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23.06.2022

Just announced – Our New Season

This ambitious new season of work includes two original ETT commissions, radical reimaginations of three iconic texts, a brand new monologue project of new pieces for mixed race characters by mixed race writers, a VR experience inspired by lockdown and a new podcast series. ETT also announces the multi award-winning theatre company Pigfoot as an Associate Company.

Alongside two previously announced shows, ETT announces Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard adapted for the stage by Vinay Patel in a new version set in space. A co-commission from ETT and The Yard Theatre and additionally co-produced with HOME, Manchester. Directed by James Macdonald, the production opens this Autumn at The Yard, ahead of performances at HOME, Manchester.

The season begins with the previously announced tour of Oscars Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest reimagined for the stage, and packed with shade and wit, by the 2021 Sir Peter Hall Directors Award-winner Denzel Westley-Sanderson. Opening this September at Leeds Playhouse, the production then tours to Cambridge Arts Theatre, New Wolsey Theatre, Northern Stage, Liverpool Playhouse and Rose Theatre, supported by a grant from The Royal Theatrical Support Trust.

The season then continues, in another brand new ETT commission, with the 80th anniversary staging of Brecht’s The Good Person of Szechwan. In this new version adapted by Nina Segal with Anthony Lau directing, it is the first time in UK history the production will be led by a predominately East Asian cast and creative team. ETT will co-produce with Sheffield Theatres and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, with both venues hosting runs in Spring 2023 before touring nationally.

Also announced today is Mixed, a monologue project of new pieces for mixed race characters by mixed race writers. Mixed aims to kickstart the artistic interrogation of mixed race identity in contemporary Britain. Curated by Ben Quashie, writers in the series include Javaad Alipoor, Jade Anouka, Lydia Ayame Hiraide, Mei Mei Macleod, Sabrina Mahfouz, Grace Savage, Testament and Jamael Westman, with more to be announced and set to be published in 2023.

Finally included in the season is the second series of F**ked Up Bedtime Stories (for Adults), a new writing podcast commissioned and produced by ETT; writers include Chris Bush, Kwame Owusu and Yasmin Joseph; and Adult Children, a virtual reality dramatic experience co-created by Ella Hickson, Sacha Wares and ScanLAB Projects that will run at the Oxford Playhouse in September.

Richard Twyman, Artistic Director and CEO and Holly Gladwell, Executive Producer of ETT said,

“This season of work sees ETT get back to making and touring large scale work for audiences nationally: reaching communities in their local area with stories that explore contemporary English and the world around us. Bold, ambitious work that refracts our contemporary world through the lens of classic stories and looks forward with new writing and cutting edge immersive digital storytelling.  

Our Main Stage programme sees some of the most exciting artists in the UK today get hold of three iconic texts and radically reshape for our contemporary world and audiences across the country. We are proud that it features two original ETT commissions, The Cherry Orchard adapted by Vinay Patel (co-commission with Yard Theatre) & Brecht’s Good Person of Szechwan adapted by Nina Segal. Our commitment to opening the nation’s stages for emerging artists and providing opportunities of scale continues with our partnership with the RTST Sir Peter Hall Award with Denzel Westley-Sanderson breathing new life into The Importance of Being Earnest.

As well as our Main Stage programme we’re also launching two new writing projects: Mixed, a new writing project dedicated to exploring mixed race identity in contemporary Britain; and Season 2 of the popular F**ked Up Bedtime Stories (for Adults) audio series, exploring the subconscious fears and terrors of our daily lives. Created in the pandemic, the first season reached over 36,000 people.

We’ve had a lot of success experimenting in immersive technology in recent years and we’re excited to start touring and sharing that work with audiences nationally, starting with Adult Children by Ella Hickson, Sacha Wares and ScanLAB Projects. After runs at the London Film Festival, and Luxembourg International Film Festival, we’re touring it to audiences in Oxford, and working to tour it, and other immersive projects, nationally in the coming year.

ETT would like to thank our partners, Leeds Playhouse, Rose Theatre, The Royal Theatrical Support Trust, Sheffield Theatres, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, Yard Theatre, HOME Manchester, Donmar Warehouse, Trial & Error Studio and ScanLAB Projects, along with the  tour venues that we’ll be visiting in the forthcoming programme.”

 PLUS PIGFOOT ANNOUNCED AS ASSOCIATE COMPANY OF ETT

Pigfoot, the multi award-winning theatre company dedicated to making collaborative, carbon-neutral theatre, will join ETT as an Associate Company.

Working with and for those grappling with the climate and ecological crisis, Pigfoot’s work “practices what it preaches” (The Sunday Times) and protests from within an industry which, in London alone, has been shown to have a carbon footprint of 50,000 tonnes a year.

Pigfoot will be on attachment with ETT for a year with access to rehearsal and office space at ETT, mentoring and business development support and a small pot for commissioning. They will support ETT to further develop its sustainable touring models and share this with the wider Forge Network.

Co-Artistic Directors of Pigfoot, Hetty Hodgson and Bea Udale Smith, said “Having toured last summer with Trailer Story, we are thrilled to join ETT as an Associate Company and continue to be inspired by their forward-thinking, innovative, and national approach to theatre-making. Through this partnership we hope to share, embed, and rethink what it means to tour theatre sustainably, so together we ensure our theatre reaches audiences across the country, without impacting the planet. As an emerging company, it’s easy to feel like a tiny fish in a gigantic pond, and we are thrilled to have such a brilliant organisation to call home.”

Pigfoot began in Oxford producing site-specific work by the River Thames and at the Oxford Playhouse. The company became carbon-neutral in 2018 – details about the methods used and what being a carbon-neutral company means can be found here. Pigfoot is led by Co-Artistic Directors Hetty Hodgson and Bea Udale Smith and Producer Camille Koosyial.

Instagram: @pigfoottheatreco | Twitter: @pigfoottheatre