Fuel Reveals Lineup of Autumn 2023 Programming; FLIP!, Inua Ellams, and More!

Fuel has announced its programme of work for autumn 2023. Fuel favourite Inua Ellams has three projects including a special edition of his much loved night-time cultural walking tour through an urban space The Midnight Run, this time celebrating the revival of the City of London’s famous ancient Batholomew Fair. Ellams will also present his signature show An Evening with an Immigrant as part of Bloomsbury Festival as a fundraising event for Choose Love. And finally a new production of Ellams’ very first play The 14th Tale will tour to secondary schools.

The programme also features the world premiere of a new play by Racheal Ofori, directed by Emily Aboud. FLIP! examines the relationship between two young black women and their obsession with social media. The play will open in Newcastle at Alphabetti, before runs in Edinburgh at Summerhall and London at Soho Theatre.

Inspired by groundbreaking new research, The Last Taboo of Motherhood? sees Courtney Conrad, Bryony Kimmings and Sara Sharaawi create audio plays that address postnatal mental illness.

Fuel also continues its commitment to helping young people in schools across the UK to take part in high quality live performances. 

Kate McGrath said: "Hot on the heels of the successes of Hannah Lavery's Protest and Russell Tovey and Neil Bartlett's BLUE NOW, we are thrilled to be premiering Racheal Ofori's sparklingly fresh and brilliantly funny new play FLIP!, as well as new commissions by Courtney Conrad, Bryony Kimmings and Sara Sharaawi, in response to fascinating new research into attitudes to post-natal depression and psychosis in the UK: The Last Taboo of Motherhood?

We're equally proud to be producing work with and for young people in schools across the UK as well as creating a fresh version of The Midnight Run for the City of London, and supporting Choose Love with a special performance of An Evening with an Immigrant."

FLIP!

in association with Alphabetti

Written by Racheal Ofori

Directed by Emily Aboud

Meet Carleen and Crystal. The influencers with cultural commentary that will have you in stitches! Love them or hate them, there’s no stopping their fast-growing online following.

Offline, Carleen has her reservations about their cyber personas, but she idolises Crystal and would follow her anywhere...even to FLIP!, the new social media giant that has everyone hooked – and Carleen and Crystal are no exception; especially when it seems that their videos could make them famous.

Superstardom, followers, fame, influence, money: it’s all just one click away. FLIP! is the answer to everything they’ve ever dreamed of. But is it too good to be true?

FLIP! is a powerful new satire from critically-acclaimed writer Racheal Ofori and director Emily Aboud (Evening Standard Future Theatre Award winner 2021) that probes what it means to live freely under the shadow of social media, encroaching on every aspect of our lives. How can we be our authentic selves in a world of algorithms intent on proving just how disposable we all are?

Co-commissioned by Fuel and Soho Theatre, as part of Soho Six. Supported by the Cockayne Foundation - Grants for the Arts and The London Community Foundation, Arts Council England, Fenton Arts Trust, the Noel Coward Foundation, and the Leche Trust.

Tour Dates

Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle: 10-28 October: www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk
Summerhall, Edinburgh: 31 October - 4 November: ​​www.summerhall.co.uk
Soho Theatre, London: 7-25 November: www.sohotheatre.com 

The Last Taboo of Motherhood?

Written by Courtney Conrad, Bryony Kimmings and Sara Sharaawi
Inspired by research by Hilary Marland, Kelly Couzens and Fabiola Creed

How do women tell their own stories about their mental distress? 

The Last Taboo of Motherhood? is a series of three individual audio plays illuminating an area of women’s health which has been historically overlooked: postnatal mental illness. The project draws on groundbreaking research led by Professor Hilary Marland, with Dr Kelly Couzens and Dr Fabiola Creed, and is informed by a variety of historical sources, including first hand testimonies from and by women in twentieth-century Britain. These pieces probe vital questions about women’s experiences and the pervasive culture of silence around maternal mental health. 

Funded by the Wellcome Trust and Warwick University, The Last Taboo of Motherhood? will tour in autumn 2023 as a physical installation (venues to be announced). It will also be available to stream as podcasts via Fuel Digital.

Inua Ellams and Fuel present An Evening with an Immigrant

Written and performed by Inua Ellams
In association with Choose Love, supporting refugees around the world, and Bloomsbury Festival
With music selection by DJ Sid Mercutio

Award-winning poet and playwright Inua Ellams, born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother in what is now considered to be Boko Haram territory, left Nigeria for England in 1996 aged 12.  

Littered with poems, stories and anecdotes and updated to include the latest chapters in his tale, Inua tells his ridiculous, fantastic, poignant immigrant-story of escaping fundamentalist Islam, finding friendship in Dublin, performing solo at The National Theatre, and drinking wine with the Queen of England, all the while without a country to belong to or a place to call home.  

This performance is presented in association with the School of Advanced Study at the University of London, where Inua is a Practitioner in Residence, and Choose Love, an organisation that supports refugees and displaced people all over the world. Proceeds from this event will go towards Choose Love’s vital work.  

Senate House, University of London: 19th October 2023

Fuel and The Midnight Run presents THE BARTHOLOMEW FAIR MIDNIGHT RUN

In the City of London

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. Past Midnight Runners have enjoyed a spectrum of activities including life-drawing, choral singing, puppetry, wrestling, cocktail making and tai chi, all whilst exploring a city as a group. The Midnight Run was established by Inua Ellams in 2005, since then, there have been 48 events nationally and internationally. 

Not all those who wander are lost – J.R.R Tolkien

This special Midnight Run will take you on an adventure to celebrate the City of London’s 21st century revival of London’s ancient Bartholomew Fair, exploring nocturnal life of the Square Mile, The City of London.

The route will journey past iconic City buildings as well as lesser-known nooks and crannies of the Square Mile as we celebrate a return to cultural activity. Come ready to explore, play and create. The Bartholomew Fair Midnight Run will be facilitated by Midnight Run Founder, Inua Ellams and two of his long-standing MNR collaborators, Vicky Wright and Kit Caless, all being joined by other local artists.

The Bartholomew Fair Midnight Run has been commissioned by the City of London Corporation for Bartholomew Fair, a three-week extravaganza of performances and cultural events across the Square Mile. The 2023 reimagining of iconic Bartholomew Fair brings a modern twist to the historic fair in a celebration of the City of London’s heritage and contemporary culture. It is part of the City of London’s Destination City programme which sets out a vision for the Square Mile to become a world-leading leisure destination for UK and international visitors, workers, and residents to enjoy.

31st August – 2nd September 2023

Fuelling Change is a new podcast series created and presented by Kate McGrath, which explores the role of the producer. Through interviews and conversations with artists including Khalid Abdalla, Rachel Bagshaw, ESKA, and Alan Lane, and producers including Louise Blackwell, Anthony Gray and Kate Scanlan, Fuelling Change looks at the evolution of the role of producer in live performance over the last twenty years, and what artists need from producers now and in the future.

Co-commissioned by Clore Leadership and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

In the autumn, Fuel will also share two new productions with schools across the country: a newly developed, digital version of The Day I Fell Into A Book by Lewis Gibson will tour into primary school classrooms for 8-11 year olds in November.

​Inua Ellams’ first play The 14th Tale will tour to secondary schools in a production directed by Thierry Lawson, who directed the original Fringe First Award-winning production for Fuel.

Fuel will also continue to develop new projects with artists across the UK and internationally, through residencies with partners including Hawkwood College and Coombe Farm Studios, and through research and development workshops with artists and communities.

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