Garry Essendine is a hugely successful and self-obsessed actor who is about to embark on a tour of Africa with his latest play. His immense fame attracts a stream of amorous advances, but his unrestrained excesses threaten to bring down the entire structure of both his professional and personal life. Present Laughter follows the events and the affairs, in every sense, of one in Garrys life. It is a play full of farcical scenarios, complex relationships and constantly calls upon the question of whether Garry is acting or not.

Where East and West collide in a story about friendship and family, love and jealousy, with a good measure of sailing thrown in! Arthur Ransomes Swallows and Amazons is a classic book about children having adventures on a lake. The Walker family have always been depicted as quintessentially English but what is not widely known is that Ransome modelled his characters on an Anglo-Armenian family from Aleppo, Syria. This joyous actor-musician production delves into the fascinating but often fractured relationship between the British author and the family who inspired him to write his iconic book for children. Although a work of fiction, this production has been extensively researched using letters and diary entries from the Arthur Ransome archive, University of Leeds Special Collections; letters from the collection of Roger Wardale, now in The Arthur Ransome Society (TARS) archives; numerous publications and testimonies by Altounyan and Guzelian family members. There will be a pre-show talk by the writer Karen Babayan at 6.30pm. Karen Babayan writer & producer is Anglo-Armenian, born in Iran. She arrived in Leeds in 1978 at the age of 16 and is now an established, multi-disciplinary artist, writer and curator. www.karenbabayan.com Persia Babayan-Taylor - director and composer is a creative of British-Armenian-Iranian heritage; she was born in Leeds and trained at Guildford School of Acting as an Actor-Musician. Supported by stage@leeds. Original photograph by Asadour Guzelian. Swallows and Armenians is supported by Lottery Funding from Arts Council England.

Every night in their local queer bar, Raven and Lola take to the stage to entertain with their mystery double act Detective Detective. However, glamour turns to murder when Lola is found dead on the night of the show. With no one willing to avenge her and suspects close at hand, Ravens investigative act becomes a reality. Grappling with hidden secrets, killer motives, and the devastating realisation that the killer is someone they know, theyre struck with the determining question: do you ever know when youve lost yourself? A murder mystery in body but a story about belonging at heart, Nevermore explores how far tolerance reaches, and what acceptance of yourself and others really means. Content warnings: depictions of death, homophobia and strong language.

After the tragic nobbling of his Dad, Teddy Mega is the newly appointed CEO of Fantasy World Adventures Mega Park! theme park. Teddy is trying to do it all - keep his mum happy, bring in new ideas and solve problems amongst the staff. The only problem is, Teddy has a secret: his one true passion is to become the theme parks infamous mascot instead. This brand-new comedy musical is hilariously shameless, and showcases the rollercoaster that is love, life, and being a constant disappointment to your parents.

How do you live with fear? Im scared. I cant run, I cant fight, Im paralysed. Every single time. In 2024, a Swedish government minister becomes the target of cruel online mockery when the object of her fear makes headline news: Bananas. To the world, this is the laugh of the week. To the minister, the fear is real. PHOBIA is a bold expedition into the veiled world of irrational fears. Informed by personal experience and drawing on a range of anonymous narratives, it blends fragmented storytelling, contemporary dance and audio installation to cast a light on the anxiety and absurdity of living with a phobia. Devised and performed by theatre artist and Leeds PhD scholar Wiebke Acton as part of her practice-based research into transnational theatre-making.

Bright Sparks presents a rocking and rolling roller-coaster science fiction show about time-travel, friendship, freedom and Elvis Presley. We all love Elvis. But imagine a world where he never existed. An evil time-travelling genius has kidnapped Elvis from history. Now its up to our heroes to save Elvis... so he can come back and save the world. "Simply incredible. The show blew my mind!" Scot - audience member "I laughed. I cried. I got up and danced." Christine - audience member "Pure joy." Steve Ansell - Artistic Director, stage@leeds Made possible with funding from The National Lottery Community Fund and The Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation Bright Sparks is a Leeds based theatre company with a majority Learning Disabled cast.

Gnawa Manchester is defined as trance music from Morocco. The repetitive beats with the spiritual performance creates more than just a music genre! It is a deeply cultural tradition from the 11th Century. Zakaryae who plays the Gimbri (bass guitar) has brought this music to a modern audience in the UK by creating a band with a fusion twist of instruments incorporating Sub Saharan sacred traditions to Jazz and Blues mix. Gnawa music will take you on an elevated magical and mystical journey!

Anthropocenes: meaning humans are having such a big impact on the Earth through things like pollution, climate change, deforestation, and building cities that it's actually changing how the planet works, just like past natural events. Uncle Vanya, written by Anton Chekhov, tells the story of a disheartened man who has devoted his life to managing a country estate for his brother-in-law, only to realise his sacrifices have been for nothing. As tensions rise with the sudden threat of selling the estate, the characters personal struggles and longings surface- this is then mirrored with contemporary characters who still face these struggles today.

Postgraduate Researchers at the School of Performance and Cultural Industries invite you to attend our symposium on Monday 23rd June 2025 in the stage@leeds building. Throughout the day, we will present papers on our ongoing research that contends with the presence of liminality in our work and in our lives as postgraduate researchers. Alongside this, we offer a performative response to this topic, exploring alternative methods of disseminating knowledge as well as our own experiences with the liminal. Refreshments and lunch will be provided. Registration will close on Monday 2nd June. Symposium Schedule 9:30am: Arrival in the stage@leeds foyer 10:00am: Morning Keynote Dr Lou Harvey: Community circus and/as trauma-informed practice: The problem of un/sayability 10:50am: Break 11:15am: Conference Papers Group One - People and Practice in Flux: Eve Walton, Hannah Wainright, Naomi Burnley 12:15pm:Conference Papers Group Two - Uncertain Horizons:Yanyan Liu, Nicola Hollinshead, Lingxuan Fang 1:15pm: Lunch in the foyer (and zine making in the dance studio) 2:15pm: Performance intervention (Between Two Thoughts) 2:45pm: Conference Papers Group Three - Environments Of/For Change: Danny Casprini, Georgie Hook, Carolyn Bradley 3:45pm: Break 4:00pm: Afternoon Keynote Dr Michael Schofield: Between times: Liminality as a temporal feature of haunted spaces and media 4:50pm: Concluding Remarks 5:00pm: Finish

Use this link to pay for youth theate sessions 03 May - 19 July. please do not use thiss link if yoou pay annually

Level 1 Theatre and Performance students in the School of Performance and Cultural Industries present a devised immersive experience based on Chekhov's final play.