Fuel Announces Its First Projects For 2023; World Premiere Tour of PROTEST, THE GRETCHEN QUESTION Film, and More!

Director and CEO of Fuel, Kate McGrath has announced the company's first shows for 2023. A UK tour of Hannah Lavery's new play Protest directed by Natalie Ibu will begin performances at Northern Stage in May followed by dates in Scotland and England.

A filmed version of Melly Still and Max Barton's play about the climate crisis The Gretchen Question will be released on 23 January for download. Audiences are also invited to have an intimate conversation with a stranger on the telephone as part of the world premiere of Travis Alabanza's latest project When All Is Said.

New performances are also announced for a raft of projects. Inua Ellams' The Midnight Run will be given a one off after dark performance on the Docklands campus of the University of East London. A special 25th anniversary performance of Uninvited Guests' hit show Love Letters Straight From Your Heart at the University of Bristol and finally Lewis Gibson's The Day I Fell Into a Book will tour to primary schools from March.

Kate McGrath said: "Despite the economic and political challenges of the moment, Fuel had a thrillingly creative and productive year in 2022, and I'm proud to say we're kicking off 2023 in similar style. Our new commissions by Hannah Lavery and Travis Alabanza will premiere this spring, alongside Hugo Glendinning's beautiful film of Melly Still and Max Barton's The Gretchen Question. Hannah's new play Protest continues our commitment to work which explores human rights, following on from 2022's Fly The Flag by Jenny Sealey and Bim Ajadi about the right to protest, and to commissioning and producing new work for young people. When All Is Said invites you to listen to intimate secrets over the phone, in five new plays by Travis Alabanza, Felix Mufti-Wright, Octavia Nyombi, Ebun Sodipo and Campbell X. And as well as these brand new projects, we're reinventing Lewis Gibson's The Day I Fell Into A Book for primary schools, taking Peaceophobia, co-created with Common Wealth, Speakers Corner and Bradford Modified Club, to communities across the UK, and celebrating the 25th birthday of Uninvited Guests with a special performance of their ever enchanting Love Letters Straight From Your Heart.

Fuel is proud to work in collaboration with these brilliant artists, and with a range of partner organisations, to create this programme across the UK and beyond. You'll be able to experience this season from Plymouth to Shetland - taking in Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Norwich, Hull, London, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Perth, St Andrews, Cumbernauld, East Renfrewshire and more on the way - and online wherever you are. So whether you're experiencing our work live in a theatre, by telephone in the intimacy of your own home, in a multi-story carpark, in your classroom at school, or on screen, we hope Fuel's programme will ignite your curiosity and creativity in the year ahead."

Fuel, Imaginate and Northern Stage in association with National Theatre of Scotland present 

Protest 

A new play by Hannah Lavery

Northern Stage, Newcastle, 27 April - 6 May

Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, 9 May

Perth Theatre, Perth, 10 - 11 May

Byre Theatre, St Andrews, 12 May

Mareel, Shetland, 16 May

Orkney Theatre, 18-19 May

Cumbernauld Theatre, Cumbernauld, 24 May

Eastwood Theatre, East Renfrewshire, 26 May

Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, 29-31 May

Tron Theatre, Glasgow, 1-2 June

Norwich Theatre, 13 - 15 June

Touring England June 2023

Booking: https://fueltheatre.com/projects/protest/

Creative Team

Writer - Hannah Lavery

Director - Natalie Ibu

Associate Director - Natasha Haws

Running is Alice's happy place - you might even say it's in her DNA. She's the best runner at her school but is struggling to prove her worth.  Jade is slowly coming to realise that prejudices can be found everywhere, even in the most surprising places. Realising that her education is ill-equipped to encompass her own history and heritage, and taunted by bullies at school, she knows it's time to tell her own story. Meanwhile, litter is piling up in the local forest, and all over the world an environmental crisis is looming.  Chloe is determined to make a change, starting with the town. 

Three girls prepare to stand up for what they believe in despite the injustices stacked against them in this new play exploring what it takes to make a difference, the power of friendship, and the importance of believing in your own voice. 

  

Co-commissioned by Fuel, Imaginate and Northern Stage. Developed and supported by the Scottish Government's Festivals Expo Fund and Imaginate's Accelerator programme. Accelerator is supported by the PLACE programme, funded by the Scottish Government (through Creative Scotland), the City of Edinburgh Council and the Edinburgh Festivals. 

 

Fuel presents

The Gretchen Question - Film

Link

Available from 23 January - 20 February

Written by - Melly Still & Max Barton

Directed by - Melly Still

Music composed & Performed by - Second Body (Max Barton & Jethro Cooke)

Designer - E.M. Parry

Lighting Designer - Malcolm Rippeth

Filmmaker & Editor - Hugo Glendinning

Cast

Maisie - Yohanna Ephrem

Solander/Dave 1 - Ryan Gerald

Lulit - Tamaira Hesson

Davina/Goethe - Katherine Manners

Gretchen - Lauren Moakes

Banks - Alex Mugnaioni

Spöring - Al Nedjari

Burrow - Christopher Saul

With the release of the film, we invite you to experience The Gretchen Question from the comfort of your home.

"We launch another voyage as soon as possible. Dig deeper."

In the 18th century, Gretchen witnesses the Royal Society return from a polar expedition with a mysterious oyster, promising unlimited wealth on the eve of industrial revolution. Present day, Maisie sets out to livestream from the Arctic as part of a questionable brand partnership. Lulit wakes on an ice rink, struggling to remember what happened to her last night.

The Gretchen Question is co-created by Melly Still and Max Barton, featuring music by Second Body and design by E. M. Parry. Drawing from the history of climate change, it invites us to inquire what the future holds for us.

The live production of The Gretchen Question premiered September 2022 and was staged outdoors by the Thames at the Master Shipwright's House in Deptford.

Produced by Fuel, in collaboration with the Albany, We Are Lewisham and Shipwright. Supported by the Mayor of London, Arts Council England, The Space, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Backstage Trust.

Fuel presents

When All Is Said

Presented by:

Contact, Manchester - w/c 20th February

Curve, Leicester - w/c 6th March

Unity Theatre, Liverpool - w/c 3rd April

Shoreditch Town Hall - w/c 2nd May

Curators - Travis Alabanza and Anthony Gray

Writers - Travis Alabanza, Felix Mufti-Wright, Octavia Nyombi, Ebun Sodipo and Campbell X

Directors - Emily Aboud and Leian John Baptiste

For more more information click here

What secrets would you tell a complete stranger?

A long taxi ride becomes a winding long journey into the past and the histories that shape us...a phone call conversation opens up a powerful set of revelations about incarceration and the criminal justice system...a university campus becomes a breeding ground for anti-trans hostility... the child of enslaved parents asks what freedom can really look like... a Black trans man is slowly realising that coming to terms with yourself is a fraught and uneven journey. Contained within these new stories by Travis Alabanza, Felix Mufti-Wright, Octavia Nyombi, Ebun Sodipo and Campbell X, are secrets - and you're invited to listen.

When All Is Said is a collection of 5 short plays, written by 5 Black trans people, in their own words, delivered over the phone. Curated by Travis Alabanza and directed by Emily Aboud and Leian John Baptiste, When All Is Said offers you the opportunity to sit back and listen, as these worlds and journeys are brought to life.

This project is produced and commissioned by Fuel, with support from Arts Council England.

Fuel and The Midnight Run present

The AFTER DARK Midnight Run

University of East London

8 February 2023

Booking link here

Founded by Inua Ellams

Lead Facilitator - Bhavini Sheth

For one night only, UEL:After Dark will light up the University of East London Docklands campus - engaging students across all their sites; welcoming families and local businesses; and providing opportunities for everyone to watch or participate in a range of art, light and movement-based activities. Commissioned by event company 18 Hours in collaboration with University East London, this special Midnight Run will take you on an adventure to celebrate the nocturnal joy of east London. The route will journey past iconic spaces and buildings as well as lesser-known nooks and crannies of Stratford and Hackney as we celebrate UEL:AFTER DARK. Come ready to explore, play and create. Founded by Inua Ellams, the Run will be facilitated by Bhavini Sheth, joined by other local artists.

The Midnight Run is a walking, arts-filled, night-time cultural journey through urban spaces. It gathers strangers and local artists together to explore, play and create, whilst the city sleeps. The Midnight Run aims to break down social barriers and provide a platform for established and emerging creatives, bringing moments of genuine interactive creativity.

The AFTER DARK Midnight Run has been commissioned by event company 18 Hours in collaboration with University East London.

Uninvited Guests and Fuel present

Love Letters Straight From Your Heart

Wickham Theatre, University of Bristol

25 February, 7pm

Tickets: Standard £10 Concessions £5.00

Booking link here

Uninvited Guests

Paul Clarke, Richard Dufty and Jessica Hoffmann

A celebratory revival to mark 25 years of Uninvited Guests and 75 years of Theatre at University of Bristol.

Uninvited Guests' Love Letters Straight From Your Heart will be revived in a special performance to celebrate University of Bristol's contribution to contemporary performance practice.

Love Letters is an intimate participatory event in which audience and performers offer dedications and declarations of love, past and present. It shifts between theatre and a real social event; dedications are spoken, toasts are made, speeches are given, songs are sung, and dances danced, on behalf of the audience and with them. For this performance, dedications will be invited that relate to memories of the company's work or to people's time at Bristol, relationships or friendships formed whilst studying in the Department of Theatre.

The performance will be accompanied by a presentation to reflect on 25 years of Uninvited Guests and look forward to future projects.

Created and performed by Uninvited Guests, who are Paul Clarke, Richard Dufty and Jessica Hoffmann

Produced by Fuel. Love Letters Straight From Your Heart was originally a BAC Scratch and Arnolfini We Live Here commission, also commissioned by Leeds Met Studio Theatre.

Lewis Gibson and Fuel present

The Day I Fell Into A Book

Touring nationally to primary schools

Available from March 2023

Writer, Performer and Sound Designer - Lewis Gibson

Video Designer - Isaac Madge

Illustrator - Helen Woollison

Dramaturg - Kate McGrath

Original Projection Designer - Luca Biada

The Institute is coming to your school. We conduct experiments into the power of imagination. s. We want to know what happens to your mind when you read. We want to get inside your heads. It is all perfectly safe. Trust us.

Using binaural headphones, interactive books and live streaming, The Day I Fell Into A Book takes its audience into a lost world of classic tales. Bit by bit, the fiction becomes reality as the stories seep into the room and our imaginations take over.

The piece is a binaural sound and classroom-sized theatre experience exploring the magic of reading and the creative vitality of young minds. The stories in the book mix fantasy with folklore, travel from underwater to high above the clouds, and take ideas from the experiences of the modern urban child alongside traditional tales from various cultures. Created by director, performer and composer, Lewis Gibson, it is aimed at children in KS2 aged 7 to 11. Teachers and carers can experience the performance together with the pupils.

The project was originally co-produced by Fuel and Southbank Centre, commissioned by Oxford Playhouse, delivered in partnership with The Story Museum and supported by Arts Council Project Lottery Grants. It was initially developed as part of Imagine, Southbank Centre and co-commissioned by Stratford Circus Arts Centre.

The Day I Fell Into A Book is available for primary school groups to book. For further information please contact marina@fueltheatre.com.

Common Wealth and Fuel present

Peaceophobia

Touring the UK in 2023. Dates to be announced soon

For more information click here

Co-created by Common Wealth, Speakers Corner and Bradford Modified Club

Written by Zia Ahmed with Mohammad Ali Yunis, Casper Ahmed, and Sohail Hussain

If 'Islam' comes from 'peace', how can you fear peace? 

Peaceophobia is an unapologetic response to rising Islamophobia around the world. Part car-meet part-theatre, the show explores how you find peace in a world that tells you who you are. 

Growing up in the shadow of the Bradford Riots, 9/11 and police harassment, cars and faith are a sanctuary, an escape, an expression for three Muslim Pakistani men. Ali, Sohail and Casper are taking control of the narratives around their religion, their city, and their cars. 

Staged in a carpark with a Supra, a Golf and a classic Nova, Peaceophobia brings together cars and theatre with cinematic lighting and an original electronic sound score. 

Conceived in Bradford and co-directed by young women from Speakers' Corner Collective and award-winning theatre company Common Wealth, co-written by acclaimed playwright Zia Ahmed and Bradford Modified Club, in co-production with Fuel.

Credits

Co-Created by Common Wealth, Speakers Corner, Bradford Modified Club

Written by Zia Ahmed with Mohammad Ali Yunis, Casper Ahmed, and Sohail Hussain

Performed by Mohammad Ali Yunis, Casper Ahmed, and Sohail Hussain

Directed by Evie Manning, Iram Rehman, Sajidah Shabir, Rosema Nawaz, Mariyah Kayat, Madeyah Khan, and Maleehah Hussain

Designer Rosie Elnile

Sound Designer & Composer Wojciech Rusin

Lighting Designer Andy Purves

Associate Designer & Inflatables Creator Rachel Schofield Owen, Soft Tissue Studio

Choreography Support Lloyd Thomas and Himani Bhardwaj

Voice Actors Merch Husey , Liz Simmons and James Lewis

Production Manager Rachel Bowen

Graphic Designer Robert Scargill

Videographer & Video Editor Jack King

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