RAVEN

by Danielle Burn

Directed by Stan Hodgson

TUES 15 TH AUGUST – SAT 2 ND SEPTEMBER

Time: 1:00pm plus additional 6:00pm Saturday performances

Tickets:

Pay What You Feel (15th – 19th Aug)

£15 – £3 (22nd Aug – 2nd Sep)

Age Recommendation: 7+ tickets: alphabettitheatre.co.uk

Access: Captioned performance

Wednesday 23rd August

Audio Described performance

Wednesday 30th August

All performances will be relaxed.

IT'S SAFE TO SAY YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO A PLACE LIKE THIS BEFORE…

Raven Varmint has a wild heart. Her wild heart allows her to roar, explore, cry, get twigs stuck in her hair…but it also makes her complicated. And forbidden.

From the moment Raven was born, her family were forced to live as Shadows, never to be seen or heard again. She has never known why, but on the eve of her tenth birthday, strange feelings begin to bubble inside her, and she follows her wild heart away from the safety she has always known.

Join Raven on a journey of bravery and discovery as she begins to understand her feelings, learns how to regulate them, and breaks out of the shadows into the beauty and freedom of her wild-hearted self.

A beautiful and mischievous show focused on children’s mental health for children and their adults, filled with live music, puppetry, and a talking gargoyle. Wild hearts encouraged.

Danielle Burn is a writer, theatre maker and facilitator living and working in the North East, predominantly Northumberland. Over the past 10+ years she has built up a portfolio of work with local communities and young people for organisations such as Northern Stage, New Writing North, Live Theatre, Bait (creative people and places) to name a few. In 2017, after working with so many young people who were suffering from low mental health, Danielle's largest writing achievement came from her play Melva (based around children's mental health). After a successful run of sold-out public performances over Christmas 2017 ,the production is now a creative digital tool and platform to support children (and the adults who support them) to understand more about worries and anxieties and learn tools for self-care.

Paid Opportunities

Alphabetti Theatre is a space to experiment, evolve & discover excellence. We have a number of workshops to develop your creative practice, plus opportunities to enter into the professional performing arts ecology. Please check out ‘Opportunities’ on our website for full listings.

Response Writing

Six writing competitions running from January to July 2023 – the winning script will be professionally commissioned, produced, and performed!

Who's it for? Anyone over the age of 16, you could be emerging or established. All plays will be read and judged by the merit of the script.

Is it paid? Yes! Each winning script will receive £500.

How does it work?

Come and watch one of the below plays during the first week of performance (Tuesday – Thursday). When you arrive at the box office, ask for a Writer's Pack. This will contain information about who you're writing for, cast, director, any other conditions of entry, and information about how to submit your script.

You will then have until midnight that Friday to write a complete 15 minute play –responding to any aspect of the production you've seen. What you write is up to you, but you’ll have to follow the instructions in the pack carefully to be considered.

Our Just Write creative team Ben Dickenson, Martin Hylton, Paula Penman will read the submissions and select a winning script. Unfortunately, due to the amount of entries we are anticipating, we are unable to offer notes.

All successful applicants will be notified by the Sunday of that week.

The winning script goes into rehearsal for 1 week.

It will then be professionally performed in a double-bill with the production it is reacting to during the third and final week of the run (Tuesday – Thursday).

When is it?

There are 6 separate competitions:

1. In response to Tiny Fragments of Beautiful Light by Allison Davies

Deadline: Midnight on Fri 3rd Feb 2023

The winning script will be performed on 14th – 16th Feb 2023

2. In response to Person Spec by Forest Sounds

Deadline: Midnight on Fri 3rd Mar 2023

The winning script will be performed on 14th – 16th Mar 2023

3. In response to Faun by Vinnie Heaven

Deadline: Midnight on Fri 31st Mar 2023

The winning script will be performed on 11th – 13th Apr 2023

Response Acting

4. In response to Soapbox Racer by Ben Schwarz

Deadline: Midnight on Fri 28th Apr 2023

The winning script will be performed on 9th – 11th May 2023

5. In response to The Lies by Degna Stone

Deadline: Midnight on Fri 26th May 2023

The winning script will be performed on 6th – 8th Jun 2023

6. In response to Chop, Dissolve, Burn by Richard Boggie & Lisette Auton

Deadline: Midnight on Fri 23rd June 2023

The winning script will be performed on 4th – 6th July 2023

Who's it for? Emerging and early career actors aged 18 and over. We are especially interested to hear from people who identify as LGBTQ+, those who identify from the global majority, and/or identify from working class backgrounds.

Is it paid? Yes! Each actor will receive a fee of £600.

How does it work?

We are recruiting 10 emerging actors to perform in productions of new 15 minute plays, matching them with emerging directors from the North East region. Each play will respond to one of the main productions in our programme (listed below) and will have been selected from submissions to our Response Writing competition. Actors will rehearse the play for a week, working with their director in our rehearsal space. They will receive the script at 9.30am on the first day of rehearsals. Support will be provided by a mentor Ben Dickenson, Martin Hylton, Paula Penman – to help the director and actors get the show ready for a professional off-book performance. The play will be performed immediately after the main production for 3 nights (Tuesday to Thursday) during the last week of its run (dates below). This opportunity is supported by Arts Council England.

How do I get involved?

To be considered for this opportunity we would like you to join a 2 hour workshop with our Just Write Response mentors and workshopping directors (for dates please visit our website). Please email ben@alphabettitheatre.co.uk to express your interest, stating whether morning or afternoon is better for you on your selected date.

Please tell us why you’re interested in this opportunity, a little about your background, and include a short description of your experience to date. We’re not looking for you to have lots of credits, we just want to know a bit about you.

Autumn / Winter 2022 – 2023 Season Listings

(Correct

Varies

Tuesday 25th Jul 2023 Varies Newcastle Fringe Festival Varies Varies

Wednesday 26th Jul 2023 Varies Newcastle Fringe Festival Varies Varies

Thursday 27th Jul 2023 Varies Newcastle Fringe Festival Varies Varies

Friday 28th Jul 2023 Varies Newcastle Fringe Festival Varies Varies

Saturday 29th Jul 2023 Varies Newcastle Fringe Festival Varies Varies

Tuesday 15th Aug 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family

Wednesday 16th Aug 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family

Thursday 17th Aug 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family

Friday 18th Aug 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family

Saturday 19th Aug 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family 18:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family

Tuesday 22nd Aug 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family

Wednesday 23rd Aug 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed, Captioned Theatre Family

Thursday 24th Aug 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family

Friday 25th Aug 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family

Saturday 26th Aug 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family 18:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family

Tuesday 29th Aug 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family

Wednesday 30th Aug 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed, Audio Described Theatre Family

Thursday 31st Aug 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family

Friday 1st Sep 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family

Saturday 2nd Sep 2023 13:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family 18:00 Raven Relaxed Theatre Family

Support Us

Like what we do? Put your money where your mouth is! If you can. If you can’t, please keep shouting about us.

Alphabetti Theatre is an award-winning independent 80 seat theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne. We believe great art should be for everyone, regardless of financial situation. We are a space to experiment, evolve and discover excellence for artist, audience and participant. Annually we average 300 performances, supporting 1,250 artists and welcoming 12,000 audience members.

We were built out of necessity by artists and the local community. We need your support to continue to develop the North East's performing arts ecology and to better the lives of the people we come into contact with.

Your monthly donation will keep the doors open and the lights on, allowing us to continue the work we do.

Our regular giving scheme is split into 3 tiers:

ALPHABUDDY: £7 per month

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£25 per month

Regular giving benefits:

Handwritten thank you letter from our Artistic/Executive Director when you first sign up

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Opening Hours: Tuesdays – Saturdays 11am – 11pm 0191 261 9125 bar@alphabettitheatre.co.uk alphabettitheatre.co.uk

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