Bristol Old Vic launches new season in refurbished theatre

Published: 3 September 2012
Reporter: David Chadderton

Bristol Old Vic auditorium Credit: Philip Vile
Peter Pan
Wild Oats
Does My Society Look Big In This?
Hey Diddle Diddle

Bristol Old Vic, the oldest working playhouse in the country, reopens this week with its autumn season after an 18-month refurbishment programme.

Artistic director Tom Morris has maintained a full programme of work during the refurbishments with productions in the Studio, in venues around Bristol and even outside the theatre on King Street, including record-breaking productions of Treasure Island and Swallows and Amazons. It has also collaborated with other local arts organisations on productions such as Coram Boy, which was performed last Christmas at Colston Hall.

The theatre will reopen on 4 September with a production of the eighteenth century comedy Wild Oats by John O'Keefe, which will be directed by Mark Rosenblatt and run until 20 October. The cast of this play will also devise a satirical polemic Does My Society Look Big In This? with writer Stephen Brown and director Tom Morris, which will run on various dates from 10 to 19 October.

Bristol Jam is a week of impromptu theatre from various artists running from 5 to 11 November, and then Sally Cookson will direct a production of Peter Pan by J M Barrie devised by the company, running from 26 November to 19 January.

In the Studio, BOV will co-produce with Sherman Cymru Katherine Chandler's new play Before It Rains, a tale of parenthood, protection and provocation set on a backwoods Cardiff estate, which will be directed by Róisín McBrinn and run from 10 to 22 September.

Also in the Studio, the Christmas production for younger theatregoers—aged 3 to 6 years—will be Hey Diddle Diddle directed by Miranda Cromwell, running from 28 November to 5 January.

Visiting productions to the theatre include Cheek by Jowl with 'Tis A Pity She's A Whore from 24 October to 3 November, Iron Shoes with Mad About the Boy from 27 to 29 September, Fuel with Ring from 16 to 20 October, You're Not Like Other Girls Chrissy from 23 to 27 October and Chris Goode and Company with God/Head from 1 to 3 November.

The reopened theatre also has a list of new associate artists and companies that it will be collaborating with. The artists are directors Sally Cookson, Melly Still and Simon Godwin, writers Helen Edmundson and Adam Peck, lighting designer Bruno Poet, designer Vicky Mortimer, sound designer Chris Shutt and actors Tristan Sturrock and Akiya Henry. The associate companies are Champloo, Firebird, Kneehigh, Handspring and MAYK.

Artistic director Tom Morris said of the refurbished theatre, "This exquisite auditorium has been lovingly restored according the brilliant geometry of its original design, placing the actor at the centre of an intimate storytelling space, which is a unique architectural survivor from an age when theatre was charismatic, subversive and dangerously live.

"But the restoration looks forward as much as it looks back, equipping the new theatre for the vivid imaginations of 21st century theatre-makers, aiming to create an environment in which new theatrical languages can evolve."

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