Barbican Theatre Plymouth Reveals Autumn Season Programme of Theatre, Comedy, and Music

The Barbican Theatre Plymouth has announced its Autumn programme of theatre, comedy, music and the world premiere of the theatre's Christmas show The Plymuff Players Present: Ciderella with local comedians Suzy Bennett, Edward Trip and actor Sam Crawley. Collaboration is at the heart of this season; with two new lunchtime plays as part of ‘Play, Pasty, Pint', an open call for writers to submit their own plays for performance and activity around shows, including workshops and talks. 

 

The theatre will be launching a new resident playwriting scheme, where playwrights will be invited to the theatre to write, share work and have Q&As with writers including Plymouth writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz, author of Her Naked Skin, the first original play written by a living female playwright to be performed on the Olivier stage of The National Theatre. There will also be workshops and opportunities for people to submit five-minute plays that will be performed ahead of professional productions, where audiences will see a script-in-hand reading of a short new play. The theatre will also be opening a play text library in the foyer.

 

The theatre's ReBels programme for ages 12 - 25 will be back from September giving young people the chance to explore music, production, performance and movement. There will also be brand new Short Courses for anyone over the age of 16, ranging from acting to movement to writing to sculpting to clowning and comedy. The theatre will launch the second year of ReBels Young Company, looking for four emerging artists aged between 18 - 25 to work alongside industry professionals to create their own piece of work that the theatre will produce to tour in 2025. And the highly popular adult's acting and performance courses will also recommence.

 

In September, programmed to coincide with the RNLI's bicentenary, With Courage by Jon Hare is a feel-good folk musical celebrating the history and sacrifice of our coastal communities. Fresh from a celebrated run at New Diorama Theatre, The Long Run is a tender, emotionally rich - and frequently hilarious - story about human connection, cancer diagnosis, and long-distance running. Theatre company ‘Hagseed' will present Chickpeas, a story about how queer women fall in love. Orphan Planet by Plymouth writer Danny Laine is an autobiographical piece combining family history with space exploration to try to understand how we live with grief. 

 

October sees the return of ‘Play, Pasty, Pint', as the Barbican Theatre collaborates with Moveable Type Theatre Company to present Black Pill and Paternity by Marika Mckennell, an exploration of the seductive power of incel culture and a possible way out. Hole by Holly Spiller was the British Comedy Guide Best Reviewed Shows at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023. After a diagnosis of vaginismus (a condition preventing penetrative sex) Hole showcases the determination of one woman to achieve the basic, beige sex life of her dreams. To accompany this will be a Q&A and creative writing workshop: Writing the Body, from award-winning writer Fran Bushe. Danny Mellor's play Undermine is inspired by accounts of miners who lived through the 1984 Miners' Strike to mark the 40th anniversary of the strike. Plymouth-based theatre company Pilot's Thumb presents Our Secret's Safe by Beth Scott Hewlett; set in a village hall where a therapeutic group meets, reflecting the strains of modern society.

 

In November Olivier Award-winners Papatango present a funny, thrilling adaptation of Robert Westall's classic ghost story The Watch House. Play, Pasty, Pint will return with an invitation for writers to submit plays between 15 and 20 minutes on the theme We Only Want To Get Drunk, responding to the 2005 Licensing Act, enabling 24-hour drinking for the first time in the UK. Scratchworks will be back with their play Womans (like Romans but will a ‘W') a theatre show celebrating one of history's untold tales with physical theatre, live music & comedy. Beyond Face present About Sitting in the Grey, written by Alix Harris, requested by young people in Plymouth, a story about the disconnect between adults and young people. 

 

Peggy Ramsay Award winning Bright Places by Rae Mainwaring is an honest, funny and autobiographical story about growing up in the shadow of chronic illness. After a hugely successful run at 2023's Edinburgh Fringe, Maybe You Like It are bringing Pleading Stupidity to theatre. Anna Keirle and Suzy Bennett are ‘The Westcountry Pincer Movement!' Where the Comedy Queen of Cornwall and the 'Janner Diana' put the jam/cream debate aside for a night of jokes, jingles and jiggly bits in their hilarious debut double-act show. To end the month Plymouth's favourite comedy walking tour is going indoors! Join three multi-award-winning comedians for an evening of stand-up and silliness as they explore the lighter side of life in Britain's Ocean City. 

December will see the final instalment of Play, Pasty, Pint with The Last Broadcast, 
a magical Christmas show by James Harker about two world famous (but strangely unknown) sound artists who return to Devon to share their most personal work: uncovering a mystery from their own past. A forgotten love story played out in the hills of rural South Devon one Christmas long ago, performed with live foley. The year will culminate in the world premiere of The Plymuff Players Present: Ciderella. A local theatre company decide to put on Cinderella, but in their haste one of the team misses out the ‘n' on the marketing materials and they're forced to make the best of things. An old barmaid, Ciderella is unhappy because every night she has to watch the Ugly Misters get off their faces. Ciderella is desperate to attend Lord Larry Speare's Christmas Carpet Celebration to let her hair down, but will she make it? Featuring the highly skilled performance group the Plymuff Players, promising to be a magical night of theatre that you will never forget, however much you try. With local comedians Suzy Bennett, Edward Tripp and actor and writer Sam Crawley. 

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