Live Theatre Newcastle celebrates its 50th birthday with a year that puts new talent at the heart of its programme. With major commissions going to writers and artists entirely new to Live Theatre, the Quayside venue sees four major productions offer a changing picture of the North East. The 2023 season kicked off March 2, running… Continue reading Talent spotting at Live
Month: September 2024
When We Died on tour
Following a run at Vault Festival in 2020, writer and performer Alexandra Donnachie and Carbon Theatre are taking their one-woman production When We Died on tour this spring. Presenting an intimate tale of overcoming the past and fighting for control, this production follows a woman faced with the body of the man who raped her 11 months ago. It’s… Continue reading When We Died on tour
Girl from the North Country
In the programme notes, writer and director Conor McPherson describes Girl From the North Country as “a conversation between the songs and the story”. Having received a package of 40 Bob Dylan albums (sent to him by Dylan), McPherson has woven around 20 songs into the narratives of a similar number of characters who congregate… Continue reading Girl from the North Country
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
At this point, despite only four years since it premièred at the Dorfman Theatre, The Ocean at the End of the Lane’s reputation precedes it. Through word of mouth or the marketing materials, the audience is promised something it has never witnessed on stage before. So, when one enters and takes their seat in the… Continue reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Laying Bricks in Manchester
Red Brick Theatre and 53two in Manchester are staging Bricks, a night of brand-new theatre from March 24–April 1 with BSL and relaxed performances. Bricks consists of six new plays by six new playwrights, each with a running time of approx 15 minutes and using the North West’s top directors and actors. Writers Luke Barnes (National Theatre,… Continue reading Laying Bricks in Manchester
Jumping the Shark
Have you ever thought you had a great idea for a TV sitcom, wondered how to turn it into a reality? You might pick up a few tips here, for that is the dream that has driven the characters in David Cantor and Michael Kingsbury’s new play to sign up for a course in scriptwriting… Continue reading Jumping the Shark
Killer Tomatoes on tour
After a run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Soho Playhouse in New York, Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life tells the inspirational true story of Keith Alessi, a well-known CEO in North America who, two weeks after quitting his high-flying job to pursue his dream of becoming a banjo player (he… Continue reading Killer Tomatoes on tour
Ladies’ Day
This co-production with the New Vic brings back to the professional stage one of the most performed plays in the UK, mainly due to its popularity amongst amateur theatre companies who are often crying out for light comedies with mainly female casts. It’s set in Hull in 2005, the year that Royal Ascot moved north… Continue reading Ladies’ Day
Top Girls
Five women—spanning several centuries of history—walk into a restaurant… So not the standard set-up for a joke, but a timely revival of Caryl Churchill’s 1980s dissection of Girl Power. The infamous five are there to celebrate the very modern Marlene’s appointment as managing director of Top Girls employment agency. As they all relax into their… Continue reading Top Girls
The Cunning Little Vixen
This particular staging of The Cunning Little Vixen—directed by Sir David Pountney in 1980 as part of a Janáček season performed by Scottish Opera and the Welsh National Opera—has gained the reputation of an enduring classic. For Rupert Christiansen, former opera critic of The Daily Telegraph, Pountney’s version “skilfully treads the fine line” between “sentimentalized,… Continue reading The Cunning Little Vixen