Fierce Festival 2015

Fierce returns to Birmingham from 7-11 October 2015 with a mix of live art, music, dance, installation and the infamous Fierce parties alongside eight UK premieres.

Simone Aughterlony will present Supernatural, a dance piece exploring gender roles that has been well received at festivals in Europe and the USA, and is hotly anticipated in the UK.

In Happiness Forgets, performer Season Butler will re-enact the opening sequence of all seven series of 1990s TV classic The Cosby Show, which feature the Huxtable family doing a series of dance moves.

Summer in Southside 2015 – 29-30 August

Southside springs to life again in August with a packed weekend of fun for Summer in Southside with entertainers from the UK and overseas heading to Hippodrome Square, Arcadian Piazza, Hurst St and Inge Street.

Here’s what they have so far…

BE FESTIVAL 2015, 23 – 27 June at The Rep, Birmingham

Turning the notion of conventional theatre upside down and blurring the boundary between audience and artist BE Festival opens its doors to 20 of Europe’s most daring, innovative and experimental theatre, dance and circus groups this June.

The week long festival take place across the Rep’s various stages and back-stage areas and offers a unique programme of European theatre, dance, comedy, circus, music, visual and performing arts. Running day and night there are a wide variety of activities and shows for everyone.

One of the festival’s many quirks include their now infamous interval dinner events (pictured); The REP’s main stage makes way for a pop-up restaurant and audience members, actors and staff are invited to enjoy a meal together under the spotlights during the interval. 

Les Ballets Trockadero De Monte Carlo (The Trocks)

After sell-out performances in 2008, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (or The Trocks as their known by their fans and groupies) are returning to Birmingham’s Hippodrome. Where they will hit the stage with their unique spin on famous classical ballet pieces.

Six Summer Saturdays

Various locations across Birmingham City Centre
sixsummersaturdays.com
Saturday’s in August

Every Saturday in August Birmingham Hippodrome will take over the city as the streets are animated with the best in outdoor entertainment, with physical theatre and circus bringing stories directly to you.  Scheduled shows will take place on the piazza in front of the theatre and at other locations, including Arcadian Centre, High Street and Cathedral Gardens.

Six Summer Saturdays kicked off on 24 July, as part of the celebrations for the Cultural Olympiad Open Weekend 2010, with Come On, Vogue – a day of showing off as the audience was challenged to find their inner diva and perform on the catwalk.

Two World Premieres from Stan’s Cafe

Internationally acclaimed theatre company Stan’s Cafe return  to the Midlands Arts Centre (mac) tonight to present their new show Tuning Out with Radio Z.

The show follows the fortunes of two presenters as they broadcast an extraordinary late-night radio show. That radio show will be webcast live from the mac to audience members at home and played through the venue’s public address system. Following two hours of radio-only performance the theatre doors will open and the show intensifies to become a powerful piece of improvised theatre running for a further four hours.

For the show’s duration audience members both live and online are invited to help write the show as it is performed, by submitting text via SMS, email or www.radioz.co.uk. True Night Owls should visit on Friday when the theatre doors open at 9pm and the show runs through until 1am on Saturday.

If that isn’t enough for Stan’s Cafe fans then their second World Premiere at mac is May is I See With My Eyes Closed, a collaboration with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) and composer Michael Wolters. The piece is cloaked in secrecy but will be somewhere between a theatre show and a concert.

James Yarker, Artistic Director of Stan’s Cafe said:

“We’ve always had a close relationship with mac so it’s great to have the venue back. That they’ve been prepared to take these two quite radical shows from us suggests that the audience should be in for an exciting ride.”

Tuning Out With Radio Z – 13 – 15 May 2010
Thursday 13 and Saturday 15 May –  17.00 – 23.00 – (17.00 – 19.00 Webcast Only)
Friday 14 May – 21.00 – 01.00 – (19.00 – 21.00 Webcast Only)
Tickets £12 Full Price, £9 Concessions

I See With My Eyes Closed – Monday 24 May 2010, 7.30pm
Tickets £14 Full Price, £8 Concessions
This performance will be preceded by Families@4 from 4pm, a bite-sized interactive concert by Michael Wolters for young people aged 7 and above and their families. Tickets for Families@4 are free for under 16s and just £4 for adults.

More information and tickets for both performances can be obtained from
mac, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, B12 9QH
Sales and Information: 0121 446 3232

Calling all would-be Superstars!

The Grand Theatre,
Wolverhampton
Sunday 16th May

Capitalising on the recent spurt of Andrew Lloyd Webber television shows, focussed on finding stars for forthcoming productions, the West Bromwich Operatic Society have begun their own recruitment process. More akin to the X-Factor, the search is to fill the roles of Jesus and Judas in their upcoming production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Auditions will take place on Sunday the 16th May and the successful applicants will be thrust into rehearsals of the show which will feature at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from the 26th to 30th October,  moving on to the Alexander Theatre from the 2nd to 6th November. The play itself, created by Tim Rice and Lloyd Webber, explores the interpersonal struggles of Judas Iscariot and Jesus of Nazareth focussing on the seven days leading to the crucifixion of Jesus.

Vicky Price of The Grand Theatre said of the recruitment program:

‘The roles of Jesus and Judas are extremely vocally demanding. We encourage singers of all persuasions to audition including Rock singers, whose strength of voice would be a welcome addition to this exciting production.’

For more details contact the WBOS to register interest

Pride And Prejudice at the Birmingham Rep

Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice comes to Birmingham for a short time. The classic romantic comedy about marriage and class tells the story of the Bennet sisters and their search for suitable husbands.