A blog for the latest theatre, music, dance and performance photography from Andrew Billington - live performance photographer based in Staffordshire and photographing across the UK.
39 Steps - New Vic Theatre
I love a good piece of theatre and this is a fabulous piece of theatre.
And one that can only exist on stage as the joy is in the theatricality and conceit of 4 actors playing 120 roles between them….
From the New Vic Website:
Following on from our hugely successful productions of Around The World In 80 Days and Astley’s Astounding Adventures, thrilling spy drama The 39 Steps gets the New Vic treatment!
Richard Hannay, upstanding gent and all-round good guy, finds himself in a bit of a pickle when he wakes up to find a mysterious woman in his apartment. Dead. Now on the run, pursued by all manner of suspicious characters, can Hannay evade capture and clear his name of murder before it’s too late? Will he fall in love along the way? And what exactly are The 39 Steps?
A thrilling, inventive, fast-paced caper, four actors will play over 120 characters in this side-splitting comedy based on John Buchan’s famous spy novel.
Starring New Vic favourites: Rebecca Brewer (Playhouse Creatures), Gareth Cassidy (Treasure Island), Michael Hugo (Around The World In 80 Days) and Isaac Stanmore (Peter Pan In Scarlet).
GLORY - Red Ladder Theatre Company - The Dukes Lancaster
I love working with new people and it was great to go to The Dukes Theatre in Lancaster to photograph the new play from Red Ladder Theatre Company, directed by Rod Dixon.
I love working with new people and it was great to go to The Dukes Theatre in Lancaster to photograph the new play from Red Ladder Theatre Company, directed by Rod Dixon.
From the Red Ladder website:
The Dukes and Red Ladder in association with Tamasha present
Glory
Meet Dan, Ben and Sami.
Three wrestlers compelled over the ropes and into the ring to fight for glory. Three men wrestling with demons, life, each other.
Jim ‘Glorious’ Glory used to be somebody. In the heyday of British wrestling, he was a colossus. Now his empire has crumbled.
Through Dan, Ben and Sami, Jim catches a glimpse of resurrection; a chance to re-establish his great name and his decaying gym. But do they want to wrestle and restore Jim’s glory? Or do they have a different fight in mind?
Only one hero can emerge.
A new play from the writer of Partition and the award-winning The Chef Show – GLORY takes us into the wrestling ring in this painfully funny, sweaty and gutsy story about what people will do to achieve glory.
Glory has been supported through Arts Council England’s Sustained Fund.
Light Night - Site Specific Outdoor Theatre
Watch the city glisten and glow as Light Night Stoke-on-Trent magnificently transforms Burslem Town Centre over three evenings this January.
Join us and see the cityscape illuminated as world-class projections light up its heritage buildings, illuminated musical parades set the streets aglow and vibrant artworks ignite corners of the town.
Light Night Stoke-on-Trent builds on the energy, momentum and pride generated by Stoke-on-Trent’s bid to be UK City of Culture 2021 and is a free, evening event for the whole city and beyond taking place over three nights in Burslem Town Centre.
A Christmas Carol - Leeds Playhouse
IT’S CHRISTMAS EVE IN VICTORIAN LEEDS, BUT THE COLD-HEARTED EBENEZER SCROOGE HASN’T AN OUNCE OF FESTIVE CHEER.
As the cold night draws in, four ghostly spirits take Ebenezer on a magical journey through his past, his present and his future, hoping to show him the error of his ways. With Christmas spirit, fun, music and magic at its heart, this timeless Charles Dickens tale is brought vividly to life.
A LEEDS PLAYHOUSE PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION
WITH HULL TRUCK THEATRE.
No Fit State Circus
Contemporary circus combines live music, dance, stage design, text, and film with traditional circus skills. It is rooted in the travelling community who turn up, pitch a tent, drum up an audience, and then leave with only flattened grass and a memory to show they were ever there. The circus are the strangers who live amongst us – and if we run away to join them we are throwing off our inhibitions, our conventions, the rules of settled society. We are taking to the road knowing that there is no destination - only a journey.
Today, NoFit State is the UK’s leading large-scale contemporary circus company, producing professional touring productions and a wide variety of community, training, and education projects for people of all ages. Over the last ten years NoFit State's touring productions have visited 19 different countries, played to audiences of over 460,000, as well as receiving critical acclaim and winning numerous prestigious international arts awards.
Queens of the Coal Age - Royal Exchange Theatre + New Vic Theatre
By Maxine Peake
Directed by Bryony Shanahan
“WE ARE WOMEN AGAINST PIT CLOSURES AND WE’RE OCCUPYING THIS PIT”
Anne, Elaine, Dot and Lesley. Four ordinary women, facing the closure of their community. It’s 1993 and the Parkside Colliery pit may be winding down, but they’re not giving up.
Their bras stuffed with contraband, they take a tour of the pit and refuse to come up. Settling into the depths of the mine, making tissue roses and walking imaginary dogs, they face bribery and threats. But as they dig in, those up top start to realise these ladies are not for turning.
This powerful play full of Northern wit by Maxine Peake follows on from the critically-acclaimed Beryl, and tells the true story of four women taking a stand in the face of a changing world.
CIRCOLUMBIA - Circus Photography
Here is some live performance photography from a show by CIRCOLUMBIA that I photographed recently...
From the New Vic Theatre website:
Circolombia’s Acéléré is a circus and a live concert rolled into one. Creating an experience like no other, a phenomenal cast of performers take it in turns to flip through the air at dizzying heights and perform insane feats of strength, whilst simultaneously singing and dancing their way through the night.
Performing in Kidsgrove as part of Circus Past, Present and Future, Circolombia come to our town as part of their European tour, fresh from dates in Amsterdam and Helsinki. Celebrating 250 years of circus in the town where its inventor – Philip Astley – was born, this is your chance to see unique circus stunts performed by this inspirational South American circus company in a rare UK appearance.
Be prepared to be on your feet and dancing along to the upbeat live music as you experience breathtaking circus skills in this thrilling, once-in-a-lifetime experience!
TREASURE ISLAND - Performance Photography: New Vic Theatre
Following on from last year’s spectacular adaptation of The Snow Queen, this Christmas we set sail on the high seas to bring to life a classic tale of buccaneers and buried gold in our stunning trademark style. Filled with swashbuckling sword fights, live-on-stage music, humour, puppetry and lots of excitement, this is the perfect festive treat for the whole family!
1750, Sleepy Cove. Tired of the quiet life, Gem dreams of adventure and excitement. When a mysterious stranger comes to stay at The Admiral Benbow Inn, she believes her luck is about to change.
And so begins an epic journey. A journey filled with pirates and possibilities; buried treasure and blue horizons; seafarers and scallywags. And in the middle of it all, a good-hearted cook called Long John Silver – but is he friend or foe?
As Gem helps search for treasure on faraway shores, meeting larger than life characters along the way, she discovers there’s far more to a life of adventure than she ever imagined.
PLAYHOUSE CREATURES - Performance Photography: New Vic Theatre
1663. Charles II reopens the Playhouses and for the first time, allows women to take to the stage.
For four women, this signals the beginning of a new chapter in their lives. On stage, the women become household names; behind-the-scenes, they develop strong friendships and fierce rivalries. As the camaraderie and chaos of the dressing room ignites their ambitions to play a bigger part in the theatre, can the women stick together to negotiate greater roles? And will their new-found fame bring with it better fortunes?
This vivacious comedy takes us backstage in a Restoration playhouse to celebrate a bold moment in the history of modern theatre. Telling the story with bawdy comedy, theatrical flair and emotional poignancy, April De Angelis’ Playhouse Creatures will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.
