This August Bank Holiday weekend (Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 August) members of the Doncaster community will perform a new, immersive show at Cast, The Magic of Wild Heather, which is a cabaret with food, music and storytelling. Tickets are pay what you decide and audiences are invited to share a celebratory feast on Cast’s main stage whilst celebrating a long-forgotten story, mixed with movement, music and a sprinkling of magic.
Written by Jasmin Mandi-Ghomi, directed by Associate Director, Public Acts James Blakey and designed by Hannah Sibai. The creative team is completed by Composer Musicians Hayley Yule and Nick Lewis, plus filmmaker Ranjish Madaan. The story is co-created by members of the Public Acts community company and features performances from local artists.
The Magic of Wild Heather is a community performance project through the National Theatre’s Public Acts programme to create extraordinary acts of theatre and community. Five community organisations across Doncaster, B.Friend, Conversation Club, Edlington Community Organisation, Cast Young Company and darts, have been taking part in the programme.
After being postponed last year, Cast will also be hosting the third Public Acts production in August 2022, The Doncastrian Chalk Circle, a newly adapted version of Bertolt Brecht’s classic play by Chris Bush, directed by Associate Director, Public Acts James Blakey, with music by Ruth Chan and design by Hannah Sibai. Featuring 80 performers from our Public Acts community partners , joined by a company of professional actors and musicians and cameo appearances from local performance groups, this new version is an adventurous tale of belonging, full of passion, spectacle and plenty of Yorkshire grit and humour.
Deborah Rees (Director of Cast) said:
“The continuation of these projects shows just how important the arts are to our local community, now more than ever. We are working with community groups across Doncaster for The Magic of Wild Heather and look forward to developing these relationships as we work towards an epic production of The Doncastrian Chalk Circle next summer. We are delighted that we can create and celebrate together this summer after what has been such a difficult year for so many.
James Blakey, Associate Director, Public Acts said:
“Our Doncaster community has remained connected, supportive, creative and hopeful during the last 15 months; working and creating together at distance and learning new skills in order to do so. We’re thrilled that this summer we’ll have the opportunity to bring our company together for a celebratory cabaret and storytelling performance on Cast’s main stage and we look forward with renewed energy to our 2022 production of The Doncastrian Chalk Circle.”
Link to buy tickets https://castindoncaster.com/whats-on/the-magic-of-wild-heather/
