Heart Of Darkness, War Of The Worlds
Heart Of Darkness – tour starts 24 November
Joseph Conrad's influential novel Heart Of Darkness is retold by imitating the dog in an adaptation by company founder members Pete Brooks and Andrew Quick, who also direct.
Negotiating race, gender and the themes of exploitation, violence and nationalism, Conrad’s narrator Charles Marlow travelling to the Congo Free State becomes the journey of a black woman through war-torn Europe to explore the destructive lust for power.
This UK stage première fuses live performance and digital technology; the projection and video designs are by company founder member Simon Wainwright. Jeremy Peyton-Jones is the composer.
A co-production with Cast Doncaster and Italy's Marche Teatro, the tour opens in Ancona and then visits Aberystwyth Arts Centre and Birmingham Repertory Theatre, continuing in March to Doncaster, Glasgow, Lancaster, Keswick, Newcastle, York, Ipswich, Salford, Liverpool and Coventry.
The War Of The Worlds Alive on Stage – tour starts 30 November
Marking 40 years since the release of iconic album The War of the Worlds, the Alive on Stage show returns to tour arenas.
Jason Donovan returns to play Parson Nathaniel as does Carrie Hope Fletcher to play his wife, Adam Garcia plays The Artilleryman and British singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner will perform The Sung Thoughts of The Journalist, Inglorious frontman Nathan James will play The Voice of Humanity, with Anna-Marie Wayne reprising her role as Carrie, The Journalist’s Fiancée.
The album / show is based on H G Wells’s novel The War of The Worlds. The show is staged around a huge arched bridge running through the centre of the arena for an immersive experience, with a 35-foot-tall, flame-firing Martian Fighting Machine.
Written by Jeff Wayne, the hit double album spent over 330 weeks in the UK album charts, had two hit singles "Forever Autumn" and "The Eve of The War" and won two Ivor Novello Awards.
Wayne conducts the 9-piece Black Smoke Band and 36-piece ULLAdubULLA strings.
The War of the Worlds Alive on Stage visits Glasgow Sse Hydro Arena, Newcastle Metro Radio Arena, Manchester Arena, Leeds First Direct Arena, Liverpool Echo Arena, Nottingham Motorpoint Arena, Birmingham Genting Arena, Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, Bournemouth Bic Windsor Hall, London The O2 and Brighton Centre.
Check web sites for information regarding post–show Q&As, captioned, signed and relaxed performances, and age suitability. At the time of going to press, some dates may not yet be on sale.