Southbank Centre Presents its Autumn and Winter 2017 Programme

Southbank Centre presents its Autumn and Winter 2017 programme for performance, dance and comedy, showcasing work from celebrated international and UK artists from stunning snow shows, augmented reality and trolls to West-End numbers and global surveillance theatre.

With a host of engaging offerings from across Southbank Centre's festivals, highlights for October 2017 include: a taste of China's square dancing craze Guangchang wu, part of Southbank Centre's international China Changing Festival (7 October); London Literature Festival sees a live reading of Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years, Nelson Mandela's long-awaited sequel to Long Walk to Freedom, performed by a stellar cast including Lemn Sissay MBE, Adjoa Andoh and Gugu Mbatha-Raw MBE (22 October); and the team behind the smash hit podcast My Dad Wrote A Porno return to the Royal Festival Hall following their sell-out summer show (1 October).

November 2017 sees Proto-type Theater who will perform their provocative exploration into global surveillance, A Machine they're Secretly Building (9 - 11 November) and Southbank Centre's BAM - Being A Man festival returns for its fourth year exploring the changing nature of masculinity in 2017 with award-winning comedian Simon Amstell musing on modern masculinity and talking about his new book Help (25 November). A series of pop-up performances will also take place across site throughout the festival including contemporary dance (24 - 26 November).

Wintertime at Southbank Centre will transform the arts hub's site into a wonderful Nordic-themed winter landscape with a packed programme of festive fun and entertainment for all the family. Multi-award-winning international sensation Slava's Snowshow returns with its unique combination of theatrical clowning and stunning visual spectacle (18 December - 4 January) and Danish children's theatre company Teater Refleksion and UK Theatre artist Andy Manley present Night Light, a magical and poetic journey through the dark and beautiful night for young children and their families (19 - 31 December).

Autumn & Winter 2017 highlights include:

• Multi-award-winning international sensation Slava's Snowshow returns for a fifth season of festive magic (18 December - 4 January 2018, part of Wintertime).

• A cast including author and broadcaster Lemn Sissay MBE, actors Adjoa Andoh (Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Brotherhood) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw MBE (Black Mirror, Beauty and the Beast) bring to life reflections of Nelson Mandela on his time in power in a special one-off live reading of Dare Not Linger: The Presidential Years, his long-awaited sequel to Long Walk to Freedom (22 October, part of London Literature Festival).

• Broadway and West End star Ramin Karimloo, best known for playing leading roles in The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables in the West End, presents his new solo show packed full of musical theatre hits as well as original material penned by Ramin himself (13 January).

• Tröll, a magical family-friendly show which reimagines Iceland's folk tales and settlement stories through the eyes of a young girl and her unusual friend from the mountains (25 - 27 October, part of London Literature Festival and Nordic Matters, Southbank Centre's year-long exploration into Nordic arts and culture).

• Night Light, a magical and poetic journey through the dark and beautiful night by Danish children's theatre company Teater Refleksion and theatre artist Andy Manley (19 - 31 December, part of Wintertime and Nordic Matters).

• Following their sell out Royal Festival Hall show this summer, the team behind the smash hit podcast My Dad Wrote A Porno return to Southbank Centre (1 October).

• A Machine they're Secretly Building, a provocative exploration into global surveillance by Proto-type Theater (9 - 11 November).

• Independence Gala, a joyous celebration of British and Indian performing art forms, focusing on collaboration, provide a spectacular culmination of the India@UK 2017 Year of Culture (4 October).

• UK premiere of Akshayambara, an experimental play by international company Dramanon combining traditional Yakshagan dance-drama with modern theatrical tools. The show creates a contemporary story that raises questions about female representation and male ownership as part of the India@UK 2017 Year of Culture (5 - 6 October).

• Gongs, Songs & Hong Kong Thongs, a new musical comedy show by Chris Chan inspired by American stand-up and Chinese cross-talk (7 October, part of China Changing Festival).

• Julia Cheng explores the myth of a modern Mu-Lan through wu-shu martial arts and contemporary waacking in Orlando Warrior and Si Rawlinson mixes break and contemporary dance to explore the struggle between the desires of state and citizen with Ink in a powerful dance double bill (7 October, part of China Changing Festival).

Photo credit: Klein Borrill

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