11:25am Tuesday 26th January 2010
Northern Stage’s 40th anniversary celebrations are giving birth to all sorts of projects, says Viv Hardwick.
LIFE really does begin at 40 for Newcastle’s Northern Stage theatre where a year of birthday celebrations includes recruiting 40 expectant mums who are giving birth between February and April.
The project, called First Steps and managed by associate director Mark Calvert, aims to encourage more people with pre-school children to visit the theatre.
One of the offers to the mums-to-be will be exclusive ticket offers for new plays such as the Peter Brook-directed 11 and 12 and Northern Stage’s own version of Oh! What A Lovely War.
Calvert, who was inspired by the birth of his daughter Francesca, 18 months ago is optimistic about Northern Stage’s ambitious decision to ask the parents of 40 new-borns to take part in a three-year “living book” study on their theatre adventure.
“This is a perfect opportunity for new mothers to work with professional photographers to capture all the excitement and emotion of their babies’ first year and share it with others in the same position,” says Calvert.
The former actor enjoyed moving to the role of director with Northern Stage’s sell-out Christmas shows for the under-sixes, but admits that creating entertainment for tots is the biggest challenge he’s faced in theatre so far.
“You don’t really know how your show is going to be received until the children sit down to watch. The first five or six shows are the most nerve-wracking because you just don’t know if the youngsters are going to go ‘crisps, drink, I wanna go home’ within a few minutes.”
The big test was his daughter attending for the first time. “But she watched it all and really enjoyed it. That’s why Northern Stage feels it’s so important to focus on producing work for children at such at early age,” says Calvert.
He hopes as many mums-to-be as possible will register with Northern Stage to give the theatre company a wide cross-section of candidates for First Steps.
“We are sure that as the babies are born we will gain lots of new experiences which will help us tell an exciting story about children between birth and three in the North-East,” he says.
Although the anniversary of Northern Stage will be celebrated officially on November 8, there is a string of magic moments planned, including a First Steps summer fete on July 17, where the babies and parents will be invited to indulge in jelly and ice cream.
Northern Stage has 40 productions over the next 12 months. Chief executive Erica Whyman has put together a programme to celebrate her venue’s reputation for innovation, debate and introducing theatre artists from all over the world.
The hottest ticket is for 84-year-old director Peter Brook’s return to Newcastle with 11 and 12, which explores an extraordinary conflict in West Africa that grew from a dispute over reciting a prayer 11 or 12 times.
Brook’s career stretches back to directing John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier and Paul Scofield for the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1950s and 1960s. The highly-influential Paris-based producer and director was awarded a CBE in 1998. His new version of the play runs April 20-24 and was co-commissioned by barbicanbite10, Theatre des Bouffes du Nord, Paris and the Grotowski Institute, Wroclaw.
A production to watch out for this month is My Secret Heart, February 22 to 27, which was inspired by Allegri’s 17th Century choral work Miserere Mei, a piece so protected by the Vatican that it put an embargo on performances. One hundred contributors created the work, which is being shown on a 360-degree installation. On the internet, the Northe project will use an online mapping service to plot real-life opinions from Northerners wherever they are in the world.
* northernstages.co.uknorthe
Another intriguing idea is Domini Pùblic on July 17 when audience members will be invited to take part in a life-size board game inside and outside the theatre.
Apples, the first stage adaptation of Richard Milward’s cult novel about Adam and Eve, set in Middlesbrough, has yet to have its theatre dates announced but the Northern Stage production of musical Oh! What A Lovely War will be staged March 6 to March 27 before going on a national tour to include York Theatre Royal, April 6 to 10.
* To put your name forward for the First Steps project, email your name, address and due date to first.steps@northernstage.co.uk go to northernstage.co.uk and click on the participate icon or write to: First Steps, Northern Stage, Barras Bridge, Newcastle, NE1 7RH.
Northern Stage Box Office: 0191-230-5151
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