HIT
MUSICAL
'REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL'
LAUNCHES NATIONAL TOUR AT THE NEW WOLSEY THEATRE, IPSWICH
Thursday 9 to Saturday 18 February
Following
a hugely successful run in Ipswich and London in 2010,
Graeae and the New Wolsey Theatre’s critically acclaimed
production of Reasons To Be Cheerful will hit the road
in Spring 2012. Kicking off a 1633 mile national tour
on 9 February at the New Wolsey Theatre, the show will
go on to play Cornwall, Hull, Watford, Dundee, Hackney
and Nottingham.
Written
by Paul Sirett and directed by Graeae’s Artistic
Director Jenny Sealey, this high-energy coming of age
tale set in 1979 celebrates the infectious music of Ian
Dury and the Blockheads. Featuring classic songs including
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick; Plaistow Patricia; Sex
and Drugs and Rock and Roll; Sweet Gene Vincent; Spasticus
Autisticus and the titular Reasons to be Cheerful, this
new musical was first performed in Autumn 2010 at the
New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich and Theatre Royal Stratford
East.
As
the original disabled activist and musician, Ian Dury
was a patron, staunch supporter and advocate of Graeae.
The extraordinary wit and wisdom of Dury’s music
and lyrics are brought to life by an exceptional cast
of 13 actors and musicans. Almost all of the company will
reprise their roles for the 2012 UK Tour. Paula Faircloth
will join the company on drums.
Part
gig, part play, this gritty production is set in 1979
when Labour lost to the Tories, strikes rocked the nation,
and Ian Dury and the Blockheads’ Reasons to be Cheerful
(Part 3) climbed the charts. Die-hard fans Vinnie and
his mates are desperate to see Ian Dury and the Blockheads
at the Hammersmith Odeon, except the gig sold out weeks
ago. However life has a habit of throwing strange things
at you, and one night of frustration becomes something
else entirely...
Graeae
is a force for change in world-class theatre - breaking
down barriers, challenging preconceptions and boldly placing
Deaf and disabled artists centre stage. Artistically led
by Jenny Sealey, Graeae’s signature characteristic
is the compelling creative integration of sign language
and audio description, which engages brilliantly with
both disabled and non-disabled audiences. Championing
accessibility and providing a platform for new generations
of artists, Graeae leads the way in pioneering, trail-blazing
theatre.
Jenny Sealey has recently been appointed Co-Artistic Director
of the Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony 2012.
Reasons to be Cheerful will offer workshop programmes
to groups that visit the show. Suitable for: Participants
aged 14 and above. Workshops can be adapted to suit students
at BTEC, Diploma, A Level, and Higher Education degree
level. For more information, or to book a workshop please
contact Nadine Renton on 020 7613 6900.
All
performances include captioned dialogue, BSL-interpreted
songs and audio description.
www.reasonstobecheerfulthemusical.co.uk
Tickets
for performances at the New Wolsey can be booked online
at www.wolseytheatre.co.uk
or by calling the Box Office on 01473 295900.
CARYL
CHURCHILL'S 'TOP GIRLS'
DIRECTED BY OUT-OF-JOINT'S
MAX STAFFORD CLARK
COMES TO THE NEW WOLSEY THEATRE, IPSWICH
Tuesday
21 to Saturday 25 February 2012
Caryl Churchill’s
inventive and groundbreaking play Top Girls will tour
from January to March 2012, following its sell-out run
at Chichester Festival Theatre and triumphant West End
transfer.
It’s
Thatcher’s England and hard-nosed, go-getting businesswoman
Marlene is hosting a dinner party to celebrate her promotion
to MD of the Top Girls Employment Agency. Her guests are
all powerful and eccentric women from myth and history,
making for an extraordinary gathering and one of the most
famous and colourful openings of any play. As Top Girls
takes us back in time through Marlene’s story, it
becomes a provocative study of success, the compromises
Marlene has made and, chillingly, what happens to those
who get left behind.
Caroline
Catz will play Marlene. She is well known from playing
Louisa in five series of Doc Martin, with other long-term
roles on The Vice, Murder in Suburbia and All Quiet on
the Preston Front and appearances in Marple and Hotel
Babylon. West End theatre work includes Out of Joint’s
Shopping and F***ing, and Six Degrees of Separation. The
cast also includes Helen Bradbury, Alix Dunmore, Esther
Ruth Elliott, Victoria Gee, Emmy Sainsbury and Kirsten
Hazel Smith.
Out
of Joint’s Artistic Director Max Stafford-Clark
returns to Top Girls having directed its premiere at the
Royal Court in 1982. He has been Artistic Director of
the Royal Court and Traverse Theatres and co-founded the
Joint Stock Theatre Group. He also collaborated with Caryl
Churchill on Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Cloud Nine,
Serious Money and Blue Heart. Other projects for Out of
Joint include Shopping and F***ing by Mark Ravenhill,
The Permanent Way by David Hare, Talking to Terrorists
by Robin Soans, a world-touring Macbeth, and recently
A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson, Richard Bean’s The
Big Fellah and Stella Feehily’s Bang Bang Bang.
Tickets
for performances at the New Wolsey can be booked online
at www.wolseytheatre.co.uk
or by calling the Box Office on 01473 295900.
