Director and CEO of Fuel, Kate McGrath has today announced the company’s first shows for 2023. A UK tour of Hannah Lavery’s new play Protest directed by Natalie Ibu will begin performances at Northern Stage in May followed by dates in Scotland and England.
A filmed version of Melly Still and Max Barton’s play about the climate crisis The Gretchen Question will be released on 23 January for download. Audiences are also invited to have an intimate conversation with a stranger on the telephone as part of the world premiere of Travis Alabanza’s latest project When All Is Said.
New performances are also announced for a raft of projects. Inua Ellams’ The Midnight Run will be given a one off after dark performance on the Docklands campus of the University of East London. A special 25th anniversary performance of Uninvited Guests’ hit show Love Letters Straight From Your Heart at the University of Bristol and finally Lewis Gibson’s The Day I Fell Into a Book will tour to primary schools from March.
Kate McGrath said: “Despite the economic and political challenges of the moment, Fuel had a thrillingly creative and productive year in 2022, and I’m proud to say we’re kicking off 2023 in similar style. Our new commissions by Hannah Lavery and Travis Alabanza will premiere this spring, alongside Hugo Glendinning’s beautiful film of Melly Still and Max Barton’s The Gretchen Question. Hannah’s new play Protest continues our commitment to work which explores human rights, following on from 2022’s Fly The Flag by Jenny Sealey and Bim Ajadi about the right to protest, and to commissioning and producing new work for young people. When All Is Said invites you to listen to intimate secrets over the phone, in five new plays by Travis Alabanza, Felix Mufti-Wright, Octavia Nyombi, Ebun Sodipo and Campbell X. And as well as these brand new projects, we’re reinventing Lewis Gibson’s The Day I Fell Into A Book for primary schools, taking Peaceophobia, co-created with Common Wealth, Speakers Corner and Bradford Modified Club, to communities across the UK, and celebrating the 25th birthday of Uninvited Guests with a special performance of their ever enchanting Love Letters Straight From Your Heart.
Fuel is proud to work in collaboration with these brilliant artists, and with a range of partner organisations, to create this programme across the UK and beyond. You’ll be able to experience this season from Plymouth to Shetland – taking in Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Norwich, Hull, London, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Perth, St Andrews, Cumbernauld, East Renfrewshire and more on the way – and online wherever you are. So whether you’re experiencing our work live in a theatre, by telephone in the intimacy of your own home, in a multi-story carpark, in your classroom at school, or on screen, we hope Fuel’s programme will ignite your curiosity and creativity in the year ahead.”
