News

The Tobacco Factory Theatre is delighted to announce the new Dec 2009 – May 2010 season, which features a whole host of exciting work.

The festive season should be a cracker this year. Director Sally Cookson returns to the Factory with a fantastic cast and crew in tow to present the magical and thrilling adventure of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Co-produced with Travelling Light, this promises to be an absolute treat for families this Christmas. Continuing the Arabian theme, storytelling company Wild Words compliments Ali Baba perfectly, with two performances of Arabian Nights on 14 and 15 December. Audiences will be in for an evening of spellbinding storytelling and enchanting live music.

Next up is Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory, who take up residence in the space to present two of Shakespeare’s most magical plays; A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest.
From Athens’ midnight forest to the haunted island of his final fable of revenge and reconciliation, Shakespeare uses enchantment to explore love, loss, what it is to be human, and the nature of theatre itself.

Our sell-out comedy season produced by the Comedy Box continues with a great line-up of some of the best comics around. Richard Herring, Chris Addison, Jon Richardson, Pappy’s Fun Club, Stewart Lee, Tim Vine, John Bishop and Paul Sinha all take to the stage between January and April.

In addition to our family Christmas show, we also welcome back the madcap and fabulously funny entertainer, Nutty Noah, who brings his own brand of side-splitting nuttiness to the Factory for two performances only. The Rude Mechanical Theatre also visits us this spring with their charming story The Musicians of Bremen. This tender tale focuses on the story of Bruno an old donkey who runs away with his friends – Alberta (a fox hound), Cornelia (a cat), and Fritz, a magnificent red rooster - to become jazz musicians. A real treat for children aged 3 and up.

Our exciting new theatre space, The Brewery, round the corner from the Factory offers a fantastic alternative season of work from some of the freshest and brightest talent around, and this coming season is no exception. Masterful magician Peter Clifford kicks things off in the intimate new venue with his new solo show – Christmas Magic for Grown-ups. Next up is Theatre Tarquini who bring their lyrical piece Handel and the Darkening Moon. Combining Handel’s most beautiful music with poetic text and inventive imagery, the show takes the audience on a compelling journey full of unexpected twists and turns. Nunkie Theatre’s Robert Lloyd Parry beds down in The Brewery for a three-week stint of ghostly goings-on to present an eerie M R James trilogy: A Warning to the Curious, A Pleasing Terror and Oh Whistle….  Publick Transport follow with their fantastic show The Department of Smelling Pistakes, which was originally showcased at Prototype at the beginning of the year. Award-winning performer George Dillon is up next with his solo show, The Man who was Hamlet.  This is followed by renowned Bristol theatre company Myrtle with the premiere of their uplifting new play Up Down Boy and a musical treat in the form of Anything But Love by Narrow House Theatre. Waiting for Wilmot, Stepping Out’s tribute to the theatre company’s founder member and photographer Ian Wilmot completes the Brewery season.

Also featuring this season is the acclaimed piece by Rani Moorthy (writer of Curry Tales) Handful of Henna. Based on real stories of Muslim women, this is a joyous and moving story about lives lived across two cultures and one girl’s journey to understanding her mother.
Age Concern Bristol returns for another fundraising event with a new piece about ageing, Getting On. This is a free but ticketed event; all donations received during the evening will go to the Bristol charity.
Finally, after his great success as Sherlock at the Factory last year, Roger Llewellyn returns with Sherlock Holmes – The Last Act, a new and very different version of the play.

The development strand of the Tobacco Factory’s work continues with the welcome return of Script Space, the forum for new writing. Submissions of original plays to be considered for a series of rehearsed, script-in-hand readings are invited. Last year 250 plays were submitted, from which four were chosen. The deadline for submissions is 15 January and details of the programme will be announced in April. Also programmed are two more Prototype evenings, providing artists the opportunity to test out material, showcase work and discuss ideas in a low-key, informal setting.