Jane Horrocks will star in the world premiere of “part dance piece, part gig” If You Kiss Me, Kiss Me as part of the Young Vic’s spring/summer 2016 season.
The production, which is conceived by Horrocks and director/choreographer Aletta Collins, will see the Absolutely Fabulous actress evoke the rebel spirit of new wave alongside a live band and a company of dancers from 10 March to 16 April.
If You Kiss Me, Kiss Me marks Horrocks’ return to the Young Vic following 2009’s Annie Get Your Gun. More recently the Little Voice star has been seen on the London stage in East Is East at the Trafalgar Studios.
The new wave-inspired piece will be joined in the season by a revival of Joe Penhall’s Olivier Award-winning drama Blue/Orange. Directed by Matthew Xia (Sizwe Banzi Is Dead), the Sunny Afternoon writer’s razor-sharp study of the intersection between mental health provision and race will run from 12 May (press night 19 May) to 18 June.
Xia’s production, which comes 16 years after its National Theatre premiere, draws out the contemporary relevancies in the story of Christopher, a man who’s convinced oranges are blue and his father is a Ugandan dictator, as he’s set to be discharged from a psychiatric ward.
An adaptation of Spanish masterpiece Yerma and Charlene James’ critically acclaimed play about female genital mutilation, Cuttin’ It, complete the newly announced 2016 season offerings.
Australian director Simon Stone’s contemporary take on Federico García Lorca’s tale of infertility, Yerma, will play from 29 July (press night 4 August) to 10 September, when the story of a woman torn apart by her inability to have a child runs in the Young Vic’s main house.
James’ Alfred Fagon Award-winning drama Cuttin’ It, which will be directed by Feast’s Gbolahan Obisesan, will play in The Maria from 20 May (press night 27 May) to 11 June. It tells the story of two Somalia-born 15-year-olds whose superficial similarities kick-start a friendship based on a shared understanding, until their trust grows and fundamental differences emerge that drive an irrevocable wedge between them.
With today’s new season announcement comes the news that several of the Southwark venue’s previously announced productions have extended their forthcoming runs. Carrie Cracknell and Lucy Guerin’s take on Macbeth, which will star John Heffernan in the title role, will now play until 23 January, while page to stage adaptation A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing has extended to 26 March, both adding an additional week of performances to their runs.
Speaking about the Young Vic’s ongoing success, Executive Director Lucy Woollatt said: “Thanks to funding from Arts Council England, we are able to produce an ambitious programme in all of our three spaces, alongside our extensive neighbourhood-wide participation programme and our directors programme which is recognised as the most extensive in the country.
“Public investment, record box office receipts (including from commercial transfers) and a high level of philanthropic giving enable us to keep our ticket prices low and to offer over half of our tickets for under £20, as well as 10% of our seats free to targeted audiences. Our sustained long-term growth has only been possible because of sustained public investment, allowing the strategic risk taking that produces artistic and commercial success.”