Have a look in the Notebook section for the first installment of the Shop Front Theatre Diary.
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Spring 2010 will see the premiere of Breathe, a new production from Theatre Absolute, written by Chris O'Connell.
Co-produced with Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Breathe will premiere in Theatre Absolute's shop front theatre in Coventry city centre. Following its premiere, the play will tour nationally, and conclude with a three week run in a London venue.
The play consists of five monologues for women, all of which interconnect in subtle ways to tie the individual stories together. Retaining the company's commitment to tell stories of ordinary people in extraordinary situations, Breathe is a testimony to human resilience and spiritual strength. In the cold light of day, as the women unpick their experiences and search for understanding, the play's no nonsense approach to narrative calmly draws its audience in and delivers a highly personal live theatre experience.
Theatre Absolute and Coventry City council have joined forces in a unique initiative that will see live theatre performed in a vacant city centre shop.
In what is thought to be a UK first, the former Fishey Moores shop in City Arcade has become Theatre Absolute's base for the next 18 months.
Theatre Absolute’s Artistic Director Chris O’Connell, says,
“Creating a shop front theatre was imagined first and foremost as a cultural provocation to the city, we are diverse and prolific in the range of artists living and working in Coventry. The city has always been renowned for its creativity and innovation, and as the region and the nation endure a time of recession, it’s an opportune moment to re-think the role the arts can play in regenerating and revitalising the city centre.”
The creation of Breathe, the company's production for 2010, will be the first show to premiere in the shop front, and will see the company responding to the rough glamour of its new environment. It is in no way site specific work, but more about the company stripping away the artistic identity and aesthetic of its previous work, pulling together a theatrical tapestry on the most basic of terms, and issuing a clear statement of intent to those who attend: this kind of work offers no place to hide, all we have are the actors, the words and an imaginative arena, but the experience between audience and performers must aspire to be both epic and highly personal.
This is independent theatre in bricks and mortar, at the heart of a community.
We hope to see you at the theatre, no 38, City Arcade, Coventry.
See 'Current Productions' for programme details
For general information: the above plays, all written by Chris O'Connell, are available either from Theatre Absolute, or from www.oberonbooks.com, www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/ntshop or www.amazon.co.uk