A two week celebration of theatre will highlight the best of West Midlands’ creativity this March.
Theatre Fever includes over 30 shows in Birmingham, the Black Country, Solihull and Coventry, including eight special commissions from some of the region’s most exciting talent.
The West Midlands has a thriving theatre scene, with many playwrights, producers and actors choosing to forge their careers in the region. Nationally, as many people watch live theatre as attend English Premiership and Football League matches combined*. Theatre Fever will draw attention to this key part of the region’s economic and cultural life with a busy programme of shows by both established and emerging theatre companies.
Theatre Fever includes several new works, including Soul City Arts’ If Walls Could Speak at mac birmingham, a story of how the Birmingham ward of Sparkbrook has been a gateway into the city for generations of migrants. Coventry-based Talking Birds make a rare return to the theatre when they present We’re Only Here Today, at mac birmingham, whilst Theatre Absolute’s Always is a tiny, ten-minute piece made for just 15 audience members at a time.
Much of Theatre Fever can be found in unusual places. Award-winning Women & Theatre premiere their new 15 minute play Something Out Of The Ordinary in the Co-op car park in Stirchley, Birmingham, whilst Tin Box will invite audiences to meet Maggie, a lady with many stories, in pubs across Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. There is even work for people who don’t want to leave home, with Palimpsest City by Bohdan Piasecki who invites you to navigate his digital city to find new poetry.
Fresh new talent will sit alongside some of the region’s most establish companies. Kindle Theatre present their dramatic rock-chick gig The Furies in the former industrial unit @AE Harris, whilst internationally-renowned Stan’s Café premiere The Anatomy of Melancholy at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry.
Theatre Fever has been organised by Holding Space, a consortium of arts organisations who help theatre to flourish in the West Midlands.
Holding Space comprises Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Black Country Touring, mac birmingham, Stan’s Café and Warwick Arts Centre.
Theatre Fever programme:
Theatre Fever runs from 9 – 24 March 2013 at venues around Birmingham, the Black Country and Coventry. Full listings available at www.theatrefever.co.uk from Wednesday 20 February.
9 March
Middle Ground Theatre Company
Cadfael: The Virgin In The Ice
A classic medieval murder mystery.
Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
9 March
Birmingham Savoyards
HMS Pinafore and The Zoo
Gilbert & Sullivan’s best known comic opera and Sullivan’s rarely performed The Zoo.
The Old Rep, Birmingham
9 March
Alex Brockie
Inferno Kid
A dark comedy about a former professional wrestler.
@A.E. Harris, Birmingham
9 March
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Pengy
The story of two boy penguins who, against the odds, become parents.
mac birmingham
9 March
Belgrade Youth Theatre
Playlist
Are we defined by the music we listen to?
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
9 March
University Of Warwick Drama Society
Richard III
Shakespeare’s slickest, sexiest thriller.
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry
9 & 10 March
The Window Collective
Window Dressing
Exuberant fun with some unpredictable twists. All safely behind glass.
Various locations, Birmingham
9 – 16 March
Crescent Theatre Company
Kindertransport
In 1938-39, 10,000 mostly Jewish children in Nazi occupied Germany were sent to Britain.
Crescent Theatre, Birmingham
9 – 16 March
Blue Orange Arts
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
The controversial DH Lawrence classic novel adapted for the stage.
Blue Orange Theatre, Birmingham
9 – 16 March
Dungate Jury Associates
The Old Queen’s Time
A comedy written for the Old Joint Stock about love, friendship and revenge.
Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham
9 – 19 March
Tin Box
Pint Dreams
Maggie is travelling around, one pub at a time. Join her for a drink.
Various locations
9 – 24 March
Bohdan Piasecki
Palimpsest City
Navigate your way through an online city to uncover brand new poetry.
Online, see Theatre Fever website
11 – 12 March
Brian Yeats
Go And Play Further Up Your Own End
A stroll down memory lane to Birmingham’s swinging sixties.
Solihull Arts Complex
12 – 13 March
Talking Birds
We’re Only Here Today
Two strange men appear at your house and know everything about your life.
mac birmingham
12 – 15 March
Stan’s Cafe
Anatomy Of Melancholy
A 17th century self-help book reveals much about our own modern concerns and obsessions.
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry
12 – 16 March
Wolverhampton Musical Comedy Company
Footloose
The 80’s classic movie comes to the stage.
Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
12 – 16 March
Theatre Absolute
Always
A 10 minute story of the planet, inertia, desire, and deadly consequences.
Shop Front Theatre, Coventry
14 – 16 March
3 Bugs (Birmingham University Drama Society)
Nineteen Eighty Four
A dark adaptation giving George Orwell’s classic a new lease of life.
@A.E. Harris, Birmingham
14 – 28 March
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Heather Gardner
Thrilling, enigmatic, destructive, Heather Gardner brings to life one of Ibsen’s most irresistible heroines in a fresh and stylish new version.
The Old Rep, Birmingham
15 March
Temple Theatre
Unmythable
A whistle-stop tour through the greatest Greek myths ever told.
Stourbridge Town Hall
16 March
National Theatre Connections
We Lost Elijah and Mobile Phone Show
A play about Elijah and the riots. A rhapsody of rap, text, tweet and gabble.
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry
17 – 18 March
Soul City Arts
If Walls Could Speak
The story of an inner city neighbourhood told through graffiti, music and rhyme.
mac Birmingham
18 – 19 March
Highly Sprung Performance Company
The Mobile Phone Show
Jim Cartwright’s rhapsody of rap, text, tweet and gabble.
Shop Front Theatre, Coventry
18 – 24 March
Deborah Tracey
Faids, Braids And Keeping it Real
LaToya, hot shot stylist at Touching Silk Beauty Salon has stories to tell you.
Various hairdressers, Birmingham
19 March
Space To Develop
Cover Up
West London, a knife-crime and a teenage boy charged with murder.
The Edge, Birmingham
20 March
Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Hidden Histories – REP100
The Old Rep, Birmingham
An exploration of the theatre bringing to life the secret world of The REP.
21 March
The Owen Lewis Portable Theatre
The Human Race / A Mothers Ransom
A black comedy about ordinary people. A thriller featuring a harassed mother.
Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton
21 – 22 March
Unitied Artists
For Their Own Good
How we care for animals might tell us something about how we care for ourselves.
mac birmingham
23 March
Teasel Theatre
Grisly Tales From Tumblewater
Dickens meets Roald Dahl via Horrible Histories with laughs, frights and music.
The Public, West Bromwich. Supported by Black Country Touring.
23 March
Argy Bhaji Arts & Women & Theatre
Something Out Of The Ordinary
Everyday is the same, till something changes and nothing is ever the same again.
Co-op Car Park, Stirchley, Birmingham
23 March
The Fetch
East of the Sun, West Of the Moon
A tale of adventure featuring a magical white bear, a girl and an anarchic troll!
Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton. Supported by Black Country Touring.
23 March
Kindle Theatre
The Furies
A theatrical rock and metal gig for anyone who likes to let it all out.
@A.E. Harris, Birmingham
23 – 24 March
Babakas
Our Fathers
A moving, unforgiving tribute to fathers everywhere who try to do their best.
mac birmingham
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