-----------------------West Yorkshire Playhouse — 06/06/11 18/06/11 — Box Office 0113 213 7700 Book Online wyp.org.uk
Along with large sections of our society the Arts world is in a period of major change. How people interact with their library services, their theatres, their arts centres, their museums and their galleries is changing. As curators of Transform we were invited to respond to these changing times by creating a programme of events that could explore new ground and ask new questions of the Playhouse, of artists and of audiences.To start an investigation into the different ways a night out at the West Yorkshire Playhouse might present itself to you. So what is Transform about? It’s about looking at things differently. It’s about change, about exploring ways of transforming – transforming the way you approach the building, the idea of what you might experience here and what we imagine a “Playhouse” to be. It’s about building a menu of work, the type of which you wouldn’t have seen here before. It’s about starting a conversation – well specifically it’s the first line in a conversation. That first line, our response, has been to bring together an eclectic and busy mix of artists and work of the very highest calibre. Each of them investigating in their own ways how theatre can be transformative for an audience – how the act of coming together to experience theatre can change all sorts of things. Now it’s your turn. Your turn to try something new, to let us know what you think, to be delighted by something you never thought you’d see, to make a new discovery, to provoke a new conversation. Your turn. Alan Lane and Kully Thiarai
Transform wristbands are available for each day of the season and admit you to the events on that day. Price: £15 (£10 discounts) You can buy yours by calling Box Office on 0113 213 7700 or online at www.wyp.org.uk. Wristbands won’t be posted out. Collect your wristband from Box Office at least 30 minutes before the start of your performance. A couple of events have limited capacity. These events have a (*) on the diary page and you'll need to sign up for these up to an hour before. First-come, firstserved. A limited amount of free Under 26 passes are available each day. For more info visit www.wyp.org.uk/freetickets Tickets for Handbag and From Where I’m Stood are available as individual events at £3 (free with a wristband). Tickets for Smoke & Mirrors (Saturday 18 June) are £16 (no discounts). Follow us on Twitter @wyplayhouse or #wyptransform to keep up to date with the latest info! For websites, blogs and previews visit: www.wyp.org.uk/transform
Transform Partners
Front cover image: Bourgeois & Maurice, Photography: Tom Jef Information correct at time of printing. The Management reserves the right to alter ticket prices and information without prior notice as necessary or due to unforeseen circumstances.
Monday 6 – Saturday 11 June [Throughout]
Quarantine The Soldier’s Song offers an intimate screen karaoke liaison with a currently serving soldier. It examines our preconceptions about soldiers and asks us to consider our connection with them, inviting us to duet with an individual who might fight in our name. A simple, quietly provocative piece that questions our role as observer and the relationship we have with the person we meet on screen.
Photography: Gavin Parry Originally commissioned by Leeds Studio Met with support from the Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster. Additional material developed with support from Fierce Festival. Funded by Arts Council England. www.qtine.com
‘A remarkable company that has created a body of beautiful, fragile and authentic work, which finds the extraordinary in the ordinary lives of real people.’ The Guardian
Monday 6 – Friday 17 June [Lectures 7pm] [Performances throughout]
Comic theatre troupe Peepolykus – creators of Hound of the Baskervilles and Spyski! – will join us for the whole of Transform to present you with an opportunity to see, write, perform or direct new work, creating a new performance each day! The Ionian Enchantment is a celebration of science at its most inspiring – from the cosmos to virtual particles to baboons. Running in conjunction with the performances will be three captivating talks; including the enriching and thoughtful Ben Moor (14 June), sparkling Guardian science columnist Carole Jahme (8 June) and a surprise guest (6 June). Watch out also for rehearsed readings of scenes from a new Peepolykus show about – you guessed it – science! Writers, performers and directors of all ages, experience and availability are invited to be part of this exciting project that kicks off with an exclusive free writing workshop on Saturday 4 June led by Peepolykus and BBC Radio 4 comedy exec Steven Canny. To sign up please send a CV or letter to transform@ wyp.org.uk Please be aware that workshop places are limited. www.peepolykus.com
Monday 6 – Tuesday 7 June [8.15pm]
Written by Gbolahan Obisesan Directed by Ria Parry Boy wants to be better than the rest. Dad wants the best for him. Man wants him to do better. A new play with three distinctive generational voices trying to achieve a point of understanding. But how much can you understand if the Boy is hard to get at? Mad about the Boy is a lyrical tussle of will and minds. Developed in collaboration with the National Theatre Studio, Iron Shoes and West Yorkshire Playhouse.
Tuesday 7 June, [2 – 5pm]
Writer Gbolahan Obisesan and director Ria Parry will work with a group to explore their rehearsal process – looking at word play, role play, improvisation and character creation within the world of Mad about the Boy. Open to anyone aged 14 – 25 years old. Contact transform@wyp.org.uk to book. Please be aware that places are limited.
Tuesday 7 June [6.30pm]
So You Want to be a Writer? Compered by John Nicholson Curated by Sophia Rashid Directed by James Blakey and Tom Mansfield 21 fresh new writers developed at the Playhouse bring their voices to the stage, in this quickfire round of three minute plays. Every year the Playhouse runs a free new writers’ course, aimed at writers of any age with little or no experience of formal training or production. The 2011 course ran on a weekly basis for 5 weeks and was led by Mark Catley and other professional playwrights. The writers have undertaken the challenge to complete a three minute play inspired by the idea of ‘transformation’. Catch their premieres here!
Photography: Regine Rack
Photography: Ruphin Coudyzer
Wednesday 8 – Thursday 9 June [8.15pm]
By Melanie Wilson A thrilling and touchingly funny encounter with a self-titled simple girl – at once mischievous flaneur, epic sentimentalist and grandiose fibber. Set in a delicately eccentric world, perilous tales and touchingly humorous confessions are intricately woven together with minutely observed physicality and a live soundtrack, performed on stage with a sampler and vintage microphone. Part cooly seductive femme fatale, part warmly mischievous confidante, Melanie’s idiosyncratic character conjures scenes of iconic cinematic imagery with a gorgeous intrigue and transporting pathos, sharing a uniquely personal relationship with an audience who are part conspirator, part prey.
Produced by Fuel
Friday 10 [8.15pm] – Saturday 11 June [9.15pm]
Written and performed by Lemn Sissay Directed by John E McGrath Something Dark is a journey through Lemn’s incredible life, driven by his two hundred words a minute delivery and shot through with the beautiful and powerful lyricism he’s renowned for. Sissay was put up for temporary foster care while his mother was finishing her studies and then she was prevented from getting him back. He was fostered by religious English foster parents as an experiment, but their experiment did not work and so they sent him back and he was subjected to many years of the UK care system. Subsequently he has been re-united with his mother. Something Dark is a powerful testimony fuelled with passion and hope, it takes the audience on Lemn’s emotional journey from his traumatic beginnings, through the adventures of tracing his family, to a place of some kind of reconciliation. Post-show discussions follow each performance. Originally produced and commissioned by Apples and Snakes and Contact Theatre in Association with BAC and now managed by Artsadmin www.artsadmin.co.uk www.lemnsissay.com
Friday 10 – Saturday 11 June [throughout]
The Red Room Conceived and devised by Topher Campbell With your help The Red Room will create a Book reflecting the concerns of the ordinary citizen today. You are invited to write, draw or add an image to make pages with your thoughts about the kind of society you want to live in. The images and observations will be assembled and sent to the powers that be. Part installation, part performance, part protest, The Book Of Politics will be a different way to get your voice heard.
www.theredroom.org.uk
Saturday 11 June [see diary for specific time]
Join us from 11am – 11pm for a full day of performances and events.
Marcus Romer/Pilot Theatre On 11 June you can participate in Transform via the virtual world – watch, chat, engage, participate, and be part of the events taking place at West Yorkshire Playhouse from wherever you are via a livestream from #wyptransform. Using Pilot Theatre’s new streaming channel – Pilot-Theatre. TV – you will be able to hook in, and be part of a globally connected audience of participants sharing this event live. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Performed by Jane Arnfield Directed by Mike Alfreds Zdenka Fantlova is one of a handful of survivors of the holocaust. Her novel The Tin Ring, set against the happiness of a Prague home, amidst the horrors of the holocaust tells a truly extraordinary great love story. Fantlova wants her story to be heard by the whole world and has granted Jane Arnfield permission to adapt and perform it as a one woman show. A piece of theatre in the making, this is a work-in-progress. Funded by Arts Council England
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Third Angel & mala voadora Join us as Third Angel and mala voadora attempt to map the entire world, alphabetically, in a day. To name every country in its own language, collect a story for every country and place it, correctly, on the map, from memory. Over the space of 12 hours using cardboard, paper, pens and post-it notes, and with the help from the audience, we will build a portrait of the world, as it was, as it is now, and as it might be in the future. Join us throughout the day and help us to see what state the world is in. Devised and performed by Jorge Andrade, Alexander Kelly and Chris Thorpe, in collaboration with Rachael Walton and José Capela. Story Map is created in collaboration with worldmapper.org www.thirdangel.co.uk
Saturday 11 June [see diary for specific time]
Dramatised by Kevin Fegan as a one man show, from the book Homeland by George Obama and Damien Lewis, Directed by Kully Thiarai. The Mamba (Swahili for crocodile) is just another young gangsta from the Huruma ghetto, rotting in a Nairobi jail. But he has a secret: one of The Mamba’s brothers lives with the mzungus in the USA. His name is Barak Obama. They share the same father from the Luo tribe in Kenya. Can George Hussein Obama, a.k.a. The Mamba, turn his life around and become an inspiration to others like his famous brother?
Created by Alan Lane and Maya Chowdhry Inspired by the performance history of The Post Office by Tagore – a play that was performed by a youth theatre in Warsaw Ghetto just weeks before it was liquidated. A short presentation of work created in residence at Transform. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Exploring personal biography and storytelling. Speakers include Mike Alfreds, Jane Arnfield, Sanjay Kumar and Lemn Sissay. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Photography: Sheila Burnett
Geraldine Pilgrim A 15 minute performance with great music, dancing and handbags. In an empty theatre, a caretaker sweeps away the remnants of a previous event. A woman enters the space and puts down her bag. A beat begins, a mirror ball turns and the sound of a classic dance track fills the air… ‘A witty and wistful performance that, in a few delirious moments, succinctly makes the point that no woman needs a man when she has got her handbag in tow.’ Lyn Gardner, The Guardian Handbag was commissioned by BAC and is produced by Artsadmin.
Monday 13 – Friday 17 June [Throughout]
Chris Goode & Company For one week, Chris and a small group of fellow theatre makers will occupy a rehearsal studio at the heart of West Yorkshire Playhouse. Starting absolutely from scratch, they’ll be working flatout to develop a new piece during the week: and right from the start, you can be part of the process. The doors will be completely open so anyone with a wristband who’s interested can contribute to the conversation. Bring stimulating materials to share, ask questions, set challenges… or simply come and enjoy the gentle chaos of a creative process that could go in any direction. From Wednesday onwards, there’ll showing of whatever’s emerged so night the finished piece will be including some material that you
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Open House will be open to visitors: 11am–10pm.............................. [Mon] 10am–6pm........................... [Tue–Fri] with showings at 7pm............. [Wed–Thurs] with showings at 7.45pm................ [Fri]
Tuesday 14 June [8.15pm]
Written and directed by Dom Coyote Designed and directed by Michael Vale Branches like fingers Dragging me down into the tale. Falling through the Raun Tree To a room within its roots, Where an old man sits By the fire Telling stories. Follow songwriter Dom Coyote and a cast of musicians through a twisted tale, using story, music and poetry to build a dream like world where a young boy is lost and alone, trying to find his way back to the summer. Epic harmonies, live sampling, electric guitars, crunky banjos, double bass and hypnotic drums weave a surreal landscape, on which this twisted tale is told. Dom Coyote is an associate artist with Kneehigh Theatre and has worked exclusively at Battersea Arts centre (BAC). He is joined by award winning Songwriter Emily Barker (BAFTA), Nat Butler and Adrian Acolatse (Rhythm Section for Mercury Prize Winner Speech Debelle). Get a taster for the show and come see The Tales of the Raun Tree Band who will play in the foyer on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 June after the shows. Commissioned by and developed at BAC, further developed in residence at Transform.
Wednesday 15 – Thursday 16 June [8.15pm]
imitating the dog 6 Degrees Below the Horizon is a macabre and playful tale involving sailors, pimps, barflies, chorus girls and nightclub singers. In this startling and visually stunning new work the audience view the action through windows and moving frames to piece together a modern fable of failed dreams, lost love and the guilt of absent fatherhood. Building on the recent successes of Hotel Methuselah and Kellerman, Leeds-based imitating the dog create a memorable and immersive experience for the audience in this captivating fusion of cinema and theatre. Part French film, part Edwardian vaudeville and drawing on the works of Genet, Wedekind, and Brecht, 6 Degrees Below the Horizon takes its audiences on a delightful and twisted voyage into a shadowy world in which there are no certainties. ‘imitating the dog, a company at the forefront of testing the nature of theatre’ The Guardian World Premiere. Supported by Arts Council England
Wednesday 15 June [6.15pm]
By Helen Edmundson In 2012 Shared Experience and West Yorkshire Playhouse will produce a new play about the life and times of the writer, Mary Shelley. Written by Helen Edmundson (Coram Boy, Swallows & Amazons), the play will explore how Shelley came to write Frankenstein, one of the great literary classics, when she was just 18 years old. For Transform, Shared Experience brings to life scenes from the first draft of the play in a thrilling promenade presentation. Enticing the audience to get up-close-and-personal with the performance as it moves through spaces on stage and off, this is a exciting opportunity to be part of the creative process in this emerging production. Directed by Polly Teale. Shared Experience are resident company at Oxford Playhouse.
Friday 17 June & Saturday 18 June [Throughout]
Folk in a Box is Britain’s smallest music venue. It is a box made of reclaimed wood and materials found in skips. It can be put up anywhere. One audience member is allowed in at a time. The door is closed behind them. They are given one song, performed by one musician. It is the exact opposite of a stadium gig, and performers are often more nervous before entering the box than playing to a large crowd. They are exhilarated, playing to a stranger in a vulnerable and otherworldly place. Folk in a Box plays host to a regular group of fantastic musicians. New performers are always welcome to play! Developed at BAC
Friday 17 June [9.15pm]
Superstars of La Clique, The Wau Wau Sisters bring to West Yorkshire Playhouse their own cabaret collision, to conjure a funny, raucous, ridiculous reinvention of The Last Supper – complete with 12 disciples, umpteen cocktails, endless fun and fearless abandon! Following a sold out Australian tour and a highly successful stint at Edinburgh Fringe, New York City’s bravest and bawdiest duo, invite one and all into their garden of unearthly delights and debauchery and deliver an hour of profanity and divinity. Straddling (literally) the hilarious gap between religious and related, performance art and party, busking and burlesque, this show is sure to make audiences want to convert to their cunning cult! With a defiant mix of hell-raising humour and mesmerizing mayhem, watch catholic school girls turned born-again Country Western stars gather dandies, derelicts and disciples along the way, and build to a bacchanalian finale full of saviours, savants and showgirls! ‘Irreverent, sacrilegious, foulmouthed and uninhibited’ The New York Times
www.wauwausisters.com
Saturday 18 June [7.30pm]
Roll up, roll up… Come one, come all and enter our transformed venue for an evening like no other… West Yorkshire Playhouse presents a sexy, splendid and ever so slightly scandalous fusion of 21st century cabaret, songs, circus and good old fashioned magic with a dash of fancy dress and make believe thrown in for good measure. Join us in the Playhouse foyer and bar for a beautiful and bizarre, weird and wonderful, evening made up of a variety of acts. Hosted by Flick Fernando and John Nicholson Here’s a taster of some of the performances we have in store for you. There will be more. But if we told you everything now there would be no room for an element of surprise on the night!
Saturday 18 June [7.30pm]
Darker and slicker than a BP oil spill, London’s award-winning Bourgeois & Maurice are a musical duo with style as sharp as their wit. Part cabaret, part theatre, part catwalk freakshow B&M merge bitingly witty original songs with slanderous gossip and a truly staggering collection of outfits. With irreverently witty and glorious offensive lyrics, B&M’s music explores the mundane absurdity of modern life & wraps it up neatly in a catchy pop hook.
Photography: Tom Jef
‘Bourgeois & Maurice are absolute filth. I love them!’ Beth Ditto, Gossip
Company FZ Saddle up. We’re swinging from the rafters! Yes. Literally. For one night only Horse is unleashed from the stable and brought into the paddock for a special unplugged performance. The award-winning Flick Ferdinando seamlessly moves from hilarity to tragedy unleashing a stable of characters in a deliciously dark physical comedy. See how far one woman’s passion for all things equine can go, in a show where the horse obsessed becomes the horse possessed.
Saturday 18 June [7.30pm]
Leeds-based blue jacket-wearing, kahzoo-toting band Hope & Social describe themselves as ‘like a Yorkshire E-Street Band… meets Arcade Fire… meets The Faces… meets Dexys Midnight Runners… meets Prefab Sprout… at a party… in an argument about who gets to have sex with David Bowie.’
Tim Sutton is an expert magician and Associate of the Inner Magic Circle of Great Britain. He specialises in card magic, and is mentored by master magician Michael Vincent. So expect plenty of fascinating, mind-bending tricks!
Challenging the state of reverence and preciousness of the Cirque du Soleil aesthetic, The Wau Wau Sisters carve out a new niche for circus events – right in front of you, so close you can see the tear in their fishnets, the sinew of their muscles and the sweat on their skin! Wearing high heels and clutching cocktails, The Wau Wau Sisters, NYC’s bravest and bawdiest burlesque duo straddle the hilarious gap between performance art and burlesque.
Saturday 18 June [7.30pm]
In the week leading up to 18 June digital and installation artist Shanaz Gulzar will transform the foyer space into Steamline: 21. Mixing Steampunk — a sub-genre of science fiction taking inspiration from the technology of the Victoria era — and Art Deco, a new world will be created embracing the chaos, chance and accidental decoration that results when the function of an object, or technology, also decides the design.
Get into the spirit of things and come dressed up in the Steampunk aesthetic. Think Victoriana, top hat and tails, basques and bustles! Don’t be afraid – you’ll be amongst friends. The Playhouse Costume Hire are offering Smoke and Mirrors ticket holders 10% off costume hire so come along and have a rummage through our rails and see if we can help you dress to impress! Fancy-dress optional. Costume Hire: 0113 213 7242 email: sally.stone@wyp.org.uk
Don’t worry about going hungry or thirsty. Leeds’ finest mixologists will create some special transform cocktails for us and we’ll be serving treats to keep your blood sugar levels high. Due to the nature of this evening, we’re recommending an age range of 18: If you’ve read the descriptions of the acts above you’ll probably understand why.
Monday 6 June Throughout Times TBD 7pm 8.15pm
The Soldier’s Song The Ionian Enchantment Lecture Mad About The Boy
Space Space Space Space
4 3 1 1
The Soldier’s Song The Ionian Enchantment Mad About the Boy Workshop 21 Writers Mad About The Boy Post Show Band
Space Space Space Space Space Space
3 3 5 1 1 4
The Soldier’s Song The Ionian Enchantment Lecture Simple Girl
Space Space Space Space
3 3 1 1
The Soldier’s Song The Ionian Enchantment Simple Girl The Tales From the Raun Tree Band
Space Space Space Space
3 3 1 4
The Soldier’s Song The Ionian Enchantment The Tin Ring Something Dark The Tales From The Raun Tree Band
Space Space Space Space Space
3 3 1 1 4
What I Heard About The World A Midsummer Night’s Stream The Book of Politics The Soldier’s Song The Ionian Enchantment The Tin Ring Workshop Symposium: From Where I’m Stood Handbag
Space Space Space Space Space Space Space Space
4 4 4 3 3 5 5 1
The Tin Ring The Mamba/The Tagore Project Something Dark
Space 1 Space 1 Space 1
Tuesday 7 June Throughout Times TBD 2 – 5pm 6.30pm 8.15pm 9.15pm Wednesday 8 June Throughout Times TBD 7pm 8.15pm Thursday 9 June Throughout Times TBD 8.15pm 9.15pm Friday 10 June Throughout Times TBD 7pm 8.15pm 9.15pm Saturday 11 June Throughout Throughout Throughout Throughout Times TBD 10am – 1pm 1.30pm-3.30pm 3.30pm, 4pm, 4.30pm, 5pm 7pm 7.45pm 9.15pm
Monday 13 June 11am-10pm
Open House
Space 5
The Ionian Enchantment Open House Lecture Tales from The Raun Tree
Space Space Space Space
3 5 1 1
The Ionian Enchantment Open House Shelley* Open House Sharing* 6 Degrees Below The Horizon
Space Space Space Space Space
3 5 2 5 1
The Ionian Enchantment Open House Open House Sharing* 6 Degrees Below The Horizon
Space Space Space Space
3 5 5 1
Folk In A Box Open House The Ionian Enchantment Open House Sharing* The Wau Wau Sisters' Last Supper
Space Space Space Space Space
3 5 3 5 1
Tuesday 14 June Times TBD 10am-6pm 7pm 8.15pm Wednesday 15 June Times TBD 10am-6pm 6.15pm 7pm 8.15pm Thursday 16 June Times TBD 10am-6pm 7pm 8.15pm Friday 17 June Throughout 10am-6pm 7pm 7.45pm 9.15pm Saturday 18 June 7.30pm
Smoke and Mirrors – Bourgeois + Maurice – Folk In A Box – Hope & Social – Horse – The Wau Wau Sisters – Tim Sutton – and more!
-----------------------West Yorkshire Playhouse — 06/06/11 18/06/11 — Box Office 0113 213 7700 Book Online wyp.org.uk