New Wimbledon Theatre is bringing back its Premieres season for 2022 as part of its new writing initiative.
This autumn, the venue’s studio will host three world premiere productions curated by theatre administrator and events programmer Emma Brack. They include Ballooniana! by Alexander Knott; Turning the Screw, by Kevin Kelly; and Don’t Shoot the Meistersinger, by Graham Hill.
Brack said: “Through our Premieres season, we aim to provide an opportunity for theatre-makers to see their work on its feet and fully staged for the very first time, whilst delivering some top-quality and compelling productions for our Wimbledon audiences. We are incredibly proud to announce the return of our Premieres season following last year’s successful runs, with three brand new titles. We cannot wait to see what our next three productions bring!”
All three full-length productions will run at the Studio at New Wimbledon Theatre for 12 strictly limited performances each, in September, October and November respectively.
Here’s more details of each show:
Ballooniana! by Alexander Knott
BoxLess Theatre
Thursday, September 22 to Saturday, October 1, 2022
On November 21st in the year of our lord 1783, Jacques and Joseph Montgolfier watched a creation that was lighter than air soar away from them, in an effort to touch the face of God. Intentionally or not, this single action, this untethering of our collective dreams, led to us taking flight, in constant pursuit of the unattainable, and the unknown.
BoxLess take the story of the creation of the hot air balloon, and meld it with their signature physical theatre, original music and spoken word poetry, performed by the ensemble. This story could be dry. This story could be dusty. We promise it won’t be. The human race is taking flight. Untethered. A carnival of creativity, a celebration of what mankind can achieve, told by two female performers playing the Montgolfier brothers, with live original music and musicians, physical theatre and balloons. A celebration of liveness, aliveness and live theatre. A cloud in a paper bag.
Cast & Creatives: Written & Directed by Alexander Knott. Performed by Zöe Grain, Freya Sharp, James Demaine and Samuel Heron. Original Music Composed & Performed Live by James Demaine & Samuel Heron. Movement & Additional Devising by the Company.
Turning The Screw by Kevin Kelly
K-Squared Productions
Thursday, October 20 to Saturday, October 29, 2022
It’s 1954 and Benjamin Britten is working on a new opera about purity and innocence. He’s in an illegal gay relationship with Peter Pears so they mustn’t draw attention to themselves.
The star of the opera, a roguish 12-year-old choirboy, is coming to stay with them and he has other things on his mind. Someone’s going to get hurt and someone might end up in jail. A play about love, music, and memory.
Directed by Tim McArthur.
Don’t Shoot The Meistersinger by Graham Hill
Profugo Theatre Company
Thursday, November 3 to Saturday, November 12, 2022
Christmas 1914. Carol singing in the trenches. A football match in No Mans Land. Enemies coming together as friends. The inordinate power of the human spirit.
Yeah, yeah. You know all that. Now find out what you don’t know (and probably don’t need to).
All join up for a game of war. No girls!
But hang on a minute…
