Northern Stage will be returning to the Edinburgh Fringe for the sixth time in 2017 and will be working with three new partners. This year the Newcastle venue will be linking up with three other major producing theatres in the North of England—Hull Truck Theatre, Manchester’s Royal Exchange and the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds—to bring some of the best new work from across the North to the Fringe.
All four theatres will be involved in the selection process, using their wealth of programming and producing experience to present work from a diverse range of both up-and-coming and more established theatre-makers.
Yet again Northern Stage will be based at Summerhall, close to the eastern edge of The Meadows.
“It is with great excitement that we return to Edinburgh this year,” said Lorne Campbell, Artictic Director of Northern Stage, “not just to deliver an amazing, diverse and passionate programme of vital new theatre from across the north of England, but to begin a new collaboration that will evolve, expand and enrich our Edinburgh project for years to come. Northern Stage is delighted to begin a partnership between major northern venues to support, present and empower the best of the flourishing independent theatre sector.”
Ric Watts, the Royal Exchange’s Senior Producer, added, “we are thrilled to join Northern Stage at Summerhall and become part of a new collaboration, championing bold voices from across our regions.”
Hull Truck’s Theatre Artistic Director Mark Babych agrees. “We are thrilled,” he said, “to be working with our partners across the North to showcase and celebrate the incredible range and diversity of voices that articulate the passion and concerns of artists responding to the world. It's vital, energetic and powerful work that further embeds the North as a place of thrilling creative adventures for our times.”
And West Yorkshire Playhouse New Work Producer Gilly Roche added, “we believe that the north of England is home to some of the most innovative, generous and provocative theatre makers in the world. We’re delighted to partner with such an illustrious group of theatres to deliver a programme that is diverse, excellent and, we hope, truly reflective of the outstanding quality of the work being made in Yorkshire, the North West and the North East.”
The Edinburgh Fringe, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, runs from 4 to 28 August 2017.