HEADLONG Announce Their Plans for 2017

Headlong's Artistic Director Jeremy Herrin announces the company's plans for the future with an exceptional season of world premieres, re-workings, short films and country wide participation work.

The season features provocative, constantly surprising theatre which addresses urgent questions about the way we live today with vitality, wit and theatrical intelligence. Uniting an eclectic group of theatre-makers with a common aim to challenge the limits of what theatre can achieve, this programme develops Headlong's commitment to touring the most ambitious theatre to audiences around the UK and across the world.Headlong's season will be presented in collaboration with leading UK theatres where the plays receive their premieres.

Jeremy Herrin, Artistic Director of Headlong said "I'm delighted that Headlong can foster so many national conversations. Whether it's through the new work we produce or the radical reinterpretations of classics we take to our audiences; or through working with The Guardian to support an urgent artistic response to Brexit on a nationwide scale. We hope that our new Headlong Futures pilot project will be a way of creatively empowering under-served communities and encouraging them to share their voices and is in keeping with our mission to make the best theatre we can, theatre that addresses what's important in a surprising and inspiring way."

Headlong, Nuffield and West Yorkshire Playhouse presents "Pygmalion", by Bernard Shaw and directed by Sam Pritchard
Friday 3 to Saturday 25 February 2016, with press night Wednesday 8 February, 7:45, West Yorkshire Playhouse
"The science of speech. That's my profession. I can place any man within six miles. I can place him within two miles in London. Sometimes within two streets."
How far do accents define us? Is status still dictated by our mother tongue?

Sam Pritchard directs a radical new staging of Bernard Shaw's acute comedy Pygmalion, in a co-production between Headlong, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Nuffield, Southampton. The play will open to press in Leeds and then travel to Warwick, Leicester, Cheltenham, Bath, Keswick, Oxford, finishing at the Nuffield, Southampton. More dates to be announced.

Shaw's celebrated play was first staged over 100 years ago and is recognised as one of the most enduring and perceptive of English comedies. In this audacious new staging, Sam Pritchard playfully carves a contemporary world on stage using sound and video technology which examines class identity and questions how far accents and speech can define us in Britain today.

Sam Pritchard is the Associate Director (International) at the Royal Court and was winner of the JMK Award for Directors in 2012. His credits include Anna (Aix Opera Festival/ENOA Workshop), There Has Possibly Been An Incident (Royal Exchange and Edinburgh St Stephens/Soho Theatre/Berlin Theatertreffen), Buy Nothing Day (Company of Angels) Fireface (Young Vic) and Galka Motalka (Royal Exchange)

Pygmalion continues Headlong's emerging director's scheme, this hugely successful model now in its seventh year, allows a director in the Early Stages of their career the opportunity to present work on main stages across the country. This programme has previously supported work from Simon Godwin, Natalie Abrahami, Robert Icke, Blanche McIntyre, Ben Kidd and Ellen McDougall.

Full tour and casting will be announced shortly.

Headlong, Bristol Old Vic, Rose Theatre Kingston, Theatr Clwyd present "Junkyard", with book and lyrics by Jack Thorne, music by Stephen Warbeck and direction by Jeremy Herrin
Friday 24 February to Saturday 18 March at Bristol Old Vic, with press night Thursday 2 March, 7pm.
This production will also tour.
"Who'd want to join in building a f***ing playground. We're 13 years old"
Jeremy Herrin directs Jack Thorne's visceral new work, Junkyard, a funny and vivid musical with original score from Academy Award-winning composer Stephen Warbeck, about a miscreant group of teenagers who come together to build an adventure playground.
Junkyard is a co-production with Headlong, Bristol Old Vic, Rose Theatre Kingston and Theatr Clwyd. It will open to press at Bristol Old Vic before travelling to North Wales (29 March to 15 April) and Kingston (Wed 19 - Sun 30 Apr).
It's 1979, and a motley crew of teenagers grudgingly agree to create a junk playground in Bristol under the guidance of the well-meaning Rick. As the playground starts to come to life - it turns from something that means nothing to something that means a lot. And kids that care about nothing, start to care a lot. But darkness has a way of coming back and biting you when you least expect it.
Inspired by the true story behind the Lockleaze playground known as 'The Vench', established over 30 years ago and still operating today, Junkyard is a story about Bristol, for Bristol, from BAFTA award-winning writer and Bristolian Jack Thorne
Jack Thorne writes for theatre, film, television and radio. His theatre credits include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Hopeand Let The Right One In directed by John Tiffany, The Solid Life of Sugarwater for the Graeae Theatre Company, Bunny for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Stacy for the Trafalgar Studios, 2nd May 1997 and When You Cure Me for the Bush. His adaptations include The Physicists for the Donmar Warehouse and Stuart: A Life Backwards for Hightide. On film his credits include War Book, A Long Way Down and The Scouting Book for Boys. For television his credits include The Last Panthers, Don't Take My Baby, This Is England, The Fades, Glue and Cast-Offs and the upcoming National Treasure. In 2012 he won BAFTAs for best series (The Fades) and best serial (This Is England 88).
Full casting to be announced.

Headlong and the Guardian produce a series of short films on Brexit
Headlong and the Guardian newspaper have joined forces to interrogate the Brexit vote. In a series of short films to be broadcast on the Guardian website, leading theatre voices from across the UK will look at both sides of the argument to find out what happened, why and what the consequences could be?
The Brexit vote was the single most significant event in UK politics since WW2. In a deeply divided nation how does such disparity of views affect ideas of community, values and aspirations. How will this political revolution reshape politics in Britain?
Headlong has gathered leading voices from theatre to reflect and examine the political and cultural landscape of leave and remain voters of Britain post Brexit and what happened in the run up to this momentous decision.
The short films will be produced by Headlong and the Guardian and released through the Guardian website.

HEADLONG FUTURES
Our nation is divided. The North the South. The haves the have nots. The city and rural settings. Are we so different? What can we learn from each other's experiences? What do we want to tell the world about where we are from
Headlong Futures is a bold new pilot initiative which aims to start a national conversation. As the country's leading touring company Headlong always strives to ask urgent and vital questions about who we are, where we live and what sort of world we want. Headlong Futures will seek to open a dialogue with targeted communities, many of whom do not engage with the arts and often their voices are not heard.
Over an eighteen month period Headlong will embed a theatre practitioner in four locations across the country and work with communities in Lockleaze Bristol, Margate in Kent, County Durham and Croydon in London. Through a series of workshops, each group will develop and exchange ideas culminating in a new piece of theatre.
For further information on Headlong Futures please go to www.headlong.co.uk

HEADLONG IN THE WEST END

Nica Burns, Caro Newling for Neal Street Productions, Headlong; in association with Jonathan Church Productions and Gavin Kalin Productions and TC Beech Ltd present the National Theatre and Chichester Festival Theatre production of "This House" by James Graham, with direction by Jeremy Herrin, design by Rae Smith with lighting by Paule Constable, sound by Ian Dickinson and music by Stephen Warbeck
Saturday 19 November to Saturday 25 February 2017, with Press Night on Wednesday 30 November, 7pm

James Graham's critically acclaimed political drama This House transfers to the Garrick Theatre, following its upcoming run at Chichester's Minerva Theatre. Having originally played two sell-out seasons at the National Theatre, and again directed by Headlong Artistic Director Jeremy Herrin, This House opens for previews on 19 November, with a press night on Wednesday 30 November 2016.

To post a comment, you must register and login.