The Lowry's New Season: September - December 2006
Art and Entertainment at The Lowry, Salford Quays September – December 2006
From Mrs Thatcher to King Lear and Big Daddy…from crossover super star Katherine Jenkins to the Houghton Weavers…from Germaine Greer to Alan Bennett…from Victoria Wood and Acorn Antiques to Steptoe & Son…we’ve got an exceptionally varied line-up to warm up the winter…
THEY think it’s all over… and World Cup 2006 will be by the time our great exhibition, One Love: The Football Art Prize exhibition opens on December 2. Artists are already at work as they create their impressions of the beautiful game to enter this national competition. And we’re scoring again… with Goal! – photos of World Cup tournaments from 1966 to this year’s finals.
But we’re not just soccer mad - we’re also proving that toilet humour was never so family friendly, as our Cartoonist In Residence, Tony Husband, creates a whole new series of laugh lines - which we’re displaying in the time-honoured location of the toilet doors!
The fascinating results of The Lowry’s first ever mass observation project, Worktown will go on display in the galleries from September 30. Participants from Salford and Greater Manchester have spent the year documenting the lives of ordinary people and places, capturing the spirit of the city.
But perhaps our greatest innovation this season is the simply remarkable, Move-me booth. Step inside and follow the instructions and anyone can gyrate to moves by some of Britain’s leading contemporary choreographers. Afterwards, they can view their efforts – and everyone else’s – on the web.
In our three theatres…we’ve one of our best-ever seasons. Drama features the by-demand return of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys, plus his brilliant seaside postcard farce, Habeas Corpus. Also returning are the world-renowned Maly Drama Theatre of St Petersburg, with an acclaimed new King Lear. There is a new production of the American classic, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and the first post-London run of the hysterical new Steptoe & Son comedy-drama, with the original West End cast. Shakespeare is given a truly modern treatment when La Tempête (The Tempest) is performed by 4D Art. The Lowry is the only UK destination for this standout production that mixes live performance, cinema and light to stunning effect.
The Dance highlight promises to be Rambert Dance Company’s WORLD PREMIERE of a New Work – commissioned by us – based around the art and world view of LS Lowry. The commission recognises 30 years since the death of the artist and also falls within Rambert’s 80th anniversary year. Acclaimed choreographer Darshan Singh Bhuller is to create this special piece that will go on to form part of Rambert’s touring bill. But we’ve plenty of other moves, including first visits by Bangarra, Australia’s leading contemporary dance ensemble, and by Scottish Dance Theatre. Following their tremendous success with Sleeping Beauty On Ice, The Imperial All Stars are back, this time with Swan Lake. And to really heat up the winter, we’ve got Tango Fire, a great new dance show, direct from Buenos Aires.
Music figures more than the average this season, with a huge number of diverse events. We have another visit by Opera North, who bring three productions, including Britten’s modern classic, Peter Grimes. Away from the classical, we’ve got current Radio 2 Folk Awards Live Act Of The Year winner, Kate Rusby; former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman; the amazing Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain; diva Jane McDonald and the almost-legendary Houghton Weavers, to name just a few.
Then we’ve got Musicals, two unusual crackers in fact, with Victoria Wood herself directing her own Christmastide season of Acorn Antiques The Musical!, and a whole batch of Mrs T’s in the satirical treat that is Thatcher The Musical!
Also at Christmas, there’s Aladdin, our big hit pop pantomime from 2002, now back bigger and better than ever but still with family friendly prices. Family friendly too are a whole series of shows for younger children, mostly in our Studio theatre, but on the main stage we’ve also got – direct from a sensational season in New York – famous Russian clown Slava with his totally unbelievable, Snowshow.
Comedy – we’ve everyone from Alan Carr and our very own Barbara Nice – giving some timely tips of how to survive Christmas - to Ed Byrne, Jeremy Hardy and Marcus Brigstock.
In the unclassifiable category, there’s Grumpy Old Woman Germaine Greer and we’re also playing host to legendary punk poet John Cooper Clarke. We’ve got some Classic Bollywood and then there are participatory events that range from pre and post show talks to dance classes with the visiting companies and many, many, events for youngsters.
In short, it’s another season packed with some of the best live entertainment on offer anywhere. Please Note: our programmers are constantly adding new productions to our seasons and some may not have made the enclosed brochure, or even this release.
PICTURES
Pictures of theatre events and exhibitions are available to download from www.thelowryimages.com. New users should go to the registration page first, enter your personal details and use the registration key Water for a password to be immediately e-mailed back to you. You will then have access to images via the log-in page.
MORE INFORMATION
For more information please contact
Rob Allen, Press Executive, on 0161 876 2024 e-mail robert.allen@thelowry.com
or
Francesca Waite, Press Assistant on 0161 876 2044 e-mail Francesca.waite@thelowry.com
Posted on Saturday, 24 June 2006 under Press General Press