Tylwyth, Importance of Being... Earnest?, Harpy, Pepper and Honey
Tylwyth – tour starts 10 March
Tylwyth will have its world première when it opens at Sherman Theatre Cardiff prior to the start of a Welsh tour.
A new play by Daf James, Tylwyth takes an irreverent look at love, family and friendship following a group of gay friends living in Cardiff ten years on from the award-winning Llwyth, a turning point for Welsh-language theatre.
This provocative commentary on contemporary Welsh life, sees the return of Simon Watts, Danny Grehan and Michael Humphreys to their original roles. They are joined by Martin Thomas, Aled Ap Stefan and Arwel Davies.
Tylwyth is directed by Arwel Gruffydd, artistic director of Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru and the director of Llwyth a decade ago when associate director at the Sherman Theatre. The assistant director is Elen Mair Thomas and the composer is Daf James.
It is performed in Welsh; at Sherman Theatre there will be English surtitles at all performances. Thereafter, Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru’s Sibrwd language access app will be available to audience members; the Sibrwd author is Chris Harris.
Tylwyth is a Sherman Theatre and Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru co-production.
Having opened at Sherman Theatre Cardiff, Tylwyth visits Galeri Caernarfon, Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Ffwrnes Llanelli, Hafren Newtown, Theatr Mwldan Cardigan, Pontio Bangor and Theatr Clwyd Mold.
The Importance of Being... Earnest? – tour starts 10 March
Interactive extravaganza, The Importance Of Being... Earnest? tours following previews at Pleasance, London.
Presented by Say It Again, Sorry?, a theatre company specialising in interactive and participatory theatre, audience members are recruited to tread the boards as actors disappear from the show.
This means every performance is difference with the whole audience participating in the finale, challenging their inner Lady Bracknell.
The cast is made up of Rhys Tees, Trynity Silk, Guido Garcia Lueches, Louise Goodfield, Ben Mann, Alex Phelps and Susan Hoffman.
The Importance of Being... Earnest? is written by Josh King and the company and directed by Simon Paris.
The short tour visits Omnibus Theatre London, The Warren as part of Brighton Fringe, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Harpy – tour starts 12 March
Su Pollard, known for television's Hi-De-Hi! and You Rang M’Lord?, tours as Birdie in solo show Harpy first seen at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018.
Originally commissioned for Pollard, Harpy is written by award-winning playwright Philip Meeks inspired by the retro cinematic sub-genre of Grand Dame Guignol—or ‘hag horror’.
Both funny and poignant, Harpy looks at one woman’s struggles with mental health and loneliness; an extreme hoarder, she collects what others regard as the junk, making sense of the world around her thanks to the possessions of a time past.
The director is Abigail Anderson and the producer is Suzanna Rosenthal for Something for the Weekend and Kings Theatre Portsmouth.
Harpy visits King’s Theatre Portsmouth, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, Brunton Theatre Musselburgh, Haymarket Anvil Arts Basingstoke, Theatre Royal Margate, Cornerstone Arts Centre Didcot, Castle Theatre Wellingborough, Pavilion Arts Centre Buxton, Theatr Hafren Newtown, Waterside Theatre Sale, Blackpool Grand Theatre, Gala Theatre Durham, Old Laundry Theatre Bowness-on-Windermere, Leicester Curve, Studio, The Horsham Capitol, Hull Truck Theatre Hull, The Hazlitt Theatre Maidstone, Borough Theatre Town Hall Abergavenny and Garrick Theatre Lichfield.
Pepper and Honey – tour starts 13 March
Solo show Pepper and Honey is again on tour, having first been seen last year at Derby Theatre, the Voila! Europe Festival in London and then on tour.
Written and performed by two Croatian women—writer Kristina Gavran and performer Tina Hofman—who both settled in the UK, it is a poignant and timely work looking at the journey of change, cultural differences, and trying not to feel like a foreigner.
Hofman plays Ana a young Croatian woman who has made the UK her adopted home. She is haunted by the voice of her grandmother urging her not to break the traditions she grew up with and to stay true to her national identity.
The director is Tilly Branson with movement director Jovana Backovic and the composer is Kitty Randle.
Pepper and Honey is presented by Notnow Collective. The tour takes in city and rural venues: Assembly Roxy Edinburgh, Brewhouse Arts Centre Burton on Trent, Wortwell Core Norfolk, Wyymondham Library Norfolk, Cadeleigh Parish Hall Cornwall, Milton Combe Village Hall Cornwall, Crackington Institute Cornwall, Square Chapel Halifax, Spring Arts Centre Havant, Hat Factory Luton and The Place Bedford.