English Touring Theatre Announces MACBETH & More for 2023
Macbeth will open in September 2023 at Shakespeare North Playhouse ahead of a UK and international tour.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Feb. 09, 2023
ETT (English Touring Theatre) has announced their new production of Shakespeare's Macbeth, in a co-production with Northern Stage, Shakespeare North Playhouse and Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, opening in September 2023 at Shakespeare North Playhouse ahead of a UK and international tour.
They also announce further details of their programming for 2023, which includes touring productions of The Good Person of Szechwan and I, Daniel Blake. In addition, they announce series two of their new writing podcast, F**ked Up Bedtime Stories, and they reveal more details for their previously announced monologue project, Mixed, which explores mixed-race perspectives and will be published later this year. Finally, ETT announce the third year of their flagship playwriting programme, Nationwide Voices, finding innovative new ways to integrate community and audience groups into the creation of plays for main stages, with three new partner theatres and companies.
Macbeth, directed by ETT's Artistic Director, Richard Twyman, speaks to a world we find ourselves living in now, asking why Macbeth has haunted our fears and nightmares for centuries and what lessons this cautionary tale is still trying to communicate to us. In ETT's first international tour since 2019, Macbeth will open at Shakespeare North Playhouse on 6 September 2023, with previews from 1 September, running until 23 September, before touring to Northern Stage, Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Dubai Opera House, Cambridge Arts Theatre and The Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe, with further tour dates to be announced.
Ahead of their upcoming production of Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan, ETT announce the full cast for the run. This 80th anniversary staging is translated by Nina Segal with direction by Sheffield Theatres' Associate Artistic Director Anthony Lau, and stars Nick Blakely, Melody Brown, Aiden Cheng, Jon Chew, Callum Coates, Togo Igawa, Camille Mallet de Chauny, Suni La, Louise Mai Newberry, Tim Samuels, Ami Tredrea and Leo Wan. The production opens at Sheffield Theatres on 16 March, with previews from 11 March, and runs until 1 April, before opening at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London on 20 April.
Following this, the previously announced production of I, Daniel Blake opens at Northern Stage in May, in a co-production between ETT, Birmingham Rep, Oldham Coliseum and tiny dragon Productions in association with Cardboard Citizens. Adapted by Dave Johns, best known for his breakthrough acting role as Daniel Blake in the 2016 film, this touching and vital story of how people come together in the face of adversity is brought to the stage for the first time. I, Daniel Blake opens at Northern Stage on 31 May, with previews from 25 May, and runs until 10 June, before transferring to Birmingham Rep.
Further programming for 2023 includes the continuation of ETT's new writing podcast F**ked Up Bedtime Stories (for Adults) with more details revealed for its second season. There will be seven new episodes from writers including Chris Bush, Ella Hickson and Simon Stephens, and performers on the podcast including Maxine Peake, Stephen Mangan and Tamara Lawrance. ETT's monologue project interrogating the characterisation of mixed-race identity in contemporary Britain, Mixed, continues with writers including Javaad Alipoor and Sabrina Mahfouz. Finally, ETT announces the third year of its flagship playwriting programme, Nationwide Voices, in collaboration with three new partner companies: Birmingham Rep, Manchester Royal Exchange and tiata fahodzi.
Richard Twyman, Artistic Director and CEO and Holly Gladwell, Executive Producer of ETT said, "It brings us great excitement to announce a new production of Macbeth from ETT this Autumn with our partners Northern Stage, Shakespeare North and Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg. Following the success of Othello, which toured extensively in the UK and internationally between 2017-19, we're looking forward to be bringing Shakespeare's iconic play of bloodshed, corruption, and a society uprising against tyranny to audiences internationally and across the UK.
We're delighted to be working with our co-producers and touring internationally for the first time since the pandemic, bringing this bold retelling to our ever-growing world audience. In our first partnership with Shakespeare North, we're looking forward to connecting with new audiences in their beautiful new space, continuing ETT's mission of touring world class contemporary work to local communities."
An ETT, Northern Stage, Shakespeare North Playhouse and Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg co-production
MACBETH
Age guidance: suitable for brave 12-year-olds
Director: Richard Twyman; Designer: Basia Bińkowska; Lighting Designer: Azusa Ono;
Sound Designer: Tingying Dong; Casting Director: Lotte Hines Fight Director: Kevin McCurdy
Shakespeare North Playhouse: 1 - 23 September 2023
Press night: 6 September at 7pm
Northern Stage: 28 September - 7 October 2023
Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg: 25 - 29 October 2023
Dubai Opera House: 2 - 5 November 2023
Cambridge Arts Theatre: 8 - 11 November 2023
The Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe: 14 - 18 November 2023
A struggling and divided nation, tearing itself apart. So, when the Macbeths see their chance at the crown, why shouldn't they take it?
But things don't go according to plan. Dreams quickly turn to nightmares, humanity erodes, nature stirs. As society strives to make sense of the darkness that sits inside it, how long will it take for people to fight back against the endless cycle of violence and corruption?
A visceral and contemporary new production that speaks to a world we find ourselves living in now, and asks what lesson is this cautionary tale still urgently trying to communicate to us
and why has Macbeth haunted our fears and nightmares for centuries?
Richard Twyman took up the role of Artistic Director of ETT in November 2016. He was previously Associate Director (International) at The Royal Court Theatre, where he worked with playwrights across the world to develop their plays. Prior to this, he spent five years at the RSC working on fourteen productions, including the hugely acclaimed Histories Cycle for which he directed Henry IV Pt II, which were honoured with three Olivier Awards, the Evening Standard Editor's Choice Award and named by The Guardian's Michael Billington as his production of the decade 2000-2010. Twyman has directed at The Royal Court Theatre, Bush Theatre, Old Vic Tunnels, Theatre Royal Bath and worked alongside Peter Hall on his 80th anniversary production of Twelfth Night at The National Theatre. For The Royal Court Theatre, Twyman has directed You for Me for You by Mia Chung, Torn by Nat Martello-White, Harrogate by Al Smith and The Djinns of Eidgah by Abhishek Majumdar. His other credits include Ditch by Beth Steel, which opened the Old Vic Tunnels; Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton at Theatre Cocoon, Tokyo/Osaka; Deliver Us by Anna Leader at Théâtres De La Ville Luxembourg; Give Me Your Hand (New York), nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Unique Theatrical Experience in 2012. For ETT, he has directed Martin Crimp's Dealing with Clair at the Orange Tree Theatre and the critically acclaimed production of Othello, which toured the UK and internationally from 2017-2019.
An ETT, Sheffield Theatres and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre production
An original commission by ETT
THE GOOD PERSON OF SZECHWAN
By Bertolt Brecht, in a new translation by Nina Segal
Cast: Nick Blakeley (Third God), Melody Brown (Mrs Mi Tzu/Old Woman), Aidan Cheng (Yang Sun), Jon Chew (Lin To/Shu Fu), Callum Coates (First God), Togo Igawa (Husband/Priest/Court Clerk), Camille Mallet de Chauny (Jobless Man/Policeman/Cousin), Louise Mai Newberry (Mrs Yang/Wife), Tim Samuels (Second God), Ami Tredrea (Shen Te/Shui Ta), Leo Wan (Wang) and Suni La (Mrs Shin)
Directed by Anthony Lau; Designed by Georgia Lowe; Lighting Design by Jessica Hung Han Yun; Casting by Jacob Sparrow; Composer: DJ Walde; Sound Designer: Alexandra Faye Braithwaite; Movement Director: Carrie-Anne Ingrouille; Casting Director: Jacob Sparrow;
Associate Lighting Director: Jason Ahn; Associate Movement Director: Tara Young;
Assistant Director: Lexine Lee
Sheffield Theatres: 11 March - 13 May 2023
Press night: 16 March at 7pm
Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London: 15 April to 13 May 2023
"What is the cost of being good?"
In the hustle and bustle of a modern-day metropolis, it's a dog-eat-dog world and Shen Te is doing all she can to get by.
When three gods reward her hospitality with a life-changing sum of money, Shen Te opens a tobacco shop and claims the stability she's always dreamed of. But the struggle is not over yet; she is forced to question the cost of her own survival as she resorts to scheming and deceit to flourish in this capitalist world.
In its 80th anniversary year, Brecht's play is brought up to date in a new version by Nina Segal (In The Night Time (Before The Sun Rises)), directed by Anthony Lau (Sheffield Theatres' Anna Karenina).
The German-born playwright, poet and director, Bertolt Brecht was born in Augsburg, Germany in 1898. He established himself as a playwright during the 1920s and early 1930s with plays such as Baal, Man Is Man, The Threepenny Opera and The Mother. In 1933, as Hitler came to power in Germany, Brecht fled to Scandinavia before eventually settling in the USA where he remained until 1947. During the war years, he wrote many of his best-known plays, including, The Life Of Galileo, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Mother Courage and Her Children and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. He returned to Europe in 1947 and shortly after his arrival formed the Berliner Ensemble. He died in Berlin on 14 August 1956 but remains a hugely influential theatre practitioner.
Nina Segal is a playwright and television writer. Her theatre credits include In the Night Time (Before the Sun Rises) (Gate Theatre), Dismantle This Room (Royal Court Theatre/Bush Theatre), Big Guns (The Yard Theatre), (This Isn't) A True Story (Almeida Young Company), Danger Signals (New Ohio, NYC), and Assembly (Donmar Warehouse digital project). Her play O, Island! was a winner of the 2022 Playwrights' Scheme Bursary and shortlisted for the 2020 George Devine award. For television, her work includes Hanna, Leave to Remain and Never the Bride.
Anthony Lau is Associate Artistic Director at Sheffield Theatres. He was previously Laboratory Associate Director at Nuffield Southampton Theatres and trained as a director at LAMDA and at The National Theatre Studio. For Sheffield Theatres, credits include ROCK / PAPER / SCISSORS, Anna Karenina and The Band Plays On. Other credits as director include: Juicy and Delicious (Nuffield Southampton Theatres); A Better Man and The Cherry Orchard parallel project (Young Vic); The Common Land (Rose Theatre Kingston); Still Life/Red Peppers (Old Red Lion) and I am a Camera (Southwark Playhouse).
Presented by Northern Stage, Birmingham Rep, ETT, Oldham Coliseum and tiny dragon Productions, in association with Cardboard Citizens
I, DANIEL BLAKE
Adapted by Dave Johns
Director: Mike Calvert; Designer: Rhys Jarman; Lighting Designer: Simisola Majekodunmi;
Music: Ross Millard; Video and Projection Designers: Nina Dunn and Matthew Brown;
Movement Director: Martin Hylton
Northern Stage: 25 May - 10 June 2023
Press night: 31 May at 7pm
Birmingham Rep: 13 - 24 June 2023
Dan is a carpenter. A Geordie through and through. Just on the mend after a heart attack.
Katie has just arrived from London. Finally got a council house for her and the kids. A fresh start.
I, Daniel Blake is one of the most important stories of a generation. A glimpse behind the headlines and the stark reality of what happens when the political system is stacked against you. With 14.5 million* people living in poverty in the UK, this is not fiction. It is reality.
A touching and vital story of how people come together in the face of adversity and how sometimes creating a family to support you just isn't enough. The show is adapted for stage by Dave Johns who played Daniel Blake in the award-winning 2016 film.
*Joseph Rowntree Foundation 2022 Poverty Report.
Recommended age 12+ due to adult language.
Commissioned and produced by ETT
F**KED UP BEDTIME STORIES (FOR ADULTS) - Series 2
Strange stories for even stranger times.
Following the success of F**ked Up Bedtime Stories series one, we bring you 7 new stories from 7 writers: Ella Hickson, Simon Stephens, Chris Bush, Kwame Owusu, Yasmin Joseph, Sonya Kelly and Francis Turnly; read by actors including: Maxine Peake, Tamara Lawrance, Jamael Westman, Justine Mitchell, Sophie Melville and Stephen Mangan.
The world is a messy, unnerving, and complicated place, these stories are a response to the unconscious anxieties and dread we all have bubbling at the surface.
For adults only, listen at bedtime, from our dream theatre, into your dreams. Listener discretion is advised...
The new season will be released one episode a night for a week in April 2023.
Concept by Ben Quashie, co-commissioned and produced by ETT
MIXED
Writers in the series include Javaad Alipoor, Jade Anouka, Lydia Ayame Hiraide, Mei Mei Macleod, Sabrina Mahfouz, Grace Savage, Testament and Jamael Westman
Mixed is a monologue project which revolves around representation of mixed-race identities. The 2021 census showed a further 40% increase in the number of people identifying as being from 'mixed/multiple ethnic groups' since 2011. And yet this burgeoning demographic isn't really reflected in the stories we see on stage, where stories around mixed-race experiences are often generalised. In response to this gap in our industry, Director Ben Quashie came up with Mixed as a project focused on curating stories from a wide range of mixed-race experiences and imagination of artists around the UK.
Dramaturgs on the series include Kane Husbands (Artistic Director of The PappyShow) and Beth Kapila (Artistic Associate at Tara Theatre).
Venue partners for Mixed are Sheffield Theatres, Derby Theatre, Graeae Theatre Company, Rifco Theatre Company and Slung Low.
Mixed will be published and made available to the general public and drama students later this year.
NATIONWIDE VOICES
Nationwide Voices is a talent development programme for playwrights from across the country, now entering its third year.
The year-long programme will nurture and amplify the voices of a group of three exciting new playwrights, helping to bring their work onto mid-scale stages across Britain. This year, the scheme focuses on people-based work: encouraging these three theatre-makers to develop innovative ways of putting community- and audience-groups at the heart of their process for creating new plays for main stages.
Year three of Nationwide Voices is led by ETT, and we are excited to be working in collaboration with partners Birmingham Rep, Manchester Royal Exchange and tiata fahodzi, with venues and companies offering an attachment for their chosen playwright, who each have a meaningful connection to the local area. This year we are delighted to announce that the playwrights participating in the programme are: Ashlee Elizabeth-Lolo (Birmingham Rep), Malaika Kegode (tiata fahodzi) and Joshua Val Martin (Manchester Royal Exchange). They are being lead through the programme by lead facilitator and artistic director of Company Three, Ned Glasier.
Ashlee Elizabeth-Lolo (she/her) is a writer, dramaturg, award-winning journalist and drama practitioner from Birmingham. She has written pieces for and worked with arts organisations including Birmingham Rep, Channel 4, Talawa Theatre and Birmingham Hippodrome. She also hosts a weekly show on Switch Radio which focuses on community, care and creative sectors in the UK.
Malaika Kegode (she/her) is an award-winning writer and performer based in Bristol. Beginning her arts career as a performance poet in 2014, Malaika has since developed her practice to Encompass Theatre, radio and film writing. Her autobiographical gig-theatre show Outlier debuted at Bristol Old Vic's main stage in 2021. Kegode's narrative work has also been featured on Radio 4, and her poetry collections Requite and Thalassic have been published by Burning Eye Books.
Joshua Val Martin (he/him) is a writer from Bolton, having developed with Soho Theatre and Manchester Royal Exchange's respective playwrighting schemes. His work includes musicals for Central School of Speech and Drama and Hope Mill Theatre; documentary plays for Royal and Derngate and the New Vic Theatre; and his play This Is Not America won the Bruntwood Commendation Prize in 2017. Most recently, he has worked as part of a writers' room on a new Sky television series; written, performed and toured two autobiographical solo shows, and is currently finishing two new plays commissioned by Silent Uproar and IAP:MCR.
Ned Glasier (he/him) is a theatre-maker whose process is rooted in listening, collaboration and exchange. He is the founder and artistic director of Company Three, an award-winning theatre company working with teenagers in North London. His work includes Brainstorm at The National Theatre and BBC iPlayer, Boat at Battersea Arts Centre and two major international projects during the pandemic: The Coronavirus Time Capsule and When This Is Over. Alongside his work making plays with young people, Ned leads training in the practice of co-creation, teaches on university courses and works as a consultant supporting organisations to listen to, support and enable young people.
Nationwide Voices is made possible by funding from John Ellerman Foundation.
SEASON AT A GLANCE
THE GOOD PERSON OF SZECHWAN
Sheffield Theatres
11 March - 1 April 2023
Press night: 16 March at 7pm
Box Office: 0114 249 6000 / www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk
Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
15 April - 13 May 2023
Press night: 20 April at 7pm
Box Office: 020 8741 6850 / www.lyric.co.uk
I, DANIEL BLAKE
Northern Stage: 25 May - 10 June 2023
Press night: 31 May at 7pm
Birmingham Rep: 13 - 24 June 2023
MACBETH
Shakespeare North: 1 - 23 September 2023
Press night: 6 September at 7pm
Northern Stage: 28 September - 7 October 2023
Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg: 25 - 29 October 2023
Dubai Opera House: 2 - 5 November 2023
Cambridge Arts Theatre: 8 - 11 November 2023
The Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe: 14 - 18 November 2023
ABOUT ETT (ENGLISH TOURING THEATRE)
ETT (English Touring Theatre) are a UK based international touring company. They stage both new and classic production of outstanding quality, imagination, and ambition; make innovative and pioneering immersive digital experiences; work which interrogates and celebrates contemporary England, reinventing the rules, reflecting the diversity of the nation. You can find their work in your local theatre, online, at festivals, in a field, internationally and in the West End. In the last five years ETT has produced over 50 live productions and pieces of digital work, enjoyed by audiences of over 340,000; and has won the UK Theatre Awards Best Touring Production in 2014, 2015, 2016; Best Play Revival in 2019; Excellence in Inclusivity and Best Play in 2022.
Recent productions include a major revival of Equus by Peter Shaffer in a co-production with Theatre Royal Stratford East, directed by award winning director Ned Bennett, which transferred to Trafalgar Studios; Othello, which toured internationally to the Far and Middle East; Trailer Story (a travelling outdoor performance programme that celebrated local creativity); immersive virtual reality experience Adult Children and XR experience Museum of Austerity, directed by Sacha Wares in partnership with Donmar Warehouse, National Theatre Storytelling Studio, ScanLAB Projects and Trial and Error. More recently Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a co-production with Curve and Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse, directed by Anthony Almeida, the winner of the 2019 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award. A national tour of Tonderai Munyevu's Mugabe, My Dad & Me; A national tour of The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by 2021 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award winner Denzel Westley-Sanderson; and The Cherry Orchard reimagined by Vinay Patel.
ETT are a limited company and a registered charity, founded in 1993. We are based in London Waterloo; our premises comprise of offices, audition rooms and a large rehearsal studio.
Website ett.org.uk | Email admin@ett.org.uk
Twitter @weareETT | Facebook/Instagram EnglishTouringTheatre | YouTube ETT
Sheffield Theatres is home to three theatres: the Crucible, the Sheffield landmark with a world-famous reputation; the Playhouse, an intimate, versatile space for getting closer to the action; and the gleaming Lyceum, the beautiful proscenium that hosts the best of the UK's touring shows. In November 2021, the Crucible and Playhouse theatres celebrated their 50th anniversary.
Having held the title 'Regional Theatre of the Year' on four separate occasions, Sheffield Theatres is the ticket to big names and local heroes, timeless treasures and new voices. Committed to investing in the creative leaders of the future, Sheffield Theatres' dedicated talent development hub, The Bank, opened in 2019 to support a new cohort of emerging theatre-makers every year.
Sheffield Theatres has a reputation for bold new work. The acclaimed Life of Pi began life at the Crucible, winning four awards at the 2019 UK Theatre Awards, 'Achievement in Technical Theatre' at the Stage Awards and 'Best New Play' at the WhatsOnStage Awards. The show opened in the West End in 2021, winning 5 Olivier Awards in 2022, and this year returns to Sheffield Theatres as part of a UK and Ireland tour. This success follows the phenomenal Sheffield musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie which also originated at the Crucible in 2017, before transferring to the West End, embarking on a UK tour and being turned into a feature film released simultaneously to 244 countries on Amazon Prime in September 2021.
Most recently, ROCK / PAPER / SCISSORS, three plays performed concurrently across the three theatres by a single cast, was staged as the centrepiece of Sheffield Theatres' 50th anniversary celebrations. Robert Hastie, Anthony Lau and Elin Schofield won Best Directors at the UK Theatre Awards 2022 for the ambitious trilogy. Concluding 2022, Sheffield Theatres, in co-production with The National Theatre and Various Productions, revived their multi-award-winning new musical Standing at the Sky's Edge. Originally staged in 2019, the hit show returned to the Crucible ahead of transferring to The National Theatre in February 2023.
Crucible Lyceum Studio 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA
Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
is one of the UK's leading producing theatres; creating bold and relevant world class theatre from the heart of Hammersmith in West London for more than 125 years.
The Lyric is vital and representative of its local community as well as a major force in UK theatre, resulting in the creation of some of the UK's most adventurous and acclaimed theatrical work. This includes the debuts of Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party (1958) and Michael Frayn's Noises Off (1982), which transferred again to the West End in Autumn 2019 following a major revival at the Lyric. Other iconic productions include the Olivier award-winning revival of Sarah Kane's Blasted (2009), the triumphant Bugsy Malone (2015) and the international cult hit Ghost Stories which also returned to the West End in Autumn 2019.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director and CEO Rachel O'Riordan, the Lyric's programme of reimagined classics, contemporary plays and bold new works celebrates its unique Matcham theatre. Her critically acclaimed inaugural season as Artistic Director launched with a triumphant new adaptation of A Doll's House by Tanika Gupta in 2019. Her tenure continues with a commitment to make ambitious, entertaining, inspiring shows for audiences in West London and beyond, and the belief that that everyone deserves to experience the life-changing impact of theatre. In 2022, O'Riordan introduced Springboard, a ground-breaking, free two-year training programme based at the Lyric for young talent from underrepresented backgrounds, heralding a major alternative performance pathway and new industry model to shape the future of British theatre.
At the heart of the Lyric is a commitment to young people's creativity. The theatre has a national reputation for developing and nurturing the next generation of talent, and provide opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to discover the power of their creativity. The Lyric is West London's largest creative hub and home to an innovative partnership of arts organisations who work together to deliver life-changing creative opportunities for thousands of young West Londoners. Right in the heart of Hammersmith, the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is here for everyone.
Shakespeare North Playhouse
aims to bring people together to participate in a unique programme of performance, activities and conversations, inspired by Shakespeare and relevant to all of us.
At its heart is a traditional 470 seat timber framed Shakespearean theatre that will host a mix of vibrant new performances. Theatre, music, comedy, workshops, events and activities will spill out into the exhibition gallery, Studio and Sir Ken Dodd Performance Garden, creating an accessible space full of joy and creativity, where everyone is welcome.
Inspired by Prescot's historic connections to William Shakespeare and a real love of storytelling, Shakespeare North Playhouse will play a key role in the ongoing regeneration of Knowsley; a place full of brilliant people with a story to tell.
Working together with audiences, artists and its local communities, the creative programme, learning opportunities and social spaces will help to open doors, invite debate and inspire a love of learning that will reach far beyond the walls of Shakespeare North Playhouse.
www.shakespearenorthplayhouse.co.uk/
Northern Stage reaches beyond the ordinary. The largest producing theatre in the North East of England, from our home in the heart of Newcastle. A part of a diverse creative community stretching from Tweed to Tyne and Tees. Our work is informed and transformed by the region so that we an essential part of everyone's lives, making vital pieces of culture for the North East of today and tomorrow.
We produce, co-produce and support the production of great theatre for regional, national and international audiences in live and digital forms. Touring regionally, nationally and internationally with work that is popular, accessible, politically relevant and culturally diverse. We promote creativity and creative practice and provide life-changing experiences for people who would not normally have access to such opportunities. Empowerment is at the heart of what we do, constantly evolving and collaborating with artists, practitioners and communities in the North East and beyond.
The Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg present, each season, an eclectic program composed mainly of co-productions and creations of works from the classical repertoire, contemporary writings and new forms. On the other hand, the house does not neglect its territorial roots in a multilingual country, and highlights a multiplicity of disciplines, aesthetics, voices, languages and stories, combining established and emerging artists. , often even within transnational artistic and technical teams.
Birmingham Rep is the oldest building-based theatre company in the UK, and the forerunner of both the RSC and The National Theatre. The Rep has an unparalleled pioneering history and is the only producing theatre in the UK's Second City. It has been at the forefront of theatre in the UK for over 100 years.
The Rep's mission is to create artistically ambitious popular theatre - world class, for everyone. The commissioning and production of new work lies at the core of The Rep's programme and over the last 15 years, with the company has produced more than 130 new plays. As well as presenting over 60 productions on its three stages every year, the theatre tours its productions nationally and internationally.
The Rep's acclaimed learning and outreach programme is one of the largest and most diverse of any arts organisation in the country. The Rep has nurtured new talent throughout its history - from Laurence Olivier and Peter Brook to its modern-day youth theatre, and the ground-breaking Rep Foundry Theatre-makers programme, it has offered opportunity and training for thousands of early career writers, directors, and artists.
Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre Company transforms the way people see theatre, each other and the world around them. Our historic building was taken over by artists in 1976. Today it is an award-winning cultural charity that produces new theatre in-the-round, in communities, on the road and online.
Exchange remains at the heart of everything we make and do. Now our currency is brand new drama and reinvigorated classics, the boldest artists and a company of highly skilled makers - all brought together in a shared imaginative endeavour to trade ideas and experiences with the people of Greater Manchester (and beyond).
The Exchange's unique auditorium is powerfully democratic, a space where audiences and performers meet as equals, entering and exiting through the same doors. It is the inspiration for all we do; inviting everyone to understand the past, engage in today's big questions, collectively imagine a better future and lose themselves in the moment of a great night out.
tiata fahodzi is the UK's leading British African heritage contemporary theatre company.
tiata fahodzi produces theatre that is fearless for a Britain of today, rich with languages, races, cultures and identities. The company makes theatre that looks around and looks forward, with a mission to tell contemporary stories in modern and innovative ways, celebrating characters and audiences defined not by their diversity, but by their humanity.
tiata fahodzi is a theatre company that places the stories of British African heritage communities at its core and is committed to making ambitious theatre for mid-scale stages and building confidence in British African heritage artists to be formally experimental in their work.
Founded in September 1997 by playwright and director Femi Elufowoju Jr, since April 2021, has been under leadership of award-winning playwright and director, Chinonyerem Odimba as tiata fahodzi's new Artistic Director/CEO. The company celebrated its 25th birthday with a season titled 'Year of the Artist' and was able to mark a new chapter in the Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation's history by securing a further investment for 2023-26. Previous work by tiata fahodzi includes seeds by Melanie Pennant, good dog by Arinzé Kene, mixed brain by Nathan Bryon, bricks and pieces by Charlene Janes, iya ile (the first wife) by Oladipo Agboluaje and the gods are not to blame by Bola Agbaje. More recently, the company has produced Black Love a new musical written and directed by Chinonyerem Odimba, and an inaugural triple bill of plays by Malaika Kegode, Babirye Bukilwa, and Diana Nneka Atuona called Talking About A Revolution.
Comments
Videos