Monkeywood Theatre

Great news! Last Orders, which we performed in @rxtheatre ‘s 2009 Pub season will be popping out for another swift half in the new year!
Watch this space and all that…..

Tickets have gone onsale this morning for Monkeywood’s new production, Once in a House on Fire by Sarah McDonald Hughes at The Lowry. The play will premiere at The Lowry, where it has been developed in association with, on Thursday 31st March until Saturday 2nd April 2011. Be sure to get your tickets from The Lowry website.

Watch this space for more news on further dates around the country…

Andy and her sisters haven’t had it easy. They escape through stories, games and dreams of a ‘happy family’. With each new start ending faster than the last, their hopes of ever getting it right are stubbed out along with their mum’s cigarettes. As a life beyond Manchester’s grey sky beckons, Andy knows her escape will come at a cost…

Developed with The Lowry Studio, supported by Arts Council England and funded through grants for the arts, Once in a House on Fire is based on the characters, themes and places in the memoir of the same name by Andrea Ashworth. It is an inspiring, vibrant, truthful and moving story of sisters, survival and growing up, set across South Manchester during the 1970s and 80s.

Monkeywood are thrilled to have had the support of Andrea Ashworth, her family and Women’s Worldwide Web, during the development of the script of Once in a House on Fire, based on Andrea’s original memoir.

On Sunday 31st October we were honoured to welcome Andrea’s sister, Sarah, and niece, Hannah, at our rehearsals for the Script in Hand preview performance at The Lowry. Hannah is working for Women’s Worldwide Web, the online forum of which her Aunt is Editor in Chief, and came to interview Monkeywood about our work on the new play.

“It was very surreal to have an actual character from the book standing before us, particularly as we rehearsed a scene featuring her own mother and sister. I was delighted when Sarah offered me some directorial feedback on how my character would behave in real life. We hope all of the family will be pleased with our final production of Once in a House on Fire when we open in March.” Monkeywood’s Francesca.

Watch this space for more news on Hannah’s blog…

On Monday 1st November 2010 Monkeywood Theatre joined with the four other theatre companies who are being supported by The Lowry, to perform an extract of their current productions for theatre programmers from around the country. We performed three Script in Hand scenes of Once in a House on Fire at The Lowry, along with Come as You Arts, Christine Marshall, Rogue Theatre and Green Eyed Zero.

Following the research & development period that we began in August, the script will undergo further development before a national tour, beginning on Thursday 31st March 2011 at The Lowry. Tickets for Once in a House on Fire at The Lowry go on sale on Thursday 4th November. To book tickets, click here.

Developed with The Lowry Studio, supported by Arts Council England and funded through grants for the arts, Once in a House on Fire is based on the characters, themes and places in the memoir of the same name by Andrea Ashworth. It is an inspiring, vibrant, truthful and moving story of sisters, survival and growing up, set across South Manchester during the 1970s and 80s.

Monkeywood would like to thank all those who attended the programmers day at The Lowry and Porl Cooper for his planning and support.

Last night Monkeywood produced a Script in Hand performance of Once in a House on Fire at The Lowry for an invited audience, as a culmination of a two month-long research and development period. Monkeywood and their associate writer Sarah McDonald Hughes have worked collaboratively with actors, a director, a video artists and young people from Xaverian Sixth Form College in Rusholme and Chorlton High School (which both feature in the original novel) to produce a first draft of the play. The script is undergoing a series of rehearsed readings this autumn and will undergo further development before a national tour, planned to begin in spring 2011.

Monkeywood would like to thank all those who attended the Script in Hand performance for their contributions to the feedback discussion which followed.

Developed with The Lowry Studio, supported by Arts Council England and funded through grants for the arts, Once in a House on Fire is based on the characters, themes and places in the memoir of the same name by Andrea Ashworth. It is an inspiring, vibrant, truthful and moving story of sisters, survival and growing up, set across South Manchester during the 1970s and 80s.

Monkeywood would like to thank: Porl Cooper, The Lowry, Arts Council England, Peter Holden, Wynne Moran, Rob Faulkner, Andrea Prudhoe, Rachel Quinn, Sarah Chadwick at Curtis Brown, the students at Xaverian College and Chorlton High School, Marie Critchley for her lightblub moment and, of course, Andrea Ashworth for sharing her inspirational story and for her continued support.

For more information on Monkeywood follow @monkeywood on twitter or on the Monkeywood Theatre facebook page.

Once in a House on Fire will help to support Women’s Worldwide Web. For more information visit http://www.womensworldwideweb.org.

Tickets go on sale for the forthcoming dates of Once in a House on Fire at The Lowry on Thu 4 November 2010!!! Watch this space for details of how to book….

Press information…Press information….

Monkeywood bring Manchester story to the stage

Manchester based Monkeywood Theatre have been building a reputation for producing plays based on Mancunian stories and characters for the past 7 years and their latest work looks set to continue this ambition. Following the huge success of the 2010 tour of Maine Road, their current project is a new play based on the characters, themes and places in the memoir, Once in a House on Fire by Andrea Ashworth.

Monkeywood and their associate writer Sarah McDonald Hughes are currently developing Once in a House on Fire collaboratively with young people from Xaverian Sixth Form College in Rusholme and Chorlton High School, which both feature in the original novel. Two of Monkeywood’s Co-Artistic Directors, McDonald Hughes and Francesca Waite, also attended Xaverian and found the experiencing of returning to their roots inspiring, if surreal!

Francesca Waite said, “It was great to be able to work with the sixth formers to get their ideas on a story set in their neighbourhood, involving characters of a similar age to them. Although it was strange to return to our college, it was lovely to realise how far we’ve come since those days and share our experiences of making theatre with the drama students.”

Developed with The Lowry Studio, supported by Arts Council England and funded through grants for the arts, Once in a House on Fire is a compelling story set across South Manchester during the 1970s and 80s. Based on Andrea Ashworth’s book, recipient of the 1999 Somerset Maugham award, it is an inspiring, vibrant, truthful and moving story of sisters, survival and growing up.

Francesca recently met Mancunian Andrea in Los Angeles, where she is now based, and Andrea was delighted to hear about the project, “I’m thrilled that Once in a House on Fire is being brought to life on the stage through the fabulous Monkeywood Theatre, and immensely proud that they’re devoting their unique talents and passion to sharing this story.  I can’t wait to see what they do…”

Once in a House on Fire will undergo a series of rehearsed readings and Script in Hand performances this autumn, with a national tour planned for spring 2011. The production will help to support Women’s Worldwide Web, an online platform that empowers women, their families and communities, through microfinance, education, mentoring and social networking. For more information visit http://www.womensworldwideweb.org.

N.B. Tickets go on sale for forthcoming dates at The Lowry on Thu 4 November 2010!!! Watch this space for details of how to book….

- Ends –

For more information contact Francesca Waite on Francesca@monkeywoodtheatre.co.uk

Monkeywood and their associate writer Sarah McDonald Hughes are currently developing Once in a House on Fire collaboratively with young people from Xaverian Sixth Form College in Rusholme and Chorlton High School, which both feature in the original novel. Two of Monkeywood’s Co-Artistic Directors, Sarah and Francesca, also attended Xaverian and found the experiencing of returning to their roots inspiring, if surreal!

Francesca Waite said, “It was great to be able to work with the sixth formers to get their ideas on a story set in their neighbourhood, involving characters of a similar age to them. Although it was strange to return to our college, it was lovely to realise how far we’ve come since those days and share our experiences of making theatre with the drama students.”

Breaking news…. Breaking news….

Monkeywood can now reveal details about our new project, developed with The Lowry Studio, supported by Arts Council England and funded through grants for the arts.

Once in a House on Fire is a compelling Mancunian story set across South Manchester during the 1970s and 80s. Based on the best-selling autobiographical novel by Andrea Ashworth, recipient of the 1999 Somerset Maugham award, this is an inspiring, vibrant, truthful and moving story of sisters, survival and growing up.

Andy and her sisters haven’t had it easy. They escape through stories, games and dreams of a ‘happy family’. With each new start ending faster than the last, their hopes of ever getting it right are stubbed out along with their mum’s cigarettes. As a life beyond Manchester’s grey sky beckons, Andy knows her escape will come at a cost…

Monkeywood and our associate writer Sarah McDonald Hughes are currently developing Once in a House on Fire collaboratively with community groups, including young people from Xaverian Sixth Form College in Rusholme. Following this autumn’s research and development phase the play will be toured nationally in Spring/Summer 2011.

Mancunian Andrea Ashworth is delighted that Monkeywood are working on her story;

“I’m thrilled that Once in a House on Fire is being brought to life on the stage through the fabulous Monkeywood Theatre, and immensely proud that they’re devoting their unique talents and passion to sharing this story.  I can’t wait to see what they do…”

This production will help to support Women’s Worldwide Web, an online platform that empowers women, their families and communities, through microfinance, education, mentoring and social networking. For more information visit http://www.womensworldwideweb.org.

For all of the news on this exciting phase of the project, along with photos from rehearsals, join the Monkeywood group on facebook or follow our tweets on Twitter/monkeywood.

After a brief hiatus over Summer (monkeys need sun sometimes too!), Monkeywood are back in a rehearsal room at The Lowry this week for further development of our brand new play.

With workshops also taking place with local community groups in Manchester, these are very exciting times.

Watch this space for an announcement of our new production, with tour details to follow…