Seventh Replay for Library

Line-up confirmed for the Library Theatre Company’s seventh re:play Festival in January 2014

The eight productions have been announced for the Library Theatre Company’s re:play Festival 2014 in January 2014 - the unique festival which rounds up the most exciting and talked-about new theatre in the previous 12 months on Manchester and Salford’s fringe theatre scene - at The Lowry in Salford.

For the first time, the festival, now in its seventh year, features a show aimed at children and family audiences, Billy, the Monster, and ME!, while legendary Manchester singer Stella Grundy presents The Rise and Fall of a Northern Star, an account of Tracy Star, a nearly-pop star of late-1980s Madchester, which will be performed in the orchestra’s dressing room of The Lowry’s Lyric Theatre space and will have a capacity of just 30.

An adaptation of One Hand Clapping, a novel by Manchester’s great man of letters, Anthony Burgess, will be presented, while the festival also breaks new ground with All Our Friends Are Dead, a surreal sketch and character comedy show.

Accompanying the productions will be a number of developmental opportunities for emerging theatre makers - NewScript Night, in which four local writers each devise a 15-minute play based on a current news story, written and rehearsed during the festival itself (Fri 24 Jan, 7pm); Pitch Party, in which theatre creatives pitch their idea in front of an audience made up of theatre industry professionals (Fri 31 Jan, 7pm); and Talking Shop, an Open Space discussion forum open to anyone interested in the current state of theatre (Sat 1 Feb, 12.30pm). In addition, the festival will feature a work-in-progress presentation of Handles by local writer Tom Mason, winner of last year’s Pitch Party event (Fri 31 Jan, 9pm).

“Our re:play Festival is firmly established as one of the key events of the theatre calendar in Manchester and Salford,” says Chris Honer, the Library Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, who chairs the panel which selects the productions for the festival.

“Last year’s festival was our most successful yet with record audiences keen to see the best of the previous year’s shows, and I fully expect re:play 2014 to be equally as successful. The range of work emerging from the fringe gets broader every year and it’s great to be able to give it wider exposure.”

Monday 20 January - Saturday 1 February 2014 www.librarytheatre.com/replay2014 #replay2014

For full details of all the productions.Visit here.

Published: 21-Nov-2013: (2187)