Darlington Theatre Town Brochure

A PLACE WHERE THEATRE THRIVES DARLINGTONTHEATRETOWN.CO.UK

www.darlingtontheatretown.co.uk | Box Office: 01325 405405 | #Darlington #TheatreTown Funded by:

Darlington audiences are in for a treat Darlington Theatre Town - be part of the story!

Watch out for fantastic theatre shows around Darlington in the coming weeks.

Darlington has a rich theatre heritage and a bright future as a place to enjoy and get involved in theatre, whatever your age. With great theatre venues about to re-open or open for the first time in 2017, Darlington’s staging a great mix of ticketed, free and pay what you decide events.

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Highlights of the programme will see the sensational theatre ensemble Wet Picnic perform their extravagant outdoor production The Ball to audiences in the town centre.

Paines Plough will bring their award winning, pop up in-the-round theatre Roundabout to the North East for the first time, featuring a specially curated programme of theatre, music and comedy. For younger audiences, Nest an immersive and sensory performance for pre walking babies will be at the Quaker Meeting House.

The project brings together the expertise of partners Creative Darlington, Darlington Hippodrome, Luxi, Theatre Hullabaloo and ODDMANOUT to cement Darlington’s place in the Tees Valley as a Theatre Town and a place where theatre thrives.

AN EXCITING NEW INITIATIVE HAS LAUNCHED IN DARLINGTON TO BRING AMBITIOUS AND HIGH QUALITY THEATRE TO THE TOWN For more information and to keep up to date with the programme please visit our dedicated Darlington Theatre Town page at www.darlingtontheatretown.co.uk #darlington #theatretown

How to Book IN PE RSON

The box office is currently located in the Cornmill shopping centre.

Opening hours: Monday - Friday 10am - 2pm, Saturday 10am - 4pm Tickets for some events will be available on the door.

If you have any access needs please advise the box office at the time of booking.

BY PHONE Please call 01325 405405 Monday - Friday 10am - 6pm, Saturday 10am - 4pm ON LINE

www.darlingtontheatretown.co.uk

DIARY OF EVENTS D AT E

EVENT

VENUE

Saturday 26 August

The Aperitif FREE EVENT

Secret Location

Saturday 26 August

The Ball FREE EVENT

Market Square

Thursday 5 – Sunday 8 October

Pop-Up TheatreTown

Various locations around the town

Thursday 5 & Saturday 7 October

Ross & Rachel

Roundabout Market Square

Thursday 5 & Sunday 8 October

Black Mountain

Roundabout Market Square

Friday 6 & Saturday 7 October

How to Be a Kid

Roundabout Market Square

Friday 6 & Sunday 8 October

Out of Love

Roundabout Market Square

Friday 6 October

The Castle Builder

Polam Hall School

Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 October

Almost Always Muddy

Roundabout Garden Market Square

Thursday 12 – Saturday 14 October

Nest

Quaker Meeting House Head of Steam

Monday 23 – Saturday 28 October

Micro-Shakespeare

Various venues

Monday 27 November

Encountering the Other

Darlington Hippodrome

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FR E EE EV

WET PICNIC PRESENTS

The Aperitif Saturday 26 August 1.30pm In a secret location, FREE EVENT but a ticket is required Fancy a taste of the high life? In a secret location and in preparation for his annual ball, Lord Gredus is offering potential guests a sneak peak into the world of power, class and indulgence.

An eccentric take on a silent disco combined with a communal experience and thought provoking satire.

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WET PICNIC PRESENTS

The Ball Saturday 26 August 9.30pm in the Market Square FREE EVENT No ticket required, just turn up on the evening Lord and Lady Gredus cordially invite you to their annual family ball, an exciting evening that is sure to get you dancing as the night goes on. Set around a giant chequered dance floor that transforms into a human chess board, you are invited to a party like no other, with moving chandelier-lit tables and large-scale eccentric choreography.

The show ends with the whole audience being invited to join the after party in the Market Square.

Why not get your family and friends together and come along?

P O P - U P T H E AT R E T O W N Thursday 5 – Sunday 8 October At various locations around the town

Featuring Jabberwocky Market and Paines Plough’s Roundabout.

A host of world-class, small-scale theatre right on your doorstep.

ROUNDABOUT Roundabout is the world’s first pop-up, plug-and-play theatre, which flat packs into a lorry and pops up all over the country. The Roundabout has never visited Darlington before,and with comfortable seating and cutting edge sound and lighting technology its stay in Darlington’s market square promises a wealth of new theatre, tours, performances, comedy and music.

For further information: www.painesplough.com | @painesplough | #RoundaboutPP

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“Paines Plough’s travelling Roundabout Auditorium is probably the loveliest venue at the Fringe.” The List JABBERWOCKY MARKET Popping up in Darlington since 2013, this autumn’s festival takes place alongside (and partly inside) the Roundabout. As well as the main shows, this season is all about play and making things; you’ll have chances to build your own castle and make mallets for Almost Always Muddy, all for free as part of this year’s Fun Palaces.

“Jabberwocky Market is an ace ace thing” Maddy Costa, theatre critic

For further information: www.jabberwockymarket.org.uk | jabberwockymarket@gmail.com

Part of Pop-Up TheatreTown

Ross & Rachel

BY JAMES FRITZ, PRODUCED BY MOTOR PRESENTED FOR JABBERWOCKY MARKET

Thursday 5 & Saturday 7 October, 7pm in the Roundabout, Market Square Tickets £10, discounts £7, on the door £12 Look at all those couples. Which one will leave.

Which one will run. Which one is cheating on the other. Which one will die first. Him. Him. Her. Him. Ross & Rachel tells the mind-bending, heart-breaking story of what happens when a couple that was always meant to be together, gets together.

And stays together.

In this disquieting duologue for one performer, Olivier-nominee and Critics’ Circle Most Promising Playwright winner James Fritz (Four Minutes, Twelve Seconds, Hampstead Theatre/West End) takes an unflinching look at the myths of modern love. Recommended age 16+  The Independent  TimeOut  The Stage  The Scotsman  A Younger Theatre

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A PAINES PLOUGH, THEATR CLWYD AND ORANGE TREE THEATRE PRODUCTION

Black Mountain

BY BRAD BIRCH

Thursday 5 October 8.30pm, Sunday 8 October 7.30pm in the Roundabout, Market Square Tickets £10, discounts £7, on the door £12 A thriller with a twist. Rebecca and Paul are running away. Away from memories and mistakes.

They’re trying to save their relationship. They need time and space. An isolated house in the country is the perfect place to work things out. They set themselves rules: they have to be honest, they have to listen and they have to be fair. But you can’t run forever. Especially when you’re being followed. Black Mountain is a tense psychological thriller about betrayal and forgiveness by winner of the Harold Pinter Commission Brad Birch.

A PAINES PLOUGH, THEATR CLWYD AND ORANGE TREE THEATRE PRODUCTION

How to be a Kid

BY SARAH MCDONALD-HUGHES

Friday 6 & Saturday 7 October, 10.30am in the Roundabout, Market Square Tickets £6.50 8 Help Molly learn how to be a kid. Molly cooks. Molly does the dishes. Molly gets her little brother Joe ready for school. Molly is only 12, but she doesn’t feel much like a kid anymore.

Now Molly’s Mum is feeling better, maybe things will get back to normal. Can you help Molly learn how to be a kid again? Join Molly, Joe and her Nan for a larger than life story of family, friends and fitting in. Warning: Contains dancing, chocolate cake and an epic car chase.

Recommended age 7+

A PAINES PLOUGH, THEATR CLWYD AND ORANGE TREE THEATRE PRODUCTION

Out of Love

BY ELINOR COOK

Friday 6 October 1pm, Sunday 8 October 5pm in the Roundabout, Market Square Tickets £10, discounts £7, on the door £12 Can friendship last forever? Lorna and Grace do everything together.

They share crisps, cigarettes and crushes. That’s what happens when you’re best friends forever. But when Lorna gets a place at University, and Grace gets pregnant, they suddenly find themselves in starkly different worlds. Can anything bridge the gap between them? A tale of friendship, love and rivalry over thirty years from award-winning playwright Elinor Cook.

Part of Pop-Up TheatreTown

 “A taut psychological thriller” British Theatre Guide

  “A fast-paced

comedic romp… lives that are turned around through communication, hope and love.” The Scotsman 9

 “Funny, tender and well-crafted celebration

of the richness of female friendship” “Intelligent and savagely funny”

The Stage

The Times on Elinor Cook

Part of Pop-Up TheatreTown

The Castle Builder

BY KID CARPET & VIC LLEWELLYN PRESENTED FOR JABBERWOCKY MARKET

Friday 6 October 2.30pm & 7pm at Polam Hall School Tickets £10, discounts £7, on the door £12 A musical, magical, moving and comic journey through the minds of some of our planet’s most eccentric and creative individuals. A smash-hit success at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe.

Recommended age 12+ 10

Almost Always Muddy

BY KIRSTY HARRIS AND HAZEL ANDERSON, PRESENTED FOR JABBERWOCKY MARKET

Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 October 1pm in the Roundabout Garden Free (ticket required) An exciting show about exciting things and adventures and building and telling stories. This is an interactive piece so expect to get building and use your imagination. For families

NEST ANNA BEECHER & RACHEL LINCOLN IN ASSOCIATION WITH ARTSDEPOT

Thursday 12 – Saturday 14 October Thursday & Friday 9.45am, 11.15am, 1pm, 2.30pm in Quaker Meeting House Saturday 10.30am, 12noon, 1.30pm, 3pm at Head of Steam Tickets £6.50 An immersive performance for pre-walking babies and their carers. Gentle, surprising and magical. Unfolding in a custom built performance tent, NEST takes audiences on a sensory journey through the seasons, using playful poetry, sound and song, captivating movement and tactile and sensory play.

Photo: James Allan

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LAITRUM TEATRE PRESENTS

Micro-Shakespeare Monday 23 – Saturday 28 October - Venues to be confirmed Tickets - Pay what you decide Open the box, put on the headphones, follow the instructions and transform into an amazing puppeteer.

Don’t fancy performing – take a seat, grab your popcorn and enjoy a miniShakespeare classic. Micro-Shakespeare is an interactive installation which casts the audience as a performer or viewer in an intimate eight minute performance.

There are five boxes to choose from, covering Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest. Choose one box for eight minutes of fun or perform or view all five.

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ODDMANOUT & THE MARKET LABORATORY, JOHANNESBURG PRESENT

Encountering the Other Monday 27 November 7.30pm at Darlington Hippodrome Tickets £10, discounts £8 Encountering the Other is an international collaboration between The Market Laboratory, Johannesburg and ODDMANOUT, Darlington. A fusion of live and digital performance, with a focus on examining what it is like to be a young woman in the 2010s, ‘Encountering the Other’ is a performance of one collectively created production on both sides of the world - so important in the true spirit of cultural exchange.

“Coupled with high production values and meticulous direction from Dani Parr, this is a show which audience members young and old will thoroughly enjoy.”

BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE

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Bear & Butterfly Monday 11 - Sunday 31 December at The Hullabaloo Tickets - £7 - £10 The Hullabaloo will open in December with one of Theatre Hullabaloo’s own shows, Bear & Butterfly.

One day, Bear’s life changes forever when, deep in the branches of the tree he hears the munching and crunching of a bright green Caterpillar. Bear and Caterpillar soon become the best of friends, Caterpillar munching happily through tales of Bear’s younger life catching fish, raising cubs and being big, strong and fierce. But one day Caterpillar stops munching and looks sick. Bear fears he will lose his friend but, as if by magic, Caterpillar grows and stretches and from the leaves emerges a beautiful butterfly.

Can Bear come to terms with this new version of his friend who flies high above the trees and has stories of his own? Puppetry, live music and beautiful storytelling combine in this charming tale about love, loss and friendship. A charming tale of changing friendship for everyone aged 4 and above.

To book visit www.theatrehullabaloo.org.uk or phone 01325 405 405

Theatre Hullabaloo is the specialist producer of theatre for young people in the northeast and producer of England’s leading children’s theatre festival, TakeOff Festival.

We make, tour and promote theatre for young audiences, aged 0 – 16 years old, because we believe that they are the most important audience of all. We create work which puts the young person at the heart of the creative process. Our work is driven by the belief that young audiences have an entitlement to theatre of the highest quality which inspires the imagination and challenges the mind. We believe that creativity should be part of everybody’s childhood.

The Hullabaloo – Opening December ‘17 In December 2017, Theatre Hullabaloo will open a new flagship venue in Darlington specially created for children and families. The Hullabaloo will be a warm and welcoming place for you to relax, play, have fun and make memories.

Built on a site adjacent to Darlington Hippodrome, The Hullabaloo will bring you world-class theatre performances, exciting creative play installations, a wide range of workshops and participatory activity, a family friendly café, indoor and outdoor creative play spaces and much more. It is the only venue of its kind north of London and will be an inspiring place to play and learn.

The venue will open in December with one of our own shows Bear & Butterfly, alongside an immersive Enchanted Forest Creative Play installation.

The Hullabaloo – Opening December ‘17

www.theatrehullabaloo.org.uk Twitter: @HullabalooTweet Facebook: TheatreHullabaloo

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Through Jabberwocky Markets (our award-winning pop-up theatre events and festival) we partner with Battersea Arts Centre and producers across England to present inspiring, world-class theatre performances in sometimes surprising places.

Jabberwocky Markets are part of the Collaborative Touring Network, supported by Arts Council England, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation and an Unlimited Ally.

Proudly based in Darlington, Luxi is an independent, producer-led company that exists to brighten lives through creative endeavour and stories. We produce multidisciplinary performances and projects and collaborate with artists who share our passions..

We aim to ensure that all our projects and events are inclusive and welcoming and we always do our best to accommodate special access needs, and encourage audiences to ask us about this. Through our Jabberwocky Market events we bring exciting and unusual, amazing theatre to Darlington. We believe that theatre has a role to play for everyone’s lives and is the best way of telling human stories, that entertain and help audiences understand more about the world, and things in their own lives.

Above left – Solas Fae by The D Project, – produced in Association with Luxi, presented at Darlington Farmers Auction Mart as part of Jabberwocky Market. Photo by Scott Akoz.

www.luxiontheweb.com www.jabberwockymarket.org.uk

Above right – The Jabbervan outside an event hosted by our partner, Polam Hall School.

Photo by Rich Kenworthy.

@JabbMarket (Twitter and Instagram) Facebook/JabberwockyMarket

Through working with partners in Darlington as part of Theatre Town, we are excited to enable audiences in Darlington to have the widest possible, high quality choices available, on their doorsteps.

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Jabberwocky Market theatre events in Darlington.

For more information contact us on jabberwockymarket@gmail.com and we’ll make sure it gets to the right place.

N E W WEBS IT E L AUNCHES L ATE SUMMER 2017

ODDMANOUT CIC is a Darlington based newwriting theatre company producing work across the North East of England with a focus on social impact and cultural change. We create work that is contemporarily relevant and focuses upon engagement with members of our wider communities to explore issues facing them today.

As a company our practice centres around investing, listening, and engaging with our community through creative interaction to produce high calibre performance work. With a strong track record and history in engagement and facilitation we believe it is of fundamental importance to have social exchange at the centre of the theatre we make, the driving force for our performance work being the discourse that grows from nurturing these relationships.

We work with a variety of communities and across the arts sector alongside organisations such as: North of England Refugee Service; National Youth Theatre; The Unit for Arts and Offenders; Barnardo’s; Arts Council England; Leicester Curve; Sunderland Empire; ARC Stockton and Live Theatre.

Since 2012 we have been producing and touring work regionally, nationally, and internationally. Our partnerships include: HOUSE - Farnham Maltings; Northern Stage; Darlington Hippodrome; Jabberwocky Market; Barnstorm Theatre - Ireland; The Market Lab - Johannesburg; and The Phoenix Theatre Whitehill & Bordon.

Our work has been described as ‘not for the usual suspects’, ‘a tour de force’, and ‘adventurous, compelling and challenging’.

Above – Weather to Fly - ODDMANOUT. Photograph Andy Berriman.

Notable awards include: Journal Culture Awards 2014 (Best Newcomer - Finalist) Artist International Development Grant Arts Council England 2016 British Council Connect ZA award 2016/17. www.oddmanouttheatre.co.uk Twitter - @ddmanout Facebook - fb.com/oddmanouttheatre

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Creative Darlington is a partnership of organisations and stakeholders who share a passion to strengthen and sustain a vibrant cultural offer for Darlington. Our work is focused on arts and heritage and informed by the principles that culture should be available to everyone, bring people together and champion inclusion and social cohesion.

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Our current ambitions are to build awareness of Darlington as a fantastic theatre town with a nationally recognised offer, to creatively explore, celebrate and promote railway heritage, to work alongside partners to develop a strong and successful proposal for Tees Valley as UK City of Culture in 2025 and for Darlington to support and champion cultural inclusion and engagement and to stage great festivals and events.

Darlington has a great tradition of theatre and a wealth of talent, offering different types of theatre experience across the town and encouraging people of all ages to get involved. Theatre is a great way of celebrating, developing and sharing stories in Darlington, the breadth of the Darlington Theatre Town programme illustrates how outward looking, ambitious and innovative Darlington theatre makers and producers are. Theatre is a key component of making Darlington a great place to live, work or visit, helping to promote Darlington and bring people together Creative Darlington works with individuals, organisations and creative enterprises to progress our ambitions. We also programme Crown Street Art Gallery and Darlington Town Hall exhibition space and manage access to the Borough Art Collection.

Far left Walker & Bromwich - The Art Lending Library.

Photograph Vicky Holbrough.

Middle - ‘Chilli Sauce’ ODDMANOUT. Photograph Gareth Liddle.

Right Nick Kennedy – Pendulum drawing.

Contact: Creative Darlington Manager, 01325 406051, stephen.wiper@darlington.gov.uk www.creativedarlington.org.uk Twitter: @ArtsDarlington Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Creative-Darlington

Working collaboratively with the other partners of Darlington Theatre Town, our goal is to bring theatre to people in many different venues across the town, theatre that is accessible to all not only in terms of watching but also on a participatory level.

With Darlington Hippodrome currently under-going a multi-million pound restoration process, re-opening in November 2017, it was imperative that the people of Darlington did not miss out on the cultural benefits offered by live theatre within the town.

2017 is proving to be a very exciting year for Darlington Hippodrome as the restoration of this beautiful venue continues towards its grand re-opening in November.

Our involvement in Darlington Theatre Town ensures a programme of exciting, thought-provoking, fun and challenging live theatre available during our ‘dark’ period. We are extremely excited about every aspect of Darlington Theatre Town, working with the other partners to create theatre that will be a completely new experience for the people of Darlington to enjoy.

As we head towards an exciting new era for Darlington Hippodrome we also celebrate our past with an exhibition in Darlington’s Crown Street Library.

Thursday 27 July - Thursday 7 September 2017 Moving Forward, Looking Back: A History of the Hippodrome. The exhibition will explore the architecture of the Hippodrome, its external and internal features its succession of managers and directors and the impact they - and their times - had upon the building. You will also be able to take a sneak peek at behind the scenes images of the restoration!

Above Darlington Hippodrome, re-opening in November 2017

Box Office 01325 405 405 www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk

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www.darlingtontheatretown.co.uk | Box Office: 01325 405405 | #Darlington #TheatreTown Funded by: