Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts reveals autumn and winter programme
The Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA) on campus plans an eclectic array of contemporary performance, dance, music, live art and film for its autumn and winter 2016 programme.
Christopher Brett Bailey: Kissing the Shotgun Goodnight
Forced Entertainment: Real Magic
Brighton – Symphony of a City
Metis: World Factory
The programme includes UK theatre premieres, new commissions and partnerships with arts organisations in Brighton & Hove.
After a nine-year period of renovation and refurbishment, this revered and much-loved arts centre (originally designed by architect Sir Basil Spence and opened as the Gardner Arts Centre in 1969) is welcoming audiences for its first season of work.
The building takes its new title in tribute to the University’s former Chancellor, Lord (Richard) Attenborough and his family. The programme and the work at the centre will be guided by the values championed by Richard Attenborough in his life and work: human rights, social justice, creative education and access to the arts for all.
Programme highlights include:
- Fevered Sleep: Men & Girls Dance (27-29 October), which brings together two very different groups of performers: men who dance professionally and girls (aged 9–11) from Brighton who dance for fun.
- the UK premiere of Forced Entertainment’s new work: Real Magic (10 & 11 November) – part mind-reading feat, part cabaret act, part chaotic game show – in which a group of performers endlessly replay the moment of defeat and the moment of hope. The company also bring And On The Thousandth Night to ACCA (12 November).
- Metis: World Factory (15-18 November), which gives a first-hand experience of the sharp end of fast fashion by weaving together stories of people connected by the global textile industry
- Christopher Brett Bailey: Kissing the Shotgun Goodnight (24 November), a linguistic kaleidoscope of caustic cartoons, crackpot prophesies and demented erotica.
Other programme highlights at ACCA will include a screening of Brighton – Symphony of a City (7 October) for those who missed it during Brighton Festival and the chance to see Oh! What a Lovely War, the 1968 anti-war classic directed by Richard Attenborough (23 November), as part of Cinecity.
Meanwhile, Manchester musicians Gogo Penguin bring to ACCA a sound influenced by a heady brew of Brian Eno, John Cage, Massive Attack and Aphex Twin (2 November), plus cabaret provocateur Ursula Martinez brings her new theatre show Free Admission (6 November).
Brighton Dome’s Coffee Concerts also relocate to ACCA for some autumn and winter dates (20 November, 18 December).
ACCA’s Creative Director, Laura McDermott, said: “It’s so brilliant to have art and artists filling this much-loved building again after so many years. We know how much the building means to people.
“In this opening season there are two new commissions, collaborations with local arts organisations in Brighton & Hove, and an opening concert that is a love letter to the city in music and film.
“From the ethics of fast fashion to final meal requests from prisoners on death row, there are several unique performances that might make you see things differently.”
To book tickets for any of the upcoming events, call the ACCA box office on 01273 678822.
Twenty tickets will be available for each performance where visitors can ‘pay what you decide’, ensuring the programme remains open and accessible to all. Discounted tickets will also be available for University of Sussex students.
Alongside the public programme, the ACCA will host conferences, workshops, residencies, exhibitions and screenings.
A new café and bar has also been created, serving fresh local produce along with tea and coffee, beer, wine and cocktails.