Press Release: Fairy Tales and Exploring at Sadler's Wells Family Weekend

[Jan McNulty]

 

Sadler’s Wells Family Weekend 2018

Friday 30 & Saturday 31 March

Performance times vary, see website for details

Tickets: £12 - £18

Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com

 

Sadler’s Wells Family Weekend is an annual jam-packed festival that has run since 2008, offering entertainment for all ages including performances, workshops, arts and crafts activities and games. It returns this year on 30 & 31 March.

 

balletLORENT presents Rumpelstiltskin. Directed by Liv Lorent and retold by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Rumpelstiltskin is the story of an outsider, shunned for being different. Set in a world of spinning wheels, kings and queens, this is a tale of love, loss and magic powers.

 

The production has a score by Doctor Who composer Murray Gold, costumes designed by Michele Clapton (Game of Thrones), and narration by actor Ben Crompton. Joining the professional cast are Islington school children from Hugh Myddelton and Rotherfield primary schools, alongside older adults from local community groups.

 

Rumpelstiltskin is the third instalment of balletLORENT’s fairy tale trilogy, following the company’s acclaimed interpretations of Rapunzel and Snow White.Rumpelstiltskin comes to Sadler’s Wells as part of a UK tour that includes dates in Pitlochry, Huddersfield, Salford, Darlington, Aberdeen, Inverness and Doncaster.

 

Newcastle-based balletLORENT is a Sadler’s Wells National Partner company, an initiative announced earlier this year which aims to work with companies around the UK to expand participation in dance and strengthen the infrastructure of the dance sector. The other National Partner Companies are Phoenix Dance Theatre based in Leeds and Aakash Odedra Company in Leicester.

 

Alistair Spalding, Sadler’s Wells’ Artistic Director and Chief Executive, said: "Liv's strong and original choreographic voice creates work that fascinates both children and adults. We have been supporting balletLORENT for a number of years, providing the company with a London platform to reach wide audiences and co-producing shows, including the fairy tale trilogy. I'm delighted we're now building on this relationship, with balletLORENT becoming a National Partner Company of Sadler's Wells."

 

Also delighting young audiences during Family Weekend is upsidedowninsideout, which gives families an opportunity to explore behind the scenes and discover hidden spaces within the Sadler’s Wells building. The show by Australian company one step at a time like this is a journey-based work for children aged 7-12. Guided by an interactive storybook, children and their families follow clues and instructions as they discover hidden pathways on a quest for the secret at the heart of the building. 

 

Children act as both participants and guides, leading their family members, finding clues, secret rooms, and unexpected films. An adventure existing somewhere between a children’s book, a self-guided tour, an installation and a puzzle, upsidedowninsideout is uniquely created for each building it inhabits, and aims to make children feel they have a special knowledge of and familiarity with the building. upsidedowninsideout was originally commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne.

 

Both productions are part of Sadler’s Wells’ 20th anniversary celebrations, and are among 20 commissions celebrating 20 years of the current building, which opened in 1998.

 

In addition to the productions taking place, Sadler’s Wells’ foyers will be bursting with an array of free activities including Rumpelstiltskin-inspired arts and crafts such as screen printing, paper jewellery making and weaving. Artist Charlotte Austen creates Rumpelstiltskin's tower, in signature fairy-tale style. These activities will be available from 11am to 4:30pm on Friday; and 10am to 4:30pm on Saturday. They are free and do not need to be booked in advance.

 

Family dance workshops for all abilities will take place from 1.30 – 2.30pm on Friday and Saturday, based around the music and dance at the heart of balletLORENT's Rumpelstiltskin. 

 

Workshops are £2 per person (adult and child) and tickets are available to Rumpelstiltskin ticket holders only. Maximum of three children per adult. Tickets for the workshop to be purchased online or by phone via Ticket Office on 020 7863 8000.

 

There will also be a family-friendly menu served in the Fox Garden Court Cafe.

 

Full details can be found at www.sadlerswells.com/family-weekend

 

 

Age guidance: Families and children aged 7+

 

 

NOTES TO EDTORS 

 

RUMPELSTILTSKIN UK TOUR DATES

 

24th March Pitlochry Festival Theatre
6th & 7th April - Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield
20th & 21st April - The Lowry, Salford
10th & 11th May - New Theatre, Hull
1st & 2nd June - Oxford Playhouse
1st & 2nd Sept - Darlington Hippodrome
28th & 29th October - His Majesty Theatre, Aberdeen
1st & 2nd October - Eden Court, Inverness
6th October - Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy
26th & 27th October - Warwick Arts Centre
30th & 31st October - CAST, Doncaster

 

 

ABOUT SADLER’S WELLS
Sadler’s Wells is a world-leading creative organisation dedicated to dance in all its forms. With over three centuries of theatrical heritage and a year-round programme of performances and learning activities, its goal is to motivate everyone to experience dance – to take part, learn, experiment and be inspired. Audiences of over half a million come to Sadler’s Wells’ London theatres each year, with many more enjoying its touring productions at partner venues across the UK and around the world, or accessing its content through digital channels. 

 

Sadler’s Wells commissions and presents more new dance work than any other theatre in the world, embracing the popular and the unknown. Since 2005, it has helped to bring over 140 new dance works to the stage, many of them involving its 16 Associate Artists, three Resident Companies and four Associate Companies – the most exciting talents working in dance today. It also nurtures the next generation of talent through its artist development initiatives, and reaches over 25,000 annually through its learning and engagement programmes

 

Located in Islington, north London, the current theatre is the sixth to have stood on the site since it was first built by entrepreneur Richard Sadler in 1683. The venue has played an illustrious role in the history of theatre ever since with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Opera having all started at Sadler’s Wells. Sadler’s Wells is a charity and a National Portfolio Organisation, currently receiving 10% of its revenue from Arts Council England.

 

www.sadlerswells.com