A diverse range of cutting edge theatre, dance, music, and family performances for spring at the Barbican Theatre’s intimate auditorium in Plymouth.
The season begins with multi-award winning and Devon born choreographer Heather Walrond brings her 2017 UK tour of The Rising to our auditorium on Friday 10 March.
The Rising is an empowering, highly charged evening of dance, with live music composed and played by multi award winning musicians, Will McNicol and Luke Selby.
The show is inspired by Fijian dance and culture from Heather’s time working in Fiji with Vou Dance Company. It explores what it means to feel alive and empowered, drawing from ideas of vulnerability, surrender and our embodied sense of community.
Tickets are £10 / £13 (7:30pm).
The following evening, Saturday 11 March, we welcome Chris Woods Groove Orchestra and his Guitar Revolution. In 2016, guitarist and composer Chris Woods wrote a revolutionary and mesmerising piece of music for an infinite number of guitars. Constructed from four parts ranging from insanely simplistic to advanced; everyone and anyone was able to join a mass guitar orchestra and perform the piece.
The piece was given its debut airing at The London Olympia in September ’16 and proved to be so popular it was over subscribed. Guitar Revolution is now going out on tour, across the UK, with Barbican Theatre it’s first date! The show is an exciting mix of performances from the guitar bending ‘Chris Woods Groove Orchestra’ and guest artists.
The show finale is a performance of ‘Guitar Revolution’. Players of all abilities and ages are invited to learn the piece online for free and join the orchestra for the performance of the piece ‘Guitar Revolution’.
Presented by Barbican Theatre and The B-Bar, tickets are £5 (8pm, door open 7:30pm)
On Friday 17 March we’re delighted to welcome muti-award winning Toby Peach to Barbican Theatre with his Eulogy of Toby Peach one-man show.
Toby has come to deliver his Eulogy. Join him as he enters the (not so) exclusive Cancer Club; sample chemotherapy cocktails, select the perfect funeral playlist and marvel at Willy Wonka’s life-saving stem cell machine.
From diagnosis to remission, relapse and treatment; experience a young man’s journey with cancer in this honest, fascinating and inspiring exploration of modern science and the human body; discovery of self-mortality and celebration of life.
Tickets are £13 / £10 (7:30pm)
The following evening, Saturday 18 March, Barbican Theatre and The B-Bar welcome the return of Scottish folk artist Alasdair Roberts, with his trio featuring Alex Neilson (drums) and Stevie Jones (bass). Alasdair Roberts is a Scottish musician, born in Germany, who was raised near Callander and has been based in Glasgow since 1995.
He is primarily a songwriter / composer, singer and acoustic finger style guitarist as well as an interpreter / arranger of traditional songs and ballads from Scotland and beyond. Support comes from Sound of Yell.
Tickets are £12 advance or £15 on the door (8pm, doors open 7:30pm)
Friday 24 March sees the second of our dance performances in our Spring programme, this time Plymouth-based Exim Dance Company who present their new show Etch.
‘Etch’ is an intimate exploration of memory; the things we remember and those we choose to forget. With layers of spoken word, movement and music the performers guide the audience on a journey of remembrance. Rooted in Dance Theatre this cross art form piece is devised by the performers under the direction of chorographer Claire Summers, featuring text by Natalie McGrath and an original score from Magdalena Walker.
Throughout the creation of this work careful consideration to accessibility has been given. Exim Dance Company welcomes and encourages audience members with additional needs.
Touch Tours and Audio Description are incorporated into the work. Exim encourage potential audiences to contact them to discuss any other access or communication needs – www.eximdance.org.uk.
Plymouth’s favourite comedy / clowning theatre company Le Navet Bete return to the city with their brand new show Dracula: The Bloody Truth during the Easter school holidays from 6 – 15 April. Barbican Theatre has formed a partnership with The Plymouth Athenaeum to re-open for theatrical performances, with Dracula being the first. Dracula: The Bloody Truth is produced by Le Navet Bete in association with Exeter Northcott Theatre. A theatrical retelling of Bram Stoker’s classic novel, it will expose that the events recorded in 1897 were not fiction at all…. but fact.
This brand new comedy theatre show will take audiences on a journey across Europe from the dark and sinister Transylvanian mountains to the awkwardly charming seaside town of Whitby and into the world of the supernatural, educating us all on the perils of dealing with vampires.
Set shortly after 1897 audiences will be introduced to Professor Abraham Van Helsing educating the world on the actual events of Dracula through his first ever theatre tour which he himself has produced and is in fact…starring in.
Tickets are available from Barbican Theatre’s website or box office and are £15.50 / £13.50 / £49.50 (age guidance 8+). There are 10 shows in total, all at The Plymouth Athenaeum, with a mix of 2pm matinee and 7pm evening performances.
Following our Easter dates at The Plymouth Athenaeum we return to Barbican Theatre on Friday 5 May to welcome Richard Chappell Dance back to our stage with his new quadruple bill In The End We Begin.
This is Richard Chappell Dance’s most challenging and collaborative work to date – stemming from his experiences of classical ballet, contemporary dance, martial arts and improvisation.
Featuring Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvages and Little Gidding, Richard’s powerful and full-bodied choreographic language will be combined with emerging composer Samuel Hall’s score of piano and cello to create a thrilling and arresting response to Eliot’s timeless poetry.
Our final performance in our Spring Season is from Barbican Theatre Flourish Artist Beyond Face who bring their UK tour of Mixed Grill to us on Saturday 20 May.
After going out for some Caribbean food, Alix thinks that Lewis should learn how to make a proper Caribbean curry, after all, he is a quarter mixed race, and really should connect more with his roots. Lewis doesn’t see what the big deal is.
Their upbringing has been very different; their thought process is very different. Alix thinks too much about…well everything and Lewis just goes with the flow and takes life as it comes.
Using food as a metaphor for the strength in diversity, Mixed Grill explores the beauty of mixing different ingredients, neatly weaving in a journey of culture, integration and friendship.
Join Alix and Lewis as they explore the past, the present and the future of what it means to be mixed heritage and how your geographical location can have both a positive and negative impact on your identity.
Barbican Theatre’s marketing & communications manager, Jo Cann said: “This spring we’re really excited by our diverse and stimulating programme of dance, theatre, music, and family performances with something for every taste.
“It’s fantastic to be able to support local artists as well as present high quality work visiting the city and showcase emerging artists.
“We’re thrilled to be working with The Plymouth Athenaeum to bring theatrical performances back to it’s stage and offer more people in Plymouth the chance to experience the hilarity of Le Navet Bete.”
To find out more about these performances or book tickets, visit www.barbicantheatre.co.uk, call the Box Office on 01752 267131 (Mon – Fri 11am – 6pm) or pop into the Barbican Theatre on Castle Street (Box office open Mon – Fri 11am – 6pm).
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