Clwyd Theatr Cymru/ Arts & Business Mobile Theatre
Sponsored by LloydsTSB presents
BRASSED OFF
By Paul Allen
Based on the screenplay by Mark Herman
A Heartwarming Story of Pride and Passion
Terry Hands directs a new Welsh version of Brassed Off, the new production in the Clwyd Theatr Cymru/ Arts & Business Mobile Theatre.
The show will tour to five leisure centres in former coalfield communities in North and South Wales during September and October and then transfer into The Anthony Hopkins Theatre at Clwyd Theatr Cymru until mid November.
Brassed Off brings together the best of Welsh professional theatre and Welsh brass bands, performing in the heart of communities across Wales.
The 200 seat mobile theatre is a unique and innovative contribution to professional theatre touring within Wales. The fifth tour has been made possible by a £100,000 grant from the Welsh Assembly Government and sponsorship from LloydsTSB matched by equivalent funding from Arts & Business Cymru.
At the press launch of the mobile theatre at the National Assembly for Wales today Alun Pugh, Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport said "Clwyd Theatr Cymru has wasted no time in putting its Arts Outside Cardiff grant from the Assembly to excellent use.
"The mobile theatre is a brilliant way to bring productions to communities that might otherwise not have ready access to professional theatre, and its Welsh version of Brassed Off is bound to resonate in the former coalfield communities where it will be performed. "CTC should certainly not be shy of blowing its own trumpet."
The mobile theatre tour will use two forty foot articulated trailers which will carry £300,000 worth of capital equipment: stage sets, props, costumes, lighting rigs, technical equipment, seating, staging, fittings and effects for dressing rooms and front of house.
Brassed Off tour dates are:
CONNAH'S QUAY Sports Centre Wednesday 15 - Saturday 18 September
WREXHAM Plas Madoc Leisure Centre, Acrefair Wednesday 22 - Saturday 25 September
NEWPORT Pillgwenlly Millennium Centre Wednesday 29 September - Saturday 2 October
TYLORSTOWN Rhondda Fach Leisure Centre Wednesday 6 - Saturday 9 October
CAERPHILLY Leisure Centre Wednesday 13 - Saturday 16 October
MOLD Clwyd Theatr Cymru Thursday 21 October - Saturday 16 November
Tickets for all dates are available on 0845 330 3565 (all calls charged at local rate).
The mobile theatre provides access to the highest quality professional theatre,with a consistency of staging, technical and performing environments, to smaller communities throughout Wales who do not have access to a venue. Four of the leisure centres are in disadvantaged Communities First areas.
For many the mobile tour it offers a first experience of theatre and the week long residence allows for audiences to build through the week by word of mouth.
Benefits to the communities include an intensive package of educational work, supported by Arts & Kids, which includes workshops with actors and post-show question and answer sessions.
LloydsTSB commenting on their sponsorship said ?We are proud to be associated with with Clwyd Theatr Cymru and this imaginative production of Brassed Off, which will give communities throughout Wales the chance to experience drama of the highest quality on their own doorstep".
Arts & Business Cymru's Director, Rachel Jones said "Thanks to the far-sightedness of Lloyds TSB, A&B Cymru is delighted to be contributing to this important project. Bringing art of the highest quality to the communities, and especially the young people, of Wales is high on our agenda and Clwyd Theatr Cymru is the perfect partner to achieve this."
Brassed Off is set in Wales in 1994. The pit is up for closure. Things are desperate - if the colliery goes then the village will die.
Brassed Off is a tale of passion, romance and determination when a tight-knit Welsh community comes together to fight for its future.
The struggle is played out in the journey of the band as, through comedy and tragedy, bittersweet failures and glorious triumphs, they battle to survive and then go on to take the biggest prize of all.
The production features top bands from across Wales. At Plas Madoc, Acrefair, Wrexham Brass NEWI (formerly Rhos Silver Band) will perform. They are 8 times National Finalists in the past 11 years and have won a string of national awards in recent years. At Newport and Caerphilly the brass is played by the Bedwas, Trethomas and Machen Band (BTM), who have the highest reputation and are recognised as one of the foremost championship bands in Britain.
Details of brass bands at other venues and casting will be announced at a later date.
This production of Brassed Off will re-locate the action and characters into the Welsh coalfield at a defining moment in the modern history of both the mining industry and of Wales.
Clwyd Theatr Cymru won the Barclays/TMA Theatre of the Year award in 1998 and in 1999 was designated a Welsh National Performing Arts Company by the Arts Council of Wales.
"Some of the most consistently exciting ensemble theatre in Britain is
currently being produced by Hands' Clwyd company."
***** The Guardian 2004
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