GRIPPING GOTHIC HORROR THE COMPANY OF WOLVES HEADLINES NEW VIC 2024 SEASON

8th December 2023

The New Vic Theatre has added three new plays to its 2024 programme including a rare staging of a renowned novella. Joining previously announced productions A Leap In The Dark by Ron Hutchinson and Ladies Down Under by Amanda Whittington:

• New Vic Artistic Director Theresa Heskins and Upswing Artistic Director Vicki Amedume follow up their collaboration on Olivier award-winning The Worst Witch and the New Vic’s critically-acclaimed production of Dracula in 2015 with Angela Carter’s gripping gothic horror, The Company of Wolves.

• Charles Dickens’ chilling Victorian ghost story The Haunting will mesmerise audiences with theatrical illusions and atmospheric staging

• One of the great British comedies of the 21^st century, Richard Bean’s One Man, Two Guvnors will be given a rare in-the-round staging

New Vic Artistic Director Theresa Heskins said: “For my entire career I’ve wanted to bring Carter’s dazzling story The Company of Wolves to the stage. It’s taken me a long time to realise how to do it. The live Foley sound effects combined with dynamic circus content, which we pioneered in Dracula to sinister and sensual effect, will allow us to bring to life this impossible-to-stage tale of werewolves and danger. It feels as though this is just the right time for Carter’s ahead-of-her-own-time brand of rule breaking, provocation and power politics to hit the stage. It’s inspiring to once again be collaborating with circus choreographer Vicki Amedume. We’ve been developing a fusion of theatre and circus which is now the foundation of a major partnership programme between the New Vic and Upswing, aiming to push the boundaries of this combined artform. I’m thinking of this production as circus / theatre / spoken word fusion.”

The New Vic’s eagerly anticipated adaptation of Angela Carter’s radio play and novella, The Company of Wolves, will be co-directed by Heskins and longtime collaborator Vicki Amedume of Upswing (who collaborated on 2020’s Olivier award-winning The Worst Witch).  On stage from Friday 20 September to Saturday 12 October, this iconic gothic horror version of the Red Riding Hood tale will be brought to life through a combination of thrilling drama and contemporary circus action and is the next production to be staged as part of the New Vic and Upswing’s circus-theatre programme of work. Theatrical innovation, including the use of Foley and an evocative soundscape alongside spectacular aerial acrobatics with the use of Chinese Pole, will fuse together to create a suspenseful drama of epic proportions.

In April, a new production of Richard Bean’s rip-roaring comedy One Man, Two Guvnors will transform the play, traditionally staged as an end-on piece, into an in-the-round production. One of the most renowned British comedies of the 21^st century, this cocktail of mistaken identity, mayhem, music, fast-paced physical comedy and silliness will be directed by Conrad Nelson (The Card, Brassed Off) and performs from Friday 12 April to Saturday 11 May.

A gripping adaptation of Charles Dickens’ spine-tingling Victorian ghost story by Hugh Janes follows from Friday 24 May to Saturday 15 June. The Haunting, directed by former New Vic Assistant Director Eleanor Taylor (A Play For the Living in a Time of Extinction with Headlong), will have theatregoers on the edge of their seats as masterful theatrical illusions take centre stage to intrigue audiences for a supernatural mystery.

The new productions join the New Vic’s previously announced spring productions for 2024 – A Leap in the Dark by Ron Hutchinson (Friday 9 February to Saturday 2 March), celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the UK’s first ever radio play; Ladies Down Under (Friday 8 to Saturday 30 March), Amanda Whittington’s hit comedy sequel to Ladies’ Day; and family circus fairy tale The Princess and the Pea (Wednesday 19 to Saturday 29 June), a co-production with Upswing and the Unicorn Theatre.

For more information and to book tickets, visit newvictheatre.org.uk or call the Box Office on 01782 717962.