The best in new plays is being presented at Newcastle’s Live Theatre this month

Live Lab Elevator, Newcastle-based Live Theatre’s annual festival showcasing the best new theatre from the North-East and beyond, returns for its second year between Tuesday, February 21 and Saturday, February 25.

Audiences can see plays in their exciting early stages of development as well as having the opportunity to attend talks and workshops by some of the UK’s leading writers and directors as they share their experiences of making new theatre.

Graeme Thompson, creative producer at Live Theatre, says: “We are delighted to welcome Vinay Patel, writer of True Brits (Bush Theatre and Edinburgh Festival Fringe) and Murdered by My Father (BBC3 and BBC1), as he takes part in a discussion about how to theatrically capture political debate on stage. Soho Theatre’s artistic director Steve Marmion will also be sharing his approach to directing plays and presenting new work in a special Director’s Masterclass.”

On Wednesday, February 22 and Friday, February 24, at 7.30pm, theatre-goers will travel into the future in a double bill of hour-long plays. ParkLife, written by Mhairi Ledgerwood, directed by Melanie Rashbrooke and presented by The Six Twenty, follows Victoria who now lives on a 21st Century Noah’s Ark while Earth is under water. Sex with Robots and Other Devices, a new play by Nessah Muthy (Gastronauts, Royal Court Theatre), explores the normality of using advanced technology in our day to day love lives, and the moral implications that come with being able to buy whatever you desire the most. This play has been specifically developed for this year’s Live Lab Elevator festival by Live Lab 2016 bursary winner Cloakroom Theatre.

Short extracts of four new plays will be shown for the first time in Work-In Progress on Thursday, February 23, at 7.30pm. Scrambled by 2016 Live Lab Associate Artists Plane Paper Theatre, follows two sisters as they embark on an emotional and physical journey together that they had never imagined. In Preservation by Louise Taylor, a graduate of Live Theatre’s Introduction to Playwriting course, the plot finds Polly on New Year’s Eve in a high-rise flat as she is searching for a ghost she hopes will bring her family together. Unlabelled Political Project is writer Luca Rutherford’s latest initiative about politics following on from her acclaimed first solo show Learning How To Die. One more short extract is still to be added to the line-up.

On Saturday, February 25, at 4pm and 6pm, audiences of just people are being invited to embark on a sensory adventure in complete darkness in Blackout presented by last year’s Live Lab Bursary winners, fanSHEN (Lists for the End of Time). Blackout explores what happens when you escape from bland certainty of sight, and promises to be an outing into the unexpected. fanSHEN will also be leading a workshop exploring the process of making sensory theatre on Thursday, February 23, at 2pm.

Rachel Briscoe, Creative Director, fanSHEN said:

  • Tickets for Live Lab Elevator festival events cost between £5 and £8, with some events free. To book tickets and to find out more contact Live Theatre’s box office on 0191-232-1232 or visit live.org.uk/elevator.