SPRING/
SUMMER
2017
 tropicanaweston
 TropicanaWeston
 www.tropicanaweston.co.uk
 Marine Parade, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1BE
Welcome to
SPRING/
SUMMER
2017
SUN 9 APRIL
Tropicana sits right on the edge of the sea, its boundary walls surrounded
by water at high tide, its exterior regularly illuminated by jaw-dropping
sunsets. Not your every day kind of theatre. It was in 2015 that this iconic
1930s site found new life as a playground for the arts when Banksy’s Dismaland
burst in with a tide of social commentary, outrageous talent and glorious fun.
Tall Tree Theatre
2pm, with free drop-in
art workshop from 1pm
These values spill over into Theatre Tropicana’s forthcoming season, a roller-coaster
of experiences with something for everyone.
Go on, give us a whirl!
45 minutes
Theatre Tropicana is a
collaboration between North
Somerset Council and
Theatre Orchard
Box Office
Theatre Tropicana uses the external
box office facility provided by
Tobacco Factory Theatres. To book
tickets for any show, please call
0117 902 0344 (11am – 6.30pm
Monday to Saturday), or go online
at www.tropicanaweston.co.uk.
Parking
There is year-round metered parking
on Marine Parade (directly in front of
Tropicana), plus beach parking in high
season. For more information on charges
please see www.tropicanaweston.co.uk.
There are also plenty of car parks in the
town centre.
Advance tickets can also be purchased
in person from the Tropicana’s Bay Cafe
at 10% discount.
Volunteering
If you would like to join the Theatre
Tropicana volunteer team, we would
love to hear from you. Please call the
general enquiries number.
General Enquiries
For general enquiries, please call the
Tropicana Seafront and Events team
on 01934 629 829.
Getting to Theatre Tropicana
The Tropicana is located right on the
seafront, in the centre of Weston-superMare. It is a 10 minute walk from the
train station, and there are regular trains
and buses from both Bristol and Taunton
directions. Visit www.travelinesw.com
for up-to-date timetables.
£7/25 family ticket for 4 / Age 4+
Food and Drink
A fully licensed bar
operates for all shows,
and the Tropicana’s Bay
Cafe offers a brilliant
range of hot and cold
food from 9am-5pm.
Access Information
There is full disabled access to the theatre
space, plus disabled toilet facilities.
All information stated in this brochure is correct at time of printing.
Main front cover image: Carousel ©Andrew Billington
Delivering world-class street
arts and circus. Touring dynamic
‘work of the coast’, it aims to
enliven and help re-imagine
the culture of coastal towns for
those who live and visit there.
SAT 11 MARCH
Presented by The Bluebirds,
Storytree & Four of Swords
7.30pm / £14/£8 / Age 8+
90 minutes (including interval)
Nzingabeth portrays a fictitious, musical
meeting between Elizabeth I of England
and the proud African Queen Ana
Nzinga. This period treat with a twist
poses crucial questions on race, gender
and politics, but also delights the senses
with wig-swapping, sumptuous costumes
and great music.
Storytelling, live music and puppetry
combine to tell a tall tale about
stepping out of your comfort zone and
saying yes to adventure!
Mr Middle has created a predictable
life of routine for himself and his loyal
dog, Shackleton. Together they enjoy
simple walks and evenings in, but
Shackleton longs for more. Not one for
surprises, Mr Middle keeps his world
as small as possible, but one day the
garden gate is left ajar…
A fun and memorable musical tale
of one man and his dog as they
rediscover the thrills that
life has to offer.
THURS 27 APRIL
“A mini comedic masterpiece…
ambitious, risk-taking, edgy,
just downright different.”
SUN 30 APRIL

Stage Talk
Magazine
Publick Transport
7.30pm / £10 / Age 10+
60 minutes
Morecambe and Wise
meets David Lynch in this
madcap re-imagining of the Bronte
myth, presented in Publick Transport’s
playful and irreverent style.
Taking the real and fictitious worlds
of Yorkshire’s literary siblings as their
inspiration, two performers combine
rigorous physical theatre with anarchic
comedy to deconstruct not only gothic
themes of love, madness and revenge,
but also themselves.
Two, Four, Six, Eight! is a delightful
show for 4-7 year olds. Using music,
toys and far too much wrapping paper,
Shoofly Theatre have created a funny
and charming performance that shows
how fun numbers can be.
Shoofly Theatre
Craig has been invited to his best
friend’s Birthday Party. There is an
invitation to read, presents to wrap,
cakes to buy and a house to find.
2pm, with free drop-in art workshop
from 1pm
Who will explain the rules of Musical
Chairs? Will there be enough balloons?
£7 / £25 family ticket for 4
Age 4+ / 45 minutes
“A lovely show,
witty, engaging
and incredibly friendly.”
Tobacco Factory Theatres
This punchy production recaptures the
passion and controversy of the famous
novel and globally successful film, and
repackages it into an immersive production
– the audience are literally part of
the theatre experience, including the
notorious “Worst Toilet in Scotland”
scene.
Trainspotting is the story of Mark
Renton and his friends, living through
the Edinburgh heroin scene of the
80s. Harry Gibson’s original stage
adaptation was instantly successful and
controversial and won the Sunday Times
Award for Best New Play.
For this 21st anniversary production,
In Your Face Theatre’s Scottish cast
have created a snappy and vibrant
affirmation of the power and humour
of the piece.
This is a no-holds-barred immersive, inyer-face theatre production: this is your
ticket to a ride you won’t soon forget.
‘A big fat hit. Just don’t sit near
the toilet!’
NME
TUES 2-FRI 5 MAY, 7PM AND 8.45PM
James Seabright presents the King’s Head Theatre and
In Your Face Theatre production of
by Irvine Welsh
Adapted by Harry Gibson
Directed by Adam Spreadbury-Maher with Greg Esplin
Lighting by Clancy Flynn – Sound by Tom Lishman
£13 / Age 16+ / 75 minutes

Warning
THIS IMMERSIVE
PRODUCTION
CONTAINS NUDITY,
STRONG LANGUAGE,
SEX, VIOLENCE, DRUG/
NEEDLE USE, AND LOTS
OF MESS. MAY INDUCE
CLAUSTROPHOBIA.
‘Fresh, funny, grim and glorious.’

Londonist
‘I’m not sure ‘in your face’ covers
it. In your everything, really.’
The Times
‘The best way to experience
Trainspotting.’
Irvine Welsh
WEDS 24 MAY
THURS 25 - SAT 27 MAY
TUES 30 MAY
Wassail Theatre Company
8pm / £10 / Age 16+
90 minutes (including interval)
Please note this show will be performed
in the bar area.
A blind man walks into a bar and tells
anyone who’ll listen that he was once
the king of darts. He orders a pint and
settles down to recount the story of his
glorious rise to the top - and how dark
secrets brought him down.
Rex The King is the story of a Somerset
darts champion who ruled the world, but
lost it all – it’s a theatrical tale that’s
witty, uplifting and ludicrously tragic.
Expect blood and sweat, tears and
beers, not to mention plenty of songs
and silliness.
“Wassail are a
diamond formation”
The Piper Review
WEDS 31 MAY AND THURS 1 JUNE
Soap Soup Theatre
Idiot Child, in association with
Bristol Old Vic Ferment
8pm / £10 / Age 12+ / 75 minutes
What if how I feel about the world and
myself at 4am, what if that is the truth?
What if I get killed in an avalanche and
most people are slightly relieved that
they now don’t have to read my novel?
What if the only reason the plane is able
to stay in the sky is because I am thinking
really encouraging thoughts about the
wings? A playful and unusual tale of
fear, anxiety, and the idiosyncratic and
frankly absurd strategies we employ to
manage our sense of impending doom.
Join the residents of Fear Camp as they
tackle their manifold neuroses with gleeful
enthusiasm and complimentary
in-flight drinks and snacks. A tender
and giddily-told story about
feelings we all recognise.
“Laugh out
loud funny, but also
shockingly sad.”
The Guardian
11am / £7/ £25 family ticket for 4
Lost Dog
Age 3+ / 50 minutes
7.30pm / £10 / Age 14+
While out picking whortleberries with
Grandmother, Dicky Bundle finds a
treasure that opens the door to a
beautiful, fragile world. It is the world
of The Wee Folk. But the moor hears
Dicky listening, and watches Dicky
looking, and tells the Pixies, who don’t
want to share their precious secrets with
a human child. Soon Dicky must strike
a deal with the Queen of the Pixies,
or lose the magical scarf forever. With
deliciously visual story telling, Soap
Soup combines beautiful puppetry,
charmingly funny characters and
magical music, offering audiences
their most unforgettable
adventure yet!
75 minutes
A one man staging of Milton’s epic
Paradise Lost and not like whatever
came into your head when you read the
first bit of that sentence. Combining
theatre, comedy and movement this
is a journey through the story of the
creation of everything condensed into
75 minutes. A show for anyone who has
created anything (child, garden, paper aeroplane) and then watched it
spiral out of control.
“The comedy is
divine, but the images
of love and loss are
achingly human” 
The Independent
“A tender and enchanting
children’s story, featuring a
host of loveable characters.”
The Reviews Hub
SUN 4 JUNE
2pm / £7/£25 family ticket for 4
TUES 20, MON 26, TUES 27 JUNE
Age 3+ / 45 minutes
Kid Carpet
The FTR
Kid Carpet performs songs from his
hit family theatre shows and other
Kid Carpet classics whilst inviting his
audience to play ping pong, catch a lost
sandwich in space and take part in a
grand dance contest. Kid Carpet will
teach you how to rock out at a rock show, fly like a golden eagle or do a little poo in the forest.
“Children aged
from 3 to 93 loved it”
Primary Times
WEDS 14, THURS 15 JUNE
Vic Llewellyn and Kid Carpet
7.30pm / £10 / Age 12+
An emotional and hard rocking journey
into the hearts and souls that exist
on the outer limits of creativity and
building regulations.
Vic Llewellyn and Kid Carpet re-imagine
these stories and tell them with visceral
live music, dancing, projection, heartfelt
storytelling and chewed
bread sculptures.
Living Spit
7.30pm / £10 / Age 10+
90 minutes (including interval)
Barry Hare, Wrington running champ.
Fit, popular and, above all, fast. Toby
‘Tortoise’ Gollop, eater of doughnuts.
Look up ‘relaxed’ in the dictionary
and you’ll see his picture.
Two very different men. One running club,
and the race to end all races. Told entirely in
rhyme and song, this promises to be an epic
tale of romance, redemption and rural running
rivalry that will leave you breathless.
“Tessa Bide understands
children in a way that can’t
be taught”
Children's Theatre
Review
Exeunt Magazine
Tessa Bide
2pm / £7/£25 family ticket for 4 / Age 4-11
45 minutes
Did you know that Astronauts get taller in space?
That our solar system is around 4.6 billion years old?
Or that there are more stars in the universe than
grains of sand on all of the beaches on Earth? Amira
knows all of these things. One night her Mother tells
her they must leave their hometown to find a safe
space. So begins an adventure.
60 minutes
“It’s shonky,
disjointed, random
pieces bolted together,
rough and ready – but it’s
beautiful.”
‘World-class actors at the
top of their game”
The imagined voyage into space is paralleled
with Amira’s real-life journey as a refugee across
continents, in this non-verbal show packed with
music, movement and discovery.
SUN 2 JULY
“A much loved staple of the
of the al-fresco theatre scene.”
On Location
The Independent
SAT 15 JULY
Illyria
MON 28 AUGUST
3.30pm and 7pm
£13/£9/£38 family of 4/£45 family of 5
by Hans Christian Andersen
Age 5+
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
1 hour 40 mins (including interval)
Illyria
Please note this production is performed indoors.
3pm / £13/£9/£38 family of 4/£45 family of 5
Based on the timeless Hans Christian
Andersen story, Illyria first performed
this show in 2000 when it was Critic’s
choice at the Edinburgh Fringe festival
and attracted multiple 5-star reviews on
a sellout UK tour.
he Emperor is a lovely man, but
T
he’s not the best judge of character.
What keeps him sane is the monthly
Grand Parade at which he wears his
newest outfit. When two swindlers
spin a yarn and everyone is taken in,
what price will he have to pay? Will
he end up losing his crown jewels?
All will be revealed in Illyria’s
cheekiest ever show!
[NB - there is NO nudity in the
production. Although one of the actors
may be a little chilly…]
All ages from 8+ / 1 hour 50 mins (including interval)
Four intrepid explorers travel to an uncharted plateau
in South America following a few scant directions
scribbled in a sketch book. They find
flora and fauna beyond their wildest dreams,
become involved in tribal warfare and
encounter terrifying dinosaurs previously
believed to be extinct.
But when their camera is destroyed in an
accident, what evidence can they produce
to prove that these creatures actually exist?
Unless, of course, they bring live specimens
back to London in “unbreakable” crates for
the big reveal to an astounded public.
What could possibly go wrong?
Prehistoric thrills, monster laughs and
LIFE-SIZE dinosaurs abound in the must-see
show of the summer!
Venue
NOTE THIS PRODUCTION
TAKES PLACE OUTSIDE IN THE
WILDS OF WESTON TOWN
QUARRY, BS23 2LU, AND
TICKETS ARE ONLY
AVAILABLE FROM
ILLYRIA.UK.COM,
OR ON THE DOOR
SUBJECT TO
AVAILABILITY
MON 18-WEDS 20 SEPTEMBER
FRI 22 SEPTEMBER
“Cool
poems.”
Patti
Smith
FRI 29 SEPTEMBER AT 8.30PM
SAT 30 SEPTEMBER AT 3PM
SAT 30 SEPTEMBER AT 8PM
Luke Wright
Living Spit
7.30pm / £12 / Age 11+
1 hour 40 minutes (including interval)
8pm / £10 / Age 14+
60 minutes
After the Fringe First winning success
of What I Learned From Johnny
Bevan, Luke Wright is back to subject
the English language to a series of
degrading new tricks, all for your
amusement.
Featuring a selection of poems from
The Toll (Penned in the Margins, 2017)
this show tours the flat-roofed pubs
and half-bought couches of Brexit
Britain. It struggles with doubt, duty
and a score of half-cut nights spent
shouting impotently at Question Time.
Howard Coggins looks like Henry VIII.
There’s no escaping that. Stu Mcloughlin
doesn’t really look like any of the wives,
but he’s going to give it a go.
After their previous self-funded twoman historical drama is savaged in
the press, Howard and Stu are at
their wits’ end. Then they hit upon
an idea for a show that could change
everything…
Living Spit’s original hit show is back
by popular demand. Join the throngs
who have already succumbed to this
confection of live music, embroidery
and barbie dolls. You may just laugh
your head off.
Spend an evening with a raconteur at
the top of his game, as he spits out
inventive verse that sweats, bleeds
and sings.
“Visceral, poignant, and
riotously funny.”
The Scotsman
Southpaw Dance Company
All ages / £8 / 50 minutes
Party Time! Southpaw with
Dizzy o Dare, and assorted artists
Age 16+ / £15 / 8 ‘til late
Carousel tells a visually spectacular, viscerally enthralling tale of a fairground afterhours. A fully functioning merry-go-round, provides the centrepiece for an edgy
story of the enigmatic characters who inhabit the fairground. As the fair shuts down
for the night, its public face gives way to the exhilarating private celebrations and
personal tragedies of an intensely close-knit group of people.
This can be enjoyed as a standalone experience in the outside area of the
Tropicana, or as part of a wider party extravaganza full of circus thrills and spills,
live music and the triumphant spirit of fiesta.
Carousel is presented by The Coasters Touring Network and
is supported using public funding by the National Lottery
through Arts Council England
“Would I see this again?
A thousand times. A thousand
and one times. And still
never tire of it.”
LiveReview.co.uk
DAT E
SHOW
TIME
Box Office
11 March
Nzingabeth
7.30pm
9 April
Shackleton
2pm
27 April
We Are Bronte
7.30pm
30 April
Two Four Six Eight
2pm
2 May
Trainspotting
7pm & 8.45pm
3 May
Trainspotting
7pm & 8.45pm
4 May
Trainspotting
7pm & 8.45pm
5 May
Trainspotting
7pm & 8.45pm
24 May
Rex The King
8pm
Theatre Tropicana uses the
external box office facility
provided by Tobacco
Factory Theatres. To
book tickets for any show,
please call 0117 902 0344
(11am – 6.30pm Monday to
Saturday), or go online at
www.tropicanaweston.co.uk,
or www.theatreorchard.org.uk
25 May
What if the Plane Falls Out
of the Sky
8pm
26 May
What if the Plane Falls Out
of the Sky
8pm
27 May
What if the Plane Falls Out
of the Sky
8pm
30 May
Paradise Lost
(lies unopened beside me)
7.30pm
31 May
The Pixies’ Scarf
11am
1 June
The Pixies’ Scarf
11am
4 June
Super Mega Rockin Rock Show
2pm
14 June
The Castle Builder
7.30pm
15 June
The Castle Builder
7.30pm
20 June
Tortoise vs Hare
7.30pm
26 June
Tortoise vs Hare
7.30pm
27 June
Tortoise vs Hare
7.30pm
2 July
A Strange New Space
2pm
15 July
The Emperor’s New Clothes
3.30pm & 7pm
28 August
The Lost World
3pm
18 September
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
7.30pm
19 September
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
7.30pm
20 September
The Six Wives of Henry VIII
7.30pm
22 September
The Toll
8pm
29 September
Carousel
8.30pm
30 September
Carousel
3pm
30 September
Carousel Extravaganza
8pm
thetheatreorchard.org.uk
Advance tickets can also
be purchased in person
from the Tropicana’s Bay
Cafe at 10% discount.
(This offer is not valid on the
day of the show).
 tropicanaweston
 TropicanaWeston
 www.tropicanaweston.co.uk
 Marine Parade, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1BE