Now in its fifth year, TakeOver has become a regular fixture of the arts calendar in York, presenting theatre that dares to take risk and is more often associated with the Edinburgh Fringe.
But you don’t have to go all the way to Scotland to see some of the best work by established and new companies.
Just stroll down the town to St Leonard’s Place next week and get your theatre fix!
Highlights for 2014 include…
Johnny Got His Gun
On Tuesday, November 11, Jack Holden (War Horse) stars in the UK stage premier of the Oscar-winner Dalton Trumbo’s anti-war classic novel, Johnny Got His Gun.
A brutal, intense one man show with an incredibly powerful message about the cruelty of war and the way the military treats those who suffer in its service.
Birthday Suit Party
Birthday Suit Party is the name for a double bill of My First Ten Sexual Failures And Other Stories Of Growing Up and Game Show.
It’s not quite as naughty as it sounds. Or maybe it is. (I’m really hoping it is!) The show is on Wednesday, November 12 – it will be a messy, unexpected and hilarious night!
Helen
There have been many famous Helens, Fielding and Mirren to name just two. And then there is Helen of Troy, the one that shook Hellenistic Greece.
Actors Of Dionysus present a epic contemporary twist on the original – an ageing, glamorous Helen held captive by her own obsession to stay youthful.
Promising an extraordinary aerial choreography, the show (Friday, November 14) will see Helen flying across the stage and dangling from bedsheets!
Kill The Beast
Winners of the Empty Space/ Peter Brook Award, Kill The Beast have put their grisly hats on and adapted to the stage Doctor Who star Tom Baker’s cult novel The Boy Who Kicked Pigs (Saturday, November 15) – a gloriously gruesome tale of one scoundrel’s attempt at infamy!
Don’t forget, TakeOver is a festival after all. So expect live music everyday before and after performances, including Grand Old Uke Of York and John Holt-Roberts.