The Old Vic has today announced additional programming for Families, as well as new events in its Voices Off and One Voice series’. Tickets go on general sale on Friday 5 May at 12pm.
The previously announced Cover My Tracks, a new production with live music starring Charlie Fink and Jade Anouka, with music and lyrics by Charlie Fink, book by David Greig and directed by Max Webster, will also be performed on the main stage from Monday 5 to Saturday 17 June at 10pm, as part of Lates at The Old Vic.
Families can look forward to Chickenshed returning to The Old Vic this autumn with their hugely popular Tales From The Shed (7 September – 5 October). This vibrant, interactive show full of colourful puppets, live songs and enchanting stories, is perfect for young children up to the age of 6. Every show is fun, amazingly engaging and has plenty of music and magic. Children are always encouraged to use their imaginations, make lots of noise and be part of the story.
A series of events at The Old Vic, The One Voice celebrates the rawest of theatre forms – a single voice on a stage without scenery, without costume and with nothing to rely on but words. This series of monologues is specially commissioned by The Old Vic with one-off performances from renowned actors.
The show Queers (Friday 28 July & Monday 31 July, 5pm) marks and celebrates some of the most poignant, funny, tragic and riotous moments of British gay male history over the last century. 50 years since the Sexual Offences Act of 1967 decriminalised private homosexual acts between men aged over 21, this series of eight monologues will be staged across two evenings at The Old Vic.
Queers is curated by Mark Gatiss and produced in partnership with the BBC, with short film versions of the monologues to be screened on BBC Four later this summer. The writers are Matthew Baldwin, Jon Bradfield, Jackie Clune, Michael Dennis, Brian Fillis, Mark Gatiss, Gareth McLean and Keith Jarrett. The monologues will be directed by Mark Gatiss and Old Vic Associate Directors Joe Murphy and Max Webster. Casting is to be announced.
Voices Off is a series of talks, conversations, debates and workshops which explore the themes raised by the productions on the main stage.
In conjunction with Woyzeck, Fighting Trauma: PTSD And The Military, will run on Tuesday 30 May 5.15pm, exploring whether the army should be doing more to support soldiers, both on active duty and at home. While the Armed Forces Covenant sets out a promise to treat them fairly, what exactly does ‘fair’ mean? Many argue that there still remain large gaps in the care system and PTSD and other psychological trauma are not yet classed as official wounds of war.
On Thursday 15 June at 5pm, a panel led by Anthony Julius (Deputy Chairman, Mishcon de Reya) will consider Jack Thorne’s adaptation of Büchner’s Woyzeck in the context of 19 century modernism, culture and psychoanalysis, and consider its presentation of the darker side of human nature.
Also accompanying Woyzeck, in On Nurture: How To Make A Difference (Monday 19 June, 5.15pm), in the face of growing inequality in the UK today, a panel of activists and policy makers discuss what we can do to protect the most vulnerable, to try to ensure no one gets left behind.
Supporting the theme of Queers, Queers: The Next 50 Years takes place on Thursday 27 July at 5.30pm. On 27 July 1967, the Sexual Offences Act began the decriminalisation process for homosexuality between men. While much has changed since then, how equal are LGBTQ people in the UK today? And are some of the hardest-won liberties now under threat? On the day of the Act’s 50th anniversary, we will ask what the next 50 years should look like for LGBTQ rights – where do we go from here, and, more importantly, how do we get there?
Finally, a companion discussion to Girl From The North Country, Can Lyrics Be Literature? will be presented on Thursday 28 September at 6pm. The event poses the question: did Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize in Literature win redefine the boundaries of literature? Or do we, by calling it poetry, deny music a place as its own unique art form? A group of poets, musicians and performance artists discuss the relationship between lyrics and poetry.
For more information on The One Voice and Voices Off events, visit the venue’s website. You can also book your tickets to Cover My Tracks, Woyzeck and Girl From The North Country through us.