This Spring the Birmingham Rep will be hosting the “bloomin’” best of dance, drama and entertainment currently touring the UK, ranging from world-premiere and thought-provoking dance pieces from multi award-winning companies Boy Blue and Ballet Black, evenings in conversation with legends of broadcasting, Joan Bakewell and Nigel Havers, to new stage adaptations of film and television favourites.
Leaping onto The Rep’s largest stage, The House, on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th March will be the UK’s most celebrated hip-hop dance theatre company, Boy Blue with its latest production – Cycles. Composer Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante MBE and choreographer Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy MBE describe Cycles as ‘a tenacious exploration of hip-hop dance in all its forms’.
For fans of ballet, Ballet Black makes a welcome return with an exciting new double bill, Ballet Black: Shadows including a darkly comic adaptation of Oyinkan Braithwaite‘s international bestselling novel, My Sister, The Serial Killer and the British choreographic debut of award-winning choreographer Chanel DaSilva, with a profound dance piece utilising shadow work as an exploration of humanity.
Legend of television broadcasting, renowed journalist, author and playwright Joan Bakewell will be in-conversation with fellow journalist Matthew Stadlen (BBC Radio 5 Live, Channel 5, Sky News) for one night only on Wednesday 5th March in The House. Joan will be taking audiences through her fascinating career spanning 60 years; no stone will be left unturned in this insightful and engaging discussion.
Later in the month (Tuesday 25th March), Nigel Havers will share the behind-the-scenes gossip, tales of triumph (and disaster), moments of sheer madness, and a fair bit of Talking B*ll*cks in his first ever solo show, taking audiences through his five decades in the “biz”.
Beginning the season, is Myra’s Story on Saturday 1st March. Written by Irish playwright Brian Foster, this one woman play starring Fíonna Hewitt-Twamley as all the larger-than-life Dublin characters tells the incredible story of middle-aged homeless alcoholic, Myra McLaughlin living rough on the streets of Dublin.
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman plays from Tuesday 11th – Saturday 15th March. In this fresh new production of ‘one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century’ acclaimed actor David Hayman (Sid and Nancy, Dad’s Army) plays the lead role of Willy Loman is this timeless and powerful tale about the sacrifices made in pursuit of the ‘American Dream’.
Following this is James Graham’s (ranked number one in The Stage’s 100 most influential players) powerful new adaptation of Alan Bleasdale’s BAFTA award-winning drama series, Boys from the Blackstuff coming to The Rep directly from the National Theatre and the West End (Tuesday 18th – Saturday 22nd March).
The Rep will also be bringing the must-see tour-de-force of comedy and physical theatre, Hold On To Your Butts – a live shot-for-shot parody of the greatest dinosaur film of all time is performed by just two actors and a live Foley artist in The Rep’s second largest performance space The Studio, from Friday 21 – Saturday 22 March.
Closing out the month inThe House, is the compelling storytelling, warm humour, and unforgettable music of Jamaica Love (Saturday 29th – Sunday 30th March). Featuring the legendary vocals of John McLean, the soulful harmonies of Celia Wickham-Anderson (of Black Voices fame) and a live band – Jamaica Love will take audiences on a musical journey through Jamaica’s rich musical heritage.
The Rep will also be celebrating the very best of emerging work from a series of new writers in their most intimate performance space, The Door:
Tiny Fragments of Beautiful Light (Tuesday 4th – Thursday 6th March) – a moving piece exploring the writer’s own diagnosis of autism through a female lens;
(the) Woman (Friday 7th & Saturday 8th March) – a fiercely funny and brutally honest depicting of motherhood by award-winning upcoming writer Jane Upton;
The Intrusion (Wednesday 19th & Thursday 20th March) – a darkly comedic collaboration between Bric à Brac Theatre and Told by an Idiot about the end of the world and the threat of extinction around the corner;
Everybody Wants to Be Ronaldo (Friday 21st & Saturday 22nd March) – A raucous, high-octane Grime-sical set in Birmingham by Birmingham-based production company TECTUM theatre about the pressures of football academies on young men.
Everywhere (Thursday 27th March) – a triple bill of 30-minute short plays bringing some the very best established and emerging talent from theatre to tell original and diverse stories that take us from displacement to maternity wards.
-ENDS-
To request press tickets, interviews or further press information please contact The Rep Press and Communications team:
Communication Assistant – Aaliyah Collins
aaliyah.collins@birminghham-rep.co.uk
Please see the below listings section to see the dates of the upcoming press nights. Please note, that invitations for A Thousand Splendid Suns will be sent later on this month.
Find us on social media:
Twitter @BirminghamRep
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Instagram @therepbirmingham
LISTINGS
MYRA’S STORY
Sat 1 Mar, 7.30pm
Age Guidance: 14+
TINY FRAGMENTS OF BEAUTIFUL LIGHT
Tue 4 Mar – Thu 6 Mar
Press Night: Tue 4 Mar, 7.45pm
Age Guidance: 14+
Running Time: 1 hour 10 minutes with no interval
Audio Described Performance: Wed 5 Mar 7.45pm (described by Julia Grundy & Carolyn Smith) A Free Touch Tour is available to book at 6.45pm before the Audio Described performance.
AN AUDIENCE WITH JOAN BAKEWELL
Wed 5 Mar, 7.30pm
Running Time: 1 hour 45 minutes including an interval
BOY BLUE’S CYCLES
Fri 7 Mar & Sat 8 Mar
Press Night: Fri 7 Mar, 7.30pm
Age Guidance: 12+
Running Time: Approximately 90 minutes, including interval
(THE) WOMAN
Fri 7 Mar & Sat 8 Mar
Press Night: Fri 7 Mar, 7.45pm
Age Guidance: 15+ (
Running Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes without an interval.
DEATH OF A SALESMAN
Tue 11 Mar – Sat 15 Mar
Press Night: Wed 12 Mar, 7.30pm
Age Guidance: 15+
Access Performances:
Audio Described: Wed 5 Mar 7.45pm (described by Julia Grundy & Carolyn Smith) A Free Touch Tour is available to book at 6.45pm before the Audio Described performance.
Captioned: Wed 12 Mar 7.30pm (captioned by Cara Lawless)
BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF
Tue 18 Mar – Sat 22 Mar
Press Night: Tue 18 Mar, 7.30pm
Age Guidance: 10+
Access Performances:
BSL Interpreted: Wed 19 Mar, 7.30pm by Karen Ward-Welch
Audio Described: Sat 22 Mar, 2.30pm by Carolyn Smith
THE INTRUSION
Wed 19 Mar & Thu 20 Mar
Press Night: Wed 19 Mar, 7.45pm
Age Guidance: 12+
Creative Captioning: Each performance includes Creative Captioning (with captions integrated into the design on stage)
HOLD ON TO YOUR BUTTS
Fri 21 Mar & Sat 22 Mar
Press Night: Fri 21 Mar, 7.45pm
Age Guidance: 8+
Running Time: 1 hour 15 minutes with no interval
EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE RONALDO
Fri 21 Mar & Sat 22 Mar
Press Night: Fri 21 Mar, 8.00pm
Age Guidance: 14+
Running Time: 1 hour 15 minutes with no interval
NIGEL HAVERS: TALKING B*LL*CKS
Tue 25 Mar, 7.30pm
Age Guidance: 12+
Running Time: 1 hour 50 minutes including an interval
BALLET BLACK: SHADOWS
Thu 27 Mar & Fri 28 Mar
Press Night: Thu 27 Mar, 7.30pm
Age Guidance: 12+
Running Time: 1 hour 40 minutes, including an interval
EVERYWHERE
Thu 27 Mar, 7.45pm
Age Guidance: 14+