In addition to the previously announced world premières of Milky Peaks and For The Grace of You Go I, Tamara Harvey and Liam Evans-Ford, Artistic Director and Executive Director of Theatr Clwyd today announce further programming for their 2020 season, which will include a major revival of Steve Waters’ The Contingency Plan – in a co-production with the Donmar Warehouse, the world première of Project Hush, and Beauty and the Beast, the company’s twenty-third annual rock ‘n’ roll pantomime, which sees Harvey make her pantomime directorial debut. The company today also announces the full cast and tour dates for Seiriol Davies’ Milky Peaks.
Artistic Director Tamara Harvey today said “In 2009, Steve Waters’ plays felt prescient. Now they feel vital – and more than urgent. We’re delighted to be working in partnership with the Donmar Warehouse and opening The Contingency Plan at Clwyd before heading to London and, on a personal note, it’s wonderful to be working with Michael again after co-directing the original production, this time as ‘grown up’ Artistic Directors supporting the brilliant team headed by Caroline Steinbeis and Chelsea Walker. We also have the funny, irreverent and sneakily political Milky Peaks, whose ridiculously talented cast are announced today. In the autumn, we are proudly embarking on another epic production with our community, Project Hush, alongside Papertrail Theatre Company. An immersive promenade show about the secrets and lies that were kept and told by those who worked in Rhydymwyn during World War Two, this innovative story can still be felt in the bones of the crumbling factories of this former secret weapons site. Finally, we’ll end the year with Beauty and the Beast. It’s taken me four years at Clwyd to be brave enough to take on our panto – I do so now safe in the knowledge that directing it can’t be anywhere near as terrifying as donning a frock and being in it!”
The Contingency Plan, Steve Waters’ critically acclaimed double bill of plays about the climate crisis has been updated by Waters for a timely revival, and opens at Theatr Clwyd on 4 June, with previews from 19 May, and runs until 6 June, before a London run at the Donmar Warehouse. Following the hugely successful Mold Riots, Project Hush, by Matthew Bulgo with Manon Wyn Jones and Yasuro Ito, explores the impact of the atomic bomb on the local community of Rhydymwyn Valley during its development stages at the local munitions’ factory in a large-scale community production. The production opens on 24 September, with previews from 20 September and runs until 4 October.
In the world première of Milky Peaks, Alex Swift directs Matthew Blake (Pariah), Lisa Jên Brown (The Mother), Seiriol Davies (Dewi), Kate Galston (Rhombus), Dylan Townley (A Wall/Bar), Sophie Winter (Linda Maria), and Isabel Adomakoh Young (Alun John). The production opens at Theatr Clwyd, 20 March – 11 April, before touring to Theatr Brycheiniog Brecon, 14-15 April; Taliesin Arts Centre Swansea, 17-18 April; Pontio Bangor, 21-22 April; Aberystwyth Arts Centre, 24-25 April; Torch Theatre Milford Haven, 28-29 April; Hafren Newtown, 1-2 May; and Sherman Theatre Cardiff, 6-9 May.
