Playwright Mark Ravenhill is curating a diverse programme of events at Birmingham REP themed around the plays of Bertolt Brecht.
Epic Encounters is a “feast of inspiring theatre, stimulating debate and hands-on activities for all ages”. It is taking place until April.
The eight-week programme will bring together “some of country’s best thinkers, performers, scientists and writers for a season of discoveries, performances, provocative debates, cabaret, films and family fun”.
Families will be able to explore the universe with Space Encounters and submit a five-word protest for how they would change the world in Have Your Say!.
Audiences can delve into Brecht’s world and travel back to 1950s Berlin with a Kurt Weill cabaret evening O Moon of Alabama.
They can also join in debates about poverty, wealth distribution and politics with special guests John Bird, founder of the Big Issue, and leading academics Dr David Barnett and Dr Tom Kuhn.
Central to the programme will be big ideas and epic stories by German poet and writer Bertolt Brecht, with The REP’s main stage featuring Roxana Silbert’s production of A Life of Galileo featuring Ian McDiarmid, an anarchic new staging of The Threepenny Opera and a large-scale community production of The Mother.
The REP’s artistic director Roxana Silbert says, “Brecht’s belief that drama should present moral ideas through action is increasingly relevant today.
“With debates about big society, money and power continually dominating the headlines, these themes resonate throughout Epic Encounters.
“We’re thrilled to have Mark Ravenhill on board as curator and we hope that over the eight weeks audiences will come together to explore and join in.”
Mark Ravenhill adds, “Brecht’s theatre is a rich mix of big ideas, epic stories and earthly humour. His plays changed theatre across the world and continue to provoke and delight.
“I’m looking forward to tucking in to The REP’s big buffet of Brecht delights.”
Epic Encounters takes place from Saturday (22 February) until 12 April. For full details go to the Birmingham REP web site.