We're thrilled to announce a second season of shows from our artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah. From exciting world premieres to gripping adaptations of classics we have got it all coming up in 2019.
Death of A Salesman
By Arthur Miller | Directed by Marianne Elliott
Main House | 1 May - 29 June
"I don't say he's a great man…but he's a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He's not to be allowed to fall in his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person."
Award-winning director Marianne Elliott brings her unique vision to one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century, seen through the eyes of an African American family.
Wendell Pierce (The Wire, Suits, Selma) makes his UK stage debut as Willy Loman, with Olivier Award-winning Sharon D. Clarke as Linda Loman and Arinzé Kene (Misty, Been So Long) as Biff Loman.
Tree
Created by Idris Elba & Kwame Kwei-Armah | Directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah
A Young Vic, Manchester International Festival and Green Door Pictures co-production
Young Vic | 29 July - 24 Aug 2019
Manchester International Festival | 29 June - 10 July 2019
Tree takes you on a thrilling journey in search of the soul and spirit of contemporary South Africa. Created by Idris Elba, whose album Mi Mandela provides the soundtrack, and Kwame Kwei-Armah, this major world-premiere production, performed in the round.
Music, dance and film combine with an exciting cast to explore the past, present and future of this country at a crossroads – all through the eyes of one young man on a journey of healing.
Blood Wedding
By Federíco Garcia Lorca, in a new version by Marina Carr | Directed by Yaël Farber
Main House | 19 Sept - 2 Nov 2019
We’re all curious about what might hurt us…
What do you do when the day that’s supposed to be the happiest of your life becomes a living nightmare?
A repressed, passionate love affair rears its head on the day two young people tie the knot. What is done cannot be undone.
Multiple award-winning director Yaël Farber (Les Blancs, Mies Julie, The Crucible), brings Federíco Garcia Lorca’s most famous tragedy Blood Wedding to the Young Vic in a new version by Marina Carr.
Fairview
By Jackie Sibblies Drury | Directed by Nadia Latif
Main House | 28 Nov 2019 - 18 Jan 2020
"Dazzling and ruthless…a glorious, scary reminder of the unmatched power of live theatre to rattle, roil and shake us wide awake.”
—The New York Times (Critic’s Pick)
Following a ground-breaking, sell-out run in New York, Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Fairview is an interrogation of our subtly destructive preconceptions. This radical examination of power is directed by Young Vic’s Genesis Fellow / Associate Director, Nadia Latif.
It’s Grandma’s birthday and the Frasier family have gathered to celebrate. Beverly just wants everything to run smoothly, but Tyrone has missed his flight, Keisha is freaking out about college and Grandma has locked herself in the bathroom.
Bronx Gothic
A Young Vic and Los Angeles Performance Practice co-production
Writer, Performer and Sound Designer Okwui Okpokwasili | Director, Visual and Sound Designer Peter Born
Maria Studio | 1 - 29 June
Part theatre, part dance and part visual art installation, Okwui Okpokwasili’s Bronx Gothic delves into her memories of growing up in the Bronx, before emerging into a breathtaking exploration of girlhood.
Created in collaboration with Peter Born, in this UK premiere, Bronx Gothic draws on inspiration from West African griot storytelling and the epistolary style of the Victorian novel to ask what it means to be brown in a world that values whiteness.
Okwui Okpokwasili is a 2018 MacArthur ‘Genius Award’ recipient.
Wild East
By April De Angelis | Directed by Lekan Lawal
Clare Studio | 6 - 16 February
This is some Interview.
Frank is nervous, his interview with Dr Jacqueline Pitt and Dr Marcia Gray is about to begin. If he can do this, it’s his ticket back to Russia.
But secret motivations reveal themselves as the three get caught in each-others’ crossfire during the course of questioning – and all under the ever-present eye of the higher-ups.
Outlandish and surreal, April De Angelis’ Wild East artfully turns the most sterile of settings, a corporate job interview, into a sharp comedy about the permeation of human chaos.
Directed by Genesis Award winner Lekan Lawal.
“Wild East is possibly best described as the funniest play Ionesco never wrote, but even that doesn’t do justice to the job interview gone eccentrically, even apocalyptically haywire.” Variety
Ivan & The Dogs
By Hatti Naylor | Directed by Caitriona Shoobridge
Clare Studio | 10 - 20 July
All the money went and there was nothing to buy food with…So mothers and fathers tried to find things they could get rid of, things that ate, things that drank, or things that needed to be kept warm
…The dogs went first.
Four-year-old Ivan would rather face living on the streets of Moscow than stay home. Now, to survive he faces new challenges; from young gangs of boys to the police, and his own hunger.
But all is not lost as Ivan finds family amongst the other outcasts around him – the dogs.
Genesis Award winner Caitriona Shoobridge directs this one-person play exploring the need for kindness and trust, when despite being betrayed by the people around you, family can still be forged in the face of adversity.
“Hattie Naylor’s writing beautifully conveys the incredible way the boy and dogs connected to each other, and one leaves the theatre feeling disgust for those on two legs, but admiration for those on four.” The Telegraph
YV Unpacked: Spring Awakening
By Franz Wedekind |Adapted from the 1891 text by Caroline Byrne
| Directed by Caroline Byrne
The Clare | -
He said roses in the flowerbeds have such meagre
blooms every summer because they are over-protected
and over pruned.
He said he was a weed.
Am I then the rose?
Moritz has been having dreams about legs in blue stockings again. Wendla wants to feel something, anything. Meanwhile, Melchior’s basically got it all figured out…
A vital, timeless tale exploring the consequences of a society which struggles to be open about sex and sexuality.
Featuring a cast including actor-musicians, Caroline Byrne’s timely adaptation is stripped bare by raw percussive energy composed by Tasha Taylor Johnson and Line Bech’s striking costume designs.
The Jumper Factory
Conceived by Young Vic Taking Part & Justin Audibert |By Luke Barnes |Directed by Josh Parr
Maria Studio | 27 February – 9 March
Created in collaboration with inmates at HMP Wandsworth and written by Luke Barnes, this intimate and powerful new piece explores the stories of people behind bars and the resilience they need to face a world that moves without them.
Draw Me Close
A preview of the National Theatre and National Film Board of Canada production, presented by the Young Vic.
Maria Studio | 21 January – 2 February
Draw Me Close blurs the worlds of live performance, virtual reality and animation to create a vivid memoir about the relationship between a mother and her son in the wake of her terminal-cancer diagnosis.
The experience is by award-winning playwright and filmmaker Jordan Tannahill, in a co-production between the National Theatre’s Immersive Storytelling Studio and National Film Board of Canada, in collaboration with All Seeing Eye, with illustrations by Teva Harrison.
Tickets will be on sale in early 2019.
The 8 Club
A Young Vic and David Weale-Cochrane and Kwame Kwei-Armah Jr co-production
The 8 Club is a pioneering, free to access, video series investigating the subjects that really matter to young men. Provocative and often unspoken topics for men, such as mental health, ‘toxic masculinity’ and personal relationships are faced head-on.
Release dates to be announced soon.
Taking Part in 2019
Our work with young people and our local communities is a major part of our artistic life, offering free tickets, workshops, projects and the chance to make and perform in shows. Exciting things coming up in 2019 include…
YV Unpacked is a new strand of work, taking the highest quality theatre to people who don't normally think that theatre is for them. We will be taking shows to refugee centres, prisons, community hubs and homeless shelters as part of this work. Our 2019 Unpacked, following Spring Awakening which will be taken out to the community is She Ventures, and He Wins, by Ariadne.
The Wonderful Way to Marbleous Town returns in 2019 after a successful run for schools last summer. Directed by Natasha Nixon and designed by Kirsty Harris, this playful non-verbal performance welcomes you into a magical world, where we can discover our true selves. This is part of our work for children and young people who prefer an open and relaxed performance environment. Tickets will be available to SEND schools.
The Freedom Project: Working collaboratively as the UK’s first two Theatres of Sanctuary, The Young Vic and Leeds Playhouse will co-commission a new play exploring the idea of social freedoms.
Written in response to the words and stories of refugees and asylum seekers in London and Leeds, the project will begin at The Young Vic during Refugee Week 2019 and will culminate the following year with a co-production of a new play by Luke Barnes. The piece will be performed by local refugees and asylum seekers in both Leeds and London.
Forest will be our response to Idris Elba and Kwame Kwei-Armah’s production of Tree. For the first time, all three strands of Taking Part will come together to make a new show, including our neighbours and friends of all ages. There will be music, dancing, joy and a great story.
Priority booking now open for YV Friends
Public booking opens at 10am on Monday 5 November ⏰
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By becoming a Friend you'll get advance access to this new season of work and you'll be supporting the Directors Program, our unique training program for emerging directors, and Taking Part, our deep rooted education and engagement program in our local area.
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