Newcastle's Live Theatre has announced its January to June 2014 season.
Throughout the season—January, March and June—there will be readings of five screenplays which Lee Hall currently has in development, true stories of five characters including cricketer Harold Larwood, who became the world’s fastest bowler only to fall foul of the British Establishment during the Bodyline Test series; a screen adaptation of George Orwell’s first book which charts his emergence as a writer; the life of Elton John from birth to rehab—as told in an outrageous musical extravaganza; a screen adaptation of Edmund De Waal’s international best seller The Hare With Amber Eyes which chronicles the rise and fall of his extraordinary family; and the great French composer Messiaen who created one of the masterpieces of the twentieth century music in a German prisoner-of-war camp. This event will include a performance of Messiaen’s Quartet For The End of Time played by musicians from Royal Northern Sinfonia.
In April, there will be a new play by Nick Payne, the youngest ever winner of the Evening Standard Award for Best New Play. Directed by Joe Murphy (Blink), Incognito shares three interwoven stories exploring the nature of identity and how we are defined by what we remember. This play is a co-production between Live Theatre, nabokov and HighTide Festival Theatre in association with The North Wall.
Then in May, Alistair McDowall's one-man show Captain Amazing, starring Mark Weinman, returns to Live after a national tour.
Live will also be presenting a revival of Michael Chaplin's Tyne at the Customs House in South Shields and at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle.
In a new departure for the theatre there will be two film events during the season. On 17 February there will be a screening of Harrigan followed by a discussion between the star, Stephen Tompkinson, and director Vince Woods talking about the process of bringing the script to screen.
There will also be a screening of five short films by Fiona Evans, directed by Max Roberts. In 2012 Fiona delivered a series of workshops in Newcastle with people who have dementia to coincide with her play Geordie Sinatra. During this time Fiona worked with patients, their carers, friends and family, listening to their stories and personal experiences which were used as inspiration to create five short films. This free event will end with a discussion about the social, ethical and medical issues surrounding dementia with an expert panel including scientists based in the North East.
North east based playwrights John Challis, Lee Mattinson and Laura Lindow will be sharing three 40-minute dramas as they bring their Pint Size Plays to Live’s Studio Theatre presented by Queen’s Hall Arts. Apples and Snakes will also be returning to Live Theatre to present a pair of music and spoken word events with Beccy Owen and Hannah Silva on Friday 10 January and there will be an evening of stand-up poetry and a music fuelled tour around the body in Anthropoetry by BBC Radio 4 Slam Champion Ben Mellor on Thursday 8 May.
Visiting companies include nabakov and Soho Theatre with Blink by Phil Porter and How to Be Immortal, developed with The Lowry and West Yorkshire Playhouse, in association with Harrogate, The Albany and Jackson’s Lane.
There will also be a number of productions in the Studio, including another in the Write Stuff series in which professional actors give script-in-hand readings of plays by north east school children, this time from Red House Academy in Sunderland.
There will also be work from Live's Youth Theatre, including rehearsed readings of new plays currently in development by writers who have had their work recently performed on the main stage. Paddy Campbell’s (Wet House) new play Day of the Flymo asks what you do when the state decides it’s going to take over from your Mam and Lee Mattinson’s (Chalet Lines) new play Peter Pam introduces audiences to the world of four fifteen-year-olds who believe life is cruel with their faces are ninety per cent braces, bullies bigger than Bieber and a school scarier than Geordie Shore.