Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Black Country Touring bring their intimate, unique and tasty play to Wolverhampton in May.
Sharanjit Bansal Photo credit Robert Day
Eat!, inspired by personal stories of war and poverty, feasts and famines takes place in the unusual setting of four caravans situated in the courtyard adjacent to the Lighthouse Media Centre, The Chubb Buildings, Wolverhampton from 22 May to 1 June.
Eat! delves into stories and memories about food – it weaves together theatre, live music, installation, beatbox and spoken word in a production that takes audiences on a unique journey inspired by many stories that have been collected from people across the West Midlands. The tasty site specific production using four caravans is based on personal accounts of what, when and how we eat and why it matters. The stories span the globe and tell of how people have discovered new worlds through food – from famine to hunger strike, persecution to celebration, anorexia to obesity.
Steve Johnstone, Director of Eat! says of the production: “The stories may have come from across the Midlands but in fact they could have originated anywhere in the world. We’ve talked and listened to people from a huge variety of backgrounds hearing about war, poverty, family celebrations and some quite unusual meals that would repulse even the hardest foodie. We’ve given a voice to some of these memories bringing to life some moving, charming and honest stories.
“We wanted the setting for Eat! to be more authentic and real than walking into a theatre. The caravans help to partition the stories into themes and locations and for audiences they’re not just on the front row of the audience they are right there in the middle of the story.”
Each performance of Eat! is restricted to 60 people, who when they arrive are divided into four groups of 15. Each group takes a seat in a caravan to watch the stories come to life, and then join together for more shared performances in the central courtyard before venturing into the next caravan. Each caravan has a very different feel to it – celebratory, a library lined with books, a gothic Victorian variety hall and one that is half garden potting shed, half food bank.
The creative team behind Eat! includes Birmingham writer Rochi Rampal, directors Steve Johnstone and Frances Land with design by Purvin and music by Sheema Mukherjee.
Steve Johnstone is the Co-Artistic Director of Black Country Touring and a freelance theatre director with over 25 years’ experience in directing professional productions. His experience of directing large and small-scale site-specific work includes productions for Pentabus, Shared Experience, Welsh National Opera, mac, Cultura Mobila as well as Apna Ghar (Our Home) and The Corner Shop for Black Country Touring.
Frances Land, also Co-Artistic Director of Black Country Touring, has toured Europe and the UK extensively with various companies including Eastern Angles, Friends Roadshow, Pentabus, and New Perspectives. Work with Foursight Theatre includes performing in Six Dead Queens, Medea, The Snow Queen, Thatcher The Musical, Can Any Mother Help Me? and co-directing Apna Ghar (2006) and The Corner Shop.
The cast includes Beatbox and spoken word artist, Sharanjit Bansil and actors, Nia Davies, Graeme Rose, Vimal Korpal and Katrina Demetraki. They are accompanied by a community choir of singers from across Wolverhampton and the West Midlands.
Eat! was first presented in Birmingham in October 2012 as part of Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s offsite season.
The REP is currently being refurbished and will reopen on September 3rd 2013.
Eat!
Feasting, Fasting, Famine and Food for Thought
Venue: Lighthouse Media Centre, The Chubb Buildings, Fryer Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1HT
Wednesday 22 May to Saturday 1 June 2013
Performance Times: 7.30pm Mon to Sat with matinees at 5.00pm on Thu 23, Sat 25, Thu 30 May and Sat 1 Jun
Tickets: £9 with concessions at £7 (plus £1 booking fee)
Please note due to the nature and setting of the production capacity is limited on all performances. Tickets must be booked in advance.
Box Office: 0121 236 4455 Book Online: birmingham-rep.co.uk
