Exclusive: James Dacre Talks About New Royal and Derngate 'Made In Northampton' Season!

James Dacre, Artistic Director of Royal & Derngate, today announced the Spring and Summer programme for Made in Northampton 2016 in his third year at the Northampton venue.

As well as the world premiere of Soul, Roy Williams' searing new play about the life and death of Marvin Gaye, a playful take on Madame Bovary, the European premiere of American sensation Peter and the Starcatcher and a revival of James Dacre's celebrated version of A Tale of Two Cities, four major new productions will mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death.

"The East Midlands doesn't focus its efforts on marking Shakespeare's legacy," Dacre told BWW:UK. "Our hope is that in this festival of four productions - one production to mark each century since Shakespeare's death - that we'll be able to provide a conversation point for East Midlands audiences about why we continue to study, perform and enjoy his work."

Beginning in February 2016, the first show in the Shakespeare season will be The Herbal Bed, Peter Whelan's imagining of the life of William Shakespeare's daughter. A powerful exposé of the contradiction between human desire and social convention, this moving and uplifting play provides a beautiful evocation of life in Shakespearian England. Directed by James Dacre in its first major revival since its acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company premiere in 1994, the production is a collaboration with English Touring Theatre and Rose Theatre Kingston. The Herbal Bed reunites the design team behind 2013's UK Theatre Award-winning production of Peter Whelan's The Accrington Pals.

In April, two-time Olivier nominee Michael Pennington will take on Shakespeare's greatest role as he stars in King Lear, directed by Philip Franks. With a cast of fourteen distinguished actors, this major new production will run for three weeks in the Royal, including on 23 April - the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death - before touring the UK, in association with Ambassador Theatre Group.

In May, Tim Crouch will direct Spymonkey as they perform all 75 of Shakespeare's onstage deaths, from the suicides in Julius Caesar to the carnage at the end of Hamlet to snakes in a basket in Antony and Cleopatra. Solemn yet sublimely funny, The Complete Deaths is presented by Spymonkey in co-production with Royal & Derngate and Brighton Festival, and receives exclusive previews in Northampton before its world premiere in Brighton Festival 2016 and international tour.

The celebration of Shakespeare will conclude in June with The Tempest in a new music-theatre version by Oscar-winning writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz (Ida), directed by Caroline Steinbeis, who has directed this year for the Royal Court, National Theatre and Manchester Royal Exchange. Shakespeare's magical story of growing up and growing old is performed by the next generation of talent - an ensemble of 18-25 year olds that brings together the most promising young actors from the UK and Northamptonshire, in a co-production with the National Youth Theatre.

Also at the Royal, the internationally acclaimed company Peepolykus will tackle Madame Bovary in May, in a unique comic production. Described as 'a loving derailment' of Flaubert's novel, The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary! will be directed by Everyman & Playhouse Artistic Director Gemma Bodinetz. The world premiere will be a co-production between Royal & Derngate Northampton, Peepolykus, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, Nuffield and the Bristol Old Vic.

In a world premiere, Soul, Roy Williams' new play about the life and tragically early death of soul legend Marvin Gaye, will open at the end of May. A searing dramatic thriller that will reveal what really happened during Marvin Gaye's haunting final days, Soul is a parable about an American family prepared to do anything to promote and protect their children. Not just the story of Marvin Gaye, but of many a great talent crushed by stardom, this new play is written by BAFTA and Evening Standard Award-winning Roy Williams, in close collaboration with members of the family of Marvin Gaye.

Following its success in 2014, James Dacre's celebrated production of Charles Dickens' A Tale Of Two Cities, adapted by Mike Poulton, will be revived in September, ahead of a national tour. In an age of increasing popular unrest across the world, this bold dramatic adaptation, set to rousing original music by Oscar-winning composer Rachel Portman, is frighteningly relevant. Featuring one of the largest acting companies to ever appear on the Royal's stage, A Tale of Two Cities will be a co-production by Royal & Derngate and Touring Consortium Theatre Company.

"We live in a time of great ideological change and uncertainty. Never before in my lifetime has there been such a distance between how ordinary people talk about politics and how the establishment does. We live in a time of great political unrest where ideas of social justice are being interrogated like never before. So this is a piece that will resonate with audiences in how it depicts frightening historical detail but we believe it also has great political impact on audiences today," said Dacre.

Next Christmas, Peter and the Starcatcher will receive its European premiere on the Royal stage. Based on the much-loved novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, this swashbuckling musical prequel to the stories of Peter Pan will see a dozen actors play over 100 characters in rising directorial star Luke Shepherd's wildly imaginative new production. A huge hit on Broadway in 2012 winning five Tony Awards and the Drama Desk Award for its glorious music, Peter and the Starcatcher went on to become one of the most produced plays in America last year. Following its run in Northampton, Royal & Derngate's production of Peter and the Starcatcher will embark upon a national tour, presented by Paul Taylor-Mills.

"We're thrilled - each Christmas we have a long tradition of telling old stories in imaginative new ways, and engaging some of the best theatre-makers working today to create vivid, spectacular, ensemble-driven productions for our audiences," said Dacre. "Few plays do that better than Peter and the Starcatcher."

These include a large-scale sound installation with Seven Sisters Group and Fermynwoods Contemporary Art and new work by Melanie Spencer, Maria Aberg, Joel Horwood and Mike Poulton. This programme means the theatre will have commissioned 24 new works in under 24 months.

In October, Royal & Derngate's touring achievements were recognised when it was awarded the Renee Stepham Award for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre at the 2015 UK Theatre Awards. Over the previous 12 months, six Made in Northampton productions toured to 45 venues across 30 towns and cities. In 2014/15 more than 71,000 people saw Royal & Derngate productions on tour, and since April a further 147,887 have also seen work around the country. In this Spring/Summer 2016 season alone, work originating at the Royal & Derngate will tour to over 40 different venues.

Royal & Derngate has a thriving relationship with its local community, and in addition to the productions described above, the theatre's Actors Company, Youth Theatre and Young Company will stage three productions at the venue: Market Boy by David Eldridge, The Musicians by Patrick Marber and Lionel Bart's Oliver!.

The theatre will also host a "Musical Theatre Darkroom" with partners China Plate and Musical Theatre Matters, further details of which will be announced on Thursday 10 December.

For more information about any of the Made in Northampton productions, visit www.royalandderngate.co.uk. Shows can be booked online or by calling Box Office on 01604 624811.

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