Taking The Stage 2024

6pm: Four Weigh-Ins and a Funeral by Emma Burnell | Location: Sky Room

Exploring the bonds that form between women of different ages, classes, races and sizes at a Slimming World group. With little in common but their geography and a desire to lose weight or to keep it off, this play explores how much we truly have in common - however different we all are. Middle Class Bridge instructors share recipes and family gossip with Muslim matriarchs. Everyone supports each other as they go through the difficulties of their lives together - meeting every Tuesday morning and gradually forming the very strongest of bonds.

6.45pm: The Memory of Snow by Siân Rowland | Location: Sky Room

Siberia 1918. Months after the revolution in Russia the deposed Tsar and his family are kept under house arrest in Siberia and no one seems to know what to do with them. The Tsar’s four daughters have spent their lives hiding their brother’s illness from the world and clung together after the Rasputin scandal. Now, as their mother’s health declines and their father grows ever more disconnected to the world, they must try and make sense of their own lives and what it means to be the daughters of a man once powerful, now weak and purposeless. All they want is to be young and have fun and maybe find love for the first time but having had to grow up quickly, they are also painfully aware of the huge changes in their own country and for the first time reflect on the lives of everyday Russian citizens in comparison with their own privileged upbringing.

The Memory of Snow is about the claustrophobia of being trapped, where your every move is scrutinised and each day could be your last.

7.30pm: Tales from the Confined by Tam Gilbert | Location: Sky Room

What does it mean to be Confined? Physically? Psychologically? What has led to this confinement in terms of conscious or enforced life choices? Has incarceration come as result of barriers and restrictions imposed by Society, or a crime committed by choice – perhaps to protect family? What is justice? How has confinement changed over time for disabled people and what do they have in common with inmates?

Set during the pandemic, ‘Tales from the Confined’ tells the stories of Sarah and Lucy, at opposite ends of the social spectrum in 21st Century Britain and Sophia, a young 19th Century Dorset woman who was sent to Bristol School of Trade and Industry for the Blind, otherwise known as Bristol Asylum. Sarah is serving Time at Sunny Tree Prison in Essex and Lucy lives alone by the sea in the Southwest England. They connect through correspondence and stumble upon Sophia online. What journey do the three women have in common?

8.15pm: Echo by Subika Anwar Khan | Location: Sky Room

Echo was written as a response to the West’s support and media exposure of the war on Ukraine and explores online echo chambers. The liberal hypocrisy left many activists and supporters, of the rights of people in other war torn countries like Afghanistan and Palestine, feeling betrayed and devastated by Britain’s coverage. Especially because of Britain’s historical involvement.

In an age where we are consumed by technology regularly, mental health is on the rise. Since the pandemic, as a nation we’ve spent more time with ourselves online and in isolation leading to higher rates of suicide and a variety of mental health issues.

Echo explores the consequences of regular and instant exposure to devastation thousands of miles away combined with our human condition to be seen and heard in an environment where we do not.

8.45pm: Q&A “Where are we with diversity and inclusion now?” | Location: Sky Room

Panel: Rosemary Hill (Producer, Director and Playwright and Chair), Subika Anwar Khan (Actor and Playwright), Judith Jacob (Actor and Broadcaster), Emma Burnell (Playwright), Sian Rowland (Playwright), Tam Gilbert (Playwright & Access Consultant).

Tickets £12.00 and £10.00 (concessions) for whole evening

7pm: Change of Engagement by Carly Halse | Location: Sky Room

Julie D’Aubigny; master of swords, opera diva, bisexual badass...

In 17th Century France Madame D’Aubigny is infamous, known throughout the country for her conquests on both the duelling grounds, and in the boudoir. From cross-dressing, to clashing steel, Julie’s life was as dramatic in reality as her characters on stage. Exploring ideas of “liberté, égalité and sexualité,” the piece questions ideas of gender and sexual identity, whilst it attempts to uncover the truth of Julie’s tumultuous life.

7.30pm: The V-Word by Lisa Stenhouse | Location: Sky Room

Vita Sackville-West was a prolific writer, self-taught gardener, and devoted wife – despite her many affairs with women.
Tormented by a vague mood of depression, Vita is alone in her writing room. As she conjures up moments with her beloved husband, the woman who almost destroyed her marriage, and her most famous female friendship, Vita struggles to make sense of her life.

Drawing on a plethora of works, from poetry and dream diaries to lectures and novels, The V Word blurs fact with fiction to explore the elusive pursuit of happiness and need for purpose.

8.30pm: Persuasion by Chloe Wade | Location: Sky Room

This brand-new, female-driven production of Jane Austen’s perennial classic text will explore gender roles, class and feminism from a distinctively northern perspective. This work in progress extract will highlight the ‘gig theatre’ grounding of this production, with its strong focus on both narrative and music – with live folk music playing an integral part.

9.15pm: Q&A “Do we tell enough LGBTQ stories in theatre?” | Location: Sky Room

Panel: Chloe Todd Fordham (Playwright and Chair), Carly Halse (Actor, Director and Playwright), Lisa Stenhouse (Actor and Playwright), Rosemary Hill (Actor, Director and Playwright).

1pm: Protecting Your Intellectual Property Lesley Gannon, Writers’ Guild | Location: Event Space

Lesley Gannon from The Writers’ Guild guides us through how copyright works and how playwrights can protect their work and how the Writers’ Guild can give advice and help at any time in your career.

Tickets £8