21 Shows-Young Rep Festival

TheatreVillage July 5, 2023 3 minutes read

Following its main House debut with Uncommon Riches at Birmingham Rep last summer, Young Rep is back with a gripping season of politically-charged, contemporary plays.

Featuring themes from comedy to game shows from climate change to love stories ORDER AND CHAOS runs across two jam-packed weeks from Saturday 8 – Saturday 22 July and puts the spotlight on young emerging talent with 21 shows and over 400 performers.

This year’s festival highlights include The Trials, (Fri 21 Jul) brought to The Rep stage in partnership with the Donmar Warehouse. The Trials focuses on the climate emergency as it gathers pace, and the older generation is being judged. A young jury try adult defendants. But are they delivering justice – or just taking revenge?

(Image From 2022 Young Rep Festival)

Performed by Lightpost and Young Rep companies, this searing play by Dawn King premiered at the German theatre Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus in January 2022. It was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and received its British premiere at London’s Donmar Warehouse in August 2022.

Saturday 22 July brings together two very different plays; Noughts and Crosses (3pm) by Malorie Blackman, adapted by Dominic Cooke and performed by Young Rep Seniors. An electrifying, bittersweet love story with echoes of Romeo and Juliet, set in a society divided by racial bigotry and a world rocked by terrorism. Sephy, a Cross, is the daughter of the Deputy Prime Minister. Callum is the son of a Nought agitator. United by a shared sense of injustice and separated by intolerance as they grow up, their desire to be together begins to eclipse all family loyalty – sparking a political crisis of unimaginable proportions.

Later in the evening William Golding’s Lord of The Flies, (7.30pm), adapted by Nigel Williams, will be performed by The Company. A classic text reimagined in a contemporary setting; Lord of the Flies tells the story of a group of young people who find themselves stranded on a desert island. No longer bound by societal rules, their newfound paradise descends into a hellish nightmare under the terrifying presence of ‘the beast’.

Tickets for ORDER AND CHAOS start from £5, to book please visit www.Birmingham-rep.co.uk call 0121 236 4455 or visit the box office during opening hours.

Please note that some of the plays contain sensitive content. Please click here for further information.

The full details of the festival programme can be found at www.Birmingham-rep.co.uk

ORDER AND CHAOS festival is supported by the Joyce Farley Educational Trust.

Twitter @BirminghamRep
Facebook.com/Birminghamrep
Instagram @therepbirmingham