Down Arts Centre is delighted to launch a new season of events packed with live music and theatre, beautiful exhibitions by local artists and workshops and classes to suit all ages and abilities, from September to December.
The autumn season is always packed full of the best local and touring theatre, and this season is no exception. Arts officer Rachel Kennedy said: “We are proud to start the season on Saturday 5 September at 8pm with an incredible piece of comedy theatre, Backstage in Biscuit Land, written by and starring Jess Thomas who has Tourettes Syndrome, a neurological condition that makes her say ‘biscuit’ 16,000 times a day.
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Biscuits will never be the same again![/caption]“Jess is literally incapable of staying on script, and that’s where the fun begins. Frank, funny and fearless, Backstage in Biscuit Land is Jess Thom’s first ever live show.
“Combining storytelling, comedy and puppetry – with the promise that no two shows are ever the same – it offers an intimate, life-enhancing glimpse into Jess’s unique perspective on life, laughter and lamp-posts. Based in part on her acclaimed book, Welcome to Biscuit Land, the show’s development was funded by Unlimited, supported by BAC and mentored by Jenny Sealey, the creative director of pioneering disabled-led theatre company, Graeae.
“Backstage in Biscuit Land tells a powerful story about the nature of theatre itself. Having loved it as a child, the intensity of Jess’s tics made it increasingly difficult to attend, culminating three years ago when she was asked to sit separately during a performance. For a long time Jess couldn’t face going back. She explains, ‘I used to joke that the stage was the only place in a theatre I wouldn’t be asked to leave. Now I get to put that to the test!”
Puppeteer and performer Jess Mabel Jones helped develop the show and joins Jess Thom on stage. Jess Mabel Jones is an award-winning performer in her own right. Her work includes Improbable’s Beauty and the Beast, Blind Summit’s The Table and Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
On Tuesday 8 September at 8pm, the brilliant comedy that has been taking Northern Ireland by storm, Fifty Shades of Red, White and Blue, is back at DAC by popular demand.
The smash-hit show all started as a joke when Leesa Harker wrote a Belfast-based spoof of the phenomenally popular novel, and now film, Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James. Very soon it went viral and the rest is history! Belfast actress Caroline Curran reprises the starring role to tell the story of loveable Maggie Muff and her search for love, featuring laugh-out-loud characters such as big Sally Ann, Sinead the Greener and of course, the mysterious Mr Red White and Blue himself. The show will also be staged at the Newcastle Centre on Sunday 27 September at 8pm. Tickets for both performances can be bought through Down Arts Centre box office.
To purchase tickets (Biscuit Land £12 / £10; Fifty Shades £15) and for further information on any Down Arts Centre events, please contact the box office on 028 4461 0747 or visit:
www.downartscentre.com]]>
