Royal & Derngate Announce 2014 MADE IN NORTHAMPTON Season

Building on the successes of recent years at Northampton's Royal & Derngate, new Artistic Director James Dacretoday announced details of his first Made In Northampton season.

The season opens with Mike Poulton's new adaptation of A Tale Of Two Cities, with music by Oscar-winning composer Rachel Portman, followed by a collaboration between Spymonkey, Told By An Idiot and playwright Tamsin Oglesby on classic Feydeau farce Every Last Trick.

September 2014 will see the first ever stage adaptation of Pat Barker's First World War novel Regeneration, by Nicholas Wright, then Mojo and Q Award-winning rock band White Lies will compose new music for Cat On A Hot Tin Roof in October. The theatre's Christmas 2014 show will be Merlin by Ella Hickson.

The Body Of An American, a documentary drama by poet Dan O'Brien and featuring the Pulitzer Prize-winning photography of Paul Watson will open in the Underground Studio in February 2014, and Moominsummer Madness, a puppet musical version of Tove Janssen's beloved Moomin books, will play the Underground Studio in May 2014.

Dacre also announced the Royal & Derngate and HighTide Award, which will commission, develop and produce a play which tells a story of life outside of Britain's cities, in addition to the Perfect Pitch Award which will commission and develop a new musical.

On the Royal stage, the season starts with A Tale Of Two Cities which sees Mike Poulton (Fortune's Fool, Old Vic;Wolf Hall, RSC) transform Charles Dickens' literary masterpiece into an epic theatrical event set to rousing original music by Oscar-winning composer Rachel Portman (The Cider House Rules, Beloved). Directed by James Dacre with design by Mike Britton (Macbeth, Shakespeare's Globe; Broken Glass, West End), a company of ten will perform alongside a large ensemble drawn from the local community, to capture the turbulence, anarchy and romance of London and Paris during the tumultuous years of the French revolution.

A comic marvel from the master of French farce, Georges Feydeau, Every Last Trick is an ingenious look at the game of infidelity and marriage, given fresh life by playwright Tamsin Oglesby (Really Old, Like 45, National Theatre; The Mouse And His Child, RSC). It is directed by Paul Hunter and unites the comic talents of leading theatre companiesSpymonkey (whose previous collaborations with Royal & Derngate include Oedipussy) and Told By An Idiot for the very first time.

As Britain commemorates the centenary of the start of the First World War, Pat Barker's haunting Booker-nominated novel Regeneration is adapted by Olivier Award-winning playwright Nicholas Wright (Vincent In Brixton, His Dark Materials, National Theatre). Set at Craiglockhart War Hospital, Scotland, in 1917, the play follows poet and soldier Siegfried Sassoon who has been institutionalised in an attempt to undermine his public disapproval of the war. His Army Psychiatrist, Dr William Rivers, is tasked with returning shell-shocked officers to the trenches, yet has become tormented by the morality of what is being done in the name of medicine. A co-production with Touring Consortium Theatre Company, Regeneration will embark on a nationwide tour after opening in Northampton in September. Events to commemorate World War I are also planned in partnership with Northampton Museum and Art Gallery.

Also next autumn James Dacre will direct one of the stage's most seductive evocations of the Deep South, Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer prize-winning Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, in a co-production with Northern Stage, Newcastle and Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre. Brimming with emotional intensity, this powerful family drama, set against the stifling heat of the plantation, sees Maggie the Cat and her husband Brick return to his home on the night of patriarch and cotton tycoon Big Daddy's 65th birthday. Life-altering secrets are revealed and tensions explode, as this bold new staging, with original music composed by MOJO and Q Award-winning band White Lies, brings a scorching intensity to Williams' classic tale.

For Christmas 2014 on the Royal stage, Ella Hickson (Wendy and Peter, RSC; Boys, Headlong) will take on the legends of Merlin, in a co-production with the Nuffield. An enchanting family play with original folk music that combines extraordinary adventures, mythical creatures, magic and romance, Merlin draws on some of Britain's most ancient stories.

Demonstrating a commitment to producing work across the widest of scales, Royal & Derngate will also be fully producing two shows in the theatre's Underground Studio as part of the Made In Northampton 2014 season. In a co-production with London's Gate Theatre, James Dacre will direct of The Body Of An American, which unites the experiences of Canadian Pulitzer Prize-winning war photographer Paul Watsonand American poet Dan O'Brien. This bold new documentary drama, penned by O'Brien, splices verbatim dialogue with actual recordings and photographs by Watson, and sees two actors play dozens of roles, jumping across continents and time zones in an exhilarating production that places the two men's battles - both public and private - against a backdrop of some of the world's most iconic images of war. Alex Lowde(Edward II, National Theatre) will design with lighting by Charles Balfour (Mojo, West End; Posh, Royal Court) and Video Design by Dick Straker of Mesmer.

Then, in a co-production with London's Polka Theatre, in association with Little Angel Theatre, Royal & Derngate presents a delightful new family show in the Underground Studio. Puppetry, live original music by Ben Glasstone and heart-warming humour combine to bring Tove Jansson's much-loved Moomins to life. Moominsummer Madness finds the Moomins aboard a floating theatre after a huge flood sweeps through their valley. Royal & Derngate's Associate Director Dani Parr (Flathampton, The Dream Space), Polka Theatre's Peter Glanville (We're Going On A Bear Hunt) and Little Angel Theatre's celebrated puppet-maker Lyndie Wright collaborate with writer Phil Porter (Starseeker) to create another brilliantly inventive production for young audiences. Laura McEwen (Charlie and Lola) will design.

Royal & Derngate is also underlining its commitment to professional artist development. Selected to participate in the inaugural Stage One Apprentice Producer Regional Theatre Scheme, the theatre is hosting a talented young producer on a six month placement and working with partners including the JMK Trust, the National Theatre Studio and Northampton University, is supporting the development of a wide range of theatre-makers.

Through the Perfect Pitch Award, Royal & Derngate is offering British writers and composers the opportunity to create a brand new musical. The winning team, selected from a recently announced shortlist, will be supported and mentored by Royal & Derngate and Perfect Pitch for a twelve month period.

The theatre is also thrilled to announce today the launch of The Royal & Derngate and HighTide Award to commission a play which examines life outside of our major cities; an original piece which explores and has its roots in those towns and rural communities that make up the majority of the population. The award places special emphasis upon helping writers find innovative ways to get under the skin of their chosen subject, supporting new ways in which they might research and present the world of their play. Following a full development process supported by both organisations the winning script will be co-produced by Royal & Derngate and HighTide Festival.

Royal & Derngate is also developing an original play with BAFTA Award-winning playwright Roy Williams (Sucker Punch,Royal Court; Days of Significance, RSC) and as previously announced a new musical version of Sue Townsend's beloved novel The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾, with Leicester's Curve.

As part of a thriving programme of creative projects and outreach activity that accompany the Made In Northampton season, Royal & Derngate will also partner with NN Contemporary Art Gallery to produce work in the streets of Northampton, where Daniel Bye and director Sarah Punshon will take up a residency interviewing hundreds of local people to create a playful, interactive walking tour called Story Hunt. This unique performance will celebrate the moments in which ordinary people have made an impact upon Northampton over the course of history. Another project will see theatre company Paper Birds working withRoyal & Derngate Youth Theatre to create an original performance in response to Regeneration and The Body of an American, titled Elements of War.

For more information about any of the Made In Northampton productions visit www.royalandderngate.co.uk. Individual shows can be booked online or by calling Box Office on 01604 624811.