AUTUMN/WINTER 2022
Booking
This season we open with some exciting news. We’ve been building a brand new space right here in the cultural heart of Huddersfield called the Queen Street Studio. Built specifically for our community, the studio is for anyone from across Huddersfield to come along and do something creative. Adults can take part in singing groups or have a go at play reading, while those with little ones can come along to Storytime or a Dinky Disco, perfect for babies, tots and preschoolers. We’re holding a free Open Day on Sun 4 September where we’ll be throwing open our doors for you to have a look around. Get the first peek at the Queen Street Studio, try a workshop, have a nosy backstage or watch a performance!
In person: Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat 10am-5pm By phone: 01484 430528 Phone line open at times above and Tue, Thu 12pm - 2pm
Getting Here Our address is:
Queen Street, Huddersfield, HD1 2SP Parking: Visit the Kirklees Council website for the most up-to-date parking information. All information is correct at time of printing. Please visit thelbt.org for the most up-to-date information.
Visiting We’re open to the public on Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat from 10am-5pm and from 90 minutes before show times. Pop in to see the exhibitions or get involved at our new studio. Café-bar open Wed and Sat 12pm-5pm
Key RP
British Sign Language
Under 30s tickets available
Relaxed Performance
Audio Described
Book multiple shows at once and get
££ off! See page 31 for more info
Cover Image: Heather Agyepong as Sephy in Pilot Theatre’s Noughts & Crosses (2019). Photograph by Robert Day
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Welcome
Online: thelbt.org
Will you be a Christmas Hero this year? Our annual appeal is back and we’re once again raising money to bring the magic of theatre to children and their families. Last year we raised enough money to invite 845 local people, who would otherwise not be able to visit us, to experience the joy of theatre. Find out more about supporting our appeal and giving the gift of theatre on our website. Highlights from our programme this autumn include the award-winning 2019 production of Sabrina Mahfouz’s exciting adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s story of first love in a dangerous fictional dystopia, Noughts & Crosses. The phenomenal Jasmin Vardimon dance company is visiting us in September with ALiCE their new take on Alice in Wonderland. We’re pleased to have supported local company Root & Branch Productions to make a brand new sci-fi play exploring the role of science in our day to day lives, Danny Echo. And the crown jewel of the festive season is back, in the form of our fabulous family favourite pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk! Eve de Leon Allen as Chloe in ThickSkin’s Blood Harmony (2022). Photograph by Robling Photography
See you here soon,
Team Lawrence Batley Theatre 3
apple DRAMA Aliki Ch
Aliki Chapple in association with LittleMighty
666 Comments Thu 8 September Main House 7:30pm Tickets £12 In October 2010 cartoonist Gabby Schulz posted a comic strip on his website. It was about online sexism. What could possibly go wrong? Over the next three days the comic went viral and the comments went bananas. Some of them were witty, some of them were outrageous, some of them were just plain bizarre. 666 Comments is an attempt to stage that thread.
MUSIC
The Dolly Show Fri 9 September Main House 7:30pm
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Fireman Sam Saves the Circus
FAMILY
Sat 10 September Main House 10am, 1pm Tickets from £17.50 When all of his friends go away, Norman Price decides to find adventure in Pontypandy and become the star of a visiting circus. But with a tiger on the loose and faulty lights, the adventure soon turns to danger. Can Fireman Sam come to the rescue and save the circus?
Attic Stories
SPOKEN WORD & TALKS
Mon 19 September Mon 24 October Mon 28 November Mon 19 December
Tickets £24
Attic Theatre 7:30pm
Direct from the West End
Pay as you Feel
As seen on BBC One and voted the UK’s no. 1. Dolly Parton tribute, multi-award winning Kelly O’Brien is undeniably one of the best Dolly impersonators you will ever see. The show includes up-tempo numbers like 9 to 5, Baby I’m Burning and Islands in the Stream, as well as powerful ballads such as I Will Always Love You and Jolene.
Calling all word lovers! The monthly night of words returns. Hosted by award-winning poet Rose Condo, each month features a special guest performer sharing poetry and stories. Want to take part? Open mic spots are available – sign up on the night! 5
DANCE
Friendsical
MUSICAL
Fri 23 – Sun 25 September Main House 7:30pm Tickets from £10
Friendsical is an original and unique parody musical inspired by the gang in Friends, the iconic TV show. When Ross’s wife leaves him for another woman, he fears he will never find love again. But then Rachel runs back into his life… will he end up with his one true love? With original new songs such as (He’s her) Lobster!, Richard’s Moustache and You’re Over Me, When Were You Under Me?, the gang take on naked Thursdays, a power cut, and a dinosaur convention! What could possibly go wrong?
Jasmin Vardimon Company
ALiCE
Wed 21 – Thu 22 September Main House 7:30pm Tickets £16 Following the internationally acclaimed success of her adaptation of Pinocchio, award winning choreographer Jasmin Vardimon’s newest creation is a reimagining of the ground breaking classic Alice in Wonderland. ALiCE promises a sensory feast of arresting images, powerful performers and striking kinetic scenery. Co-commissioned by Sadler’s Wells and Dance East, ICCI and Kent County Council.
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Friendsical will also feature a surprise guest star!
Steptoe and Son Radio Show
This is a loving parody not to be confused with the Warner Bros Entertainment Inc. series Friends
COMEDY
Fri 16 September Main House 7:30pm Tickets £18 Adapted by John Hewer Based on the original scripts by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson Marking 60 years since the first ever broadcast, Hambledon Productions and Apollo Theatre Company breathe life back into the Steptoe household with this fresh and hilarious adaptation of three, original episodes from the long-running smash hit BBC sitcom, faithfully recreating a live radio recording and reliving some of the Steptoe’s finest misadventures. 7
MUSICAL
DRAMA
rld Womiere Pre
The Tempest Thu 29 September – Sat 1 October Main House 7:30pm Pay as you feel 8
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber After the success of Henry V, our ★★★★ (The Stage) A Christmas Carol and Macbeth, our community production returns for 2022! It’s a hot August and thunderstorms are brewing. All summer, the drama club from the National Theatre has been rehearsing and getting ready to take a show up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The troupe of performers from London set off on the journey, but a mysteriously dodgy engine has left their coach broken down and stranded them here in Huddersfield! Can the colourful characters of Kirklees help? Or does the Lawrence Batley Theatre boss and their own group of ambitious actors have other ideas? Shakespeare’s tale of power, deception and forgiveness is given a novel twist as local people take to our stage.
An amateur production by arrangement with The Really Useful Group Ltd.
Book and Lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton
Longwood Amateur Operatic Society
Based on the Billy Wilder film
Sunset Boulevard Tue 4 – Sat 8 October Main House 7:15pm, 2:15pm - Sat matinee Tickets from £15
In her mansion on Sunset Boulevard, faded silent-screen goddess, Norma Desmond, lives in a fantasy world. Impoverished screenwriter, Joe Gillis, on the run from debt collectors, stumbles into her reclusive domain where he is seduced by her and her luxurious lifestyle. Joe becomes entrapped in a claustrophobic existence until his love for another woman leads him to try and break free. Longwood Operatic Society present this amateur production based on the Tony Award winning masterwork of dreams. 9
MUSCIAL
leo&hyde
DRAMA
Double Life: A VR Musical Tue 11 – Sat 15 October Cellar Theatre 2pm, 7pm, 9pm - Tue - Fri 12pm, 2pm, 5pm, 7pm, 8:30pm - Sat & Sun Tickets £14 Guy is gay. Guy is a gamer. And Guy is looking for love; in virtual reality. Experience what finding love is like for Guy, a body-conscious gay man. Told through a hybrid of live theatre and virtual reality that invites you to explore Guy’s VR world through guided use of VR headsets. leo&hyde present an accessible and intimate VR musical experience that makes you ponder what finding love really means in the twenty-first century.
DRAMA
Huddersfield Thespians
Brief Encounter Wed 19 – Sat 22 October Cellar Theatre 7:15pm | 2pm - Sat matinee
Root and Branch Productions supported by Lawrence Batley Theatre
Danny Echo Wed 12 - Fri 14 October Main House 7:30pm Tickets £16
Tickets £15
Written by Cody Daigle-Orians
Noël Coward’s Brief Encounter adapted for the stage by Emma Rice. A timeless tale of joy and heartache, interspersed with Coward’s songs.
A Black Mirror style exploration of grief, regret and technology.
Laura, the respectable suburban wife, and Alec, the idealistic, married doctor, meet in a station buffet, fall passionately in love but are doomed never to find fulfilment. 10
rld Womiere Pre
An amateur production licensed by Concord Theatricals.
Rae lost her husband Danny in a freak accident during a snow storm and is torn apart by what happened on that final day of his life. She is offered a lifeline when Doctor Kane, a controversial A.I scientist, tells her she can have Danny back again for a single day.
Rae chooses the day Danny died and is sent a replica that is maybe a little too similar to her late husband. But it can only repeat the words and actions from that final day - no matter how hurtful they were. And now she is alone with it. Danny Echo is a heartbreakingly human exploration of the role of robotics in our near future, and the ethical implications of using technology to ‘play God’. 11
MUSIC
Scott Ritchie Productions
FAMILY
Rapunzel Mon 24 October Main House 2pm, 6pm Tickets £15 Let your hair down in a brand-new adaptation of this popular fairy tale. With a wicked witch, a feisty heroine, a tap-dancing horse and a host of adventures! Packed with songs, dance routines and jokes a-plenty, there is something for everyone to love.
Down for the Count
A Century of Swing Wed 19 October Main House 7:30pm Tickets £23, Under 18s £14 Join the UK’s hardest swinging band Down for the Count for “one hellova celebration of vintage music” (TimeOut London) as they celebrate A Century of Swing. The 10-piece band play instrumental songs from the likes of Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller and vocal classics from singers such as Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald, all presented with Down for the Count’s own unmistakable brand of wit and humour. 12
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DRAMA
DRAMA
Dick & Lottie
Time and Time Again Thu 27 – Sat 29 October Cellar Theatre 7:45pm | 2:30pm - Sat matinee Tickets £15 Written by Alan Ayckbourn In Ayckbourn’s 1971 comic hit, love is sought, fought for, won and lost in a tangle of suburban relationships. Dreamer Leonard, pompous Graham and sporting Peter all want the same girl, but she may prefer Bernard the fishing gnome.
Fri 28 October Main House 7:30pm Tickets £15
DRAMA
Jamrock Productions
Bitter Sweet Monologues of COVID-19 Sat 29 October Main House 7:30pm Tickets £12
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Huddersfield playwright Angy Smith has created a series of moving and uplifting monologues exploring how COVID-19 affected different people from across the world and how ultimately the kindness of others helped them through. Performers from age 16 - 70 will share stories of love and care, warmth and friendship, sadness and laughter to present a very personal account of the pandemic that impacted us all.
★★★★★ British Theatre Guide
★★★★ ★★★★ The Scotsman
The Stage
Scottee grew up around mould, mice and clothes off the market. After a chance meeting with some posh kids, his Mum teaching him to talk properly on the phone and successfully persuading his parents to take him off free school meals, Scottee knew he didn’t want to be common. In his final solo show, Scottee uncovers what it is to be embarrassed about where you’re from, how you can pretend to be posher than you are and explores why we all get a thrill playing God with green tokens from Waitrose. This is a show for the middle classes. 15
DRAMA
★★★★ ★★★★ The Observer
The Stage
PILOT THEATRE
Winner of Excellence in Touring, UK Theatre Awards 2019
“A dynamic, powerful, compelling show whatever your age.” British Theatre Guide
Tue 1 – Sat 5 November Main House 7:30pm 2pm - Wed & Sat matinee Tickets from £10 16
BOX OFFICE: 01484 430528
Finalist for Best Show for Children and Young People, UK Theatre Awards 2019 Sephy and Callum sit together on a beach. They are in love. It is forbidden. Sephy is a Cross and Callum is a Nought. Between Noughts and Crosses there are racial and social divides. A segregated society teeters on a volatile knife edge. As violence breaks out, Sephy and Callum draw closer, but this is a romance that will lead them into terrible danger. This gripping Romeo and Juliet story by acclaimed writer Malorie Blackman and adapted by Sabrina Mahfouz is a captivating drama of love, revolution and what it means to grow up in a divided world. THELBT.ORG
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HALLOWEEN
Nancy Penvose
FAMILY
A Halloween Hullabaloo
AT THE LAWRENCE BATLEY THEATRE
DRAMA
Sun 30 October Cellar Theatre 1pm, 4pm
Thunder Road Theatre Company
Shock Horror
Tickets £10 It’s All Hallows Eve and Witch Woo-Who is busily preparing her famous candy concoction for the ball at High Jinks Hall when along come the Candy Pirates who steal her potion! Can Witch Woo-Who get the candy concoction back in time for trick or treating?
Sun 30 October Main House 7:30pm Tickets £12
Filled with puppetry, upbeat songs, plenty of laughs and audience participation, this is spooktacular Halloween fun for all the family!
Herbert is a horror obsessive, misfit filmmaker, who gets his kicks from scaring viewers. But his last act has awoken a nightmare; now he’s the one being haunted.
FAMILY
Enter a sinister world of fear, hysteria and things that hide inside… where iconic horror cinema unravels live on stage.
Tall Stories
Room on the Broom
TOURS
Halloween Backstage Tour Sat 29 October Main House 11am Tickets £15 Join us for our fang-tastic Halloween Backstage Tour… if you dare! All guided by one of our frightful team, get a sneak peek behind-the-scenes and take in the stories of our bootiful building. After your tour you’ll be trick’n’treated to some delicious Halloween themed refreshments in our Café-Bar. Spooky fancy dress is encouraged!
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Room on the Broom © Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler 2002 – Macmillan Children’s Books.
This vivid new ghost story will excite, unsettle and thrill those brave enough to book.
Mon 14 – Thu 17 November Main House 1:30pm, 4:30pm - Mon 10:30am, 1:30pm - Tue-Thu Tickets £14 Iggety ziggety zaggety zoom! The witch and her cat are travelling on their broomstick when they pick up some hitch-hikers – a friendly dog, a beautiful green bird and a frantic frog. But this broomstick’s not meant for five and – CRACK – it snaps in two... just as the hungry dragon appears!
★★★★ The Stage
Will there ever be room on the broom for everyone? Find out in the magical Olivier Award-nominated show for everyone aged 3 and up. Adapted from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s best-selling picture book. 19
MUSCIAL
MUSIC
Down for the Count
Swing Into Christmas Mon 19 December Main House 7:30pm
Celebrate the festive season in style with the vocalists and instrumentalists of the Down for the Count Orchestra, as they Swing Into Christmas! This 28-piece ensemble recreates the best music of the Swing Era, including I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Winter Wonderland and many more!
Tickets £30, Under 18s £15
Huddersfield Musical Theatre Company
Bonnie & Clyde
Pantomime Backstage Tour
Main House 7:15pm | 2:15pm - Sat matinee
Sat 17 December
Tue 8 – Sat 12 November
Tickets from £17 High on money, sex and guns, an ex-con and a waitress embark on a depression era rampage around America, robbing banks and leaving a trail of bodies behind them. What could possibly go wrong? Keep your head down as the bullets fly in this romantic, sexy and energetic show from Huddersfield Musical Theatre Company. This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International. 20
TOURS
Main House 11am Tickets £15 Step into the limelight on our special backstage theatre tour! Take in the stories of our historic building along with having a behind-the-scenes sneak peek at our pantomime set, all guided by one of our expert team. After your tour, you’ll be treated to delicious Christmas themed refreshments in our Café-Bar. Christmas fancy dress is encouraged.
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PANTOMIME
★★★★★
Lawrence Batley Theatre presents
“The ultimate jewel in pantoland’s crown” Yorkshire Post on Robin Hood
DATES
TIMES
Fri 2 Sat 3 Mon 5 Tue 6 Wed 7 Thu 8 Fri 9
10am & 1:30pm 2pm & 6:30pm 10am 1:30pm & 6:30pm 10am & 1:30pm 10am & 1:30pm 10am & 1:30pm
Main House See table for times >
Sat 10 Mon 12
2pm & 6:30pm 10am
Tickets from £16
Tue 13 Wed 14 Thu 15 Sat 17 Sun 18
10am & 1:30pm 11am RP 1:30pm 2pm & 6:30pm 2pm & 6:30pm
Tue 20 Wed 21 Thu 22
2pm & 6:30pm 2pm & 6:30pm 2pm & 6:30pm
Fri 23
2pm & 6:30pm
Sat 24 Mon 26 Tue 27 Wed 28 Thu 29 Fri 30
11am & 2:30pm 1:30pm & 5:30pm 1:30pm & 5:30pm 1:30pm & 5:30pm 1:30pm & 5:30pm 1:30pm & 5:30pm
Sat 31
1:30pm RP
Fri 2 – Sat 31 December
Fee-fi-fo-fum, we smell a giant panto for winter 2022! Jack and his mum are down on their luck, but when one day Jack sells the family’s cow for some magical beans, they’re taken on an adventure up into the clouds that will change their lives forever. With spectacular effects, a side-splitting script and musical numbers to get you mooo-ving, come join Jack as he climbs up the beanstalk in this enchanting Christmas adventure of epic proportions! Following the success of Aladdin, Sleeping Beauty and Robin Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk is set to follow in the giant-sized footsteps of the Lawrence Batley Theatre’s annual pantomime with the usual full-of-beans panto fun and frolics we know and love. 22
British Sign Language
RP
Relaxed Performance
Audio Described
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PANTOMIME
Huddersfield Light Opera Company
Dick Whittington Sat 7 – Sat 14 January
Main House 6:15pm - Wed - Fri 1:30pm, 5:30pm - Sat & Sun Tickets from £5
A fun filled pantomime for all the family. Dick Whittington travels to London to seek his fortune. Hearing the streets are paved with gold he takes only his faithful companion Tommy, his cat. He meets many characters on the way and after many adventures, he eventually finds his true love and becomes Lord Mayor of London. As always, Huddersfield Light Opera Company pantomimes are filled with laughter, slapstick, familiar faces, spectacular effects, costumes, and staging.
Adults only!
Main House 9:30pm
Fri 13 January
Tickets from £5
A special late night panto that’s full of extra naughtiness and strictly for adults only! 24
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Under 30s
Young Company Running year round, our Young Company offers young people aged 6 –15 weekly workshops to help develop their performance and creative skills. Each half-term our passionate Young Company leaders focus on a specific theatre-related theme building up to an informal sharing for parents, carers, family and friends. Previous sessions have seen the young people work towards creating their very own murder mystery play, radio play and pantomime.
Find out more about getting involved at thelbt.org
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BOX OFFICE: 01484 430528
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Open every Wed and Sat 12pm – 5pm and for shows
Fancy a coffee and a cake?
In the Gallery: Open every Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat 10am – 5pm and for shows
Enjoy speciality coffee from Dark Woods, roasted locally and served expertly by our baristas, and some of the finest local beers from Magic Rock along with many more delicious drink options. We also have plenty of sweet and savoury treats for you to tuck into too.
FREE ENTRY
The Half
by Simon Annand
Order your interval drinks from the scan points in the theatre before you go in to avoid the queues!
Three decades of actors preparing for the stage. 35 years photographing 35 minutes.
The Day the World Came to Huddersfield by Ajamu X
Until Sat 10 September 41 years ago the first Pride march outside of London happened in our town. This specially commissioned exhibition by internationally acclaimed fine art photographer Ajamu X celebrates this. See the collection of portraits of those who marched the streets that day alongside members of today’s LGBTQ+ community in Huddersfield, seeing the past alongside the present.
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Main House Seating Plan
Schedule SEPTEMBER
Book
2 shows in the season and get
15% off!
*
Book
in the season and get
20% off!
*
Book
5 shows
in the season and get
*Shows must be booked at the same time, offer not available in retrospect.
We wouldn’t be here without our incredible funders. Thank you so much for your continued support!
Open Day
Thu 8
666 Comments
Fri 9
The Dolly Show
Sat 10
Fireman Sam
Wed 14
Jason Manford [SOLD OUT]
Fri 16
Steptoe and Son Radio Show
Mon 19
Attic Stories
Wed 21 - Thu 22
ALiCE
Thu 22
Comedy Cellar
Fri 23 - Sun 25
Friendsical
Thu 29 - Sat 1
The Tempest
OCTOBER
3 shows
25% off!
Sun 4
*
Tue 4 - Sat 8
Sunset Boulevard
Tue 11 - Sat 15
Double Life: A VR Musical
Wed 12 - Fri 14
Danny Echo
Sun 16
Jason Byrne
Wed 19 - Sat 22
Brief Encounter
Wed 19
A Century of Swing
Thu 20
Milton Jones
Mon 24
Rapunzel
Mon 24
Attic Stories
Thu 27 - Sat 29
Time and Time Again
Fri 28
Class
Sat 29
Bitter Sweet Monologues of COVID 19
Sat 29
Backstage Tour
Sun 30
Shock Horror
Sun 30
A Halloween Hullabaloo
NOVEMBER
Tue 1 - Sat 5
Noughts and Crosses
Thu 3
Daliso Chaponda
Tue 8 - Sat 12
Bonnie & Clyde
Mon 14 - Thu 17
Room on the Broom
Mon 28
Attic Stories
DECEMBER
Fri 2 - Sat 31
Jack and the Beanstalk
Sat 17
Backstage Tour
Mon 19
Swing Into Christmas
Mon 19
Attic Stories
Thu 22
Comedy Cellar
JA N U A RY
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BOX OFFICE: 01484 430528 | THELBT.ORG
Sat 7 - Sat 14
Dick Whittington
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INTRODUCING
Lawrence Batley Theatre Membership Scheme
For just £30 per year, you can get these exclusive benefits: Priority booking on headline shows Invitations to special meet the artist events and talks Members only newsletters Annual thank you from the Chief Executive The opportunity to support and sustain an arts charity
Visit thelbt.org for more information