Award Winning Bravo 22's UNSPOKEN To Tour The UK Premiering At The Edinburgh Festival

Bravo 22 Company, an award-winning recovery through the arts programme, is made possible by The Royal British Legion and The Drive Project. Actor Ray Winstone is The Drive Project and Bravo 22 Company's Ambassador.

Following the success of Bravo 22 Company's performance of UNSPOKEN at Newcastle Theatre Royal in 2017, The Drive Project and The Royal British Legion are proud to announce UNSPOKEN's new dates, working with Newcastle Theatre Royal. UNSPOKEN will perform at the Pleasance Beyond as part of the Edinburgh Festival from the 21-27 August, then at the Birmingham Hippodrome's Patrick Studio on the 8-9 October. UNSPOKEN will have the honour of being the last performance at the House of Commons on the 16th October, before closing the tour in London with further dates to be announced.

Bravo 22 Company are thrilled to be returning to the Edinburgh Festival this year with UNSPOKEN, which will add a thought provoking, unique and highly entertaining theatrical voice to the Edinburgh Festival. The courageous cast of veterans and their families worked with The Drive Project and the creative production team from Newcastle Theatre Royal, and this very special collaboration produced the inspirational theatrical performance that is UNSPOKEN, which has now been nominated for an Arts Culture Award and has been reworked to tour in the UK. Writer Gary Kitching has based the script on the company's real life memories and experiences and created a hilarious, yet heart wrenching tale of love, loss, and hope.

Bravo 22 Company delivers arts projects across the country with regional theatres and has built up a proud history of creating high quality pieces of theatre which have provided a platform for the wounded, injured and sick Service personnel voices to be heard, providing a safe and encouraging environment to share their stories; culminating in this latest successful theatre production of UNSPOKEN. The cast of UNSPOKEN includes Dave Shaw, David Griffin, Debbie Evans, Ian Rudge, Jez Sarrett, Ken Belringer, Larraine Smith, Linda Shaw, Luke Delahunty, Matt

Wightman, Mick Carroll, Micky Goble, Simon Graham, Steve Shaw and Tip Cullen. Since Tips' initial debut with Bravo 22 Company, he has started working as a professional actor and has been cast in several Hollywood films. Larraine Smith was part of Gareth Malone's Military Wives Choir. Luke Delahunty recently won The People's Choice prize at the 2018 Soldiering on Awards hosted in April. Long term member of the Bravo 22 Company, Steve Shaw says: "Performing in Edinburgh with Charlie F was an amazing experience. We sold out the Pleasance Beyond venue and had standing ovations for every show so it's great to be going back with Unspoken. Being part of the Bravo 22 Company for the last 6 years has given me so many opportunities, it's built up my confidence, taught me new skills and introduced me to new people. I can't wait to go back to the Festival".

Bravo 22 Company was created by Alice Driver, using theatre as a vehicle for recovery produced with the Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass Trust, The Royal British Legion and Ministry of Defence in 2011. It brought together 30 wounded, injured and sick Service personnel to write, produce and perform Bravo 22's debut production, The Two Worlds of Charlie F, which was performed in London's West End and received 5 star reviews and standing ovations and won the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award. The programme aims to give Service personnel and veterans new skills and experiences while improving confidence, self-awareness and motivation to support an individual's recovery and the transition into civilian life and and the work has been seen by over 40,000 audience members.

Ray Winstone, the ambassador of The Drive Project, says the following: "Bravo 22 Company is a project I have been involved with since it began in 2011 and saw the success of its original production, 'The Two Worlds of Charlie F.' I am delighted that due to this success it now delivers theatre and arts projects around the country to benefit the recovery of wounded, injured and sick service personnel, veterans, reservists and their families."

UNSPOKEN is directed by Phil Hoffmann and written by Gary Kitching.

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