MAJOR NEW IN-HOUSE AND CO-PRODUCTIONS INCLUDE PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH, PLAY ON!, REVEALED, ROMEO & JULIET

Creative Director Corey Campbell, interim CEO Neil Murray, and the whole team at the Belgrade Theatre Coventry are delighted to reveal details of what’s coming up in the autumn of 2024, and looking ahead to the beginning of 2025. Tickets are on sale now for an exciting slate of in-house produced work, in collaboration with creative partners Talawa, Paines Plough, China Plate, Hackney Empire, Bristol Old Vic. The autumn will also see high profile main house musicals and plays coming to Coventry, alongside an eclectic programme of dance, drama, comedy and music.  

Kicking off the autumn season from 11 – 21 September will be a co-production with China Plate, Please Do Not Touch, written by former Birmingham Poet Laureate Casey Bailey (GrimeBoy, Birmingham Rep) and directed by award winning theatre maker, Gail Babb (Stars, Tamasha – OFFIE’S Best New Play 2024).

Mason is an activist. He’s always been able to talk his way out of trouble, win any argument and speak out against injustice until an incident in a heritage house takes all that away from him. How do you keep speaking up when everything’s designed to silence you?

Play On!, a co-production from Talawa and The Belgrade, will open at the Belgrade Theatre 23 September – 5 October, ahead of a UK tour. This stylish new jazz musical, a contemporary retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, will be directed by Talawa’s Artistic Director Michael Buffong, fusing the thrilling music of Duke Ellington and hip-hop choreography.

Meet Vy, a talented songwriter aiming to make it big in the 1940’s Harlem scene. They all say that women will never be taken seriously in a man’s world. Our protagonist is determined to prove them wrong – but how? A cunning gender swap gives Vy access to her idol, the Duke, and nightclub sensation Lady Liv. Vy’s attempts at being a man are a little too convincing, and the three form a complicated love triangle. Who will come out on top?

Play On! Will be produced by Talawa Theatre Company and The Belgrade Theatre, and co-produced with Birmingham Hippodrome, Bristol Old Vic, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Wiltshire Creative.

Gripping new family drama Revealed, directed by the Belgrade’s Associate Director Jay Zorenti-Nakhid will premiere from 18 October – 2 November. A Belgrade Theatre production, written by renowned writer and performer Daniel J Carver (RSC, Seaview), will be at times devastating and shocking, yet hilarious and heartwarming, celebrating the courage in connecting with those we find hardest to love.

At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, an incident in police custody has led to protests and riots in the city’s streets.

16 year old Luther, his father Malcolm and grandfather Sidney take refuge at the family’s Caribbean restaurant. Thrown together for the night, their differing opinions on racism, masculinity, sexuality, parenting, and love are revealed, with explosive consequences.

As recently announced at the Belgrade Theatre’s launch for its new strategy and artistic vision, a cornerstone of its in-house produced work will premiere in Coventry in 2025, in a co-production with Bristol Old Vic and Hackney Empire. An innovative new version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – the original play, originally scored with Rap and R&B, directed by Corey Campbell in collaboration with local Midlands artists That’s A Rap and A Class, will open at the Belgrade 21 February – 8 March 2025, before heading to Bristol and Hackney.

This is unmistakeably Shakespeare’s love story, unaltered in its original text. But it’s not just Shakespeare’s play. There is an important Plus One: rap.

Everything that makes Shakespeare’s play so well loved is here. The rich, feuding families. The intense, forbidden passion. And the flash of violence that tears the young lovers apart, sending them spiralling towards tragedy.

The story shines with new, original elements of rap – as well as soul and R&B. Think everyday English as well as the Elizabethan variety. And the poetry of rap rhythms as well as perfect pentameters.

As part of the Belgrade’s ongoing collaboration with Paines Plough, who have recently announced a move to Coventry, their new co-production of Kelly Jones’ My Mother’s Funeral: The Show (a cornerstone of the annual Roundabout programme) will also preview at The Belgrade from Thursday 25 to Saturday 27 July before going to the Edinburgh Fringe.

Abigail’s mum is dead. But it turns out she can’t afford her to be.

Did you know how expensive it is to die? It’s £4000 for the funeral. Extra for flowers. And even more if you want sausage rolls. Otherwise, she will receive a pauper’s funeral, and an unmarked grave. Then, when a theatre suddenly pulls out of Abigail’s new project, she is asked to write about something else. Something that will bring in audiences. Something more raw, from her ‘unique working class lens.’

Yep. To afford the funeral, she has to write about her mum.

This show (a Paines Plough, Mercury Theatre, Belgrade Theatre, Landmark Theatres and Royal & Derngate Northampton co-production) will also be part of See It First,  running from 17 – 27 July; a summer programme of new plays, work-in-progress, workshops and conversations between artists and audiences. The Belgrade will become an artistic hub for the region – an opportunity to see the best shows and engage with leading companies making new work prior to Edinburgh Fringe. Further details of the full programme will be announced shortly.

Other shows coming to the theatre include the 20^th anniversary production of Alan Bennett’s modern classic The History Boys (8 – 12 October), the international smash hit Ghost The Musical (22 – 26 October), the multi award-winning comedy ART (15 – 19 October), the classical ballets The Nutcracker and Swan Lake (4 – 6 November) and National Theatre of Scotland’s compelling domestic drama, Enough of Him (20 – 23 November).

Comedy nights across the season include the one-person parody production Buffy – Revamped (4 September), Florence Espeut-Nickless’ DESTINY (26 September), An Evening Without Kate Bush (28 September) and Adam Kay: Undoctored (28 October). Music and entertainment highlights include Steve Steinman’s Anything For Love – The Meat Loaf Story (29 October) and Legend – Bob Marley (10 January 2025).

Tickets for all shows are on sale now www.belgrade.co.uk/whats-on  

With a My Belgrade Subscription package, audiences can SAVE 15% when booking for 3 or 4 shows and 25% when booking 5 or more participating shows. Discounts only apply to full priced tickets in all but the lowest price bands.