A Season For All Men

The chill factor that is CS Lewis' Narnia blows into the West Yorkshire Playhouse this Winter as the venue maintains its tradition of offering an alternative Christmas to festive theatre goers.

Sally Cookson, whose successes include Peter Pan, La Strada, and Jane Eyre with the National Theatre, will direct The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe in the first Quarry Theatre production in the round.

It follows hard on the heels of last year's hugely successful Strictly Ballroom The Musical and, the year before, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Announcing the Autumn /Winter season, Playhouse Artistic Director, James Brining told a collected gathering of patrons and journalists, that audiences could expect an exciting and innovative programme over the coming months.

"This is a truly wide-reaching season of vibrant new stories, some well-known, some brand new, drawn from a rich range of perspectives across nations, cultures and histories, uncovering the new, the startling and the incredible through performance.

"Audiences will journey from accounts of Partition India, across great 20th century European classics from Germany and Norway, and back to post-war Leeds where West Indians dream of re-creating Caribbean Carnival in Chapeltown.

"Every piece is a fresh imagining; some respond to the social disjunctions that dominate today's news headlines, some celebrate friendship and community, whilst also marking key historical moments in the living memory of the local and international communities in West Yorkshire and beyond.

"Last season saw our first-ever co-production with the National Theatre, together with Fuel, on Barber Shop Chronicles, the stormingly successful UK premiere of Strictly Ballroom The Musical and an epic Northern Romeo & Juliet; Autumn/Winter 2017 continues this momentum, through stimulating, original stagings of incredible stories from personal protest to national uprising."

He said that the West Yorkshire Playhouse continued to work with the highest-calibre artists across the international performance scene. Sally Cookson, whose successes included Peter Pan, La Strada, and Jane Eyre would be the inspiration behind The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe,

Playwright Zinnie Harris, meanwhile, a lady with three productions at the Edinburgh Festival / Edinburgh Fringe this summer, has written her reimagining of Henrik Ibsen's classic drama, (the fall of) The Master Builder which airs 30th Sept and tells of a once great man whose past transgressions and abuse of power threaten to catch up with him.


James Brining added:"Kneehigh, are (also) working with us to create a breathtaking re-telling of Günter Grass's The Tin Drum, after their last sell-out Playhouse show, 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips.

"We're also renewing our investment in locally created, small scale studio work, through our Artistic Development programme, Furnace, which supports and develops writers, directors and actors born, raised or living in Yorkshire.

"Some of the most exciting, locally rooted productions in our previous seasons were developed by Furnace and showcased at our new work Furnace Festival in our studio. Returning for September 2017, the festival is a unique opportunity for artists and audiences to unite, sparking collaborations and nurturing the local theatre ecology."


West Yorkshire Playhouse productions

Partition (8 - 9 Sept) is an exciting collaboration between West Yorkshire Playhouse and BBC Radio Leeds, for a radio broadcast and live performance marking the 70th anniversary of the fateful division of colonial India into two separate religious states. Written by Leeds writer and established arts journalist Nick Ahad and directed by Stefan Escreet, Partition explores the devastating legacy of a religious division which cost around a million lives, through the eyes of a modern day betrothed couple. Will hate, rather than love, prevail?

In celebration of Leeds Carnival's 50th birthday, the Playhouse's Associate Director Amy Leach (Romeo & Juliet, Kes, West Yorkshire Playhouse) directs Queen of Chapeltown (12 - 15 Sept). A newly commissioned play by Colin Grant, this exuberant snapshot documents the creation of Carnival, paying vibrant homage to the city's rich culture and celebrating the role of calypso and Carnival Queens in rooting West Indian heritage in Yorkshire. Queen of Chapeltown is part of a major week of artistic activity in the theatre for Leeds Carnival 50.

(the fall of) The Master Builder (30 Sept - 21 Oct) is a reimagining of Henrik Ibsen's classic drama for 2017. Playhouse's Artistic Director James Brining (The Crucible, Into the Woods, West Yorkshire Playhouse) directs Associate Artist Reece Dinsdale in the title role. Written by Zinnie Harris this timely world premiere tells of a once great man whose past transgressions and abuse of power threaten to catch up with him.

The Tin Drum (17 - 28 Oct) is a thrilling new co-production by West Yorkshire Playhouse, Kneehigh and Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse. This epically imaginative re-telling of Günter Grass's classic novel explores love and war as musical satire, through the eyes of its exceptional and unreliable child narrator, Oskar. An adventure of protest, power and hope, The Tin Drum is directed by Kneehigh's Artistic Director Mike Shepherd.

The world premiere of Pink Sari Revolution (7 - 11 Nov) is an impassioned protest through movement and music, against the tirade of female violence in modern-day India. Created by award-winning Indian and British Asian artists, this co-production with Leicester's Curve and Belgrade Theatre Coventry is based on a true story of resistance, as documented in the celebrated biography by internationally renowned journalist Amana Fontanella-Khan and will be directed by Suba Das (Wipers, Curve Leicester).

Meet a fantastic and friendly creature for Crumble's Search For Christmas (25 Nov - 30 Dec) created by the ever-popular Robert Alan Evans (The Night Before Christmas, West Yorkshire Playhouse). This charming festive adventure, which is perfect for 2 - 6 year olds, sees the mysterious Crumble escape hibernation and scurry up from the burrow for a night of wintry mischief.

The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (29 Nov -21 Jan 2018) produced in association with Elliott & Harper Productions and Catherine Schreiber, this spellbinding new production is directed by Olivier award nominee Sally Cookson, (Peter Pan, La Strada, Jane Eyre, National Theatre). Transforming the Quarry into a theatre in the round for the first time, with design by the award-winning Rae Smith (War Horse), this enchanting story based on C.S. Lewis's unforgettable book tells of four war time evacuees who discover an icy kingdom through a magical wardrobe, in Sally Cookson's inimitable theatrical style.