Since Tobacco Factory Theatres re-opened in May 2021, we have been hosting a range of Covid-secure performances and activities, with wonderful audience responses. Plus, during August we toured South Bristol neighbourhoods with our doorstep production Date Night – a hilarious and heartwarming piece of pop-up theatre, from the team behind 2020’s sell-out travelling show BS3 Santa.
It was thrilling to hit these milestones this year – re-opening the theatre, touring our latest production – and most of all it has been lovely to reconnect with you, our audiences, after such a long time away.
And we have just hit our latest milestone – announcing our new season of inspiring and entertaining shows from September, including the biggie…..Christmas at Tobacco Factory Theatres! Follow us down the yellow brick road this Christmas with OZ – our brand new in-house production, created and co-produced with award-winning Bristol-based company Pins and Needles.
Also coming up in our autumn season…
Summer sell-out show DESTINY, written and performed by Bristol-based artist Florence Espeut-Nickless, is back in September, along with The Interrogation from Access All Areas – a self-guided walk through the streets of Bristol – gentle giant of a production An Elephant in the Garden from Poonamallee Productions, and a return for James Rowland with his brand new show Learning to Fly.
From October we have: RoughHouse Theatre with Unknown, a new play about homelessness; I Stand For What I Stand On from Strike a Light, made with a group of young climate activists from Gloucester; Circus City show (le) Pain – a circus show about breadmaking, physical heroics and growing up queer in a boulangerie in the south of France – and Red Ladder’s My Voice Was Heard But It Was Ignored – a new show interrogating racial identity and systemic power.
Plus, for younger audiences at half term, Tessa Bide Productions bring The Selfish Giant, based on Oscar Wilde’s children’s story of the same name and Roustabout Theatre present This Island’s Mine, a re-imagining of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
Finally, a huge highlight of the autumn has to be the return of local legends Living Spit, with their latest creation – the horrifically hilarious Frankenstein: The Musical. With original music, preposterous puppets, grotesque gags and diabolically desperate dance-moves, this rib-ticklingly raucous monster of a show will leave you in stitches.
Add to all of this some new Artist Masterclasses and a Get Involved programme bursting with the spirit of adventure and we think you’ll agree that the magic of theatre is well and truly back in Southville this autumn!
Give the Gift this Christmas
OZ is our brand new version of the iconic tale of Dorothy’s wild journey to meet the Wizard of Oz. OZ will boast all the magic, music and mischief you’d expect from one of our Christmas shows: it just wouldn’t be Christmas without a trip to Tobacco Factory Theatres!
Whilst extremely exciting, we are taking a major risk by investing in a brand new production this Christmas, given the uncertain and challenging times for theatres. The risk is worth it, as it means we can offer employment to more than 20 Bristol-based actors and artists, many of whose livelihoods were devastated by Covid-19, whilst offering audiences an unforgettable Christmas experience once again.
In order to keep everyone safe, we are starting bookings for OZ with a significantly reduced audience capacity and offering lower prices for those who need them. That’s why we’re asking those who are able to ‘Give the Gift’ this Christmas. By paying a small supplement on your ticket, you’ll support us in offering a lower price to someone who can’t afford our standard price at the moment. We’ve all experienced different challenges over the last two years, and through our Give the Gift ticket option you can ensure that Christmas – and theatre – can be shared by all.
Keeping you safe this autumn and winter
All Factory Theatre performances* on sale from August 2021 are currently sold with social distancing in place, meaning that there is distance between different groups in the auditorium,
All Spielman Theatre performances on sale from August 2021 are currently sold with a reduced capacity and with unreserved seating in order that we can maintain social distancing. For each performance, different groups will be seated in the auditorium with distance between them.
We also have a range of measures in place that enable your safe journey through all of the building.
We may increase capacity and relax measures once we are certain it’s safe to do so, however we will guarantee at least one socially distanced performance per week for all shows with a run of at least five performances. We want everyone to feel safe and confident about enjoying theatre again. These performances are labelled Guaranteed Socially Distanced, and dates for them can be found on individual show pages. They are also listed on our Access pages.
* NB – this does not include Comedy events, which will not be socially distanced. Comedy bookers will receive an email with information about the measures we have in place for these events.
Read more about the Covid safety measures we have in place this autumn.
Posted on 02 September 2021
