Welcome Back season announced for the Summer at Bristol Old Vic

27 Apr 2021

Welcome Back To Bristol Old Vic!

Bristol Old Vic is back with a dazzling summer season of live and online work which balances the return of our startling hit Touching the Void, with breakthrough shows from astonishing poetic talent Malaika Kegode and a range of creative opportunities for every community in the city.  

This Welcome Back season signals the range of work you will be able to see here over the next five years, when we will:  



  • CREATE BOLD, INNOVATIVE, HIGH QUALITY, POPULAR WORK FOR BRISTOL
    Touching the Void revival of West End hit show (26-29 May) - viewable In Theatre or At Home   
  • SHARE THE WORK OF THE SOUTH WEST'S ASTONISHING TALENT ON OUR MAIN STAGE
    Outlier (12-26 Jun). Written and performed by Malaika Kegode with original music from Bristol band Jakabol premieres on main stage.  
  • CHAMPION THE CREATIVITY OF YOUNG PEOPLE ACROSS THE CITY
    Young Company:City Showcase (12 Jul), Made in Bristol debut (15-17 Jul), Young Company Summer Show (7 Aug)  
  • LAUNCH THE CAREERS OF A NEW GENERATION OF STARS FROM BRISTOL OLD VIC THEATRE SCHOOL
    The Three Seagulls (2-10 Jul) directed by Sally Cookson, performed by Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.   
  • WELCOME VISITORS OF ALL AGES TO OUR HISTORIC THEATRE, STARTING WITH THE FIRST EVER PUBLIC OPENING OF OUR THUNDER RUN ON OUR 255th BIRTHDAY.
    Thunder Run Tours (30-31 May), rolling programme of performance in our Courtyard (Jul/Aug) Family Day “Open House” (7 Aug)  
  • CONTINUE THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION BEGUN THROUGHOUT LOCKDOWN
    Bristol Old Vic at Home continues with favourite hit shows to rent, live broadcast premieres and experimental digital theatre, all available to watch from anywhere in the world.
Artistic Director Tom Morris said: “We’ve been kept alive throughout the pandemic by the government’s support and the loyalty of our audiences.  Responsibility comes with this, and in the depths of lockdown we’ve also had a chance to reflect on the things we did well and the things we need to improve at after the pandemic. We are determined to build on the successes of recent years but also to come back stronger, more connected, more welcoming and more entertaining than ever.  This mini-season of summer work shows our first step in that direction and our renewed determination to welcome and celebrate every area and community of our beautiful city.”    

TOUCHING THE VOID (26-29 May), In Theatre and Live Broadcast ON SALE NOW

Bristol Old Vic’s West End smash hit Touching the Void will return to its Bristol home for a week of in-person and live-broadcast performances in May. After four months with its doors closed by the pandemic, Bristol Old Vic – one of the world’s greatest theatrical survival stories – is brought roaring back to life with this epic tale of human endurance and friendship (26-29 May). On sale now.  

“I first saw this as the Times theatre critic in Bristol in September 2018. I can remember jumping up afterwards and thinking: well that’s five stars and possibly six. If you think theatre isn’t for you, try this.”  Ann Treneman, The Times

OUTLIER (12-26 Jun), In Theatre and Live Broadcast ON SALE 27 APR
Wednesday 16 Jun, 7.30pm PRESS NIGHT at Bristol Old Vic Theatre  

Bristol Ferment is delighted to announce that the first brand new production of the year will be Outlier (12-26 Jun) – a Bristol Old Vic  Ferment co-production with Bristol poet Malaika Kegode, Bristol band Jakabol and an accompanying team of incredible independent artists. Powerful poetics and soaring music combine in this autobiographical gig-theatre show. Genre-defying and emotional, Outlier explores the impact of isolation, addiction and friendship on young people in the often-forgotten places.
 
Outlier will be performed to in-person audiences and also live-broadcast for two nights. This production marks the culmination of a year of development and reinvention of the Ferment model to allow an even more collaborative and supportive environment for emerging theatre-makers. The show is directed by Jenny Davies and designed by Rebecca Wood, both recipients of a Leverhulme Scholarship from Bristol Ferment in 2019/20 to develop and grow their practice. On sale Tue 27 Apr.
 
Throughout lockdown Bristol Old Vic’s Engagement team have been supporting young people to develop their creativity and stay connected through a time of immense isolation:

YOUNG COMPANY:CITY SHOWCASE (12 Jul).
 
Young Company:City was set up last year as a pilot scheme. It officially began in Apr 2021, offering theatre workshops to groups of young people across the city in a range of settings, with the aim of directly addressing inequality of access to the arts. On 12 Jul, the inaugural groups will come together on the main stage at Bristol Old Vic to share their work, exploring the themes of Belonging.

Alongside this, Bristol Old Vic’s newest cohort of young theatre-makers present their debut show this summer. Owl On The Roof company began training in Sep 2020, collaborating in the rehearsal room and online to bring this show to life. They represent the 11th year of the theatre’s Made in Bristol initiative (a group of twelve young people aged 18-25 who become resident at Bristol Old Vic for two days a week for a year). On Sale from Tue 27 Apr.
 
Our award-winning Young Company will also be performing live for the first time in 12 months as part of a building-wide Family Day (7 Aug). Directed by Katie Storer, 15 young company performers will devise a live theatre show for the streets, inspired by our outdoor environment; no stage, no lights, no tickets – for anyone who happens to be in that space at that time..

THE THREE SEAGULLS (2-10 Jul), In Theatre ON SALE TUE 27 APR
 
Our enduring partnership with Bristol Old Vic Theatre School continues this summer as the graduating year of students present The Three Seagulls. 125 years after its first production, Chekhov’s The Seagull still resonates today. Now, fourteen talented, hungry, graduate actors – who’ve spent the best part of their final year masked up, sanitised, constrained – are exploring the very nature of art, isolation, ambition and endurance with Olivier Award-winning director Sally Cookson as they merge scenes from three seminal adaptations:  Aaron Posner’s Stupid, Fucking Bird, Anya Reiss’s The Seagull and Christopher Hampton’s The Seagull. Expect good acting, some subtext, and a lot of lip-syncing!
 
Speaking today Sally Cookson said: “I am chomping at the bit to get back into a rehearsal room with a group of passionate and talented theatre-makers. I can’t make theatre on my own. The graduating BOVTS students are an inspiring bunch, full of loud voices, imaginative thinking and an enormous dollop of talent. I can’t wait to create with them and share our discoveries with an actual audience. Bring it on.”

255th BIRTHDAY WELCOME DAY AND COURTYARD SEASON

On 30 May, Bristol Old Vic celebrates its 255th birthday and we’ve arranged something truly special this year to mark a moment of survival and celebration for the theatre and for Bristol.
 
For the first time in the theatre’s history, the unique Thunder Run will be opened to the public. Climb to the roof space of the theatre and step back in time to see first-hand how this 18th-century surround-sound technology created one of the most unique sound effects in theatre history. Tours will open on the theatre’s birthday (30 May) as a very special gift to the city. Tours go on sale Tue 27 Apr.
 
Our birthday is usually the moment when we host Bristol Open Stage, flinging open the doors of the theatre, welcoming anyone to share their talents (hidden or otherwise!) onstage with the whole city. Today the theatre announced that Bristol Open Stage will be returning next year, when we can fill the theatre with the best, brightest and most bizarre showstoppers Bristol has to offer!
 
We’re also pleased to announce the return of the Courtyard Season for a dynamic welcome back for Bristol this summer (Jul/Aug). The hugely popular season of one-night events, sharing performance in all its forms in the theatre’s spectacular foyer performance space, was a highlight of last year’s brief but powerful period of live performance. Details to follow soon.
 
And as a celebration of the extraordinary creativity of children and their families this year, the summer will see the return of the hugely popular Family Day (7 Aug). The phenomenal creative response to Bristol Old Vic’s free online content over 2020 has inspired us to host this official welcome back to children and their grown-ups, allowing them to explore the history and stories of their theatre through events, tours and storytelling sessions in person for the first time in 12 months. Consider it an open house! Full details here

BRISTOL OLD VIC AT HOME… On Demand, anywhere in the world.         AVAILABLE NOW

And for those who have enjoyed the digital theatre on offer this year, our pioneering On Demand series of new and much-loved shows continues on our website as Bristol Old Vic at Home.  Extensions are announced today for Pink Mist, Desert Island Theatre with Toby Jones and Impermanence’s dance double-bill, providing an invaluable connection to Bristol Old Vic’s programme for those who are unable to visit us in person, watchable from anywhere in the world.
 
FULL DETAILS OF OUR AUTUMN AND WINTER PROGRAMMES WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN JUNE.

Bristol Old Vic is the longest continuously running theatre in the UK, and celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2016. The historic playhouse aims to inspire audiences with its own original productions, both at home and on tour, whilst nurturing the next generation of artists, whether that be through their 350-strong Young Company, their many outreach and education projects or their trailblazing artist development programme, Bristol Ferment.

They use their funding to support experiment and innovation, to allow access to their programme for people who would not otherwise encounter it, or be able to afford it, and to keep their extraordinary heritage alive and animated.

On 24 Sep 2018, Bristol Old Vic completed its 2-year multi-million pound redevelopment project, which transformed its front of house space into a warm and welcoming public building for all of Bristol to enjoy, created a new studio theatre and opened up its unique theatrical heritage to the public for the first time.

Press Office: 0117 949 4901 | press@bristololdvic.org.uk