NOW in its seventh season, Hull’S Heads Up Festival has made a habit of putting on performances in unusual venues.
From disused office blocks and warehouse venues to the City Council’s council chamber, boxing clubs to fields, the festival has pushed the boundaries of where performances can happen, surprising audiences in the process.
This season sees the festival return to the Club House Community Centre, Garden Village, in the east of the city, which previously played host to the acclaimed Major Tom. On Saturday, October 8, the Club House will be fitted-up as a full working theatre for LUNG’s powerful verbatim drama The 56.
Set at the heart of Garden Village, an estate built in 1908 that was funded by Sir James Reckitt, and the focal point of village life, the Club House’s previous famous incarnation was as the Humberside Police Boys’ Club, which was started to reduce crime and keep youngsters out of trouble while their fathers were at war. Subsequent wider use of the club in recent years has seen the facility also used by martial arts clubs, play groups, meetings of the Butterflies Memory Loss Group and for visiting lectures.
E52’s Dave Windass, co-producer of Heads Up, said: “Audiences had such a good time at Victoria Melody’s Major Tom in 2014 and we really love the venue and have been waiting for a production that will work well in what is a unique space. It’s great to be able to take the festival out to people’s doorsteps. The 56 is a very powerful piece of work and we’re sure that it will resonate with audiences across the city. We look forward to transforming the Community Centre into a theatre for the night and the production being supported by Garden Village residents and those from further afield who want to see something in an unusual location.”
The twice-yearly Heads Up Festival presents some of the most exciting, challenging theatre and is produced by Ensemble 52 in partnership with Battersea Arts Centre. The festival runs from October 5 to October 15, 2016.
This season’s programme of work includes work originally developed at Battersea Arts Centre alongside some of the most exciting work produced out of the city.
BAC shows include Conrad Murray’s DenMarked, LUNG’s The 56 and Rhiannon Armstrong’s installationThe International Archive of Things Left Unsaid. Murray, Armstrong and LUNG will also deliver workshops and additional shows in Hull at schools, community centres and arts facilities as part of their Heads Up commitments.
Content produced in the region includes new work by She Productions and Bellow Theatre.
The festival also includes new E52 Films’ short film Nothing, as well as contributions from arts movement What Next? and playwright John Godber. A broad programme of work also sees National Poetry Day and Marcel Craven’s new art exhibition included in this season’s Heads Up.
For more information about the festival and to book tickets visit www.headsuphull.co.uk