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Birmingham Rep in Centenary Square, Birmingham
Production image for Happy Days. Image shows Siobhan McSweeny as Winnie up to her waist in a pile of sand. She is wearing a black dress, a pearl necklace and a small black hat. She is looking up to the sky and smiling serenely. On the pile of sand are a few objects, including an umbrella, a leather bag, and a sunglasses case.
News

NEW SEASON OF SHOWS AT THE REP

We’re adding even more shows to our 2023 season!

We are thrilled to announce brand-new productions on sale today, including the only UK dates for Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days (26 Jun-1 Jul) starring Derry Girls and The Great Pottery Throw Down’s Siobhán McSweeney; Harry Hill and Steve Brown’s hilarious musical, TONY! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera] (7-10 Jun) and Michael Frayn’s celebrated play within a play, Noises Off (23 Aug-9 Sep), beginning its UK tour at The Rep, direct from London’s West End.

The Rep’s Artistic Director, Sean Foley, said;

After starting Season ’23 with the contemporary satire Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image Saves The World and the tender but hilarious The Way Old Friends Do, these newly announced shows continue to bring high-class theatrical comedy of every type to our stages at The Rep.

“Samuel Beckett’s iconic tragi-comedy, Happy Days, in a superb new production starring Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls, Dancing at Lughnasa) and directed by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin’s Artistic Director, Caitríona McLaughlin, (The Weir), comes to The Rep in June. The production continues our relationship with Landmark Productions, Ireland’s leading independent theatre producers.

“Harry Hill and Steve Brown’s brilliantly funny musical comedy, TONY! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera], is with us in July, and to start our Autumn season, Michael Frayn’s stone-cold classic comedy-farce Noises Off commences its national tour direct from a hit season in the West End, in association with Theatre Royal Bath.

“The Rep works with the very best theatre makers and producers in the UK and internationally to create exceptional productions for our stages. 

“It is a pleasure to bring audiences this superb line-up of shows in addition to the already announced Season ’23 highlights. Productions include Of Mice and Men, directed by Rep Associate Director, Iqbal Khan, in a co-production with Leeds Playhouse and Fiery Angel and I, Daniel Blake, The Rep’s co-production with Northern Stage, Oldham Coliseum, ETT and tiny dragon Productions in association with Cardboard Citizens – the theatrical adaptation of Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or and BAFTA award-winning film. This Christmas, the magical and majestic West End production of C. S. Lewis’s classic childhood adventure, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe will play at The Rep in association with Elliott & Harper Productions and Catherine Schreiber.”

Artwork for Happy Days. Image shows Siobahn McSweeney as Winnie looking up to the sky. The image has a sketch-like quality to it where it looks like a drawing. The background is coral and the text reads: ‘Siobhan McSweeney. Happy Days by Samuel Beckett. Directed by Caitriona McLaughlin’

Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls, The Great Pottery Throw Down, Extraordinary) plays Winnie in Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece, Happy Days. Defiant, determined and fiercely resilient, Winnie greets each day with humour and boundless optimism, and lives as best she can between the bell for waking, and the bell for sleep. Produced by Landmark Productions and directed by Caitríona McLaughlin, Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre.

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Tony! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera] artwork. Image shows a cartoon of Tony Blair wearing a blue suit and jumping into the air. He is holding an electric guitar that is decorated with a Union Jack print. In the background there is a composite image of newspaper clippings and items of political significance, including a fox, a labour badge and an EU flag.

Harry Hill and Steve Brown’s hilarious musical, TONY! [The Tony Blair Rock Opera], tells the story of how one man went from peace-loving, long-haired hippy and would-be pop star to warmongering multimillionaire in just a couple of decades. Throw in a stellar cast of larger-than-life characters – Cherie Blair, Princess Diana, John Prescott, Peter Mandelson, Alastair Campbell, Osama bin Laden, George W Bush, Saddam Hussein and Gordon Brown – it’s Yes, Minister meets The Rocky Horror Show and a musical like no other.

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Noises Off artwork. Image shows the title as props on a stage with a red curtain in the background. The title is made of large letters with dressing room-style lights inside the letters. Two people can be seen from the waist down. One of the people has their trousers round their ankles and the other is wearing fishnets and heels. Various items are dotted around in a chaotic manner, including roses, alcohol, fish, and a cactus.

Michael Frayn’s celebrated Noises Off follows the on and offstage antics of a touring theatre company as they stumble their way through the fictional farce, Nothing On. From the shambolic final rehearsals before opening night in Weston-super-Mare, to a disastrous matinee in Ashton-under-Lyne seen entirely, and hilariously silently, from backstage, before we share their final, brilliantly catastrophic performance in Stockton-on-Tees..

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Buffy Revamped 2022 production image. Image shows Brendan Murphy dressed as Spike. He is holding a beer bottle with a cork in and is looking to the left with a sly expression. He is wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. In the background the title is visible reading “Buffy Revamped”.

Also announced today, award-winning Edinburgh Fringe hit, Buffy Revamped (3 Jun) brings audiences the entire 144 episodes of the hit 90s TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as told through the eyes of the one person who knows it inside out… Spike. Funny, satirical and bursting with 90s pop-culture references, it’s the perfect parody for Buffy aficionados and those who never enrolled at Sunnydale High alike.

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A group of people in a workshop, they are all laughing/smiling

The Rep’s Talent Development programme, led by Associate Director, Madeleine Kludje, will also present two Masterclass Workshops for artists looking to develop their knowledge and awareness. Rep Associate Artist, Tyrone Huggins will lead Approaches to Co-Creation and Collaboration (6 Mar) – an exploration into co-creation and collaboration in creative work for theatre makers or practitioners. How to Write a Funding Application for an Arts Council England Project Grant (17 Apr) will see Joanne Blunt (Relationship Manager for Arts Council England) share with attendees how to write a good quality funding application for one of the Arts Council’s National Lottery project grants, up to and over £30,000.

talent development