Hello! Contents

Welcome to the Autumn 2023 season at the Arena Theatre, University of Wolverhampton.

You may notice we’ve had a bit of a brochure redesign after ten years! We now have some new, features inside: including interviews, a brand-new Friends of the Arena scheme, and lots more!

We’re delighted that we’re continuing as an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation after successfully achieving funding last year, and our artist development, education, and community work is stronger than ever.

We’re continuing to bring an affordable night out to Wolverhampton and the Black Country, welcoming back companies such as London Classic Theatre with their adaptation of Faith Healer, and simultaneously introducing you to new companies such as Expial Atrocious who hail from Dudley, and are bringing us Butchered later this year.

If you’re looking for a bit of family theatre, look no further than Little Angel Theatre who are bringing us a Christmas treat of Wow! Said the Owl in early December.

You may have also heard we’re now screening National Theatre Live, and full details of dates we have coming up can be found in here too. You can keep an eye on our social media channels for screening announcements.

Our development evenings are going strong as a free night out too, including Arena Collaborative Theatremakers, Poetry and Story Tellers Assemble (PASTA) and How’ve Yow Been Dragged Up? showcasing the best in local, upcoming talent.

Myself and the team cannot wait to welcome you for another season, and we thank you for your ongoing support.

Performances p04 - p27

Arena Collaborative

Theatremakers p13

Poetry and Storytellers p14

Learning and Participation p28

At a Glance p38

How to Book p40

How to Find us p42

Neil Reading Artistic Director + The Team

Tue 5 Sept

Wed 6 Sept

Thu 7 Sept

Fri 8 Sept and Sat 9 Sept 7.30pm

Tue, Thu and Sat only

Tickets £15 full price £12 concessions

Rent

Wolverhampton Youth Music Theatre

This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International.

Box office 01902 321 321

Book tickets online arena.wlv.ac.uk

All authorised performance materials are also supplied by MTI www.mtishows.co.uk

14/48 Wolverhampton

14/48 UK

7 writers, 7 directors, a team of actors, designers, and musicians + 48 hours = 14 world premier plays.

14/48 Wolverhampton is the Wolverhampton satellite of “the world’s quickest theatre festival” in which 14 new plays are written, directed and performed within a 48-hour timespan.

The concept is simple: assemble some of the most talented artists in the region, apply a stringent deadline, add a few extra resources for good measure

Fri 22 Sept and Sat 23 Sept 7.00pm and 9.30pm and see where their combined creativity leads them.

The Arena Theatre is giving audiences the exciting opportunity to witness seven brand new plays each day –written, rehearsed and performed in 48 hours.

Tickets

£12

Confetti

Quick Duck Theatre

Box office

01902 321 321

Book tickets online arena.wlv.ac.uk

Felix is uptight and unlucky in love. He’s the mate of honour at his best friend’s wedding – one they’ve been planning since childhood –and he’s going to make sure it’s absolutely perfect. That is, as long as there are no distractions along the way…

Will Jackson, star of Yours Sincerely (“A Rising Comic Star” Attitude Magazine), returns to the Arena Theatre with his new Edinburgh Fringe smash hit. Unashamedly queer, Confetti is a celebration of the gay best friend – often sidelined in traditional rom-coms, Felix is the star of this show, wearing his heart on his sleeve and keeping the party going.

THE SCOTSMAN

Wed 4 Oct and Thu 5 Oct 7.30pm Tickets £12

Directed by Tonia

Daley-Campbell

Wanted

In the midst of a time of uncertainty, division and political unrest, a young woman wrestles with her own isolation and call to respond……

WANTED! explores the stories of 5 extraordinary ordinary women who share a passion for standing up for what is right!

This powerful new play features an array of historical figures; Irena Sendler, who rescued more than 2,500 children from the

Warsaw ghetto during the Nazi occupation; Olive Morris, British Black Panther and avid activist for women and squatters’ rights; Phoolan Devi, the fearsome Bandit Queen, and Dr James Barry, a woman way ahead of her time,

Written by Tonia Daley-Campbell, Therese Collins and Gazebo

Artistic Director, Pamela ColeHudson, and featuring a cast of 5, WANTED is played out in Gazebo’s inimitable style; powerful drama littered with humour, honesty and heart.

GAZEBO are a National Portfolio Organisation 2023-2026

Box office 01902 321 321

Book tickets online arena.wlv.ac.uk

Sun 8 Oct 7.30pm

Tickets £18

Overlooked Musicals

Ian Stephenson

West End singers return to the West Midlands to perform their favourite ‘overlooked’ songs from popular, as well as less well-known musicals.

‘Overlooked’ will also showcase songs by event MD and composer, Ian Stephenson, in support of an off-Broadway staged reading of one of his four musicals currently in development.

Featuring: Chris Allen, Jaii Andrew, Chris Buckle, Tasheka Coe, Aiden Cutler, James Edge, Theo Jackson, Lucy Lacey, Lauren Lockley, Lydia Rae, Sam Robinson, Liam Sargeant, Laura Stanford, George Stuart, Cameron Sharp, and Jake Sharp.

Thur 12 Oct 7.30pm

Tickets £12

Feel Me

The Paper Birds

Feel Me is a new interactive theatre show from The Paper Birds, UK leaders in devised verbatim theatre. Feel Me asks, via your mobile phone, who and what you care about from the stories unfolding live on stage in front of you.

A stunning mixture of live performance, film, projection, dance and music, Feel Me will explore the different lenses through which we are told, and connect to stories in the modern digital world.

Please note: All performances have integrated captions

Thur 19 Oct 7.30pm

Tickets £12

Phil Okwedy: The Gods Are All Here

Adverse Camber

Sparked by the discovery of letters from his father in Nigeria to his mother in Wales.

First-class storyteller, Phil Okwedy, skilfully weaves myth, folktales and legends of the African diaspora, with an astonishing personal story, to create a compelling, funny and warm performance.

Fri 20 Oct 7.30pm

Tickets £12

Headset

Farnham Maltings

Victoria Melody has made a habit of embedding herself in the world of Britain’s enthusiasts. Now she’s trying to crack stand-up comedy.

Wearing technology that shows what happens to your body when you’re funny, Victoria combines storytelling, stand-up, mischief and research to lift the curtain on both the brain, and the secret world of stand-up. It’s a celebration of our messy and disordered brains.

Victoria has previously become a pigeon fancier, northern soul dancer, beauty queen, championship dog show handler and funeral director, all in the name of art.

Sat 21 Oct 7.30pm

Tickets

£22

Information on the festival can be found at www. infusionemporium.com

Infusion Emporium 11

Alexis Southall

Box office

01902 321 321

Book tickets online arena.wlv.ac.uk

Returning for its 11th year, Infusion Emporium showcases some of the most innovative choreographers and dancers to have emerged from the fusion scene.

Blending Raqs Sharqi (bellydance) with contemporary influences and elements, expect to be dazzled and amazed by the diversity and creativity of the dance.

Performers include Zoe Jakes who is well known for both her innovative flare and for her work as a member of the band Beats Antique (USA); Jillina, the former director of Miles Copeland’s Bellydance Superstars and current director of the world-renowned show and dance company Bellydance Evolution (USA); beloved Turkish male-bellydancer Ozgen (TRNC) and up-andcoming star in the scene, Emilie (Switzerland). Joining them is a host of UK and European-based talent.

Faith Healer by Brian Friel

London Classic Theatre

Frank Hardy has a gift. A gift of healing.

A frayed banner hangs outside a desolate village hall. The sick, the suffering and the desperate arrive from out of the wind and the rain. They come in search of restoration, a cure.

Through the 1950s and 1960s, Hardy and his wife, Grace, travel to remote corners of Scotland,

Accompanied by manager Teddy, they move from village to village, bringing an unpredictable mix of theatricality and the spiritual.

Using four enthralling monologues to interweave the stories of these three intriguing characters, Friel takes us on an extraordinary journey of shifting perspectives and uncertain memories.

Fri 27 Oct and Sat 28 Oct

7.30pm

Tickets

£12 Jaivant Patel Company is an associate of Arena Theatre and is excited to be premiering their new production in Wolverhampton.

WALTZING THE BLUE GODS is supported by Arts Council England with seed commissioning from Arena Theatre, Midlands Arts Centre, GemArts, Kalasangham Arts and Black Country Touring. Box office 01902 321 321

Book tickets online arena.wlv.ac.uk

Waltzing the Blue Gods

Jaivant Patel Company

WALTZING THE BLUE GODS is a liberating tale in two parts, that reimagines the Queer symbolism of the Hindu gods, Shiva and Krishna.

This perfomance looks at the role they played in Jaivant Patel’s sexual awakening and spiritual relationship to faith, to becoming an openly homosexual British-Indian man.

Part auto-biographical, part fantasy, the evening celebrates new possibilities for a rich and traditional art form, Kathak, in the context of modern contemporary Britain that’s proud of its LGBTQI+ narratives.

OFFICE 01902 321

Featuring some of South Asian Arts’ globally respected choreographers, composers, and musicians, expect beautiful, authentic choreography by Urja Desi Thakore and Jaivant Patel, soulful rhythms composed by Alap Desai, paired with heartfelt, live music performed by, Yadav Yadavan, Vijay Venkat, John Ball and Sahib Sehmbey.

Jaivant Patel Company is an award-winning arts organisation rooted in Wolverhampton (UK) and is considered one of the leading voices in South Asian LGBTQI+ narratives, intersecting across the boundaries of race, gender, sexuality, faith, and spirituality.

Are you an emerging artist based in Wolverhampton?

Are you a student studying the Performing Arts, or with an interest in any aspect of the performing arts?

We are looking for writers, performers, devisers, directors and designers to join us.

Arena Collaborative Theatremakers (ACT) allows artists the space to develop their own work, with support from industry professionals.

The collective meets in the Tilstone Studio at the Arena, giving an opportunity for artists to present their ‘work in progress’ to a small audience, allowing them to develop their projects in a safe, creative space.

ACT meeting dates this Autumn:

Tuesdays 7.30pm

12 Sept

3 Oct

7 Nov

Free to attend.

Meeting dates this Autumn:

ACT meeting dates this spring:Tuesdays

7.30pm

19 Sept

17 Oct

5 Dec

Free to attend.