London
The co-productions come to the northern city in spring and summer
Sheffield Theatres' new spring/ summer 2020 season will feature a world premiere by Chloë Moss, Tom Bateman in his Sheffield Theatres' debut and two plays by Bryony Lavery.
Artistic director Robert Hastie's new season opens with the world première of Chloë Moss' Run Sister Run, a co-production with Paines Plough and Soho Theatre and directed by Paines Plough's new co-artistic director Charlotte Bennett. Run Sister Run will play from 27 February to 21 March.
Tom Bateman makes his Sheffield Theatres debut in the title role of Coriolanus. Adapted and directed by Hastie, the production sees the artistic director return to Shakespeare's political plays after his inaugural Sheffield Theatres production of Julius Caesar. Coriolanus will play from 6 to 28 March.
Additional co-productions include Everybody's Got to Leave Sometime – with Dante or Die and playing in May 2020 – and This is What She Said to Me with Utopia Theatre, conceived and directed by Moji Elufowoju and written by Oladipo Agboluaje. This is What She Said to Me plays from 18 June to 4 July.
As previously announced, the theatre play host to a new production of Oliver Twist, in a co-production with Leeds Playhouse and Ramps on the Moon and one of two plays in the season by Lavery. Amy Leach will direct the show, which plays from 13 to 23 May.
Completing the season is Justin Martin's production of Oscar and the Pink Lady by Lavery, adapted from the novel by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt. The show will run from 26 June to 18 July and is directed by Justin Martin.
Artistic director Hastie said of the season: "Next season sees us continue this commitment to new writing with four world premières across our stages – Run Sister Run, Here's What She Said To Me, Oscar and the Pink Lady and Everybody's Got to Leave Sometime. Three are by British writers whose heart and humour leap off the page, and one co-created with Sheffield People's Theatre, our company of Sheffield citizens whose determination to break new ground with every project is inspirational.
"We compliment the new, with one of Shakespeare's greatest plays – Coriolanus, and a society in turmoil. The old ways are being challenged by a new breed of political player, and caught in the middle is a famous soldier whose ambition clashes with his contempt for the people he wants to lead. Beginning my tenure at Sheffield by directing Julius Caesar showed me the power of big Roman plays in the Crucible's forum-like auditorium. It's a public stage for big ideas and bold performers, and I'm thrilled to be working with Tom Bateman on Coriolanus as he returns to the stage to play the title role."