Autumn and Christmas Programme Announced at Tobacco Factory Theatres, Bristol

Tobacco Factory Theatres has announced many of its new season of inspiring and entertaining shows from September, including the biggie.....Christmas at Tobacco Factory Theatres! Follow the yellow brick road this Christmas with OZ - a brand new in-house production, created and co-produced with award-winning Bristol-based company Pins and Needles.

The newly announced programme is on sale now with even more to come before the end of August.

Tickets on general sale from Fri 20 August:

Joining the line-up this season along with the brand new Christmas production are local legends Living Spit, with their latest creation - the horrifically hilarious Frankenstein: The Musical. Summer sell-out show DESTINY, written and performed by Bristol-based artist Florence Espeut-Nickless, is back in September. Also in September is The Interrogation from Access All Areas - a self-guided walk through the streets of Bristol, gentle giant of a production An Elephant in the Garden from Poonamallee Productions, and a return for James Rowland with his brand new show Learning to Fly.

Add to that a whole host of new Artist Masterclasses and a Get Involved programme bursting with the spirit of adventure and audiences will see that the magic of theatre is well and truly back in Southville this autumn!

And there's more to come! Shows available soon will include:

Roughhouse Theatre with Unknown, a new play about homelessness; I Stand For What I Stand On from Strike a Light, made with a group of young climate activists from Gloucester; Circus City show (le) Pain and Red Ladder's My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored - a new show interrogating racial identity and systemic power. Plus, for younger audiences at half term, Tessa Bide Productions bring The Selfish Giant, based on Oscar Wilde's children's story of the same name and Roustabout Theatre present This Island's Mine, a re-imagining of Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Keeping audiences safe this autumn and winter at Tobacco Factory Theatres:
For now, all Factory Theatre performances on sale from August 2021 are being sold with social distancing in place, with distance between groups in the auditorium and a range of measures to enable a safe journey through the building. Capacity may increase once it's safe to do so, however at least one socially distanced performance per week will be guaranteed for all shows with a run of at least five performances. These performances are labelled Guaranteed Socially Distanced, and dates for them can be found on individual show webpages. Read more about the Covid safety measures at Tobacco Factory Theatres this autumn.

Christmas at Tobacco Factory Theatres

There is only ever one place to be at Christmas, and this year Tobacco Factory Theatres is excited to be presenting OZ - its brand new production with Pins and Needles, based on the original The Wizard of Oz books by L. Frank Baum. With imaginative storytelling, original live music and humour for all the family, OZ will transport audiences to lands both wicked and wonderful. OZ runs from Fri 10 December 2021 - Sun 09 January 2022.

Tobacco Factory Theatres is taking a major risk by investing in a brand new production this Christmas, given the uncertain and challenging times for theatres. The risk is worth it, meaning the theatre can offer employment to more than 20 Bristol-based actors and artists, many of whose livelihoods were devastated by Covid-19, whilst offering audiences an unforgettable Christmas experience once again. In order to keep everyone safe, bookings for OZ start with a significantly reduced audience capacity and lower prices are on offer for those who need them. So Tobacco Factory Theatres is asking those who are able to 'Give the Gift' this Christmas. By paying a small supplement on tickets, audience can support offering a lower price to someone who can't afford a standard price at the moment. Everyone has experienced different challenges over the last two years, and through the Give the Gift ticket option, audiences can ensure that Christmas - and theatre - can be shared by all.

Autumn Shows

On Tue 07 & Wed 08 September, Florence Espeut-Nickless' DESTINY, whose development was supported by Tobacco Factory Theatres, returns by popular demand. This monologue follows the story of a teenage girl growing up on a rural Wiltshire council estate. After a big night out takes a turn for the worse, Destiny's life spirals out of control as she desperately tries to learn how to love and be loved.

Using new mobile app technology, The Interrogation from Access All Areas will take participants on a GPS-guided walk through the streets of Bristol to discover the story of a shocking local crime. Running from Tue 21 - Sun 26 September, this new interactive audio production lets audiences question the causes of criminality, the ableism of language, and the feeling of being judged as a learning disabled person.

Rescheduled from earlier in the summer, Out of Chaos bring their own fast, furious and fantastically funny style to a two-hander A Midsummer Night's Dream on Tue 21 - Thu 23 September. Music, magic and laughter guaranteed.

From multi award-winning writer Michael Morpurgo and the creators of Private Peaceful, Poonamallee Productions' An Elephant in the Garden returns to the stage in Bristol on Fri 24 & Sat 25 September. This deeply imaginative, gentle giant of a production transports us to the end of the Second World War, celebrating love in the face of hate.

James Rowland returns to Tobacco Factory Theatres on Tue 28 & Wed 29 September with his hilarious, uplifting and big hearted new show, featuring his captivating mix of storytelling, comedy and music. Learning to Fly sees James tell the story of a remarkable friendship he made when he was a lonely, unhappy teenager with the scary old lady who lived in the spooky house on his street and her last wish: to get high once before she dies.

Howard and Stu are back for Living Spit's unique take on Mary Shelley's gruesome gothic horror, Frankenstein on Tue 02 - Sat 13 November. Living Spit's Frankenstein: The Musical has original music, preposterous puppets, grotesque gags and diabolically desperate dance-moves. This rib-ticklingly raucous monster of a show will leave you in stitches.

Opportunities for Artists

At the start of 2021, Tobacco Factory Theatres renewed its aim to support local artists in new and varied ways and started a Masterclasses Programme, designed for South West-based professional artists and led by a range of inspiring practitioners. The programme continues apace this autumn with new masterclasses on offer from renowned artists including: Jay Zorenti-Nakhid & Sameena Hussain; Luke Barnes; Out of Chaos' Paul O'Mahony; Philip Morris; and Chris Sonnex.

Get Involved Programme

For young people aged between 7 and 19, Young Theatre Makers sessions return this autumn, occupying a new Sunday slot and running for a 12-week term between Sun 12 September and Sun 05 December. For adults, the Factory Singers community choir will be back rehearsing in person in the Factory Theatre from September and Acting Lab, acting classes for adults launched over the summer, returns for a new term from Wed 15 September - this time with two groups due to popular demand!

Artist Masterclasses and Get Involved activities in the autumn programme continue to be offered on a Pay What You Choose basis. This allows Tobacco Factory Theatres to keep prices as low as possible but welcomes contributions from those who can spend a little more to support the theatre and the incredible artists involved.

For full details of the Autumn/Christmas programme announced so far at Tobacco Factory Theatres, visit tobaccofactorytheatres.com/project/the-magic-of-theatre-is-back/

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