City News

Plus News of Plans for 2011

The Spring and Summer 2010 season at Birmingham Repertory Theatre offers a varied programme of drama, dance and family entertainment to appeal to everyone. Highlights for 2010 include the world premiere of Arthur & George adapted for the stage by internationally acclaimed playwright David Edgar plus Alan Bennett’s latest play The Habit of Art.

The season opens in the Main House in February with Brian Friel’s Olivier award-winning play Dancing At Lughnasa. Directed by Tamara Harvey, Friel’s masterpiece is a bittersweet reflection on life in rural Ireland in the 1930s.

David Edgar’s powerful new stage adaptation of Arthur & George, based on Julian Barnes’ semi-fictional novel and featuring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, brings vividly to life the events of a hundred years ago which made sensational headlines as The Great Wyrley Outrages. As gripping as any of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Arthur & George will be directed by The REP’s Artistic Director, Rachel Kavanaugh.

For Summer a major new production of Michael Frayn’s fantastic comic romp, Noises Off is set to raise The REP’s roof with laughter. Directed by Ian Talbot this multi award-winning classic British comedy has been enjoyed by millions since it premiered in 1982.

Commissioned by The REP, Samantha Ellis’ play Cling To Me Like Ivy will open the season in The Door. This brand new play was inspired by a chance remark by Victoria Beckham in 2004 which sparked a crisis within the Orthodox Jewish community about the wigs worn by married Orthodox Jewish women. Samantha wrote the play whilst on attachment to The REP and following its premiere in The Door the production will tour the region, supported by the Sir Barry Jackson Trust.

Throughout March and April, The Door will play host to a series of plays inspired by the issues facing young people today. Starting with the questions ‘what kind of plays should theatre present for young people?’ and ‘are there plays or subjects that theatre is too scared to tackle?’ the series will feature a range of plays suitable for young audiences including the UK premieres of Lutz Hübner’s controversial play about an honour killing, Respect, and Ben Musgrave’s Exams Are Getting Easier commissioned by The REP for The Young REP youth theatre. Also in this series will be Half Moon Theatre’s play about an two inseparable friends Begin End and 20 Stories High production of the anarchic and energetic play Ghost Boy, plus a range of new writing from young people aged 18 – 30 developed through The REP’s Grass Routes programme.

Behna (Punjabi for sisters), a special site-specific play and a co-production with Kali Theatre, will take place in various kitchens across the City during March. This new play by Sonia Likari is a thought provoking look through the keyhole at family secrets and sibling rivalry set against a backdrop of weddings, births and separations.

Visiting The REP as part of a national tour will be Spike Milligan’s celebrated war memoirs which are brought to the stage in the gloriously absurd and exuberant hit comedy Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall. Other highlights for the season include; the spiffing West End production of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic spy thriller The 39 Steps; Charlie and Lola’s Best Bestest Play – the stars of the hit BBC TV series and books by Lauren Child are brought to life by a magical mix of puppets and music; the Royal Court production of Debbie Tucker Green’s Random, Graeae Theatre’s Signs of a Diva plus much more. Looking ahead to September and following a sell-out success in London, the National Theatre’s production of Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art comes to The REP. This play reflects on growing old, creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion’s spent: ultimately, on the habit of art.

The REP will also play host to several two high profile dance events in 2010. The International Dance Festival 2010 brings two shows to Birmingham; Sutra, performed by 17 Shaolin monks from the original Shaolin Temple in China with design from Turner Prize winning artist Antony Gormley and Circa a brand new circus experience, combined with movement, dance, light, sound and video. As the City also hosts British Dance Edition, the UK dance industry’s leading showcase event, there will be opportunities to see the latest work from Arthur Pita, Jasmin Vardimon Company and Vincent Dance Theatre.

The announcement of the Spring and Summer 2010 season also brings news of The REP’s magical Christmas production for 2010. Following a successful history of co-productions, The REP will once again be working with West Yorkshire Playhouse to present a brand new musical adaptation of the classic children’s story The Secret Garden.

Christmas 2010 will also mark The REP’s last production on site before it moves out to enable construction work to happen for the new Library of Birmingham development. The theatre will close its doors in January 2011 but will be producing work in a variety of venues across the city for the following two years before returning to its home in 2013.

As part of the two year off site programme The REP will return to producing work at the Old Rep Theatre. This historic venue was, of course, the original home of Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and when it opened in 1913 was the first purpose-built repertory theatre in the country. The decision to return to the Old Rep is a fitting one as the theatre moves towards its Centenary Year.

Other venues with which The REP will be working include the new mac and the Crescent Theatre. In addition to performing in these traditional theatre-spaces, The REP will also be producing several large-scale events in non-theatrical spaces in the city as well as expanding its already extensive programme of learning and participation work with young people and communities.