Derby Theatre Studio highlights during January and February

Derby Theatre Studio highlights during January and February

Derby Theatre is thrilled to play host to some incredibly  exciting and innovative theatre companies and productions in their Studio theatre over the next two months.  

The Studio at Derby Theatre has long been a popular arts and  performance venue in the city, in its own right and as a key  part of Derby Theatre, and is a space for innovation, emerging  artists and contemporary work – and Studio highlights for  January and February include: 

For ages 3 – 7 and their families, Molly’s Marvellous Moustache will play for two performances on Sunday 26 February. Molly wants to be just like the grown-ups. So she asks her mummy to make her a moustache. With her moustache she can go anywhere and do anything she likes. But being a grown up isn't all fun. Featuring original music, playful interaction and lots of laughs, a new theatrical adaptation of the storybook written by Andrea Heaton and illustrated by  Talya Baldwin. 

I Used to Hear Footsteps by Jack A. G. Britton will play on  Friday 27 January. Haunted by curiosity, a young man  attempts to piece together the ghost story of his childhood  home. Suspend your disbelief and follow an investigation  that spirals beyond rationality. In the search for answers  witnesses relive their encounters; presences emerge from  the walls and the fragile lines between normal and paranormal blur exponentially. This show goes bump in the night. Jack A.G. Britton was a 2015/16 Associate Artist of In Good Company, the Theatre’s professional Artist Development scheme. 

On Friday 3 February, Louise White will present Debris, a piece which challenges attitudes towards depression and mental health. Badly buttered toast, a fear of Falmouth, and elephants; depression leaves some strange things behind. Love is a neurotic checklist, sadness is all tied up with fear and dreams have a no-holds-barred policy. Louise is packing her depression into boxes but needs to sift through the debris to make things finally fit. Why is Cornwall so scary? Why do the black balloon dogs keep following her? Why does she constantly need to pee? And why is spreading butter on toast such a big deal? Debris sees Louise trying to make sense of her experiences and daily vices with some much needed help from David Attenborough and her audience. Debris has been made in partnership with Leicester Partnership NHS Trust, Attenborough Arts Centre and funded by Arts Council England. 

Nightlight by The Mandala Theatre Company will play on Friday 3 February.  Somewhere in England two teenagers seeking asylum, fearing deportation, hide out in an abandoned factory. In the midst of sharing food and stories, they hear someone else arrive. Terrified, they creep towards the door where they find a familiar figure. The three of them talk through the night about home, belonging and the system... but the children remain wary: at any point he can reveal their hiding place, turn them over to the authorities and send them back to their countries and to danger. After the performance of Nightlight, there will be a free post-show talk to discuss what happens to unaccompanied children in the UK when they become 18? With a panel of academics, refugees, NGO experts working in the field, local politicians and councillors.  

On Saturday 11 February, TOOT and Ovalhouse present Focus Group (or How to Stare Down and Transfigure Loneliness), an absurd comedy with a dark heart. Inspired by cult US writer David Foster Wallace’s short story Mister Squishy, Focus Group explores the absurdity of modern life and consumer culture with humanity and humour. It is dark, unsettling and playful. The production celebrates the human drive to continue in what can feel like an increasingly remote reality.  Through TOOT’s distinctive style of interactive performance, the company provokes audiences to consider whether a real connection is possible at all. Sit back, eat (individually wrapped, luxury) cake, and see a man gradually relinquish the delusion that he matters in the slightest.... and then go back to watching kitten videos on Facebook.  
 
Tickets for Molly’s Marvellous Moustache are £10 each (concessions £7 each). 
 
Tickets for I Used to Hear Footsteps, Debris, Night Light and Focus Group are £10 each (concessions £8 each) and are all recommended for age 14+. Studio Season Tickets (to see 4 shows, excluding Molly’s Marvellous Moustache) are £28.  
 
For details of more Studio shows in March and beyond, please visit www.derbytheatre.co.uk. 

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