Stockton’s ARC has announced its spring programme of theatre and dance, beginning on 26 January with Butterfly by Vici Wreford Sinnott, a disabled artist and theatre director from Saltburn who wrote the play to challenge the stigma that surrounds mental health. In it Beatrice (played by Jacqueline Phillips), an unlikely heroine in a story of not-so-everyday survival, sits in isolation, waiting for the outcome of a forced mental health assessment.
All shows start at 7PM unless otherwise indicated.
-
28 January (11:30AM and 2:30PM)
The Colour of Me
Wriggle Dance Theatre
Exploring the rainbow of emotions that lives inside each and every one of us. What colour are you today? But do watch out for red, who is sometimes very cross...
For ages 3 – 7
-
1 February
Putting the Band Back Together
Unfolding Theatre
Part gig, part storytelling. Ross Millard (The Futureheads), Maria Crocker and Alex Elliott reveal the epic emotions within people’s relationships with music.
-
8 Feb
Two Man Show
RashDash
John and Dan keep hearing people say that men have all the power, but it doesn’t feel like that to them. Abbi and Helen are making a show about Man and men. A show in which two women play two women playing two men.
-
17 & 18 February (11:20AM and 2:30PM)
The Musicians of Bremen
Compagnie Animotion
This adaptation, for 3 to 7 years, tells the tale of four animals put to pasture: a donkey, a cat, a cockerel and a dog. Too old to be of any use to their masters, this tumbling, musical adventure explores these extraordinary friendships, and shows that despite our differences, we can be friends, and that we are never too old to live our dreams.
-
28 February (7PM) and 1 March (10:30AM)
Partus
Third Angel & Sheffield Theatres
Partus delves into the myths, the statistics and the politics of birth, telling real stories of real people.
-
4 March
Canapé Art
Levantes Dance Theatre
The company will be popping up in Stockton town centre to perform their free walkabout show to passers-by. A unique pop-up explores everyday life with some peculiar twists.
-
9 March
The Enormous Room
Stopgap Dance Company
Dave's wife Jackie is gone, but he still sees her everywhere: lying in his bed, sitting at the kitchen table, laughing with their daughter Sam. Dave is not going anywhere and has withdrawn into the living room. He has built the walls up high and is refusing to let the future in. But going is all that Sam can think about.
-
11 March (11:30AM & 2:30PM)
The Owl and the Pussycat
Kitchen Zoo in partnership with ARC and The Witham
The Owl and the Pussycat live in a dull and dusty world, so imagine how shocked and surprised they are when a stupendous storm sweeps them out of the window, SPLASH! On to an unexpected sea voyage to a curious land.
But who will they meet? Which way should they go? And, what is a runcible spoon?
For ages 3 - 7.
-
15 March
The Best of Both Worlds: A Busker's Opera
Alison Matthews and Leo Burtin
Matthews & Burtin are escapees. She from the cutthroat, self-made, individualist American dream. He from lukewarm, protectionist France. By air and by sea, and both to the Best of Both Worlds: the UK. Meeting in the middle, they make a song and dance of their financial woes.
-
18 March
Heaven Eyes
By David Almond, presented by Théâtre sans Frontières
Three youngsters run away from their children’s home and sail down the River Tyne on a makeshift raft. Stuck on the mudflats, they meet a strange girl who lives with an old man, Grampa. The girl has a secret only Grampa knows… and he’s not telling.
-
23 March (1:30PM & 7PM)
Out of the Shadows
A show from disabled led Full Circle theatre about what's behind the shadows, dreams and escapism using real life stories.
-
25 March (11:30AM & 2:30PM)
Dough!
Creative Scene
Jess is in a mess, a very doughy mess. Unable to resolve the chaos in her kitchen she has to make a journey to an unfamiliar place to get help. Everything tastes, smells, looks and feels different there. A story of how beautiful and delicious things can be when we are all open to mixing what we know with what we don’t.
For age 3+
-
29 March
The Band
Levantes Dance Theatre
Sandy and Bruno met in the seventies and formed a band: she was fame hungry, he was doomed to follow her. But, like so many one-hit wonders, through time they’ve been cruelly forgotten; washed up on the scrap heap. Now, they are opening the skeleton cupboard, dusting off old costumes and preparing for one final gig.
-
8 April (11:30AM & 2:30PM)
The Party
Nearly There Yet
A man excitedly waits for the guests to arrive at his party. The cake is made, the presents have arrived, and the music is playing—all he needs are his friends to make this the best birthday ever. Enter some unexpected guests: a French cyclist, a man dressed as a giant chicken and a mysterious stranger who has apparently never had a birthday.
Ages 3+
-
12 April
Quarter Life Crisis
Yolanda Mercy
An upbeat take on the millennial phenomenon of big dreams, no cash, going viral, Youtube tutorials, having numerous zero hour contracts, surrendering the 16- to 25-year-old railcard, trying desperately to cheat adulthood and more.
-
27 & 28 April
Trade
Zen Gun
Inspired by a visit to the International Slavery Museum, an unashamedly heart-on-its-sleeve piece of experimental storytelling, presenting a challenging but compassionate portrait of how we respond to the heartbreak and hope that surrounds us every day.