Theatre Shop’s new Spring programme is now available, and features some of the most exciting and acclaimed productions from the world of professional touring theatre.
Whether you are looking for a fun night out with friends, family-friendly entertainment, or a romantic date with your partner, there is something for you. Here are some of the highlights of the Spring programme:
- An hour of inspirational poetry with Luke Wright, one of the most original and influential voices in British poetry today.
- A captivating play by award-winning dramatist Barney Norris, who explores the themes of friendship, loss and redemption and features original songs and a live band.
- The delightful and inspiring story of Jasper, full of humour, insight, and nostalgia – a must for anyone who loves music or who has ever dreamed of pursuing a forgotten passion.
- Two clever, fast-paced, energetic performances from Living Spit, bound to be silly from start to finish with lots of laugh-out-loud moments but often challenging and sometimes irreverent.
- A play that challenges the stereotypes and expectations of what it means to be a woman, a poet, and a bodybuilder.
- Four evenings full of the magic and mystery that lie within the spring and autumn equinoxes and the midsummer and midwinter solstices.
This is just a taste of a wonderfully rich, exciting, diverse programme; read on for synopses, trailers and reviews.
PLAYTIME – THE LAST BAGUETTE
Play-along theatre adventures for 2-6 year olds and their grownups! Go along to a fun, relaxed participatory theatre session with The Last Baguette theatre company. There’ll be silliness, play-acting, games and music. Expect to play, move, watch and laugh.
Join Ratty and her friends for a fun and gentle introduction to theatre with play-along storytelling, original music, puppetry, theatre games, movement, and lots of imaginative play. Ratty has a lot of ideas but sometimes things don’t go according to plan….can you help her by playing along and working together?
Sessions last 1 hour, and are created for ages 2-6 and their grown-ups. Younger and older siblings welcome!
The Last Baguette makes entertaining, accessible and eccentric work for family audiences.
Please note that space is limited and both children and their accompanying grown-ups will need a ticket.
Friday 9th February: Cheesy tunes – join Ratty’s band! Wednesday 27th: Paws for Thought – meet Ratty’s family. Friday 24th May: A Woodland Wonder – join Ratty as she learns about the environment. Friday 21st June June: Pie-Rat Island – a journey on the high seas. Ticket £8. Book here.
“Playtime has proved to be a real success for us here at The Pound Arts Centre. The quality of performance is high and Sidney and Tristan are skilled at creating a warm, welcoming and playful atmosphere where everyone feels included. Shows sell out fast.. We love it!” Helen Dilley, Creative Learning Officer, Pound Arts
**** “Funny, charming and thought-provoking” – CreativeReviewsUK on The Bird Show
“Playtime is an absolute joy to be a part of. Sidney and Tristan seem to have that magic that lets the children know when to play along and when to sit down and listen. The sessions are a lovely way for us to play together and explore our imaginations.” The Greatest Showmum
THE FOUR REASONS: SOMERSET STORYFEST
Clevedon Literary Festival presents four evenings throughout the year celebrating the seasons through spoken word and music.
Over the course of 2024 starting in March, Somerset Storyfest will be bringing four evenings full of seasonal promise, exploring, celebrating and revealing the potency and secrets that lie within the spring and autumn equinoxes, the midsummer and midwinter solstices through the spoken word, poetry, song and music.
Spearheaded by storyteller Michael Loader and poet Isabel White each evening will bring a host of wordsmiths, musicians and singer/ songwriters that delve into, discover and deliver familiar and unknown treasures associated with that time of year. A smorgasbord of stories, a plethora of poetry and miscellany of music drawn from the traditional and the contemporary, the locale and the world.
Thursday 21st March 7.30 p.m., Thursday 20th June 7.30 p.m., Thursday 19th September 7.30 p.m., Thursday 19th December 7.30 p.m. Ticket price £15. Book here. Here are details of the first:
SPRING AWAKENING
Martin Solomon’s harp and violin sets fuse Celtic and Indian traditions, as well as accompanying storyteller Michael Loader with an enchanting story of the Golden Hare. Michael also shares Wodwose (Ted Hughes’ Wodwo), a hymn to the wild.
Poets Isabel White, Alys Denny and Robin Kidson will eschew daffodils with their sideways take on spring.
MUSCLEBOUND: ROSY CARRICK
Hilarious and provocative, award-winning Rosy Carrick takes a deep dive into her earliest erotic fantasies in this exploration of power, performance and female pleasure in heterosexual relationships. What are the sexual lessons we want to pass on to our daughters – and what do we still need to learn for ourselves?
Saturday 23rd March 7.30 p.m. Ticket price £15. Book here.
“Perfectly poignant and profound… Musclebound drips with Carrick’s charisma and bursts with originality – an honest story of a woman and her adolescent daughter navigating the world of sex and desire” – The List
“A startling, laugh out loud funny and erudite examination of age, relationships and female sexuality ★★★★” – What’s on Stage
THE BAND BACK TOGETHER
Written and directed by award-winning dramatist Barney Norris (Visitors, Nightfall) and produced by Farnham Maltings (Mountain Music, Brilliance) comes an uplifting play about growing up, healing and rock n’ roll.
Joe, Ross and Ellie used to be in a band. They were pretty good too, making waves in the pubs and clubs across the rugged patchwork of England’s southwest. They even had a song on Radio 2. But that was all a decade ago and the songs, the stories, the secrets are long since buried. Until now.
Back together to play a one-off benefit gig in their hometown, the bandmates find a community reeling from a poisoning and a pandemic. Will the old songs still work their magic? Faced with the memories of their youth and feeling lost in the community they once called home, it’s time to confront the past so they can make sense of the future.
Wednesday 3rd April 7.30 p.m. Ticket price £15. Book here.
‘His writing untangles the knots that tie us down, to families, to history. He writes to free us and deserves our thanks’. The Spectator on Barney Norris
TAM LIN RETOLD: CORINNE HARRAGIN
The ballad may be known as Tam Lin, but he’s only a part of it. Described by audiences as ‘bold’, ‘refreshing’ and ‘joyful’, Tam Lin Retold is a collection of enchanting and sharp stories that explore unsung voices of Scots/English folklore.
Orally told and accompanied by live music, these are tales of temptation, pluck and changing shape promise to take you under the green hill and bring you back out again.
Corinne Harragin is a performance storyteller whose work re-centres marginalised voices and silenced histories within folktales, myths and legends. As well as engaging with traditional storytelling practices, she uses physical theatre, stand-up comedy & audience participation to create brand new storytelling performances for a modern audience.
Nick Hart is an award-winning singer and multi-instrumentalist, most noted for his work with English traditional song. He has performed extensively as an actor musician, and as a composer/arranger has provided music for radio, television, theatre and dance.
Thursday 11th April 7.30 p.m. Ticket price £15. Book here.
I FOUND MY HORN: JONATHAN GUY LEWIS AND HARRY BURTON
A man wakes up in midlife to a broken marriage and the dawning fear that he has done nothing to make himself memorable. Packing away his life as he prepares for divorce, he is struck by an insane idea: why not pick up the French horn that defeated him in his youth?
“Don’t do it,” says his mentor. “It takes balls of Sheffield steel to play the French horn in public!”
Damned if he does, Jasper also knows he’s damned if he doesn’t…
Adapted from the bestselling book by Jasper Rees, and directed by Harry Burton, I Found My Horn was first seen in 2008 at the Aldeburgh Festival. Subsequently seen at Chichester Festival Theatre, the Orange Tree in Richmond, Hampstead Theatre and Trafalgar Studios in the West End, this joyous, feel-good show places the transforming power of music centre-stage. The show most recently enjoyed revivals at the White Bear Theatre in Kennington and the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith.
Saturday 11th April 7.30 p.m. Ticket price £15. Book here.
‘Funny, serious and moving… a gem’ ★★★★ Sunday Times
‘This solo stage show is a real winner… a triumph – warm, wonderfully funny and touching… Jonathan Guy Lewis is utterly engaging’ ★★★★ The Stage
LUKE WRIGHT’S SILVER JUBILEE
Over twenty-five years, Luke Wright has built up a reputation for being one of Britain’s most popular live poets. This year, thwarted in his attempts to hold a street party by the philistines on the council and unable to shift the over-ordered commemorative plates, Wright does what a poet does best, and takes a deep dive into himself. What follows is his most confessional show to date. An excavation of lives lived and not lived, Wright navigates his audience through a warm and honest hour of poems and stand-up. With some wild experiments in form, a nervous kitten called Sir John Betjeman and a healthy smattering of drum n bass, Wright manages to navigate some heart-wrenching material and keep the laughs coming.
Thursday 18th April 7.30 p.m. Ticket price £15. Book here.
“Breathtaking … with a sharpness and wisdom that lifts the soul, and soothes the battered heart.”
★★★★ The Scotsman
“This is the best thing that poet Luke Wright has done, which is saying something.” ★★★★★ The Telegraph
‘One of the funniest and most brilliant poets of his generation’ The Independent
BEHOLD YE RAMBLERS: TOWNSEND THEATRE PRODUCTIONS
Neil Gore (The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists) returns to The Theatre Shop with his new play
Behold Ye Ramblers.
From the voices of ramblers and campaigners to the songs and poetry inspired by past and current struggles, “Behold Ye Ramblers” is a new play about The Clarion newspaper and the organisations formed by its readership, including the famous rambling club, The Sheffield Clarion Ramblers. Along with the Clarion Cyclists, these early Edwardian pioneers promoted healthy outdoor pursuits, organising expeditions across open moors and mountains whilst campaigning for the right to roam, bringing them into conflict with landowners’ hunting and shooting activities and laws that prioritised private property over the wellbeing of others.
Thursday 18th April 7.30 p.m. Ticket price £15. Book here.
WOODLAND TALES WITH GRANDAD – PICKLED IMAGE AND HATTIE NAYLOR
Olivier-nominated Hattie Naylor has teamed up with Pickled Image once again, crafting a magical tale with an urgent environmental message.
Something is happening in the woods, voices can be heard, and a strange metallic smell fills the air. Machines are gathering at its edge and a mysterious call is heard across the valley. Laura the ladybird, Jeffrey the spider, Brett the Woodlouse and Willoughby the Woodpecker are worried. Velda the Vixen knows there’s only one person who can help them – Granddad. But is there enough time? Can they save the wood? And will the mysterious stranger help?
Featuring a cast of extraordinary puppets, this uproarious family show not only entertains, but has an important and timely environmental message to share.
Sunday 28th April 2.00 p.m. Ticket price £8. Book here.
“A delightfully designed family show” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Stage
“The puppetry was excellent, and the variety of characters and puppets was really great fun and enjoyed by audiences.” Doncaster Theatre
“We thought it was simply superb! A beautiful experience of wonderful storytelling.” Theatre Royal Plymouth
THE PASSION OF LIVING SPIT
Get ready to witness the most divine comedy of all time. Join us for a hilarious theatrical journey through the life and unfortunate death of the bearded, ethnically ambiguous offspring of God, Jesus H. Christ.
Featuring a smattering of JC’s greatest hits; water into wine! Loaves and fishes! Parables! Miracles! Animals! Vegetables! Minerals! And with a holy host of reimagined Easter hymns, this is a Sunday school lesson unlike any other.
With a dash of irreverent wit, a sprinkle of divine inspiration and a hearty helping of tasteless biblical buffoonery, The Passion of Living Spit promises to give a whole new meaning to the term ‘Cross-dressing’.
They’re going to nail it!
Monday 29th April to Saturday 11th May 7.30 p.m. Ticket price £15. Book here.
SONG OF THE FOREST: WILD WORDS
A smorgasbord of tantalising tales with characters strangely familiar, live music, spontaneous theatre and song all expertly mixed together by Michael Loader and Simon Blakeman.
Jakob and Wilhelm came from a big family of noisy supper tables, parental love and gripping stories of their forest home. One day their father died, the family became poor and the brothers went their separate ways, adopted into the jungle of the city where they continued their passion for stories. Years later above the hubbub of the city they hear the hum of the forest calling, they follow the breadcrumbs of ‘story’ along separate paths, leading them closer to the truth of their own.
2.00 p.m. Pre show Playshop when we you will have the opportunity to create your own ‘Song of the Trees’ to sing in the show. 2.45 p.m. performance
Saturday 18th May Doors Open at 1. 00 p.m. Starts at 2.00 p.m. Ticket price £8. Book here.
SARDINES – THE BLANK SLATE ENSEMBLE
The Blank Slate Ensemble presents an hour of must-see non-stop laughter.
Embark on a voyage with new comedy Sardines where, stranded on a raft with no provisions, you’ll witness the uproarious antics of English poets Coleridge and Wordsworth. Set in the 1800s, but packed with historical inaccuracy, this explosive show weaves storms, sea-monsters, and a haunting albatross into one absurd misadventure. As Coleridge seeks joy, Wordsworth wallows in misery, creating a clash of optimism and pessimism.
Don’t miss this rollicking journey, previously applauded at venues across the South-West, now set for the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival!
Saturday 15th June 7.30 p.m. Ticket price £15. Book here.
ADOLF AND WINSTON – LIVING SPIT
Two Actors. Two World Leaders. One Black Dog!
London 1939: Winston Churchill looks in the mirror, realises that only he can steer our great nation through its darkest hour and steels himself for the hard road ahead.
Bristol, 2023: Craig Edwards looks in the mirror, realises that, despite his advancing years, he stills looks good in a pair of union jack speedos and steels himself to take on the role of a lifetime.
Clevedon, 2023: Stu Mcloughlin looks in the mirror and realises that he’ll have to grow a little moustache. Characteristically unafraid to tackle colossal, morally questionable subjects in an essentially inconsequential way, Craig & Stu are back walking the tightrope of taste and decency with another slice of poorly-researched history. But will either of them escape from this war alive?…
Riotous, rebellious and ridiculously rib-tickling by turns, Living Spit’s Adolf and Winston leaves other two-man comedic, musical retellings of the history of the second war in the shade, and poses the question: “who thought this was a good idea, again?”
Tuesday 25th June to Friday 27th June 7.30 p.m. Ticket price £15. Book here.
“Adolf & Winston is a terrific production, gloriously silly and worth watching” Bristol Post
“Adolf & Winston is brilliantly bonkers, with an inspired 15-minute musical race through the history of the second world war.” Bristol Culture
Huge thanks to Living Spit and Theatre Shop – you never disappoint.