New Musical THE SEASON Comes to Northampton and Ipswich

Royal & Derngate, Northampton, and New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, have just announced their co-production of a new musical, The Season, by 2018 Stiles + Drewe Mentorship Award winners, Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, playing in Northampton and Ipswich in November.

It's Christmas Eve and Dougal has travelled from Northampton to New York for his father's wedding. At JFK Airport he's greeted by Robyn. Tomorrow her sister becomes his stepmother and Robyn's dreading it. Dougal can't wait.

Thrown together for a wild weekend in the city that never sleeps, their adventure becomes a musical whirlwind of confession, frustration and excess. Will these two endearing misfits provide the ultimate test for the theory that opposites always attract?

This brand new romantic comedy, filled with heart-warming and hilarious songs from exciting young writers Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, is the recipient of the 2018 MTI Stiles + Drewe Mentorship Award, celebrating the very best of emerging British song-writing talent.

Jim Barne and Kit Buchan said: "We are proud and happy that The Season, the first full-length Buchan Barne musical, will be having its debut run at Royal & Derngate and New Wolsey theatres this autumn. Both theatres have been incredibly supportive and enthusiastic throughout the development process. We've spent the last six months workshopping The Season with Royal & Derngate and New Wolsey Ipswich, under the wing of the Stiles + Drewe mentorship programme, and we can't wait to see Dougal and Robyn up on such well respected stages this November."

George Stiles and Anthony Drewe added: "We are both delighted that The Season, which was the winning musical in the 3rd year of our Stiles + Drewe Mentorship Award, has been selected for a full scale production in Northampton and Ipswich later this year. Over the past 9 months we have thoroughly enjoyed working with Kit and Jim on honing their story, and it is particularly gratifying when our belief in both the writers and their musical is endorsed by two of our great regional theatres."

James Dacre, Artistic Director of Royal & Derngate commented: "Since first seeing Kit and Jim's work at BEAM 2018, it has been thrilling to collaborate with New Wolsey to develop these remarkable artists' first full scale musical, which has so benefited from the mentorship of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe."

The cast and creative team will be announced later in the year.

The Season is a co-production in association with Glass Half Full Productions and Tim Johanson Productions, and is part of Royal & Derngate's Made in Northampton season, which is sponsored locally by Michael Jones Jeweller.

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