I AM NO BIRD Will Embark on National Tour and Stream

Asking what it means to be a woman making art and how it's changed over the years, this new production from Manchester-based Stute Theatre fuses the stories of the Brontë sisters with drama, live looped music, spoken word and vocal harmonies. Three actors come to the stage 150 years after the onset of Brontë-mania, each with their own ideas about how to tell the stories.

How true do they remain to the originals, and how much of the work should be reimagined, retold and reclaimed? Exploring how female artists navigate a world where the cannon is traditionally male, I Am No Bird opens in Yorkshire, home of the sisters, as part of Stephen Joseph Theatre's Brontë Festival which brings a wealth of films, talks and activities to the Mac. The show has been made in association with the Brontë Parsonage Museum, and following its premiere will tour to venues in the North and will be streamed for two weeks.

Chloe wants a historical adaptation complete with bonnets, bustles and books. Ellie wants to flee the stale oppressive parsonage and start a creative revolution. Alison wants to stop wasting so much time. There's a paying audience right there, you know!

Co-writer and composer Sophia Hatfield said, "From the moment I discovered Wuthering Heights, aged 10, in the beige armchair of a school library in Baildon, journeying through the Brontës' body of work has been an adventure and a source of inspiration. The Brontës paved a new path for female writers. They proved that women could be grafters and artists, juggling work lives, home lives and everything else in between, whilst still crafting incredible stories. I Am No Bird has been years in the making and I'm absolutely delighted to be collaborating with such an amazing, female-led creative team to fully realise this production."

Stute Theatre is a collaborative theatre company run by performer and theatre maker Sophia Hatfield. Sophia is an experienced performer, writer and facilitator and is an Artsmark Partner. Each piece of work at Stute Theatre is shaped by freelance artists, arts organisations and communities.

Scarborough's Stephen Joseph Theatre has provided world-class accessible theatre for audiences on the Yorkshire coast since 1955. It's produced over 700 plays, many of them new - developing new writers and writing was the primary aim of the company's founder, Stephen Joseph, and it remains one of their core aims. The SJT was the first professional theatre-in-the round in the UK, and is widely known for presenting the world premieres of most of Alan Ayckbourn's 87 full-length plays. It also has an extensive community programme.

Alongside Jane Eyre, the SJT Brontë Festival brings a wealth of films, talks and activities to the Mac. Watch a classic Brontë adaptation, discover the Brontës' worst reviews (one 1848 reviewer wrote that Wuthering Heights left them "shocked, disgusted and almost sickened..."), listen to a curator from the Brontë Parsonage Museum or let Anne Brontë guide you around her favourite places in Scarborough with our new audio walking tour. You can even bring your baby or toddler for a play session with Charlotte Brontë in our Brontë Babies programme.

The production will be touring 27 April - 14 May and streamed 15 - 29 May.

Learn more at www.stutetheatre.co.uk/tour-dates

Tour Dates

27 - 30 Apr Brontë Festival

Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough

Westborough, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO11 1JW

Weds - Sat 7.45pm, Thurs 1.45pm, Sat 2.45pm | £18 - £10

www.sjt.uk.com | 01723 370541

5 May Burnley Mechanics Theatre,

Manchester Rd, Burnley BB11 1BH

7.30pm | £12.50

blcgroup.co.uk/locations/burnley-mechanics-theatre/

6 May Spot On Lancashire: Rainhall Centre

spotonlancashire.co.uk

7 May Spot On Lancashire: Whalley Library

spotonlancashire.co.uk

9 May Tameside Libraries: Droylsden Library

11 May Spot On Lancashire: Longridge Library

spotonlancashire.co.uk

12 May Ilkley Literature Festival

Keighley Library

www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk

13 May Cheshire Rural Touring Arts: Tarvin Community Centre

www.cheshireruraltouringarts.co.uk/cheshirerural

14 May Cheshire Rural Touring Arts: Lion Saltworks

www.cheshireruraltouringarts.co.uk/cheshirerural

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