The New Wolsey Theatre opens its new season later this month with four dramas and four musicals as well as a variety of other events.
Betty Blue Eyes, the musical comedy set in the post-war era of Austerity Britain, visits in April, appropriately preceded by Matthew Bugg’s wartime romance Miss Nightingale, which starts a new tour. This show, which features original songs from the period enjoyed a successful first tour last spring.
The venue’s Artistic Director, Peter Rowe, co-directs The Threepenny Opera “re-invent[ing] this musical for our times” with the team behind Reasons to be Cheerful, Graeae. He says of it “I wanted to do a version of The Threepenny Opera where we create a company of contemporary “beggars” to tell the tale from their perspective - a parable about the corruption of the world, told by those excluded from it.”
And ringing the changes with live rock and roll music is Tom, the story of superstar Tom Jones presented by Theatr na nOg. Live music also features in Romany Theatre Company’s Our Big Land, a provocatively atmospheric piece dealing with the culture clash of Romany and non-Romany communities.
Touring drama also includes English Touring Theatre’s production of Friel’s Translations and Talawa Theatre Company open their UK tour of Errol John’s Moon On A Rainbow Shawl at the venue in February.
For those who prefer a chill up their spine, Jack Shepherd stars in double bill Classic Ghosts, stage adaptations of The Signalman by Charles Dickens and Oh Whistle and I’ll Come To You My Lad by M R James, whilst on a more tragic note Fingersmiths and Birmingham Repertory Theatre co-production of modern classic Frozen also visits in February. This play by Bryony Lavery about the disappearance of a 10-year-old will be performed by four deaf actors and two hearing actors in a visual and physical style in BSL and spoken English.
For younger audiences, the programme includes When I Grow Up for schoolchildren in years 5 and 6, which will also tour schools. Refugee Boy, featuring the work of poets Benjamin Zephaniah and Lemn Sissay, Norwich Puppet Theatre’s The Frog & The Princess, Scamp Theatre’s Pirate Gran and Stuff and Nonsense’s Little Red Hen are just some of the other shows for families.
New Wolsey supports emerging talent through various initiatives including New Wolsey Young Company (which has worked with award-winning visual theatre company Gecko to present Bernard Pomerance’s The Elephant Man) and the venue’s annual PULSE Fringe Festival.
As previously, the PULSE 2014 programme is a part-curated, part-open-application, and over ten days provides a platform for work across a range of art forms.
PULSE initiatives include The Suitcase Prize aimed at encouraging theatre makers to produce a new work in an environmentally and economically sustainable way; the Prize awards £1,000 to the creators of a show that can be moved by public transport in luggage carried by the people taking part in the piece.
For further information about the programme, for details of the audio described, BSL interpreted and captioned performances and booking visit the New Wolsey web site.
For information about the PULSE Festival 2014 visit the PULSE website www.pulsefringe.com
The HighTide Festival has also revealed its 2014 programme.
At its core there are four productions
- Peddling written and performed by Harry Melling.
This play is directed by Steven Atkinson and following its run at HighTide Festival it will transfer to New York’s 59E59 for a 4 week run. - The world première of Incognito by Nick Payne.
This play is a HighTide / nabokov / Live Theatre Newcastle co-production in association with the North Wall, directed by nabokov Artistic Director Joe Murphy. The show will transfer to Live Theatre Newcastle and the North Wall Oxford. - The Girl’s Guide To Saving The World by Elinor Cook.
Cook won the George Devine Award 2013 for Most Promising Playwright, and this play marks her professional debut. - The European première of The Big Meal by Dan LeFranc.
The Big Meal was first seen at Playwrights Horizons off-Broadway where it picked up numerous award nominations including for Outstanding Play. This is a HighTide / Theatre Royal Bath Productions co-production which opens at the Ustinov Studio and then comes to HighTide. It is Michael Boyd’s first production since leaving the RSC.
Other works in the programme include Every Breath by Benedict Andrews, China Plate’s Confirmation written and performed by Chris Thorpe and I’m Not Here Right Now by Thomas Eccleshare.
Amongst the work from visiting artists is an epic 29-part monologue cycle recorded live at the Public Theater in New York and presented as a play for headsets, All The Faces Of The Moon, and from nearer home Eastern Angles’s Palm, Wine And Stout, written by Segun Lee-French.
The HighTide Festival also has a programme of music and comedy, play readings, a Writers’ Academy, and an initiative with the Royal & Derngate to commission a play which examines life outside of major cities.
Those judging the Award will be Steven Atkinson, James Dacre, Sudha Bhuchar (Tamasha), Alecky Blythe (playwright), Sebastian Born (National Theatre), Madani Younis (Bush Theatre), Timberlake Wertenbaker (playwright) and Amanda Whittington (playwright).
The HighTide Festival 2014 runs from 10 to 19 April. For further information and booking visit the HighTide web site.