Lemn Sissay News

Chester Literature Festival kicked off at the weekend, over 120 events will be staged at the award-winning arts centre until 30 November.

A host of critically acclaimed performances will be staged at Chester Literature Festival this coming November, all available to see for less than £15.

Authors Armistead Maupin and Michael Morpurgo, poets Imtiaz Dharker, Benjamin Zephaniah and Lemn Sissay and writer and TV presenter Nadiya Hussain top the bill alongside a raft of writers, storytellers, musicians and spoken word artists.

This breathtaking Edinburgh Fringe 2018 hit sell-out show ran at Traverse Theatre before transferring back to the Royal Exchange Theatre Studio in September 2018. Performed by multi-award winning, BAFTA nominated actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, Greatest Play in the History of the World takes us on a heartfelt journey that starts and ends in a small, unassuming house on a quiet suburban road. Julie narrates this story of two neighbours and the people on their street, as she navigates us through the nuances of life, the possibilities of science and the meaning of love.

1969. The year of the moon. But that was far from all; Woodstock, the Stonewall riots, Monty Python's Flying Circus and the Battle of the Bogside were but a snapshot of life in the last year of the sixties - The Beatles' career came to an acrimonious end just as David Bowie's started its ascent to stratospheric heights. Prom 11 commemorated the changes in culture, science and society that occurred 50 years ago, with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the heart of the action.

Manchester International Festival today announces that actors Christopher Eccleston, and Adjoa Andoh and writer Lemn Sissay will perform alongside writer Michael Morpurgo and actor Juliet Stevenson in Ivo van Hove's Re:Creating Europe, which is being presented for one night only at The Lowry theatre on Friday 12 July.

Wiltshire Creative will premiere Barney Norris' explosive new adaptation of Lorca's Blood Wedding, retold in present-day Wiltshire, at Salisbury Playhouse in February as part of its 2019-20 Autumn Winter season.

The Royal Court Theatre announces A Year Of Work September 2019 - August 2020.

Recipients of the third annual Tonic Awards were announced tonight at an awards ceremony held at The May Fair Hotel hosted by Tracy Ann Oberman. The awards celebrate the achievements of game-changing women, significant organisations, projects and productions that redefine the role of women in the performing arts, both on and off stage. The recipients of this year's awards are: Jude Kelly CBE, Alison Tickell, Open Clasp Theatre Company, Paula Garfield, Elliott & Harper Productions for Company, Shakespeare's Globe's production of Emilia, The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and Dance Umbrella.

Mandela: The Official Exhibition is the major new global touring exhibition that takes visitors on a personal journey through the life of the world's most iconic freedom fighter and political leader. A revolutionary experience that celebrates his life and legacy, the exhibition makes its World Premiere at 26 Leake Street Gallery at Waterloo's Graffiti Tunnels – the perfect home for this one-of-a-kind exhibition from February 8th 2019.

First names announced for Chester Literature Festival as it prepares to celebrate its 30th anniversary in the city.

Beast on the Moon by Richard Kalinoski comes to the Finborough Theatre Tuesday, 29 January-Saturday, 23 February 2019. This is the first London production in more than 20 years.

As part of National Care Leavers Week, (25 October - 3 November), Derby Theatre will play host to the Culture Cares Conference on Tuesday 30 October. Produced by young care-leavers, this nationally significant event brings together the Arts and Social Care to find ways in which these two sectors can help promote positive outcomes for those young people who have experienced the care system. The conference is presented by Derby's Cultural Campus in partnership with the Family Arts Campaign and supported by the Esmee Fairburn Foundation.

Storyhouse announces Chester Literature Festival with its biggest line-up yet. Featuring major authors, storytellers, broadcasters and poets.

Artistic Director of Polka Theatre, Peter Glanville today announces their new season for Autumn/ Winter 2018 comprising both new Polka productions and visiting work as well as classes and workshops, celebrating some of the greatest living writers for children.

Last year, HOME's annual Orbit Festival looked at our place in the world. This year's Orbit Festival takes it one stage further by presenting new work from theatre-makers across the globe who want to explore how we face the world, our relationship with the past, how we remember, the stories we tell ourselves and what it is that makes us who we are today.

In a production commissioned by the Finborough Theatre, the European premiere of American playwright Bruce Graham's White Guy on the Bus opens at the Finborough Theatre for a four-week limited season on Tuesday, 27 March 2018 (Press Nights: Thursday, 29 March and Friday, 30 March 2018 at 7.30pm).

Karena Johnson, Artistic Director of Hoxton Hall today announces its spring 2018 season, Female Parts.

Lemn Sissay, Canterbury's Poet Laureate, has created a series of talks and performances especially for The Marlowe and Wise Words.Exploring extraordinary stories of resilience, the series starts on Tuesday 5 December, with a rare chance to see a reading of Lemn's acclaimed one-man play, Something Dark.