The Palace of Wasted Dreams: Thurs 3rd – Sat 5th & Wed 9th Feb at mac

The Palace of Wasted Dreams
Thurs 3rd – Sat 5th & Wed 9th – Sat 12th February, 8pm
mac, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, B12 9QH
Tickets & Information:0121 446 3232 www.macarts.co.uk
Tickets £12 (£8) (Suitable for ages 14+)

It’s here, it’s arrived. Come on in! The Palace of Wasted Dreams.

Licensed for laughing, crying, dancing, singing, surprising and thinking on.
A place where anything can happen, and something always does…
Whether you’ve been before or it’s your very first time, come on down to the Palace!

The Palace of Wasted Dreams is the culmination of a two-year project called Wasted, a new participatory musical theatre project exploring and giving voice to women’s relationship with alcohol.
An essential night out, an intoxicating total live theatre experience. Dress for a night out. Non-drinkers very welcome!

The Palace of Wasted Dreams has been devised by Women & Theatre from materials gathered through research. It is performed by Women & Theatre and a cast of local people and directed by Gwenda Hughes. Music has been composed by Gurdan Thomas and The Company, with musical direction by Clare Edwards. Production Design is by Andrew Purvin, Lighting Design by Simon Bond, and Stage Management by Sara Crathorne.

The Palace of Wasted Dreams is a co-production with mac and is supported by Arts Council England, Aquarius, Sir Barry Jackson Trust, Bryant Trust, AERC, John Feeney Charitable Trust, Birmingham City Council, the Harry Payne Trust, The Grimmitt Trust and The Cole Charitable Trust.

Posted: January 30, 2011 in Announcements, Community, Theatre, news
Tags: Alcohol, Announcements, Birmingham, mac, Musical, news, The Palace of Wasted Dreams, Wasted
Comments: 5 comments

See Me, Hear Me with Priestley Smith School

See me, Hear Me is an exciting new project which will bring together the students of Priestley Smith School for the Visually Impaired with members of their neighbouring communities. Priestly Smith and W&T have built a strong partnership through our previous project, Tuned In, and we are very happy to be working with them once again. See Me Hear Me responds to Priestly Smith School’s desire to make genuine connections with the local community, as the majority of the school’s pupils and staff live out of the area. The project has been designed so that staff, pupils, and community members work together around a shared community interest, to build empathy and create sustainable relationships.

Students will work with W&T to create an original theatre script, developed through creative research, using online resources, local archives, and interviews with members of the local community to uncover the story of the school. The final play will be performed at Perry Beeches Junior School for the local community, pupils of other schools, staff and parents. There will also be a creative exhibition of word and image to accompany the theatre performances.

By encouraging interaction and sharing between the school community and the wider community, See Me, Hear Me is a wonderful opportunity to strengthen community relations and arts participation, bring sighted and visually impaired people together and develop creative skills, as well as create an original piece of high quality theatre.

Posted: December 17, 2010 in Announcements, Theatre, news
Tags: Announcements, disability, Education, news
Comments: 0 comments

See Me, Hear Me – Local Research

Following the success of Tuned In, Women and Theatre are currently working in collaboration with visually-impaired children from Priestley Smith School on Beeches Road, Perry Barr. Our aim is to bring together the students with members of the neighbouring communities to build strong links and relationships where there have previously been none. The students will then work with us to create an original piece of theatre titled See Me, Hear Me to be performed at the school in March 2011 (dates TBC). There will also be a creative exhibition of word, sound and image on show at the school to accompany the performances.

The project offers local residents the opportunity to visit Priestley Smith School and find out more about what happens there. It will also benefit wider community audiences by enabling them to see a high quality theatre performance about a subject matter they can relate to.

All of our plays and programmes are rooted in the experiences of real people, and so every project begins with a period of research, at the heart of which is talking to people about their experiences.

This is where we need your help!

We are looking for local residents to share with us their stories, memories and tales of the people and history involving Perry Barr – Particularly the Perry Beeches/Priestley Smith School site, Beeches Road, and the surrounding local area. This is a genuine opportunity for sharing and strengthening local community relationships, and our findings will form part of the creative exhibition at the school.

To be part of this valuable research, please contact Pippa/Bianca/Terina by phone, e-mail or post.

Women & Theatre
The Friends Institute, 220 Moseley Road, Highgate,
Birmingham B12 0DG

Tel: 0121 440 4203
Fax: 0121 446 4280
Email: biancaprentice@womenandtheatre.co.uk

Posted: November 19, 2010 in Announcements, Community, Education, Projects, Theatre, Uncategorized, news
Tags: Announcements, news, perry barr, priestley smith school, see me hear me, tuned in
Comments: 0 comments

The Bad One – Autumn Tour Dates Announced!

Don’t miss your chance to see Women & Theatre on tour this Autumn with The Bad One, a darkly humorous fairytale inspired by Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Written by and starring Janice Connolly (Edinburgh hit comedian Mrs Barbara Nice, Holy Mary in Channel 4’s Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights), and featuring Susie Riddell (Oddsocks), Heather Pilkington (Lick & Chew) and Laurence Saunders (Vivienne Vile).

Thurs 25th – Sat 27th Sept at 7.45pm (matinee on 27th at 2.45pm)
The Door, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Broad St, Birmingham B1 2EP
0121 236 4455 or book online

Tues 30th Sept at 7.30pm
Layard Theatre , Canford School, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 3AD
01202 847 525

Wed 1st Oct at 7.30pm
Lawrence Batley Theatre, Queen Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2SP
01484 430 528 or book online

Thurs 2nd Oct at 7.30pm
The Capitol Studio, North St, Horsham, W Sussex RH12 1RG
01403 750 220 or book online

Wed 8th Oct at 7.30pm
Arena Theatre, Wulfruna St, Wolverhampton WV1 1SE
01902 321 321

Sat 11th Oct at 7.30pm
Brewery Arts Centre, Highate, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4HE
01539 725 133

Thurs 16th Oct at 7.30pm
Maltings Arts Centre, The Maltings, St Albans, Herts AL1 3HL
01727 844 222

Wed 22nd Oct at 7.30pm
Norden Farm Arts Centre, Altwood Road, Maidenhead, SL6 4PF
01628 788 997 or book online

Fri 24th Oct at 7.30pm
Rotherham Arts Centre, Walker Place, Rotherham, S Yorks S65 1JH
01709 823 621

Wed 29th Oct- Fri 31st Oct at 7.30pm
TARA Studio, 356 Garratt Lane, London SW18 4ES
020 8333 4457 or book online

6th Nov at 8pm
The Rondo Theatre, St Saviours Rd, Larkhill, Bath BA1 6RT
01225 463 362 or book online

7th Nov at 8pm
The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays M50 3AZ
0870 787 5790 or book online

Sat 8th Nov at 7.30pm
Helmsley Arts Centre, The Old Meeting House, Helmsley, York YO62 5DW
01439 771 700 or book online

This year’s tour has been made possible with the kind support of Arts Council, England, REALiSE, Sir Barry Jackson Trust, The Grimmitt Trust, The Rowlands Trust and The Bryant Trust.

Posted: August 22, 2008 in Announcements, Theatre, news
Tags: Announcements, Barbara Nice, news, The Bad One, Theatre, Women & Theatre On Tour
Comments: 2 comments

Rehearsed Reading of The Bad One on Friday 27 July

Hiya

Just a reminder about our rehearsed reading of The Bad One on Friday. It would be great to get as many people there as possible. We’re hoping to get some really lively debates going around some of the key themes of the play and we’re particularly interested in looking at our left and right brains. For your reference,

• right brain uses feeling, imagination, and belief,

• and left brain forms strategies, is good at words and language, and is reality based.

Are you left or right brain dominant? Are you a Heidi or a Jackie?

Look forward to seeing you all, just drop us a line to let us know you’re coming

Janice

Women & Theatre Celebrating 25 Years

The Bad One
Rehearsed Reading, Friday 27th June, 2-4pm or 6.30-8.30pm

Autumn 2008 marks Women & Theatre’s 25th Anniversary.
Artistic Director Janice Connolly welcomes you to join us to help support our celebratory preparations.

You are warmly invited to Birmingham REP for an exclusive preview of Women & Theatre’s upcoming production, The Bad One. Members of the cast will perform a rehearsed reading of extracts from this darkly humorous fairytale. After the performance please do join us for a relaxed and friendly discussion about the play and its themes. This is your chance to contribute to the continuing development of the show up to its opening at the REP on 25th September. Drinks & nibbles provided

For more information on the production, please visit The Bad One.

Posted: June 26, 2008 in Announcements, Theatre
Tags: Janice Connolly, news, The Bad One
Comments: 1 comment