Actors Touring Company Announce Most Prolific Year Ever

Following a monumental year which saw the opening of three new shows, sell-out runs and four or five star reviews across the board, Actors Touring Company, under the stewardship of Artistic Director Ramin Gray and Executive Director Andrew Smaje, goes from strength to strength. As the company opens their acclaimed The Suppliant Women at The Royal Exchange, they announce plans for 2017 and 2018, cementing further their reputation as creators and producers of high quality, relevant international drama with a commitment to collaborations with leading national and international venues. Over the coming year the company will stage an unprecedented number of acclaimed productions, that touch on the most urgent concerns of our times.

The Suppliant Women by Aeschylus in a new version by David Greig, directed by Ramin Gray with music by John Browne received rave reviews when it opened at The Royal Lyceum Theatre last October and was seen as the jewel in the crown of Greig's first season as Artistic Director. It has since been snapped up by the Young Vic to run there between 13 and 25 November this year. Next week the production opens for a three week run at The Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester and there will be an international tour in the Spring of 2018.

Meanwhile the other equally lauded collaboration between Gray, Greig, and Browne, The Events continues its international success with the French language production, directed by Gray based on ATC's original hit, touring Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg from April 1 to April 5, Théâtre Varia Brussels from April 18 to April 22 , Théâtre de la Manufacture, Nancy from April 21 to April 29, Théâtre de Grasse on May 4 and 5, Théâtre National de Nice on May 10 and 11, Theater Basel on May 14 and Les Célestins, Théâtre de Lyon from May 17 to May 27.

Following its sell out run at the Young Vic in 2017, Mark Lockyer's hugely acclaimed Living with the Lights On, also hits the road this autumn with dates that include Tobacco Factory, Bristol, Espoo Theatre, Helsinki and Teatre Lluire, Barcelona.

When Roland Schimmelpfennig's Winter Solstice played the Orange Tree Theatre in January and February this year, it received rave reviews and quickly sold out. The production, directed by Ramin Gray in a translation by David Tushingham will tour the UK in the Spring of 2018.

The Suppliant Women reunites the world-class creative team behind the hugely acclaimed The Events - writer David Greig, director Ramin Gray and composer John Browne. With local participation at its heart, the work revives the tradition of ancient Greek theatre by recruiting performers from the local community to form a chorus who drive the narrative forward and create an extraordinary theatrical event. With choral odes composed by John Browne and accompanied on the aulos (the rarely heard original Greek double pipe), the local participants represent 50 young women who flee forced marriage in Egypt to seek asylum in Greece. This is a story about the plight of refugees, moral and human rights, civil war, democracy and ultimately the triumph of love - a tale that echoes down the ages to find striking and poignant resonance today.

Since it premiered at The Traverse Theatre in August 2013, ATC's production of The Events written by David Greig and directed by Ramin Gray has picked up a raft of awards, been selected as The Guardian's Best Theatre Production of 2013, has sold out two runs at The Young Vic, has toured nationally and internationally, has toured the US and has been staged in German and Norwegian at Schauspielhaus Vienna and Brageteatret in Drammen. The Events explores the impact of a horrific politically motivated crime on a small community, it examines the nature of forgiveness, reconciliation and tolerance and asks how far understanding will stretch in the face of atrocity. The production features a different local choir every night performing a moving score by Irish composer John Browne.

Living with the Lights On has received two runs at The Young Vic and two limited tours of the UK in both theatrical and medical settings. The work is a terrifying, hilarious and moving personal account of Mark's battle with bi-polar disorder.

Winter Solstice is set on Christmas Eve, a tense family Christmas is interrupted by a stranger with familiar but disturbing politics. Family, betrayal and the resurgence of the far right reverberate through the UK premiere of this razor-sharp and timely comedy. Schimmelpfennig is one of Germany's most performed playwrights with productions of his work in over 40 countries. Previous plays include The Golden Dragon and Arabian Night, both presented by Actors Touring Company.

Ramin Gray Artistic Director of Actors Touring Company, directs all four productions. He says: "Creating a body of work that is distinctive, rigorous and playful whilst engaging with audiences across a range of forms - the monologue, family drama and Greek epic - has allowed our tiny company to challenge and entertain audiences and artists across the country. With our fortieth anniversary coming up next year, it feels like ATC is truly alive and kicking."

Andrew Smaje Executive Director of ATC, says: "I joined ATC exactly a year ago and it's been a rollercoaster ride of producing ever since. It's hard to think of another touring company making such a breadth of work and of such a questioning nature. The questions we're all asking ourselves - locally as well as globally - are the ones ATC explores."

Actors Touring Company (ATC) makes international, contemporary theatre that travels. We create shows with a global perspective: activating and entertaining the audience whilst asking questions of the world around us. Placing the actor at the heart of our work, and employing a lean aesthetic which promotes environmental sustainability, the company have toured the UK and internationally since we were founded in 1980, reaching audiences far and wide.

Need more UK Regional Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Spring season, discounts & more...