2012 Season Previews

2012 Season Previews
King Lear 9 Feb - 24 March & The Cherry Orchard 29 March - 5 May

Lyn Gardner, Theatre Tips, The Guardian. What to see in 2012




'Shakespeare responds infinitely to change. He provokes different responses in us because of our own changing concerns and circumstances. The important thing is to meet the text with as open a mind as you can.'
Artistic Director Andrew Hilton interviewed in Clifton Life magazine with John Shrapnel playing King Lear  (P38& P39)


'Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory’s winter/spring residency at their namesake theatre is a consistent highlight of Bristol’s, not to mention the UK’s, cultural calendar. And 2012 will be SATTF’s 13th season at the Tobacco Factory – they began back in 2000 with a season of King Lear and A Midsummer Night’s Dream that played, initially, to tiny crowds but became a crucial step in the cultural regeneration of Southville and Bedminster.Every year since, SATTF have performed two of the Bard’s plays (although they’ve looked to other playwrights on one or two occasions) for six weeks each at the theatre, and every single one of these productions has been a triumph: clear-eyed, articulate, emotionally honest stagings of Shakespeare that replace pomp and finery with incredible acting and a faultless understanding of the great man’s emotional landscapes.Hopes are high, then, for 2012’s season, which pairs (once again) King Lear (9 Feb-24 Mar) with Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard (29 Mar-5 May). Director Andrew Hilton showed with that first Lear back in 2000 that he understands the play’s complex emotional ties and betrayals like no one else – and SATTF also have form with Chekhov, having already given us brilliant renditions of the great Russian’s Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya. Expect great things – and book now.' 


Bristol Evening Post, 16th Sept 2011 'Actor back for first time in three decades'