The Barbican Centre in London and theatre owner and producer Trafalgar Entertainment have announced a three year deal to stage and develop new theatre productions.
Trafalgar has already run three summer seasons at the Barbican Theatre – Broadway musical Anything Goes in 2021 and 2022, and this summer’s Broadway-to-London transfer of A Strange Loop.
Together the Barbican and Trafalgar plan to present large-scale productions in the 1,200 seat Barbican Theatre over the next three summers, featuring major international talent.
Other big shows playing the Barbican this year include the Royal Shakespeare Company’s record-breaking production of Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro, which returns to the Barbican Theatre for a limited run this Autumn from 21 November 2023 to 23 March 2024.
Beyond the three summer seasons, the Barbican and Trafalgar Entertainment will also collaborate to commission and develop further live theatre events – at the Barbican or in other venues in the UK or internationally.
They also have plans for more international cinema broadcasts of these productions, through Trafalgar’s Live Broadcast company Trafalgar Releasing. Trafalgar Releasing dropped a trailer today for their forthcoming cinema release of A Little Life starring James Norton, which comes to cinemas from 28 September 2023.
Continuing with the Barbican Centre’s work to broaden access to the performing arts, the arrangement will also introduce a new work placement scheme to support the development of skills, experience and networking in backstage and technical roles. Potential placements include joining the team in Trafalgar Entertainments’ production office or one of their 18 venues to learn about commercial producing, while opportunities at the Barbican include shadowing key roles involved in the development projects and summer season productions.
A Strange Loop is currently playing at the Barbican until 9 September 2023. It was announced earlier this week that the star of the show Kyle Ramar Freeman has left the production, and Kyle Birch is now playing the lead role of Usher.
Earlier this month Trafalgar Entertainment announced the acquisition of panto producer Imagine Theatre. Trafalgar Entertainment is run by former ATG bosses Dame Rosemary Squire and Sir Howard Panter, and own Trafalgar Theatres with 18 venues including the Trafalgar Theatre in London’s West End where Jersey Boys is currently playing.
Book tickets to A Strange Loop at the Barbican Theatre
What They Said – The Quotes
Will Gompertz, Artistic Director at the Barbican, said: “As London’s creative catalyst, we’re excited by the new dimension this partnership will bring to our rich and varied artistic programme. From the very beginning, collaboration has been in the Barbican’s DNA: our Concert Hall and Theatre were originally designed with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Shakespeare Company respectively. The relationship with Trafalgar will combine the best of the Barbican with the scale and reach of the commercial theatre sector, putting the City of London firmly on the capital’s cultural map.
Toni Racklin, Head of Theatre & Dance at the Barbican, said: “We’re delighted to build on the relationship we’ve grown with Trafalgar Entertainment over the past three years. This exciting new collaboration will give us the opportunity to develop joyful, inspiring new work that reflects the world around us, while we maintain our important relationships with a wide range of other production partners that allow us to showcase artists from around the world to our audiences throughout the year.”
Sir Howard Panter, Trafalgar Entertainment joint Co-Founder and CEO, said: “This innovative new three year partnership will allow for longer term planning of the premium productions we plan to bring to the Barbican’s stage and beyond, working with the best international creative talent, together with TE’s relationships with some of the world’s leading theatre institutions including the Lincoln Center Theater in New York and the National Theatre in the UK. TE also continues to expand its producing and theatre operations in Australia and into Asia and TE/Barbican productions will also be aimed at these exciting markets. After three very successful summer seasons since 2021, we are delighted to be continuing and developing our strong relationship with the Barbican through this new holistic partnership.”
