SUMMER 2012

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

May 2012

 

Theatre Royal Stratford East Summer 2012

 

A celebration of worldwide theatre in the heart of East London 

 

this lovely theatre – glamorous but snug, with an exceptional tradition of hits, especially musical – will be plumb in the middle of the Olympics: it should fly a flag for the London stage Susannah Clapp, Observer 

 

In the momentous summer of the London Olympics and Paralympics Games, Theatre Royal Stratford East presents a season of groundbreaking new projects. The programme has a local, national, and international reach and boasts a range of internationally renowned partners.  

 

Stratford East’s work will be part of London 2012, CREATE, BT River of Music, and World Stages London.

 

Theatre Royal Stratford East has formed an impressive array of partnerships, placing itself at the epicentre of artistic innovation and collaboration. Partners during 2012 include Barbican Centre, Battersea Arts Centre, Citizens Theatre Glasgow, Kneehigh Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith, National Theatre of Scotland, Sadler’s Wells, Serious Music, Urban Development, and Young Vic.

 

Artistic Director Kerry Michael said, “In this unique time for the area, with the huge energy and buzz growing, it is only right that we offer up a programme for our audience, with a range of some of the most exciting creative partners, that celebrates our place in London and London's connection to the world.” 

 

Throughout 2012, Theatre Royal Stratford East presents new shows in the theatre, site-specific performances across London, mass participation events, concerts, and national touring (see below). With over 160 languages spoken in its community, Theatre Royal Stratford East celebrates the internationalism on its doorstep and will work with artists from Africa, Eastern Europe, Australia, and Asia. 

 

Built in 1884, Theatre Royal Stratford East has a long history of presenting important and entertaining shows that reflect the world around it. Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop made its home here in the 1950s, producing landmark plays like Oh, What a Lovely War! and A Taste of Honey. Today, Artistic Director Kerry Michael continues to put the concerns and aspirations of the Theatre’s audiences on stage. This was most recently recognised when Theatre Royal Stratford East in association with the Barbican; with Pachamama Productions and Richard Jordan Productions and Traverse Theatre, won the 2012 Olivier Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre’ for Roadkill.

 

From Friday 20 July to Sunday 12 August, Theatre Royal Stratford East is delighted to be hosting Nigeria House, a cultural festival celebrating the best of Nigerian life and art, during the 2012 Olympics. Audiences enjoy a special programme and will learn more about the culture of this West African nation amidst a backdrop of the world’s athletes competing for glory.

 

WWW.STRATFORDEAST.COM

 

 EPK available for download from the Theatre’s website

 

For press tickets and enquiries please contact Sally Goldsmith, Head of Sales & Marketing

 

E sgoldsmith@stratfordeast.com - T 0208 2791121 - M 07980 270671

Babel

A World Stages London Project

WildWorks and Battersea Arts Centrein collaboration with Lyric Hammersmith, Theatre Royal Stratford East and Young Vic

PRESS TICKETS AVAILABLE

Dates: Tuesday 8 – Sunday 20 May 2012, 8.30pm. Press night 10 May 2012.

Prices: Preview £12.50; Tuesday – Thursday £22.50 (17.50 concs); Friday – Sunday £25 (£20 concs);

Day Tickets £12.50. 

Tickets http://www.babellondon.com/tickets/

Stratford East Singers, a singing group led by singer and vocal coach Byron Gold, will be performing as part of Babel, one of 2012’s biggest cultural events. Stratford East Singers is open to everyone over 16, regardless of ability or experience.

Promising to be one the most talked about events of 2012, BABEL is tipped to be a theatrical experience of truly epic proportions. A spectacular outdoor show created for an iconic London setting, BABEL is staged through a unique partnership between WildWorks and Battersea Arts Centre and will feature a cast of 500 community and professional actors and musicians.

WAH! WAH! GIRLS

A World Stages London Project

The Theatre Royal Stratford East run is part of the London 2012 Festival

Presented by Sadler’s Wells, Theatre Royal Stratford East & Kneehigh in association with Hall for Cornwall. Funded by Arts Council England and the British Council.

PRESS TICKETS AVAILABLE

Location: Peacock Theatre, Portugal Street, Holborn, London WC2

Dates: Thursday 24 May – Saturday 23 June 2012

Tickets: http://www.sadlerswells.com/show/Wah-Wah-Girls

Location: Theatre Royal Stratford East, 

Dates: Thursday 6 September – Saturday 23 June 2012

On sale June

East London meets Bollywood in a sparkling new musical from Sadler’s Wells, Theatre Royal Stratford East, and Kneehigh. Inspired by the Mujra dancers, who for generations have entertained the rich and powerful with a spellbinding mix of dance and song, Wah! Wah! Girls tells a passionate and playful story of love against the odds. Set against the vibrant background of the East End in 2012, these unstoppable girls uncover deep secrets and create unexpected dreams.

Written by acclaimed playwright Tanika Gupta (Fragile Land, Sugar Mummies) and directed by multi award-winning director Emma Rice (The Red Shoes, Brief Encounter), Wah! Wah! Girls is co-directed by Pravesh Kumar (Britain’s Got Bhangra) with sets and costumes designed by Keith Khan.

Featuring stunning dance sequences choreographed by Bollywood master Javed Sanadi and leading Kathak choreographer Gauri Sharma Tripathi and set to a mix of classic Bollywood tracks and new music by composer Niraj Chag, Wah! Wah! Girls will draw audiences into the world of the modern British-Asian community.

 

YOU ME BUM BUM TRAIN

Part of the London 2012 festival. A part of CREATE 12

Co-commissioned by the Barbican, London with CREATE and Theatre Royal Stratford East

Supported by Arts Council England and Canary Wharf Group. Created by Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd

LIMITED PRESS TICKETS AVAILABLE

Location: East London, details to be announced

Dates: Friday 22 June – Monday 27 August 2012
Sold out to the general public.

Theatre Royal Stratford East has secured 300 tickets for Newham residents. A further 200 tickets will be available to people who have not experienced theatre before.

In an exhilarating, participatory adventure, you are the sole audience member - a passenger who journeys through a maze of live scenes featuring over 200 performers. You will be catapulted into unimaginable situations before being returned to the outside world, breathless, invigorated and left wanting more. The intensity of the journey is enhanced as audience members ride solo throughout the performance, making for an unforgettable experience. Artists Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd originally created You Me Bum Bum Train in 2004 and the piece has been evolving ever since. Last year, they won the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award, an annual prize that aims to encourage a new generation of creative artists working on bold, innovative and challenging projects.

Age restriction: 16+

 

en route

Part of the London 2012 festival. A part of CREATE 12

Presented by Theatre Royal Stratford East, created and produced by One Step at a Time Like This and Richard Jordan Productions. Funded by the Olympic Lottery Distributor, Create and the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria, and the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body 

LIMITED PRESS TICKETS AVAILABLE

Location: Around Stratford

Dates: Monday 25 June - Saturday 21 July 2012

'A deliciously devised, surprise-laden piece of theatre-as-walking tour offers to reacquaint you with your environment.' - Time Out, Chicago. 

Theatre Royal Stratford East is proud to present en route, a love song to our city. With MP3 player and mobile phones, audiences take a journey through the thoroughfares and back alleys of East London. The winner of the 2010 award for Best Theatre Production at the Adelaide Fringe, en route combines local music and snatches of narrative, musings, sound, dialogue, philosophy with the wanderings, observations and experiences of each audience member, opening up a field for multiple ways of seeing the city, themselves, and others.

Created by Suzanne Kersten, Clair Korobacz, Paul Moir and Julian Rickert

 

BUCHAREST CALLING!

Funded in partnership with the Romanian Cultural Institute

LIMITED PRESS TICKETS AVAILABLE

Location: Stratford

Dates: June dates to be announced

Theatre Royal Stratford East is proud to announce its Artist in Residence for 2012

Ioana Păun, is a theatre director and performance artist based in Bucharest, member of the réaltympanica site-specific collective and Romanian based tangaProject theatre group.

 

She is currently working with réaltympanica on a video live-streaming project, creating site-specific reconstructions of different European realities in a foreign country. The project has a pilot phase in Pécs, Hungary, during Europe Mania Festival.  Ioana will work across all areas within Theatre Royal Stratford East and will create a new work to be presented in June 2012.

 

BT River of Music

A London 2012 Festival Project

BT River of Music is created and produced by Serious for the London 2012 Festival with significant funding support from the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor, Arts Council England and the British Council, with additional funding from Paul Hamlyn Foundation and City Bridge Trust.

Location: Tower of London Stage, River Thames, London

Dates: Saturday 21 & Sunday 22 July 2012

Prices: Free ticketed event

Stratford East Singers, a singing group led by singer and vocal coach Byron Gold, will be performing as part of BT on the River, one of 2012’s biggest cultural events. Stratford East Singers is open to everyone over 16, regardless of ability or experience. BT River of Music welcomes the world to London with a once-in-a-lifetime weekend of free music at landmarks along the River Thames the weekend before the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. A massive musical celebration, BT River of Music will feature performances by musicians representing all the Olympic and Paralympic nations, from leading international musicians and major stars to home-grown talent from across the UK. Musicians from the world's major continents will be represented across six stages: Battersea Park (Asia stage); Jubilee Gardens (Africa stage); Trafalgar Square (Europe stage); Somerset House (Europe stage); Tower of London (Americas stage) and Greenwich Old Royal Naval College (Oceania stage).