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Red Ladder Theatre Company

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Belle Isle Stories: a blog from our Creative Producer Alice Barber

Since 2016 we have been curating Red Ladder Local, our network of alternative venues – village halls, working men’s clubs, and community centres – across West and South Yorkshire. In collaboration with the people who run these venues, we plan a regular programme of theatre performances and creative activity, bringing theatre to the doorstep of each community.

This time last year, we were approached by one of our partners, Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation (BITMO), who run The Gate in South Leeds. They asked if we could create a piece of theatre that shone a light on positive stories from within their community. And so – after the securing of some serendipitous funding – “Belle Isle Stories” was born in the Spring of this year.

The project saw professional writers, actors and creatives collaborate with tenants living in properties managed by BITMO to create some short pieces of writing, based on their stories and experiences. Parallel to this, we ran two courses: an Acting course, and a Writing Group.

Four short pieces were produced; one of them, the epic poem ‘Belle Avenue’, was co-created between a professional writer and the participants of this Writing Group. All were inspired by the stories that people told us. We came across accounts of phenomenal strength, resilience, kindness, and community – the senses of which have made their way into every piece. It was a bloomin’ pleasure.

You can view ‘Belle Avenue’ below.

Belle Avenue with Tom Swift

It felt like a waste not to document them more permanently – and so, we filmed each piece, with the help of a few familiar faces. All four films are now available to view in full on Red Ladder’s YouTube channel.

The films are a “Who’s Who” of Red Ladder success stories: previous participants of community productions such as ‘Leeds Lads’, and graduates of our free-to-access Red Grit Actor Training course. See who you can spot!

Too often, work in communities doesn’t receive as much fanfare as it should. But delivering more work like this forms a large part of our most recent National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) funding promise, and is the crux of the uplift we received – building further on Red Ladder Local’s network, and extending it further into the Barnsley district. I’m very excited about it, so watch this space.

Thank you to the incredible Belle Isle Stories team, who with very limited time and resources, but a great deal of goodwill and passion, have made this project possible.

We hope you enjoy what we created, and we hope we’ve done the community proud. If you want to watch all four films, they’re now available on our YouTube channel. Click here.

BITMO & Red Ladder’s Belle Isle Stories is kindly supported with funding from Let’s Create Jubilee Fund, Leeds Community Foundation, National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England Funding.


Sign Up Now! Red Grit & Stand-Up Comedy

In partnership with The Cluntergate Centre, we are running three exciting courses in Wakefield District. They will be held at Red Ladder Local venues: Queen’s Mill in Castleford, The Grove Hall in South Kirkby, and The Cluntergate Centre in Horbury.

Courses are free of charge to the participant, and sign-up is open NOW!

STAND-UP COMEDY COURSES IN SOUTH KIRKBY AND HORBURY

In a Red Ladder first, we are excited to announce that we will be holding two Stand-Up Comedy courses, run by local comedian Alex Dunlop!

The course will be an introduction to stand-up comedy. You don’t need to have any performing or writing experience, just a willingness to learn and try something new. Every week we’ll go through the basics of creating and developing material and delivering it to audiences.

Alex has been teaching comedy and improvisation for almost five years, with a background in live performance. He also runs Leeds Playhouse’s Armley Comedy Club, which recently won the Fantastic for Families Award for the Best Age-Friendly Outreach activity.

The courses will run as follows:

The Grove Hall, South Kirkby

Wednesday evenings from 6.30pm – 8pm on the following dates: 18th Jan, 25th Jan, 1st Feb,  8th Feb, (NOT 15th) 22nd Feb, 1st March, 8th March

The Cluntergate Centre, Horbury

Sunday afternoons from 2.30pm – 4pm on the following dates: 22nd Jan, 29th Jan, 5th Feb, 12th Feb, (NOT 19th) 26th Feb, 5th March, 12th March 

Places are limited and allocated on a first come, first served basis. Wakefield District postcodes will be given priority. If the cost of travel is a barrier to your attendance, we can reimburse your costs; this will be arranged once your place has been offered. Please note that the course is for 18+ only, and both venues are wheelchair accessible.

Applications closed on Friday 9th December, however we may still be able to offer you a place. Please email alice@redladder.co.uk to enquire.

RED GRIT IS COMING TO CASTLEFORD

We are thrilled to confirm that we will be running a Red Grit Beginners Acting Course at Queen’s Mill in Castleford!

The sessions will run on Thursday evenings from 6pm – 8.30pm on the following dates: 12th Jan, 19th Jan, 26th Jan, 2nd Feb, 9th Feb, 16th Feb.

Read more, and sign up to the course via our Red Grit page.

All activity has been funded with a Culture Grant by Wakefield Council.


Casting Call Out For New Production ‘Blow Down’

Theatre Royal Wakefield are looking for Yorkshire-based actors for Blow Down written by Garry Lyons (Frankie and Tommy, Wicked, Yaar! & Mohicans) and directed by Tess Seddon (Say Yes To Tess, Leeds Playhouse). 

Researched during the pandemic, Blown Down is a verbatim piece with musical elements to mark the closure of Ferrybridge Power Station near his home in Yorkshire, and the phased demolition of its iconic cooling towers.



Dates required:

Rehearsals start: Monday 9th January 2023

Leeds Playhouse run: 3rd – 11th February 2023

Yorkshire Tour Overall Dates: 14th February – 5 March 2023 

Tour dates in full are listed below.



Theatre Royal Wakefield are looking to fill the following roles:

JACK ALL-TRADES

– Any ethnicity, male, ideal age – 40-60 (could be 35-70), authentic northern (Yorkshire), and must be a skilled drummer.

-Jack throws himself into everything he does, until he burns out. A late in life diagnosis of bi-polar disorder has given him a new understanding of himself.

POWER WORKER

– Any ethnicity, male, ideal age – 40-60 (could be 35-70), authentic northern (Yorkshire)

-He’s worked his way up at the power station through the good times and the accidents only to see it fall apart. Reflective and conflicted.


GLASS WORKER/LOCAL COUNCILLOR/CLUB MANAGER

– Any ethnicity, male, ideal age – 40-60, authentic northern (Yorkshire), capable of playing a range of ages/characters

-GLASSWORKER – a practical man who feels conflicted looking back at the jokes of his youth

-LOCAL COUNCILLOR – always on the go, keen to improve his hometown

-CLUB MANAGER – a believer in his community, passionate


1st WIFE FROM FIFE

– Any ethnicity, female, ideal age 40-60 (could be 35-70), authentic Scottish (Fife),

-best friends with 2nd Wife from Fife, they’ve lived through some challenging times but want to look on the bright side, comic but reflective

2nd WIFE FROM FIFE

– Any ethnicity, female, ideal age 40-60 (could be 35-70), authentic Scottish (Fife),

-Best friends with 1st Wife from Fife, they’ve lived through some challenging times but want to look on the bright side, comic but fiery

They are seeking to reflect diversity of the region and are keen to hear from anyone identifying as ethnically diverse, disabled, and / or neurodivergent.


HOW TO APPLY

To apply, please send your name, which role you would like to be considered for and a CV/spotlight link via email to Olivia Barr (Casting Director) on livbarrcasting@gmail.com. If they would like to consider you for the production, they will request a self-tape which will need to be returned to Olivia by 10 am on Monday 28th Nov. 

Due to high volume of applications, if you have not been invited to meeting by the 5th Dec 22, then you will not have been successful on this occasion.


Confirmed Tour Venues:

14 February 2023 Wakefield Theatre Royal

15 February 2023 Harrogate Studio

16 February 2023 Washington

17 February 2023 Grove Hall

18 February 2023 Cluntergate

19 February 2023 Queen’s Mill

23 February 2023 Selby Town Hall

24 February 2023 Hull Truck

25 February 2023 Knottingley

26 February 2023 Knottingley

28 February 2023 CAST Doncaster

01 March 2023 Alnwick Main House

02 March 2023 Queens Hall Hexham

03 March 2023 Viaduct Halifax


Arts Council England Funding Announcement

Leeds-based theatre company, Red Ladder is delighted to announce it has retained core funding from Arts Council England (ACE) after it announced its National Funding Portfolio (Friday 4th November).

Red Ladder Artistic Director, Rod Dixon, said: “This is excellent news for Red Ladder Theatre Company and will help us to continue to support new writing, nurture emerging talent, both on stage and behind the scenes, and provide a platform for marginalised voices.

“Today’s announcement will help us to carry on bringing challenging theatre and productions to new, non-traditional audiences. It is a huge vote of confidence in our work.”

Red Ladder Co-Chair, Emma McDowell said: “We are delighted with the news today that Arts Council England has chosen to continue to support Red Ladder. The team and board collaborated on an incredibly strong programme of work, building on the success and hard work of the past few years. This crucial investment enables us to work with artists and creatives who would not be able to access theatre through more traditional routes and provide a platform for voices and stories that would otherwise go unheard across communities and theatres nationwide.”

“Whilst Red Ladder is grateful to receive continued core grant support, we acknowledge the disappointment felt by other organisations who were less fortunate and hope to provide many opportunities to work with and support a broad range of creatives over the next funding cycle.”

Photo Credit: Ant Robling


Bernard Atha CBE Statement:

Red Ladder Theatre Company is deeply saddened to hear of the recent passing of Bernard Atha CBE. Mr Atha was fundamental in bringing Red Ladder to Leeds and was an outstanding Chairman and advocate for Red Ladder from the early 1970s until 2014, when he stood down. His leadership and friendship and championing of the arts in Leeds coupled with his fierce support of independent theatre was an important part of Red Ladder’s history. Our deepest condolences to his friends and family, he will be sorely missed.

Image courtesy of Yorkshire Post


Edinburgh Fringe 2022

Watch out, Edinburgh. We’re heading to the Fringe!

We’re excited to announce that we will be taking MY VOICE WAS HEARD BUT IT WAS IGNORED by breakthrough talent Nana-Kofi Kufuor to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2022 as part of the Summerhall programme.

Following a successful tour in 2021 we are thrilled that this gripping and urgent play – and the pertinent questions it raises about racial identity – will reach a wider audience at this year’s festival.

Rod Dixon said:  “ We’ve reunited a fantastic creative team including director Dermot Daly and look forward to taking this necessary and relevant work to an international audience in Edinburgh.”

Nana-Kofi Kufuor is a Ghanaian-English writer from Stockport making big waves in theatre. He is currently a cohort of the Hampstead Theatre’s INSPIRE programme mentored by award-winning playwright Roy Williams and an associate artist at Oldham Coliseum.

The play draws influence from his experiences growing up in Stockport with Ghanaian parents, and working in education with young people from a range of backgrounds. 

Nana-Kofi Kufuor said: Working at a Pupil Referral Unit, I once had a student try to take a knife to stab another student. Once I’d calmed him down, we sat in the canteen and he explained to me he wasn’t going to go quietly. The police were outside and they took him. I saw him a few weeks later, and he asked why I didn’t help him? That rush of guilt changed to anger and quickly to sympathy as he saw me as his protector. But I knew I couldn’t do anything. The crux of this play is how two people react to the same situation: they go on a journey; a journey a lot of people of colour go on – a realisation that where you are now isn’t necessarily where you come from.”  

The play is directed by Leeds-based actor, director and filmmaker Dermot Daly whose extensive credits for stage and screen include work with Leeds Playhouse, Slung Low, Talawa, Theatre Royal Stratford East, BBC, ITV and Channel 4.

Dermot Daley said “My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored is a play about identity, about love, and how both of those things intersect with race. We don’t talk about race. We shout about race, we worry about it, we ignore it, we politicise it, but we don’t talk about it and the experiences and quality of life that are impacted by being ‘other’. This play investigates what race can feel like; how it touches everything, including a tangible sense of self.”

The original cast reprise their roles with Misha Duncan-Barry as ‘Gillian’ and Jelani D’Aguilar as ‘Reece’.

MY VOICE WAS HEARD BUT IT WAS IGNORED will play from Wednesday 3 – Sunday 28 August 2022 (No performance 15 & 22 August). 

FIND OUT MORE


FREE Red Grit Taster in Castleford

Live in the Castleford area? Want to give acting a try? Come to a taster!

We’re thrilled to be working with brilliant Red Ladder Local partner Queen’s Mill in Castleford to offer a FREE Red Grit taster session for people in South East Leeds.

Following the success of our Leeds-based courses we’re thinking about offering sessions further afield, so this is a great opportunity for us to say “Hello Castleford!” and for residents in South East Leeds to decide whether they’d like the full Red Grit experience!

In this 3 hour session Rod Dixon (Artistic Director) will explore a range of acting techniques, offering a taste of what the full Red Grit programme is all about.

Suitable for ages 18+

Saturday 26th March, 10am – 1pm

Find out more


Leeds Lit Fest 2022

Leeds Lit Fest | Saturday 26th February to Sunday 6th March

The award winning Leeds Lit Fest kicks off this month, celebrating the vibrant and thriving literature scene in Leeds!

We cannot wait for this year’s Leeds Lit Fest, which will be taking place at venues across Leeds from Saturday 26 February – Sunday 5 March. The festival programme is bigger and more jam packed than ever before, and it’s certainly not just for book lovers.

There are over 50 events on offer including comedy, cabaret, a film screening, art exhibition, theatre performance, a literature walk and creative writing workshops, alongside more traditional literary talks, book readings and poetry events.

There will also be a programme of children’s and family events, including events with award winning children’s authors Chitra Soundar, Andy Mulligan and Steve Cole. 

Many of the events will take place across the city and will also be streamed online meaning you can get involved wherever you are!  The festival has also committed to a Pay What You Feel admission price policy for Leeds residents on many of the events, so a top tip is to keep an eye out for where that applies.

See you there!

Team Red Ladder x

Festival Highlights

Performance

Charles Dickens Double Bill | Wed 2 March, The Leeds Library

The Full Bronte Cabaret | Sat 5 March, Carriageworks Theatre

Commoners Choir | Sun 6 March, Carriageworks Theatre

Exhibition

Seeing Asylum | Fri 4 to Sun 6 March, Trinity Church

Author Talks

AC Grayling – For The Good of The World | Sun 27 Feb

Jonathan Drori – The Secret Life of Trees | Mon 28 Feb

Johann Hari – Stolen Focus | Sat 5 March

Poetry

Diana Anphimiadi at The Leeds Poetry Translation Centre | Fri 4 March

Africa Writes Leeds | Sat 5 March

Tickets and further information can be found at www.leedslitfest.co.uk or Leeds Inspired | Facebook: @LeedsLitFest | Twitter: @LeedsLit | #LLF22 


GOOD NEWS: RED LADDER IS BACK

Having postponed our latest touring production My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored in 2020 due to Covid restrictions, we are delighted to tell you that we’re back on and opening in our home city of Leeds in November
2021.

My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored was developed as part of a year-long writing commission for Manchester’s Box Of Tricks Theatre and staged as a rehearsed reading at HOME, Manchester, in January 2020 where our Artistic Director, Rod Dixon, was part of an invited audience.

“I felt that it was such an important piece of work exploring race and identity; it thrusts the audience into the centre of a discussion and asks ‘if you see something you do not agree with, do you intervene?’ says Rod.

The stage debut of writer Nana-Kofi Kufuor; My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored is an interrogation of black identity for which he has drawn on his own experience growing up in Stockport with Ghanian parents and working in education with young people from a range of backgrounds.

“The crux of this play is how two people react to the same situation,” Kofi explains. “They go on a journey, a journey a lot of people of colour go on, a realisation that where you are now isn’t necessarily where you come from.”

My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored opens with 15-year-old Reece (Jelani D’Aguilar) being roughly accosted by police. His young, Black teacher Gillian (Misha Duncan-Barry) witnesses it all but doesn’t question or intervene as the disturbing scene plays out. The consequences of her lack of action erupt the following day when Gillian finds herself locked in a classroom with Reece.

Director Dermot Daly says: “I was really taken by the conceit and breadth of themes and ideas. Thematically it’s huge, but ostensibly it’s about the meaning and creation of identity which is something that affects us all. Neither character is who they want to be but both appear to be trapped, robbed of agency, this perception in them and hopefully of the audience shifts quite dramatically as we progress. Worry not, there are a few gags in there.”

“For five decades Red Ladder has been producing new writing by voices whose work is often unheard,” Rod concludes. “So we’re very excited to be working with Nana-Kofi Kufuor on a piece borne of a real life experience.”

Opens at Leeds Playhouse on 11th – 13th November then on tour.

Book Here>>



Update: My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored postponed tour

Due to the government announcement that West and South Yorkshire will go into Tier 3 restrictions, meaning that all indoor entertainment and tourist venues must close, it is with great sadness that Red Ladder is unable to tour our new production My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored.

Rod Dixon, artistic director of Red Ladder Theatre Company said,

While this is the news that none of us wanted, we are proud of our cast and creative team, company and freelance staff who have worked incredibly hard to create this new production. Whether adapting to making this new work in a Covid-secure rehearsal room or working remotely, everyone has put an incredible amount of time, passion, dedication and hard work into bringing Nana-Kofi Kufuor’s powerful debut play to life.

More than anything we wish that circumstances were different and that we were welcoming our audiences on tour of our new show. We press on with hope and optimism to bring this work to the stage in 2021 – and Red Ladder stands in solidarity with all our fellow theatre-makers in these difficult times. We hope our audiences stay safe and well

Director Dermot Daly added,

Whilst this clearly isn’t what we had in mind when we started on this project we have, during this period, done something remarkable and proven the viability, value, and virtue of theatre and storytelling.

An amazing cast coupled with a nuanced and beautifully rich script complemented by the most dedicated, hardworking, and talented creative team has created something, that, when it’s seen by a wider audience (and it will) will do all of the things that good storytelling should do.

Persevering – as many of our colleagues have – through this period has proven just how resilient and adaptable our wider industry is and can be.

If you have bought tickets for any of the venues on the tour dates, they will be in contact.