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Mary Wollstonecraft, famous for her work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, was born in London in 1759 but spent some of her early life in Beverley near Hull in Yorkshire. Playwright Maureen Lennon and actor Laura Elsworthy will together bring her back to the region in Maureen's play Mary and The Hyenas, in which Laura will play Mary. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Maureen and Laura while the play was in rehearsal in Hull about Mary's life and legacy, the continuing relevance of her message, bringing her story to life on stage and the flourishing arts scene in Yorkshire. Laura Elsworthy stars in the title role of Mary and The Hyenas by Maureen Lennon for Hull Truck Theatre and Pilot Theatre, directed by Esther Richardson with music by Billy Nomates, which runs at Hull Truck Theatre from 7 February to 1 March 2025 before transferring to Wilton's Music Hall in London from 18 to 29 March.
Today Elaine chats with playwright Maureen Lennon about her new show Dead Girls Rising, the importance of regional theatre, the power to art and artist have to ask the difficult questions and much more. Ticket details for Dead Girls Raising: https://www.silentuproarproductions.co.uk/coming-soon Maureen Lennon Maureen is a Hull based writer, a graduate from the English and Theatre Studies BA from The University of Bristol and the Writing for Performance and Publication MA from The University of Leeds. She is an Associate Artist of Middle Child Theatre, a Leeds Playhouse FUSE writer 2019, a BoxFresh Writer 2023 and Sphinx30 playwright. In 2020 her play Helen was shortlisted for the Theatre 503 International Playwriting prize. In 2018/19 she was longlisted for the Alfred Bradley Bursary for Radio Drama. Her credits include Baby He Loves You (Middle Child Theatre 2024), Helen (Theatre 503/ Terrain Theatre 2023), The Coppergate Woman (York Theatre Royal 2022), Us Against Whatever (Middle Child Theatre 2019), and Bare Skin On Briny Waters (Bellow Theatre 2017/18). She has also written work for Paines Plough, Hull Truck Theatre, Sheffield Theatres, and Pilot Theatre. Dead Girls Rising A brand-new production from Hull-based Silent Uproar, Dead Girls Rising is an angry, joyous, punk protest that doesn't pull any punches. Written by Maureen Lennon, with music and lyrics from Anya Pearson (international punk artist featured on BBC Radio 6 Introducing ), Dead Girls Rising is an explosive exploration of what it takes to live and survive within a violent patriarchy. Katie and Hannah love murder. They go to bed listening to podcasts about serial killers; they clutch blankets watching gruesome documentaries. They're in deep. They're not sure if they can stop, and they're not sure if they want to. Dead Girls Rising interrogates themes of true crime, Greek mythology, patriarchy and women's safety, with a furious soundtrack and moments of horror and magic on stage. Co-directed by Silent Uproar's Ruby Clarke and Alex Mitchell, it stars Helen Reuben, Angelina Chudi, Izzy Neish, Zoe West and Rebecca Levy. HIPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Support In The Room - https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/in-the-room Email – persistentandnasty@gmail.com Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE WeAudition offer: For 25% off your monthly subscription quote: NASTY25 Backstage Offers: Get a free 12 months Actor Subscription: https://join.backstage.com/persistentnasty-uk-12m-free/
The Smile is a trio comprising Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner. That Yorke and Greenwood are members of Radiohead assures keen interest the band. Nick Ahad talks to Jonny Greenwood about Wall of Eyes, The Smile's second album. After many years Greenwood still enjoys making music with Yorke, and drummer Tom Skinner adds to the excitement. The winner of this year's Artes Mundi prize, the UK's leading international contemporary art prize is Taloi Havinian, an artist from the Autonomous Region of Bougainvillle – an island nation in the South West Pacific. Havinian joins Front Row to discuss her work which has been described as a “visual composition of the experiences of Bougainvilleans with colonialism, mining, resistance, and land and water protection, from the 1960s to the present day.” Sexism and misogyny are rife in the music industry, a boys club where sexual harassment and abuse are common, according to a Government report. The musician Self Esteem has her say.A report from the rugged, mythical coast just outside of Newcastle, the location which inspired David Almond's A Song For Ella Grey, an award-winning novel being adapted for stage by Zoe Cooper and directed by Pilot Theatre's Esther Richardson.Presenter: Nick Ahad Producer: Ekene Akalawu
Pilot Theatre, a York-based touring company that creates theatre for young people is to tour England in February and March 2024 with an adaptation of David Almond's book A Song for Ella Grey, written by Zoe Cooper and directed by Pilot's Artistic Director, Esther Richardson. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Esther while the production was still in rehearsal about the play, its North East setting, having a TikTok star in the title role, the process of adapting a challenging novel for the stage and the current state of theatre for young people in the UK. A Song for Ella Grey will open at Northern Stage in Newcastle 1–15 February 2024, before moving to York Theatre Royal 20–24 February, Theatre Peckham 27 February to 2 March, Hull Truck Theatre 5–9 March, Liverpool Playhouse 13–16 March and Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford 19–23 March.
From discussions on Tiger Balms to South Asian Theatre, this was a funny and educational episode. The Double Bill that is THE SC SAGA. We need a night of that please Theatres! With the incredibly talented peeps Dr. Sharmila Chauhan and Satinder Chohan. In the episode we discuss: Safeguarding yourself from topics when researching or diving into the world of your play/script as a writer Who do you share the vulnerability of you as a creative with? What outlet do you use to de zone or connect? The idea of success and progression as a creative Thoughts on South Asian Theatre- it's past, present and future. South Asian Theatre companies such as Tara, Kali, Tamasha and Rifco and new organisations such as Hungama, Diet Paratha and Daytimers Digital Footprint and brand building. The Authenticity and representation of your play to be reflected in the cast and the creative team POC Dramaturgy and support for writers 3 things this industry could do with and without What do you feel like you lack or can work on in your storytelling and what is your Beacon of light. Something you know you do extremely well and no one ever will come close to that. If you know what you know now about the industry would you have entered it or worked the way you did up until now. What was your biggest expectation from your career. That you have accomplished and also let go of A bit about Sharmila: Sharmila is a screenwriter, playwright and prose writer: Her work is often a transgressive meditation on love, sex and an exploration of the diasporic experience. She is particularly interested in the intersection of sex, power and gender. She has had two short films produced and written two features: Most recently, her short film Oysters – an exploration of desire in the face of grief – was commissioned by Film London (2016) and her feature Mother Land – is currently being developed by Cinestan International and has been long-listed for the Sundance Writers' Lab. Her plays include: The Husbands (an exploration of polyandry and matriarchy in India) which toured nationally and completed its run at London's Soho theatre (Kali and Pentabus Theatre), Born Again/Purnajanam (Southwark Playhouse (exploring class, religion and female power), Kali Theatre, Jan 2012) and well as 10 Women (body image and women with Bethan Dear, Avignon Festival, France, 2014)). Shortlisted for the Asian New Writer award (2009 and 2012), Sharmila's short stories have been published widely in print and online. She is also currently working on her novel Seven Mirrors. Sharmila also has a degree in pharmacy and a PhD in clinical pharmacology from University College London. She lives in London with her husband, children and cat Tashi. A bit about Satinder: Satinder is a journalist turned playwright who grew up in Southall and graduated with an MA in English from Yale University. Her plays have been produced across the UK including UK tours of ZAMEEN with Kalí Theatre and KABADDI-KABADDI-KABADDI with Pursued By A Bear. She won the 2013 Adopt A Playwright Award to develop her play MADE IN INDIA, which completed a UK tour in 2017 with Tamasha and Belgrade Theatre in association with Pilot Theatre, directed by Katie Posner. The tour received great acclaim including an OffWestEnd award nomination and the Best Production Award at the Eastern Eye Awards. Tamasha also commissioned HALF OF ME, a large cast youth theatre piece, to tour in concert with MADE IN INDIA, which premiered at the Lyric Hammersmith in July 2016. In 2018 she co-adapted GULLIVER'S TRAVELS for the Bolton Octagon with Mike Kenny and the following year she wrote an adaptation of the novel GIRL OF INK AND STARS for Spark Arts which toured libraries and continues to be utilised in school's content. Satinder has previously had work presented by The Finborough and Paines Plough for the Vibrant Festival and Come To Where I'm From respectively and she has completed the Emerging Writer's Residency at the Traverse Theatre, won the Kalí Futures Writer Award, took part in the Kudos-Court scheme 2016 and was on attachment at the Hampstead Theatre. Satinder is one of 15 writers chosen to take part in Sphinx 30, a landmark programme for female playwrights launched to mark Sphinx's 30th anniversary, in partnership with Kalí. She is developing further plays, audio content and working on her first novel. Social: Myself: https://www.instagram.com/chaiwithrai_/ Guest: https://twitter.com/sharmilawrites Links: Myself: https://linktr.ee/chaiwithrai_ Guest: https://sharmilathewriter.com & https://www.berlinassociates.com/clients/satinder-chohan/ Hope you all enjoyed it and Thank you for tuning in. To Subscribe, share, follow my work and everything else is listed above.
In this Book Club, we talked to Sabrina Mahfouz about her book "These Bodies of Water." The novel is about imperialism, and the history of the Middle Eastern coastlines and waterways that were vital to the British Empire's hold.Sabrina Mahfouz is a British-Egyptian writer, performer and educator. Her first short play, That Boy, was performed at the Soho Theatre in 2010 and won a Westminster Prize for New Playwrights. In 2011, she was Creative in Residence at The Hospital Club. In the same year, she produced her first solo show, Dry Ice, which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and won her the Stage Award for Acting Excellence. Subsequent plays, which include Clean (2012) and Chef (2014), have been performed at the Fringe, the Soho Theatre, the Roundhouse and in New York, and have won numerous awards, including a Fringe First and an Off West End Award in 2018 for the children's show Zeraffa Giraffa. Her 2015 play With A Little Bit of Luck was also adapted as a radio drama for BBC Radio 1Xtra. Most recently, her adaptation of Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses for Pilot Theatre went on tour around the country. Her latest book, These Bodies of Water: Notes on the British Empire, the Middle East and Where We Meet, was published in 2022.Created and hosted by Mikey MuhannaEdited by: Ramzi RammanTheme music by: Tarek Yamani https://www.instagram.com/tarek_yamani/About Book Club:Book Club is an interview series that calls for afikra community members, who are interested in literature and reading, to spend time reading along with the entire community. Books in Arabic and English will be announced on afikra's reading list and the members will be asked to do the reading at home at their leisure and then join afikra for a conversation with the authors of those books. Every two weeks, a conversation will be held with an author to discuss their work and the book in particular. Individuals joining the call will be expected to have read the book and prepared questions regarding the context, motivation, and background stories. Following the interview, there is a moderated town-hall-style Q&A with questions coming from the live virtual audience on Zoom. Join the live audience: https://www.afikra.com/rsvp FollowYoutube - Instagram (@afikra_) - Facebook - Twitter Support www.afikra.com/supportAbout afikra:afikra is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region- past, present, and future - through conversations driven by curiosity. Read more about us on afikra.com
Episode: S2 Ep5 – John R Wilkinson – Empathy, Anger & Getting it Wrong Description: In this episode Ella catches up with emerging theatre director John R Wilkinson and shares thoughts on dealing with others perceptions of your most obvious traits amongst other things. John at a glance: John is a disabled theatre director who has worked with The National Theatre, the Young Vic and has a passion for dramaturgy Show Notes: audio books who is John r Wilkinson - the role of a director and dramaturg mediating allowing for communication errors diversity or platforming empathy listening when angry questions that shouldn't be asked getting it wrong the ten step question Find John: https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/john-r-wilkinson https://twitter.com/johnrwilkinson1 Who is John R Wilkinson? John is the tenth recipient of the Genesis Future Directors Award at the Young Vic. He trained on the National Theatre Directors' Course and is currently undertaking research into new work and touring companies with English Touring Theatre, Wise Children, Stockroom and the Royal Court, as part of Arts Council England's Developing Your Creative Practice. Direction: Mugabe, My Dad and Me (York Theatre Royal, English Touring Theatre, Audible.com), Bear Shaped and Amazing (Tutti Frutti Productions), Pink Skies… Vinny's Delight (Manchester Royal Exchange), Hello and Goodbye, Swallows and Amazons, Can't Stand Up For Falling Down (York Theatre Royal), Talking Heads (co-directed with James Brining and Amy Leach, Leeds Playhouse), Winter (Young Vic). Associate Direction: NT Connections 2020-21 (National Theatre), Sunshine on Leith (Leeds Playhouse – UK Tour). He is a Trustee of Stage Directors UK, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Pilot Theatre and Middle Child. Learn more about Ella - https://www.ellajarmanpinto.com/ This podcast was produced by RogueSpirit Productions - message to see how they can help you produce your podcast - david@roguespirit.co.uk
Pilot Theatre is based in York in the UK, but for its latest project has collaborated with an Australian playwright on an adaptation of an Australian novel. The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon has received award nominations for both the Carnegie and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for a story about a young refugee born in an Australian permanent detention centre. The adaptation has been written by S Shakthidharan and will be directed by Pilot's Artistic Director, Esther Richardson. Esther and Shakthi spoke to BTG Editor David Chadderton about the process of adapting the novel from opposite sides of the world, how refugees are treated in Australia and the UK and creating work both for and in collaboration with young audiences. The Bone Sparrow from Pilot Theatre will open at York Theatre Royal on 25 February 2022 then tour to Theatre Royal Bury St Edmonds, Derby Theatre, Belgrade Theatre Coventry and Mercury Theatre Colchester before ending at Theatre Peckham in April.
Pilot Theatre is to tour the UK with Crongton Knights by Alex Wheatle in an adaptation by Emteaz Hussain co-directed by Pilot’s Artistic Director, Esther Richardson, and Corey Campbell, Artistic Director of Strictly Arts Theatre Company, with music by beatbox champion Conrad Murray. BTG Editor David Chadderton spoke to Esther and Corey during rehearsals for the production at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry about the play’s story and themes, and also about the financial implications of producing new work, creating work for young audiences and getting them to come and see it when schools are struggling for funds, the challenges of touring and about getting actors to beatbox. Crongton Knights will run at the Belgrade Theatre from 8 to 22 February 2020 before touring to York Theatre Royal, Brighton Theatre Royal, The Lowry in Salford, Derby Theatre, Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield and ending at Theatre Peckham in May. (Image of Esther Richardson and Corey Campbell: Sharron Wallace Photography)
NOUGHTS & CROSSES Episode 7 - Stratford East Podcast We're chatting with actors Kimisha Lewis and Jack Condon about being in Pilot Theatre's production of NOUGHTS & CROSSES. We also spoke with Pilot Theatre about the NOUGHTS & CROSSES YOUNG PEOPLE'S FESTIVAL, taking place at Stratford East on Mon 29 Apr. NOUGHTS & CROSSES Wed 24 Apr - Sat 04 May 2019 NOUGHTS & CROSSES YOUNG PEOPLE'S FESTIVAL Mon 29 Apr 2019 Tickets: http://stratfordeast.com/whats-on/all-shows/noughts-and-crosses-young-peoples-festival
A new consortium has been formed to produce new theatre for young audiences, including Pilot Theatre, Derby Theatre, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Mercury Theatre Colchester and York Theatre Royal. The first production to come out of this collaboration will be a new adaptation of former Children's Laureate Malorie Blackman's hard-hitting YA novel Noughts and Crosses, which raised issues or racism and forbidden love in an alternative version of our own world. For this episode, director Esther Richardson of Pilot Theatre spoke to BTG Midlands Editor Steve Orme on the process of adapting this popular novel to the stage, and then actors Billy Harris and Heather Agyepong, who play the two leading roles, discussed their parts in the play.
How do you transpose live theatre into a digital product? York-based Pilot Theatre share their process and discovery of translating Traitor from site specific show to virtual reality experience. Find out more about the project and track its progress to launch here: https://goo.gl/FmdTzX You can follow Lucy on Twitter @lucy_Hammo @Pilot_Theatre
Mark Smith talks to Esther Richardson, Bryony Lavery and Hannah Peel in a busy York Theatre Royal café about Pilot Theatre’s new adaptation of Brighton Rock. They discuss the appeal of Brighton Rock’s morally complex underworld, getting younger people into regional theatres, creating a musical and choreographic world for the play, and how the company set out to look at Graham Greene’s classic story through a lens which is both contemporary and of the time. Director Esther Richardson has been the Artistic Director of Pilot since February 2016. Her previous theatre work has included productions at theatres throughout the UK, including Soho Theatre, Cast in Doncaster, Tamasha Theatre, Royal and Derngate, Nottingham Playhouse, Bolton Octagon, and many more. Adapter Bryony Lavery is a renowned playwright whose work is regularly performed internationally. She is a prolific writer and adapter, whose plays include Stockholm, Beautiful Burnout and The Believers for Frantic Assembly, Queen Coal for Sheffield Crucible and Treasure Island at the National Theatre. She has also written numerous adaptations which have premièred at York Theatre Royal, including most recently the adaptation of Brideshead Revisited for the York Theatre Royal and English Touring Theatre’s 2016 production. Hannah Peel is a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter, composer and arranger, who has recorded as a solo artist as well as with band The Magnetic North and various other high-profile collaborators. She has created scores and co-composed for dance theatre performances at Sadler's Wells and for television. Brighton Rock runs at York Theatre Royal until 3 March 2018 and then tours to Brighton, Colchester, Hull, Cheltenham, Winchester, Watford, Birmingham, Newcastle, Mold, Derby and finally The Lowry Salford Quays. (Photo of Esther Richardson, Bryony Lavery and Hannah Peel by John Saunders.)
Mark Smith talks to Juliet Forster, Associate Director of York Theatre Royal, and Katie Posner, Associate Director of Pilot Theatre, about their latest large-scale community production, Everything Is Possible: The York Suffragettes. This new play is written by Bridget Foreman and based on the true stories of militant suffragettes in York, centring on the real-life figure of Annie Seymour Pearson. The role is to be played by award-winning actress Barbara Marten, who also unearthed the stories and presented the project to the theatre. Forster and Posner talk about their work together on a number of large-scale productions, the research behind this latest collaboration, and the links they've been finding between the century-old story of the Suffrage movement and present-day political contexts. A co-production between York Theatre Royal and Pilot Theatre, Everything is Possible runs from 20 June to 1 July at York Theatre Royal. "There's a real feeling of dissatisfaction with political systems, and one response to that is to go 'what's the point in voting then?'... but another is to exercise our voice and to make some noise."
York-based Pilot Theatre has collaborated with York Theatre Royal on a new adaptation of a dystopian science fiction story, The Machine Stops by E M Forster. The adaptation is by Bolton-based playwright Neil Duffield, who speaks to us about adapting science fiction for the stage, the remarkable resonances that this 1909 story has with our world of social media and the world-wide web and making a living as a playwright for more than thirty years. The Machine Stops by Neil Duffield with music by John Foxx and Benge, directed by Juliet Forster, will be performed at York Theatre Royal from 13 May to 4 June 2016 followed by a short tour to The Point in Eastleigh on 8 and 9 June and New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth on 10 and 11 June before appearing at Platform Shift + festival in Budapest from 15 to 19 June. (Image of Neil Duffield by Anthony Robling)
York-based Pilot Theatre is currently in rehearsals for Outsiders, a new re-imagining of Albert Camus’ novel L’Etranger. The play is written by Emteaz Hussain and staged by the Australian director Fraser Corfield. It works around the spare narrative of the original to focus on two marginalised female characters, Marie and Sumaya, exploring the experience of migration and the impact of trauma in the lives of these two women. In this episode, director Fraser Corfield and performers Lou Broadbent and Sara Sadeghi talk to BTG’s Mark Smith about the process of creating this new piece as a cross-cultural collaboration and discuss the relevance of the play in the light of the current political climate around immigration and migration. The production opens at CAST in Doncaster from 24 to 26 September 2015 before touring through autumn to the University of York, Barnsley Civic, Derby Theatre, Liverpool Playhouse, Canada Water in London, Hull Truck, the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield and the Tobacco Factory in Bristol. (Rehearsal shots of actors Sara Sadaghi and Lou Broadbent and director Fraser Corfield in rehearsals for Outsiders credit Sam Johnson.)
York-based Pilot Theatre’s latest project is an adaptation by British playwright Roy Williams of the Greek classic play Antigone by Sophocles. In this episode, Pilot artistic director Marcus Romer, who is directing this production, talks about how the project came about, how they have approached this ancient Greek play, working with Roy Williams and about the work and philosophy of Pilot Theatre Company. Antigone from Pilot Theatre opens at Derby Theatre on 19 September 2014, then goes to Northern Stage in Newcastle, Nottingham Lakeside Arts, Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield, York Theatre Royal, Watford Palace Theatre, Gulbenkian in Canterbury, Theatre Royal Winchester, Exeter Northcott Theatre, finishing at Theatre Royal Stratford East on 14 March 2015. For more information, see www.pilot-theatre.com.