Leading Disabled Integrated Theatre Consortium Ramps On The Moon Presents Tour Of OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD

The acclaimed consortium Ramps on the Moon are back this Spring, with Nottingham Playhouse as this year's lead producing partner, to present their co-production of Our Country's Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker.

Following Birmingham Repertory Theatre's critically praised staging of Nikolai Gogol's The Government Inspector, in 2016, and the award winning 2017 New Wolsey Theatre co-production of The Who's Tommy, this is the third co-production created by the consortium of seven theatre companies dedicated to putting D/deaf and disabled artists and audiences at the centre of their work. The tour comes hot on the heels of the announcement, at the end of January, that Ramps on the Moon will receive £2.1million from the Arts Council England to ensure they can continue their important work to transform mid-large scale mainstream touring theatre and break down barriers to participation, normalising the inclusion and contribution of D/deaf and disabled people in their organisations.

Our Country's Good will première at Nottingham Playhouse from 9 -24 March (press performance 13 March) and then tour to New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Sheffield Crucible and Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

In 1787, ships with over 700 convicts on board set sail on an eight-month voyage. When they arrive in Australia, their survival is by no means certain: supplies are running out, the convicts are stealing food or trying to escape and the guards are threatening mutiny.

Our Country's Good tells the extraordinary true story of a group of convicts and a young officer who rehearse and perform a play - Australia's first theatrical production. With opposition from the officers and a leading lady who may be hanged, the odds are stacked against them.

Our Country's Good will be directed by Nottingham Playhouse associate director Fiona Buffini, whose recent production of All My Sons at the theatre won rave reviews. The cast is made up of Colin Connor, Tom Dawze, Jarrad Ellis-Jones, Dave Fishley, Fifi Garfield, Keiren Hamilton-Amos, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Kieron Jecchinis, Sapphire Joy, Will Lewis, Milton Lopes, Alex Nowak, Caroline Parker, Tim Pritchett, Fergus Rattigan, Garry Robson and Emily Rose Salter. The production is designed by Neil Murray with lighting by Mark Jonathan, music and sound design by Jon Nicholls and associate direction by Simon Startin.

Nottingham Playhouse has been one of the United Kingdom's leading producing theatres since its foundation in 1948. It welcomes over 130,000 ticket buyers through its doors annually and an additional 170,000 visitors to participation events and to Anish Kapoor's stunning Sky Mirror. It creates productions large and small, from timeless classics and enthralling family shows to adventurous new commissions, often touring work nationally and internationally. Its production of The Kite Runner has had two West End's transfers and tours throughout the UK to June 2018. The first production under new Artistic Director Adam Penford, Wonderland by Nottingham writer Beth Steel, opens on 9 February 2018.

Ramps On The Moon was set up in recognition of the under representation and employment of D/ deaf disabled people throughout the industry, particularly in "mainstream" theatre and follows on from the highly successful production of The Threepenny Opera in Spring 2014. Integrating D/deaf, disabled and non-disabled performers and practitioners, this six year programme of work, funded by Art Council England's Strategic Touring Fund for the first 3 years, aims to achieve a step change in the employment and artistic opportunities for D/deaf and disabled performers and creative teams, and a cultural change in the participating organisations that will enable accessibility to become a central part of their thinking and aesthetics. The consortium venues are New Wolsey Theatre, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Nottingham Playhouse, Sheffield Theatres, Theatre Royal Stratford East and Graeae Theatre Company.

This production of Our Country's Good will have embedded creative use of Audio Description, Captioning and British Sign Language in all performances.

Tour Dates:

9 - 24 March
Nottingham Playhouse
011594 19419
www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk

28 March - 7 April
New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich
01473 295900
www.wolseytheatre.co.uk <http://www.wolseytheatre.co.uk>

11 - 21 April
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
0113 213 7700
http://www.theatreroyal.org.uk <http://www.theatreroyal.org.uk>

25 April - 5 May
Theatre Royal Stratford East
020 8534 0310
www.stratfordeast.com <http://www.stratfordeast.com>

12 - 19 May
Sheffield Crucible Theatre
0114 249 6000
www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk <http://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk>

23 May - 2 June
Birmingham Rep
0121 236 4455
www.birmingham-rep.co.uk <http://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk>

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