Theatre / Bristol old vic

Nancy Medina announces first season at Bristol Old Vic as new artistic director

By Lola English  Wednesday Apr 19, 2023

Nancy Medina, the new artistic director at Bristol Old Vic, has announced the lineup for her first season at the theatre.

The autumn-winter 2023/2024 season will see a wide range of contemporary productions, in the hopes of championing new and diverse talent and spearheading a new future at the oldest working theatre in the UK, as well as focusing on modernisation and community.

Medina is set to direct her first major production at the theatre, Choir Boy, this year. The tender Tony-nominated coming of age story is written by Oscar-winning Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight) and will run from October 12 to November 11.

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Choir Boy fronts a vibrant new season which will begin in September with the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe hit Kathy and Stella Solve a Murder! from the Olivier Award-winning team behind BBC’s Fleabag, and Cheeky little brown, a major new co-production by Bristol Old Vic and Tiata Fahodzi.

Nancy Medina took over from successor Tom Morris, who stepped down after 12 years in the role – photo: Barbara Evripidou

This year’s festive Christmas play, a Bristol Old Vic favourite, will be a modern reimagining of Arabian Nights directed by award-winning Blanche McIntyre, whose credits include Shakespeare’s Globe and the National Theatre. It will run from Nov 23 to Jan 6.

The Bristol Old Vic will also present work from leading theatre companies from around the country, such as Frantic Assembly and their Franz Kafka adaptation of Metamorphosis and ETT’s contemporary production of Macbeth.

For musical lovers, Apphia Campbell’s acclaimed play Black is the Color of my Voice, inspired by the life of Nina Simone and featuring many of her classic songs performed live, will play from Feb 12-17 2024. This follows sell-out seasons in Shanghai, New York, Edinburgh, and the West End.

Medina said they hoped to cultivate a sense of community at the Bristol Old Vic this season, reconnecting people with the city’s renowned theatre.

She said: “We will make a theatre which is for our whole community. Not a passive place but one of activism. Not one voice but many. We will ask questions of ourselves and of Bristol. We invite you to come on in to help us make this building sing with possibility.”

Tickets will go on sale to priority bookers from 10am, on Thursday April 20 and on general sale from 10am, on Thursday April 27.

Main photo: Barbara Evripidou

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