theatre, puppetry, song will feature in Rosanna Lowe’s adaptation of The Jungle Book, which will be directed by Liam Steel.
As well as producing new writing on the main stages Brining introduces A Play, a Pie and a Pint to Leeds. Working with both established and new writers short original plays will be produced in various spaces throughout the theatre. These plays will provide opportunities for audiences to experience contemporary writing at close quarters.
The Playground, created with Associate Producer Amy Letman and inspired by the continuing success of the TRANSFORM FESTIVAL, is a series of scratch nights performed in the Playhouse foyer. Individual artists, companies, writers, performers, directors, musicians are encouraged to try out their work in front of a Playhouse audience.
Furnace, the Playhouse’s vehicle for developing new work will continue to provide a platform for the trialling, testing and realisation of new ideas. By providing space and support Furnace gives artists the freedom to challenge themselves and their theatre practice, it encourages collaboration across disciplines and provides the opportunity for feedback from audience members and professional peers.
This season there will be two resident companies at the Playhouse when Unlimited Theatre are joined by RashDash.
A wide range of visiting companies, including Northern Ballet, Improbable and Paines Plough will form an important part of the autumn season.
Two new appointments to new positions have been made at the theatre: Gavin Harding from the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, joins as Technical Director and Mark Rosenblatt, Associate at the National Theatre Studio since 2011, joins as Associate Director.