The annual festival of new musical theatre, MTFestUK 2021, will run from 17-29 May at The Turbine Theatre in Battersea before embarking on a ‘digital’ tour from the 31 May – 4 July.
The full list of venues and touring dates are:
The Turbine Theatre, Battersea (Monday 17 May – Saturday 29 May)
Norwich Theatre Royal, The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry and Birmingham Hippodrome (Monday 31 May – Sunday 6 June)
Mayflower Theatre, Southampton and the Mercury Theatre, Colchester (Monday 7 June – Sunday 13 June)
Curve Theatre, Leicester and Dundee Repertory Theatre (Monday 14 June – Sunday 20 June)
New Wolsey Theatre & Theatre Clwyd (Mon 21 June – Sunday 27 June)
Royal & Derngate, Northampton, Sheffield Theatres and The Lowry, Salford (Monday 28 June – Sunday 4 July)
Paul Taylor-Mills, Artistic Director, Turbine Theatre said “It goes without saying that the last year has brought immense challenges. At The Turbine Theatre we’ve tried our best to be resilient and to try and use this time to redefine the way we work. This has involved exploring how we can extend our reach and bolster our commitment to developing new work
This will be the third time we’ve had to reschedule this year’s MTFestUK. It was important that when we came back, we came back with an even louder bang. With this in mind, I’m so thrilled to share that MTFestUK will be going on a digital tour after its two-week run at The Turbine. Simply put, all 8 musicals will be filmed at The Turbine and will then live on digitally at 11 of the UK’s leading regional venues.
The Digital Tour will be unique in a number of ways and I’m thrilled with the openness and support I’ve received from our fellow theatre makers around the country. Each venue will have bespoke social content that will support the 8 musicals. This will include special interviews with writers and actors on the creative process and how musicals are developed or indeed refined.
It highlights our commitment to ensure that the heartbeat of The Turbine Theatre is heard beyond our Battersea Power Station base. We have a truly international ensemble of actors that reflect the diversity of stories across the festival and we’re looking forward to sharing them with you in the near future.”
The Festival sets out to promote quality artistry, showcasing new musicals to UK audiences with a view to elevating them to full production, and giving audiences an insight into the process of creating new work and the art of collaboration. Paul Taylor-Mills launched the inaugural MTFestUK season at The Other Palace in 2019, followed by a 2020 season in February last year, at The Turbine Theatre.
The 2021 festival line-up includes an exciting and diverse selection of eight new musicals: Far From Heaven, #50days, The Man In the Ceiling, Millennials, HouseFire, Cake, Daisy and Tony! (The Tony Blair Rock Opera)
A huge mix of exciting creative talent is involved in this year’s festival including: Tasha Taylor-Johnson, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Jack McManus, Drew McConie, Caroline Kay, Matt White, Thabo Stuck, Scott Frankel and Poppy Burton Morgan.
