Norfolk & Norwich Festival Theatre/Performance listings

Norfolk & Norwich Festival has announced its eagerly awaited full programme of the best of the world’s music, theatre, circus, literature, dance, kids’ shows and free outdoor performance for 2013 with the most diverse, varied and exciting line-up in its 241-year history. The 17 days of the Festival host over 165 performances of 75 shows as well as 101 exhibition days. Performers from 6 continents will appear at 29 different venues ranging from the established city centre theatres and concert halls to Britain’s only surviving total circus building (The Hippodrome in Great Yarmouth) and a tranquil ruined abbey on the Norfolk Broads.

Highlights in the theatre and performance section include the world premier of Fringe First winners curious directive’s new show The Kindness of Strangers, set in an ambulance as it rushes around the streets to give an insight into the curious day to day life of the paramedic.

New York’s remarkable Nature Theatre of Oklahoma visit the UK for the first time to perform their extraordinary Life and Times and perform the World Premiere of parts 4.5 and 5. The individual parts of Life and Times can be seen as individual performances over 4 evenings or as one magnificent marathon over 12 hours at which the cast will cook a barbeque for the audience Australia’s Circa, heralded as one of the world’s great new circus companies, perform the world premiere of Beyond which will transfer to London Wonderground at Southbank Centre for 3 weeks in June. Fringe First winners Hannah Walker and Chris Thorpe bring their new show I Wish I Was Lonely and outrageous, internationally renowned artist Franko B presents his new full-length theatrical piece Because of Love.

Outdoors there are UK premiere’s for Bad Taste Company’s Faust, Inspector Sands’ A High Street Odyssey and Tilted’s Fragile.

Friday 10 & Saturday 11 May 9.30pm FREE  

RÊVE D’HERBERT Compagnie des Quidams (France)   (Outdoor Event) 

Spectacular outdoor celebration of the senses to open the Festival. Cathedral Close will be transformed into a luminous dreamscape in which mysterious glowing figures become giant lanterns, lighting the way to a climax of music, movement and majesty.Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Cathedral Close, Norwich, NR1 4EH 

Friday 10 - Sunday 12 May & Tuesday 14 - Wednesday 15 May 7.30pm £15    

DANCE MARATHON (USA)  

An Edinburgh Festival favourite, this exhilarating show features live bands, non-stop dancing and surreal competitions, just on the right side of cheesy. Get up and dance or just watch, whichever you choose you can’t help but have fun! Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Epic Studio, 114 Magdalen Street, Norwich, NR3 1JD 

Friday 10 - Sunday 12 May, 11am, 12.30pm, 2.00pm, 3.30pm (+ Sat & Sun only 5.30pm, 7pm)  £8

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS curious directive  World Premiere

A pan-city promenade piece from curious directive taking you into the day-to-day life of the paramedic. Step into an ambulance and rush through the city streets to witness the full spectrum of human experience. Norfolk & Norwich Festival at The Ambulance outside Norwich Playhouse, St George’s Street, NR3 1AB 

Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 May 11am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm, 4pm FREE (booking required)    

A HIGH STREET ODYSSEY Inspector Sands UK Premiere (Outdoor Event) UK premier of a witty, intimate, strange and epic performance investigating the histories and mysteries that lie beneath the pedestrianised retail area of the city. Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Gentleman’s Walk, Norwich 

Saturday 11 & Sunday 12 May 2pm FREE  

FAUST Bad Taste Company UK Premiere (Outdoor Event) 

Based in a 1920s prohibition speakeasy this classic story is told through a fusion of break dancing, Lindy Hop, Charleston and twenties big band music, plus flaming cocktails, burning boxing rings and an explosive set! Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Millennium Plain, Norwich NR2 1BH 

Monday 13 - Saturday 18 May 9.30pm - late £pay what you can    

(LIVE) ART CLUB  

Cutting-edge, cross genre performance art and music in unconventional spaces around Norwich Arts Centre. Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Norwich Arts Centre, St Benedicts Street, Norwich NR2 4PG 

Wednesday 15 May 7.30pm £12 

LUKE WRIGHT: YOUR NEW FAVOURITE POET and NATHAN PENLINGTON: CHOOSE YOUR OWN DOCUMENTARY  

Wright performs poetry at its most fun, contemporary, and satirical featuring thigh-slapping acerbic wordplay and bawdy bar room ballads. Penlington presents an interactive experience recounting the true story of a long forgotten diary. In association with Writers Centre Norwich Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Norwich Arts Centre, St Benedicts Street, Norwich NR2 4PG 

Thursday 16 May 6pm & 8.30pm £8  

I WISH I WAS LONELY Hannah Walker and Chris Thorpe    

Fringe First winners ask what it really means to be permanently available, using poetry, storytelling and live intervention.

In association with Writers Centre Norwich Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Norwich Arts Centre, St Benedicts Street, Norwich NR2 4PG 

Friday 17 - Saturday 18 May 8pm £6.50 - £26.50 (children £8)

SEQUENCE 8 Les 7 doigts de la main (France) UK Premiere

Witty, emotive and heartfelt, this groundbreaking circus troupe brings a deeply human dimension to the world of awe-inspiring acrobatics and phenomenal physicality.

Suitable for ages 8+ Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Norwich Theatre Royal, Theatre St NR2 1RL 

Friday 17 – Monday 20 May 7.30pm £15

LES ENFANTS PERDUS 

A brand new modern day variety show with a twist of decadence, created exclusively for the Festival. Featuring contortionism, comedy, burlesque and more.

Norfolk & Norwich Festival at The Adnams Speigeltent, Chapelfield Gardens, Norwich Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 May 11.30am, 1pm & 2.30pm FREE 

LITTLE UNIVERSE Fevered Sleep  (Children’s)

Visually striking and playful outdoor performance for 3-5 year olds, about the patterns and movements of the universe. Suitable for ages 3-5 accompanied by an adult.

Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Chapelfield Gardens, Norwich 

Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 May 11am, 12.30pm, 2pm FREE

LITTLE ARTIST: BIG PAINTING Commotion Dance UK Premiere (Children’s)

A playful and intriguing dance made especially for the outdoors in which the dancers create a visually striking, larger than life painting through a colourful mixture of dance, paint and music for children and families to enjoy together. Suitable for ages 0-5 accompanied by an adult. Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Chapelfield Gardens, Norwich 

Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 May 1pm & 4pm FREE

BONEYARD TALES Rag and Bone  (Outdoor Event)

A new show that mixes physical theatre, puppetry, song, dialogue, live music, percussion and mechanised imagery in a unique, outdoor playground for the imagination of all the family.

Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Chapelfield Gardens, Norwich 

Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 May 1pm & 4pm FREE

FRAGILE Tilted Productions UK Premiere (Outdoor Event)

Combination of contemporary circus, dance and physical theatre from Maresa von Stockert. Tightwire artists, dancers, a trampoline duo and a dancing clown search for the beautiful in the fragile and the fragile in the seemingly beautiful. Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Millennium Plain Norwich 

Saturday 18 May 8pm £10, £8

FRANKO B: BECAUSE OF LOVE: (LIVE) ART CLUB (Italy)  

Outrageous internationally renowned performer and artist performs his new large-scale, full-length theatrical performance, combining dance, film, sound score and sculpture.

Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Norwich Arts Centre, St Benedicts Street, Norwich NR2 4PG 

Tuesday 21 May - Saturday 25 May 7.30pm (Saturday 1.30pm – 1.30am) £15 - £35

LIFE AND TIMES Nature Theater Of Oklahoma (USA) World Premiere (parts 1-4), UK Premiere (parts 4.5-5)

UK debut of extraordinary epic portrayal of an ordinary life from much praised New York Company. Parts 4.5 and 5 are World Premieres.

Tues 21, 7.30pm  – Life and Times Episode 1

Weds 22, 7.30pm   – Life and Times Episode 2

Thurs 23, 7.30pm   – Life and Times Episodes 3 & 4

Fri 24, 7.30pm   – Life and Times Episodes 4.5 and 5 WORLD PREMIERE (contains sexual content, 16+ only)

Post-show talk: William Galinsky in conversation with Pavol Liska and Kelly Copper. Free to ticket holders.

Sat 25, 1.30 pm – Life and Times Episodes 1-5. 12-hour marathon performance includes barbecue cooked by the cast, ice cream and milk and biscuits (contains sexual content, 16+ only) Single episode £15, all 4 evening performances/Saturday marathon £35. Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Norwich Playhouse, St Georges Street NR3 1AB 

Tuesday 21 - Saturday 25 May 7.30pm (+ 5.30pm Sat only) £15

BEYOND Circa (Australia) World Premiere

One of the world’s greatest new contemporary circus companies, present the World Premiere of their new show which journeys to the outer reaches of humanity and showcases stunning circus skills. The show transfers to the London Wonderland at Southbank Centre (3&4, 10-23 June). Norfolk & Norwich Festival at The Adnams Speigeltent, Chapelfield Gardens, Norwich 

Wednesday 22 & Thursday 23 May 8pm £10

OURS WAS THE FEN COUNTRY Still House/Dan Canham  

Intense fusion of movement and sound based on conversations with people from East Anglia, from eel catchers to farmers and conservationists to invoke the heart of this beautiful, bleak expanse of flat land. Norfolk & Norwich Festival at The Garage, Chapelfield, Norwich NR2 1NY

Friday 24 & Saturday 25 May 1pm (+ 5pm Saturday only) FREE

VARMINTS Travelling Light   (Children’s)

Exhilarating new dance-theatre based on Helen Ward and Marc Craste’s award- winning book of the same name telling the poignant tale of one small creature’s struggle to preserve a world in danger of being lost forever. Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Epic Studio, 114 Magdalen Street, Norwich, NR3 1JD 

Saturday 25 May 12-2pm & 3-6pm FREE

KNOL D’AMOUR Superhallo (Holland)   (Outdoor Event)

Interactive installation for young and old that begins with peeling a potato – the starting point for a fantastic adventure in sight, sound, smell and taste. Norfolk & Norwich Festival at Chapelfield Gardens, Norwich 

Friday 24 & Saturday 25 May 7.30pm £12 - £18, concessions £12, under 14s £8.

RISQUE ZÉRO Compagnie Galapiat (France)   (Theatre/Performance)

A world of danger and excitement created via a series of games, challenges and rituals of escalating risk. Featuring feats of breathtaking agility, live music, sharp objects, explosions, high-flying comedians and bearded giants. Staged in Britain’s only surviving total circus building. Norfolk & Norwich Festival at The Hippodrome, St George’s Road, Great Yarmouth NR30 2EU

Saturday 25 May 8pm £10 

Norfolk & Norwich Festival Box Office 01603 766400. Online: here

Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2013 10 – 26 May.