#bristololdvic Archives - Carl Woodward

The Grinning Man returns to launch Bristol Old Vic’s new On Demand Season

Full line-up announced today
“Season Pass” available to pre-order now.

Bristol Old Vic today announced the five much-loved hit productions from its back catalogue to watch on-demand throughout lockdown and over Christmas from the comfort of your sofa.

All five video-on-demand productions are available to purchase with a Season Pass, available to pre-order from today, giving unlimited access to the full season until 28 February 2021.

The season headlines with the return of cult musical The Grinning Man (which finished its original Bristol run exactly 4 years ago today, on 13 Nov 2016).

This darkly delicious musical premiered at Bristol Old Vic in 2016 before taking the West End by storm. Seen digitally for the first time during Bristol Old Vic’s first At Home Season in June, The Grinning Man was watched by tens of thousands of people across 52 countries, being discovered by a new audience of “Grinlettes” and thrilling the show’s loyal fanbase in equal measure.

“Blackly comic brilliance.” The Telegraph, Bristol premiere 2016

“If you enjoy theatre at all, you owe it to yourself to watch this. I’m sitting on my sofa sobbing and grinning at the same time.” @emiliejasmine96, AtHome viewer, June 2020

The Grinning Man is directed by Tom Morris, with book by Carl Grose and music by Tim Philips and Marc Teitler.

Available to pre-order today, the show will be screened from 20 Nov until 28 Feb 2021.

A week later sees the launch of a bumper pre-Christmas package of Bristol Old Vic’s celebrated adaptation of A Christmas Carol and Little Bulb’s beloved early years show The Night That Autumn Turned to Winter.

A Christmas Carol is Bristol Old Vic’s best-selling show of all time. This 2019 revival stars the charismatic John Hopkins as Scrooge. Dickens’ classic is adapted by Tom Morris (Touching the Void; The Grinning Man), directed by Lee Lyford (The Elephant Man), with music by Gwyneth Herbert (The Snow Queen) and is the ultimate festive feast for all the family. Available to pre-order today and watch from 27 Nov.

Little Bulb Theatre’s The Night that Autumn Turned to Winter follows the hurried hare, mischievous mice and other woodland creatures in their frenzy of nut-gathering and nest building to get ready for the cold season ahead. This production was filmed in 2015 and was Little Bulb’s second Christmas show at Bristol Old Vic, transforming the Studio into a magical world full of stories, songs and silliness. Available to pre-order today and watch from 27 Nov.

Recorded in 2017, the critically acclaimed interpretation of Handel’s Messiah attracted 28,000 views when it launched our first online season in May this year and is back by popular demand.

It features internationally renowned soloists Catherine Wyn Rogers and Julia Doyle, The Erebus Ensemble (Songs of Hope) and Europe’s most celebrated Baroque orchestra, The English Concert, under the revered baton of Conductor Harry Bicket. Jamie Beddard (The Elephant Man) performs the central non-speaking role of The Beloved. Available to pre-order today and watch from 4 Dec.

And finally, the family classic, and the show audiences have most requested to be revived in the last decade, Swallows and Amazons completes the series.

Based on the classic book by Arthur Ransome, Swallows and Amazons was originally staged in 2010 as a new musical play, with book by Helen Edmundson (Coram Boy) and songs by Neil Hannon, (The Divine Comedy). It was recorded at Bristol Old Vic in 2014 following its triumphant West-End run and UK tour. Available to pre-order today and watch from 11 Dec.

The Bristol Old Vic At Home pilot season was launched during the UKs summer lockdown to provide a creative digital lifeline to its audiences across the city and beyond. It included a five-week season of streamed productions, achieving 335,000 views through the summer when the UK was unable to access live theatre. As the UK is locked-down once again, Bristol Old Vic is finding ways for audiences and theatre-makers to stay connected and stay creative.

For the full digital offering from Bristol Old Vic, visit bristololdvic.org.uk/at-home

November 13, 2020/by Theatre M

News

Bristol Old Vic’s lockdown winter-warmer season announced

Live-stream of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk and online release of A Christmas Carol headline Bristol Old Vic’s lockdown winter-warmer season

A second online season of Bristol Old Vic hits, to include the release of the theatre’s best-loved Christmas show – A Christmas Carol – full season announced next week.
A brand-new collaboration with Wise Children and Kneehigh revives the Bristol Old Vic/Kneehigh hit 2016 co-production, The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk. Available to view online or live in the theatre.
A live-streamed production of Lucy Kirkwood’s searing drama Hedda in collaboration with Bristol Old Vic Theatre school, innovatively filmed by Rod Maclachlan (Bristol Proms).
A live knock-out comedy caper – Living Spit’s Beauty and the Beast, a new musical production for adults and older children this Christmas.

Bristol Old Vic today launched the second season of its digital offer, Bristol Old Vic At Home. This online “virtual theatre” brings together a second season of hits and classic shows from our back catalogue (available to view via our website with a Season Pass) alongside live-streamed theatre events, determined to see its audiences through to the end of 2020 and throw some COVID-defying light into a theatre-less winter.

The Bristol Old Vic At Home pilot season was launched during the UKs summer lockdown to provide a creative digital lifeline to its audiences across the city and beyond. It included a five-week season of streamed productions, achieving 335,000 views through the summer when the UK was unable to access live theatre. At the start of the next lockdown, once again Bristol Old Vic is finding ways for audiences and theatre-makers to stay connected and stay creative.

Bristol Old Vic At Home Season 2, once again includes five much-loved hit productions from Bristol Old Vic’s back catalogue, watchable via the theatre’s website. One of the theatre’s best-selling shows of all time will be available to watch as part of this season; the 2019 revival of the smash-hit production A Christmas Carol starring the charismatic John Hopkins as Scrooge, directed by Lee Lyford with music by Gwyneth Herbert. All five video-on-demand productions will be revealed next week when a Season Pass will also be available to pre-order, giving access to the full season until February 2021.

This programme sits alongside Bristol Old Vic’s commitment to a live-streamed version of its creative collaboration Hedda, with Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, directed by the School’s Artistic Director Jenny Stephens and harnessing the skills of the graduating film and theatre students. This production was announced last week and will still take place, moving exclusively to a digital platform for 3 nights only (18, 19 and 20 Nov). This bold experiment will also explore new filming techniques for live-streamed theatre and will be masterminded by Bristol Proms visual artist and vision-mixer, Rod Maclachlan. Live-streamed tickets now on sale.

In light of the recent lockdown restrictions, Bristol Old Vic, Kneehigh and Wise Children were also able to confirm their collaboration on The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk will go ahead, both through live performance in the theatre and a live-stream to view at home from 3-5 Dec (restrictions permitting).

Wise Children’s successful live broadcast of Romantics Anonymous, from Bristol Old Vic’s stage, was watched by more than 22,000 people worldwide. This live stream of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, tells the love story of Marc and Bella Chagall, tracing this young couple as they navigate the Pogroms, the Russian Revolution, and each other. The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk is directed by Emma Rice in a co-production with the show’s original producers Kneehigh and Bristol Old Vic. In-person and live-streamed tickets will go on general sale Mon 9 Nov.

And in a statement of shameless optimism and cheer for December, Bristol Old Vic also announces that the first of its live Christmas offerings will be a chaotic new comedy for older children and adults – Living Spit’s Beauty and the Beast – in the Theatre from 8 Dec to 2 Jan. The classic French tale of Beauty and the Beast is brought to life by Living Spit’s Howard Coggins and Stu McLoughlin, widely known as “the most physically attractive two-man musical comedy theatre company in the South-West”. However, in this tale as old as time, one of them will have to portray an ugly, foul-tempered beast. But which one will it be? A brand-new, monstrously-musical, Disney-defying version of this classic French tale about what it means to be truly beautiful in the 18^th century. Tickets on sale from Monday.

And finally, for a strictly adult offering this Christmas, Sharp Teeth announce their next Zoom adventure, Streaming Beauty in collaboration with Tom Marshman. Straight from their hugely successful Sherlock in Homes, prepare for a uniquely filthy and interactive Christmas show live from your homes, through the Christmas miracle of Zoom. Available to book now.

This season announcement comes in the week the UK government issues its latest lockdown restrictions which has meant live theatre at Bristol Old Vic and across the country has once more been suspended.

Speaking today, Artistic Director Tom Morris said:
“Theatres all over the country have responded to the devastation of lockdown with wild invention. From the Minack in Cornwall to Slung Low in Leeds, the rules of theatre have been rewritten on an hourly basis.

Inspired by our colleagues across the country, we are determined to do whatever is necessary to continue to offer live, inspiring entertainment to our audiences in Bristol, the rest of the UK and even internationally. This varied winter programme is for the audiences and supporters who keep us alive and without whom all our efforts would be pointless.

Even amid the chaos of this lockdown we are pursuing a series of experiments which will bring laughter, entertainment, music and poeticism to you at home as well as in the theatre. The generosity of donations from the public allowed our work to continue with a string of new commissions in the summer and the experimental reopening of the Courtyard Theatre in our foyer. Now it’s our turn to be there for you with live entertainment throughout lockdown and over Christmas. We hope you like this offering.”

November 5, 2020/by Theatre M

News

One-off socially distanced performance of Romantics Anonymous launches Bristol Old Vic’s autumn season of live performance

Following a successful trial period of pilot performance in the newly launched Courtyard and outdoor Garden Stage, Bristol Old Vic will present a rolling schedule of performances to socially distanced audiences throughout the autumn.

Live performances in the Courtyard and Theatre spaces will open with a discussion about the future of theatre in Bristol featuring a panel of Tom Morris, Chinonyerem Odimba and Mike Tweddle (Thu 17 Sep), a poetry cabaret night by Edson Burton (Fri 18 Sep) and an acoustic concert by the celebrated Zu Zu Men (Sat 19 Sep.)
On Sun 27 Sep, Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and Plush Theatricals will present a one-off performance of Romantics Anonymous for a live, socially distanced audience at Bristol Old Vic, following the company’s ‘digital tour’ of live-streamed performances across the UK and internationally from 22 – 26 Sep. This marks Bristol Old Vic’s first event with a live audience in its 254-year-old theatre since it was forced to close on 17 Mar.

Audience capacity will be limited in line with all current guidelines and extra measures will be put in place to keep audience and performers safe. Demand is likely to be high, with tickets going on sale at 12noon on Mon 14 Sep. All proceeds will go to the Wise Children/Bristol Old Vic Collaboration Fund to commission and invest in future collaborations between the two companies.

Reprising their roles, the full cast for Romantics Anonymous is Marc Antolin (Jean-René), Carly Bawden (Angélique), Me’sha Bryan (Suzanne/Mimi), Harry Hepple (Ludo/Remi), Laura Jane Matthewson (Young Woman), Sandra Marvin (Magda/Brigitte/Dr Maxim), Philip Cox (Father/Pierre/Receptionist), Gareth Snook (Mercier/Mumbler/Marini) and Omari Douglas (Salesman/Fred), who joins the cast.

Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic Tom Morris said today, “Tickets for the streamed performances of Romantics Anonymous are flying out the door. Wise Children have shown once again that they are the company to lead where the boldest theatre experimenters, artists and audiences alike, are sure to follow. This single “same room” performance is a gift from the company to their loyal and passionate audiences in Bristol and a wonderful opportunity for us at the theatre to begin a journey of welcome to you, the lifeblood of the theatre, which will roll out across the autumn.”

Artistic Director of Wise Children Emma Rice today said, “I cannot believe that, in less than a week Wise Children will be in a rehearsal room again and in less than 2, we will be performing our beloved Romantics Anonymous to an audience – live! The last weeks have been filled with scrupulous planning and careful preparations to ensure the safety of the cast and crew, but when we get onto that stage everything will change. Under the lights, for a few short hours, we will forget our fears and remember other essentials in life; imagination, celebration, story, community and song. Hand in virtual hand with our audience we will feel the joy and exhilaration of a collective experience; that sweet, delicious, much missed treat! And to think that we will have an actual Bristol audience watching in the flesh on our final night is almost too much excitement for a woman to bear. Joy upon joy, thrill upon thrill! Let the show go on!”

Alongside this pioneering event, Bristol Old Vic are now working on a full autumn programme including a series of live-streamed hybrid events which will ensure that it can welcome audiences in the theatre and live at home to enjoy extraordinary performances by brilliant artists from Bristol and beyond.

Announcements are expected shortly of projects involving Kneehigh, Stephanie Cole, Tom Marshman, Impermanence Dance Company, the Boogaloo String Band, Milk Poetry Presents, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Theatre Ad Infinitum and a host of other delights.

Thu 17 Sep

Theatre in Bristol after the pandemic

8.30pm

The Courtyard

From £5

bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/theatre-in-bristol-after-the-pandemic

Theatre in Bristol after the pandemic is a conversation event open for audiences and theatre lovers in Bristol in which Tom Morris will explain how Bristol Old Vic is seeking to rebuild its programme after the pandemic.
Tom will be accompanied by Chinonyerem Odimba, playwright, Chair of Theatre Bristol and Bristol Old Vic Board member, who will be chairing Bristol Old Vic’s working group for Representation and Welcome in the Context of Black Lives Matter, and Mike Tweddle, Artistic Director of Tobacco Factory Theatres.
There will be an opportunity for audience members to ask questions and share the future they would like to see in the city’s theatrical life.

Fri 18 Sep

Edson Burton: Pandemic Poetry

8.30pm

The Courtyard

From £10

bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/edson-burton-pandemic-poetry

When the theatres closed, Shakespeare wrote sonnets. He’s not claiming to be Shakespeare, but like the Bard, Bristol writer Edson Burton turned to his first love poetry as a way to document his journey through this pandemic. From disappointment, to dread, the passion of Black Lives Matter, to the uneasy ‘easying’.
Edson is joined by musicians and friends for a night of poetry, storytelling and music as he shares some moments of connection and looks to our past, our present and our future.

Sat 19 Sep

The Zu Zu Men: Acoustic Special

8.30pm

The Courtyard

From £10

bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/the-zu-zu-men-acoustic-special

Bristol band The Zu Zu Men first emerged from the dust at the start of the Year of Our Lord 2012. Their specialities include reinterpreting pop/rock favourites and taking audience requests, often miraculously learning them on the spot. This has helped grow their repertoire to near gargantuan proportions and their seats are jam-packed with songs from the 50s to the present.

They have played all over Bristol and recently enjoyed a musical residency at the Royal Naval Volunteer. Their performance style, normally a propane-driven feast of fun, has mellowed for this very special socially distanced acoustic show, with guitars, bass, drums and ukulele providing toe-tapping tunes and folky fingerstyle fun until the wee hours.

Tue 22 – Sat 26 Sep

Romantics Anonymous: Digital Tour

Presented by Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and Plush Theatricals

7.30pm, 9pm (see website for details)

From £15

Ages 8+

bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/romantics-anonymous

Sun 27 Sep

Romantics Anonymous: Live at Bristol Old Vic

Presented by Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and Plush Theatricals

4pm

From £20

Ages 8+

bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/romantics-anonymous-live

tickets@bristololdvic.org.uk

September 11, 2020/by Theatre M

News

Bristol Old Vic launches jam-packed programme of work, including Bristol Ferment’s Takeover, The HandleBards and Wise Children’s Romantics Anonymous

Bristol Old Vic launches autumn season with jam-packed programme of new work, including Bristol Ferment’s Takeover, The HandleBards and Wise Children’s Romantics Anonymous.

Following the reopening of its bar and café and the launch of ‘Live at Bristol Old Vic’, Bristol Old Vic has shared further plans for its programme, designed to suit the flexible performance spaces within and outside of the theatre’s foyer. The season includes a live broadcast of Bristol Old Vic Associate Company Wise Children’s Romantics Anonymous, The HandleBards and new work by Made In Bristol and Bristol Ferment artists.

Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and Plush Theatricals today announced that Emma Rice’s critically-acclaimed musical adaptation of Romantics Anonymous will be performed at Bristol Old Vic, and broadcast live, direct to audience’s homes nationally and globally. The show will be available to stream as a ‘digital tour’ between Tue 22 and Sat 26 Sep, following the cancellation of its US tour due to Covid-19, with tickets available here.

Partner theatres from across the world will sell tickets for different nights of the week. Each night will be tailored to audiences in different parts of the world, and there’ll be a sprinkle of local flavour added before each stream begins. Partner theatres include Belgrade Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival, Bristol Old Vic, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Curve Theatre Leicester, Derby Theatre, Eden Court Highlands, Exeter Northcott, HOME, Lighthouse Poole, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, Marlowe Theatre, New Zealand Festival, Norwich Theatre Royal, Oxford Playhouse, Royal & Derngate, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Spoleto Festival USA, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Storyhouse, The Festival Theatre, The Lowry, The Old Vic (where Wise Children are a Company in Residence), Theatr Clwyd, Theatre Royal Bath, Theatre Royal Nottingham, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, York Theatre Royal.

The world premiere of Romantics Anonymous was originally produced by Shakespeare’s Globe for the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse by special arrangement with Radio Mouse Entertainment.

Romantics Anonymous centres on Angélique, a gifted chocolate maker crippled by social anxiety and Jean-René, the boss of a failing chocolate factory. Angélique is so timid, she faints when people look at her; Jean-René so awkward he relies on self-help tapes and is prone to embarrassing sweating. When Angélique takes a job in Jean-René’s struggling factory, a fragile love affair unfolds. Funny, tender and painfully awkward, Romantics Anonymous is a delicious love story about breaking the mould and finding the courage to be happy.
Many of the cast will be reprising their roles with full details to be announced shortly. Following approved sport and film production guidance, the company will each have a coronavirus test before forming a bubble in Bristol. These rigorous measures mean that they will be able to perform the entire show without social distancing.

Artistic Director of Wise Children, Emma Rice today said, “I have devoted my life to the live experience and the collective imagination – things that have proved impossible over the last few months. Whilst nothing will be able to replace the thrill of a night out at the theatre, this live broadcast is going to be as close to that delicious experience as we can possibly make it! Live, fresh, fun and intimate, this will remind us of what it is to share stories, hear music and, if true love has its way, even kiss. Imagine that! We are taking the utmost care to protect all of our valued team and, for one week only, we can all experience a live performance again, get lost in a wonderful love story and remember what it was to be socially intimate!”

Artistic Director of Bristol Old Vic, Tom Morris added “Theatre has to reinvent itself in order to survive. That’s always true, of course, and one of the great pioneers of theatrical reinvention over the last 20 years has been Emma Rice. And now she’s at it again. A purely live fully streamed full-scale musical for a live audience sitting at home all over the world. It’s so bold it turns your mind into a honeycomb. We are absolutely thrilled and honoured to be hosting the experiment in our beautiful theatre, and there is no company more suited to rekindle the fire of live performance that inspires us all than Wise Children.”
Captioned and audio-described versions of the production will be available.

From Thu 27 – Sat 29 Aug, Bristol Old Vic’s newest cohort of young theatre-makers, Leave the Light Ensemble, the 10^th generation of Made In Bristol, will present their debut show Buffering… A show about being apart, but together. The collective began training in September 2019 and have been collaborating online since the beginning of lockdown to bring this show to life.

Made In Bristol member Sophie Grenfell said today, “For Leave the Light Ensemble creating work physically apart but together online has been a rollercoaster ride of online dancing, laughing in the face of adversity and cursing unstable internet connection. It has pushed the limits of how we, a company who love loud and physical ensemble work, can create theatre. At first we resisted, using editing and recording to chase the illusion of togetherness. But as time passed, the same uncertainty and distance that has, at times, frustrated us to tears, has become an integral part of our process. We have learnt to flip it on its head, embrace the circumstances and examine why it is that, in times as testing as these, the most simple moments of human connection are our most powerful tools of resilience.”

On Sat 5 and Sun 6 Sep, the critically acclaimed HandleBards will land on King Street to perform their unhinged and bonkers, laugh-out-loud version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The pedalling troupe, who have been cooped up together during lockdown, will use their irreverent, charming and hilarious style to bring you a brand-new outdoor production with a socially-distanced twist. With music, mayhem and more costume changes than you can shake a spear at, these Edinburgh Fringe Sustainable Practice Award winners are ready to show you the classic tale of two young lovers like you’ve never seen it before.

Finally, from Wed 9 – Sun 13 Sep, Bristol Old Vic’s artist development strand Bristol Ferment will take over the ‘Live at Bristol Old Vic’ programme to present the sharings resulting from its recent call-out “The View From Here”: a responsive seed commission asking artists and companies to respond to what can be made now and how we might come together with audiences in this new world. Bristol Ferment is thrilled to announce the five artists and companies that will be sharing their works-in-progress as part of this reimagined Ferment Takeover over the course of one week:

- Black Women Let Loose

- Holly Beasley-Garrigan, Dee Hassan & Ivy Corbin

- Pete Yelding & Sura Susso

- Pravanya Pillay

- Saikat Ahamed

Ferment Producer Ben Atterbury said today, “We’re delighted to announce the artists and companies who we are working with to innovate new forms of theatre-making. This time has been incredibly challenging for our independent and freelance community and we’re not through it yet, but we hope through these seed commissions to gesture towards a potential direction of travel. We know our programme of work-in-progress will show audiences the green shoots of the brilliant creativity and spirit within the South West’s incredible creative community and the vitality of continuing to provide opportunity for them to make their work and think about what might come next.”

The announcement follows the recent launch of ‘Live at Bristol Old Vic’, a series of small-scale performances located within the theatre’s foyer. The nearly sold-out first weekend (20 – 22 Aug) features Bristolian artists Vanessa Kisuule, Mark Olver, Patrycja Kujawska and James Gow.

Listings Information

NOW ON SALE:

Romantics Anonymous: Digital Tour

Tue 22 – Sat 26 Sep

UK: 7.30pm

USA: 9pm BST / 1pm PST / 4pm EST

8+

From £15

https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/romantics-anonymous

Made In Bristol presents

Buffering…

Thu 27 – Sat 29 Aug

8.30pm

Bar and Café at Bristol Old Vic

£10 (Table of 2), £20 (Table of 4), £30 (Table of 6)

https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/buffering

ON SALE SOON:

The HandleBards present

Romeo and Juliet

Sat 5 – Sun 6 Sep

2pm, 7pm (Sat)

Garden Stage at Bristol Old Vic

Bristol Ferment presents

The View From Here Takeover

Wed 9 – Sun 13 Sep

8.30pm

Bar and Café at Bristol Old Vic

August 19, 2020/by Theatre M

News

Live indoor performances to return this week at Bristol Old Vic

Five months after its forced closure on 17 March, Bristol Old Vic is set to reopen with a series of experimental performances this August and September.

This announcement follows hot on the heels of the theatre’s Reopening Appeal launch and the re-opening of its bar and café. Funds raised through the appeal will commission new work from Bristol artists as part of Bristol Old Vic’s growing and evolving programme as the theatre and city emerge from the pandemic.

Thu 20 Aug: Vanessa Kisuule

Fri 21 Aug: Mark Olver presents Who Said That?

Sat 22: Patrycja Kujawska & James Gow

Announcing this week’s performances, Artistic Director Tom Morris said:

“Our doors are already open, but we can only call ourselves a theatre when we are sharing live performance again. While we’ve been fighting to keep our business alive, we’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and supporters whose kindness is funding this programme.

We begin with three tiny performances by brilliant and beloved Bristolian artists.

And behind the scenes, we’ve already commissioned a series of experiments through Bristol Ferment, which will be performed in early September. Very shortly we will also announce new work by our renowned Young Company and collaborations with the Associate Companies and artists whose work has made our building sing with life over the last decade.

Our aim is to re-grow our programme gradually, ensuring that the audience experience is safe and the creative process properly protected, too. There will be pioneering experiments in hybrid live/streamed performance to give those who prefer to stay at home a front seat experience alongside the growing audiences we are able to entertain live.

The journey might be long before we can get close to the scale of work we were enjoying last year, but it’s exciting, too, giving us the opportunity to rethink our relationship with the city, and to take a leap forward in the style of work we can present and audiences we can welcome. This theatre must be for everyone in the city, sharing and celebrating the creativity of us all. And we are thrilled to be embarking on a new journey towards that goal this week.”

Further details of this week’s performances:

The programme starts on Thu 20 Aug with a live performance by Vanessa Kisuule, whose recent poem ‘Hollow’ about the toppling of Edward Colston’s statue went viral online.

The Bristol City Poet for 2018 – 2020, Vanessa has won over ten slam titles and has performed across the country and abroad. She was the recipient of The Jerwood Micro Arts Bursary in 2017 and the Leverhulme Arts Scholarship. SEXY, Vanessa’s one woman show, toured the UK in 2018.

The following evening, on Fri 21 Aug, local stand-up Mark Olver invites you to join him for a game of Who Said That?, the comedy panel show in which four comedians dial in to ask each other questions and try to work out whose ridiculous, hilarious and occasionally baffling answers are whose. This live edition of the show will see Mark hosting from Bristol Old Vic with his four guests Jayde Adams, Luke Kempner, Robin Morgan and Lou Conran joining in remotely for an evening of questions, answers and no doubt some minor technical difficulties.

To conclude the weekend, on Sat 22 Aug, actor and violinist Patrycja Kujawska and musician James Gow, who have both worked with companies like Kneehigh and Wise Children to perform all over the world, will be serenading audiences with a repertoire of light miniatures for violin and cello, developed over the past months together in their gardens. Expect to hear Bach, Mozart, Handel and other classics brought to life from Bristol Old Vic’s atmospheric new indoor stage.

The newly pedestrianised King Street and reopened café and bar will play a key role in welcoming people from across Bristol into the building to explore what is on offer. Visitors can find out more about food and drink provisions here.

Bristol Old Vic will be announcing further productions that will take place in its café and bar throughout August and September very soon.

Listings Information: Live at Bristol Old Vic
Vanessa Kisuule
Thu 20 Aug
8.30pm
Bristol Old Vic
Ages 10+
60 mins
£10 Table of 2 / £20 Table of 4 / £30 Table of 6
https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/vanessa-kisuule

Mark Olver presents Who Said That
Fri 21 Aug
8pm
Bristol Old Vic
Ages 12+
60 mins
£10 Table of 2 / £20 Table of 4 / £30 Table of 6
https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/who-said-that

Patrycja Kujawska & James Gow
Sat 22 Aug
8.30pm
Bristol Old Vic
60 mins
£10 Table of 2 / £20 Table of 4 / £30 Table of 6
https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/patrycja-kujawska-james-gow

August 17, 2020/by Theatre M

News

Patrick Stewart, Toby Jones and Lesley Manville add their support to Bristol Old Vic’s Reopening Appeal

“The most magical theatre space I have ever worked in.”

Patrick Stewart, Toby Jones and Lesley Manville add their support to Bristol Old Vic’s Reopening Appeal.

Famous faces from across the theatre industry have come together in a video to support Bristol Old Vic’s appeal for donations, as the theatre works toward its reopening following the abrupt closure of all theatres earlier this year.

Actors, writers and directors including Bristol Old Vic Theatre School graduates Patrick Stewart and Trudie Styler, Toby Jones (Messiah), Games of Thrones’ Patrick Malahide, Lesley Manville (Long Day’s Journey Into Night), former writer-in-residence Kwame Kwei-Armah and Samuel West (Les Liaisons Dangereuses) have contributed to Bristol Old Vic’s fundraising appeal with heartfelt video clips explaining what makes Bristol Old Vic such a special place. Kwei-Armah said he “learned what it was to be a true artist” within Bristol Old Vic whilst Patrick Stewart called it, “the first theatre I ever fell in love with.”

They sit alongside messages from some of Bristol Old Vic’s Ferment supported artists including Malaika Kegode (Outlier), Ruth Ramsay (Anansi and the Grand Prize) and Jenny Davies (Outlier).

The video, created by Oliver Kendall of Mint Cake Productions, also features Bristol Old Vic Artistic Director Tom Morris who spearheads the theatre’s call for donations: “The COVID-19 pandemic has hit us like a hammer blow. We’ve lost, at a stroke, 75% of our income.”

The oldest continuously running theatre in the English-speaking world was forced to close on 17 March, and like other cultural institutions across the country, has since been put in an extremely vulnerable position, which has included its recent announcement of a consultation process, putting roles at risk from its full-time workforce. The funds raised through the appeal will support the commissioning of new work from Bristol artists and beyond as the theatre emerges from the pandemic.

In the video, Tom Morris also explains the theatre’s next steps, demonstrating how donations will contribute towards the theatre’s survival and the putting on of new work:

“We have already received donations from people who love this theatre and with those funds we have started to commission the work that will reopen it. First of all, we will experiment with some solo performances in the foyer, then we’ll move back into the theatre with limited audiences when once again our theatre will start to come to life until we can build back to the full scale productions which you may know and love and have seen. But we can’t do this without your help.”

Individuals can donate towards the Bristol Old Vic Reopening Fund by visiting www.bristololdvic.org.uk/support-us. The page also includes information about other ways to support the theatre and be more closely involved in the life of Bristol Old Vic.

August 13, 2020/by Theatre M

News

Bristol Old Vic commences consultation process with staff

In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, Bristol Old Vic has embarked on a consultation process with affected staff in the face of a significant reduction in the work it can undertake and the income it can generate. This follows similar announcements from theatres across the regions. It is anticipated that over 20 roles from its full-time workforce of 60 could be at risk.

Bristol Old Vic’s Chair, Liz Forgan, said:

“It is with enormous regret that Bristol Old Vic has begun a consultation process to reduce the size of its workforce due to the COVID-19 crisis. The last 5 years have brought astonishing success for Bristol Old Vic and the Board are very clear that these successes have been achieved through the skills and dedication of our wonderful workforce. Nonetheless, by taking these steps now, we are putting ourselves in a position to emerge flexible, solvent, and fighting fit to meet the challenges of the post-COVID world.”

Executive Director Charlotte Geeves added:

“The unprecedented circumstances of this crisis, forcing all theatres to close and taking away 75% of our income at a stroke has left us in an extremely vulnerable position. The Government’s Job Retention Scheme has kept us alive, as it has kept businesses alive in every part of the economy, and we are hopeful that the Government’s Cultural Investment will support our survival further as we prepare to reopen the theatre gradually over the coming 18 months. The theatre plans to make further announcements about the programme shortly.

We are also enormously grateful for the support we have received so far and the donations made to our Reopening Fund. Donations such as these are hugely important and will directly fund our work as we emerge from the COVID crisis.

However, there is no avoiding the fact that the current circumstances mean that we will be unable to recover the income levels we’ve built up over the last decade with any speed or predictability. Therefore, in order to ensure Bristol Old Vic survives and is able to emerge, we have to reshape our business.”

Artistic Director Tom Morris said:

“Over the last 10 years, the team at Bristol Old Vic has worked with a rare passion to create inspiring work and to share this beautiful building with more and more people from Bristol and the region. This has been achieved through colossal hard work in the face of steadily declining subsidy and increasing commercial pressure. Our successes are entirely due to the generosity, skill and dedication of our wonderful staff, who have again and again achieved miracles with decreasing resource, and the talent and skill of the freelance artists who have worked with equal brilliance to create the programme which has rebuilt our reputation. Around this work, Bristol Old Vic staff have also worked tirelessly to reinvent our business as we completed the refurbishment of the site and reopened so joyfully in 2018.

Such a brilliant team does not deserve this process, which is caused by the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 disaster and the forced contraction of our economy that has followed it. We are fighting to protect as many jobs as we can, but of course have to support and implement the Board’s decision to prioritise the survival of the theatre so that we can regrow it healthily and once again entertain our loyal, generous and growing audiences as soon as circumstances allow.”

July 29, 2020/by Theatre M

News

Online ‘Bristol Old Vic At Home’ launches Thurs 16 April

While the COVID-19 outbreak has closed theatres across the country, Bristol Old Vic has pledged to maintain a close connection to its audiences, artists and city.

The oldest continuously operating theatre in the English-speaking world today announced a digital version of its programme of work – Bristol Old Vic At Home. The new platform will continue to provide the invaluable community connections and creative opportunities to young people, up and coming artists and the vulnerable members of our community that is so important to the theatre’s life. It will also enable us to link up with Watershed, Colston Hall and other arts providers across the city to create a Bristol Arts Channel to share content online in the month of May.

“Bristol Old Vic’s programme extends far beyond creating the shows which have been so wonderfully supported by the city over the last ten years,” says Artistic Director Tom Morris. “Equally important is developing talent from across the region through The Bristol Ferment programme, and bringing creative opportunity to all parts of our community through our Young Company, outreach activities and school and heritage resources. During this strange and frightening time, it is more important than ever to celebrate creativity in everyone and to support the sense of community through which it can best flourish. These things are happening spontaneously across Bristol with new digital networks springing up in every postcode. It is part of our job as the city’s theatre to ensure that this energetic and generous spirit is extended to the most isolated and the most vulnerable too.”

Bristol Old Vic At Home replicates the three strands of the theatre’s year-round programme:

Bristol Old Vic’s Engagement Department goes online with:
FAMILY ARTS HUB – Available to download now
Created by the people behind Bristol Old Vic’s Young Company, the Made in Bristol trainee scheme, and engagement programmes, the Family Arts Hub is full of rich educational resources for those who need them. Engagement Director Lucy Hunt said: “The theatre’s connection to young people, schools and nurseries across the city is very important to us and we understand the struggles families and teachers are having at the moment to find ways to entertain and educate children in their care. Our hugely popular Heritage Family Days at the theatre have inspired us to give young people as many options as possible to stay connected to us and get creative as a family.”

Covering Early Years to Key Stage 3, the Family Arts Hub includes a free database of downloadable acting workshops, arts and crafts “how to” guides, drama games, soundtracks, heritage-based lessons, recommended play-reading lists, scripts and monologues, streamed family shows and competitions to get involved with, with more content being added on a weekly basis:

Bristol Old Vic’s Talent Development goes online with:
OPEN STAGE ONLINE – Submissions open on Wed 22 April
Today sees the theatre’s first callout for participants and collaborators to generate the most wide-ranging and imaginative content it can.

Open Stage Online is inspired by Bristol Old Vic’s annual birthday invitation where anyone can perform on the historic stage – no auditions, no experience needed. This online version creates a place to connect and share your own contributions, not just with Bristol, but beyond. Whether it’s a song that cheers you up, a dance that gives you space to reflect, a drawing that reminds you of someone you love, a poem, a painting or even plate-juggling. Upload anything that feels important to you or gives you joy in these mood-bending times to the Open Stage Online Webform (live from 22 April). Your submissions will sit side by side on our website with contributions from famous faces, up and coming artists and enthusiastic newcomers – there’s no need for any experience – just the contents of your imaginations.
Bristol Old Vic’s artistic programme goes online with:
BRISTOL ARTS CHANNEL – Launching in May
Bristol Old Vic is working with The Space and sister venues Colston Hall, Watershed and others to explore an online channel for Bristol – to amplify and share the rich variety of art, culture and stories found across the city. Taking place over a month and dedicating different nights of the week to art forms including music, dance, film and theatre, we will look to reach out across the city and share content in a collaborative and considered way. More details to be announced soon.

As part of Bristol Arts Channel, Bristol Old Vic will present a season of eight productions, collated from our extensive archive of show material, featuring some of Bristol’s most-loved theatre shows and new work by emerging artists. Productions will be streamed via the Bristol Old Vic YouTube channel and Facebook Live platforms every Friday at 7pm from May.

April 15, 2020/by Theatre M

News, NT News

Bristol Old Vic and National Theatre’s Jane Eyre to be broadcast on YouTube

Jane Eyre

Innovative reimagining was a collaboration between the National Theatre and Bristol Old Vic
Broadcast as part of National Theatre at Home – the National’s new initiative to screen a selection of much-loved National Theatre Live productions on YouTube for free over the next two months
NT Live has been broadcasting for ten years and screens to over 2,500 cinemas in 60 countries

Bristol Old Vic and The National Theatre’s smash-hit collaboration of Jane Eyre will be shown on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel on Thursday 9 April at 7pm BST as part of NATIONAL THEATRE AT HOME.

Almost 170 years on, Charlotte Brontë’s story of the trailblazing Jane is as inspiring as ever. This bold and dynamic production uncovers one woman’s fight for freedom and fulfilment on her own terms.

From her beginnings as a destitute orphan, Jane Eyre’s spirited heroine faces life’s obstacles head-on, surviving poverty, injustice and the discovery of bitter betrayal before taking the ultimate decision to follow her heart.

This acclaimed re-imagining of Brontë’s masterpiece was directed by Bristol-based Sally Cookson. It was first staged by Bristol Old Vic in 2015 and transferred to the National in the same year with a revival in 2017.

Bristol Old Vic’s Artistic Director Tom Morris said:
“This production marked the moment when Sally Cookson and her extraordinary team of collaborators caught the attention of the national and international theatre world for the first time. Celebrated with a string of 5 star reviews, the show placed the imagination of the audience at the centre of the theatrical experience. Celebrating the power of our imaginations to take us beyond our own four walls is even more important in these uncertain times.

We are thrilled to take our ongoing collaboration with the National Theatre into the digital realm with this premier and will announce further details of Bristol Old Vic’s own online theatre, partly curated in partnership with Bristol’s remarkable creative sector across artforms, on the night of the digital launch of Jane Eyre.”

During this unprecedented time which has seen the closure of theatres, cinemas and schools, NATIONAL THEATRE AT HOME is providing access to content online to serve audiences in their homes. Audiences around the world can stream NT Live productions for free via YouTube every Thursday at 7.00pm BST and it will then be available on demand for seven days.

Following Jane Eyre, Bryony Lavery’s adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island will be screened on 16^th April, and Twelfth Night on the 23 April featuring Tamsin Greig as Malvolia in Shakespeare’s classic comedy, with further titles to be announced.

Alongside the streamed productions, NATIONAL THEATRE AT HOME will also feature accompanying interactive content such as Q&As with cast and creative teams and post-stream talks, with further details of this programme to be announced.

April 2, 2020/by Theatre M

News

Bristol Ferment turns 10 – line-up announced for January’s Ferment Fortnight

Bristol Ferment has announced its line-up for January’s Ferment Fortnight, celebrating a decade of work-in-progress from artists and companies across the South West.

FERMENT FORTNIGHT (MON 27 JAN – SUN 9 FEB)
Marking its 10-year anniversary, bi-annual work-in-progress festival Ferment Fortnight is back in The Weston Studio and ready to showcase some of the finest innovation-seekers and theatre-makers the South West has to offer.

Ferment Fortnight highlights Bristol Old Vic’s 2020 Year of Artists pledge to champion creativity in everyone and stage work by the most outrageous talent Bristol has to offer. The 2-week festival will introduce the budding ideas of artists from across the South West, allowing audiences to engage with work that is still being made and feedback on scratch performances from emerging and established local theatre-makers.

This year’s line-up includes a welcome return to Bristol Ferment for the hugely popular Seamas Carey, Sharp Teeth, The Devil’s Violin and Sleepdogs alongside new friends like Florence Espeut-Nickless, Audrey Productions, Madeline Shann & Malaika Kegode, Jakabol and Jenny Davies – to name just a few.

Ferment’s mission is not only to support work at this initial stage but to help nurture these early sparks into a fully-fledged production. Over the last ten years, artists and companies have staged their work at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the National Theatre, the Wardrobe and Tobacco Factory Theatres and toured across the UK and internationally.

In 2019, the Jan and Jul Ferment Fortnights supported 24 new works in progress, including:

FullRogue’s debut show Wild Swimming, subsequently programmed for a two week run in the Weston Studio after a sell-out Edinburgh run.

Ad Infinitum’s Extraordinary Wall of Silence, which was welcomed back with rave reviews for a full run in the Weston Studio.

Edson Burton and Ruth Ramsay’s Anansi and the Grand Prize, currently playing in the Weston Studio over Christmas.

The Wardrobe Ensemble’s The Last of the Pelican Daughters, scheduled to stop by the main house in April on a UK-wide tour.

As always at the Ferment Fortnight, the audience will play a crucial part of the process as they are invited to feedback on each work-in-progress to help the artists and companies develop and grow.

Ben Atterbury, Ferment Producer today said, “This programme represents the beginning of a decade of Bristol Ferment. Ten years of supporting brilliant South West artists and companies to develop and present brilliant work here in the region, around the country and around the world. The Fortnight has always been a crucial element of our programme of artist support, so we’ll start as we mean to go on; by asking our Supported Artists and Companies to invite the audience into their experiments and ask for their help to find a way forwards together. We hope this programme signals the beginning of another ten years of Ferment joy as we look over the coming year to make our support bigger, better and more meaningful than ever before; the South West is brimming with extraordinary artistic talent (those already discovered alongside those yet to be found). The artists and companies Ferment is working with are just getting started, and this is your chance to see where it all begins.”

Tickets to Ferment Fortnight are just £5 and are on sale to Priority Bookers from today (16 Dec) with general tickets going on sale at noon Tue 17 Dec.

MON 27 JAN
PAGAN PANDEMONIUM
Seamas Carey
8pm
Weston Studio
£5
Pagan Pandemonium is an interactive history lesson about British folkloric customs and traditions, told through the medium of a Japanese game show. Think Takeshi’s Castle meets Wicker Man.
Seamas Carey (Seamas Carey Meets His 4-Year Old Self) sets out to explore massive topics like sex and death, using copious amounts of audience participation, silly games and large inflatables.

Bristol Ferment announces line-up for January’s Ferment Fortnight, celebrating a decade of work-in-progress from artists and companies across the South West

FERMENT FORTNIGHT (MON 27 JAN – SUN 9 FEB)
Marking its 10-year anniversary, bi-annual work-in-progress festival Ferment Fortnight is back in The Weston Studio and ready to showcase some of the finest innovation-seekers and theatre-makers the South West has to offer.