Exeter Northcott Listings

Exeter Northcott has announced details of its new Autumn / Winter season. This is the third season for the professional theatre-producing venue since it reopened last Christmas following a £2.1 million refit.

The huge range of performing arts events contained in the Autumn / Winter season - including drama, contemporary dance, opera, pantomime, music, comedy, community and amateur performances - demonstrates a rapid evolution in the way Exeter Northcott caters for it loyal core patrons and also seeks new audiences.

With such a variety on offer, it is difficult to pick out highlights, but mention should be made of the season opener: a new adaptation by Mark Healy of Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd, co-produced by English Touring Theatre and Exeter Northcott and starring Stephen Billington (Greg Kelly in Coronation Street) as Boldwood.

Among the new visitors to Exeter Northcott is one of the Arts Councils newest RFO’s, Freedom Studios, with Happy & Married, directed by Madani Younis, also Lifeblood Theatre Company (with Shakespeare’s Globe) with Glyn Maxwell’s Liberty; Trestle theatre company and the Jasmin Vardimon dance company. One night only events include Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra and appearances by comedian Jeremy Hardy and TV architectural historian Dan Cruickshank.

Established companies returning this season include English Touring Opera, Richard Alston Dance Company and Pilot Theatre (with York Theatre Royal) with its award-winning adaptation of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies.

Exeter Northcott Theatre Company will once again produce an in-house pantomime, The Sleeping Beauty, written and directed by Artistic Director Ben Crocker who leaves the venue in August after a very successful ten years at the helm. Older members of Exeter Northcott's Young Company - part of the theatre's community participation programme - tackle Sarah Kane's Crave, and local performing arts school Stage by Stage perform The King and I.

Performances Include:

2 September: The Rat Pack Live. Ten years ago Frank Sinatra was laid to rest. Legend has it that buried with him were a flask of Jack Daniel’s, a roll of dimes, a Zippo lighter and a packet of Camel cigarettes.

What was not buried with Ol' Blue Eyes was his incredible musical legacy. Songs like New York, New York; Fly Me To The Moon; My Kind of Town and My Way will live on forever in the hearts of music fans worldwide. Thanks to the famous Rat Pack Live, these musical memories are authentically revived in concert this year, and the fabulous stage show is coming to Exeter Northcott for one night only. This year the UK’s number one Sinatra tribute artist David Alacey is embarking on a special anniversary tour with the Rat Pack Live stage show. It commemorates the tenth anniversary of the final curtain for the singing legend with an extra-special production.

The Rat Pack - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jnr - were the definition of cool during the heyday of Las Vegas in the Fifties and Sixties. Combining the full sound of big band swing with charisma, panache and swagger, the trio - collectively known as the Rat Pack - had attitude to spare.

4 September: Guy Johnston - Cello, Huw Watkins - Piano
In the latest in its series of intimate classical chamber music presentations, Exeter Northcott presents two outstanding musicians of international repute - Guy Johnston on cello, with Huw Watkins, piano.

5-8 September REVELATION
Following on from the hugely successful The Unknown exhibition at Exeter Northcott, Revelation is the second of six exhibitions that form the initial cycle of xNorthcult events and features work from world-renowned painter and ceramicist Nicholas Eastwood. Nicholas is Exeter based and for many years lectured in contemporary art for Exeter University. He has an established and formidable practice that has been witnessed in many exhibitions around the world since his debut in 1969 in Paris, at the Gallery Jean Camion. For several years now Nicholas has been working with Spanish guitarists and composers to interpret their music into a visual form and he will be delivering a short illustrated introduction to his abstract art on the launch night, which will feature some of the music that has inspired his work.

6 September: Mark Ritchie, master storyteller: A Tale of Three Journeys

11 - 27 September: English Touring Theatre: Far From the Madding Crowd
Kate Saxon directs Thomas Hardy’s classic novel, Far From the Madding Crowd in a new adaptation by Mark Healy for English Touring Theatre. Co-produced with Exeter Northcott, Far From the Madding Crowd opens in Exeter before embarking on a nine-date UK tour. Tickets are available on 01392 493493 and online at www.exeternorthcott.co.uk.

Having inherited her father’s farm, headstrong and passionate Bathsheba Everdene comes to Weatherbury and attracts three very different suitors; the loyal and constant shepherd Gabriel Oak, the reclusive gentleman farmer William Boldwood - played by Stephen Billington who is well known for playing Greg Kelly in Coronation Street - and the dashing but reckless Sergeant Troy. All pursue the elusive Bathsheba, whose wayward nature leads her to both tragedy and true love.

Thomas Hardy’s reputation as one of the leading nineteenth century novelists was established with the publication of Far From the Madding Crowd in 1874. It is the first of what became known as his Wessex novels, set in a fictitious English county closely resembling Hardy’s native Dorsetshire.

1 October: Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra

3 October: Dan Cruickshank

7 & 8 October: Trestle Theatre: Lola

9 October: Tall Stories: How the Giraffe got its neck

10 October: Freedom Studios: Happy & Married?

14 - 18 October: Lifeblood Theatre Company: Liberty

21 - 25 October: English Touring Opera

28 Oct - 1 Nov: Stage by Stage - The King and I

4 & 5 November: Richard Alston Dance Company

7 & 8 November: Jasmin Vardimon Dance Company

11 - 15 November: Pilot Theatre: Lord of the Flies

21 - 22 November: Northcott Community Company: Crave

25 November: Jeremy Hardy

10 December 2008 - 17 January 2009: Northcott Theatre Company: The Sleeping Beauty

Dates

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Orchestra 01/09/2008 - 01/10/2008

The Rat Pack Live 02/09/2008

Guy Johnston - Cello, Huw Watkins - Piano 04/09/2008

“REVELATION” 05/09/2008 - 08/09/2008

Mark Ritchie, master storyteller: A Tale of Three Journeys 06/09/2008

English Touring Theatre: Far From the Madding Crowd 11/09/2008 - 27/09/2008

Dan Cruickshank 03/10/2008

Trestle Theatre: Lola 07/10/2008 - 08/10/2008

Tall Stories: How the Giraffe got its neck 09/10/2008

Freedom Studios: Happy & Married? 10/10/2008

Lifeblood Theatre Company: Liberty 14/10/2008 - 18/10/2008

English Touring Opera 21/10/2008 - 25/10/2008

Stage by Stage: The King and I 28/10/2008 - 01/11/2008

Richard Alston Dance Company 04/11/2008 - 05/11/2008

Jasmin Vardimon Dance Company 07/11/2008 - 08/11/2008

Pilot Theatre: Lord of the Flies 11/11/2008 - 15/11/2008

Northcott Community Company: Crave 21/11/2008 - 22/11/2008

Jeremy Hardy 25/11/2008

Northcott Theatre Company: The Sleeping Beauty 10/12/2008 - 17/01/2009

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