AUTUMN2014
4 SEPT to 31 JAN 2015
The New Wolsey team welcomes you all to ourAutumn 2014 Season
This autumn sees the World Premiere of our brand new musical Midsummer Songs, written and directed by our Artistic Director Peter Rowe with music by Ben Goddard - a formidable musical making team! With original songs presented in our trademark actor-musician format, join us for what will be a heart-warming toe tapping start to September.
To commemorate the centenary of the start of The First World War, the New Wolsey has teamed up with Dr John Greenacre at University Campus Suffolk, and the Ipswich Tourist Guides Association to create additional events alongside Private Peaceful and A Farewell To Arms.
Take a look at pages5to see how else you can take part in remembering.
Pulse Presents brings three of the U.K.'s most exciting contemporary theatre makers to Ipswich with work commissioned or supported by the New Wolsey Theatre. There's the playful team from Toot with Be Here Now, and the beautiful performance makers Two Destination Language with the preview of Manpower, and don't miss the incredible Analogue's Stowaway originally developed through our Big Ideas project in 2012.
Our very own young theatre makers take up residence in the studio this October to present two completely different pieces of theatre, the New Wolsey Youth Theatre with the classic Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland perfect for all the family, followed by the New Wolsey Young Company with Paul Webb's brutal dark comedy Four Knights In Knaresborough.
DON’T MISS OUT… BOOK NOW!
This year, SPILL Festival makes a welcome return to the main theatre with a community musical presented by GETINTHEBACKOFTHEVAN.
Pacitti Company bring this biannual festival home to Ipswich and we are proud to host one of the many events they will present from 29 October to 2 November.
Take part in the conversation and collaboration between some of the best Ipswich arts companies at #WeAreIpswich
Our pull-out listings are in the middle of this brochure, where you can find more ways to #LoveYourTheatre so we see you more often.
Rip it out and mark it up, there’s plenty for everyone to see and save with our tempting package deals.
Our accessible performances this season display a great mix of additional services and creative combinations within the shows themselves – more information can be found on pages 50 to 53 you can also find out how to support the theatre further on pages 55 and 56.
Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter for even more insight of what we get up to day-to-day, and catch up with us on Instagram, Pinterest and Google + too.
Our website has a new live chat option – great for quick questions, additional information, or for just a natter.
The New Wolsey Theatre gratefully acknowledges the continuing support of The Wolsey Theatre Club and Culture Club members.
THU 4 TO SAT 27 SEPTEMBER
THE NEW WOLSEY THEATRE presents
Midsummer Songs
By / Peter Rowe and Ben Goddard
“Wherever we are in 25 years, we'll come back and create the B side”
Twenty-five years ago a group of friends celebrated the end of their university careers with a wild week in a barn half-way up a mountain in West Wales. A week of madness, mayhem and music, recorded on a C90 cassette and buried in a biscuit tin at the top of a hill with a pledge – “Wherever we are in twenty-five years’ time we’ll come back here on Midsummer’s Eve and create the B side”.
And now we see those old friends return, a little rounder, a bit more rueful but with their passion for life, love and music still smouldering inside.
As the biscuit tin gives up its secrets, old passions catch fire, past resentments return and the songs begin to fly. Will this reunion change their lives? Will the album ever be finished? And what on earth can they play that cassette on?
Written especially for a company of multi-skilled actor-musicians in the New Wolsey house style, this brand new musical is a celebration of friendship, survival and the power of song.
Book and Lyrics by / Peter Rowe
Music by / Ben Goddard
TIMES / 7.45pm(7pm on Tuesdays)
MATINEES / 2.30pm on Sat 6, Wed 10, Sat 13, Wed 17, Sat 20, Wed 24 and Sat 27 Sept
POST-SHOW TALK / Thu 11 Sept
Audio Described Performance Sat 20 Sept at 2.30pm
BSL Interpreted Captioned Performance Thu 25 Sept at 2.30pm
This season, the New Wolsey Theatrewill be taking part in a global commemoration to remember the lives of those who lived, fought and died in the First World War.
IWM (Imperial War Museums) are leading the First World War Centenary Partnership, a network of cultural and educational organisations, and these events will be listed along with many others across the country.
Find out more at
MON 29 SEPTEMBER TO WED 1 OCTOBER
SCAMP THEATRE presents
PRIVATE PEACEFUL
by / Michael Morpurgo (Author of War Horse)
Adapted & Directed by / Simon Reade
Private Peaceful relives the life of Private Tommo Peaceful, a young First World War soldier awaiting the firing squad at dawn.
During the night he looks back at his short but joyful past growing up in rural Devon; his exciting first days at school; the accident in the forest that killed his father; his adventures with Molly, the love of his life; and the battles and injustices of war that brought him to the front line.
Winner of the Blue Peter Book of the Year, Private Peaceful is by third Children’s Laureate, Michael Morpurgo. His inspiration came from a visit to Ypres where he was shocked to discover how many young soldiers were court-martialled and shot for cowardice during the First World War.
‘As moving as the poetry of Wilfred Owen and as painfully
memorable as white-hot shrapnel…’
*****The Sunday Herald
Suitable for ages 8+
TIMES / 7.45pm (7pm on Tue 30 Sep)
MATINEE / 2.30pm on Wed 1 Oct
MON 29 SEPTEMBER
Dr John Greenacre, First World War Centenary Project Coordinator from University Campus Suffolk presents
FOR THE SAKE OF EXAMPLE:
THE TRIAL OF PRIVATE BENJAMIN HART
Private Benjamin Hart of the Suffolk Regiment was a Territorial soldier from Ipswich. Having lived and fought for months on the Western Front Private Hart was arrested and tried for desertion. John Greenacre examines the trial and verdict of Benjamin Hart and wider aspects of British military justice during the First World War.
TIME / 6pm TICKETS / £5
WED 5 NOVEMBER
Dr John Greenacre, First World War Centenary Project Coordinator from University Campus Suffolk presents
TRENCH TO WARD: THE WOUNDING OF PRIVATE CHARLES INGLETON
Private Charles Ingleton was an Australian infantryman wounded on the Western Front in 1916. His evacuation took him from a trench in French Flanders to a bed in the East Suffolk and Ipswich Hospital. John Greenacre examines the treatment of Charles Ingleton and the effectiveness of British Army medical services during the First World War.
TIME / 6pm
TICKETS / £5
TUE 4 TO SAT 8 NOVEMBER
IMITATING THE DOG and THE DUKES, LANCASTER in association with LIVE AT LICA and CAST
A FAREWELL TO ARMS
By / Ernest Hemingway An adaptation by / imitating the dog
Acclaimed theatre makers imitating the dog bring their unique theatrical vision to this adaptation of A Farewell To Arms, one of the great love stories of the twentieth century.
In war-torn Italy, 1918, ambulance driver Frederic Henry begins a relationship with nurse Catherine Barkley, discovering the redemptive power of love whilst experiencing a loss of innocence in a time of devastating conflict. This new adaptation will fuse video projection, stage design and original music to create an extraordinary version of Hemingway’s powerful meditation on love and the brutality of modern warfare.
"multi-platform theatre makers of rare ambition" The Guardian
TIMES / 7.45pm (7pm on Tue 4)
MATINEES / 2.30pm on Wed 5 & Sat 8 Nov
POST-SHOW TALK / Thu 6 Nov
Captioned Performance
All performances will contain a creative use of captioning.
SAT 8 NOVEMBER
Ipswich Tourist Guides Association presents
Ipswich & The Great War – A Guided Walk
A tribute to the men and women who battled for victory.The stories of Military heroes & Munitions Workers, of Zeppelin Raids & Rationing, and the vital work done by Ipswich Manufacturers.
TIME / 11.30am, starting from The Old Customs House on The Waterfront.
DURATION OF WALK / 90 mins
TICKETS / £20 and includes the walk, lunch at the New Wolsey Theatre and a ticket to the matinee of A Farewell To Arms
THU 4 SEPTEMBER
TOOT presents
BE HERE NOW
An irreverently comic yet tender look at how music seeps into and influences our lives.
TOOT will immerse you in a worldof CDs, cassettes and videotapes; rewinding, fast-forwarding and pausing fantasies,memories, the rawness of love and the music that defines it. Hit repeat and relive together the scenes you play over and over in your head, the moments you can't change - all set to a soundtrack of ‘90s classics.
Created and performed by Stuart Barter, Clare Dunn & Terry O’Donovan with a soundtrack of original (and some not-so-original) tunes.
Produced by Faith Dodkins.
An Ovalhouse seed commission.Supported by Shoreditch Town Hall, Cambridge Junction & Escalator Performing Arts.
VENUE / High Street Exhibition Gallery
TIME / 7.45pm
THU 18 & FRI 19 SEPTEMBER
ANALOGUE presents
STOWAWAY
The wheels of a Boeing 777 unfold out of the belly of a plane as it begins its descent towards Heathrow. The frozen body of a stowaway is tipped out.
In the carpark of a suburban DIY superstore, Andy looks up. Something is falling out of the sky. A man crash-lands on the ground in front of him.
The premiere of a brand new show by Analogue (Beachy Head, 2401 Objects).
Commissioned by New Wolsey Theatre.Supported by Creative Scotland, Arts Council England and British Council.Developed at Traverse Theatre and Shoreditch Town Hall.
‘The bright young things of British Theatre’ The Observer
VENUE / New Wolsey Studio
TIMES / 7.45pm
THU 25 SEPTEMBER
TWO DESTINATION LANGUAGE presents a preview of
MANPOWER
Men are funny things. Triple trophy winner AlisterLownie (Bantam League baseball, 1986-7) is one of them. KatherinaRadeva (rhythm gymnast) is not. Being a man, though, is something else. You can man up. You have to, when your team's a man down. Stand and take it like a man. Alister and Kat have been thinking about men and power. Bruce. Clint. Maggie. Sheds and tea. Heavy machinery and pocket gadgets. And watching.
VENUE / New Wolsey Studio
TIME / 7.45pm
POST-SHOW TALK / Thu 25 Sept
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THU 2 OCTOBER
EUROPEAN ARTS COMPANY presents
THE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE
European Arts Companyreturns with a dramatisation of the libel and criminal trials of Oscar Wilde at the Old Bailey in 1895.
Thursday 14 February 1895 was the triumphant opening night ofThe Importance of Being Earnestand the zenith of Wilde’s career.Less than 100 days later, he found himself a common prisoner sentenced to two years hard labour.
So what happened during the trials and what did Wilde say? Was he persecuted or the author of his own downfall? Using the original words spoken in court, we can feel what it was like to be in the company of a flawed genius - as this less than ideal husband was suddenly reduced to a man of no importance.
TIME / 7.45pm
FRI 3 OCTOBER
DUKE’S COMEDY CLUB
An evening with the finest comics from around the world.
TIME /7.45pm NOTE / May contain adult content
LINE UP /
Curry & Comedy
Spice up your evening for an extra £5
Our Cafe Bar will be serving Vegetable Balti or Chicken Tikka with rice and naan. Must be ordered in advance.Limited availability.
SAT 4 OCTOBER
CHAMPIONS OF MAGIC
Join our award winning team of liars, swindlers and cheats for
a spectacular night of trickery you'll be trying to work out for a very long time to come. Audiences will witness mastery of card manipulation, death defying stunts, mind boggling sleight of hand and spectacular illusions from some of the foremost performers in magic.
Champions Of Magic includes 5 world class, award winning entertainers performing everything from stage filling illusions to magic right in the palm of spectators' hands. Along with a live video feed, fiery pyrotechnics and stunning lighting, the show is an immersive experience in the art of magic.
TIME / 3.30pm & 7.45pm
MON 6 TO WED 8 OCTOBER
CUSTOM/PRACTICE and THE CORN EXCHANGE NEWBURYpresent
Shakespeare’s ROMEO & JULIET
Directed by Rae Mcken (Artistic Director,Custom/Practice), in collaboration with choreographer Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy andcomposer Michael‘Mikey J’ Asante, from the Olivier award winning hip-hop dancecompany, Boy Blue.
Set amongstthe princes and nobles of Verona, this dynamic new productioncombines thepurity and beauty of Shakespeare’s original text with entrancing contemporarystreet dance.
Caught betweenthe long-running and bitter feud of their families, the Montagues and theCapulets, the star-crossed lovers must fight againstthe odds in this much-lovedand powerful tale of forbidden romance, jealousy and betrayal.
This dazzlingand innovative version of the unforgettable classic is a must see for newcomersto Shakespeare and regular theatregoers alike.
****‘Energetic and imaginative…and a generous sprinkling of faerie dust’ Metroon A Midsummer Night’s Dream
‘QualityShakespeare at its most accessible’TheStage on Twelfth Night
‘The kind ofenergy and enthusiasm that Shakespeare thrives upon’
Time Out on A MidsummerNight’s Dream
TIMES / 7.45pm (7pm on Tue 7 Oct)
MATINEE / 2.30pm on Wed 8 Oct
POST-SHOW TALK / Tue 7 Oct
SAT 11 OCTOBER
AN AUDIENCE WITH RATIONALE
Following a sell-out performance of In My Shoes in 2013, hip hop dance company Rationale are back, and they want your feedback.
Rationale will return to Ipswich and the New Wolsey Theatre for 3 days where they will be exploring new storytelling techniques that will immerse you in an innovative way of interacting with dance, giving you ownership of the show.
An Audience with Rationale is all about questioning the pre-conceptions of theatre, breaking down the barriers, and enveloping the audience in something new and sensational. On Sat 11 October, you can see what they have produced and tell them what you think.
Exciting plans are already in place to talk to artists and the community to inform the theatre making process.
The company will take part in the schools Creative Choices workshop on Fri 10 October – an event that will provide a unique insight into careers in theatre and the wider creative and cultural industries. See page 23.
TIME / 7.45pm
TUE 7 TO SAT 11 OCTOBER
NEW WOLSEY YOUTH THEATRE presents
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND
By / Lewis Carroll
ADAPTED By / V A Pearn
Directed by / Joe Leat and Rob Salmon
‘Come with us, friends, whatever be your ages, and meet some folk from out the magic pages!’
On an ordinary summer’s afternoon, Alice tumbles down a rabbit hole and an extraordinary adventure begins. In a strange world with even stranger characters, she meets a grinning cat, joins a mad tea party and plays croquet with the Queen! Lost in this fantasy land, Alice finds herself growing more and more curious by the minute…
Join the New Wolsey Youth Theatre for a trip through Lewis Carroll’s world of magic and wonder where nothing is ever as it seems.
VENUE / New Wolsey Studio
TIMES / 7.45pm MATINEE / 2.30pm on Sat 11 Oct
POST-SHOW TALK /Thu 9 Oct
Audio Described PerformanceSaturday 11 October at 2.30pm.
SUN 12 OCTOBER
TERRY DASH MUSIC presents
THE KINGS OF COOL
With Matthew Ford And His Band
A celebration of the coolest crooners. The hits of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Michael Buble, Bobby Darin, Andy Williams and many more…
Award–winning vocalist Matt Ford is widely regarded as the finest big band singer in the UK, broadcasting frequently with the BBC Big Band and The John Wilson Orchestra. Matt works regularly with acclaimed conductor John Wilson, performing at the 2011 BBC Proms in ‘Hooray For Hollywood‘ and subsequently touring the UK with the John Wilson Orchestra, something he repeated in November 2013. Last year Matt returned to the Royal Albert Hall for his second BBC Proms appearance (Hollywood Rhapsody), and made his US debut, performing in Hollywood with Seth Macfarlane. The Kings Of Cool features Matt’s own stunning nine piece band made up of the finest musicians in the UK.
If you are a fan of cool swinging standards, The Great American Songbook, and the music of The Rat Pack, then this is the show for you.
TIME / 7pm
TUE 14 TO THU 16 OCTOBER