World firsts for city theatre.
2016 brings a trio of new plays – two world premières plus one UK première – to The Door at Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
Abuelo (14th-16th January) by local writer and performer Amahra Spence follows one woman’s quest to trace the legacy of her grandfather. It tells the story of a 20-something Birmingham native with an identity crisis, on a quest to find herself and explore her heritage, through the legacy of her jolly, gambling, allotment-obsessed, storytelling grandfather.
Abuelo follows the journey of a young black woman experiencing change, with little sense of identity. But Grandad is undoubtedly sure of himself, despite leaving everything behind in the Caribbean at the age of 16 to make a new life in Great Britain. So what can we learn from generations? What do we inherit? What is culture? Is there something in the art of storytelling?
Amahra Spence is a Birmingham born-and-raised arts fanatic, with a background in music, poetry and theatre. She studied drama at the University of Worcester and was successful in joining The REP’s Foundry artist development programme in 2014. This is her debut show which was developed through the REP Foundry and is directed by rising star Daniel Bailey.
Sarah Baker-Hamilton’s Lady Lust (21st-23rd January) is a fresh, open and honest investigation into what it means to be a woman in the 21st century.
Also created in the REP Foundry, Lady Lust is the highly anticipated first full-length show from Sarah Hamilton Baker and is directed by fellow REP Foundry artist, Anna Poole. Using pornography and her own sex-life as a starting point, Sarah attempts to define what it means to be a woman today. It’s refreshingly truthful but a little bit awkward, an open and honest way of discussing things we’re not usually that open and frank about.
The final new play in The DOOR during January is award-winning French artist, Mohamed El Khatib’s haunting but often funny A Beautiful Ending (26th-27th January)
Mohamed set out to write a story based on interviews with his mother. But when she passed away, he was left with a void in his life and a story without an end. Left with snapshots of a life, newspaper extracts, old emails, telephone messages, videos and recordings Mohamed El Khatib weaves them together to delicately conjure up memories as he comes to terms with his loss.
Mohamed El Khatib’s A Beautiful Ending was a hit at last year’s Avignon Festival and he is now acclaimed as one of the leading voices in French contemporary theatre. A Beautiful Ending is an unforgettable and humorous account of a monumental moment in his life.
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