Salisbury Playhouse and Living Spit to Stage FRANKENSTEIN

Salisbury Playhouse and Bristol-based Living Spit present a new comedy adaptation with songs of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Commissioned by Salisbury Playhouse, the production is written and performed by Living Spit's Howard Coggins and Stu Mcloughlin, who have developed a strong following for irreverent musical adaptations of historical and literary works.

Frankenstein is commissioned by Original Drama, Salisbury Playhouse's commitment to producing new work and supporting artists in the South West. It sees Living Spit performing on a main stage for the first time, with a live four-piece band performing an original score. After its premiere at Salisbury Playhouse, the show transfers to Tropicana in Weston-Super-Mare as the biggest production to be staged at the formerly derelict venue since Banksy's Dismaland initiated its resuscitation in 2015.

Gareth Machin, Artistic Director, Salisbury Playhouse: 'We are proud to support and facilitate Living Spit to take its work to a new level and reach more audiences, whilst retaining all of its ingenuity, wit and playfulness. The company has been a joy to host in The Salberg and we are excited to share their work on the Main Stage for the first time and engage with new audiences at Tropicana.'

Howard Coggins and Stu Mcloughlin, Living Spit: "The opportunity to work with Salisbury Playhouse on the co-production of Frankenstein enables Living Spit to take a giant creative step that rivals that of Victor Frankenstein himself. The artistic expertise of Salisbury Playhouse plus a high-energy four-piece band and Michael Vale's winning stage design propel us into dramatic new territory. We're looking forward to presenting the show on The Playhouse's main stage and to the opportunity of taking it to the iconic Tropicana - until recently a dark, deserted lido on The Edge of the sea. We think the pioneering spirit of Mary Shelley would approve.'

Living Spit was founded by Stu Mcloughlin and Howard Coggins in 2012, to present The Six Wives of Henry VIII (initially inspired by the notion that Howard really does look like Henry VIII). It has since toured pubs, studio spaces and rural venues, with productions based on historical stories or classical text, including A Christmas Carol, Adolf and Winston and Elizabeth I - Virgin on the Ridiculous. Its most recent production was The Fabulous Bacon Boys, a retelling of The Three Little Pigs. The company has been instrumental in revitalising the Arts scene in North Somerset, since the area had all its Arts funding cut almost a decade ago.

This season, Salisbury Playhouse Original Drama also revives its first commission Worst Wedding Ever by Chris Chibnall, following its sell-out success in 2014, co-produced with New Wolsey Theatre and Queen's Theatre Hornchurch (Salisbury Playhouse, 2-25 February; New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich, 1-11 March; Queen's Theatre Hornchurch, 15 March-1 April); and premieres The Night Before Christmas (5-31 December), a new musical adaptation by Gareth Machin and Glyn Kerslake. For pre-school children, it is Salisbury Playhouse Original Drama's first ever musical and first ever production for children.

IF YOU GO:

Venue Salisbury Playhouse, Malthouse Lane, Salisbury, SP2 7RA

Dates + times 20 October to 5 November 2016 at 7.30pm. + 2.15pm on 27 October, 3 + 5 November
Box office 01722 320 333

Tickets £25.00-£9.50

Venue Tropicana, Marine Parade, Weston-Super-Mare, BS23 1BE
Dates + times 12 to 20 November 2016 at 7.30pm. + 2.30pm on 13, 19 + 20 November

Box office 0117 902 0344

Tickets £14 (£12 concs)

Salisbury Playhouse is an arts and educational charity and one of Britain's leading producing theatres, with a national reputation for homegrown work of the highest quality that attracts audiences from across Wiltshire, Hampshire, Dorset and beyond. Recent productions have seen Kirsty Bushell as Hedda Gabler and the premiere of Up Down Man (produced with Myrtle Theatre Company), and the autumn/winter 2016 season includes a new adaptation of The Night Before Christmas and a revival of Chris Chibnall's hit comedy Worst Wedding Ever. For more information, visit www.salisburyplayhouse.com.

Living Spit was founded in 2012 to stage Henry VIII, which toured extensively through 2012/13, including its premiere at Bristol Old Vic and a run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Subsequent productions, which all opened in Bristol and toured the UK, are: Adolf & Winston, In Cider Story (2013), The Devil and the Shopkeeper (2013), Elizabeth I - Virgin on the Ridiculous (2014), One Man & His Cow, The Devil and The Shopkeeper 2 (A sequel) (2015), Living Spit's A Christmas Carol (2015) and The Fabulous Bacon Boys (2016). The company has a successful relationship with the Tobacco Factory, the last four shows having sold out in advance of opening. They brought Henry, Adolf & Winston and Elizabeth to Salisbury Playhouse, and that's where the idea of making a larger show was born.

The Tropicana is a former 1930s lido situated on Weston-super-Mare's seafront. It was unoccupied between 2000 and 2015, until the advent of Banksy's Dismaland kick-started a creative life for this heritage space with its raw yet majestic interior.

Craig Edwards, Director. As a director Craig's work includes: Mother Savage (Travelling Light), Sammy and the Snow Leopard (Travelling Light), Penetrator (Bristol Old Vic), Romeo & Juliet (Bath Theatre Royal Storm On The Lawn), Danny King Of The Basement (M6 Theatre Co), The Nothing Show (Nothing Productions), The Mysterious Vanishment Of Pobby & Dingan (Travelling Light).

As an actor his work includes: Jane Eyre (Bristol Old Vic/ National Theatre), Into the West (Travelling Light),?Cinderella (Tobacco Factory/Travelling Light), Treasure Island (Bristol Old Vic), Two Four Six Eight! (Shoofly Theatre), Around The World In 80 Days, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Theatre Royal Bath), The Ugly Duckling (Tobacco Factory/Travelling Light) Lenny, Too Many Cooks, The Stones, The Melon Boat, The Last Tyger and Tir Na N'og (Travelling Light), Strange Case, We're Going On A Bear Hunt, Around The World In 80 Days, Wind In The Willows, Endgame, A Midsummer Night's Dream, An Enemy Of The People, Metamorphosis, Romeo & Juliet (Bristol Old Vic), Ministry Of Fear, Cobbo, You Can't Catch Me, One In A Million (Theatre Alibi), Myrtle On The Mainline, Jump, Hello Craig (Myrtle Theatre ),The Boat Plays (The Gate),Heredity (Royal Court Upstairs), The Snake House (Greenwich Studio), Normal (Pleasance).

He is also a co-founder of Shoofly Theatre with Designer Katie Sykes. ?Craig has known both Howard and Stu for a great many years and strangely still wants to work with them.

Howard Coggins trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He is co-founder of Living Spit, for which he has co-written, co-composed and co-performed in The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Adolf and Winston, In Cider Story, Elizabeth I: Virgin on the Ridiculous, One Man and His Cow, The Devil and the Shopkeeper Parts 1 and 2, Living Spit's Christmas Carol and The Fabulous Bacon Boys.

Other Theatre: Peter Pan, Treasure Island, Short Fuses, Around the World in 80 Days, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Beasts & Beauties, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Up The Feeder Down The 'Mouth, Babes In the Wood, Jack & The Beanstalk, Aladdin, The Great Big Story Mix Up, Myrtle On The Mainline (Bristol Old Vic), Mother Goose (Salisbury Playhouse), The Wind in the Willows, Treasure Island (Watermill), The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk (Watford Palace), Cinderella (Roses, Tewkesbury), City of One (Myrtle Theatre Company), The Magic Carpet (Lyric Hammersmith), The Wizard Of Oz (Hall For Cornwall), Aladdin (Reading Hexagon), Elsie & Norm's Macbeth (Show Of Strength), Still Waters (Theatre Gwent), Aladdin (Cheltenham Everyman), A Midsummer Night's Dream, Watchers Of The Night Sky (Theatre Iolo). TV: The Coroner, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries, Siege in the Sahara, Waking the Dead, Law and Order, Sherlock-The Great Game, Beautiful People, Moses Jones, Being Human, Doc Martin, Doctors, Jam and Jerusalem, Trevor Island, Beau Brummell, Bleak House, Dream Team, Much Ado About Nothing, The Giblets, Walk Away & I Stumble, Worst Week Of My Life, Casualty, Patrick's Planet, Every Time You Look At Me, Teachers, Black Books, Dalziel & Pascoe; Mister Charity, Othello, The Bill, Undercover Customs Film: Dope Opera, The Ghost Of Greville Lodge, La Comtessa Di Castaglione Radio: The Martin Beck Killings, She, A City Full of Swindlers

Stu Mcloughlin trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He is co-founder of Living Spit, for which he has co-written, co-composed and co-performed in The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Adolf and Winston, In Cider Story, Elizabeth I: Virgin on the Ridiculous, One Man and His Cow, The Devil and the Shopkeeper Parts 1 and 2, Living Spit's Christmas Carol and The Fabulous Bacon Boys.

Other theatre work includes: Up The Feeder Down the Mouth and Back Again, The Odyssey, Swallows and Amazons (Bristol Old Vic), Coram Boy, A Matter of Life and Death (National Theatre), Brief Encounter (UK Tour/ West End/ USA Tour), Midnight's Pumpkin and The Wild Bride (Kneehigh Theatre). Radio credits include: Going Solo, The Wild Bride, The Magnificent Andrea, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch (BBC Radio 4). Film and Television credits include: Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Deep Blue Sea, Waking the Dead, The Lost Honour of Christopher Jeffries and Clone.

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