Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) announces its summer 2019 programme, featuring the premiere of Little Bulb Theatre’s new show The Future; Apphia Campbell’s powerful new work about the 20th Century African American experience Woke; modern coming of age drama Sweet Like Chocolate Boy by Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu; Keisha Thompson’s exploration of mental health and the Black British experience Man on the Moon; and Byron Vincent and Dave McGinn return with Live Before You Die. Battersea Arts Centre’s open-air courtyard programme returns with spoken word from Boxedin, and comedy from Adam Riches, Ben Target, Phil Wang, Tim Key and many others. Dozens more of the best acts on the comedy circuit continue their tradition of previewing their brand new shows at Battersea Arts Centre throughout July.
These shows join upcoming spring highlights including Mark Thomas’s Checkup: Our NHS @ 70 (23 Apr – 4 May), Status by Chris Thorpe and Rachel Chavkin (23 Apr – 11 May), Die! Die! Die! Old People Die! by Ridiculusmus (8 - 25 May), and the huge number of other activities happening across Battersea Arts Centre’s building and communities. This includes The Agency – helping young people start social enterprises; Homegrown – developing the next generation of theatre makers; the Co-Creating Change network – supporting organisations across the country to share ideas on social change; and the Scratch Hub – a new co-working space and home for entrepreneurs based at Battersea Arts Centre.
Battersea Arts Centre continues working towards becoming a Relaxed Venue - a new initiative that builds on the principles of relaxed performances. All performances of The Future, Woke, Sweet Like Chocolate Boy, Man on the Moon and Live Before You Die are relaxed, which at BAC means there is a relaxed attitude to noise and movement in the auditorium, a designated 'chill-out space' is provided for guests who may need time away from the performance, and ear defenders are available for those with sensory sensitivities. It does not mean that sound and lighting has been adapted. More information on other accessible performances, including BSL-interpreted, audio captioned and sensory adapted performances will be available soon.
SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS
The Future
Little Bulb
12-29 Jun | Press night 13 Jun, 7:30pm
Little Bulb Theatre return to Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) to premiere their new show, The Future, a musical exploration on artificial intelligence and the future of humanity.
In the future, intelligent machines will surpass the humans that gave birth to them. These machines will have profound and perhaps existential consequences for the future of humanity. In the present, a small group of scientists sit professionally worrying about all this and invite you to explore the aftermath of what they believe will be an “intelligence explosion”.
Part scientific conference, part apocalyptic public service announcement, Little Bulb present a mind-bending musical evening of cosmic rock and prophetic polyphonic singing as we journey to... The Future.
Little Bulb Theatre is an award-winning national touring company, committed to developing devised and physical theatre performances which explore and illuminate minute human details that, in a world so big, are easily swallowed up. Previous shows include an acclaimed gypsy-jazz reimagining of Orpheus, which returned to BAC’s Grand Hall in 2018 and Extravaganza Macabre, the affectionate musical Victorian melodrama created especially for BAC’s open-air Courtyard. The Future sees Little Bulb Theatre experimenting with an entirely electronic instrument pallet for the first time, while exploring the theories and idiosyncrasies of real scientists who passionately advocate for greater awareness of the advancements in Artificial Intelligence which could shape humanity’s destiny.
Little Bulb are produced by Farnham Maltings. Co-commissioned by Battersea Arts Centre and Farnham Maltings. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Woke
PTS Theatre and Apphia Campbell
10-22 Jun | Press night 12 Jun, 8pm
From the creator of Black Is The Color Of My Voice comes Woke - a new story about the 20th Century African American experience. Against a powerful soundtrack of original music and traditional gospel and blues, two women, 42 years apart, become involved in the struggle for civil rights.
One, notorious Black Panther Assata Shakur; the other, Ambrosia - a present-day university student enrolling as the 2014 Ferguson riots begin. Both challenge the American justice system, become criminalized through political activism, and ultimately are faced with the same choice: stay and fight, or flee?
Winner of the Scotsman Fringe First Award and highly commended by the judges of the Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award.
Writer performer Apphia Campbell is originally from Florida and has worked in New York and Shanghai. In 2012 she formed Play The Spotlight Theatre Company (PTS) and in 2013 she wrote her critically acclaimed piece, Black Is The Color Of My Voice which has played in Shanghai, Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2014 and recently had a sold-out run at Trafalgar Studios, London.
Director Caitlin Skinner is Artistic Director of new pop up writing theatre company The Village Pub Theatre and recipient of the Tom McGrath Maverick Award. She trained at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh and at the City University of New York. Caitlin is Associate Artist with Edinburgh based Strange Theatre and co-founder of collaborative theatre project Scrapyard.
Summer in the Courtyard
This summer sees Battersea Arts Centre’s open-air Courtyard once again play host to a range of shows by comedy’s rising stars and established names. Shows include Gavin Osborn’s Back on the Hoarse (28 Jun), The Story Beast Gets Folked Up (9 Jul), Stand Up Under The Stars with line ups including Tim Key, Mae Martin and Phil Wang (5 Jun - 25 Jul), plus Adam Riches and Ben Target collaborate once again on Masterminds Rocket Silo fest. Viggo Mortensen (5 Jul). East London poetry night Boxedin also returns to present two nights of the best spoken word south of the river on 14 Jun and 12 Jul.
Edinburgh Comedy Previews
The best acts on the comedy circuit continue the tradition of previewing their brand new shows at Battersea Arts Centre, before heading to the international stage of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Big name comics and exciting emerging talents present a variety of stand-up, character, political and improvised comedy sets. Shows include Kate Lucas and Michael Odewale (15 Jul), Femmes of Colour (16 Jul), a double bill of Frisky & Mannish with Jack Gleadow (16 Jul), John Luke Roberts (16 Jul), Aaron Simmonds (17 Jul), Lucy Pearman and Spencer Jones (18 Jul), Lola & Jo (19 Jul), Georgie Morrell (19 Jul), Steve Martin and Adam Riches (20 Jul), Chris Parker and Tarot (22 Jul), Sarah Kendall (22 Jul), Egg: No You’re Crying (23 Jul), Tom Walker and Olga Koch (23 Jul), Guy Montgomery and Alice Sneddon (24 Jul), Tom Rosenthal (25 Jul), Anna Drezen and Max & Ivan (25 Jul), Richard Stott (25 Jul) and The Delightful Sausage with Ginster’s Paradise (26 Jul). Further details of more previews are to be announced soon, with acts including Ahir Shah, John Kearns, Phil Wang, Sleeping Trees, Mat Ewins, Nick Helm, Lucy Porter, Jordan Brookes, Ben Target, Sophie Duker and Ciaran Dowd.
LISTINGS
Title: Live Before You Die
Artist/Company: Byron Vincent and Dave McGinn
Venue: Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN
Date: 7-8 Jun
Time: 8pm
Price: £12.50/£10 concs
Booking Link: www.bac.org.uk/livebeforeyoudie
Box Office: 020 7223 2223
What do you do when you have a best mate who is so sad he might die? Especially considering up until now your friendship has mostly consisted of a mutual appreciation of 90s hip hop, borderline alcoholism and finding creative ways to call each other a dickhead.
Byron is a bipolar performance artist, Dave only communicates in insults. Together they must find a way to fix Byron's broken soul before it's too late.
Funny, tragic and shockingly honest, this is a true story of hopelessness and friendship told by two men on a desperate quest for happiness.
Title: Woke
Artist/Company: PTS Theatre / Apphia Campbell
Venue: Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN
Date: 10-22 Jun
Time: 8pm
Price: £12.50/£10 concs
Booking Link: www.bac.org.uk/woke
Box Office: 020 7223 2223
Against a powerful soundtrack of original music and traditional gospel and blues, two women, 42 years apart become involved in the struggle for civil rights. One is a notorious Black Panther, the other a student enrolling during the 2014 Ferguson riots. From the creator of the West End Sell-out Black Is The Color Of My Voice comes a new story about the 20th Century African American experience, a Fringe First Award winner, and highly commended by the judges of the Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award.
Title: The Future
Artist/Company: Little Bulb Theatre
Venue: Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN
Date: 12-29 Jun
Time: 7:30pm (and 2:30pm Saturday matinees)
Price: £10 - £20
Booking Link: www.bac.org.uk/the_future
Box Office: 020 7223 2223
In the future, intelligent machines will surpass the humans that gave birth to them. These machines will have profound and perhaps existential consequences for the future of humanity. Part scientific conference, part apocalyptic public service announcement, join award-winning Little Bulb Theatre (Orpheus, Extravaganza Macabre, Operation Greenfield) for a mind-bending musical evening of experimental electronica and prophetic polyphonic singing as we journey to the future.
Title: Sweet Like Chocolate Boy
Artist/Company: Playback Drama
Venue: Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN
Date: 25-29 Jun
Time: 8pm
Price: £12.50/£10 concs
Booking Link: www.bac.org.uk/sweet_like_chocolate_boy
Box Office: 020 7223 2223
Black British culture collides with the spirit of revolution in this double Offie-nominated show. Mars is a street-smart, enthusiastic, lyrically saturated man-on-the-edge. Bounty is a very quiet boy in a very loud borough with a new politically charged Black identity swirling around him. As their worlds collide, can they find their place in these times or will they get chewed, swallowed and digested by it?
Title: X-Adra
Artist/Company: Ramzi Choukair
Venue: Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN
Date: 2-3 Jul
Time: 7:30pm
Price: £20/£15 concs
Booking Link: www.bac.org.uk/x_adra
Box Office: 020 7223 2223
Using their own words, six Syrian activists take us into the heart of life within the notorious Adra prison. Their periods of confinement range from the 80s to more recent times since the revolution in 2011. With simple gestures and quiet intensity, they tell of tender moments between women and children, confessional letters to loved-ones and small acts of kindness. Their personal stories are of violence and pain, but also of solidarity, hope and an unshakable faith in freedom. Part of Shubbak Festival.
Title: Man on the Moon
Artist/Company: Keisha Thompson
Venue: Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN
Date: 5-6 Jul
Time: 8pm
Price: £12.50/£10 concs
Booking Link: www.bac.org.uk/man_on_the_moon
Box Office: 020 7223 2223
A journey through space and time, fuelled by love, fear and afrofuturism. With the use of poetry, looped sound and story-telling, Man on the Moon explores the impact mental health can have on the family dynamic, particularly within the context of the Black British experience. Keisha communicates with her reclusive dad through books and letters. But when the letters stop coming she is forced to venture into his world.
Title: Edinburgh Comedy Previews
Venue: Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN
Date: 15-27 Jul
Price: £12.50/£10
Booking Link: http://www.bac.org.uk/comedy_previews_2019
Box Office: 020 7223 2223
Another riotous summer of big name comics and bright new talents, as they preview their gigs before heading to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Get the scoop on this year’s Festival highlights and see some of the best acts in comedy.
Title: Summer in the Courtyard
Venue: Battersea Arts Centre, Lavender Hill, SW11 5TN
Date: 5-12 Jul
Price: £6 - £15
Booking Link: http://www.bac.org.uk/summer_in_the_courtyard
Box Office: 020 7223 2223
Battersea Arts Centre’s open-air Courtyard is back for the summer! As the sun sets, enjoy comedy, gigs and spoken word featuring the likes of The Sleeping Trees, Gavin Osborn and many more.
