New Season Launch at the Tobacco Factory

Tobacco Factory Theatres' new season will include a return for its fifteenth consecutive year of Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory, who bring new productions of As You Like It and Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, as well as an in-house Christmas production of The Last Voyage of Sinbad The Sailor. Alongside this, there will be a range of touring productions that will play in both spaces.

Tobacco Factory Theatres and Travelling Light team up once again for Christmas show The Last Voyage of Sinbad The Sailor (27 November -12 January 2014). For centuries, stories have been told of Sinbad the Sailor and his incredible adventures. But every hero has a secret story and Sinbad’s is about to come back and surprise him. He doesn’t know who to trust or which way to turn … but he does know that he must undertake one final voyage into the unknown. Directed by Craig Edwards, with designs by Katie Sykes and original music by Sarah Moody, it reunites the team behind previous Christmas Tobacco Factory Christmas shows, the Olivier nominated Cinderella and Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves.

In the Brewery Theatre from 11 December to 5 January 2014 comes Super Sam and Mega Max save Christmas, in association with Rannel Theatre Company. Time is running out for Sam and Max to get ready for Christmas, but one thing after another keeps going wrong! They can’t find the tape to wrap up the presents. The lights won’t switch on. And they just can’t seem to get that sparkling star onto the top of the Christmas tree. Luckily, help is at hand! Who is that masked man making the decorations on the tree sparkle? And who is that caped crusader leaping up to put the star onto the top of the tallest tree? Aimed at audiences 2-6 and their families it is written by Mike Akers (Bristol Old Vic’s Treasure Island), directed by Emma Williams and starring physical theatre duo Rannel Theatre Company.

Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory returns for its fifteenth year with new productions of As You Like It and Tom Stoppard’s play about quatum physics and botany, Arcadia. Both productions are directed by SaTF founder Andrew Hilton. As You Like It runs 13 February to 22 March and Arcadia 27 March to 19 April with both shows then running in rep until 2nd May.

Touring productions include Chris Goode’s Infinite Lives; The Only Way Is Downtown, a one man production by Luke Kempner; Death and the Ploughman, a site specific exploration exploring loss; Philip Ridley’s Fringe First winning Dark Vanilla Jungle; and Banksy: The Room In The Elephant.

As well as announcing their new season, they also revealed an update to their name to Bristol Tobacco Theatres. Ali Robertson, director of the Tobacco Factory, said:
“The last twelve months it felt like this theatre matured. Working with a range of inspiring partners we made some of the best work we’ve ever produced here in Bristol, and we exported it around the country as well; gaining an Olivier nomination and producing hits in London, Edinburgh and elsewhere. Next year looks set, dare I say it, to be even better – from the upcoming Christmas shows, to the 2014 Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory season, visiting work from exceptional theatre companies, new in house productions and the introduction of reserved seating for many shows. All this activity means that our beloved name of Tobacco Factory Theatre was struggling to cope. We are making the small change to Tobacco Factory Theatres so that we can better describe all the work we do.”

For full production details and dates please see their website.

– Kris Hallett