New Production HOUSEMATES and More Set For 50th Anniversary Season at Sherman Theatre

Sherman Theatre has announced further details of their 50th anniversary season, with local stories at its heart. Shows will include a collaboration with Hijinx, one of Europe's leading inclusive theatre companies, Housemates (6 – 14 October) by Tim Green, the true story of a friendship that revolutionised the lives of learning disabled people, and a new community project which sees five local groups take over the stage to tell local stories, interwoven with the story of The Sherman Brothers, philanthropists whose generous donation enabled the founding of the theatre. In addition, Sherman Theatre's Explode initiative will be supporting three new writers.

In 1970s Cardiff, a few metres from Sherman Theatre's front door, a revolution that gave birth to the current day model of supported living started with a friendship between two young men. Housemates, a co-production between the Sherman and Hijinx, brings to stage the remarkable  true story of Jim Mansell, a Cardiff University student volunteer, and Alan Duncan, who was born with Down's syndrome who had lived since childhood in Cardiff's Ely Hospital, and just wanted the chance to live in a house and perform in a band. Performed by a cast of neurodivergent and neurotypical actor-musicians, Housemates is a rock'n'roll retelling of their friendship, and how an experiment to take Alan and a group of other fellow residents out of Ely Hospital marked the beginning of the end of institutionalised care and started a new way of living for hundreds of thousands of learning disabled people.

In 1974 Jim, Alan and their friends founded the UK's first supported living home in Ruthin Gardens, Cathays, as the charity CUSS; now known as Innovate Trust. Innovate Trust is a project partner on Housemates.

Cast member Gareth John playing Alan has been training with Hijinx Academy since 2015 and said, "Housemates shows that Alan can be a person, not just a patient. Alan can be independent, make his own friends, play his drums, have choices, be listened to and be seen as a normal person. He wants to be free, to play his music. I'm looking forward to playing the drums in the show, and what it means to Alan."

Artistic director of Sherman Theatre and co-director of Housemates Joe Murphy said, “It is a real privilege to bring this remarkable story in collaboration with Hijinx to the stage. It's a story that would change the world and took place just over the street from the Sherman the year after we first opened our doors. Housemates celebrates the right of self-determination and the dignity of every individual.”

Co-director Ben Pettitt-Wade added “Housemates is a story rooted in Cardiff, that had a ripple effect around the world, that has changed the lives for hundreds of thousands of learning disabled and/or autistic people in this country alone, and continues to do so. It is a story of the importance of visibility, of access to opportunity, of the right to make decisions for ourselves, of perceptions, freedom, rebellion and inclusion.”

Love, Cardiff: 50 Years Of Your Stories will see communities take over the main stage this August (17 & 19 August), continuing Sherman Theatre's focus on telling local stories with a global resonance. The production will feature stories celebrating the city, told by diverse communities in their own words, and will be woven through with the story of The Sherman Brothers, told by writer Paul Jenkins in partnership with the Jewish History Association of South Wales. Harry and Abe Sherman, children of East European Jewish immigrants, co-founded the famous Sherman Pools company in Cardiff. Amongst their many donations, a large gift enabled the founding of Sherman Theatre. This story will play alongside tales celebrating the diverse makeup of the city from five communities: Cathays Day Provision, Cardiff's Deaf Community, Kurdish All Wales Association, Waulah Cymru and the Welsh Ballroom Community. Over a fifteen week process the Sherman Theatre team, led by production director and Creative Engagement Coordinator Francesca Pickard and producer Mehdi Razi, are working closely with the communities to support them to identify the stories they would like to tell. The stories will be told on stage by a team of professional performers and members of the participating community groups.

Explode is part of the Sherman's extensive work as the engine room of Welsh theatre to nurture and support Welsh and Welsh based artists. The Sherman is committed to changing who tells stories on their stages and in the sector as a whole and given this commitment, Explode focuses on supporting under-represented voices and places are offered by invitation only. This year, the three artists chosen for a programme of training and mentorship which culminates in a script-in-hand reading performance at the Sherman Theatre are:

·          Connor Allen, current Children's Laureate of Wales and associate of The Riverfront in Newport. His play The Making of a Monster won the Imison Award for its broadcast on Radio 4 and was staged at the Wales Millennium Centre of 2022,

·          Ciaran Fitzgerald, a disabled playwright and screenwriter from Port Talbot whose TV pilot Bwmp will air on S4C later this year. Ciaran has also written for The Other Room and Theatr Clwyd.

·          Mari Izzard, whose plays include Hela (The Other Room), The Ongoing, Interal Search for Da (Theatr Clwyd) as well as the Welsh language adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream (Sherman Theatre) with Nia Morais. She is currently working with Sky Studios on developing her play Spoffin.

Sherman Theatre's Literary Manager Davina Moss has said “Explode offers our more experienced artists a seed commission and the backing of the Sherman to scale up and develop their writing. The programme offers bespoke support to each of these writers to ensure that they are able to do their best work. Working with the Literary Department, these writers are encouraged to be ambitious and audience-focused, and we hope to see the work of each of them on our stages soon. We are so excited that Connor, Ciaran and Mari are joining us on this journey. Each one is a unique and thrilling artist, whose voice is crucial to exploring contemporary Wales. We can't wait to see what they create.”

Based in the heart of Cardiff, Sherman Theatre is a leading producing house which creates and curates exceptional theatre for the people of South Wales. Its focus on the development and production of new writing and on nurturing of Welsh and Wales-based artists makes the Sherman the engine room of Welsh theatre. Sherman Theatre tells local stories with global resonance through its productions rehearsed and built under its roof in the capital. The Sherman is a place for everyone. It generates opportunities for the citizens of Cardiff and beyond to connect with theatre through inspiring and visionary engagement.

This November will mark 50 years since the Sherman first opened its doors to the people of Cardiff and Wales. Throughout 2023, Sherman Theatre is celebrating its audiences, artists and communities through an extensive forward-looking programme of artistic and community engagement work both in Welsh and English.

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