ROUNDABOUT, THE HUMAN EAR, EARLIER/LATER Series & More Set for Paines Plough's 2015 Programme
By: BWW News Desk May. 19, 2015
With Roundabout at Brighton Festival, James Graham's The Angry Brigade at the Bush Theatre, and Every Brilliant Thing on national tour, Artistic Directors of Paines Plough James Grieve and George Perrin today announce the company's Programme 2015 which sees 11 productions touring to 74 places.
2015 sees the return of Roundabout - the company's award-wining portable in the round auditorium. Performances are currently underway at the Brighton Festival, ahead of a season at the Southbank Centre, then a return to Summerhall where Roundabout was unveiled at last year's Edinburgh Festival, and a national tour this Autumn. Productions across the season include, Duncan Macmillan's Every Brilliant Thing and Lungs; Dennis Kelly's Our Teacher's a Troll, Alexandra Wood's Fringe First Award-winning The Initiate, alongside the world première of Wood's latest play The Human Ear. Also at Summerhall, Paines Plough will programme a series of events entitled Earlier/Later, and play host to a variety of companies and performers including Daniel Kitson, Theatre Uncut and Eastern Angles.
Following performances at Edinburgh and on national tour, Every Brilliant Thing and Our Teacher's a Troll will also embark on separate tours to venues across the UK.
In addition to Roundabout, the company returns to Latitude with the world première of Sabrina Mahfouz's With a Little Bit of Luck.
Also announced today is the recipient of the inaugural Big Room Playwright Fellowship, Nathan Bryon - a role generously supported by Jon and NoraLee Sedmak and an anonymous playwright; as well as new appointments to the core team and to the company's Board.
Artistic Directors of Paines Plough James Grieve and George Perrin said today, "We're proud to announce another jam-packed programme of new plays by the nation's best playwrights on tour to the four corners of the UK. It is Paines Plough's mission to be a truly national theatre of new plays, ensuring more people in more places get to see the best of British playwriting and experience exciting theatre on their doorsteps. This year we're visiting 74 places from Cornwall to the Orkney Islands.
"At the heart of our programme is Roundabout, our beautiful, award-winning 'Theatre Building of the Year' which flat packs into a lorry and pops-up around the country with a repertory of outstanding plays. For years to come, Roundabout will tour to parts of the country new plays can't otherwise reach.
"In Roundabout we're excited to premiere a brand new play by Alexandra Wood, as well as reviving her acclaimed play The Initiate. We think Alex is one of the finest playwrights around and we are honoured to be working with her. At the Latitude Festival we are premièring the work of another exciting talent, Sabrina Mahfouz, and our new Playwright Fellowship is supporting a star of tomorrow in Nathan Bryon.
"Paines Plough has a long history of discovering and nurturing great playwrights, and this year's programme ensures the brightest talent can be seen by audiences everywhere."
For more information, visit www.painesplough.com or follow on Twitter: @painesplough.
ROUNDABOUT
Following the successful launch of Roundabout last year at the Edinburgh Festival, which resulted in the company winning The Stage's Awards Theatre Building of the Year, Roundabout returns this year, 'popping up' first at Brighton Festival (until 24 May), then Southbank Centre as part of the Festival of Love (7 June - 18 July), later returning to Summerhall as part of this year's Edinburgh Festival, and then on tour this Autumn.
Roundabout Auditorium Design: Lucy Osborne and Emma Chapman
in collaboration with Charcoalblue and Howard Eaton
Roundabout auditorium was built and developed by Factory Settings
Roundabout, Paines Plough's portable in-the-round theatre, was the centerpiece of the company's 40th anniversary programme. and Thanks to the generous support of principal funder Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation along with J Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust, John Ellerman Foundation and Garfield Weston Foundation, the brand new pop-up theatre will form an integral part of future Paines Plough programmes.
Roundabout facts and figures...
Roundabout seats 168 people
It is 11.5 metres in diameter, with a 4.6 metre diameter playing space and top height of 5 metres
There are three entrances to the theatre which are opposite the three sets of steps into each auditorium block
The Roundabout can be erected in a day and a half by six people. It does not require any specialist tools or skills in order to be assembled. The only tool required is an Allen key
There are no visible conventional lighting units or speakers. The theatre uses 'plug and play' technology. The lighting facilities consist of 627 individual LED light fittings - a mixture of colour mixing and tuneable white - installed in the roof of the theatre. This pixelated lighting has the ability to project images
The sound system consists of six speakers positioned in the ceiling that are focussed onto the back-wall of the theatre and which reflect the sound back into the space. There are also three base pins situated under each seating block
The roof weighs approximately two and a half tonnes. The auditorium weighs between three and four tonnes
The seating is made from plywood with aluminium backs
At the Southbank Centre, The Initiate, Lungs, and Our Teacher's a Troll will play in rep, with additional performances of Every Brilliant Thing.
For performances at Summerhall, Lungs, Our Teacher's a Troll and Every Brilliant Thing (which plays as part of the British Council Showcase) will be joined by the world première of Alexandra Wood's The Human Ear. Paines Plough will also host Eastern Angles in association with Unity Theatre's production of Molly Davies' Chicken, Supporting Wall's Jonny & The Baptists: The End is Nigh, Papermash Theatre and Tricycle Theatre's production of Sonia Jalaly's Happy Birthday Without You, the best of Theatre Uncut, Dancing Brick and Soho Theatre's I'm Not Here Right Now and Daniel Kitson's Polyphony.
Also at Roundabout at Summerhall, Paines Plough will present Earlier/Later - a series of early morning and late night one-off shows: theatre, poetry, comedy, music and much more throughout the festival.
The Autumn tour dates will consist of Lungs, Our Teacher's a Troll, The Human Ear, and selected performances of Every Brilliant Thing as part of its own national tour. Our Teacher's a Troll also embarks on a solo national tour this Autumn.
Cast: Sian Reese-Williams, Abdul Salis
Sidney Cole will also perform in The Initiate only
Direction: George Perrin; Design: Lucy Osborne; Lighting: Emma Chapman
Sound: Tom Gibbons; Movement: Kate Sagovsky; Associate Sound: Dom Kennedy
For Our Teacher's a Troll only, Creative Consultant: Chris Elwell
A PAINES PLOUGH AND PENTABUS THEATRE PRODUCTION
EVERY BRILLIANT THING
BY DUNCAN MACMILLAN
WITH JONNY DONAHOE
Direction: George Perrin
The critically acclaimed Every Brilliant Thing returns to the UK following a 16 week run in New York. The production is currently on tour in the UK, and will play as part of the Roundabout season at Summerhall, ahead of a further Autumn national tour.
You're six years old. Mum's in hospital. Dad says she's 'done something stupid'. She finds it hard to be happy.
You start to make a list of everything that's brilliant about the world.
Everything that's worth living for.
1. Ice Cream
2. Kung Fu Movies
3. Burning Things
4. Laughing so hard you shoot milk out your nose
5. Construction cranes
6. Me
You leave it on her pillow. You know she's read it because she's corrected your spelling.
Soon, the list will take on a life of its own.
A new play about depression and the lengths we will go to for those we love.
Supported by Anne McMeehan and Jim Roberts, Every Brilliant Thing incorporates Macmillan's short play Sleeve Notes and the Every Brilliant Thing exhibition and Facebook group. For more information on the project's background please check www.painesplough.com.
Running Time: 60 mins
Age Guidance: 14+
2015:
UK Spring Tour (outside of Roundabout)
Roundabout @Southbank Centre
Roundabout @ Summerhall
UK Roundabout Tour
UK Autumn Tour (outside of Roundabout)
PENTABUS
Pentabus is the nation's rural theatre company. Its mission is to develop and produce quality new theatre about the contemporary rural world; to tour the country with plays that have local impact and national resonance; to turn up in village halls, theatres and digital backyards, connecting audiences nationwide. Since 1974 Pentabus has produced 150 new plays, supported 100 playwrights and reached over half?a million audience members. The company has won awards, pioneered live-streaming and developed a ground-breaking initiative to nurture young writers from rural backgrounds. Pentabus has set goals for the future to tour further than ever before, work with new and established playwrights, extend its young writers' programme and continue to push at the boundaries of what theatre can be.
Part of British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2015
A PAINES PLOUGH PRODUCTION
LUNGS
BY DUNCAN MACMILLAN
"I could fly to New York and back every day for seven years and still not leave a carbon footprint as big as if I have a child. Ten thousand tonnes of CO2. That's the weight of the Eiffel Tower. I'd be giving birth to the Eiffel Tower."
A couple are deciding their future. Thirty-something, educated and thoughtful, they want to have a child for the right reasons. But in a time of overpopulation, erratic weather and political unrest, what exactly are the right reasons?
A play about the different types of love we feel in a lifetime.
Running Time: 70 mins
Age Guidance: 14+
2015:
Roundabout @ Brighton Festival
Roundabout @Southbank Centre
Roundabout @ Summerhall
UK Roundabout Tour
A PAINES PLOUGH PRODUCTION
THE INITIATE
BY ALEXANDRA WOOD
A British couple are seized by Somali pirates. In East London, a Somali taxi-driver decides to rescue them. Meeting disbelief with determination, he dismisses his wife's fears and flies out to negotiate their release.
Speeding from the banks of the Thames to the now unfamiliar world of his homeland, he confronts the family he left behind and the bravado of the defiant men he once called brothers.
A thrilling tale of altruism, greed, and the search for how to belong from George Devine Award-winning playwright Alexandra Wood.
Running Time: 70 mins
Age Guidance: 14+
2015:
Roundabout @ Brighton Festival
Roundabout @Southbank Centre
A PAINES PLOUGH AND HALF MOON PRODUCTION
OUR TEACHER'S A TROLL
BY DENNIS KELLY
Two terrible twins with a talent for turmoil rule their school with terror and tyranny - until the arrival of a new head teacher with green scaly skin, sharp gnarly fangs, and a long spiky tail...
Can the twins save the school from the child-eating Troll? Can they get Brussels sprouts in peanut butter taken off the menu? And most importantly, can naughtiness prevail?
Be outrageously entertained in this colourfully comic show from the writer of award-winning West End hit Matilda The Musical. For ages 7+ and their accompanying trolls (or parents).
Following performances as part of Roundabout, Our Teacher's a Troll will embark on a further national tour to venues across the UK this Autumn.
HALF MOON
Half Moon is a local organisation with a national remit, committed to supporting artists and young people at every stage of their creative development. Working from their base in East London, Half Moon specialises in new writing and artform development, acting as a gateway organisation that provides pathways for progression and experimentation. Half Moon's wide-ranging programme reaches 49,000 people annually and engages those who are often excluded from arts activity. Half Moon's activity includes a season of professional plays for young audiences, national touring productions and an extensive creative learning programme, including six youth theatres.
Half Moon is a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England and receives regular funding from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Our Teacher's a Troll is one of several productions that form part of Half Moon Presents, the producing arm of Half Moon, supporting the promotion and development of professional theatre for young audiences at a national and international level.
Website: www.halfmoon.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/halfmoontheatre
Twitter: www.twitter.com/HalfMoonTheatre
Running Time: 50 mins
Age Guidance: 7 years+
2015:
Roundabout at Brighton Festival
Roundabout @Southbank Centre
Roundabout @ Summerhall
UK Roundabout Tour
UK Autumn Tour (outside of Roundabout)
A PAINES PLOUGH PRODUCTION
THE HUMAN EAR
BY ALEXANDRA WOOD
A man turns up at Lucy's door claiming to be the brother she hasn't seen in 10 years. But why has he come? Is it really him? And what happens when there's another knock at the door?
Forced to confront the messy inner workings of sibling love with its petty resentments, casual cruelty, profound betrayals and implicit understanding, can the bond between brother and sister be rebuilt?
An intriguing tale of loss, renewal and knowing who to trust from Fringe First Award-winner Alexandra Wood.
Running Time: 70 mins
Age Guidance: TBC
2015:
Roundabout @ Summerhall
Roundabout UK Tour
PAINES PLOUGH PRESENT
EARLIER/LATER
Paines Plough and special guests invite you to a series of early morning and late night one-off shows: theatre, poetry, comedy, music, rumbles, shenanigans and much more throughout the festival.
Get your fix of fresh new work, exhilarating debates and rip-roaring performances. Kick start your morning and round-up your evening in Roundabout - "the loveliest venue at the fringe" The List, 2014.
Event listings will be announced throughout the Festival at www.painesplough.com/ and on Twitter via @painesplough.
Tickets can be purchased through the Summerhall Box Office.
2015:
Roundabout @ Summerhall
LATITUDE
A PAINES PLOUGH AND LATITUDE FESTIVAL PRODUCTION
WITH A LITTLE BIT OF LUCK
BY SABRINA MAHFOUZ
16 &17 July
Direction: Stef O'Driscoll
'I want to be iconic. I want to be beautiful, reckless, feared, hated, ahead of the times. I want to be different, I want to be dangerous...'
London, 2001. Raves. Revision. Re-election.
Nadia is swept up in one hot summer's night of love that promises endless possibilities. Drinking, dancing, hope, ambition, lust, greed... and decisions that will determine the rest of her life.
Rhythmically underscored by a live mix of old school UK Garage, award-winning writer Sabrina Mahfouz explores the legacy of a cultural movement that defined the hopes of a generation.
London, 2015. Re-wind.
ALSO ANNOUNCED TODAY...
The inaugural Big Room Playwright Fellowship is awarded to Nathan Bryon. Nathan is 23-years-old and from Shepherd's Bush. He is one of the most exciting and original new playwriting voices we have come across and we are delighted he will join Paines Plough on attachment until the end of 2015. The Big Room Playwright Fellowship is supported by Jon and NoraLee Sedmak and an anonymous playwright. It aims to assist a playwright of exceptional promise at the start of their career by supporting them in the development of their craft. The Fellowship comprises an attachment to Paines Plough, a bursary of £6,000 and a place at the prestigious l'Obrador d'estiu playwriting conference in Barcelona.
Bryon said today, "I am over the moon to be awarded the Big Room Playwright Fellowship. Paines Plough is a company I have followed and hoped to work with from the minute I started writing. The Fellowship will give me the opportunity to see as much work as possible and be involved with an incredible new writing company who can nurture and support my work."
We welcome two new members of our team thanks to our partnership with Creative Access. Joining Paines Plough are Trainee Administrator Bhavini Goyate and Trainee Producer Rachel D'Arcy. Former Creative Access intern Natalie Adams is now full-time Administrator.
Joining the Paines Plough Board of Trustees are Andrea Stark, CEO of High House Production Park, Matthew Littleford, Editorial Director for Digital, BBC Worldwide, Anne McMeehan Roberts, Founder Director of Cauldron Consulting, and Dennis Kelly, Playwright
ROUNDABOUT AUTUMN TOUR DATES:
Newbury Corn Exchange, Newbury
9 - 13 September
Box Office: 0845 5218 218
www.cornexchangenew.com/
The Lowry, Salford
16 - 20 September
Box Office: 0843 208 6000
www.thelowry.com/
Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, Lincoln
23 - 27 September
Box Office: 01522 837 600
www.lpac.co.uk/
Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal
30 September - 4 October
Box Office: 01539 725133
www.breweryarts.co.uk/
Theatre Royal Margate
7 - 11 October
Box Office: 01843 292795
www.theatreroyalmargate.com/
Appetite, Stoke-on-Trent
14 - 18 October
Box Office: 01782 717962
www.newvictheatre.org.uk/
EVERY BRILLIANT THING AUTUMN TOUR
The Civic, Stourport
9 Sep
Box Office: 0333 666 3366
www.thecivicstourport.co.uk
ROUNDABOUT at Corn Exchange, Newbury
10 Sep
Box Office: 0845 521 8218
www.cornexchangenew.com
Bridport Arts Centre, Dorset
11 Sep
Box Office: 01308 424204
www.bridport-arts.com
Mill Arts Centre, Banbury
16 Sep
Box Office: 01295 279002
www.themillartscentre.co.uk
ROUNDABOUT at The Lowry, Salford
17Sep
Box Office: 0843 208 6000
www.thelowry.com
Isle of Eigg
21 Sep
SunartCentre, ArainnShuainert, Strontian
23 Sep
Box Office: 01397 709228
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/sunartcentre/events
Plockton Village Hall, Plockton
24 Sep
Box Office: 01847 890840
Craigmonie Centre, Drumnadrochit
25 Sep
Box Office: 01456 459224
www.craigmoniecentre.co.uk
Lyth Arts Centre, Wick
26 Sep
Box Office: 01955 641 434
www.lytharts.org.uk
Pier Arts Centre, Orkney
27 Sep
Box Office: 01856 850209
www.pierartscentre.com
Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds
29 Sep
Box Office: 0113 224 3801
www.leeds.gov.uk/carriageworks
ROUNDABOUT at Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal
30 Sep
Box Office: 01539 722833
www.breweryarts.co.uk
South Holland Centre
1 Oct
Box Office: 01775 764777
www.southhollandcentre.co.uk
Pegasus Theatre, Oxford
2-3 Oct
Box Office: 01865 812160
www.pegasustheatre.org.uk
Chipping Norton Theatre, Oxford
4 Oct
Box Office: 01608 642350
www.chippingnortontheatre.co.uk
Tobacco Factory, Bristol
6-10 Oct
Box Office: 0117 9020344
www.tobaccofactory.com
Stahl Theatre at Oundle School, Peterborough
14 Oct
Box Office: 01832 273930
www.oundleschool.org.uk/arts/theatre/tickets
ROUNDABOUT, Appetite, Stoke-on-Trent
15 Oct
16th - 17th Oct:
Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
Box Office: 01723370541
https://www.sjt.uk.com/
The Old Market, Brighton
18-20 Oct
Box Office: 01273 201801
www.theoldmarket.com
Shop Front Theatre, Coventry
21Oct
Box Office: 0845 680 1926
www.theatreabsolute.co.uk
Span Arts, Pembrokeshire
22 Oct
Box Office:01834 869323
www.span-arts.org.uk
Riverfront Theatre, Newport
23 Oct
Box Office:01633 656679
www.tickets.newportlive.co.uk
Pontardawe Arts Centre, Pontardawe
24 Oct
Box Office: 01792 863722
www.pontardaweartscentre.com
27th Oct
Farnham Maltings
Box Office: 01252 745444
https://farnhammaltings.com/
Lakeside Theatre, Colchester
29 Oct
Box Office: 01206 873261
www.lakesidetheatre.org.uk
The Civic, Barnsley
31Oct
Box Office: 01226 327000
www.barnsleycivic.co.uk
OUR TEACHER'S A TROLL - SOLO AUTUMN TOUR:
TakeOff International Children's Theatre Festival
County Durham, 21 - 23 Oct
Box Office: 01325 352004
www.takeofffestival.org.uk
Arts Centre Washington
Tyne & Wear, 24 Oct
Box Office: 0191 219 3455
www.artscentrewashington.co.uk
Carlisle, 25 Oct
Box Office: 01228 817590
www.oldfirestation.carlisle.city
Brewhouse
Burton, 27 Oct
Box Office: 01283 508100
www.brewhouse.co.uk
Derby Theatre
28 Oct
Box Office: 01332 59 39 39
www.derbytheatre.co.uk
Nottingham Lakeside Arts
29 Oct
Box Office: 0115 846 7777
www.lakesidearts.org.uk
Royal &Derngate
Northampton, 30 Oct
Box Office: 01604 624811
www.royalandderngate.co.uk
The Castle
Wellingborough, 31 Oct
Box Office: 01933 270 007
www.thecastle.org.uk
Half Moon
London E1, 2 - 5 Nov
Box Office: 020 7709 8900
www.halfmoon.org.uk
Cheshire Rural Touring Arts at Tarvin Community Centre
Tarvin, Chester, 6 Nov
Box Office: 01829 741962
www.tarvincommunitycentre.org
Whitby Hall at Trinity Ellesmere Port
7 Nov
Box Office: 0151 357 2120
www.actiontransporttheatre.org
Z-arts
Manchester, 8 Nov
Box Office: 0161 226 1912
www.z-arts.org
South Holland Centre
Spalding, 10 Nov
Box Office: 01775 764777
www.southhollandcentre.co.uk
The egg
Bath Theatre Royal, 12 - 14 Nov
Box Office: 01225 823409
www.theatreroyal.org.uk
The North Wall
Oxford, 15 Nov
Box Office: 01865 319450
www.thenorthwall.com
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