Bristol Old Vic announces burst of new productions for Autumn and Winter 2024

After a record-breaking spring at Bristol Old Vic, the theatre has today announced a burst of new productions for this autumn and winter. 

Autumn begins with the previously announced revival of Bristol Old Vic’s 2022 production Wonder Boy by Bristol playwright Ross Willis (6 – 21 September). Directed by Olivier Award-winner Sally Cookson, Wonder Boy opens in Bristol prior to a major tour of venues across England, made possible by a touring grant from Arts Council England (ACE) and produced by PW Productions. The story of 12 year-old Sonny, living with a stammer and trying to find a way to be heard, dazzled audiences and critics with its playful humour and heartfelt message of the power of communication.

Image: Wonder Boy

This revival marks the next significant development of Ross Willis’ powerful play, and a new partnership model between commercial producers and ACE to champion new writing accessible work, and engage new young audiences with the power of theatre.

In November, Bristol Old Vic, Rose Kingston, Malvern Theatre and Royal & Derngate, Northampton join forces to co-produce Never Let Me Go (opening at the Rose Theatre in Sep, before playing at Bristol Old Vic 6 – 23 November). Kazuo Ishiguro’s international best-selling novel arrives on stage in this world premiere production of Suzanne Heathcote’s gripping new adaptation, directed by Christopher Haydon (The Caretaker, Bristol Old Vic). Memory and reality collide in this stunning new staging that challenges us to think about what it means to be human, what it means to have hope and heart — to love and to lose.

Image: The Little Mermaid

This year’s festive family offer in the Theatre will be the long-awaited production of The Little Mermaid. Originally programmed for 2021, this spectacular family show will be directed by Olivier-award winner Miranda Cromwell (Death of a Salesman, West End & Broadway) and written by Sonali Bhattacharyya (Chasing Hares, Young Vic).

Bristol Old Vic will welcome in the 2025 with the joyful, recently announced Play On! (16 – 25 Jan). A musical love story loosely based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Play On! is set in the 1940s jazz scene of New York’s Cotton Club and features the music of Duke Ellington. Directed by Michael Buffong, the show is produced by Talawa, the UKs leading Black British Theatre Company.

This is followed by a new Bristol Old Vic, Belgrade Theatre and Hackney Empire co-production of Romeo and Juliet (from 13 Mar – 5 Apr).The show fuses Shakespeare’s classic text with original elements of rap, R&B, and soul, grounding Shakespeare’s young lovers in a world that is recognisable for today’s young people. It will be directed by Belgrade Theatre’s Creative Director, Corey Campbell, with set and costume design by Simon Kenny, and in collaboration with local Coventry artists That’s A Rap (lyrics), and A Class (music).

Bristol Old Vic also announced a summer/autumn season in the Weston Studio bringing the hottest new talent from across the UK and region to Bristol. Summer begins with Talawa Firsts on Tour (29 May – 1 June) bringing two of the Talawa Firsts 2023 new works to the Weston Studio as part of a UK tour. This celebration of new Black work will present two pieces as a double-bill: Bougie Lanre’s Boulangerie, by acclaimed poet Kareem Parkins-Brown, chronicling his time working in hospitality and attempting to make ends meet that will have audiences reconsidering how they behave in restaurants, and Love in Gravitational Waves a two-hander about the vapid nature of contemporary dating by award-winning playwright and hip-hop artist Testament.

Museum of Austerity, an arresting mixed reality installation about the human stories of Austerity Britain, runs from 12 – 15 Jun. Produced by ETT, NT Immersive Storytelling Studio and Trial & Error Studio and nominated for Best Digital Innovation at the UK Theatre awards, Museum of Austerity  blends theatre, history and humanity to lay bare the consequences when state safety nets fail.  

From 18 – 22 June, High Steaks takes over the Studio. This unanimous 5 star hit about labia shaming and labiaplasty is from award-winning, queer performer, ELOINA who seamlessly melds performance art and comedy clowning.

These productions join the previously announced Weston Studio summer show, the Papatango-Prize winning Some Demon (9 – 13 July) by Laura Waldren. It follows 18 year-old Sam and forty-something Zoe who are thrown together in an eating disorder unit, facing questions that dictate their survival.

September brings How I Learned to Swim by Somebody Jones (17 – 21 September) is a coming-of-adulthood story exploring Black people’s relationship to water and is followed by My Mother’s Funeral a new play by Kelly Jones (24 – 28 September) tackling the inequalities around death, and the cost of turning your loved ones into art. Bullring Techno Makeout Jamz is the debut play by 2022 Bruntwood Prize-winning writer Nathan Queeley-Denis – a love letter to Birmingham exploring Black masculinity through Beyonce lyrics, techno raves and the deeply intimate relationship between a man and his barber – in the Weston Studio 15 – 19 October.

Image: Little Red

For children, the Theatre will host Anna Hibiscus’ Song this summer (28 – 31 August). A story of happiness and self-discovery, adapted from Atinuke’s much-loved children’s book told through music, song and dance, puppetry and traditional African story-telling. The autumn welcomes back Little Murmur (a dance show for 7+yrs from 30 Oct – 2 Nov in the Weston Studio) which is an honest and heartfelt conversation about the trials and tribulations of living with dyslexia. While this December, the Weston Studio continues to build on its reputation for magical theatre for the tiniest audiences as it is transformed into a wintry forest of fairy tales for Little Red (and other winter tales) for 4–7 year olds. Directed by Lisa Gregan (Orpheus & Eurydice), with writer in the room Florence Espeut-Nickless, Bristol Old Vic’s Writer in Residence. Running from 6 December 2024 - 12 January 2025.