Tara Theatre today announce their second annual festival of female artists, ‘I’ll Say It Again!’, after a highly successful inaugural season marking the centenary of the women’s right to vote. Fierce and unapologetic, ‘I’ll Say It Again!’ celebrates women’s voices through theatre, music, comedy and dance across 21 events.
Humorous, moving, informative and empowering, this extraordinary season of work spans from historical figures like the indomitable trade unionist Mary Macarthur, to modern writer-broadcaster Natalie Haynes. A feast of new work and fresh ways to see the familiar, with a mixture of World Premieres, established artists and up-and-coming voices of tomorrow.
I’ll Say it Again! opens with Nyla Levy’s timely play Does My Bomb Look Big In This? (Tuesday 30th April – Saturday 4th May), which shines a witty light on the lives of British-Asian teenagers. First drafted in 2016, Does My Bomb Look Big In This? is inspired by the Bethnal Green schoolgirls who left to join ISIS in 2016. Levy explores this topic with wit and disarming honesty.
Natalie Haynes returns to Tara Theatre with her World Premiere production of Natalie Haynes & Word Factory: Forgotten Women (Saturday 11th May). Presenting her unique take on ancient history and stand up, the writer, broadcaster and star of the BBC Radio 4 series Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, examines the legendary war that Helen’s beauty apparently launched and its terrible aftermath in Troy.
Following a critically acclaimed Edinburgh Festival Fringe run, Rosa Torr brings Bump to Tara Theatre (Monday 27th – Wednesday 29th May), a story of a young woman confronting her choices in the waiting room of an abortion clinic. Bump is a visceral, humorous and fast paced one-woman show that explores some of the awkward encounters and nauseating moments in the journey from girl to womanhood.
Closing the festival is Fran and Flora In Concert (Saturday 1st June). String duo Fran & Flora are one of the most innovative emerging ensembles in the UK. Their outstanding musicianship combined with compelling arrangements have led to rave reviews and to their selection as BBC Music Introducing Artists 2018. Violinist Flora Curzon and folk/experimental cellist Francesca Ter-Berg present exquisite, soulful tunes from the Klezmer and Roma traditions.
Other highlights include: What Happened at 2.03 (Saturday 4th May), a free two-piece video installation about someone dealing with an abusive relationship; Diana Dors Her Story (Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th May), a feisty one-woman show about the wit, openness and talent of a woman fighting her way in a world of tough, unscrupulous men; and The Birth Of Death (Saturday 18th May), which draws on end of life conversations with the performer’s mother and her training as a death doula.
Artistic Director Jatinder Verma says: “From Helen to Yasmin, Diana to Angella and Nikita to Fran, I’m delighted that Tara Theatre is once again hosting the explosive creativity of ‘I’ll Say it Again!’ Last year’s inaugural season marked Britain’s centenary of women’s right to vote. In 2019, women artists look ahead, and back, to the flesh and blood of contemporary womanhood. I’ll Say it Again! promises to connect artists and audiences in joyous diversity at Tara Theatre.”
