New Perspectives Announces 2018 Season
By: Stephi Wild Nov. 29, 2017
Following an ambitious year that culminated in the first rural tour of Richard Bean's epic farming saga Harvest, 2018 will see New Perspectives touring increasingly adventurous new theatre to spaces of all shapes and sizes, from mid-scale theatres to village halls. From rural Nigeria to modern Mumbai to the 1960's English countryside, the company will be bringing global stories to audiences across the UK.
Highlights of the season include The Fishermen, the Booker Prize-nominated novel by Chigozie Obioma which will be adapted by award-winning Nigerian writer Gbolahan Obisesan and directed by New Perspectives' Artistic Director Jack McNamara. The mythic story combines Greek tragedy with African folklore to tell of four brothers who hear a terrifying prophecy as they fish in a forbidden river, and the chain of tragic events that follow. Produced in association with HOME, the production will premiere in Manchester in July 2018 ahead of a run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and UK tour.
A Fortunate Man, inspired by the book by art critic, poet, painter and Booker Prize-winning author John Berger, who died in January 2017 is to be turned into a new piece of theatre with his family's blessing. Nottingham based theatre-maker Michael Pinchbeck's devised piece is set to contrast the day to day experiences of a stoic country doctor in the mid-1960s with interviews and research carried out with doctors today. The show will tour in June/July to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the NHS (5 July 2018).
New Perspectives will also revive their two Edinburgh hits: Finding Nana throughout February and March, and The Giant Jam Sandwich which opens at the Pleasance in time for Easter before touring through until June. Finding Nana is an acclaimed one-woman, autobiographical show from the George Devine Award-winning writer Jane Upton (All the Little Lights 2016) about grief and loss. The Giant Jam Sandwich is the first stage adaptation of the much-loved picture book about the quiet village of Itching Down which comes together to make a giant sandwich to solve a wasp invasion. Adapted by Jack McNamara with original songs by James Atherton, it played to packed houses in Edinburgh and received a string of four and five-star reviews star reviews from publications including the List and the Scotsman.
New Perspectives will continue to run the Emerging Perspectives, a programme offering professional development for artists across the East Midlands where the company is based. In 2017, the programme worked with 13 artists from a range of disciplines to contribute to the making of A Fortunate Man. Other activity for 2018 includes a collaboration with Alan Lyddiard working with communities in Boston, South Lincolnshire, and a continued relationship with the Belgian-based disabled artist Thibault Delferiere following New Perspectives' collaboration with the performance artist on Sisyphus at Surface Gallery, Nottingham. Early 2019 will see New Perspectives present the first stage adaptation of Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox, one of 2014's highest grossing foreign films, scheduled to tour in Spring 2019.
Artistic Director Jack McNamara said, "Over the next 18 months we are creating a global programme of new work and, crucially, touring it to every type of space and audience. It is a huge honour to work with the imaginations of so many great artists from John Berger and Chigozie Obiama to Nottingham playwright Jane Upton. We hope our next season is further evidence that daring, exciting new work is happening in some of the most unexpected places across the country."
New Perspectives is an East Midlands based company with over 40 years' experience of touring high quality productions to venues of all sizes across the UK, from mid-scale theatres to village halls. With a strong rural core, they create productions to fit spaces of any size in order to bring new work that is unexpected and thought-provoking to a wide range of audiences. Since 2012, they have been led by Artistic Director Jack McNamara whose productions include The Boss of It All by Lars von Trier (Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh and Soho Theatre), The Lovesong of Alfred J Hitchcock by David Rudkin (Brits Off Broadway, New York and UK tour), and Darkness Darkness (Nottingham Playhouse co-production).
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