To Sir With Love - Programme, 2013
Title
To Sir With Love - Programme, 2013
Date
15 October 2013
Description
Selected pages from programme for Touring Consortium production of To Sir With Love, adapted for the stage by Ayub Khan Din.
What's the story?
To Sir With Love was first published in 1959. It was the autobiography of ER Braithwaite, a Guyana born writer, who found teaching employment after the Second World War. This memoir about race and education was adapted into a successful film starring Sidney Poitier in 1967, although Braithwaite and others found the film too sentimental, with some of the themes examined in the book, such as the mixed-race relationship, not given due prominence.
Playwright Ayub Khan Din’s adaptation returns to the original source material and the original setting of post-war Britain in 1948.
The cast included Mykola Allen, Matthew Kelly, Harriet Ballard, Paul Kemp, Peta Cornish, Heather Nicol, Kerron Darby, Nicola Reynolds and Ansu Kabia.
Local students were also recruited at each venue on the show’s tour to perform in the play as additional class-mates for the professional actors. This involved additional local rehearsals of learning 1940s dance routines such as the jive and lindy hop. For the performances at the Theatre Royal students were recruited from Christ the King Catholic Voluntary Academy in Arnold, Nottingham.
The play was a co-production between the Touring Consortium and Royal & Derngate Northampton, where the play ran before commencing its tour. Photographs in the programme are from the Northampton performances. Just prior to the play opening lead actor Ansu Kabia was involved in a bicycle accident whilst cycling to a final rehearsal. No performances were cancelled, but for the initial run, his left arm was in a sling. The photos are presented in such a way that he is only ever presented in profile or from behind.
The Touring Consortium was established in 1996 by producers Jenny King and Matthew Gale in a collaborative partnership with eight regional touring theatres, including the Theatre Royal Nottingham.
The Consortium was established to tour high-quality drama to large-scale regional venues, with particular emphasis on attracting new and younger audiences to each venue, alongside a comprehensive programme of learning and education work, such as workshops and talks.
Due to funding pressures, the Consortium was unable to continue and ceased in autumn 2018.
Playwright Ayub Khan Din’s adaptation returns to the original source material and the original setting of post-war Britain in 1948.
The cast included Mykola Allen, Matthew Kelly, Harriet Ballard, Paul Kemp, Peta Cornish, Heather Nicol, Kerron Darby, Nicola Reynolds and Ansu Kabia.
Local students were also recruited at each venue on the show’s tour to perform in the play as additional class-mates for the professional actors. This involved additional local rehearsals of learning 1940s dance routines such as the jive and lindy hop. For the performances at the Theatre Royal students were recruited from Christ the King Catholic Voluntary Academy in Arnold, Nottingham.
The play was a co-production between the Touring Consortium and Royal & Derngate Northampton, where the play ran before commencing its tour. Photographs in the programme are from the Northampton performances. Just prior to the play opening lead actor Ansu Kabia was involved in a bicycle accident whilst cycling to a final rehearsal. No performances were cancelled, but for the initial run, his left arm was in a sling. The photos are presented in such a way that he is only ever presented in profile or from behind.
The Touring Consortium was established in 1996 by producers Jenny King and Matthew Gale in a collaborative partnership with eight regional touring theatres, including the Theatre Royal Nottingham.
The Consortium was established to tour high-quality drama to large-scale regional venues, with particular emphasis on attracting new and younger audiences to each venue, alongside a comprehensive programme of learning and education work, such as workshops and talks.
Due to funding pressures, the Consortium was unable to continue and ceased in autumn 2018.
Type
Programme
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Researcher: David Longford
