Library Does Stoppard, Dickens & Ibsen at Lowry

The Manchester-based Library Theatre company takes the first steps on its ‘A Moving Experience’ journey, which has begun with the company moving out its home of 58 years, the Central Library in Manchester.

As well as producing regularly at The Lowry, there will be a programme of productions in non-theatre city centre sites, starting in summer 2011, while the theatre’s community and education programme in schools and with community groups in the city will also continue at full stretch.

Set in an elegant country house in the Derbyshire countryside in two different time periods 200 years apart, Arcadia explores a range of subjects including love, sex, history, landscape gardening, Newtonian physics, and chaos theory. Rightly regarded as a modern classic, this witty comic literary detective story runs between Thursday 23 September – Saturday 9 October 2010.

This is followed by the Library’s Christmas production, which this year is David Holman’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol between Friday 3 December – Saturday 8 January 2011, which will be directed by Rachel O’Riordan, who directed last year’s smash-hit Library Theatre Company production, Grimm Tales.

“I am delighted to be back working with the Library Theatre Company in its temporary home at The Lowry,” says Rachel, “as I have brilliant memories of the venue from when I directed Hurricane, which toured there in 2004. A Christmas Carol is a brilliant story – both challenging and redemptive, and I can’t wait to start work on this classic Dickens tale for 2010. I thoroughly enjoyed working on Grimm Tales last Christmas, and I love the vibe of the city at Christmas.”

The third Library Theatre production at The Lowry is a revival of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. This great play, which caused a storm when it was given its world premiere in 1879 and still has the power to shock, examines what happens when Nora, totally devoted to her husband, risks her reputation in order to save his life, only to find herself struggling for her own. A Doll’s House runs between Thursday 24 February – Saturday 12 March 2011.

In addition, the company’s highly successful norfox Young People’s Theatre Company will present a specially created piece entitled The Magnificent Tale of Emily Law and Arturo the Waterboy at the Capitol Theatre at Manchester Metropolitan University, on Friday 6/Saturday 7 August 2010. Directed and scripted by Liz Postlethwaite, the company’s Community and Education Director, the piece, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is inspired by the life and times of living in Victorian Manchester.

“This is a bright new chapter in the story of the Library Theatre Company,” says Library Theatre Company Artistic Director Chris Honer, who will direct both Arcadia and A Doll’s House. “We’re looking forward eagerly to coming up out of the basement, playing at The Lowry with some key productions, and also exploring theatre in some unusual sites in the city while we prepare to move into our new home, which is planned to be the Theatre Royal on Peter Street, in four years’ time. It’s an exciting prospect.”

Tickets for A Christmas Carol are on sale now at theatre’s website, while tickets for both Arcadia and A Doll’s House are available at The Lowry’s website or in person at The Lowry.