Olivier and Tony Winner Mark Rylance Becomes LIFT Patron

LIFT is delighted that Olivier, Tony and BAFTA Award winning actor, director and writer Mark Rylance is its new patron.

Rylance said about LIFT: "I love the old stories of a time when the Thames was an international port and the people of London would rush to see a great ship carrying an inestimable cargo of spice, textiles, or other exotic commodities.

"LIFT festivals have always been such an event for me and for my friends who work in the Theatre. LIFT has always provided something original and liberating, a different form, a new beat, and we have spoken about the work for many months, if not years, as we devise our own new pieces.

"I feel LIFT has done more to influence the growth and adventure of English Theatre than any other organization we have. It would be a boring Thames without their beautiful ships."

LIFT has been bringing extraordinary stories told in new ways from around the world to spaces right across London since 1981, and has had a significant influence on the work that is now seen throughout the UK. The next LIFT Festival will be in June 2014.

Mark Ball, Artistic Director of LIFT said "We're thrilled that Mark, the leading stage actor of his generation, has joined LIFT as a Patron. Both LIFT and Mark share a love of storytelling, a deep sense of curiosity about the world around us and a passion for doing things differently."

Meanwhile LIFT continues to produce shows, cement relationships with companies it has worked with and to develop new relationships for the present and for future festivals. Particularly of interest to LIFT, as seen in LIFT 2010 and LIFT 2012, is finding performers that, for political or cultural reasons, find their work forbidden or at least curtailed in their home country. Special focus is on theatre from the Middle East, where insiders bring new voices and perspectives on life in a region that is under the scrutiny of the world.

This summer LIFT is supporting three new productions which fit into these categories:

THE UK PREMIERE OF TRASH CUISINE at the Young Vic 30 May - 15 June 2013
Last year LIFT 2012 was proud to co-produce Belarus Free Theatre's award-winning production Minsk 2011: A Reply To Kathy Acker, and now support their return to the Young Vic.

Drawn from 5 years of research with executioners, human rights lawyers, inmates and their families and re-told in Belarus Free Theatre's inimitable style, Trash Cuisine is urgent theatre that challenges the use of capital punishment in modern society.

THE UK PREMIERES OF MADAME PLAZA and SEVEN + 7 at the Chelsea Theatre 24 - 25 June 2013. LIFT is producing two new pieces as part of Shubbak, A Window on Contemporary Arab Culture.

Madame Plaza - Company O (Morocco). Four women met in the Madame Plaza nightclub in Marrakesh. A choreographer and three aïtas: women who perform at celebrations, weddings and popular nightclubs, bringing songs of pain, loss and impossible love called fado, revealing the complex relationship aïtas have with the men who watch them.

Seven + 7 - Dar Onboz & Collectif Kahraba (Lebanon). Reviving traditional Lebanese techniques of shadow theatre and hakawati with a contemporary twist, Seven +7 is an adventure through shadows, lights, mirrors and reflections. The tale of the day the moon disappeared, taking with
it all the stories, and how people joined together to fix the moon and so bring the stories is told by Nadine Touma, storyteller and author.

The next LIFT will be in June 2014. For updates, go to www.liftfestival.com.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride

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