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Small-scale theatre makes a big impression at the Weston Studio |
Family shows abound amidst a truly eclectic programme this autumn at Wales Millennium Centre’s Weston Studio. As the unique mix of dance, drama, comedy, film and live music fills the stage, the cosy and intimate performance space of the Weston Studio looks set to offer the perfect theatrical retreat as temperatures drop and the nights draw in. This season’s major highlight, I’m With the Band (16-19 Oct), a Wales Millennium Centre and Traverse Theatre Company co-production, arrives in Cardiff to conclude its UK tour. A timely and thought-provoking response to our changing political landscape, I’m With the Band charts the struggles of indie-rock band The Union - comprising of an Englishman, a Northern Irishman, a Scotsman and a Welshman - to stay united. Funny and captivating, Wyneb Dros Dro (14 & 15 Oct), a unique Welsh Language production, skilfully explores the theme of family dysfunction. It’s Christmas, and Dylan and his disgruntled wife have arrived at the home of his recently divorced mother. Far from despondent, she has a surprising spring in her step, all because of the new man in her life, a man a little younger than her own son. As the wine flows, tensions mount and the worst is yet to come. Following the award winning success of At Swim Two Boys, Earthfall returns to the Weston Studio with their latest production, Chelsea Hotel (29 & 30 Oct). Combining dance, physical theatre, film, imagery and live music, Chelsea Hotel offers a unique exploration of the lives, loves and longings of some of the artists who stayed at the famous New York Hotel. Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe, Tennessee Williams and Dylan Thomas are just some of the personalities the performance unveils. Forever alive in the world of theatre, Shakespeare comes to the Weston Studio in various forms throughout November. A unique fusion of dance and theatre, De Oscuro’s Mac//Beth, in association with Wales Millennium Centre, is Shakespeare as you’ve never seen it before. Ballet Cymru offers a dramatic and lyrical rendering of Romeo and Juliet (9 & 10 Nov) brimming with danger and passion. Part of the Shakespeare Schools Festival (19 -21 Nov), local schools will also be staging half-hour abridgements of Shakespeare’s works. Following strong reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe, The Magical Playroom (31 Oct) - written by and starring Cbeebies Cerrie Burnell - comes to the Weston Studio to entrance the little ones. Forced to wear a false arm for her dancing lessons, Libby rebels and seeks escape in her enchanted playroom. The Magical Playroom forms part of the Family Arts Festival, which also includes The Big Draw (28 Oct - 03 Nov) with Pete Fowler. A Welsh language pantomime for all the family to enjoy, Draw Dros y Don (15-16 Dec) depicts the swashbuckling adventures of Robin Croeso as he sets sail in search of pirate treasure, with plenty of music, dance and silliness along the way. Yet more Christmas entertainment for the family, Hijinx Theatre’s Odyssey Theatre Group present The Last Snow of Winter (5-7 Dec). On an epic journey filled with laughter, sorrow, miracles and monsters, will the characters make it back in time for Christmas? Wales Millennium Centre, in partnership with Big Talent Show, will also be presenting the Young Company Christmas Show (14 Dec), a charming tale about the finest Christmas puddings ever tasted, and a little chimney sweep ordered to steal the recipe. A Christmas family outing to the theatre doesn’t have to be too expensive either, as all tickets to family shows are £6, whatever your age. Louise Miles-Crust, Head of Programming said: ‘This autumn season offers a variety of unique, hand-picked performances, with plenty to suit the whole family and fill everyone with festive spirit as Christmas approaches. But that’s not to forget the not so child-friendly shows; fresh, compelling, poignant, haunting – each promises to offer a truly captivating experience.’ LISTINGS Happiness Repeats Itself 7 & 8 Oct |8pm | Tickets £ 8 - £12 Happiness Repeats Itself is a theatrical investigation into the lobotomy experiments performed on thousands of patients around the world in the 1950s. Using actual case studies, testimonials and medical records, an exceptional cast of performers fuse film, dance and text to illustrate the devastating effects these operations inflicted on a generation. Shh! 12 & 13 Oct |8pm | Tickets £8 - £12 A surprising and poignant piece of dance theatre, Shh! is about a couple inhabiting a house in which domestic bliss, erotic dreams and internal dramas collide. Building on themes of human communication from the artist Sue Williams, the event also includes one of her drawing installations. Age Restriction: 16+ (contains nudity) Tour funded by the Arts Council of Wales 3D Theatre presents Wyneb Dros Dro 14 & 15 Oct |8pm | Tickets £8 - £12 A Welsh language production Upon reaching his mother’s house for Christmas, Dylan and his sulking wife find his newly divorced mother has a surprising spring to her step. It’s all down to a new man in her life, a man a little younger than her own son. Forced into close quarters, tensions build, the wine flows and there’s worse to come. Age Restriction: 14+ Written by Glenn Jones Supported by Wales Millennium Centre and Arts Council Wales Earthfall presents Chelsea Hotel 29 & 30 Oct |8pm |Tickets £8-£12 Earthfall return to the Centre with this voyeuristic discovery of New York’s Chelsea Hotel and the lives, loves and longings of its iconic inhabitants. Age Guidance: 15+ PlayARK 2013 Conference 1 Nov |10am – 5pm |Festival Talks: £18 - £25 / Festival Games: Free - £5 Transforming the city into a playground, PlayARK is Cardiff’s very own games festival and explores the theory, practice and importance of playful and creative approaches to what we do. The festival is produced by yello brick and is funded by the Arts Council of Wales with kind support from Wales Millennium Centre, Hoffi and thinkARK. For more information, please visit playark.co.uk Gobbledegook presents In A Deep Dark Wood & Deep In The Woods In association with MOKO DANCE In A Deep Dark Wood 16 & 17 Nov| 1 pm & 3 pm | Tickets £6 Taking inspiration from fairy tales, In A Deep Dark Wood is a fun and highly interactive show about a little girl who bravely ventures into a dark and mysterious wood. Encountering tempting trees to climb and beguiling creatures, the tale unfolds as the young audience help to create a magical world using shadow and light to guide the little girl through her bewitching adventure. Age Guidance: ages 5+ and their families Deep In The Woods 16 & 17 Nov | 10am | Tickets £6 For little ones, we’ve made Deep In The Woods, a special version of the show with all the same magical and interactive fun... but all the scary bits taken out! Age Guidance: 2-5 years and their families Family activities & workshops Join us before or after the show to create an enchanting woodland, take part in an creative dance workshop or join a shadow play workshop. Just turn up on the day! Developed at Chats Palace, in association with MOKO Dance. Supported by Arts Council England. Seabright Productions presents The Magical Playroom 31 Oct |1pm | £10 Bring your little ones along to meet Liberty Rose (Libby to her friends) in this delightful new production written by and starring CBeebies presenter Cerrie Burnell. Libby dreams of becoming a ballerina but after being told to wear a false arm for dancing lessons, she rebels and finds escape in her enchanted playroom. Age Guidance: 3+ magicalplayroom.com Martyn Geraint a Theatrau Rhondda Cynon Taf Draw Dros y Don 15 Dec 3.30pm & 6.30pm, 16 Dec 10am & 1pm |Tickets £8 - £12 A Welsh language production. This Christmas, Martyn Geraint will bring all of his friends back to our Weston Studio with a brand new pantomime. Draw Dros y Don follows the swashbuckling adventures of Robin Croeso as he sets sail in search of pirate treasure. Age Guidance: 5+ and their grown-ups Incubator Sharing 7 Nov |7pm |Tickets £6 An eclectic programme of new work for you to experience. Once all of the companies have performed, you will have the opportunity to catch up with the artists informally to share your thoughts. Age Restriction: 16+ wmc.org.uk/incubatorsharing THE BLUE ROOM AT THE DANCE HOUSE De Oscuro in association with Wales Millennium Centre Mac//Beth 1 – 6 Nov |8pm |Tickets £12 (reductions available) Cutting this age old tragedy to its core, this intoxicating fusion of dance and theatre is Shakespeare as you’ve never seen it. Peppered with Polish and Hebrew, Mererid Hopwood’s new Welsh translation weaves in and out of Shakespeare’s text. Age Restriction: 14 + Ballet Cymru Romeo and Juliet 9 & 10 Nov |8pm |Tickets £8 -£12 Two young lovers caught in an age old feud; Ballet Cymru return to the Centre with their extraordinary adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous masterpiece, Romeo and Juliet. Intense fighting, passionate duets and universal themes echo through dramatic and lyrical choreography. A collaboration between Ballet Cymru, Coreo Cymru and Newport’s Riverfront Theatre. Age Guidance 8+ Lost Dog Double Bill: It Needs Horses & Home for Broken Turns 12 Nov |8pm | Tickets £8 - £12 Lost Dog's Place Prize winning duet It Needs Horses will be presented alongside the company’s newest work Home for Broken Turns in a highly physical and blackly comic double bill. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. It Needs Horses: commissioned by The Place Prize for Dance, sponsored by Bloomberg. Home for Broken Turns: commissioned by The Place and the Almeida Theatre. Age Guidance: 12+ Greg Wohead The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill 13 Nov |8pm | Tickets £8 -£12 This is a true story about two Texans: Pecos Bill, who grew up to be the greatest cowboy of all time, and Greg, who once passed out during a 3-mile hike. Using true storytelling and live music, Greg will try to find his way back to Texas. Age Guidance: 12+ Supported by BAC, The Yard, The Basement and Arts Council England Shakespeare Schools Festival 19 – 21 Nov |7pm |Tickets: £8.50 (Reductions available) The Shakespeare Schools Festival is the UK’s largest youth drama festival and aims to challenge, support and inspire a whole generation of school children through Shakespeare. The company has enabled thousands of young people of all abilities to perform half-hour abridgments of the Bard’s work in professional theatres. Once again, the festival returns to our Weston Studio with local schools staging different half-hour plays each night. ssf.uk.com The Committee Meeting 27 & 28 Nov |8pm |Tickets £8 - £12 Welsh comedians Chris Corcoran (Radio Wales’ Rhod Gilbert Show) and Elis James (BBC 2’s 8 out of 10 Cats) bring their 21st Century take on working men’s club culture to the Weston Studio. Expect comedy panel show humour with a committee meeting twist… and bingo. Age Guidance: 16+ Hijinx Theatre’s Odyssey Theatre Group The Last Snow of Winter 5 – 7 Dec | 7pm ( + 2.30pm on 7 Dec) |£8 - £12 Inspired by stories of great journeys, Hijinx Theatre’s Odyssey Group embark on a quest of their own. Taking only a suitcase, they trek into the unknown on an epic journey of laughter and sorrow, of loves lost and found, and of miracles and monsters. Age Guidance: 5+ Mind the Gap Treasure Island 9 Dec |1.30pm |Tickets £6 Hawkins is bored. A long night of endless shelf-stacking stretches ahead… But as modern-day and fantasy worlds collide, Flints Supermarket becomes the scene for a tale of treasure, tills and trolleys; turning the aisles into adventure, carrots into parrots, and cut-loaves into cutlasses! In this swash-buckling trolley dash of a show, Robert Louis Stephenson’s classic novel is reimagined with a twist Mind the Gap works with learning disabled and non-disabled artists as equals. Supported by Arts Council England Wales Millennium Centre in partnership with Big Talent School Young Company Christmas Show 14 Dec |5pm & 7.30pm |Tickets £6 Money is tight at Mrs Perkins’ Pie Shop until one of her adopted orphans inherits a secret recipe for ‘The Finest Christmas Puddings Ever Tasted’. It’s not long before everyone in town wants a taste of these special puddings – and little chimney sweep Jim is ordered to steal the recipe… |
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Thursday, September 19, 2013 |
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