READING Repertory Theatre has laid out its plans to celebrate a decade of theatre, including new works and pricing changes.
In October, it will mark its tenth anniversary with a season of new shows, called Reading Rep: 10.
As well as its new shows, the theatre has announced an overhaul of ticket prices in the approaching season.
It pledges that all tickets will be under £20, with a number of £5 tickets for under 30s for each show.
Paul Stacey, artistic director of Reading Repertory Theatre said of the season: “It has been an extraordinary ten years of making theatre in Reading, and this upcoming season celebrates every artist, audience, and team member who got us to this point.
The theatre has championed accessibility through programs such as ENGAGE, which provides hundreds of hours of free workshops to disadvantaged or underserved communities.
“Accessibility and connection is at the heart of Reading Rep– we refuse to let the price point of our tickets be a barrier for our audiences, especially when the cost of living across the UK is so excruciatingly high.
“Ten percent of all our tickets remain free for those underserved in the arts, and there will be 210 £5 tickets per show for Under 30s.
“This season promises to radically engage with our future, whilst memorialising our decade long past”
The ENGAGE project will be form part of each production in the theatre’s Reading Rep: 10 season, with companion productions and workshops.
The season will begin with Gary McNair’s stage adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Jekyll & Hyde.
It will run alongside ENGAGE’s Stranger Than Fiction, which will explore the real-life inspiration behind the story.
The theatre is also bringing back its sell-out production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, set in Reading, and written by Beth Flintoff.
The season will continue into 2023 with a queer adaptation of Frank Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler.
It is producing the show in association with A Girl Called Stephen, a Reading-based theatre company which promotes work by and for women and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Hear Our Voice, a workshop which looks at the need for queer spaces in Reading, will run alongside it, working with members of the community to create empowering auto-biographical pieces.
It will be followed by a musical adaptation of Peter Pan, the first musical production in the theatre’s new venue.
It will close the season with Helen Eastman’s The Rumble Under the Rug, an interactive workshop which will go on to tour schools and libraries around Reading.
Reading Rep: 10 will also see the theatre present its first full-scale digital project, Reborn in Film, which celebrates the new venue’s first series of productions.
As well as the film, it is also set to host the ENGAGE festival in July 2023, where performances, exhibitions, and workshops will explore the outreach and community work the theatre has done in its first ten years.
Jekyll & Hyde and Stranger Than Fiction will run from Monday, October 10, to Saturday, October 29.
A Christmas Carol and ENGAGE’s Dear Mr Scrooge will run from Wednesday, November 30, to Saturday, December 31.
Hedda Gabler and Hear Our Voice will run from Wednesday, February 22, to Saturday, March 11, 2023.
Peter Pan and Discovering Neverland will run from Thursday, April 6, to Saturday, April 29, 2023.
The Rumble Under the Rug will run from Wednesday, May 31, to Monday, June 3, 2023.
Tickets are now on sale for all of the shows in the Reading Rep: 10 season, available at: www.readingrep.com
