Theatres to offer free tickets to refugees and asylum seekers

Nuffield Southampton Theatres, Nottingham Playhouse, Royal & Derngate and West Yorkshire Playhouse have announced a series of initiatives in support of refugees and asylum seekers in their local communities, including the offer of free tickets to productions at the venues.

The four theatres, all co-producers of a new production of John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Grapes of Wrath, will also offer workshops to overcome language barriers and performance opportunities including Now-here, a series of performances at the Nuffield from the 'unheard voices of Southampton'.

The Grapes of Wrath is adapted for the stage by Frank Galati and directed by the Nuffield's associate director Abbey Wright. It tells the story of a migrant family in America during the Great Depression. It runs at the Nuffield from 6 to 25 March, Nottingham Playhouse from 28 March to 8 April, the Royal & Derngate from 9 to 20 May and West Yorkshire Playhouse from 23 May to 10 June.

Talking about Now-here, Nuffield's artistic director Sam Hodges said: "The world we live in has never felt so volatile and uncertain. At home, recent events have left a country divided and with no coherent sense of self. Abroad, people are being displaced from their home on an unprecedented scale.

"Now-here is the start of an important dialogue with our city’s often invisible and ignored voices."

Other productions announced at Nuffield Southampton Theatres – newly re-branded to recognise the addition of a new venue opening next year – include Headlong's production of George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, directed by Sam Pritchard from 25 April, and touring productions of Dr Frankenstein, The Woman in Black, and Babe, The Sheep Pig.