Newcastle fringe theatre Alphabetti has announced its season from February to the end of April. Already announced are the season launch and accompanying How to take over the world party on 2 February and Write Faster on the following evening. As well as a range of music and stand-up comedy, there’s a range of theatre:
(All shows at 7:30 unless otherwise shown)
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6 February
We Have Something to Say
Twisting Ducks and Gateshead PeopleAn evening of poetry and spoken word from people with learning disabilities and autism who share their perspective on life in a way not often heard.
The Twisting Ducks Theatre Company was developed by a group of adults with learning disabilities who shared a passion for performing and a desire to create original work that was representative of their lives and the issues most important to them.
Gateshead People is a self-advocacy group run by people with learning disabilities, for people with learning disabilities, standing up for their rights and the rights of all people with learning disabilities.
(Pay what you feel)
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14 February @ 7:30 and 15 – 16 @ 9:30
So Many Reasons
By Racheal Ofori
Presented by Fuel and Camden People’s TheatreMy Mum said to me, “if you ever have children, don’t have girls. They give you too much of a headache.”
A story about the unique influence our mothers have on how we understand the world, from the perspective of a first generation British Ghanaian woman.
(Pay what you feel)
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15 – 16 February
Bankers
By Ben Dickenson, Stuart Henderson, Jo McCullock & Kim Spence
Presented by Write on TapA night of new writing that examines the increasing use of food banks and the banking crisis of 2008, allowing us to meet an unapologetic banker looking to expand his “social portfolio”, a couple caught in the crossfire when Northern Rock crumbles and two families who experience the food bank first hand.
(Pay what you feel)
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20 February @ 8:00
Let Us Make It up to You - February
Presented by Open Heart TheatreImprovised comedy from the North East and beyond. Each month three different acts will bring their own spin on impro. Everything from Whose line is it anyway?-style games to improvised plays. Each show will be a one-off, never to be seen again.
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21 – 23 February
The Cult of DaveMagician Dave Alnwick brings his hit Magic Show The Cult of Dave back to his home city and has just one hour to convince you to join his cult. Can he do it?
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24 February @ 5:30
In Company of JoanA screening presented by Bruvvers Theatre Company & The Littlewood Trilogy.
(Pay what you feel)
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24 February
4 1 Night Only
The Suggestibles School of ImprovImprovised dramedy. Spontaneous stories, curious explorations into the human condition, stupid explanations into the unknown, misguided examinations you can't un-see.
The Suggestibles' Ian McLaughlin and Bev Fox together with a new ensemble—4 1 night only—take inspiration from you and yours to "boldly go where no one has gone before" and promise to never go again.
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27 February – 2 March
The Privileged
Written & performed by Jamal HarewoodHave you ever seen a polar bear in the flesh? Been close enough to notice just how white these magnificent mammals are? Here is your chance to get up close and personal—remove your shoes, coats and bags, as you are about to encounter the Arctic’s whitest predator, with black skin.
An audience-led participatory performance that uses the excitement of a polar bear encounter to explore race, identity and the community.
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3 March @ 6:30
Busy
A work-in-progress from The Six TwentyA darkly comic look at our endless battle to do more. Busy explores the busyness epidemic that’s overwhelming many of us.
Performed in Alphabetti’s rehearsal space.
(Pay what you feel)
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3 March @8:00 (until 1:00)
Studio SPECULO
By SPECULO EntertainmentAn immersive evening full of glitter, mirror balls, cocktails, music and mayhem, topped with internationally acclaimed circus acts.
(Age 18+)
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13 March
Write Something ShowcaseUp to 15 new plays in an evening of rehearsed readings from plays developed over The Write Something Workshops for the previous six weeks.
(Pay what you feel)
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14 – 15 March
Clonely
Me Me Me TheatreA nonsense existential sci-fi party, a blend of theatre, comedy and sci-fi with DIY props. Expect tin foil, awkward docking scenes and a scorpion from the abyss. A lo-fi opus that’s as ambitious in scope as it is low in budget, the narrative follows two unnamed identical clones who have awoken a spaceship-full of others (the audience).
Occasionally poignant, often dark but mainly silly, Clonely is a mixture of theatre, sketch comedy and audience interaction that blends into a surreal and anarchic hour.
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29 March @ 8:00
Let Us Make It up to You – March
Open Heart Theatre -
31 March
Alphabetti SoupFeaturing music from Aeyther, poetry and new theatre.
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3 – 7 April @ 6:30
Keeping TimeA dramatic reading of a new book written by Ali Pritchard. Brought to life by the award winning creative team of Walter and Bacon Knees and Sausage Fingers.
Eight-year-old Albert is a good boy, mischievous yes, but a good boy all the same. Albert was happy living out on his family’s farm with his father, until one day after a terrible accident his happy life is unceremoniously torn away from him and he is thrust into the care of the state—under the supervision of Aloysius Mastofali—and something is not quite right…
For ages 8+
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6 April @ 8:00
Let Us Make It up to You – March
Open Heart Theatre -
10 – 13 April
Hopeless
By Leyla Josephine
Presented by CaroleW ProductionsThe show takes audiences on a journey through the apathetic attitudes of millennials! Through quick-fire poetry and dark comedy, Leyla asks whether we can really make a difference or, if in fact, everything is broken beyond repair. Realising the news brings nothing but despair, causing her to feel hopeless, she stays in bed all day, eating full Vienettas and asking, “what is the point of starting the day when things are so bleak?”
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10 – 13 April @ 9:00
Tiger
By Teuchter CompanyInteractive spoken word theatre, inspired by computer games, David Lynch movies and Highland folk tales. Stories, poems and songs combine to create a dream-like journey into the memories of a young woman. The show stars Gaulier-trained performer / actress Isabel Stott as Kathy Pearce.
Characters from Kathy’s past swirl around her as she walks through the forest, trying to make sense of her life. Tales from her past come out of the woodwork: tales of insensitive uncles, useless support workers, drugged-up nights out, tiger-hunters. They appear briefly, then vanish, as she returns to the woods, alone.
No two performances are the same, as the show relies on its audiences to guide Kathy’s journey through the forest and into her past.
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17 – 20 April
This Restless State
By Danielle Pearson
Presented by Fuel Theatre
Performed by Jesse FoxEast Berlin, 1989. Alone at the kitchen table, the radio on, Margot learns the wall has fallen and with it the only world she has ever known. Rome, 2052. In the wake of a devastating refugee crisis and The Continental War, Galina waits in line, ready to cast her vote in the first Europe-wide referendum. London, 2017. Jesse’s train pulls out from the platform, bearing him towards the home and childhood bedroom he knows he’s about to see for the last time.
(Pay what you feel)
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28 April
Alphabetti SoupDetails TBA.