Artistic Director Simon Stokes announces his 2014/15 programme, packed with the risk-taking writers, international collaborations and the adventurous outlook that has seen him transform Theatre Royal Plymouth into one of the most innovative and exciting theatres in Britain today.
Stokes, who is currently directing Simon Callow in Juvenalia at the Edinburgh Festival, will direct Carl Grose’s critically acclaimed Grand Guignol in Plymouth and London while in Plymouth, two new commissions Another Place by DC Moore and After Electra by April de Angelis, will be premiered.
The season also includes the première of James Graham’s The Angry Brigadeco-produced with Paines Plough, Sirens co-produced with Ontroerend Goed, Vooruit and Richard Jordan Productions and Small War with Valentin Dhaenens,co-produced with SKaGeN and Richard Jordan Productions.
There will also be a revival of the Theatre’s great success Othello co-produced with Frantic Assembly, as well as of the continuation of the extensive tour ofMy Perfect Mind, co-produced with Told by an Idiot and the Young Vic, which will begin with a further run at the Young Vic in September.
Theatre Royal Plymouth (TRP) has built a national reputation for its specialist contemporary work producing provocative, intriguing, ambitious theatre by commissioning and working with some of the very best regional, national and international writers, artists and directors. In addition, TRP has been a long term collaborator and supporter of some of the most exciting theatre companies of our times including Frantic Assembly, Ontroerend Goed, Paines Plough and Told By An Idiot.
Since becoming Artistic Director, Simon Stokes has established the Theatre as one of the UK’s most influential and prolific venues for new writing. On his watch, TRP has commissioned, produced and co-produced more than 60 new productions, encouraging, supporting and premiering work by such names as Abi Morgan, Mike Bartlett, Anthony Neilson, Rona Munro, debbie tucker green, Alecky Blythe, Mark Ravenhill, Lucinda Coxon, Bryony Lavery, Chris Goode, Gregory Burke, Frantic Assembly, Philip Ridley, Doug Lucie and Ontroerend Goed, among many others.
“Under Simon Stokes, Plymouth has become a magnet for talent” – The Observer
JUVENALIA
By Richard Quick
Produced by Theatre Royal Plymouth, Assembly and Riverside Studios
Directed by Simon Stokes
31 July – 25 August, Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Simon Callow reprises his successful one-man show he first performed early in his career. The writer, Juvenal born circa 55AD, wrote sixteen satires that attacked the decadence of Rome in its heyday. Richard Quick’s adaptation gives a view into a moral decline which is as relevant now as it was then.
SMALLWAR
By Valentijn Dhaenens
Produced by Theatre Royal Plymouth, SKaGeN and Richard Jordan Productions
31 July – 24 August, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
2-13 September 2014, Theatre Royal Plymouth
Press night Tuesday 2 September
Set in 1914 in a field dressing station behind the front lines, SmallWar sees a nurse discover, confront and observe as she maintains a watchful vigil with her patients. In turn, Dhaenens is confronted by simultaneous digital versions of as the stories unfold in the words of those who were there, those who led the way, and those who followed.
SIRENS
Produced by Theatre Royal Plymouth, Ontroerend Goed, Vooruit and Richard Jordan Productions
Directed by Alexander Devriendt
12-14 August, Summerhall, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
24-29 November 2014, Theatre Royal Plymouth
Press night Monday 24 November
Sirens is written and performed by six young women and is their heartfelt, yet irreverent, feminist manifesto for the 21st century.
They scream, laugh, sing, speak and cry their way through their experiences as women in the modern Western world - they’ve taken control of their lives, expression and appearance and moved on, past militant anti-male rage to the hope that men can be just as feminist as they are.
MY PERFECT MIND
Created by Told by an Idiot, written by Kathryn Hunter, Paul Hunter and Edward Petherbridge
A co-production with the Young Vic and Theatre Royal Plymouth
Cast: Edward Petherbridge and Paul Hunter
3-27 September, Young Vic, London
Press night 9 September
Then touring 29 September – 15 November
Acclaimed classical actor Edward Petherbridge rehearsed for the role of King Lear – then a major stroke left him barely able to move. As he struggled to recover, he made a discovery: the entire role of Lear still existed word for word in his mind.
Directed by Kathryn Hunter and performed by Edward Petherbridge and Paul Hunter, this is a hilarious and haunting celebration of the resilience of the human spirit through the prism of Shakespeare’s great tragedy.
THE ANGRY BRIGADE
By James Graham
Produced by Theatre Royal Plymouth and Paines Plough
Directed by James Grieve
18 September – 4 October 2014, Theatre Royal Plymouth
Press night Tuesday 23 September
Then touring
Against a backdrop of Tory cuts, high unemployment and the deregulated economy of 1970s Britain, a young urban guerrilla group mobilises: The Angry Brigade. Their targets: MPs, Embassies, Police, Pageant Queens. A world of order shattered by anarchy; the rules have changed. An uprising has begun. No one is exempt.
James Graham's heart-stopping thriller - directed by Paines Plough’s Artistic Director James Grieve as part of the company’s 40th anniversary season - lures us into a frenzied world that looks very much like our own.
OTHELLO
By William Shakespeare
Produced by Theatre Royal Plymouth and Frantic Assembly
Directed by Scott Graham
4-11 October 2014, Theatre Royal Plymouth
Press night Wednesday 8 October
Then touring
This is a mating ground. There’s tension around the pool table, cues in hand. A world of broken glass and beatings in the car park. It’s dog eat dog. And it’s about to kick off.
Othello explodes onto the stage in this electrifying take on Shakespeare’s most brutal and gripping thriller-tragedy of paranoia, jealousy, sex and murder. Fusing a taut adaptation of the classic text with its trademark hard-hitting choreography, Frantic Assembly takes a scalpel to 21st century Britain, exposing prejudice, danger and fear.
GRAND GUIGNOL
By Carl Grose
Produced by Theatre Royal Plymouth
Directed by Simon Stokes
9 - 18 October 2014, Theatre Royal Plymouth
Press night: Monday 13 October 2014
23 October – 22 November 2014, Southwark Playhouse, London
Press night: Monday 20 October 2014
1903, in the back streets of Monmartre, the Theatre du Grand Guignol opens its doors to an unsuspecting public. A psychiatrist obsessed with the playwright’s gruesome dramas ingratiates his way into the company. But when he starts to unpick the author’s mind, the boundaries between theatre and truth begin to blur. Grand Guignol is guaranteed keep the audience guessing, and wincing, until the very last horror show.
ANOTHER PLACE
By DC Moore
Produced by Theatre Royal Plymouth
Directed by Jo McInnes
6-22 November 2014, Theatre Royal Plymouth
Press night Monday 10 November
Man’s obsession to uncover the secrets of space is explored in DC Moore’s new work Another Place. Full of dark humour, razor sharp wit and intricately portrayed character, this is a gripping play about what it means to be human and the tragedy of what we leave behind.
AFTER ELECTRA
By April de Angelis
Produced by Theatre Royal Plymouth
29 Jan - 14 Feb 2015, Theatre Royal Plymouth
Press night tbc
After Electra is a new play by April de Angelis, whose previous work includes Jumpy (Royal Court Theatre and West End), Wild East (Royal Court Theatre),Playhouse Creatures (West End) and Breathless.
