Leeds Playhouse to reopen for live performances across October

Leeds Playhouse will present a series of classic and contemporary pieces of theatre across weekends in October.

Shows will be staged across four spaces in the venue, with beatboxer Testament commissioned to explore the power of the solo voice in Orpheus in the Record Store alongside director Aletta Collins, while freelance artists Matthew Eberhardt and Khadijah Ibrahiim devise new work together with a range of musicians, poets, actors and young people.

Two plays will be revived – Samuel Beckett's monologue Krapp's Last Tape with actor Niall Buggy and director Dominic Hill, as well as Francis Poulenc's short opera La Voix Humaine performed by Opera North soprano Gillene Butterfield.

James Brining, artistic director of Leeds Playhouse said: "Re-opening the Playhouse after six months of enforced closure and being separated from each other has made us value even more than before the act of live performance and what that means. Our beautifully refurbished building provides us with many opportunities to safely welcome audiences and artists back into the Playhouse.

"Connecting Voices is a carefully curated programme exploring isolation and connection, resilience and reflection as well as the relationship between performer and audience member in a shared space. We're delighted to be working once again with Opera North, pooling our resources to help the city of Leeds to get back on its feet and bring joyous and powerful communal shared experiences back to the lives of its citizens."

The pieces run from 2 to 17 October, with tickets on sale from 15 September. All audiences will be socially distanced in the venue.