Nottingham Playhouse Education Brochure Autumn Term 2015

NOTTINGHAM PLAYHOUSE AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS CONSPIRACY SEASON - THUR 10 SEPT 2015 - SAT 20 FEB 2016

NOTTINGHAMPLAYHOUSE.CO.UK BOX OFFICE 0115 941 9419

Welcome We’re pleased to announce our forthcoming Conspiracy Season, along with the many workshops available for students and teachers to get the most out of the plays programmed.

This autumn and winter, Nottingham Playhouse is producing a Conspiracy Season, presenting plays which explore the relationship between the individual and the state. The first play in this season is the return of 1984, the Olivier Award nominated co-production by Headlong, Nottingham Playhouse and the Almeida Theatre.

Our second play, The Rubenstein Kiss, is inspired by the story of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed in 1953 for passing details of America’s nuclear programme to the Soviets. This is the debut play by British playwright James Phillips and the winner of the John Whiting Award and the TMA Award for Best New Play.

In our Neville Studio, All The Little Lights, is presented by our associates Fifth Word Theatre, which will explore sexual exploitation of young girls, in the absence of the state.

The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster, a contemporary of William Shakespeare, is the story of a woman tortured and executed by her powerful brothers, for marrying against their will.

1984 wed 9 SAT 26 SEPTEMBER 2015

The final play in the season is Any Means Necessary, which explores a contemporary story of women falling victim to a state conspiracy.

All these plays explore the balance between the freedom of the individual and the security of the state. As well as the plays, there will be a series of events which explore the theme including showings of two rarely seen films: The Death of a Princess and The War Game, both of which caused huge controversy when they were made and are good examples of conspiracies of silence.

Participation - Alongside our productions, we offer a range of participatory activities, including a Shakespeare Festival, youth theatres, work experience and topical workshops, which are ongoing and build your students’ capacity to understand drama, make and write about theatre.

Teachers Forums - Teachers Forums are a chance to come to Nottingham Playhouse, have a glass of wine with us, come on a back-stage tour, find out more about what we do and see a show for free.

We’d love to hear your ideas about how we could we working with you more closely: what would you like us to be doing in schools and for schools?

Next Teachers Forum: Wednesday 2 June, 6pm.

We hope the information for secondary schools is of interest, please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions, we would love to hear from you.

Fiona Associate Director and Head of Participation

THE All the RUBENSTEIN Little Lights KISS (Neville Studio)

THE DUCHESS OF MALFI

any Means necessary

FRI 2 - SAT 17 OCTOBER 2015

FRI 30 OCTOBER SAT 14 NOVEMBER 2015

FRI 5 - SAT 20 FEBRUARY 2016

tue 20 - THUR 22 OCTOBER 2015

school packages As part of your visit we offer a bespoke workshop and performance package to schools in the local area for the shows in The Conspiracy Season.

Masterclass: Masterclass sessions give students an understanding of the artistic choices made by the creative team when realising the play. Sessions are tailored to the show, depending on how it ties in with the syllabus. Full details can be found under each show listing. £12.50 per head, including the following: • Ticket for 2 hour, Masterclass session • Ticket for the performance • A Nottingham Playhouse backstage tour (to be arranged on a separate day)

• Education Pack

Bespoke Workshops: We offer practical workshops for students to explore how text can be bought to life, using the shows as a stimulus and led by a member of the creative team. Workshops available are detailed with the show listings.

(Date and times are flexible to suit your requirements, either at Nottingham Playhouse or your school). £150 for half a day or £300 per day, including: • A practical workshop with a member of Nottingham Playhouse creative team, suitable for 10 – 30 students.

• A Nottingham Playhouse backstage tour • Education Pack

Show Ticket prices: Tickets are £10 for students and teachers go free: With every 10 tickets purchased, the 11th is free (on Mon- Thurs performances).

Booking information: Tickets can be reserved for up to 6 weeks before payment in full is required. Payment can be made via credit/debit card, cash or cheque. There are no booking, administration or postage fees. There are no full refunds available on workshops booking or tickets however we understand your class size may change; after payment you will be able to change your booking by 10%, up to one week before the start of the run, and receive a full refund on the returned tickets. If you need to discuss an exchange of date please also contact the Box Office.

1984 by George OrwelL

Thur 10 - Sat 26 Sept | Mainstage Key stage 4 & 5

April 1984. 13:00. Comrade 6079, Winston Smith, thinks a thought, starts a diary, and falls in love. But Big Brother is always watching. Following two completely sold-out runs and a critically acclaimed UK tour, Nottingham Playhouse’s smash hit co-production of George Orwell’s 1984 returns to Nottingham Playhouse – the only chance to see the production again in the UK ahead of a World Tour. A coproduction with Headlong and the Almeida Theatre, this chilling examination of untrammelled state control was ingeniously adapted for the stage by writer-directors Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan and was nominated for the 2014 Olivier Award for Best New Play.

Suitable for age 14+

Masterclass:

Wed 16 Sept, 4:30 - 6pm Key stage 4 & 5 English and Theatre Studies

This Masterclass session will help students gain an understanding of the play’s background and themes and make comparisons between the book and production.

The session will provide insight into the production, with a chance to talk to members of the 1984 team.

Practical workshops:

We are offering practical drama workshops based on the production of 1984, where the script will be bought to life, through the pupils’ participation. The workshops will be led by a Nottingham Playhouse practitioner. We can come to your school to deliver the workshop.

Workshop sessions are subject to availability.

Post-show talk: Wed 16 Sept | Free Performance times: 1:30pm and 7:45pm Fifth Word Theatre present:

All the Little Lights

By Jane Upton

Tue 20 - Thur 22 Oct| Neville Studio Packed with crackling dialogue, darkness and laugh out loud humour, All the Little Lights is about being young, alone and trying to survive. Written with support from charity Safe and Sound, the play considers where we find family and how easy it is to slip through the cracks in society. This production is an opportunity to bring pupils to a production devised using issues of vulnerability and grooming as a stimulus, with workshops available with the theatre company on request.

Booking opens 1st June

The Duchess of Malfi

by John Webster

Fri 30 Oct – Sat 14 Nov| Mainstage Key stage 5

A secret marriage provokes fury, espionage and bloody murder in John Webster’s tragedy, one of the most celebrated plays of the Jacobean era. Webster’s play has continued to fascinate audiences for four hundred years, with its unsettling blend of beauty and cynicism. It shows us human beings at their most corrupt and their most noble: it is both a love story and a nightmare, a dark view of the world and an inspiration. Webster asks us whether goodness and honesty can survive in a world dominated by greed and corruption, a world in which no-one is quite what they seem.

The intensity of his dramatic situations, the complexity of his characters and his power to illuminate their souls makes this one of the greatest plays written in English.

Nottingham Playhouse Associate Director Fiona Buffini directs this blood-soaked masterpiece following her critically acclaimed production of Time and the Conways last autumn and her first verse play since directing The Two Gentlemen of Verona at the RSC.

Masterclass: Mainstage |Tues 10 Nov, 4:30 – 6pm

The Masterclass will provide a comparison between this production of The Duchess of Malfi with how it would have been originally performed at the Blackfriars Theatre and the Globe in 1614, Director, Fiona Buffini will contextualise the original production, give insight into original practices and explain her artistic choices and design process (set, costume, lights, music and sound) in the contemporary interpretation. The session will include clips from previous productions, an as well as live scenes with the current cast.

Practical Workshops Available 10 – 13 Nov, at your school

We are offering practical drama workshops with director of The Duchess of Malfi, Fiona Buffini. Fiona will work through the process of bringing the text to life, with the students and explore themes of good and evil, betrayal, obsession and corruption present in the play, by performing scenes from The Duchess of Malfi and delving into the text.

Workshop sessions are subject to availability.

Post-show talk: Tue 10 Nov | Free Performance times: 7:30 and 1:30pm.