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New Season Announced - Theatre Royal Plymouth

Announcing the new season at the Theatre Royal and Drum Theatre Plymouth, chief executive Adrian Vinken OBE said: “At the Theatre Royal we have the good fortune to work with some of the best companies and artists in world theatre. These partnerships clearly provide enjoyment to our audiences in the South West, but they are also gaining us an increasing recognition of the significant contribution that the Theatre Royal makes to the theatrical landscape, both in the UK and internationally. Theatre Royal and Drum Theatre productions have been touring across the globe in the last year, demonstrating that our audiences see the very best new productions before anyone else in the world.

As well as making the sets, props and costumes for our own productions, the team at TR2, our production and education centre based in Cattedown, Plymouth, have worked on a number of high profile shows that are currently in the West End and on tour. The expertise and talent of our production teams are second to none and help attract those great international companies to come to Plymouth when producing new shows.

Season highlights include:

THEATRE ROYAL

The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Thursday 8 – Saturday 10 September
Stories from the award-winning children’s book author Eric Carle are brought together and beautifully retold on stage through delightful puppetry. The Very Hungry Caterpillar follows the adventures of a very hungry caterpillar as he progresses through an amazing variety of foods before becoming a butterfly. Little Cloud goes high up into the sky and transforms itself into the shapes of the things it sees, and The Mixed Up Chameleon is bored of its life, so goes around the zoo wishing it could be more like other animals.

Earthquakes In London
Thursday 22 – Saturday 24 September
Excess, population explosion, family crisis – and the end of the planet? Experience a fast and furious metropolitan crash of people, scenes and decades, as three sisters attempt to hold things together in a world changing under their feet. Starring Tracy-Ann Oberman (Doctor Who, EastEnders), Earthquakes In London rockets from 1968 to 2525 and back again in an exhilarating whirlwind of a play.

Slava’s Snowshow
Tuesday 27 September – Saturday 1 October
The sell-out sensation is back! Due to overwhelming popular demand there will be snow again in Plymouth. The internationally acclaimed Slava’s Snowshow combines comedy and poignancy with stunning spectacle and breath-taking images culminating in a blinding, heart-stopping blizzard of a finale. An unmistakably unique, unmissable treat for the whole family.

One Man, Two Guvnors
Tuesday 4 – Saturday 8 October
Direct from the National Theatre, James Corden plays Francis Henshall in this new English version of the classic Italian comedy – where sex, food and money are high on the agenda. Following his success with Gavin and Stacey, James Corden is reunited with National Theatre Director Nicholas Hytner for the first time since the worldwide hit The History Boys.

Top Hat
Tuesday 11 – Saturday 22 October Tom Chambers (Strictly Come Dancing winner, Holby City) and triple Olivier nominee Summer Strallen star in this stunning new musical comedy based on the motion picture, and using Irving Berlin’s celebrated score. Beautiful sets, lavish costumes and sensational dancing will sweep you off your feet as Fred and Ginger’s greatest Hollywood dance musical is live on stage for the first time.

Birmingham Royal Ballet
Tuesday 25 – Saturday 29 October
Birmingham Royal Ballet brings two pieces to the Theatre Royal. Experience three of the greatest works from this country in Autumn Glory, featuring Checkmate, Symphonic Variations and Pineapple Poll. And in the summer comedy La Fille mal gardée join Lise as she thwarts her over-protective mother’s plan to marry her off to the dopey son of a vineyard owner instead of the man she loves.

Scrooge
Monday 31 October – Saturday 5 November
Tommy Steele, one of the most successful entertainers of all time, returns to the stage in the title role of Scrooge. This is a heartwarming family story with stunning sets and costumes, specially created illusions by magician Paul Kieve (acclaimed for the magic effects in the Harry Potter films) and a fantastic musical score.

Glyndebourne On Tour
Tuesday 22 – Saturday 26 November
One week. Three operas. Twelve hours of passionate performance from some of the opera world’s brightest stars, wrapped in Glyndebourne’s trademark quality. La Boheme adds a worldly realism to Puccini’s heartbreaking score, witty domestic comedy Don Pasquale is a new production and a new opera for the tour, and there’s new production of Handel’s Rinaldo, a spectacular tale of love, honour and righteousness.

The Master & Margarita
Thursday 17 – Saturday 19 November
Internationally renowned theatre company Complicite return to the Theatre Royal to open this new production with three exclusive performances, following the Olivier award winning A Disappearing Number. A retelling of Mikhail Bulgakov’s fantastical tale of Satan’s reckoning with 1930s Russia, The Master & Margarita is a satirical romp and a daring analysis of good and evil.

Rambert Dance Company
Wednesday 30 November – Friday 2 December
Rambert Dance Company celebrates 85 years at the heart of British dance and returns to Plymouth with the Seven For A Secret… Tour 2011. The magical and playful new work, Seven for a secret, never to be told, features beautiful and enchanting music by Ravel/McNeff, and is complemented by the athletic Monolith. Plus, the colourful and sensational samba-inspired A Linha Curva, which wows audiences wherever it is performed.

An Inspector Calls
Tuesday 6 – Saturday 10 December
JB Priestley’s classic thriller has won more awards than any other play in history, and this production from the National Theatre has imaginative staging, raw emotion, an evocative score, lashing rain and chilling suspense. When Inspector Goole arrives unexpectedly at the prosperous Birling family home, their peaceful dinner party is shattered by his investigations into the death of a young woman. His revelations shake the foundations of their lives and challenge us all to examine our consciences.

Cinderella
Friday 16 December 2011 – Saturday 21 January 2012
Get ready for another unmissable Theatre Royal pantomime! Julian Clary takes to the stage as Dandini and is joined by guest stars Keith Harris, Orville and Cuddles. With an abundance of comedy, stunning sets, fabulous costumes and pantomime magic, Cinderella is ideal entertainment for all ages.

DRUM THEATRE

Lovesong
Friday 30 September – Saturday 15 October
Lovesong intertwines a couple in their 20s with the same man and woman a lifetime later. Their past and present selves collide in this haunting and beautiful tale of togetherness. This Drum Theatre co-production with Frantic Assembly and in association with the Chichester Festival Theatre is written by Abi Morgan, whose credits include the forthcoming film Iron Lady starring Meryl Streep.

Audience
Wednesday 2 – Saturday 12 November
Inspired by analyses of mass behaviour, management techniques and rhetorical tricks, Audience looks at how people behave when surrounded by other people. You can choose to join in, or you can just watch. It’s up to you, the audience. This is Drum Theatre co-production with Richard Jordan Productions Ltd, Vooruit and Ontroerend Goed, who worked with the Drum on Teenage Riot.

Keep Breathing
Wednesday 16 – Saturday 26 November
In this new piece of evolving, gently interactive documentary storytelling, Chris Goode looks at what can be found, shared and said in the space of a breath. A Drum Theatre production, Keep Breathing starts from an invitation made via the internet to individuals all over the world, to speak to an audience of strangers. They can say anything, on any topic, provided it can be spoken in one breath.

The Elves and the Shoemaker
Tuesday 29 November – Sunday 15 January
Sat in his kitchen workshop, Sam Lacey makes terrible shoes and tries to sell them online. No-one really wants them, not even his neighbour. Then one night, two tiny visitors climb in through the window and start cutting and stitching and gluing…and Sam’s life is never quite the same again! There are stunning puppets, music and surprises aplenty in a show for everyone aged two and above.

- by Simon Cole

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