Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre has revealed a mix of Royal Exchange supported artists and innovative theatre makers from across the UK in its Autumn/Winter 2018 Studio Season programme.
And it’s clear that the Manchester Theatre is setting it’s sights high, even featuring The Greatest Play in the History of the World!
So what’s on at the Royal Exchange Theatre studio in Autumn/Winter 2018?
The Greatest Play in the History of the World …
20-29 September 2018
A Tara Finney Productions in association with the Royal Exchange Theatre.
Written by Ian Kershaw
With Julie Hesmondhalgh
The Greatest Play in the History of the World … is a love story, set on Preston Road, and also in space and in time. This one woman show starring Julie Hesmondhalgh returns to The Studio, following its sold-out run last season. A man wakes in the middle of the night to discover that the world has stopped. Through the crack in his bedroom curtains he can see no signs of life at all…other than a light in the house opposite where a woman in an over-sized Bowie T-shirt stands, looking back at him. The Greatest Play in the History of the World … is a play packed full of observation and beauty that comes to The Studio following it’s run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August.
War With The Newts
2-6 October 2018
Presented by Knaïve Theatre in association with the Royal Exchange Theatre, Square Chapel and Waterside
Written by Knaïve Theatre
Creators of the smash-hit Bin Lade: The One Man Show bring you Karel Capek’s apocalyptic science-fiction satire War With The Newts, re-imagined for a Europe of tomorrow, fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Witness the rise and fall of a new(t) capitalism. Deep in the bowels of an oyster-dredging vessel, an ocean of opportunity arises as a new resource makes contact. Global risk and technological revolution come together in this immersive experience from Royal Exchange Supported Artists and internationally award-winning Knaïve Theatre, with live surround sound installation by sonic artist Robert Bentall.
Mother’s Bloomers
20 October 2018
Presented by Mother’s Ruin and the Royal Exchange Theatre in association with Contact and Cake Tin Foundation
Hosted by Fat Roland, the trailblazing Queer performance platform Mother’s Ruin returns to the Royal Exchange for another edition of Mother’s Bloomers, a platform for local alternative artists to present bold short new works.
Séance, presented by Darkfield
19-31 October 2018
Created by Glen Neath and David Rosenberg, following Fiction, the successful second collaboration between Glen Neath and David Rosenberg, comes the nightmarish production Séance which takes place in St Ann’s Square this Autumn. Inside a completely dark shipping container, Séance explores the psychology of a group of people who have been bombarded with suggestible material. It is an intense sonic performance for twenty people at a time, lasting for twenty terrifying minutes. This show is suggested for ages 14+.
Burgerz
14 – 17 November 2018
Hackney Showroom and Travis Alabanza Present Burgerz by Travis Alabanza. Returning to the Exchange following their critically acclaimed performance as Amyl Nitrate in Jubilee, performance artist Travis Alabanza presents Burgerz. This show is an exploration of the act of survival, the way a body can dodge objects, and how a person is received, examined and dissected in public. Burgerz asks the questions: What does the trans body do in order to survive? And how can one become a protector, rather than a bystander? Carving out a place for themselves as one of the most prominent trans voices in the UK, Alabanza presents a piece that is both timely and true to their style: both unsettling and powerful.
Sleepyhead
13 – 31 December 2018
Presented by Little Angel Theatre and written by Michael Fowkes
When you mix in some magic, a pinch of circus and a large dollop of silliness, you have the recipe for a little adventure with a lot of laughs, as Sleepyhead is brought to The Studio this Christmas! It’s been a long day for Dad and he can hardly keep his eyes open. All he wants is for Baby to go to sleep so he can catch up on a little shut-eye too. Dad’s usually got some tricks up his sleeve to help send Baby off to the Land of Nod. But tonight, Baby has other ideas…
This invigorating puppet show will spark the imagination of those aged 2-5 and comes to The Studio from 13 – 31 December 2018.
Carol Ann Duffy and Friends
12 November 2018, 10 December 2018, 14 January 2019
Join Carol Ann Duffy, together with new writers from Manchester Met and a variety of established poets for more evenings of jazz, poetry and conversation.
Nanjing
27 February – 2 March 2019
Written and Performed by Jude Christian
Following her production of Parliament Square, Jude Christian returns to the Royal Exchange Theatre with Nanjing; It’s a theatre-essay on mixed-race families, militant pacifism, and the Rape of Nanking. A famous pacifist once said: ‘We must teach ourselves to make the same sacrifices for the business of peace that we make unquestioningly for the business of war’. This is a story about discovering and excavating and questioning and mourning, and learning and not learning and trying to learn.
Royal Exchange Theatre image courtesy University of Salford Press Office/flickr under creative commons licence.
