Artistic Director Tamara Harvey Announces 2017 Spring Season At Theatr Clwyd

Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd Tamara Harvey today announces the 2017 spring season for the company. The season includes three world premieres; Junkyard, Scarlett and Sinners Club, major revivals of The Importance of Being Earnest and Skylight and, in the autumn, a new adaptation of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya by Peter Gill. The season will also see Theatr Clwyd working with seven producing partners - Gagglebabble, The Other Room, Bristol Old Vic, Headlong, Rose Theatre Kingston, Hampstead Theatre and Sheffield Theatres - for the first time.

Opening the season will be a new production of David Hare's Olivier Award-winning Skylight which Harvey will direct.

Theatr Clwyd, Gagglebabble and The Other Room present Sinner's Club by Lucy Rivers, inspired by the story of Ruth Ellis - the last woman to be hanged in Britain. Following on from performances at The Other Room in Cardiff, this production will open on 2 March in the Emlyn Williams Theatre.

For the first time Theatr Clwyd will be working with Headlong, Bristol Old Vic and Rose Theatre Kingston to co-produce the world première of Jack Thorne's Junkyard. Music is by the Academy Award winner Stephen Warbeck and this production will be directed by Evening Standard Theatre Award winner Jeremy Herrin. The show opens at Theatr Clwyd on 29 Mar.

Theatr Clwyd and Hampstead theatre come together to co-produce Scarlett by award-winning writer Colette Kane. This uplifting and tender new comedy will be directed by Mel Hillyard.

Working with the company for the first time, Richard Fitch will direct Theatr Clwyd's new production of The Importance of Being Earnest opening on May 4.

In a new adaptation by Peter Gill, Anton Checkhov's Uncle Vanya will open at Clwyd in September. Directed by Harvey this production will transfer to the Studio at Sheffield Theatre as part of Robert Hastie's inaugural season as Artistic Director in October.

Highlights of the visiting programme include dance from Richard Alston, National Dance Company Wales and Rambert; the Cheek by Jowl production of A Winter's Tale; Gabriel by Moira Buffini, produced by Theatre6 and starring Paul McGann, and an extensive programme of family arts, cinema and music. Theatr Clwyd is also proud to be one of the hosts of the National Theatre's My Country: A Work in Progress.

Tamara Harvey said today "Our new season is a heady mix of new and old, the personal and the political, and sees us collaborating with some of the most exciting artists and companies in the UK. Now more than ever is a time to be reaching across borders and as the cultural gateway between England and Wales, we're proud to be working with theatres in Cardiff, Sheffield, Bristol and London. As a company, we are committed to nurturing emerging talent so I'm particularly proud to be working with Gagglebabble, Mel Hillyard and Richard Fitch, as well as heavyweights David Hare and Jeremy Herrin. On a personal note, I feel very privileged to be directing Skylight, a play I've loved for a long time, that asks prescient questions about how we choose to live our lives, all through the prism of a compelling love story."

Anthony Hopkins THEATRE

SKYLIGHT

By David Hare

Director: Tamara Harvey

Thursday 9 February - Saturday 4 March

Press Night: Tuesday 14th February at 7.30pm

A new production directed by Theatr Clwyd's Artistic Director Tamara Harvey, David Hare's Olivier award-winning drama is punchy, intelligent and full of heart.

A story of private affairs, public guilt and the frustrations of love.

An unexpected visit from her former lover turns schoolteacher Kyra's life upside down.

Can what they once had be rekindled or are they too different to ever live in harmony?

David Hare is the author of 30 full-length plays for the stage, 18 of which have been presented at the National Theatre. His plays include Slag, the Great Exhibition, Brassneck (with Howard Brenton), Knuckle, Fanshen, Teeth 'n' Smiles, Plenty, A Map of the World, Pravda (with Howard Brenton), The Bay at Nice, The Secret Rapture, Racing Demon, Murmuring Judges, The Absence of War, Amy's View, The Blue Room (from Schnitzler), The Judas Kiss, Via Dolorosa, My Zinc Bed, The Breath of Life, The Permanent Way, Stuff Happens, The Vertical Hour, Gethsamane, Berlin/Wall, The Power of Yes, South Downs and The Red Barn (based on the novel, La Main, by Georges Simenon. His many screenplays for film and television include Licking Hitler, Wetherby, Damage, The Hours, The Reader, Page Eight, Turks & Caicos and Salting the Battlefield.

Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd, Tamara Harvey directs. She has directed in the West End, throughout the UK and abroad, working on classic plays, new writing, musical theatre and in film. Her inaugural production for Theatr Clwyd was Much Ado About Nothing, followed by the première of Elinor Cook's award-winning new play, Pilgrims. Her previous credits include the world premières of >From Here To Eternity (Shaftesbury Theatre), Breeders (St James Theatre), The Kitchen Sink, The Contingency Plan, Sixty-Six Books and tHe dYsFUnCKshOnalZ! (Bush Theatre), In the Vale of Health (a cycle of four plays by Simon Gray), Elephants and Hello/Goodbye (Hampstead Theatre), and Plague Over England (Finborough Theatre & West End). Other theatre includes Pride and Prejudice (Sheffield Crucible), Bash (Trafalgar Studios), One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Gielgud & Garrick Theatres), Romeo and Juliet (Theatre of Memory at Middle Temple Hall), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare's Globe), Dancing at Lughnasa (Birmingham Rep), The Importance of Being Earnest (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey), and the UK première of Tennessee Williams' Something Cloudy, Something Clear (Finborough Theatre).

Emlyn Williams THEATRE

SINNERS CLUB

By Lucy Rivers

A Theatr Clwyd, The Other Room and Gagglebabble co-production.

Thursday 2 - Saturday 18 March

Press Night: Tuesday 7 March 7.45pm

Welcome to the Sinners Club where the band never stops and the drink keeps on flowing. Your hostess for the evening has some confessions to make, some songs to sing about love, jealousy, loss, with a tale that will take you to hell and back.

Inspired by the story of the last woman to be hanged, Ruth Ellis, Sinners Club is a cocktail of stories about lives lost to sin that asks, do you know what you're capable of?

So come on in, grab a drink and have a listen.

Lucy Rivers is co-founder of the award-winning theatre company Gagglebabble and is also an award-winning writer, composer, actor and musician. Recent writing, performing and composing credits include; The Bloody Ballad (Edinburgh, Soho and UK tour) and The Forsythe Sisters for Gagglebabble, Wonderman (Gagglebabble and National Theatre Wales), The Devil's Violin for BBC Radio 4 and Little Sure Shot for The Egg, Bath and West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Anthony Hopkins THEATRE

JUNKYARD

Book and Lyrics by Jack Thorne

Music by Stephen Warbeck

Director: Jeremy Herrin; Design: Chiara Stephenson

A Theatr Clwyd, Headlong, Bristol Old Vic and Rose Theatre Kingston co-production.

Wednesday 29 March - Saturday 15 April

Press Night: Thursday 30 March 7.30pm

A witty new musical from BAFTA and Evening Standard award-winning writer Jack Thorne and Academy Award winner Stephen Warbeck.

"Who'd want to join in building a f***ing playground. We're 13 years old"

Jeremy Herrin, Artistic Director of Headlong, directs Jack Thorne's visceral new work, Junkyard, a funny and vivid musical with original score from Academy Award-winning composer Stephen Warbeck, about a miscreant group of teenagers who come together to build an adventure playground.

It's 1979, and a motley crew of teenagers grudgingly agree to create a junk playground in Bristol under the guidance of the well-meaning Rick. As the playground starts to come to life - it turns from something that means nothing to something that means a lot. And kids that care about nothing, start to care a lot. But darkness has a way of coming back and biting you when you least expect it.

Inspired by the true story behind the Lockleaze playground known as 'The Vench', established over 30 years ago and still operating today, Junkyard is a story about Bristol, for Bristol, from BAFTA and Evening Standard award-winning writer and Bristolian Jack Thorne

Jack Thorne's writing credits include Hope and Let The Right One In both directed by John Tiffany, The Solid Life of Sugarwater for the Graeae Theatre Company, Bunny for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Stacy for the Trafalgar Studios, 2nd May 1997 and When You Cure Me for the Bush. His adaptations include The Physicists for the Donmar Warehouse and Stuart: A Life Backwards for Hightide. On film his credits include War Book, A Long Way Down and The Scouting Book for Boys. For television, his credits include The Last Panthers, Don't Take My Baby, This Is England, The Fades, Glue and Cast-Offs and the upcoming National Treasure. In 2012 he won BAFTAs for best series (The Fades) and best serial (This Is England 88).

Jeremy Herrin's recent directing credits include The Plough and the Stars (National Theatre) Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (UK Tour), People, Places and Things (National Theatre/West End), The Absence of War (UK Tour) and The Nether (Royal Court/West End). Productions at the Royal Court include That Face, No Quarter, Hero, Kin, The Heretic, The Priory, The Vertical Hour. Other theatre directing credits include Noises Off (American Airlines Theatre, Broadway) The Moderate Soprano (Hampstead Theatre),Another Country (Chichester/West End), This House (National Theatre) The Tempest (The Globe) South Downs and Uncle Vanya (Chichester Festival Theatre) Absent Friends (Harold Pinter) and Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare's Globe).

Stephen Warbeck is an Academy award-winning composer and credits include The Plough and The Stars, Evening at The Talkhouse, Red Lion and The Silver Tassie (National Theatre) This House (Chichester Festival Theatre) Richard II, The Tempest (Shakespeare's Globe) Wolf Hall Parts I and II (RSC), Mojo (Harold Pinter Theatre) and Uncle Vanya (Vaudeville Theatre).

Emlyn Williams THEATRE

SCARLETT

By Colette Kane

Director: Mel Hillyard

A Theatr Clwyd and Hampstead Theatre co-production.

Tuesday 28 March - Saturday 15 April

Press Night: Monday 3 April 7.45pm

Making your life your own? It's harder than it sounds.

Forty-year old Scarlett sets off from London for a weekend in Wales, in search of the perfect holiday home. A week later she's still there, about to buy a dilapidated chapel. When her mother and daughter turn up to take her home she tells them she's going nowhere. This is her home now. Forever.

Is Scarlett having a nervous breakdown, experiencing some sort of spiritual enlightenment, or both?

A new uplifting, tender comedy about three generations of women by acclaimed award-winning Liverpool writer Collette Kane and co-produced with London's Hampstead Theatre.

Colette Kane's previous plays include Belong (Arcola Theatre); Ways to Look At Fish (Theatre 503); Audience Award Winner, Hatch (24:7 Theatre Festival, Manchester and Bolton Octagon).

Mel Hillyard's directing credits include The Late Henry Moss (Southwark Playhouse), Love and Information (The Caird Theatre), Hamlet (The Secret Nuclear Bunker - East 15), Hard Shoulders (Latitude Festival), Even Stillness Breathes Softly Against a Brick Wall (Theatre503), In An Instant (Latitude Festival and Theatre503), His Face Her Face, Three Is Company (King's Head), Loose Ends (Edinburgh Festival). She has also acted as Associate, Assistant or Staff Director at the National Theatre, RSC, Hampstead, West End and Theatre Royal, Stratford East.

Anthony Hopkins THEATRE

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

By Oscar Wilde

Director: Richard Fitch

Thursday 4 - Saturday 27 May

Press Night: Tuesday 9 May 7.30pm

'To lose one parent, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.'
Lady Bracknell

John Worthing is desperately in love with Gwendolen, there's only one small problem. His name isn't Earnest...

Oscar Wilde's comic farce about double lives, friendship and discovering who you are is brought to life in this new Theatr Clwyd production.

Richard Fitch's recent credits include Barnes' People, The Moment Before I'm Powerful (Trafalgar Transformed), Serious Heroes, 24 Hour Plays (Old Vic Theatre), A Kid Like Jake (The TS Eliot US/UK Exchange, Old Vic Theatre), Land's End (Birmingham REP), Last Man on the Heygate (Lyric Hammersmith), The Hour of Feeling (HighTide Festival with Public Theater, New York), The Welsh Atlantis (Latitude Festival) and The Boy Who Lived Down the Lane (Riverside Studios & Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Singapore).

Emlyn Williams THEATRE

UNCLE VANYA

By Anton Chekhov; Adapted by Peter Gill

Director: Tamara Harvey

Thursday 21 September - Saturday 14 October

Press Night: Tuesday 26 September 7.45pm

Chekhov's comic tragedy about polite people going crazy in the middle of nowhere, drinking too much and not having enough sex. Can people ever take a leap and change their own lives?

A new version by Peter Gill and directed by Tamara Harvey (Pride and Prejudice).

Tamara Harvey directs this poignant comedy, in a heartbreaking new version by Peter Gill, which was commissioned by Theatr Clwyd. The production will be performed in the round.

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian playwright and short story writer. His principal works for the stage include Ivanov, Platonov, The Seagull, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard.

Peter Gill (b.1939) is a Welsh playwright, theatre director and actor. As a playwright, his works include, The Sleeper's Den, Over Gardens Out, Small Change, Kick for Touch, Cardiff East, Certain Young Men, The York Realist, Original Sin, Another Door Closed, Versailles and As Good a Time as Any. His adaptations for the stage include A Provincial Life, The Merry-Go-Round, The Cherry Orchard, Touch and Go, As I Lay Dying and The Seagull.

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