Theatre Uncut Is Back
New “Power Plays” free to perform May & June
Theatre Uncut returns in May with the release of The Power Plays, a set of free-to-perform scripts, examining power from the female perspective
The short plays, written by some of the UK’s most dynamic female playwrights, will be released on May 1 and will be available for anyone, anywhere to download and perform free of charge until the end of June 2018.
Full details of all the plays will be released on the Theatre Uncut website on Tuesday May 1, there will be a public performance of the plays in Bristol on May 6 and details of EdFringe 2018 events will be announced on May 16.
Theatre Uncut says: “As #metoo #timesup now, the women’s march and countless paradigm shifting initiatives are rocking the world right now we wanted to create a collection that you can use to raise debate and galvanise action in your own communities.”
Theatre Uncut was established by Hannah Price in 2011, in response to the public spending cuts announced by the then UK coalition government.
Price joined up with playwrights David Greig and Mark Ravenhill to ask leading playwrights to respond to the current political situation by writing short plays. These were then made available for anyone to perform anywhere rights free for a limited period.
Emma Callander, who is currently an associate artist at the Traverse, joined Theatre Uncut as a participant in 2011, directing the original plays at the Bristol Old Vic and the Arches in Glasgow. She became Price’s joint artistic director the following year.
Every year since, Theatre Uncut has commissioned leading and emerging playwrights to create short plays that tackle political and social issues. These are then released, rights free, for anyone to perform anywhere, creating theatrical mass action events that engage people all over the world with the issues at the heart of the plays.
The quick-response format proved a hit in 2013/14, when the company commissioned six short plays in response to the Scottish independence referendum. These were performed during the fringe of 2013, available that November and reprised in the weeks leading up to the referendum on September 18 2014.
So far over 6,000 people in 26 countries across 4 continents have been part of Theatre Uncut, performing plays by 49 different playwrights. The company has just created a new interactive map of all the different performances over the years. Æ’s coverage of Theatre Uncut events is available here.
All Edinburgh Theatre hopes to be able to support any and all Edinburgh-based performances of the Power Plays by publicising them and reviewing, where possible. If you are involved in staging any of the plays, please do contact us with details.
Listings and links
The Power Plays
Free to download and perform, May 1 to June 30 2018.
Details: https://www.theatreuncut.com
The Power Plays in Bristol
Bristol Old Vic, The Rackhay, Queen Charlotte Street BS1 4HJ
Sunday 6 May 2018. From 2pm.
Details: https://bristololdvic.org.uk
Theatre Uncut website: https://www.theatreuncut.com
Facebook: @TheatreUncut
Twitter: @TheatreUncut
#PowerPlays
ENDS
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