National Theatre Wales Announces Autumn Shows for 2010

Since the curtain was raised on its first production in March, National Theatre Wales - Wales' first English-language theatre company - has staged six stunning productions in locations across the country, to overwhelming critical acclaim.

· Five of its first six shows were totally sold out (84% of all available tickets have been sold);

· Productions staged in 10 locations the length and breadth of Wales, including five miners' institutes, the entire town of Barmouth, a beach in Prestatyn, and a military training range on the Brecon Beacons;

· widespread, national critical acclaim:

"National Theatre Wales gets off to a cracking start" (Daily Mail on A Good Night Out in the Valleys);
"a theatrical treat" (The Western Mail on Shelf Life);
"revelatory... its quality of bravura assurance astounds" (The Daily Telegraph on The Devil Inside Him);
"a triumph" (Buzz on For Mountain, Sand & Sea);
"a theatrical experience like no other... unique and unforgettable" (The Times on The Persians);

six free Assemblies held - public events in which local artists and residents tackle local issues in six communities;

collaborations with theatre companies including Hide&Seek, Volcano and the Welsh National Opera, directors including Elen Bowman, Mike Pearson and artists including Marc Rees and over 100 others;

· new audiences attracted from all over Wales, and beyond.

Now, National Theatre Wales is very proud to announce details of its next three productions: Love Steals Us From Loneliness, The Dark Philosophers and The Weather Factory (see attached documents).

LOVE STEALS US FROM LONELINESS 

In partnership with Sherman Cymru
Written by Gary Owen
Directed by John E McGrath
Thursday 7th - Saturday 16th October 2010
Hobo's Rock Club & Live Music Venue, Bridgend

For this key production in National Theatre Wales' launch year, Gary Owen, one of Wales's foremost playwrights, has turned his attention to the town where he spent his teens, asking what it's like to be a teenager in Bridgend, in Wales, and in the UK today.
Gary will collaborate with director John E McGrath (artistic director of National Theatre Wales) and a stellar cast, who include BAFTA Cymru winner Nia Roberts (Lois), who recently appeared on BBC Wales' Doctor Who and performed in the Oscar-nominated film Solomon a Gaenor.
In Love Steals Us From Loneliness, Gary looks beyond the headlines to examine the real issues that surround adolescence - impulsiveness, uncertainty, extremes of emotion, loss and how we deal with it, longing, boredom, guilt, exuberance, and denial. The play follows a group of Bridgend teenagers as they drink together, explore their sexual identity, and contemplate their future. And when, one night, everything changes, we see how the events of adolescence irreversibly shape our adult lives.
Gary Owen was born in Pembrokeshire in 1972, and moved with his family to Bridgend aged eight and a half. His plays include Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco, The Shadow of a Boy, (winner, Meyer Whitworth Award, George Devine Award), The Drowned World (winner, Fringe First and Pearson Best Play Award) and Ghost City. Most recently, he's written a new adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol for Sherman Cymru, and Mrs Reynolds and The Ruffian for Watford Palace Theatre. Other new work this autumn includes In the Pipeline for Paines Plough and Òran Mór, and Blackthorn, a new play for Clwyd Theatr Cymru. With Helen Raynor, he is co-writer and creator of the upcoming BBC Wales TV series Baker Boys.
Love Steals Us From Loneliness is directed by John E McGrath, Artistic Director of National Theatre Wales. Previously Artistic Director of Contact Theatre, Manchester, John trained in New York, where he was also Associate Director of Mabou Mines. In 2005, he was awarded the NESTA Cultural Leadership Award. He directed National Theatre Wales' inaugural production, A Good Night Out In The Valleys, in March 2010.

Remy Beasley's recent theatre credits include It's About Time (Nabokov Theatre), Spring Awakening, Harvest and Realism (Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama). Television includes Tasha and film includes 20 Questions (BBC Wales).
Katie Elin-Salt and trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Recent theatre credits include The Miracle, Playhouse Creatures and August: Osage County (RWCM&D), West Side Story and Singin' in the Rain (Bridgend Youth Theatre). Television includes Perfect Summer (Fiction Factory).
Nia Roberts' stage credits include Esther (Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru), Lovely Evening (Young Vic), and Cymbeline (Ludlow Festival). Recent film credits include Barafundle Bay (Western Edge Picture), Patagonia (Malacara), Theory of Flight (Paul Greengrass), Lois (Eryri Films) and Solomon and Gaenor (Film Four), which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2000. Television credits include Holby City (BBC Television), Pen Talar (Fiction Factory) and Hotel Babylon (BBC). She won the BAFTA Cymru for Best Actress in 1999, and was nominated again in 2000.
Mark Sumner trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Recent theatre credits include Harvest, The Changeling, and August: Osage County (RWCM&D). Musical credits include Hello Again (RWCM&D), Fiddler on the Roof, and West Side Story (Bridgend Youth Theatre). Television includes Con Passionate (Apollo).
Matthew Trevannion's recent theatre credits include the @Virtually Real (Roundhouse), All in All (Rosencrantz, Amsterdam), Bright Unconquered Sons (Pleasance), Call Me Madam (Upstairs at the Gatehouse) Bent and Journey's End (Broadway Theatre).
Love Steals Us From Loneliness is a co-production with Sherman Cymru. The Sherman building is currently closed for a £5.4 million redevelopment, but the company is continuing to make and tour work within Wales and the UK. Their most recent production, Speechless, a co-production with Shared Experience, was received to critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It won a Fringe First Award and was nominated for an Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award.

THE DARK PHILOSOPHERS
A new theatre production based on the stories of Gwyn Thomas
In association with Told by an Idiot
Adapted by Carl Grose and Told by an Idiot
Directed by Paul Hunter
Designed by Angela Davies
Thursday 11th - Saturday 13th November 2010
The Riverfront Theatre, Newport
Thursday 18th - Saturday 20th November 2010
Y Stiwt Theatre, Wrexham

National Theatre Wales and Told by an Idiot celebrate Gwyn Thomas, the great Welsh storyteller and dark, hilarious chronicler of the Valleys - one of the most distinctive Welsh voices of the last century.
Taking as its inspiration Thomas' ink-black comic tales, The Dark Philosophers - National Theatre Wales' eighth production - is a funny, violent and passionate depiction of a community teetering on the brink of humanity. Using Told by an Idiot's trademark anarchic physicality and inventive storytelling, this adaptation brings out the bleak, wild humour in tales laced with sex, murder and Thomas' devastating Valleys wit.
Gwyn Thomas (1913-1981) was born and brought up in Cymmer, in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales. Growing up in poverty, he won a scholarship to Oxford University, and returned to Wales to teach. The Dark Philosophers - a collection of short stories - was published in 1946, while his novels include The Alone to the Alone, All Things Betray Thee, The World Cannot Hear You, and Now Lead Us Home. His play The Keep opened at The Royal Court Theatre in 1961, to great acclaim.
Paul Hunter is co-founder and co-Artistic Director of Told by an Idiot with Hayley Carmichael. He has been involved as director/devisor/performer in all their work to date, including The Comedy of Errors, The Fahrenheit Twins, and Beauty and the Beast. Other acting credits include: Troilus and Cressida and A Midsummer Night's Dream (both Shakepseare's Globe), Rapunzel (Kneehigh), and Les Enfants du Paradis (RSC). He was an Associate Director at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, where he directed The Venetian Twins, The Beauty Queen of Leenane (winner of MEN Award - Best Production), and Accidental Death of An Anarchist. His other directing credits include: Low Pay, Don't Pay (Salisbury Playhouse), and Senora Carrar's Rifles (Young Vic).
Carl Grose worked with Told by an Idiot on Beauty and the Beast (Lyric, Hammersmith). Other writing includes Gargantua (National Theatre New Connections Festival), Cymbeline (Kneehigh/RSC), and Tristan and Yseult (Kneehigh/National Theatre). He co-founded the Cornish theatre and film Production Company o-region, and also works as an actor and director.
Angela Davies designed National Theatre Wales' very first production, A Good Night Out in the Valleys. Her previous work includes Life Is A Dream (Donmar Warehouse). She has designed for companies including the RSC, and for several operas. Her current projects include Rigoletto for Grange Park Opera.

THE WEATHER FACTORY
National Theatre Wales, in partnership with Fevered Sleep
Directed and designed by David Harradine
Tuesday 7 - Tuesday 21 December 2010
Penygroes, Gwynedd

Where does all the weather in Wales come from? This festive season, National Theatre Wales and Fevered Sleep invite you to visit the Weather Factory to discover the real drama of the elements.

You get all sorts round for Christmas. Guests you welcome with open arms, some who seem to stay forever and those dressed in red who arrive bearing gifts. But this Christmas, National Theatre Wales and Fevered Sleep's David Harradine have invited a very unusual guest to a house in Penygroes.

Step through the front door to join a midwinter gathering, and discover what might happen if the weather came to visit. As you walk through the house, a series of exquisite installations and performances recreate the four seasons, all on one winter's night in North Wales.

Created entirely on location in a house in Penygroes, The Weather Factory transforms an ordinary house into a place of magic, using local people's stories about the weather, the conversations we all have about it, and the science behind the seasons to celebrate the natural geography that makes Snowdonia the engine room of the Welsh climate.

This is the ninth show in the launch year for National Theatre Wales, the new English-language company making world class work in diverse places and unique spaces across Wales.

The Weather Factory is designed for adults and children aged 9 and up, and will approach the timeless question of the weather with a lively and magical curiosity.

Director and designer David Harradine is Artistic Director of the company Fevered Sleep, working across the UK and internationally, the company makes exquisite work for children and curious adults.

An associate company of the Young Vic, Fevered Sleep has built an international reputation for devising bold and experimental work that is both playful and profound. Recent projects include commissions from Brighton Festival, Sadler's Wells, Siobhan Davies Dance and the Young Vic.

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