In 2016 Futures Theatre began the 2nd year of our creative engagement programme, An Alternative Life, in which we partnered with the Gaia Centre (run by Refuge) to deliver weekly creative workshops with and for women who had survived domestic abuse.
These creative workshops were led by highly talented female artists including poet Sabrina Mahfouz, singer-songwriter Martyna Baker, radio director Marina Caldarone and playwright Alexandra Wood.
Futures commissioned Alexandra Wood to create a play informed and inspired by the conversations and ideas that arose from these workshops, and interviews that were undertaken alongside this.
We held a rehearsed reading of the play, with Sian Rees-Williams performing the solo part, at the Omnibus in Clapham in December 2016.
We are delighted that we can now take this beautiful and poignant play to Summerhall for the 2018 Edinburgh Festival, following on from our 2017 Festival hit Offside. We are planning lots of work inspired by the production to encourage conversation and understanding of the issues it explores, followed by a call for action. For this we need your help!
The Edinburgh festival is notoriously difficult to fundraise for. At present, we are funding this production ourselves, so we are hoping you can support us. The whole project will cost at least £30,000. We are hoping to raise £6,000 through this campaign.
This might seem like a lot of money but every pound will go towards our marketing campaign, aimed at connecting with partner organisations in and beyond Edinburgh, offering discounted tickets to hard to reach groups, and supporting the start of what we hope will be a much larger campaign.
If we can go above our target then you will also be investing in the quality of the show itself. The more we can raise, the higher our production values can be and the bigger the audience we can reach.
Check out our rewards to see what you can get in exchange for a donation. Any donation you can make will increase our outreach, support direct work and value the women whose lived experience have inspired us.
Thank you!
Performances of Never Vera Blue will be in the Anatomy Lecture Theatre at Summerhall.
Dates: 1 – 26 August (no performances on the 13th and 20th)
Performance time: 13:05
Running time: 70 minutes, no interval
Prices: 1st August - £5 | 2nd August - £8 | 3 - 26th August - £10 (£8 concession)
Writer: Alexandra Wood
Director: Caroline Bryant
Designer: Futures Theatre
Composer: Lillian Henley
Movement Director: Diane Alison-Mitchell
Lighting Designer: Dylan Tate
Futures Theatre was established to create and produce work that promotes fairness for women and girls and celebrates their untold and extraordinary lives. Engaging with authentic female stories and developing partnerships with brilliant artists we want to create theatre which ignites conversation and engenders change whilst also addressing the under-representation of female talent in UK theatre.
Thank you! We will say a big thank you to you for supporting the project through Twitter and/or Facebook.
Signed Artwork. As well as a big thank you we will send you a poster of the play, signed by the cast.
Avid Reader. You have helped us get this show on stage so we shall send you a bound copy of the script signed by Alexandra Wood and the cast.
Audience Member. For such generosity you deserve to be in the audience for the show you have made happen! We will provide you with one ticket to see Never Vera Blue at Summerhall in Edinburgh this summer (we will contact you to confirm a date).
It takes two! We want you to have TWO tickets to see the show at Summerhall in Edinburgh this summer. Take a friend to see the show you helped make happen. (We will contact you to confirm a date)
The Bundle!
- Two tickets to see Never Vera Blue at Summerhall in Edinburgh
- A signed poster
- A signed copy of a bound script
Inside Scoop. We would like to invite you to have 1 half day in the rehearsal room, a signed script, a poster and 2 tickets to the show at Summerhall in Edinburgh so that you can share the inside scoop! (We will contact you to arrange a date for both attending rehearsals and tickets to the show).
Co-Producer!
- 4 VIP tickets to see Never Vera Blue at Summerhall in Edinburgh (we will contact you to confirm a date)
- 4 signed posters
- 4 signed copies of a bound script
- Credit in the programme and on our website
Get involved and help us spread the word!
Follow us online, we're on Twitter and Facebook! Share our posts and like our pages!
Involve your friends! We need to reach as many people as possible and can not do it alone, so get tweeting, posting and uploading. Don't forget to use #NeverVeraBlue and we will share anything you post online!