Sheffield stages complete works of Sarah Kane and revivals of Hare and Miller
Daniel Evans has announced his new season at Sheffield Theatres, which will see a season of the complete works of Sarah Kane as well as major revivals of Arthur Miller's Playing for Time and David Hare's The Absence of War.
Other highlights include a new production of Pride and Prejudice directed by Tamara Harvey and the regional premiere of Lucy Prebble's award-winning The Effect.
The Sarah Kane season runs in the Studio from 5 to 21 February 2015 and features full productions of Blasted, directed by Sheffield associate Richard Wilson, and Crave and 4.48 Psychosis, directed by new associate Charlotte Gwinner.
Alongside this, Evans, who knew Kane and acted in world premieres of two of her plays, will direct semi-staged readings of Phaedra's Love and Cleansed, and a screening of her film Skin.
Evans said: "In her own way, Sarah Kane's writing changed the face of British Theatre. Much has been said and written about her death, but it's important to say that Sarah had a wonderful, dark sense of humour – and a huge heart. Her plays are full of tenderness and a yearning for love."
'Thrilling range of theatre'
In the run up to 2015’s general election, Sheffield Theatres, Headlong and Rose Theatre Kingston will co-produce David Hare's The Absence of War. Reece Dinsdale leads the company as George Jones. The production opens at the Crucible (6-21 February) before embarking on a national tour.
It's followed by Richard Beecham's revival of Arthur Miller's Playing for Time (12 March-4 April) to mark the centenary of Miller's birth and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Tamara Harvey will then direct a stage adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice (14 May-6 June), adapted by Simon Reade.
Lucy Prebble's The Effect, which premiered at the National Theatre starring Billie Piper in 2012, will run in the studio from 25 June to 18 July, directed by Evans. And rounding off the season in the Crucible is Camelot: The Shining City (9-18 July), a contemporary reworking of the myth of King Arthur co-produced by Sheffield People's Theatre and Slung Low.
Evans added: "I hope that the opportunity to see Sarah Kane's work alongside an adaptation of Jane Austen's most famous novel and a regional premiere by Lucy Prebble will offer audiences in our city region and beyond a thrilling range of theatre."
