For the past few months, the Gate Theatre has been attending regular meetings with 17 other like-minded theatres to talk about a thing called A Nation’s Theatre. In essence, A Nation’s Theatre was a phrase coined to think about the ways in which we celebrate theatre-makers based in villages, towns and cities in the UK at large, and not just those making work in our capital city.
A few meetings later, A Nation’s Theatre Festival was born! This festival, running in April and May this year, is the centre of the action, spilling out across London as part of a two-month celebration of theatre from around the UK.
Now we’ve launched the festival, no one can quite remember who actually came up with the idea, but it was conceived through conversations with artists and venues from outside of London with Battersea Arts Centre and in partnership with The Guardian.
As part of this festival, the Gate wanted to showcase our work with the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) in presenting NEW: 2016, a festival of new writing.
NEW: 2016 is a hugely ambitious project involving all 32 graduating actors as well as students from the design and stage management course, collaborating with some of the country’s most exciting young writers and directors.
We are excited to be hosting the RWCMD for a third year running and delighted to be working with our peers on A Nation’s Theatre Festival. The Gate is presenting one of 60 shows, in a festival with 350 artists, all travelling 500 miles to reach venues across London.
Come and see the work from the Royal Welsh College, but also take a peek at what’s happening all across London and beyond.
It’s very exciting…
Title: NEW: 2016
Artist/Company: Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
From Cardiff
Title: MADE
Artist/Company: Target Theatre Company
From Doncaster
Title: The Broke ’n’ Beat Collective
Artist/Company: 20 Stories High and Theatre-Rites
From Liverpool
Title: Snow White
Artist/Company: Engine House Productions with LipService
Venue: Polka Theatre, 240 The Broadway, SW19 1SB
From East Midlands and Manchester
Title: Happy Harry's Café
Artist/Company: Birdsnest Theatre
From St Albans
Title: The Magic Beanstalk
Artist/Company: Light Theatre
From Cornwall
Title: The Hogwallops
Artist/Company: Lost in Translation Circus
From Norfolk
Title: Ringside
Artist/Company: Ellie Dubois (performed by Francesca Hyde)
From Glasgow
Title: (The Story is Not) Set in Stone
Artist/Company: Matthew Bellwood and Alison Andrews in Association with Littlemighty
From Leeds
Title: Crash
Artist/Company: Traverse Theatre
From Edinburgh
Title: The Money
Artist/Company: Kaleider
From Exeter
Title: The Emperor's New Clothes
Artist/Company: Hand to Mouth Theatre
From Hampshire
Title: Alaska
Artist/Company: Cheryl Martin in association with hÅb for Domestic II
From Manchester
Title: Wendy Hoose
Artist/Company: Birds of Paradise and Random Accomplice
Venue: Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street, W1D 3NE
From Glasgow
Title: KLIP
Artist/Company: Livingstones Kabinet
From Denmark & Scotland
Title: Rumpelstiltskin
Artist/Company: Ripstop & Norwich Puppet Theatre
From Norwich
Title: Error 404
Artist/Company: Daniel Bye
From Middlesbrough
Title: A Super Happy Story About Feeling Super Sad
Artist/Company: Silent Uproar
From Hull
Title: Night at the Theatre
Artist/Company: Casson & Friends in Collaboration with Stopgap Dance Company
From Farnham
Title: Punching the Sky
Artist/Company: Lizi Patch
From North Yorkshire
Title: Bed Time
Artist/Company: Oxford Playhouse
From Oxford
Title: The Last Supper
Artist/Company: Reckless Sleepers
From Nottingham
Title: A String Section
Artist/Company: Reckless Sleepers
From Nottingham and Belgium
Title: You Must Be The One To Bury Me
Artist/Company: Babel Theatre
From Manchester
Title: You, Me and Everything Else
Artist/Company: Camisado Club
From Newcastle
Title: Learning How to Die
Artist/Company: Luca Rutherford & ARC Stockton
From Newcastle
Title: Going Viral
Artist/Company: Daniel Bye & ARC Stockton
From Middleborough
Title: Origins
Artist/Company: Animikii
From Manchester
Title: Frogs and Snails and Teddy Bear Tales
Artist/Company: Freehand Theatre
From West Yorkshire
Title: In The Vice Like Grip of it
Artist/Company: ivo & ARC Stockton
From Stockton & London
Title: Eggs Collective Get A Round
Artist/Company: Eggs Collective
From Manchester
Title: Near Gone
Artist/Company: Two Destination Language
From Salisbury
Title: Forge North: A Night from the North
Artist/Company: Theatre Delicatessen
From Sheffield
Title: 1.9
Artist/Company: In Good Company Presents: Jack A.G Brittain
From East Midlands
Title: No Woman’s Land
Artist/Company: In Good Company Presents: Zoo Indigo
Title: Us and Them
Artist/Company: In Good Company Presents: Tetrad Collective
Title: Room – a festival of ideas from the regions
Artist/Company: Various
Title: Salaam
Artist/Company: Sonia Sabri Company
From Birmingham
Title: Flights of Fancy
Artist/Company: Hand to Mouth Theatre
From Hampshire
Title: //BUZZCUT// on tour: Let England Shake
Artist/Company: //BUZZCUT//
From Glasgow
Title: The Girl Who Fell in Love with the Moon
Artist/Company: The Human Zoo Theatre Company
From Wellingbourough
Title: H.O.R.S.E
Artist/Company: Tim Bromage
From Cardiff
Title: Race Cards
Artist/Company: Selina Thompson
From Leeds
Title: Tender Loin #5: A Nation's Theatre Edition
Artist/Company: Steakhouse Live
Title: Cuttin' It
Artist/Company: by Charlene James, directed by Gbolahan Obisesan
From Birmingham
Title: Cock and Bull
Artist/Company: Nic Green with Rosana Cade and Laura Bradshaw
From Glasgow
Title: A Real Mermaid's Tale
Artist/Company: Ripstop Theatre
From Norwich
Title: Voyager
Artist/Company: Idle Motion
From Oxford
Title: Untouchable
Artist/Company: Ria Hartley
From Bristol
Title: The Thadows Loom & The Sun is Black
Artist/Company: VIDEOfeet
From Hertfordshire
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
Title: Barbican and Guildhall Open Lab
Artist/Company: Various
Title: Uninvited Guests Residency
Artist/Company: Uninvited Guests
From Bristol
Title: Starlight
Artist/Company: Pebble Gorge
From Worthing
WORK-IN-PROGRESS PERFORMANCES
Title: Taxi Tales
Artist/Company: Tamasha Theatre Company and Freedom Studios
From Bradford and London
Title: Empire of Rats: Scratch
Artist/Company: Luxi
From Darlington
EVENTS
Title: All Tomorrow’s Theatre
Artist/Company: Hosted by Battersea Arts Centre in partnership with Camden's People's Theatre
