We're not doing 2017 by halves, we're over the moon (you'll get that in a minute) to announce seven new shows in our 2017 line up.
In the Main House it's the season of creative returns: Joe Wright returns to the Young Vic with Life Of Galileo after his acclaimed production of A Season of the Congo. Sell-out sensation, Yerma is back for a limited run. The incredible team behind Happy Days reunites for Wings, directed by Natalie Abrahami. And, The Suppliant Women brings back Ramin Gray, after Living with the Lights on. Over in the studios we have Taha, Nina and How to Win Against History. Find out more on all the shows below.
Life of Galileo ( 6 May - 24 Jun)
BAFTA Award-winning film director Joe Wright (Atonement, Anna Karenina) returns to the Young Vic after his celebrated production of A Season in the Congo, with Brendan Cowell in the title role following his acclaimed performance in Yerma.
Galileo makes an explosive discovery about the universe with his new invention – the telescope. The establishment is in an uproar over his powerful challenge to their worldview and their entrenched religious beliefs.
Brecht’s masterpiece will be performed in-the-round on a stunning set designed by Lizzie Clachan (Yerma, A Season in the Congo) and with projections by 59 Productions (Feast, War Horse).
Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, translated by John Willett, runs 6 May - 24 June 2017 in the Young Vic's Main House. It is directed by Joe Wright with design by Lizzie Clachan, video by Lysander Ashton for 59 Productions, light by Jon Clark, sound by Tom Gibbons, puppet direction by Sarah Wright and dramaturgy by Sarah Tipple. With Brendan Cowell and more to be announced.
★★★★★
'An extraordinary theatrical triump' - The Times
★★★★★
'A shatteringly powerful reinvention of a familiar classic' - The Independent
★★★★★ - The Observer, Evening Standard, Metro, Mail on Sunday, The Sun, iNews
2016’s biggest hit returns for a strictly limited run. The extraordinary Billie Piper plays Her, a woman driven to the unthinkable by her desperate desire to have a child.
Simon Stone creates a radical new production of Lorca’s achingly powerful masterpiece.
Yerma by Simon Stone after Federico García Lorca runs 26 July - 31 August in the Young Vic's Main House. It is directed by Simon Stone with design by Lizzie Clachan, costumes by Alice Babidge, light by James Farncombe, music & sound Stefan Gregory, video by Jack Henry James, casting by Julian Horan CDG. With, Maureen Beattie, Brendan Cowell, John MacMillan, Billie Piper and Charlotte Randle.
Yerma is now sold out. We will be running returns queues on the day from an hour before each performance. Find more information on NT Live screenings here.
Wings (14 September - 28 October)
Juliet Stevenson takes on yet another extraordinary role. Emily was a fiercely independent woman, an aviator and a wingwalker, until a stroke destroyed her sense of reality. Fragments of her life come together as she struggles to find her voice and herself.
The hugely successful collaborators from Happy Days reunites with director Natalie Abrahami.
Wings by Arthur Kopit runs 14 September - 28 October in the Young Vic's Main House. It is directed by Natalie Abrahami with design by Michael Levine, light by Guy Hoare, sound by Gareth Fry and movement by Anna Morrisey. With Juliet Stevenson and more to be announced.
The Suppliant Women ( 13 - 25 November)
★★★★★
'An epic, feminist protest song' - The Guardian
"If we help, we invite trouble.
If we don't, we invite shame."
Fifty women leave everything behind to board a boat in North Africa and fl ee across the Mediterranean. They are escaping forced marriage in their homeland, hoping for protection and assistance, seeking asylum in Greece.
Written 2,500 years ago by the great playwright Aeschylus, one of the world’s oldest plays speaks to us through the ages with startling resonance for our troubled times.
Featuring a chorus of young women from London, this is part play, part ritual. Director Ramin Gray unearths an electric connection to the deepest and most mysterious ideas of the humanity – who are we, where do we belong and if all goes wrong – who will take us in?
An Actors Touring Company, Young Vic and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh co-production.
The Suppliant Women by Aeschylus, a new version by David Greig, runs 13 - 25 Novemeber in the Young Vic's Main House. It is directed by Ramin Gray with music by John Browne, choreography by Sasha Milavic Davies, design by Lizzie Clachan andlight by Charles Balfour. With Callum Armstrong, Oscar Batterham, Ben Burton, Omar Ebrahim and Gemma May Rees.
All my life, nothing came easy.
Not even becoming a poet.
A lyrical story of the life of Palestinian poet Taha Muhammed Ali, written and performed by Amer Hlhel.
Amir Nizar Zuabi (The Beloved, I Am Yusuf and This Is My Brother), founder of celebrated theatre company ShiberHur, returns to the Young Vic to direct this London premiere.
An Amer Hlehel, Young Vic and Shubbak Festival co-production.
Taha by Amer Hlehel, translated by Amir Nizar Zuabi, runs 5 - 15 July in the Young Vic's Maria. It is translated and directed by Amir Nizar Suabi with light by Muaz Jubeh and music by Habib Shehadeh Hanna. With Amer Hlehel.
A STORY ABOUT ME & NINA SIMONE
★★★★
'A searing tribute restarts Simone's revolution' - The Guardian
Backed by a brilliant band, Josette Bushell-Mingo mixes story and song as she draws together tales from the life of Nina Simone, her own extraordinary career and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Nina devised by Josette Bushell-Mingo and Dritëro Kasapi runs 19 - 29 July in the Young Vic's Maria. It is directed by Dritëro Kasapi with design by Rosa Maggiora, light by Matt Haskins, musical direction by Shapor Bastansia and dramaturgy by Christina Anderson. With Josette Bushell-Mingo.
Nina is now sold out. We will be running returns queues on the day from an hour before each performance.
How to Win Against History (30 November - 23 December)
★★★★★
'This musical about being a cross-dressing Marquess is a work of genius' - The Daily Telegraph
★★★★
'Gleeful, luicrous - a larky collision of Gilbert & Sulivan and Monty Python' - Time Out
The 5th Marquis of Anglesey was one of the world’s wealthiest men, until he lost it all by being too damn fabulous. A riches-to-rags story becomes a hilarious, ripped-up musical in an outrageous performance by Seiriol Davies.
An Aine Flanagan Productions, Seiriol Davies and Young Vic co-production.
How to Win Against History runs 30 November - 23 December in the Young Vic's Maria. It is directed by Alex Swift with design by Verity Quinn, light by Dan Saggers, musical direction by Dylan Townley, music by Seiriol Davies and dramaturgy by Eve Leigh. With Matthew Blake, Seiriol Davies and Dylan Townley.
Tickets go on sale to the public on Wednesday 1 February at 10am. You can become a friend and book today at www.youngvic.org
