After a great first week of festival fun at York Theatre Royal this March, the TakeOver 13 team are readying for part two.
From Tuesday, June 4 to Saturday June 8, the TakeOver team – made up of aspiring young professionals aged 11-25 – will again hijack every department of York Theatre Royal, from production to marketing. The idea is to deliver a unique programme which will draw fresh faces through the theatre doors and cultivate tomorrow’s creative workers.
So here are six second half highlights.
Out Of The Blue
Tuesday June 4, 8pm
All-male a capella group Out Of The Blue made the live semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent 2011 and perform across the world. They’ve even sung alongside the likes of Jimmy Carr and Michael McIntyre for charity fundraising events. When you buy a ticket for the performance, you also get free entry into TakeOver’s first June 4 workshop where the boys will teach you how to sing and move just like them.
The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs
Wednesday, June 5, 7.30pm
Upon Apple boss Steve Jobs’ death in October 2011, a world mourned the loss of a “visionary” and “creative genius”. But Mike Daisey’s monologue, starring Grant O’Rourke, is set to unearth the toxic truths of exploitation, illegal work, slave labour and immoral codes of practice that underpinned one of the world’s most successful cult brands.
Chapel Street and Bitch Boxer
Friday, June 7, 7.30pm
Two multi-talented and award-winning companies, Scrawl and Snuff Box Theatre join forces with plays which are hot off a sell-out run in London’s Bush and Soho Theatres. Luke Barnes’ Chapel Street leads you, with a poem and an oath, into the boozy carnage that makes up Cameron’s “Broken Britain”, whilst Charlotte Josephine’s Bitch Boxer is an up-to-the-moment look at one woman’s battle in a cut-throat man’s world.
The Trench
Thursday, June 6, 7.30pm
Created by Les Enfants Terribles, The Trench plunges us straight into the nightmare true story of a miner entombed in an underground tunnel in World War I. There’s no way out but as the air closes in, a strange, subterranean, fantastical world opens up to him forcing a reconfiguration of all his hopes, philosophies and perceptions. Featuring live music, puppetry and physical performance.
The Mercy Seat
Thursday, June 6 to Saturday, June 15, 7.45pm/2pm/2.30pm
Directed by TakeOver’s very own artistic director Ruby Clarke, The Mercy Seat was first performed in New York starring Liev Schreiber and Sigourney Weaver. Neil LaBute’s play was among the first theatrical responses to 9/11. It follows the story of Ben, a worker at the World Trade Centre who was away from the office during the attack. Handed the opportunity to start the world over, how will Ben deal with this freedom and its implications on his loves, his identity, his past and his future?
TakeOver’s Comedy Night #2
Saturday, June 8, 8pm
Lots of laughs are likely at the second TakeOver comedy night. It features Swansea valley stand-up eccentric Noel James, local funny man Ben Winterton, Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year nominee and BBC Radio 4 star Chris Stokes, grumpy malcontent Michael J Dolan. Chris Turner is your witty MC.
TakeOver Festival June: full listings
All shows are at the York Theatre Royal main house, unless otherwise stated.
Out of the Blue – Tuesday, June 4, 8pm
The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs – Wednesday, June 5, 7.30pm
The Trench – Thursday, June 6, 7.30pm
Chapel Street and Bitch Boxer – Friday, June 7, 7.30pm
The Enormous Turnip – Saturday, June 8, 2.30pm
TakeOver Comedy Night #2 – Saturday, June 8, 8pm
The Mercy Seat – Thursday, June 6 to Saturday, June 15, 7.45pm with a 2pm Saturday matinee and 2.30pm matinee on Thursday 13th June; The Studio