Newcastle’s Live Theatre is showing a double bill of plays about young women growing up in the North East. So, you can get your October theatre fix in just one visit. What’s on the bill? Well, you can see Braids, the debut play from Newcastle-based Olivia Hannah and Cheer Up Slug, a new play by Live Theatre Associate Artist, Tamsin Daisy Rees.
Braids and Cheer Up Slug
Braids is a play about friendship, identity and belonging. The story follows Abeni as she embarks on her college experience. She’s putting purple braids in Jasmine’s hair and giving her ‘the talk’. Opening Jasmine’s mind to new ways of seeing the world and what it means to be the ‘Ambassador of Blackness’.
Braids was long-listed for the 2018 Alfred Fagon Award and this production is directed by Kemi-Bo Jacobs. It’s brought to life by Rochelle Goldie (A Series of Light, Amazon Prime) and Xsara-Sheneille Pryce (Tin Star, Sky Atlantic).
Also part of the double bill is Cheer Up Slug. This new play is about boundaries and behaviour. It’s a nuanced exploration of teenage relationships and consent.
Will and Bean have been friends forever. But they’re not kids anymore and the adult world is a scary place. In a tent in County Durham, a Duke of Edinburgh Award trip becomes more complicated than either of them planned. It’s directed by Anna Ryder (Look, No Hands, Pleasance London), and Jackie Edwards (The Dumping Ground, BBC) and David Fallon (Scouts! The Musical, BEAM Festival/Hackney Empire) star.
After this double bill of plays, Live Theatre’s autumn season will continue with Lewis Jobson’s Redcoat and Janice Okoh’s adaptation of The Offing.
Live Theatre has reopened with measures to help keep you safe from COVID-19. And performances on Wednesday 13th at 7.30pm and Thursday 14th October at 2pm have guaranteed social-distancing measures in place.
When: 7th – 23rd October 2021, with a BSL performance on 19th, touch tour and audio described and captioned show on 21st
Where: Live Theatre, Broad Chare, Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3DQ
£: Tickets cost £6 – £20 and the shows are suitable for ages 14+ years
More info: www.live.org.uk