READ THE LATEST ARTISTIC NEWS ROUND-UP HERE, WITH A LOOK AT WHAT’S AHEAD

So……..Lucy Kirkwood’s Mosquitoes has flown away and the cast and creatives are having a rest, after this fast-paced contemporary, much garlanded play.

It was such a hit at the National and it was both an artistic and visual feast for our audiences. The tech team pulled out all the stops and the 20 scene changes were slick and super fast. My thanks to Viki Betts for her creative direction and to Dan Walsh for his movement of the scientists and choreography of the scene changes. Huge thanks also to Chris Gilbey-Smith for stepping into a key role with just two rehearsals before the first dress. I loved this play when I first saw it at The National and I am delighted that despite the audacious challenges it presents, we delivered such a classy product. It was great to be in the cast. We had a number of new people join this cast and creative team – 8 this time round. They were fulsome in their praise of how warm and welcoming they found their debuts.

Next up is the exquisite Uncle Vanya, my most favourite Chekhov, in a new version by David Fletcher. David shared his text early with a number of us and it is crisp and flows beautifully. So privileged to be able to see this early version before David refined it for rehearsal. I went into a rehearsal for the first major run through last week and I can assure you that you are in for a treat. With weeks to go it is already in superb shape and I am even more excited to see it polished for performance over the next few weeks. Jonathan Fletcher has created the music especially for this production. With a masters degree in music composition, his work has been screened internationally, including at Cannes and Hollywood.

We have had a long association with Chekhov over our history; the most gifted of playwrights. This is classic theatre not to be missed. The set is up ready for painting, the costumes are filling the dressing rooms and the cast and creative teams are bringing their assured talent to what will no doubt be a remarkable production.
The December production of Glorious! by Peter Quilter has just commenced rehearsals, bringing a joyous, if off key, crescendo to the theatrical year.

November and December will also see the readings and auditions for more productions for 2025. We are fully cast until April as you can see from our website, where we list the full creatives teams of each show. I am thrilled to announce that the May production will be another Frantic Assembly inspired piece of Things I Know To Be True by Andrew Bovell to be directed by Lynda Lewis. In the same genre as Lovesong, this is already creating excitement among our actors as they anticipate the reading and audition. Casting will also be taking place for the reopening of our Studio Theatre for a production of The Just Price of Flowers, written by James Yarker, the Artistic Director of Stans Cafe (pronounced caff) and directed by Mark Crossley. Two exciting productions for actors, creatives and audience alike. As one actor wrote to me “I am constantly astonished by the Loft programme, the courageous choices and the chance to be a part of something so special. Keep it coming!” We’ll do our best.

You may have spotted a couple of new events on the website too. On 9 December we are joining forces with the Leamington History Group to screen two films in the auditorium. Both have been specially commissioned and created by local filmmaker Mark Ellis. The first is about Victorian Leamington Spa and the second features the Loft’s history and its centenary. The bar will be open and tickets are selling fast – a bargain at only £5.

Booking is also open for another return visit from the spectacular Down for the Count jazz/swing band. They have included the Loft in their 2025 tour, which includes Cadogan Hall in London, The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and their frequent appearances at Ronnie Scott’s. Swing that Music will be at the Loft on 2 February 2025. These concerts are always a sell-out. This is your chance to see an internationally acclaimed band strut their stuff on the Loft stage, but don’t leave it too long to secure your tickets!

As the clocks change and the evenings begin to draw in, I hope you have spotted our new external lighting at the theatre. As our location is the best kept secret in Leamington it enables us to stand out a little more in our river setting at the bottom of the Victoria Colonnade. The lighting we have chosen is as creative as you would expect from us; we can change the colours of it with the flick of a keyboard – just showing off now!

We look forward to welcoming you to a future production. If you have friends and family who have never been to the Loft before, do bring them with you and introduce them to this terrific theatre, with its brilliant auditorium and spacious bar. Don’t forget our offer of free tickets for 16-25 year old young, independent theatregoers, encouraging them to get the theatre habit early.

I hope you will find much to tempt you during the autumn. As my most favourite playwright of all, Shakespeare, wrote in Hamlet that the “purpose of playing” is “to hold as ’twere the mirror up to nature: to show virtue her feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.” Theatre has a powerful and compelling role to play in our lives, invigorating us, causing us to pause, to think, to be thrilled, to laugh and to cry. Creating great theatre is our shared purpose and we believe it can be life enhancing. Theatre reminds us that we are not alone.  Not only are we sharing space and an experience with the actors who are performing, we are sharing the experience with fellow audience members. Movies and television don’t have the same intimacy or sense of participation. Sharing an experience with live actors and live audience members is not only valuable, it is an opportunity to powerfully connect.

SUE MOORE
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
OCTOBER, 2024