09 February 2023
Newsdesk
ETT (English Touring Theatre) today announce their new production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, in a co-production with Northern Stage, Shakespeare North Playhouse and Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, opening in September 2023 at Shakespeare North Playhouse ahead of a UK and international tour.
They also announce further details of their programming for 2023, which includes touring productions of The Good Person of Szechwan and I, Daniel Blake. In addition, they announce series two of their new writing podcast, F**ked Up Bedtime Stories, and they reveal more details for their previously announced monologue project, Mixed, which explores mixed-race perspectives and will be published later this year. Finally, ETT announce the third year of their flagship playwriting programme, Nationwide Voices, finding innovative new ways to integrate community and audience groups into the creation of plays for main stages, with three new partner theatres and companies.
Macbeth, directed by ETT’s Artistic Director, Richard Twyman, speaks to a world we find ourselves living in now, asking why Macbeth has haunted our fears and nightmares for centuries and what lessons this cautionary tale is still trying to communicate to us. In ETT’s first international tour since 2019, Macbeth will open at Shakespeare North Playhouse on 6 September 2023, with previews from 1 September, running until 23 September, before touring to Northern Stage, Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Dubai Opera House, Cambridge Arts Theatre and The Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe, with further tour dates to be announced.
Ahead of their upcoming production of Bertolt Brecht’s The Good Person of Szechwan, ETT announce the full cast for the run. This 80th anniversary staging is translated by Nina Segal with direction by Sheffield Theatres’ Associate Artistic Director Anthony Lau, and stars Nick Blakely, Melody Brown, Aiden Cheng, Jon Chew, Callum Coates, Togo Igawa, Camille Mallet de Chauny, Suni La, Louise Mai Newberry, Tim Samuels, Ami Tredrea and Leo Wan. The production opens at Sheffield Theatres on 16 March, with previews from 11 March, and runs until 1 April, before opening at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London on 20 April.
Following this, the previously announced production of I, Daniel Blake opens at Northern Stage in May, in a co-production between ETT, Birmingham Rep, Oldham Coliseum and tiny dragon Productions in association with Cardboard Citizens. Adapted by Dave Johns, best known for his breakthrough acting role as Daniel Blake in the 2016 film, this touching and vital story of how people come together in the face of adversity is brought to the stage for the first time. I, Daniel Blake opens at Northern Stage on 31 May, with previews from 25 May, and runs until 10 June, before transferring to Birmingham Rep.
Further programming for 2023 includes the continuation of ETT’s new writing podcast F**ked Up Bedtime Stories (for Adults) with more details revealed for its second season. There will be seven new episodes from writers including Chris Bush, Ella Hickson and Simon Stephens, and performers on the podcast including Maxine Peake, Stephen Mangan and Tamara Lawrance. ETT’s monologue project interrogating the characterisation of mixed-race identity in contemporary Britain, Mixed, continues with writers including Javaad Alipoor and Sabrina Mahfouz. Finally, ETT announces the third year of its flagship playwriting programme, Nationwide Voices, in collaboration with three new partner companies: Birmingham Rep, Manchester Royal Exchange and tiata fahodzi.
Richard Twyman, Artistic Director and CEO and Holly Gladwell, Executive Producer of ETT said, “It brings us great excitement to announce a new production of Macbeth from ETT this Autumn with our partners Northern Stage, Shakespeare North and Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg. Following the success of Othello, which toured extensively in the UK and internationally between 2017-19, we’re looking forward to be bringing Shakespeare’s iconic play of bloodshed, corruption, and a society uprising against tyranny to audiences internationally and across the UK.
We’re delighted to be working with our co-producers and touring internationally for the first time since the pandemic, bringing this bold retelling to our ever-growing world audience. In our first partnership with Shakespeare North, we’re looking forward to connecting with new audiences in their beautiful new space, continuing ETT’s mission of touring world class contemporary work to local communities.”
An ETT, Northern Stage, Shakespeare North Playhouse and Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg co-production
MACBETH
By William Shakespeare
Age guidance: suitable for brave 12-year-olds
Director: Richard Twyman; Designer: Basia Bińkowska; Lighting Designer: Azusa Ono;
Sound Designer: Tingying Dong; Casting Director: Lotte Hines Fight Director: Kevin McCurdy
Shakespeare North Playhouse: 1 – 23 September 2023
Press night: 6 September at 7pm
Northern Stage: 28 September – 7 October 2023
Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg: 25 – 29 October 2023
Dubai Opera House: 2 – 5 November 2023
Cambridge Arts Theatre: 8 – 11 November 2023
The Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe: 14 – 18 November 2023
A struggling and divided nation, tearing itself apart. So, when the Macbeths see their chance at the crown, why shouldn't they take it?
But things don’t go according to plan. Dreams quickly turn to nightmares, humanity erodes, nature stirs. As society strives to make sense of the darkness that sits inside it, how long will it take for people to fight back against the endless cycle of violence and corruption?
A visceral and contemporary new production that speaks to a world we find ourselves living in now, and asks what lesson is this cautionary tale still urgently trying to communicate to us
and why has Macbeth haunted our fears and nightmares for centuries?
Richard Twyman took up the role of Artistic Director of ETT in November 2016. He was previously Associate Director (International) at the Royal Court Theatre, where he worked with playwrights across the world to develop their plays. Prior to this, he spent five years at the RSC working on fourteen productions, including the hugely acclaimed Histories Cycle for which he directed Henry IV Pt II, which were honoured with three Olivier Awards, the Evening Standard Editor’s Choice Award and named by The Guardian’s Michael Billington as his production of the decade 2000-2010. Twyman has directed at the Royal Court Theatre, Bush Theatre, Old Vic Tunnels, Theatre Royal Bath and worked alongside Peter Hall on his 80th anniversary production of Twelfth Night at the National Theatre. For the Royal Court Theatre, Twyman has directed You for Me for You by Mia Chung, Torn by Nat Martello-White, Harrogate by Al Smith and The Djinns of Eidgah by Abhishek Majumdar. His other credits include Ditch by Beth Steel, which opened the Old Vic Tunnels; Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton at Theatre Cocoon, Tokyo/Osaka; Deliver Us by Anna Leader at Théâtres De La Ville Luxembourg; Give Me Your Hand (New York), nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Unique Theatrical Experience in 2012. For ETT, he has directed Martin Crimp’s Dealing with Clair at the Orange Tree Theatre and the critically acclaimed production of Othello, which toured the UK and internationally from 2017-2019.
An ETT, Sheffield Theatres and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre production
An original commission by ETT
THE GOOD PERSON OF SZECHWAN
By Bertolt Brecht, in a new translation by Nina Segal
Cast: Nick Blakeley (Third God), Melody Brown (Mrs Mi Tzu/Old Woman), Aidan Cheng (Yang Sun), Jon Chew (Lin To/Shu Fu), Callum Coates (First God), Togo Igawa (Husband/Priest/Court Clerk), Camille Mallet de Chauny (Jobless Man/Policeman/Cousin), Louise Mai Newberry (Mrs Yang/Wife), Tim Samuels (Second God), Ami Tredrea (Shen Te/Shui Ta), Leo Wan (Wang) and Suni La (Mrs Shin)
Directed by Anthony Lau; Designed by Georgia Lowe; Lighting Design by Jessica Hung Han Yun; Casting by Jacob Sparrow; Composer: DJ Walde; Sound Designer: Alexandra Faye Braithwaite; Movement Director: Carrie-Anne Ingrouille; Casting Director: Jacob Sparrow;
Associate Lighting Director: Jason Ahn; Associate Movement Director: Tara Young;
Assistant Director: Lexine Lee
Sheffield Theatres: 11 March – 13 May 2023
Press night: 16 March at 7pm
Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London: 15 April to 13 May 2023
“What is the cost of being good?”
In the hustle and bustle of a modern-day metropolis, it’s a dog-eat-dog world and Shen Te is doing all she can to get by.
When three gods reward her hospitality with a life-changing sum of money, Shen Te opens a tobacco shop and claims the stability she’s always dreamed of. But the struggle is not over yet; she is forced to question the cost of her own survival as she resorts to scheming and deceit to flourish in this capitalist world.
In its 80th anniversary year, Brecht’s play is brought up to date in a new version by Nina Segal (In The Night Time (Before The Sun Rises)), directed by Anthony Lau (Sheffield Theatres’ Anna Karenina).
The German-born playwright, poet and director, Bertolt Brecht was born in Augsburg, Germany in 1898. He established himself as a playwright during the 1920s and early 1930s with plays such as Baal, Man Is Man, The Threepenny Opera and The Mother. In 1933, as Hitler came to power in Germany, Brecht fled to Scandinavia before eventually settling in the USA where he remained until 1947. During the war years, he wrote many of his best-known plays, including, The Life Of Galileo, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Mother Courage and Her Children and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. He returned to Europe in 1947 and shortly after his arrival formed the Berliner Ensemble. He died in Berlin on 14 August 1956 but remains a hugely influential theatre practitioner.
Nina Segal is a playwright and television writer. Her theatre credits include In the Night Time (Before the Sun Rises) (Gate Theatre), Dismantle This Room (Royal Court Theatre/Bush Theatre), Big Guns (The Yard Theatre), (This Isn't) A True Story (Almeida Young Company), Danger Signals (New Ohio, NYC), and Assembly (Donmar Warehouse digital project). Her play O, Island! was a winner of the 2022 Playwrights’ Scheme Bursary and shortlisted for the 2020 George Devine award. For television, her work includes Hanna, Leave to Remain and Never the Bride.
Anthony Lau is Associate Artistic Director at Sheffield Theatres. He was previously Laboratory Associate Director at Nuffield Southampton Theatres and trained as a director at LAMDA and at the National Theatre Studio. For Sheffield Theatres, credits include ROCK / PAPER / SCISSORS, Anna Karenina and The Band Plays On. Other credits as director include: Juicy and Delicious (Nuffield Southampton Theatres); A Better Man and The Cherry Orchard parallel project (Young Vic); The Common Land (Rose Theatre Kingston); Still Life/Red Peppers (Old Red Lion) and I am a Camera (Southwark Playhouse).
Presented by Northern Stage, Birmingham Rep, ETT, Oldham Coliseum and tiny dragon Productions, in association with Cardboard Citizens
I, DANIEL BLAKE
Adapted by Dave Johns
Director: Mike Calvert; Designer: Rhys Jarman; Lighting Designer: Simisola Majekodunmi;
Music: Ross Millard; Video and Projection Designers: Nina Dunn and Matthew Brown;
Movement Director: Martin Hylton
Northern Stage: 25 May – 10 June 2023
Press night: 31 May at 7pm
Birmingham Rep: 13 – 24 June 2023
Dan is a carpenter. A Geordie through and through. Just on the mend after a heart attack.
Katie has just arrived from London. Finally got a council house for her and the kids. A fresh start.
I, Daniel Blake is one of the most important stories of a generation. A glimpse behind the headlines and the stark reality of what happens when the political system is stacked against you. With 14.5 million* people living in poverty in the UK, this is not fiction. It is reality.
A touching and vital story of how people come together in the face of adversity and how sometimes creating a family to support you just isn’t enough. The show is adapted for stage by Dave Johns who played Daniel Blake in the award-winning 2016 film.
*Joseph Rowntree Foundation 2022 Poverty Report.
Recommended age 12+ due to adult language.
Commissioned and produced by ETT
F**KED UP BEDTIME STORIES (FOR ADULTS) – Series 2
Strange stories for even stranger times.
Following the success of F**ked Up Bedtime Stories series one, we bring you 7 new stories from 7 writers: Ella Hickson, Simon Stephens, Chris Bush, Kwame Owusu, Yasmin Joseph, Sonya Kelly and Francis Turnly; read by actors including: Maxine Peake, Tamara Lawrance, Jamael Westman, Justine Mitchell, Sophie Melville and Stephen Mangan.
The world is a messy, unnerving, and complicated place, these stories are a response to the unconscious anxieties and dread we all have bubbling at the surface.
For adults only, listen at bedtime, from our dream theatre, into your dreams. Listener discretion is advised…
The new season will be released one episode a night for a week in April 2023.
Concept by Ben Quashie, co-commissioned and produced by ETT
MIXED
Writers in the series include Javaad Alipoor, Jade Anouka, Lydia Ayame Hiraide, Mei Mei Macleod, Sabrina Mahfouz, Grace Savage, Testament and Jamael Westman
Mixed is a monologue project which revolves around representation of mixed-race identities. The 2021 census showed a further 40% increase in the number of people identifying as being from ‘mixed/multiple ethnic groups’ since 2011. And yet this burgeoning demographic isn’t really reflected in the stories we see on stage, where stories around mixed-race experiences are often generalised. In response to this gap in our industry, Director Ben Quashie came up with Mixed as a project focused on curating stories from a wide range of mixed-race experiences and imagination of artists around the UK.
Dramaturgs on the series include Kane Husbands (Artistic Director of The PappyShow) and Beth Kapila (Artistic Associate at Tara Theatre).
Venue partners for Mixed are Sheffield Theatres, Derby Theatre, Graeae Theatre Company, Rifco Theatre Company and Slung Low.
Mixed will be published and made available to the general public and drama students later this year.
NATIONWIDE VOICES
Nationwide Voices is a talent development programme for playwrights from across the country, now entering its third year.
The year-long programme will nurture and amplify the voices of a group of three exciting new playwrights, helping to bring their work onto mid-scale stages across Britain. This year, the scheme focuses on people-based work: encouraging these three theatre-makers to develop innovative ways of putting community- and audience-groups at the heart of their process for creating new plays for main stages.
Year three of Nationwide Voices is led by ETT, and we are excited to be working in collaboration with partners Birmingham Rep, Manchester Royal Exchange and tiata fahodzi, with venues and companies offering an attachment for their chosen playwright, who each have a meaningful connection to the local area. This year we are delighted to announce that the playwrights participating in the programme are: Ashlee Elizabeth-Lolo (Birmingham Rep), Malaika Kegode (tiata fahodzi) and Joshua Val Martin (Manchester Royal Exchange). They are being lead through the programme by lead facilitator and artistic director of Company Three, Ned Glasier.
Ashlee Elizabeth-Lolo (she/her) is a writer, dramaturg, award-winning journalist and drama practitioner from Birmingham. She has written pieces for and worked with arts organisations including Birmingham Rep, Channel 4, Talawa Theatre and Birmingham Hippodrome. She also hosts a weekly show on Switch Radio which focuses on community, care and creative sectors in the UK.
Malaika Kegode (she/her) is an award-winning writer and performer based in Bristol. Beginning her arts career as a performance poet in 2014, Malaika has since developed her practice to encompass theatre, radio and film writing. Her autobiographical gig-theatre show Outlier debuted at Bristol Old Vic’s main stage in 2021. Kegode’s narrative work has also been featured on Radio 4, and her poetry collections Requite and Thalassic have been published by Burning Eye Books.
Joshua Val Martin (he/him) is a writer from Bolton, having developed with Soho Theatre and Manchester Royal Exchange’s respective playwrighting schemes. His work includes musicals for Central School of Speech and Drama and Hope Mill Theatre; documentary plays for Royal and Derngate and the New Vic Theatre; and his play This Is Not America won the Bruntwood Commendation Prize in 2017. Most recently, he has worked as part of a writers’ room on a new Sky television series; written, performed and toured two autobiographical solo shows, and is currently finishing two new plays commissioned by Silent Uproar and IAP:MCR.
Ned Glasier (he/him) is a theatre-maker whose process is rooted in listening, collaboration and exchange. He is the founder and artistic director of Company Three, an award-winning theatre company working with teenagers in North London. His work includes Brainstorm at the National Theatre and BBC iPlayer, Boat at Battersea Arts Centre and two major international projects during the pandemic: The Coronavirus Time Capsule and When This Is Over. Alongside his work making plays with young people, Ned leads training in the practice of co-creation, teaches on university courses and works as a consultant supporting organisations to listen to, support and enable young people.
Nationwide Voices is made possible by funding from John Ellerman Foundation.
ETT
Website ett.org.uk | Email admin@ett.org.uk
Twitter @weareETT | Facebook/Instagram EnglishTouringTheatre | YouTube ETT
SEASON AT A GLANCE
THE GOOD PERSON OF SZECHWAN
Sheffield Theatres
11 March – 1 April 2023
Press night: 16 March at 7pm
Box Office: 0114 249 6000 / www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk
Lyric Hammersmith Theatre
15 April – 13 May 2023
Press night: 20 April at 7pm
Box Office: 020 8741 6850 / www.lyric.co.uk
I, DANIEL BLAKE
Northern Stage: 25 May – 10 June 2023
Press night: 31 May at 7pm
Birmingham Rep: 13 – 24 June 2023
MACBETH
Shakespeare North: 1 – 23 September 2023
Press night: 6 September at 7pm
Northern Stage: 28 September – 7 October 2023
Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg: 25 – 29 October 2023
Dubai Opera House: 2 – 5 November 2023
Cambridge Arts Theatre: 8 – 11 November 2023
The Landmark Theatre, Ilfracombe: 14 – 18 November 2023
