Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre and Mercurial Dance have revealed the cast for their site-specific performance festival Read All About It!.
The festival encompasses two separate shows which are both inspired by real-life stories from more than 50 years of Coventry’s history and forms part of the Coventry City of Culture Trust’s programme in the build-up to its becoming UK City of Culture in 2021.
In Retold, Mercurial Dance will take over the foyer area of the former Coventry Evening Telegraph building with an interactive, cabaret-style performance uniting three professional dancers with a musician and composer and four emerging dance artists.
Professional dancers Lewys Holt, Ashley Jordan and Henry Curtis will be joined by a supporting cast including Annalise Cowan, Ines Carvalho and Laura Hague.
The show is directed and choreographed by Oliver Scott with text devised in partnership with dramaturg Olivia Winteringham and the cast. Music is by Lucy Anne Sale, design by Patrick Connellan and Abby Clarke and lighting is by Chris Munn and Rob Clews.
In City Final, the Belgrade Theatre’s nine youth and community groups will present a series of snapshots of local history, popping up throughout the building in an immersive journey through the decades.
The show will feature about 80 community performers who will be directed by group leaders Natalie Russo and Alice Williams (Arts Gym 50+), Naomi Wood (Canley Youth Theatre), Claire Procter (Middle Youth Theatre), Leon Phillips (Black Youth Theatre), Paul O’Donnell (Senior Youth Theatre) and Reena Jaisiah and Joshua Patel (Asian Youth Theatre). Support will come from Corey Campbell and Jonathan Grant, directors of the Belgrade springboard company Strictly Arts.
City Final will be produced by Hannah Barker and designed by Patrick Connellan and Abby Clarke, with digital design by Shanaz Gulzar and Andrew Cardinal. Writer is Jennifer Farmer and the dramaturg is Ola Animashawun. Sound design is by Arun Ghosh and Laura Wardle, and lighting is by Chris Munn and Rob Clews.
Read All About It! runs in the former Coventry Telegraph building from Tuesday 10 until Saturday 14 July.