CityLife

Re:Play Festival 2010: Highlights

Care Takers

THE Library Theatre Company’s Re:Play Festival has revealed details of their annual celebration of the best plays seen in smaller venues in Manchester and Salford over the previous year. They’ve just announced the line-up for their third festival, running from January 26 to February 6, 2010.

The programme features four plays from the 24:7 Festival, many of them already nominated in this year’s MEN Theatre Awards, along with a selection of short plays (none lasting more than 15 minutes) from another MEN Theatre Award-nominated event JB Shorts.

There are also productions of Herons, written by Simon Stephens, the MEN Theatre Award-winning writer of Punk Rock; and a wonderfully passionate piece about homophobic bullying, called Care Takers.

The short festival also sees the return of two favourites – FirstStage, which offers writers, devisers and performers the chance to test and hone their ideas in development; and the Re:Play debate, examining an important aspect of small-scale theatre in Manchester and Salford.

The first production (on January 26 at 7pm, January 27 at 9pm and January 28 at 7pm) is Claire Unwin’s No Wonder, presented by Heart Off Guard Theatre Company and directed by Guy Jones.

A hit at this year’s National Student Drama Festival as well as 24:7, this challenging play is ‘a fairytale for people who’ve stopped using fairytales’.

Also starting on January 26 is Alistair McDowall’s MEN Theatre Award-nominated 5:30, directed by Clive Judd. It’s a compelling and at times terrifying piece set on a train, charting the unlikely friendship between two passengers Rob and Tim. 5:30 is on January 26 at 9pm, January 27 at 7pm and January 28 at 9pm.

Cell, Care Takers, Herons

Cell, by Ailís Ní Ríain and directed by Paula Simms, runs from Thursday 28 at 3pm until Saturday 30 at 7pm, with a performance also on Friday at 9pm.

It’s an intense, witty and sometimes disturbing look into a day in the life of a bright but damaged young Irishman whose life experiences now see him living as a recluse in his parents’ house, with an imaginary alter-ego questioning his every decision.

In Care Takers, written and directed by Billy Cowan, a new teacher believes a pupil is being bullied because he’s gay. 

She wants to help but her deputy head thinks it will sort itself out. Is she speaking from experience or is there something more unsavoury about her unwillingness to help?

Performances are on Friday 29 at 7pm, and on Saturday 30 at 3pm and 9pm.

Herons, written by Stockport-born MEN Theatre Award winner Simon Stephens and directed by Clive Judd, is a stark portrayal of modern teenage life, as seen at the National Student Drama Festival 2009, in which the effects of a tragic event are unravelled.

It makes for a fascinating counterpoint to Stephens’ hit Punk Rock and runs on February 2 and 3 at 7.30pm as well as February 4 at 3pm.

Exit Salford, Banal Encounter, Marriages Made In Heaven, Can We Stop It There? , At The End Of The Day

Exit Salford, by Ed Jones and directed by Martha Simon, tells the tale of an unlikely friendship between Luke, an erstwhile TV writer, and a group of youths, who view his doorstep as their home. Luke soon discovers that in Salford the normal rules of private property don’t apply. It runs on February 4 at 9pm, February 5 at 7pm and February 6 at 8pm.

Re:Play short plays, first seen at JB Shorts, include Banal Encounter, by Peter Kerry and directed by Chris Bridgman; Marriages Made In Heaven by Dave Simpson and directed by Kay Patrick; Can We Stop It There?, by Trevor Suthers and directed by Brainne Edge; and At The End Of The Day, written and directed by James Quinn.

The JB Shorts Bundle is on Thursday February 4 at 7pm, Friday February 5 at 9pm, and Saturday February 6 at 6pm.

FirstStage on Monday February 1 at 7.30pm offers writers, devisers and performers the chance to have their ideas in development tested in front of fellow theatre professionals – and the general public.

FirstStage is curated by Nicky Hatton and Claire Symonds, who will present a selection of new ideas from nearly 100 ideas submitted.

On Saturday February 6 at 3pm, Wyllie Longmore chairs the Re:Play debate which puts small-scale theatre in Manchester and Salford under the microscope.

The afternoon’s panel will comprise some of the city’s leading theatre practitioners, and all interested parties welcome to attend this free event.

Re:Play Festival 2010 tickets cost £8.50, or £8 concessions; if you see two or more shows, tickets cost just £8 or £7.50 concessions. Tickets for FirstStage are £3.