Paines Plough celebrate 50 years of supporting groundbreaking new writing with a new play and a new home here at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry.
Paines Plough’s long-standing relationship with Coventry and the Belgrade Theatre has seen new writing, west-end transfers, and award-winning productions. From 2024 onwards, Paines Plough will find its new home with us here at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. As a touring company with activities across the UK, this new home strengthens Paines Plough’s national reach by deepening relationships with us as their existing co-producers, while also opening up opportunities for new collaborations in the Midlands and beyond.
Also announced today as part of Paines Plough’s 50th year is Kelly Jones’ My Mother’s Funeral: The Show. Exploring the experience of being a benefit class artist and different approaches towards trauma stories, Jones’ new play asks us: if death is unifying, why are we not all afforded the same dignity? Directed by Charlotte Bennett, the production is co-produced by Paines Plough, Mercury Theatre, Belgrade Theatre, Landmark Theatres, and Royal & Derngate, Northampton. My Mother’s Funeral: The Show will preview with us at the Belgrade on 25 – 27 July, before a run at Paines Plough’s pop-up theatre Roundabout at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, ahead of a UK tour.
Paines Plough’s 2023 new writing commission, Miriam Battye’s Strategic Love Play, which previewed at the Belgrade last year, went on to enjoy an award-winning sell-out run at the Fringe and a subsequent UK tour. The show, directed by Katie Posner, will transfer to Soho Theatre’s Main House this year, running from 22 May – 15 June.
Corey Campbell, Creative Director of Belgrade Theatre, said: “I’m very excited that our dear friends and collaborators at Paines Plough are coming to Coventry, both for the wider region, and the city and the theatre. Coventry will receive a contemporary writing theatre company who are incredible at what they do – they are incredible dramaturgs, and incredible at developing talent. They also look at future forms and future styles of writing, which is something that we at the Belgrade are excited about, supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. We have a partnership with them currently that’s not only looking at co-produced shows, but also how we wrap around and support co-created practice. I think their practice and our practice coming together is a force to be reckoned with. We look forward to welcoming them to Coventry!”
Katie Posner and Charlotte Bennett, Joint Artistic Directors of Paines Plough commented: “This year is a landmark year for Paines Plough as we turn 50 at a time where we remain one of the last subsidised new writing touring theatre companies in the UK. Our fiftieth year will be about future-proofing our longstanding commitment to writers, who remain at the beating heart of everything we do. We will move to our new home in Coventry, previewing our thrilling new play by Kelly Jones there as a ‘see it first’ opportunity for Coventry audiences, before it transfers to Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We can’t wait to also welcome the return of last year’s runaway success Strategic Love Play, and continue with our Tour the Writer and writers-on-attachment activity; all of which supports new, bold, brilliant work.”
Visit Paines Plough‘s website to find out more.