Megan Swaisland, Rachel Lea-Gray and Jazz Evans will head the cast of Pigs Might Fly, which is embarking on a UK tour that will take in Theatre Peckham and New Wimbledon Theatre.
The bold and energetic new musical follows the air-raising adventures of Pintsize (Swaisland), the youngest and most daring piglet on Mudpuddle Farm. Pintsize loves nothing more than playing with his neighbour and best friend Diana the sheep, until one day Pintsize wakes up to discover a tall fence built between their two farms.
Devastated by the loss of playtime with his best pal, Pintsize resolves that he will figure out how to fly over it instead. Can his determination and ingenuity defy the laws of physics? Will crotchety Farmer Rafferty (Evans) finally make peace with his neighbour, Farmer Brightwell (Lea-Gray)? Can Albertine the clever goose keep Pintsize from hurting himself as he tries to fly?
From DEM Productions and based on Michael Morpurgo’s Mudpuddle Farm, book, music and lyrics are by Caroline Wigmore and Jen Green. It is directed by Kate Golledge.
Pigs Might Fly has choreography by Chris Whittaker (Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Gatsby) and set and costume design by Stewart J Charlesworth (From Here To Eternity, The Dark).
The show will start its UK Tour on May 24, 2023 at Theatre Peckham before arriving at New Wimbledon Theatre on June 3-4.
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).
Former JLS star Aston Merrygold, who recently appeared on TV in The Masked Singer, has joined the touring cast of Footloose the Musical.
Merrygold will play Willard in the show, which will stop at the New Wimbledon Theatre between August 15-20.
He said: “Willard is a superb role and I’m really looking forward to the challenge of stepping into such a lovable, comedy part and performing on these amazing stages. Footloose is just the best night out and I guarantee if you come along you’ll leave with a spring in your step and a smile on your face. I’m so looking forward to working with this team and I can’t wait to see you all there.”
The rest of the cast includes Darren Day as Reverend Moore with Lucy Munden (Ariel), Oonagh Cox (Rusty), Anna Westlake (Lulu) Alex Fobbester (Bickle) Ben Barrow (Wes) Ben Mabberley (Jeter) Geri Allen (Ethel) Holly Ashton (Vi), Jess Barker (Wendy-Jo) Joshua Hawkins (Ren) Samantha Richards (Urleen) Tom Mussell (Chuck) and Daniel Miles and Lucy Ireland as off-stage swings.
In Footloose, city boy Ren thinks life is bad enough when he’s forced to move to a rural backwater in America. But his world comes to a standstill when he arrives at Bomont to find dancing and rock music are banned. Taking matters into his own hands, soon Ren has all hell breaking loose and the whole town on its feet.
Based on the 1980s film, Footloose The Musical blends cutting edge modern choreography with classic 80s hits including Holding Out for a Hero, Almost Paradise, Let’s Hear It For The Boy and the iconic title track Footloose.
Footloose The Musical is presented by Selladoor Productions, Runaway Entertainment and Jason Haigh Ellery with casting by Debbie O’Brien, direction by Racky Plews, with choreography from Matt Cole, musical supervision by Mark Crossland, design by Sara Perks with lighting design from Chris Davey and sound design from Chris Whybrow.
