AUTUMN 09:

1) Northern Stage and Joseph Swan School will perform as part of the opening season at Gateshead Town Hall
2) Year Two of large creative partnerships programme with Kings Manor School in Middlesborough
3) Northern Stage is part of START programme 09/10
4) RSC Residency provides opportunities for participation at Northern Stage
5) Young Performance Group will launch in Oct! An open call for enthusiastic young performers


1) 'Our Place'

In 1912, in Gateshead, a young woman called Githa Sowerby, granddaughter of John Sowerby Esq, the founder of the world-famous Sowerby Glassworks of Gateshead, wrote a play.  The play, Rutherford & Son, was an attack on the values Githa experienced as a young woman and the effect they had on the world she witnessed around her.

Northern Stage will be working with Joseph Swan School in Gateshead to explore the themes and relevance of the piece to young people in Gateshead today.  We will work together over two months to develop an innovative and exciting performance, which will be performed as part of the opening programme at the newly renovated Gateshead Town Hall. 

What are our work ethics today? How do we feel about our jobs, careers and future?  How do we demonstrate our responsibilities to work and the ethics of working? What is our attitude, behaviour, respect, communication and interaction towards work and how does it affect how we get along with others at work? Work ethics demonstrate many thinks about who we are and how we engage with the world around us. Work ethics are intrinsic as they come with in.

Date: Wed 18 Nov 2009, 6pm
Venue: Gateshead Old Town Hall, West Street, Gateshead, NE8 1HE
Tickets: £3, call Gateshead Town Hall Box Office on 0191 433 6965 to book.

2) Building Blocks with Kings Manor School

Over the new two years, Northern Stage will be working with Kings Manor School in Middlesborough, exploring whether change is always a good thing?

Working across this curriculum with a range of artists, students, teachers and stakeholders, this ambitious project is investigating the role that creativity can take in supporting, inspiring and affecting change.

3) START partners announced

Northern Stage will be working with Thomas Berwick School, Bridgewater Primary, Canning Street Primary, Walker Technology College, Walbottle Campus and All Saints College as part of the START 09/10 programme.

We will work with each school to create a bespoke programme of theatre visits, workshops and trips to see shows.

For more information, check out http://startartspartners.childrenandarts.net

4) RSC Residency

In October, Northern Stage and RSC Directors will be working on a collaborative project exploring the themes of war and empowerment.  Connected to the RSC production of Days of Significance, the group will work extensively on a two day workshop creating their own material and performing at the theatre.

5) ....Straight on Till Morning

We are running two concurrent projects in Autumn looking at the themes of growing up.  This is a 10 week project starting in Oct 09. The production will be performed as part of a double bill on the set of our Christmas production of Peter Pan on Stage 1. A truly remarkable opportunity not to be missed for anyone who wants to perform at Northern Stage!

For more information, visit the Performance group page, or for 13 to 16 year olds, visit the Young Performance Group page.