Northern Broadsides Announce LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST

After the critical acclaim for their last production We are Three Sisters, Northern Broadsides are set to celebrate the beginning of their 20th anniversary year with a delicious comedy that will entertain and delight. Co-produced with the award winning New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, William Shakespeare's romantic and mischievous tale of Love's Labour's Lost is set to thrill audiences as it fizzes like bubbles in a champagne glass.

Barrie Rutter directs a charismatic cast of 16 multi-talented northern actors who will fill the stage in this fast-pacEd Battle of the sexes. In true Broadsides' style there'll be rousing song and dance, scintillating performances, jaw-dropping comic timing and hilarious 'steal-the-show' scenes.

The new production opens at the New Vic, Newcastle-Under-Lyme on Friday 27 January, before embarking on a nationwide tour until May.

Explains Director Barrie Rutter: "Four dazzled young men meet four dazzling young ladies, yet no one gets married, no two lovers are ever left alone, Jack does not get Jill! But oh the thrill of the chase, the charm of the chase; the rhyme, style and wit of the chase!!

"Love's Labour's Lost is the most heavily rhymed play in the canon; it's verbal delights, linguistic gymnastics, jargon, puns, oaths and dances of dialogue - coarse, popular and lewd - appealing to and mocking both High and Low, is Shakespeare's birthday gift to Northern Broadsides as we begin our 20th Anniversary year of theatrical pleasure.

"As someone who never expected there to be a year Two never mind a year Twenty, the memory of having as I thought back in 1992 one good idea - an all Northern cast presenting a classical play in non-theatrical venues (boat shed; transport museum; Middleham Castle, historical home of our protagonist Richard III) - I have to say it's all been rather exhilarating."

The production's cast will be joined at every venue by a surprise different 17th member who will play the role of the messenger. The mystery of who the actor or actress is will not be disclosed until their appearance on stage on opening night. What can be revealed is that the performer will have performed with the company over the last 20 years.

Northern Broadsides is a unique theatre company with a true northern voice. Their work is characterised by a high degree of theatrical inventiveness and robust performances from a large ensemble cast of multi-talented and charismatic northern actors who all perform in their natural voices. For the past 20 years, they have delighted audiences here and abroad with a growing classic repertoire which has won them many awards and a loyal following worldwide.

Co-producing with Staffordshire's award-winning New Vic Theatre, the production's fine creative team includes Jessica Worrall (We are Three Sisters) with lighting by David Philips. Regulars at the Staffordshire venue, Broadsides presented their first co-production with the New Vic, The Tempest, in 2007, with Romeo and Juliet in 2008 The Canterbury Tales in 2010, and Hamlet in 2011.

Love's Labour's Lost will open at the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme on 27 January and will run until 18 February and then tour to Dukes Theatre Lancaster; Dean Clough, Halifax; Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough;, Buxton Opera House; West Yorkshire Playhouse; The Lowry, Salford and York Theatre Royal.

For more info visit www.northern-broadsides.co.uk or www.newvictheatre.org.uk.

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