Clear your diary from May 7-17 for Season 6 of the Platform8 Festival in Peterborough, as Jumped Up Theatre bring an astonishing line-up of shows to a venue very near you.
Headlining is Lost Dog’s Juliet & Romeo – this fresh take on the classic love story explores how the star-crossed couple might have fared had they lived happily ever after. Does teenage passion survive parental angst?
This smart, sexy and funny dance-theatre show, performed by the charismatic and award-winning Ben Duke and the smouldering Solene Weinachter, brings its national tour, which includes the Linbury Theatre at The Royal Opera House, to Stanground College & Sports Centre on Thursday May 9 for a public performance, and for a schools matinee on Friday May 10. From Covent Garden to Stanground – now that’s impressive!
Now Is The Time To Say Nothing has an equally inspiring pedigree. Created at London’s Young Vic Theatre the 2019 tour of this show started at the Old Vic in Bristol and will land at Peterborough Regional College for Friday May 10 and Saturday May 11.
Acclaimed theatre-director Caroline Williams has created a stunning, immersive video and audio travelogue with Syrian film-maker Reem Karssli. Audiences start with headphones and a TV set and follow Reem’s journey from war-torn Damascus to her reluctant escape. Now Is The Time breaks down the barriers of 24-hour news and social media, to focus on one individual, human story, which will touch you like no other show this year.
You also need to keep your diary clear for MTV and YouTube spoken-word star Yomi Sode. COAT – Confessions Of A Teenager is at the Millennium Centre on Eastfield Road/Dickens Street for one performance only on Friday May 10. Yomi traces family memories and maps hopes for his future, as a young black man trying to defeat stereotypes, through food and stories that have been handed down from generations. You get to eat Yomi’s cooking as part of the show, which will be followed by music by DJ Red Snapper.
A good night out is also guaranteed with Elise Heaven’s She’s A Good Boy at The Brewery Tap on Sunday May 12. Fresh from an acclaimed tour and sell-out shows at Battersea Arts Centre Elise’s stories and songs about one person’s non-binary experience will open your hearts and make you laugh about absurdities, such as men’s vs women’s socks and dehumanising corporate uniform codes.
There are also more shows at The Key Theatre, from Kaleidoscope Thursday May 9 – Saturday May 11, a babies show about lights, to Talia Randall’s raucous spoken word cabaret, What Words Are Ours?, which incorporates spoken word, BSL, captioning and a star-studded line-up including Zoe McWinney.
Tickets start at £5, with lots of concessions. For more information, plus ticket links and news of free family theatre, workshops and talks with Caroline Williams and Lost Dog, go to www.jumpeduptheatre.com or check Platform8 out on social media.
This is the best theatre you will see all year in Peterborough, make sure you don’t miss a moment.