Live Theatre announce January to June 2014 Season

Live Theatre is providing theatre-goers with an early Christmas present by announcing the exciting range of plays and events it has coming up between January and June 2014. Kicking things off will be Lee Hall who will be returning to Live Theatre to present six evenings of new work as actors perform readings of five screenplays that he currently has in development. This will be a chance for audiences to hear Lee’s take on the astonishing true stories of five eclectic characters including the extraordinary cricketer Harold Larwood, who became the world’s fastest bowler only to fall foul of the  British Establishment during the Bodyline Test series; a screen adaptation of George Orwell’s first book which charts his emergence as a writer; the life of Elton John from birth to rehab – as told in an outrageous musical extravaganza; a screen adaptation of Edmund De Waal’s international best seller The Hare With Amber Eyes  which chronicles the rise and fall of his extraordinary family; and the great French composer Messiaen who created one of the masterpieces of the Twentieth Century music in a German prisoner of war camp.  This event will include a performance of Messiaen’s Quartet For The End of Time played by world-class musicians from Royal Northern Sinfonia.  These events will be spread throughout the season and take place in January, March and June. In April Live Theatre will present a new play by Nick Payne, the youngest ever winner of the Evening Standard Award for Best New Play.  Directed by Joe Murphy (Blink) Incognito shares three interwoven stories exploring the nature of identity and how we are defined by what we remember.  This play is a co-production between Live Theatre, nabokov and HighTide Festival Theatre in association with The North Wall. Returning to Live Theatre in May following its sell-out run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013 is Mark Weinman as Captain Amazing.  The show, written by Bruntwood prize winning writer Alistair McDowall, was described as “the best one-man show you’re likely to see” by the Telegraph.  The play will go on a national tour before finishing at Live Theatre in May.  Audiences will be thrusts into the life of Britain’s only part-time superhero as he balances raising his daughter and putting in the hours at his more conventional job, with defeating super villains and rescuing families from burning buildings. Following its sell-out run at Live Theatre in the summer, Tyne by Michael Chaplin will return to the region in 2014 when it will be performed both south and north of river at The Customs House, South Shields and Newcastle Theatre Royal, in partnership with Port of Tyne.  Mapping the epic history, atmosphere and soul of the mighty river in story, music and images the play dramatizes extracts from Michael Chaplin’s book Tyne View. On Friday 17 January Stephen Tompkinson will be visiting Live Theatre for one night only as he attends a screening of his latest film Harrigan presented by Tall Tree Pictures.  Set in the North East during the grim and gritty 1970s as power cuts and coal strikes brought England to its knees the evening will begin with a performance from local songstress Hayley McKay and end with Stephen Tompkinson and director Vince Woods talking about the process of bringing the script to screen. Audiences are also being invited to attend an exclusive screening of five short films by Fiona Evans, directed by Max Roberts.  In 2012 Fiona delivered a series of workshops in Newcastle with people who have dementia to coincide with her play Geordie Sinatra.  During this time Fiona worked with patients, their carers, friends and family, listening to their stories and personal experiences which were used as inspiration to create five short films.  This free event will end with a discussion about the social, ethical and medical issues surrounding dementia with an expert panel including world renowned scientists, based in the North East. Live Lab events will continue to present the most exciting and experimental new theatre, first, with Scratch Nights in March and June and a work-in-progress reading of a current commission of Continuum by Richard Stockwell on Thursday 1 May. North East based playwrights John Challis, Lee Mattinson and Laura Lindow will be sharing three 40 minute dramas as they bring their Pint Size Plays to Live’s Studio Theatre presented by Queen’s Hall Arts.  Apples and Snakes will also be returning to Live Theatre as they present a pair of music and spoken word events with Beccy Owen and Hannah Silva in on Friday 10 January following by an evening of stand-up poetry and a music fuelled tour around the body in Anthropoetry by BBC Radio 4 Slam Champion Ben Mellor on Thursday 8 May.   On Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 February Live Theatre welcomes the first of a number of exciting visiting theatre shows to its stages. Blink by Phil Porter presented by nabokov and Soho Theatre, is a charming, delicate and darkly funny love story, directed by Joe Murphy (Incognito),  which was a hit of the 2012 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. How to Be Immortal, which was developed with The Lowry and West Yorkshire Playhouse, in association with Harrogate, The Albany and Jackson’s Lane, will take to the stage on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 February.  Live music, death, love and DNA intertwine in this twisted new play about what death leaves behind.  The play is based on the true story of Henrietta Lack, an African-American woman whose cells (from her cancerous tumour) were cultured without her permission in 1951 to create the first known human immortal cell line for medical research. North East based writer and performed Kate Craddock will take to the stage in Live’s Studio Theatre from Thursday 6 March to Saturday 8 March as she shares an epic tale told on an intimate scale inspired by maverick British adventurer Gertrude Bell.  The GB Project written by Kate and Steve Gilroy is a powerful and insightful look at the impact of one woman on the shaping of modern day Iraq. On Thursday 15 May The Moon Cannot Be Stolen will be presented in Live’s Studio Theatre by Kirsten Luckins.  After 16 years Kirsten re-read her India journals only to realise that encountering a former self is just as shocking as getting lost in another culture.  Audiences can expect poetry, anecdote and even a spot of Tarot-reading. In a first for the North East Dilly Arts and Open Clasp Theatre Company will share the stories of women prisoners from HMP YOI Low Newton Prison as they tell it like it is, in an unforgettable story that is raw, honest and gritty.  The final play called Key Change will be performed in a tour of male prisons before arriving at Live Theatre on Saturday 7 June. On Thursday 27 February family audiences will be able to enjoy an evening of six short plays written by pupils from Red House Academy in Sunderland as part of Live Theatre’s Write Stuff literacy project.  The plays will be performed for the very first time as script-in-hand readings by professional actors and explore issues and concerns that are relevant to young people’s lives.   Plus on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 March theatre-goers are being invited to join members of Live Theatre’s acclaimed Youth Theatre as they grapple with the pros, cons and impact of new technologies on their everyday lives.  What would life be like without Facebook, Twitter or other social media? Are computers dominating our lives? Or are we just hi-tech junkies?  The results will be performed in High-Tech Junkies, a selection of short, imaginative and thought-provoking theatre pieces presented over two evenings. Also an evening not to be missed is Wednesday 30 April when members of Live’s Youth Theatre will perform readings of two new plays currently in development by writers who have had their work recently performed on the main stage. Paddy Campbell’s (Wet House) new play Day of the Flymo asks what you do when the state decides it’s going to take over from your Mam and Lee Mattinson’s (Chalet Lines) new play Peter Pam introduces audiences to the world of four fifteen-year-olds who believe life is cruel with their faces are ninety per cent braces, bullies bigger than Bieber and a school scarier than Geordie Shore, Peter Pam is a co-commission by Live Theatre and Juice – NewcastleGateshead’s award winning festival for children and young people. Finally, to add the finishing touches music lovers will be able to experience seven nights of toe-tapping entertainment with a series of gigs courtesy of the Jumpin’ Hot Club and friends. For more information about what is coming up at Live Theatre between January and June 2014 or to buy tickets visit www.live.org.uk