The Week in Light & Sound
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Back Home - An arts venue in Manchester is to open a new 400-seat socially distanced outdoor theatre space. Home said the temporary venue would provide shows, music, cabaret and comedy for people "looking for a safe and fun night out as lockdown eases". Named Homeground, it will open on 28 May on a future development site in the city's First Street.
The project will create 450 new jobs for freelance artists and creatives, the venue said. Over the summer the venue plans to stage musical versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Alice in Wonderland. It will also host work by partners including Frog & Bucket, Contact and Trans Creative.
Park Life - Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre will reopen in the summer with an extended season and has announced a new co-production with London’s Unicorn Theatre. The previously announced production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by Kimberley Sykes, will run from 17 June to 24 July. This will be followed by Carousel, directed by Timothy Sheader, from 31 July to 25 September. Dragons and Mythical Beasts will open in August.
A series of MOREoutdoor events will include comedy performances from Aisling Bea, Jimmy Carr, and Luisa Omielan, and Canned Laughter will present a comedy fundraiser in support of the Trussell Trust featuring Lolly Adefope, Rosie Jones, Rose Matafeo and Suzi Ruffell. Covid safety procedures will remain in place in line with government restrictions, including an initial 50% reduction in seating capacity.
Fringe Matters - Brighton Fringe has unveiled plans for a hybrid festival opening in late May, featuring a programme of in-person and digital shows. Comedians Arthur Smith, Zoe Lyons and Anna Morris are among the performers taking part in more than 330 events.
Venues for this year’s festival will a new space at Pier Werks in central Brighton, as well as digital venues hosted by Edinburgh Fringe operator theSpaceUK, which will host live and pre-recorded online shows, and Living Record, which will stage a programme of work for digital audiences. The festival will begin on 28 May, running after this year’s Brighton Festival, which is presenting a programme of digital work from 1 May and socially distanced in-person shows from 17 May.
Future Life - London venue the Donmar Warehouse has entered into a multi-year development deal with production company Wessex Grove, aimed at developing new stage work and giving the theatre’s output a “future life” both in the UK and abroad. Wessex Grove was set up last year by Benjamin Lowy and Emily Vaughan-Barratt to produce and general-manage work in the West End, on Broadway and worldwide. In a joint statement, Lowy and Vaughan-Barratt said the company was “founded on the principle of being led by great artists”.
“Now more than ever, Wessex Grove is committed to supporting innovative artists and their works and the Donmar has always been at the forefront of creating, developing and showcasing the best of British theatre. We hope to be able to give many of these productions a future life and enable their work to reach wider audiences both here in the UK and across the world,” they added.
(Jim Evans)
13 April 2021
