Six new plays, 10 days, 5 discussions with 12
leading theatre professionals make this year’s Elevator Festival the biggest
yet!
Elevator Festival
Newcastle’s
Live Theatre
Thursday 21st to Saturday 30th
March 2019
Graeme Thompson, Creative
Producer, Live Theatre said; “Elevator Festival is a real celebration
of talent and has a huge amount of quality work on offer. It’s a chance see six
fantastic new plays which are all are very different but all fabulous stories and
a great night out. These artists are all on the rise, so we’ll be seeing more
their work in the future so it’s worth seeing them here at Elevator Festival
first.”
Alt-Right
on the Night written and performed
by Matthew Greenhough explores friendship and disenfranchisement in modern
Britain, with a punk rock sound track. Matthew trained as an actor at
Northumbria University (and whilst studying worked on the bar at Live Theatre).
His play Bismillah! – a play exploring radicalism with a Queen
soundtrack played to a packed studio theatre when it came to Live Theatre last
year.
West End
Girls follows three different women’s stories across
three housing estates and three moments in time, and was inspired by writer
Adam Hughes’ research into local history in Newcastle. Adam is an Offie Award
winning playwright who is linked to Finborough Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse and is part of BBC
Writers Room Shadow Scheme. This is performed in a Double Bill with W*nk
Buddies, a show which explores identity, gender, and sexuality. Written
and performed by Jake Jarratt and Cameron Sharp and is inspired by their own
meeting as students on the Northumbria University performing arts course. Both
now graduates, Cameron is co-founder and performer in drag cabaret theatre
group Bonnie and The Bonnettes whilst Jake makes theatre
exploring identity.
Pops by Charlotte Josephine looks at the relationship between a father
and daughter and their attempts to honestly connect. Josephine wrote and performed Edinburgh hit shows Bitch
Boxer and Blush
and is currently
under commission at BBC Films. See this in a Double Bill with Locks,
a play about a mixed-race English lad goes to find his identity in Jamaica and
spends his 18th birthday in prison. Locks is written
and performed by Ashleigh Nugent and adapted from his own memoir which won the
2013 Commonword Memoir Competition.
The Devil
Danced in our Eyes by Jonluke McKie
explores sexuality, mental health and the mother-son relationship through
storytelling, sound and music. The play was in last year’s Elevator Scratch
Night as Preconceived, and has been supported by Live Theatre into a
longer show for this year’s Elevator Festival.
Accompanying
the plays are a series of workshops and masterclasses in which leading theatre
professionals share their insight into making new work. Talks include Working
Class Representation on the Stage with Ishy Din, writer
of Approaching
Empty, Adam Hughes, writer
of West
End Girls, theatre maker Sian Armstrong, Stupid,
Northern Stage and Graeme Thompson, Creative
Producer, Live Theatre. Future
of Playwriting
with playwrights Vinay
Patel and Chris Bush and
alongside Chris Foxon, of
playwright development agency Papatango, Charlotte
Bennett, Associate Director, Soho Theatre, and Joe Douglas, Artistic Director, Live
Theatre. Women and The World with Writer and actor Tracy Gillman, Live Theatre
Writer-in-Residence Chinonyere
Live Theatre
has also launched it’s call out for its 2019 Bursary offering £2,000, support
and space to develop innovative new theatre for next year’s Elevator Festival.
See www.live.org.uk/bursary for
details.
As well as the
companies performing in this year’s Elevator Festival, previous Live Theatre
Bursary winners include Rat Boy
by Christina Berriman Dawson and Lee Mattinson, who are now currently working
on a full length version of the play for Live Theatre, The
Soaking of Vera Shrimp by Alison Carr and Captain
Amazing by Alistair McDowall, both of which were
produced a full length productions by live Theatre and transferred to the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
“For young artists, it is a luxury to have the
time to dedicate to the process of making a show, without constantly have to
think about the end product. Having the support of Live Theatre gave us more
confidence, we got to meet other artists working in the building and we had a
space to develop and thrive.”
Cameron
Sharp and Jake Jarratt, 2018 Bursary recipients
Tickets:
Tickets
for plays in Elevator Festival
cost between £8 and £10,
with concessions £8 and £6. Discussions are £3. Live Theatre has extended
availability of its concession priced tickets to include all young people aged 25 and under,
proof of age is needed when booking or collecting tickets.
To book tickets and to
find out more contact Live Theatre’s box office on (0191)
232 1232 or visit www.live.org.uk/elevator
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