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Bristol Old Vic Theatre
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Bristol Old Vic Theatre

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In Person: King Street, BRISTOL, BS1 4ED
Phone: 01179 877877
Opening hours: Mon–Fri, 1–6pm | Sat, 2.30pm–6pm

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What's On Highlights

THE THUNDER RUN EXPERIENCE
From:13-05-2023
To:21-12-2024
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Ever wondered how eighteenth-century sound technicians conjured thunder above the heads of our very first audiences?

Witness the running of the oldest Thunder Run in the country as – just as they did 250 years ago – our technicians unleash the roar of thunder throughout the auditorium. A unique experience for theatre fanatics and thrill-seekers alike.

Spaces regularly included on The Thunder Run Experience:

The new Bristol Old Vic foyer
The Georgian Auditorium and Stage
The original theatre roof space and Thunder Run
Plus hear the Thunder Run in action!

THEATRE TOURS 2024
From:18-04-2024
To:20-12-2024
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Did you know that Bristol is home to the oldest continuously running theatre in the UK?

Step back centuries on The Theatre Tour of Bristol Old Vic. See the original workings of a building which has staged world-class productions since the 1700s.

Our expert tour guides will take you behind-the-scenes, answer your questions and bring the history of this famous theatre to life in vivid detail.

You’ll discover the key players and famous performers who have walked the boards and hear the dramatic stories of when the theatre’s doors were threatened to close for good.

Weaving past and present into a thrilling and informative experience, The Theatre Tour combines the myths, facts and Bristolian folklore that runs through Bristol Old Vic’s rich history.

Approximately 1 Hour

REVERBERATION
From:02-10-2024
To:02-11-2024
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From Matthew López, the Tony and Olivier Award-winning writer of The Inheritance, comes the sexy, funny, and hauntingly human Reverberation.

After a personal tragedy, Jonathan has withdrawn from the world, with little social life beyond the men he meets online. When the enigmatic free spirit Claire moves into the flat upstairs, she tries to coax him out of his shell. Drawn together by a mutual need for emotional attachment, they form a connection, but the past eventually reverberates into the present, threatening the happiness they’ve found…

Matthew López’s extraordinary play about loneliness and longing was originally staged in Connecticut in 2015. This brand-new production has been reshaped by López, transposing the action across the Atlantic to London, and will be the play’s European premiere.

Rising theatre director Jack Sain leads a stellar creative team including Ti Green (Touching the Void) who makes a welcome return to Bristol Old Vic to design, alongside sound designer Nicola T Chang (For Black Boys…, West End), lighting designer Robbie Butler (The Glass Menagerie, UK Tour), video designer Daniel Denton (Misty, Bush Theatre and Trafalgar Studios), and intimacy co-ordinator Robbie Taylor Hunt (Red, White & Royal Blue, Amazon Prime).

Ages 14+

PISKIE
From:08-10-2024
To:12-10-2024
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The game is… “I believe in you.”
Ouida Burt is a respected therapist, an academic, and a stone cold sceptic.

Welcome to her lecture where we debunk fears of the irrational and fantastic - it is time to turn a light on all those things that go bump in the night.

But one of the things that keeps Ouida up in the night cannot be explained. She is haunted by thoughts of her imaginary friend “Bert”, a piskie that used to sing to her as a child. Ouida gave up on fantasy a long time ago… so why can she hear him singing now?

Inspired by the folklore of Dartmoor, PISKIE explores why even the most rational people can have irrational beliefs, and asks why it is so easy to give advice that you do not take.

Following a highly critically acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe run, BoonDog Theatre present a beautiful new story about the tug of war between fantasy and reality. PISKIE is a show for all those who believe there is still a little magic to be found in the world.

*Piskie is a Cornish word for Pixie.

Ages 12+

Approximately 1 Hour

BULLRING TECHNO MAKEOUT JAMZ
From:15-10-2024
To:19-10-2024
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Trim? Fresh. Skin? Glowing. Vibes? Immaculate.

Nathaniel is a serious romantic who sees love as a fine art. He’s looking for the Mona Lisa to his da Vinci, and tonight is the night: his date with Destiny…’s Child.

Winner of the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2022, Nathan Queeley-Dennis’ debut play is a love letter to Birmingham, exploring Black masculinity through Beyoncé lyrics, techno raves and the deeply intimate relationship between a man and his barber. Directed by Dermot Daly.

From Ellie Keel Productions, winner The Stage Awards 2024: Producer of the Year, whose recent work includes the Olivier Award-nominated The Swell by Isley Lynn.

Ages 14+

SARAH KEYWORTH: MY EYES ARE UP HERE
From:20-10-2024
To:20-10-2024
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Sarah Keyworth embarks on a world tour with a brand new, joyous show about family, acceptance and a pair of big (well, not super big) losses.

It’s been a big year for Keys (aka Sarah Keyworth). Sure, they turned thirty, got diagnosed with ADHD and had top surgery, but perhaps the biggest adjustment is to the revelation that maybe their mum was right all along? Not about everything obviously, but they must concede that on teen drinking and being “forced” to go on holiday, Keyworth Sr probably had some solid points.

On their choice to have surgery, Keys feels lucky in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to the people they have around them. That said, it was a long road and there’s still conversations to be had about their gender identity and what this means in a world that seems increasingly hard on gender non-conforming people.

But as Sarah goes home for the first time post-surgery, to celebrate their mum’s own milestone birthday, it’s the conversations with their nearest and dearest that have them reflecting on their year and asking some big questions. What does acceptance look like? From whom does it matter? Is it OK to dance around your family kitchen with your new nipples out?

Ages: 16+

Approximately 1 Hour 40 mins

GURT HAUNTED
From:21-10-2024
To:26-10-2024
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Most Haunted Live meets This Country in this part-improvised, part-devised, fully West Country comedy thriller.

Known worldwide for its historic landmarks, eerie fish and chip shops and disappearing bus services, Weston is the paranormal hotspot of the South West.

From the Grand Pier… to The Carrot in the town centre. You can't escape it. Weston is haunted… Gurt Haunted. Sir Francis Hailbop and his team of world-renowned spiritualists, mediums and 'professional investigators' need your help to put the spirits of Weston to rest... (Or at least get some footage for their newest TV series!)

Join us in this participatory, paranormal parody that will undoubtedly leave you pondering: Am I a true believer… or have I just had one too many ciders?

Ages 16+

Approximately 1 Hour 15 mins

LARRY DEAN: DODGER
From:27-10-2024
To:27-10-2024
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Larry’s been spending a lot of time with his granny lately. He wants to tell you about it.

Join the thrice Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated, two-time star of Live At The Apollo for a hilarious new show about identity, heroes and the benefits of being a dafty.

As seen on Mock The Week, House Of Games, Fandan (Channel 4 Comedy Special) and Michael McIntyre’s Big Show.

Ages 16+

Approximately 1 Hour 40 mins

LITTLE MURMUR
From:30-10-2024
To:02-11-2024
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Watch bodies and words fly like flocks of birds, a murmuration, a little murmur...

Little Murmur is a new dance theatre show for everyone age 7+, families and schools, that features groundbreaking projection, an extraordinary soundscape and a blizzard of paper and confetti.

Diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, Aakash Odedra found school very challenging: he spelt his name wrongly until he was 21 and it wasn’t until he “found the missing ‘A’” that he felt he belonged. Defined by his learning difficulties, not his abilities, dance became his mode of expression.

Combining visual design and technology with dance and humour, Little Murmur explores the warped and exaggerated realities of living in a world you struggle to process. Based on Aakash’s hugely moving show Murmur 2.0, this stunning visual treat is an honest and heart felt conversation about the trials and tribulations of living with dyslexia, facing challenges and overcoming the odds.

Ages 7+

Approximately 0 Hour 40 mins

IVO GRAHAM
From:03-11-2024
To:03-11-2024
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Fumbling a flute on Would I Lie To You, combusting over a Cork accent on BBC Radio 5 Live, scaring Diane from The Traitors with a T-shirt of her face. What (yoghurt and) banana skins await Ivo next? No ball games, no blind alleys, no backstage printers this year: just one of the best stand-ups of his generation back to prove he’s not just Taskmaster’s yardstick for failure but “on this form, as funny as anyone in town.” (Times).

Ages 14+

Approximately 1 Hour 40 mins

NEVER LET ME GO
From:05-11-2024
To:23-11-2024
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You were brought into this world for a purpose. And your futures — all of them — have been decided.

Kazuo Ishiguro’s international best-selling novel arrives on stage in this world premiere of Suzanne Heathcote’s gripping new adaptation.

What if you discovered your whole reason for being was not about your life but about making someone else’s possible? Your dreams, your desires, your love for another, all of them irrelevant in a world that values only what you give, without question or condition, to someone you’ve never met and will never know.

Memory and reality collide in this stunning new staging that challenges us to think about what it means to be human. What it means to have hope and heart — to love and to lose.

THE WELKIN
From:09-11-2024
To:16-11-2024
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“When a woman is being buried alive, she will reach for even the grubbiest tool to dig herself out again.”

Suffolk, England, 1759. A small rural town awaits the celestial spectacle of Halley’s Comet whilst a grisly trial unfolds. Young Sally Poppy, accused of murdering a local girl, faces the gallows. But at the eleventh-hour she makes a powerful and startling disclosure of pregnancy. A jury of matrons must now conclude if Sally is expecting, or simply lying to avoid the death penalty.

Class, wealth, fertility and feminism echo through the ages in Lucy Kirkwood’s explosive courtroom drama, as twelve women wrestle with the fate of another.

Ages 14+

LITTLE WREN & THE AUTUMN MOON
From:16-11-2024
To:16-11-2024
+ More Info +

“The woodland needs you to explore its treasures. It needs you to answer the call, and find nature’s balance once and for all.”

There’s trouble in Little Wren’s neighbourhood. The autumn leaves are changing colour but the forest is in danger and a full moon is on its way.

Join us in a magical Leigh Woods, as you’ve never seen it before, for a new fairy-tale about how we care for our world. There’ll be live music, puppetry, martial arts mayhem and a whole ton of autumn leaves in this brand-new story for children of all ages.

Ages 6+

Approximately 1 Hour

SHAPARAK KHORSANDI: SCATTERBRAIN
From:17-11-2024
To:17-11-2024
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Having reassessed her life through the prism of an ADHD diagnosis in last year's funny and moving memoir, one of Britain's most beloved and most scatterbrained stand-ups lets you back into her mind (warning: it's cluttered in there). Among other things, this show will be a love-letter to letter-writing, a trip back through her early years as a comic and woman-about-town, and a whirlwind tour of a chaotic, hilarious brain.

RAISE THE BAR X BAD BETTY PRESS
From:19-11-2024
To:19-11-2024
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Raise the Bar and Bad Betty Press present an evening of dynamic and eclectic live poetry, showcasing the very best of UK poetry and spoken word since 2014.

Featuring: Caleb Femi, Jemima Foxtrot, Joshua Idehen and Suzannah Evans.

Approximately 2 Hours

DESPERATE TIMES
From:22-11-2024
To:23-11-2024
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From the makers of the award winning show, Dugsi Dayz, Side eYe productions presents Desperate Times – a sell-out hit by emerging new writer Amal Abdi.

Meet Lucky, a bored and lonely supply teacher, who has developed a compulsion for petty thieving. She feels invincible and lives for the drama, until she tells a lie that not even she can charm her way out of. How long can she keep up the act?

Ages: 12+

Approximately 1 Hour

THE LITTLE MERMAID
From:05-12-2024
To:11-01-2025
+ More Info +

You don’t have to be big to make a big difference.

The Little Mermaid loves swimming, dancing and spending time with her friends. She might be different to the other sea creatures but they’re family and these waters are home.

So when the sea starts to get warmer – the kelp wilting, the coral fading – she realises she has to act. The mermaid vows to protect their home and it seems a caring young man trying to restore the coral reef is just the person to help. But how much is she willing to sacrifice to find answers on land? Can the Sea Witch really be trusted to help? And what oily monsters lurk in the deep?

Dive into a magical underwater Kingdom this Christmas with Bristol Old Vic’s bold and breathtaking re-imagining of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale about love, hope, and how no one is too small to change the world.

Full of joyous original songs, circus and dance, award-winning writer Sonali Bhattacharyya (The Jungle Book, Chichester Festival Theatre; Arabian Nights, Bristol Old Vic; Chasing Hares, Young Vic) and Bristol’s own Olivier-Award winning director Miranda Cromwell (Death of a Salesman, Young Vic/West End/Broadway) make a welcome return for the next extraordinary chapter in Bristol Old Vic’s series of festive family productions.

Ages 7+

LITTLE RED (& OTHER WINTER TALES)
From:06-12-2024
To:12-01-2025
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What big eyes you have… all the better to see, my dear.

A red coat moves swiftly through the snow-covered woods, an important gift to deliver.

A pair of red shoes dance their way past, spinning, leaping, unable to stop.

A flame flickers on Christmas eve, bringing warmth and magic each time a match is struck.

This Christmas, join Little Red in the deep dark woods for music, adventure and overcoming the monsters. A story of absent parents, dance-offs and finding the heart of Christmas.

Ages 3+

GYLES BRANDRETH: CAN'T STOP TALKING
From:12-01-2025
To:12-01-2025
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He’s back – and he’s unstoppable.

Gyles Brandreth just can’t stop talking. The jumper-loving This Morning star, who keeps popping up on Pointless, QI, Would I Lie To You?, Sunday Brunch, and The One Show, has been burbling and babbling since he was a baby, and in his hilarious new one-man show the award-winning raconteur and holder of the world record for the longest-ever after-dinner speech (12 and a half hours!) is trying to work out why.

From 40 years on Radio 4’s Just A Minute to 4 years on Channel 4’s Celebrity Gogglebox, he can’t keep his mouth shut. He even talks in his sleep. What’s it all about? He’s going to tell you - because this is his life story: a roller-coaster of tales and revelations from his unlikely life in showbusiness and politics. There will be surprises too (for him and you) when the audience spins a wheel to decide what he’s going to talk about next.

Don’t miss him – novelist, actor, ex-MP, podcaster, No. 1 best-selling biographer, wordsmith and verbivore (he suffers from logorrhea - knows how to spell it and knows what it means)...

Ages 12+

Approximately 2 Hours

PLAY ON!
From:16-01-2025
To:25-01-2025
+ More Info +

What does it take for a woman to make it in a man’s world?

Meet Vy, a talented songwriter looking to make it big in the 1940s’ Harlem scene. She quickly learns from her uncle Jester that women will never be taken seriously in a man’s world. But, like many a strong hero, she refuses to accept defeat. Through her gender fluid cunning, she meets club owner The Duke and sensational nightclub singer Lady Liv and is swept up in a syncopated symphony of melodies, mistaken identities and romance. Who will come out on top?

Play On! is set in the jazz scene of New York’s Cotton Club. This stylish retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, directed by Talawa’s Artistic Director Michael Buffong (A Kind of People, Royal Court; All My Sons, Talawa and Royal Exchange) fuses the thrilling music of Duke Ellington with street dance choreography. Prepare to be wowed by this musical spectacular that will have your toes tapping and hands clapping along with the timeless soundtrack.

ROMEO AND JULIET
From:12-03-2025
To:05-04-2025
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The original play, originally scored – with rap and R&B.

Everything that makes Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy so well loved is here. The rich, feuding families. The intense, forbidden passion. And the flash of violence that tears the young lovers apart, sending them spiralling towards tragedy...

But there’s an important plus one: rap.

This story shines with new, original elements of rap, soul and R&B. Think everyday English as well as the Elizabethan variety. And the poetry of rap rhythms as well as perfect pentameters.

Romeo + Juliet is a co-production with Bristol Old Vic, The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, and Hackney Empire. Directed by Corey Campbell, creative director of the Belgrade, the play springs from communities within Coventry, with music elements that reflect a collaboration with 'That’s a Rap’ company.

Ages 13+

JENNY ECLAIR: JOKES JOKES JOKES LIVE!
From:06-04-2025
To:06-04-2025
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In celebration of the release of her hilarious memoir of the same name, comedian, novelist, and professional show-off Jenny Eclair comes to venues nationwide with a brand-new autobiographical show.

From drama school, (mostly drinking cider and eating sausage rolls), sleeping with men who looked like they lived under a carpet, punk poetry, anorexia, bedsit misery, waitressing and not really having a clue about anything, to being the first woman to win the Perrier Award, becoming a mother, author, grumpy old woman, podcaster and nana!

Still gigging to sell-out crowds forty years later, Jenny invites you to look back at what she can remember before she forgets everything. Warning, punk poetry, animal impressions and baritone nursery rhyme singing may feature.

Ages 14+

Approximately 1 Hour 55 mins

JAMALI MADDIX: ASTON
From:13-04-2025
To:13-04-2025
+ More Info +

Critically-acclaimed comedian Jamali Maddix is back on the road with a brand new tour show: Aston.

Expect Jamali's trademark, brutally honest and unflinching perspectives on the world at large. His last tours have sold-out shows across the globe, playing the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. Jamali is also a regular on the series Nevermind the Buzzcocks for Sky and was one of the most anarchic Taskmaster contestants the show has ever seen. Alongside this, he was a regular contributor for Frankie Boyle's New World Order (BBC2) and has been seen on Live at the Apollo (BBC Two), 8 Out of 10 Cats (More4) and The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS).

Ages 16+

Approximately 1 Hour 40 mins

To find out what else is happening at Bristol Old Vic Theatre, visit their website here.
Transport

Bristol Old Vic is located on King Street, a 5-minute walk (0.2 miles) from the City Centre Harbourside.

There are bike racks on both King Street and Prince Street.

Bristol Old Vic is a 15-minute walk (0.8 miles) from Bristol Temple Meads railway station, or there are regular buses and taxis from outside the station. There is also a ferry which runs from the railway station into the City Centre. Bristol Bus Station is a 15-minute walk (0.7 miles) away. From Bristol Airport, it's 40 minutes by bus or 25 minutes by taxi to the City Centre.

Please book taxis for drop-off (and pick-up) to Bristol Old Vic, King Street, BS1 4ED.

Parking

There are good car parking facilities in the surrounding area including the NCP on Queen Charlotte Street and Trenchard Street car park, a 5 minute walk across the city centre. Meter parking is also available on Queen Charlotte Street and Queen Square. There is one disabled space round the corner of the theatre on Queen Charlotte Street. Blue Badge Holders park for free. For more information on parking, including options for minibuses and large vehicles, visit Bristol City Council parking services.

There is space for two coaches to set-down and pick-up in front of The Rackhay. The closest coach park is near the M Shed museum (access off of Cumberland Road) with a fee of £1.10 for up to 24 hours (do check this before setting off). Read about coach parking in Bristol on the Travel West website.

Cafe
Restaurant

Make yourself at home in one of our purpose-built beach hut-style cabins, decorated with a touch of theatrical magic, and while away your day with craft beers from Left Handed Giant, local ciders, coffee, tea, snacks and more (Marshfield ice cream, anyone?). Or sit in our architecturally award-winning foyer, set against the stunning backdrop of the original 1766 Theatre wall.

For more information and to view menus and opening times please visit: bristololdvic.org.uk/eat-drink

Bar
Access Info

Several per season. For detailed access information please visit the theatre's access page: bristololdvic.org.uk/your-visit/access

Built in 1766 as a place where the people of Bristol could come together, Bristol Old Vic is the oldest continuously working theatre in the English speaking world.

It was built as a symbol of the pride we have in our city and what it can achieve and remains a place of joy, discovery and adventure to this day.

Our front of house has recently undergone a multi-million pound redevelopment. Our new building boasts a brand new Studio Theatre, relaxing and fully-accessible front of house space, with a bar and kitchen serving everything from tasty treats with a morning coffee to an evening meal, alongside a new interactive heritage offering – opening up the 250-year-old history of this unique building for everyone to discover and enjoy at their own pace.

Our mission is to create pioneering twenty-first-century theatre in partnership with the people of our energetic city; inspired by the history and magical design of the most beautiful playhouse in the country.

We are led by artists who see the world with distinctive clarity and whose ability to articulate what they see allows us to understand and engage with our world afresh, whether that be through our 350-strong Young Company, our many outreach and education projects or helping ascendant artists by nurturing the spark or seed of an idea into something fully-formed.

We are publicly funded by Arts Council England and Bristol City Council, using that investment to support experiment and innovation, to allow access to our programme for people who would not otherwise encounter it or be able to afford it and to keep our extraordinary heritage alive and animated.

We strive to be welcoming, professional and boundlessly curious; playful, ambitious and rigorous; resourceful, honest, and generous; collaborative, Bristolian and world class.

Come and play.

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