York Theatre Royal have announced their new Alive season – which includes family shows, cracking comedy, reimagined Shakespeare, and a play powered entirely by bicycles.
Miranda Rose Hall’s darkly funny, life-affirming show A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction (27-30 September) is part of a ground-breaking international experiment in reimagining touring theatre in a climate crisis.
Bicycles will be used to generate electricity for this zero-travel production. The play, a first of its kind in the UK, will tour across the country – but its people and materials do not.
In each city a blueprint of the show will be brought to life by local teams, with a different actor performing the one-woman show at each venue on the tour.
Mingyu Lin, resident artist at York Theatre Royal and director of A Play For The Living In The Time Of Extinction said: “We are so excited to bring this ground-breaking show to audiences in York. It’s the first of its kind in the UK as an experiment in touring a show sustainably, with all the set and costumes sourced locally and second-hand wherever possible.
“The electricity used in the show will be generated during the performance by local people on bicycles. We will also have a choir made up of people from the community.
“We can’t wait for the people of York to join us for this innovative show, which will really get us all thinking about how we can creatively produce eco-friendly theatre.”
[adrotate group=”3″]
[tptn_list limit=3 daily=1 hour_range=1]
Also announced for the new season is family favourite The Tiger Who Came to Tea (1-2 September) – a musical play adapted and directed by David Wood, based on Judith Kerr’s book.
One-nighters include The One Like Judi Love (7 September) in which the Loose Women panellist tells anecdotes from her life, and the Strictly dancer turned judge Anton du Beke dances on to the stage of the Theatre Royal in An Evening with Anton du Beke and Friends (6 November).
Original Theatre invite audiences to ghost story Murder in the Dark (19-23 September) and Tracy-Ann Oberman stars as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice 1936 (14-18 November) – which transports Shakespeare’s drama to 1930s Britain.
The season ends with the return of ‘Dame’ Robin Simpson in the 2023-24 pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk (8 December – 7 January).
And much more is in store!
To see the full programme, find out more details and book your tickets – head over to the York Theatre Royal website.