News
Playing The Joker at The Queens Hotel
Playing The Joker will be coming to the iconic Queens Hotel as part of Red Ladder’s tour on the 11th of May at 2pm and 6pm.
After each performance there will be a Q & A session hosted by writer Anthony Clavane and members of the cast discussing the part the Queens played in the lives of many of the city’s sporting legends and the ‘behind the scenes’ rumours that abounded.
Other guests that will be joining them include:
Eddie Gray, the Leeds United legend, who stayed at the Queens with the famous Don Revie team in the 60s and 70s will be there.
Ronnie Teeman, a close friend of Eddie Waring’s who met up with him every week at the Queen’s Hotel. Ronnie is the longest-serving lawyer in Leeds and a former sports agent. He has run two rugby league teams – Bramley and Hunslet.
Phil Caplan. A local rugby league writer and bookseller.
Tony Collins. The writer of several seminal books on rugby league and a history professor at De Montfort University.
We hope to see you all there! Go to the what’s on section for more information and book your tickets.
Playing The Joker awarded Strategic Touring Fund
After its sell-out run at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Red Ladder have been awarded £21,500 to tour Anthony Clavane’s awarded winning play Playing The Joker to rugby league clubs in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria.
Praised by Yorkshire Post for its ‘brilliant performances’, this new short play examines the People’s Game through the eyes of its voice – Eddie Waring -using song, jokes and gripping drama.
This moving, funny, and critically acclaimed portrayal of a slice of 1970s northern life kicks off at the world-famous Headingley Stadium, pops in to the Queens Hotel – where it is set – and takes in 20-odd venues from Hull to Hunslet, Whitehave to Wigan.
The tour aims to build relationships with new partners and a network of touring venues to attract wide audiences beyond traditional theatre-goers. It will also see Red Ladder host a marketing and audience development symposium in Hull at the conclusion of the tour – more details to be announced soon.
For an updated tour schedule, please click here.
We’re Not Going Back fully cast
We are thrilled to announce the cast for We’re Not Going Back:
Victoria Brazier will be playing the role of Olive, Stacey Sampson will be playing Mary and Claire-Marie Seddon will be playing the role of Isabel.
Beccy Owen is completing the cast as the musician who will be playing live music on the performances.
The opening night for the show will be on Thursday the 10th of July 2014 at Gala Theatre in Durham.
We will shorlty be announcing details of the autumn tour.
Nicobobinus Designer Call Out
Design Brief
Red Ladder & DumbWise present…
Nicobobinus
Written by Terry Jones
Adapted for the stage by John Ward
Music by Eilidh Debonnaire
Synopsis:
Nicobobinus is a fast paced and epic children’s fantasy adventure written by Monty Python’s Terry Jones. The story starts with Nicobobinus and his best friend Rosie wanting to embark upon a rather unrealistic adventure ‘to find the Land of Dragons’ and ends up quite effortlessly becoming just that! The tale begins in their native Venice where Nicobobinus’s arm is turned to solid Gold by an evil man, which as you can imagine makes Nicobobinus quite the commodity! He is then kidnapped by Pirates, stolen by Evil Monks, rescued by a magic ship, taken to the Ocean of Mountains (that move) kept by a snoring man in a log cabin, blown over the highest wall in the land by a hurricane, taken under the wing of a deceitful King and eventually flown to the Land of Dragons where the cure for Nicobobinus’s Golden arm lies in wait.
DumbWise are an actor-musician led theatre company; adapting classic and modern texts by composing original scores and fusing the emotive surge and sensitivity of live musicianship with dynamic storytelling.
The company works with writers, composers and musical directors to dramatise, score and re-imagine well known stories and new actor musician works for modern audiences. We apply our process to a wide range of material, targeting the audience of the original work and beyond. DumbWise are dedicated to producing new musical productions of all shapes and sizes; from fringe festivals to London runs, from music halls to small scale rural touring.
Project:
The adaptation is a musical and will be performed by a cast of 5 multi-instrumentalist – actor-musicians. There are two parts to this project.
1. Is a London run this Christmas (December 2014) and
2. Is a subsequent small to mid scale tour from February – April 2015.
The fundamentals of the set design will have to work for both. It is a hugely ambitious piece of touring theatre and needs a multi purpose and versatile set to match the pace and scope of the story. Red Ladder and DumbWise are dedicated to realising an inventive and impressive design, with high production values.
Process:
At this stage we would like to ask designers to express their interest in the specifics of the project by email, citing experience, style and giving us a flavour of their personal and professional personality. The deadline for this phase is Thursday March 13th 2014.
Successful candidates from phase 1 will receive some excerpts of the script and a more detailed brief.
Phase 2 candidates will be asked to give a written account of how they might tackle the brief, an overview of their style/vision for the piece and perhaps one sketch showing a set and costume idea. The deadline for phase 2 is Tuesday 1st April.
After which, a further few successful candidates will be invited to meet us to talk through their pitch.
Fee: at least ITC/Equity minimum of £2,351.00
Production Budget for set, props, costumes, travel, model making, out of pocket expenses and consumables in the region of £10,000
Please send phase 1 submissions to john@dumbwise.co.uk
Wrong Un Trailer
Here’s our new trailer for Wrong Un, which is on UK tour now. To see dates near you see the show page.
EMERGE: Call out for Writers Group Participants
Red Ladder are pleased to be partners in Little Mighty’s Emerge Writers Group, a great project that will provide the opportunity for 8 writers to develop a new full-length script. Keep reading for more information from Little Mighty and how to apply…
Are you an emerging theatre writer? Do you want to spend time with other writers and arts professionals to develop a new script? And do you want help in getting your work produced?
Then the Emerge Writers Group could be for you. We’re going to work with a group of 8 writers over the course of the next year as each of them develops a new full-length piece. They will become a mentoring group and take part in workshops, masterclasses and theatre trips, as well as exploring how to get work produced and have extracts from their pieces performed script-in-hand.
Emerge is a development programme for theatre-makers and writers in the north. We think that there’s a wealth of talent in our region, and we aim and make a big noise about it, helping to get work made and connected with the rest of the industry. Partners in the project include lead producer Little Mighty, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Bradford Theatre in the Mill, Slung Low’s HUB, the New Bradford Playhouse, Red Ladder, Freedom Studios, DepArts and the Writing Squad. The project is part funded by money from Leeds Inspired.
What will happen on the course?
The group will meet once per month – normally on a Saturday afternoon, and often with a theatre trip to follow in the evening. These sessions will include workshops with established writers, provisionally including names like John Donnelly (Headlong Theatre/The Royal Court), Emma Adams (Red Ladder/The Enough Project) and many more. We’ll also have sessions with professionals involved in the commissioning and programming of work in our region, including producers and venue programmers.
We will have various opportunities through the year to get your work on its feet, such as script nights and showcases at the partner venues, including the Emerge festival in February. We will actively work with you to think about opportunities for getting your work made, including help with funding.
We’ll also be joining forces with the Writing Squad for a special weekend workshop exploring the place of writing within devising and “new work”.
How to apply
Please send us the following in order to help us decide if you’re right for the course:
- A side of A4 telling us about yourself and why you’d like to take part. Tell us about your relevant experience and a little bit about a piece of writing you’d like to develop during the year.
- A sample of your script writing. This should be no longer than 10 pages in length. Please do not send us your full length script – we won’t have time to read it and won’t look at more than the first 10 pages. Send us the best bit!
The closing date for your applications is Wednesday 2 October at 5pm.
The decision will be made by a panel of professionals drawn from our partners.
Writers do not have to be from Leeds or Bradford, but should be within commuting distance in order to take part in regular monthly sessions. Unfortunately we can’t give detailed feedback on everyone’s application. If you have any particular access needs that you would like to discuss with us, then please do get in touch.
Get in touch
Once your application is complete then please send it by email to info@littlemighty.co.uk. This is also the address to send any questions or queries you may have about the course, which we will do our best to answer.
We prefer to receive applications by email but if you want to send it by post then please forward it to: LittleMighty; c/o Red Ladder, Yorkshire Dance, 3 St Peter’s Buildings, York Street, Leeds, LS9 8AJ.
Wrong ‘Un taster – Sunday 15 September
Come along to City Varieties Music Hall this Sunday (15 September) for a little sample of our latest touring show, Wrong ‘Un.
Part of Heritage Open Days there is also the opportunity to have a nosey around the fantastic City Varieties building, as well as Ella Harris performing a few songs and scenes from the show – she will be onstage at 11.30am and 1.30pm. Go to our What’s On pages for more about Wrong ‘Un and to see the latest tour schedule.
Another chance to see Wrong ‘Un in Hebden Bridge
After receiving a standing ovation from a sell-out audience at the town’s Arts Festival, Boff Whaley’s one-woman suffragette musical, Wrong ‘Un returns to Hebden Bridge for a performance at The Stubbing Wharf.
Wrong ‘Un tells of the adventures of Annie Wilde, a Lancashire mill-girl galvanised by a rousing mixture of injustice, conviction, self-doubt and fear on her journey from schoolroom to prison cell and beyond in a musical drama that draws on class, privilege, hope and disappointment in wartime England.
This is no advanced booking for this show, all tickets are £5 available on the night. Doors open at 7.30pm and the performance will start at 7.45pm.
Wrong ‘Un opens with sell-out show at Leeds Big Bookend
Boff Whalley’s one-woman suffragette musical, Wrong ‘Un, opened to a sell-out audience this weekend at Leeds Big Bookend. The show, based upon a chest of letters that writer Boff found in his friend’s attic, will tour through the summer, playing at Hebden Bridge Arts Festival and Durham Miners’ Gala, before returning to Leeds in January 2014 for a run at The City Varieties.
Wrong ‘Un tells of the adventures of Annie Wilde, a Lancashire mill-girl galvanised by a rousing mixture of injustice, conviction, self-doubt and fear on her journey from schoolroom to prison cell and beyond in a musical drama that draws on class, privilege, hope and disappointment in wartime England.
Watch this space for more tour dates for Spring 2014…
Photo: Ella Harris c. Tim Smith
