Preview: Red is the New Blue at Live Theatre

Is there life on Mars?

Red is the New Blue

Newcastle Live Theatre

Tuesday 23^rd & Wednesday 24^th June 2015
 
On Tuesday 23^rd and Wednesday 24^th June at 7.30pm Live Theatre will be presenting Red is the New Blue a out of this world show that has been created as part of Live Theatre’s Live Lab programme, which aims to develop new talent and give theatre makers a forum to try out new material and gain insightful feedback.

Set in 2029 Red is the New Blue follows the antics of three ordinary people who are sent to Mars, by Stargaze Incorporated, for a reality TV show like no other. The crew are left alone, abandoned on Mars forever, and it doesn’t take long before the cracks begin to show. The production has been created and will be performed by three emerging theatre makers who have all been awarded Live Lab Associate Artist status. These are spoken word artists Rowan McCabe, Matt Miller and Matilda Neill (who is also one of the members of Live Theatre’s all female sketch group Your Aunt Fanny).

Matilda Neill

In January 2015, Live Theatre re-launched its Live Lab programme creating more opportunities for budding writers, theatre makers and audience members to get involved. As part of this re-launch Live Lab announced their new Live Lab Associate Artists scheme. The inaugural Live Lab Associate Artists include the three spoken word artists involved in Red is the New Blue and theatre director Anna Ryder, who recently co-directed Rendezvous with Clive Judd at Live Theatre.

Rowan McCabe

The Live Lab Associate Artists receive mentorship from Live Theatre’s literary team as well as career support and talent development.

As Gez Casey, Live Theatre’s literary manager, explains: “Following the successful Live Lab re-launch earlier in the year, we’re delighted that the collaborative project with three of our Live Lab Associate Artists is going to premiere in the Studio Theatre this June."

Matt Miller

This is the first time that Rowan, Matt and Matilda have worked together to create a show. Matt Miller said: "Red is the New Blue initially took the upcoming Mars One space mission as an impetus and asks questions like 'Why would anybody want to go to Mars forever?' and 'What would happen to those individuals? What about our society? Will our voyeurism be fulfilled?' as well as 'What actually is there to do on a spaceship?' It has poignancy. It has poetry. It has tongue in cheek humour. Cos when you're going to Mars forever, really, you've got to be able to laugh about it, don't you?"

The show fuses together theatre, spoken word and film elements and offers a funny, moving and thought-provoking night out whilst asking audiences what they would do if they found themselves stuck on Mars forever?

Tickets:

Red is the New Blue appears at Newcastle’s Live Theatre on Tuesday 23^rd and Wednesday 24^th June 2015, 7.30pm
 
Created and performed by Live Lab Associate Artists Rowan McCabe, Matt Miller and Matilda Neill.
Presented as part of Live Theatre’s Live Lab programme.

Tickets for Red is the New Blue costs £8 full price or £6 for concessions. To book tickets and to find out more visit www.live.org.uk or contact Live Theatre’s box office on (0191) 232 1232. 

Preview: We Can Be Heroes at Newcastle Live Theatre

Facing your fears &

becoming a super hero

We Can Be Heroes

Newcastle Live Theatre

Thursday 23 and Friday 24 April, 8pm

We Can Be Heroes by Dick Bonham follows teenagers Patrick and Mark who spend their days dodging school bullies, reading comic books and dreaming of escape from their small town home. Then they meet Mr Smith – a real life super hero, with his own costume and canine sidekick. But as they come into conflict with a group of older boys, will he be able to save them from the gang’s clutches?

Inspired by real events and featuring original live music from Jamie Fletcher, We Can Be Heroes is a charming and surprisingly moving new story about growing up to be what you always dreamed of. The production is performed by Richard Kiess and Martin Bonger (who was at Live Theatre last month in Move to Stand’s Fat Man), and is suitable for those aged 12 and above.

A work-in-progress extract of the We Can Be Heroes was presented at Live Theatre in 2011 as part of the company’s Live Lab programme of events. Audiences at this show described the extract as “entertaining”, “thought-provoking” and “powerfully comic”.

Gez Casey, literary manager at Live Theatre said: “Following an early public showing of the idea at one of our Scratch Nights, Live Theatre was pleased to be involved with the further development of We Can Be Heroes. It’s a thoughtful and genuinely funny piece of theatre. An inventive exploration of the trials and injustices of adolescence, the piece asks: what compromises do you have to make to fit in? And what are the consequences of being different?”

Blending richly nostalgic storytelling with nuanced physical performances the piece, which is presented by Sometimes We Play in association with LittleMighty, questions society’s need for heroes who save us through violence and revenge, and looks for salvation in the most unlikely of places.

Tickets

We Can Be Heroes By Dick Bonham - Presented by Sometimes We Play in association with LittleMighty 

Thursday 23 and Friday 24 April, 8pm

LOCATION: Studio Theatre
DURATION: 1hr 5mins
SUITABILITY: 12+

Tickets for the production cost £8 full price and £6 for concessions. Tickets can be booked online at www.live.org.uk  or via the box office on (0191) 232 1232.

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Preview: Live Lab Re-Launch at Live Theatre

Celebrate the re-launch of Live Lab
with a week of exciting new work
as it is shared for the very first time

Live Lab Re-Launch

Live Theatre

Sunday 25 to Friday 30 January, 2015
 

2015 marks the re-launch of Live Theatre’s Live Lab programme with more opportunities for budding writers, comedians, theatre makers and audience members to get involved. From Sunday 25 to Friday 30 January, audiences are invited to celebrate the re-launch of Live Lab with a week of exciting new work as it is shared for the very first time.

As Gez Casey, Live Theatre’s literary manager, explains:   

“Live Lab is an innovative and vital part of Live Theatre's talent development programme offering a forum for theatre practitioners to try out new material and gain insightful feedback, opening a dialogue between the people who watch work and those that make it. Since its launch in 2011 Live Lab has attracted some of the most original theatre companies and artists, creating work that is bold, ambitious and relevant. We hope you can join us this January as we expand our Live Lab programme and celebrate its re-launch"

To start the week, on Sunday 25 January at 8pm, 10 Minutes to... is back for another evening of new plays by new voices. Five north east based playwrights, matched with five local directors, are given the opportunity to create a 10 minute play that responds to a particular theme. To kick off the New Year, and a new Live Lab, the theme is Take Off! 

10 Minutes to... is the latest addition to Live Theatre’s Live Lab programme, giving writers and directors the opportunity to forge new creative partnerships, be showcased at Live Theatre and bring their work to a new audience. The plays, which are rehearsed in just one adrenalin-fuelled weekend, include Trolley Boy written by Dave Raynor and directed by Anna Ryder, The Flight by Nina Berry and directed by Melanie Rashbrooke, Fold. Throw. Repeat by Rebekah Bowsher and directed by Morag IIles, Coming Home Party by Josh Coats and directed by Sebastien Fumoleau and After School Cake Club by Ali Pritchard and directed by Lewis Grey.

The launch week continues, on Thursday 29 January at 8pm, when audiences are invited to see brand new work-in-progress in the first Scratch Night of the year. Jointly curated with The Empty Space, Scratch Night is a staple of the Live Lab programme giving theatre makers the chance to test new ideas out in front of an audience. This edition includes award-winning poet Kate Fox showcasing a new show she is developing for the BBC, a piece from theatre maker Greg Wohead featuring unrehearsed performers using pre-recorded audio and headphones and Newcastle based theatre collective Precious Cargo who make dynamic, thought-provoking theatre with a heart. They will also be joined by Eggman Theatre who will present a selection of scenes from their new show Baggage, which is about discovering and embracing your identity.

Founded in 2011, Scratch Night gives emerging and established theatre companies a forum to share short extracts of work currently in development and gain invaluable feedback from audiences and fellow theatre makers on their work.  Many of the shows, first showcased at a Scratch Night, have now gone on to be developed into full length shows. Previous Scratchers, who have gone on to do great things, include Kieran Hurley’s award-winning Beats which enjoyed a successful run at 2012 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Alistair McDowall’s Captain Amazing, which was one of the winners of Live Theatre and The Empty Space’s bursary award in 2012. Plus, in 2013 Alison Carr’s The Soaking of Vera Shrimp was also awarded the Live Theatre and The Empty Space’s bursary to develop her show into a full length piece which was showcased at Live Theatre last year.

The re-launch week will culminate, on Friday 30 January at 8pm, with a special launch party for audience members, writers and theatre makers to informally share ideas about the future of Live Lab. Plus, some of the region’s most exciting voices will perform extracts of their work in this night of cutting-edge theatre, poetry, comedy and music. Anyone with an interest in having their say on the future of Live Lab should make sure they attend this event. 

Tickets:

A week pass to attend all of the events costs £12 or £5 tickets are available per event. To book tickets and to find out more about what is in store visit www.live.org.uk/livelab or contact Live Theatre’s box office on (0191) 232 1232.