CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR ‘A PLAY FOR THE LIVING IN A TIME OF EXTINCTION’ AT SHAKESPEARE NORTH PLAYHOUSE
Wed 3 May, 2023
Shakespeare North Playhouse have cast actress Shareesa Valentine as the lead role for Headlong and the Barbican’s touring co-production ‘A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction’. The first off-grid tour of its kind in the UK, 'A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction’ opened at the Barbican Theatre on the 26th April before touring to Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Shakespeare North Playhouse, New Vic Theatre Newcastle-under-Lyme, Theatre Royal Plymouth and York Theatre Royal. Tickets can be bought here http://bitly.ws/DUdV
Shareesa Valentine will take on the lead role of Naomi in this ground-breaking production when it arrives at Shakespeare North Playhouse May 16th-20th. Shareesa is a Manchester based actress, nominated for best female actress in 2022 at the Black British Theatre Awards for her role in ‘Forgotten Voices’ that toured to Shakespeare North Playhouse last year.
Miranda Rose Hall’s darkly funny, life-affirming show ‘A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction’ directed at Shakespeare North Playhouse by Nathan Powell, is a bold experiment in eco theatre-making . Co-produced by the Barbican and Headlong, this production is an exploration of how touring theatre can be made more sustainably. Sharing learnings from Europe, Headlong and the Barbican are presenting the play at venues throughout the country where different teams of theatre-makers and actors will mount the production following guidelines created by Headlong. “The difference between death and extinction is this: death is to cease to exist. Extinction is to extinguish. I think of death as individual. Extinction is collective.” Naomi is part of a theatre company who have made a play especially for you, those living through extinction, but the actors haven’t shown up yet. In the meantime, Naomi has a plan.
This innovative one woman show takes us on a life-changing journey to confront the urgent ecological disaster that is unfolding around us. Part ritual, part battle cry, and powered entirely using 4 bicycles that will be set up on the Cockpit Theatre stage, this fiercely feminist off-grid production is a moving exploration of what it means to be human in an era of man-made extinction.
