Lancaster University

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Live at LICA and the Dukes in first joint theatre presentation

03/09/2012 00:00:00
​More than five hundred people have seen the family show The Forest, co-presented for the first time by the Nuffield Theatre and the Dukes Theatre in Lancaster.

The production by the acclaimed UK theatre company Fevered Sleep has had favourable reviews in the national media and has toured extensively, including to the Sydney Opera House. 

It is an innovative mix of contemporary dance, physical theatre and sound installation for young children. 

As well as seven productions at the Nuffield Theatre and in local schools, members of the company and Live at LICA staff led workshops in schools and in the woods on campus with over two hundred young people.

The Forest was programmed for the Nuffield Theatre’s Spring season as Live at LICA establishes a new strand of activity for early years and family-friendly audiences. 

Matt Fenton, Director of Live at LICA, said: “The Forest is a gentle, beautifully constructed dream of a show. It never patronises its young audience, inviting them into a space were anything is possible. For us it’s partly about breaking down parents’ preconceptions that contemporary performance is experimental or difficult, as these are real barriers to engaging with the acclaimed new work we present. As this show proves, children have no such barriers.”

Julie Brown, Producer at the Dukes, said “Working in partnership with Live at LICA has enabled us together to bring this excellent production to Lancaster. Live at LICA was able to host the production and its considerable technical demands, whilst The Dukes was able to tap into its existing family audience base. This kind of co-presenting enables us to bring exciting productions to Lancaster that we would not have been able to do alone.”