season brochure
WELCOME TO OUR 40TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON! The Gate has been the home for progressive, anti-establishment international theatre for 40 years. So our anniversary season looks ahead, engaging with exciting emerging artists whose work celebrates change, transition, and transformation. We open with Mephisto [A Rhapsody] an uncomfortably witty new version of Klaus Mann’s visionary 1930s cult novel. Later this year, we present the brilliant Danish collective Fix&Foxy and their new piece Land without Dreams, which tackles our deepest anxieties about the future with their trademark sense of humour. In the New Year, Ellen is adapting Booker Prize nominee Valeria Luiselli’s award-winning novel Faces in the Crowd, a shapeshifting Mexican novel about identity and transformation followed by Sylvan Oswald’s queer adventure story Trainers, or, the Brutal Unpleasant Atmostphere of this Most Disagreeable Season: A Theatrical Essay. In the Summer, we welcome back Gate Alumni Paterson Joseph to work with Elayce Ismail on a new stage version of Derek Walcott’s Omeros, and our Associate Artist Rosie Elnile presents Prayer, reimagining our relationship to nature, our bodies, and public spaces. There’s lots of other ways to engage with our work too: our Manifesto for our Future underpins our thinking for this season and beyond. Look out for our Archive Project: 40 Years in 40 Weeks, book in to watch an Open Rehearsal, or catch a Gate Late after a show. We are also introducing Audio-Described shows alongside our Caption Nights and a new ticket scheme making our work more accessible than ever. Come join us.
Ellen McDougall, Artistic Director Lise Bell, Executive Director
MEPHISTO FASCISM. RESISTANCE. APATHY. In the town of Balbek the far right are about to seize power. At the local theatre Aymeric dreams of celebrity; Lucas longs for a liberal revolution; Michael is seduced by the extremists. Juliette Demba is in fear for her life. As this political earthquake convulses society Aymeric must make his choice: resist the forces of hatred or harness them for his own success. Mephisto [A Rhapsody] is a searing contemporary response to Klaus Mann’s banned, and fiercely political cult novel.
3 - 26 OCT 2019
[A RHAPSODY] By Samuel Gallet Translated by Chris Campbell Adapted from the novel by Klaus Mann Original text Mephisto [Rhapsodie] by Samuel Gallet* Directed by Kirsty Housely Designed by Basia Binkowska *Copyright © 2019, Editions Espaces 34, France Young People’s Night: 17 Oct Caption Night: 22 Oct Audio Described Night: 24 Oct Mon-Sat 7.30pm Wed & Sat Matinees 2.30pm Tickets from £12
14 NOV - 7 DEC 2019
LAND WITHOUT Created by Fix&Foxy Director and writer Tue Biering Director (London) Lise Lauenblad Performed by Temi Wilkey Young People’s Night: 28 Nov Caption Night: 3 Dec Audio Described Night: 5 Dec Mon-Sat 7.30pm Wed & Sat Matinees 2.30pm Tickets from £12
LAND WITHOUT DREAMS DREAMS THIS IS A PLAY ABOUT THE FUTURE. (AND CLIMATE CHANGE). (NOT INSOMNIA). A woman walks on to the stage. She says she is from the future. She says that we have stopped dreaming. She says that she can help end all our dystopian nightmares. But we know plays don’t change the world. Right? This is the UK premiere of Land Without Dreams, a hopeful, funny and courageous new show by award-winning Copenhagen-based theatre company Fix&Foxy. Their previous works include radical versions of Pretty Woman, Twin Peaks, and Friends.
FACES IN THE LEAVE A LIFE. BLOW EVERYTHING UP. WHAT FEW PEOPLE UNDERSTAND IS THAT YOU LEAVE A LIFE TO START ANOTHER. In Mexico City, a mother begins writing her novel. She is constantly interrupted. In New York, she is haunted by the ghost of a Mexican poet. She can’t keep out the past. 100 years earlier, a poet is troubled by visions of a woman on the subway. She lives decades in the future. As a mother tries to remember the faces from her past, the lines between her and them blur, time folds in on itself and ghosts appear everywhere. Based on Valeria Luiselli’s awardwinning novel, Faces in the Crowd beautifully intertwines three narratives in unexpected ways. This dizzying, fluid and haunting adaptation explores whether our identities are more permeable than we imagine.
16 JAN - 8 FEB 2020
CROWD By Valeria Luiselli Novel translated by Christina McSweeney Directed by Ellen McDougall Designed by Bethany Wells
Young People’s Night: 30 Jan Caption Night: 4 Feb Audio Described Night: 6 Feb Mon-Sat 7.30pm Wed & Sat Matinees 2.30pm Tickets from £12
27 FEB - 21 MAR 2020
TRAINERS, OR, THE
ATMOSPHERE OF THIS MO A THEATRICAL ESSAY By Sylvan Oswald Directed by Hester Chillingworth Young People’s Night: 12 Mar Audio Described Night: 17 Mar Caption Night: 19 Mar Mon-Sat 7.30pm Wed & Sat Matinees 2.30pm Tickets from £12
E BRUTAL UNPLEASANT OST DISAGREEABLE SEASON: THE ONLY RULE IS TO BREAK THE RULES. A parallel present. Two queer bodies meet in the fallout of a second civil war. In a time of revolution, is love the most radical act? Trainers... by Sylvan Oswald asks what separates us from each other, our bodies and ourselves, and how we might complete one another. This queer visionary adventure story explores the different ways we can be lovers and activists and humans and what it takes to train for a revolution.
7 MAY - 30 MAY 2020
OMEROS I SANG OUR WIDE COUNTRY, THE CARIBBEAN SEA LIKE PHILOCTETE’S WOUND, THIS LANGUAGE CARRIES ITS CURE. Helen is pregnant, but doesn’t know who the father is. Desperate to impress her, Hector leaves his fishing community and moves to the big city, while Achille, heartbroken, is taken on a spiritual journey to his homeland. Meanwhile, Philoctete spends his days in the NO PAIN CAFE, longing for his ancient wound to heal. Nobel Prize-winning poet, Derek Walcott, reimagines the characters of Homer’s Iliad as fishermen on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. This epic drama explores historical wounds of slavery and the redemptive power of storytelling.
By Derek Walcott Adapted and directed by Elayce Ismail Associate Dramaturg: Paterson Joseph Young People’s Night: 21 May Caption Night: 26 May Audio Described Night: 28 May Mon-Sat 7.30pm Wed & Sat Matinees 2pm Tickets from £12
SUMMER 2020
PRAYER By Rosie Elnile
REHEARSE (V.): ...LITERALLY “TO RAKE OVER, TURN OVER” (SOIL, GROUND)... Gate Associate Artist Rosie Elnile is creating a new piece of work that reimagines our relationship with nature, our bodies, and public spaces. Prayer is about making something as a communal and hopeful act, about creating a space that needs to be cared for, a space to imagine new futures.
GET INVOLVED We hope that the work we put on the Gate stage sparks thought and conversation amongst our audience. For every show there are a range of other ways you can get involved.
OPEN REHEARSALS Book in for free to join an Open Rehearsal for a chance to see each show taking shape in the rehearsal room.
GATE LATES Our Gate Lates programme includes post-show Q&As, open mic events, poetry readings and expert opinions to explore the wider context of each show.
WORKSHOPS Our workshops are a chance for you to find out how we make our shows – from the process of making to exploring the questions behind the production. They are open access and don’t require any preparation beforehand.
40 YEARS IN 40 WEEKS
The artists who have been part of the Gate’s history make a formidable list including Sarah Kane, Katie Mitchell, Sophie Okonedo and Stephen Daldry. Each week, starting in September 2019, we will share a piece of material from our archive marking each year of our history. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram #40Years40Weeks
TICKETS At the Gate, audiences sit at the heart of everything we do. That’s why our new ticket prices ensure that you can always come for a visit to the Gate without breaking the bank. Ticket prices range from just £12 for previews and matinees and £18 for standard performances. Our prices respond to demand, which means the earlier you book the cheaper it will be.
HIGH FIVER TICKETS If you’re under 30 and find yourself with a free evening, you can turn up at the box office with your ID from 6.30pm and if there are any tickets left you can buy one for just £5 (limited capacity only – availability not guaranteed).
CONCESSIONS Concession tickets and discounts are available on all tickets – please check our website for details.
YOUNG PEOPLE’S NIGHT For every show we host a Young People’s Night, run by and for under 26-year-olds. Tickets are £7.50 and there is a free Gate Late after the show where you can meet the cast and creative team and hear more about how the show was made. They are run by our Young Associates, so you can also ask questions about your own work, as well as meet other young people interested in theatre. Young People’s Nights are proudly supported by Douglas & Gordon.
BOOKING INFORMATION Online booking www.gatetheatre.co.uk Box Office 020 7229 0706
Performances Mon – Sat, 7:30pm Weds and Sat matinees, 2:30pm
FINDING US
Tube Notting Hill Gate (Central/District/Circle Lines) Exit 3 (Northside Portobello Market)
Buses 27, 28, 31, 52, 94, 328, 452
ACCESS The Gate Theatre is on the first floor above the Prince Albert pub. From street level, there are 20 steps up to the foyer and 7 steps from the foyer to the auditorium. We have one captioned performance for every show with a livecaptioned post show talk. There is also an induction hearing loop in the theatre that is available for everyone. We now offer an audio described performance and touch tour for every show in our season. Audio described notes are also available for every show. For further information: Call or text-phone: 0207 229 5387 Email: gate@gatetheatre.co.uk
A MANIFESTO FOR OUR FUTURE PROCESS IS POLITICAL It is relevant who makes the work. Amplify the voices silenced by the canon. Text is not the only form of authorship. Our artists are international. Our shows are multilingual. Our rehearsals are open.
FORM IS POLITICAL Look outside what you know. Rethink definitions of excellence. Celebrate subjectivity. Celebrate the mess and imperfection of humanity. Celebrate liveness.
OUR WORK IS PART OF THE WORLD Acknowledge and hold the suffering of the past. Imagine the future. Don’t portray the world, change it. We are nature and nature is us. There must be space to come together and talk. We declare a climate emergency.
CHANGE. TRANSITION. TRANSFORM. Make work in a circular economy (and only 20% of materials can be new). The shows (and all the conversations too) must leave the building. Texts from earlier than 2010 must be radically interrogated. At least one show in every season must be made outside the UK. Everyone in the room is part of the show (this includes the audience). We can’t do this without you. What happens after the play is the point of the play.
SUPPORT US Each year, the Gate needs to raise over £280,000 in philanthropic support in order to keep taking artistic risks whilst keeping ticket prices low and affordable for all. By supporting the Gate, you can play a very real and important part in helping us to nurture emerging artists, collaborate with international partners, reach the widest possible audience, and expand our vital community work. In return, you will become a key part of our theatre’s vibrant community, and receive amazing opportunities to get closer to the radical and trailblazing work that we stage. Join our Supporters’ Scheme today and help us continue to meet our ever-growing ambitions and support the most exceptional new talent. To make a gift or join as a Gate Supporter, please contact: development@gatetheatre.co.uk Or call us on: 020 7229 5387 Or visit our website: www.gatetheatre.co.uk
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The Gate Theatre is a registered charity (No. 280278).