Harriet Martineau Dreams of Dancing, world premiere a new play set in Tynemouth 1844 by Olivier Award-winning writer Shelagh Stephenson: Live Theatre

Thursday 10 November to Saturday 3 December 2016

Harriet Martineau Dreams of Dancing, a new play set in Tynemouth 1844 written by Olivier Award-winning writer Shelagh Stephenson has its World Premiere at Live Theatre, Newcastle from Thursday 10 November to Saturday 3 December 2016.

A dramatised and at times comic account of Harriet Martineau’s stay in the North East seaside town as the leading radical thinker, feminist and anti-slavery campaigner of her day, seeks refuge from the claustrophobic demands of London society, with her needlepoint and a telescope in an attic room on Front Street.  Instead of escape, Harriet finds an unequal world in need of her attention. This is a world of racial intolerance and gender imbalance, of eccentric scientific practices such as mesmerism and phrenology. A world where a negligent husband may die from a pig falling on his head in the street.

Following on from the critically acclaimed 2010 production of A Northern Odyssey (The Guardian), Harriet Martineau Dreams of Dancing is the second in Shelagh Stephenson’s trilogy of plays at Live Theatre exploring the contemporary relevance of Tyneside’s political and cultural heritage.

The play features music by acclaimed folk band, The Unthanks, re-arranged from songs on their Mount the Air album, and dance inspired by Northumberland traditions, choreographed by Lee Proud (Billy Elliot – the musical) both part of the creative team in A Northern Odyssey.

Adrian McNally, The Unthanks, said:

"Our main motive in music making has always been to story tell, so seeing it take on a new life to give colour to more stories still, is very exciting, as is having the chance to be creative with such an esteemed bill of home grown talent."

Actors Lizzy McInnerny (The Crown, Netflix), Amy McAllister (Call the Midwife) and long-time Live Theatre collaborator Deka Walmsley (The Pitmen Painters) are re-united from A Northern Odyssey and are joined by Kate Okello (The Savage), Matt Jamie (Lee Hall’s Live Screenplays) and Laura Jane Matthewson, winner of the 2014 Evening Standard Award for Best Emerging Talent.

Max Roberts, Artistic Director at Live Theatre said:

“I am delighted to welcome Shelagh Stephenson back to Live Theatre and thrilled that she has created another play set in Tynemouth where she grew up. Harriet Martineau Dreams of Dancing is a superbly witty and engaging story underpinned with a sharply focused feminist tract.  Although the action of the play is set in Tynemouth, 1844, the plays relevance to today’s post-Brexit Britain is remarkably salient. As with A Northern Odyssey the production will include music and dance inspired by the traditions of Northumberland.”

A series of free talks accompany the play, in Meet the Writer after the 2pm performance on Saturday 12 November writer Shelagh Stephenson and director Max Roberts discuss the making of the play. In Harriet Martineau In and Beyond Tynemouth after the 7.30pm on Tuesday 22 November,  Dr Joe Hardwick, lecturer in History at Northumbria University and organiser of the Mapping Radical Tyneside website talks about Martineau’s significance for Victorian radicalism and the emergence of the professional woman writer.  And phrenology, mesmersism and other Victorian beliefs mentioned in the play are discussed by researchers and academics from Newcastle University and Sunderland University in Harriet Martineau and Victorian Pseudoscience after the 4pm show on Sunday 20 November. The talks are free but must be pre-booked.

Harriet Martineau Dreams of Dancing is at Live Theatre from Thursday 10 November to Saturday 3 December 2016. For more information and tickets which cost between £12-£26, concs from £10 ring Live Theatre’s box office on (0191) 232 1232 or see www.live.org.uk.