Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres Robert Hastie today announces his new season for 2018.
The season opens with two premières – the regional première of Peter Morgan’s smash hit play Frost/Nixon (21 February-17 March 2018) which, following a successful London run in 2006, became a major feature film; and the world première of Chicken Soup. (8 February-3 March 2018) by Ray Castleton and Kieran Knowles – the latter of whom returns to Sheffield Theatres after the success of Operation Crucible.
This is followed by a collaboration with the Donmar Warehouse, where Hastie is also Associate Director, with a co-production of Peter Gill’s The York Realist (27 March-7 April 2018). The production runs at the Donmar from 8 February to 24 March before transferring to Sheffield Theatres where it completes its run.
Resident Associate Director Javaad Alipoor directs the American classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and then fellow Associate Director Caroline Steinbeis directs Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information in celebration of the playwright’s 80th birthday.
Sheffield People’s Theatre return with a new musical – Songs From the Seven Hills inspired by the local community, written by Scott Gilmour, John Hollingworth and Claire McKenzie.
Also this season are co-productions: Rent Party, a production with Darren Pritchard Dance, commissioned by Homotopia, and Our Country’s Good, a pro-production with Ramps on the Moon.
Also announced today are two major new initiatives – the first, New Roots, led by Alipoor to reach a more diverse younger audience; and Launch Pad which will engage with adults with learning difficulties.
Robert Hastie commented:
“Our new season brings together a collection of plays that explore the impact of the personal on the political, and vice versa. In the regional premiere of Frost/Nixon we have a play that speaks to the moment while connecting us with a pivotal period in our collective history, and in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest we explore the complexities of mental health and masculinity at a moment when those issues feel particularly pressing. The world premiere of Chicken Soup follows the South Yorkshire women who kept a struggling mining community standing during the 1984 strikes and still keep the city’s food banks open today, and Rent Party harnesses the ferocious spirit of the Harlem renaissance with a wild night of music and performance.”
“I’m passionate about creating work with and for our communities and this year, our annual Sheffield People’s Theatre project will also be by the people of Sheffield. Devising a brand new musical with a brilliant writing and composing team will present a new and thrilling challenge for SPT and I can’t wait to see Songs from the Seven Hills develop over the next twelve months.
“We’re proud to be celebrating Caryl Churchill’s 80th birthday by producing the regional première of her brilliant dissection of the ways we connect and find meaning in our daily lives, Love and Information. And in The York Realist, I will be directing a play by another of our greatest playwrights, Peter Gill, which explores the tension between home and heart, roots and romance, and it’s very apt to be co-producing this Yorkshire/London love story with our partners at the Donmar.”
