Festival highlights to go on national tour.
Highlights of the 2015 BE FESTIVAL – one of the UK’s most exciting European theatre festivals – embarks on a UK tour this spring, introducing three of Europe’s most daring solo performers from Spain, Italy and Ireland to UK audiences. The BEST OF BE FESTIVAL tour stops off for three dates in the West Midlands including Wolverhampton’s Arena Theatre (Tuesday 19th April), Warwick Arts Centre (Tuesday 3rd May) and The Bramall at the University of Birmingham (Thursday 5th May)
The BEST OF BE FESTIVAL features a humorous and honest one-woman show about love, chemistry and excess. #sobrejulieta sees Carlota Gaviño of Grumelot, Madrid try to win our hearts in a stripped-back new take on Romeo and Juliet.
Italian company TIDA needs to stage a dance production but is bereft of cast and crew thanks to the financial crisis. Still, the show must go on, so willing audience members are recruited to take on various duties with hilarious results. A razor-sharp comedy, Quintetto was BE FESTIVAL’s 2015 first prize award-winner.
Irish performer Darragh McLoughlin invites spectators to determine what they watch, prompting their eyes to open and close during a multitude of rapid scene changes. Packed with deft circus skills and underpinned by a hidden narrative, The Whistle is genius in its simplicity.
Miguel Oyarzun, BE FESTIVAL co-director said: “These three shows were a real hit with last year’s festival crowd and we’re thrilled to be bringing them to three venues across the Midlands. The productions range from the physical to the dramatic and are humorous and incredibly engaging.”
Co-Director, Isla Aguilar also adds: “This is our fifth UK tour and this year we’re particularly excited to be presenting a refreshing one-woman’s take on Romeo and Juliet in the year that marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.”
The BEST OF BE FESTIVAL tour will also visit: Canterbury, London, Bury St Edmunds, Brecon, Reading, Oxford, Barnsley, Leeds, Huddersfield, Harrogate, Northumbria, and Bristol.
BE FESTIVAL champions emerging theatre, dance and circus artists from across Europe with an annual programme presented in Birmingham. Conceived in 2010 by Mike Tweddle, Miguel Oyarzun and Isla Aguilar, BE FESTIVAL brings together the most daring and unforgettable new performances from Europe for the festival and also UK tour.
BE FESTIVAL has a particular focus on work which transcends cultural, linguistic and artistic boundaries and supports artists in finding new and innovative ways to engage with audiences and was voted among the UK’s top 50 festivals by the Sunday Times in 2014.
www.befestival.org