Winter:

• The first major co-production between the Royal Exchange Theatre and Graeae Theatre Company, The House of Bernarda Alba, presented an all-female cast in a fully accessible production of Lorca’s final play.

  Graeae’s words: “Bernarda’s husband is dead. Now she alone rules her household and the lives of her five daughters. A period of eight years’ mourning will be observed without contact with the outside world and the men who might bring them ruin. That is except for Angustias, whose inheritance has attracted a wealthy local suitor. As the wedding approaches, Bernarda struggles to retain her suffocating grip on the family and on these women whose appetite for defiance is growing.”

  Reviewer’s words: “I found that the signing and the captions enhanced the play, making it easier to follow…. Jenny Sealey directs with dexterity, interweaving all the demands of this production into something special.” – Ann Treneman, The Times, 9th February 2017.

Summer:

• Graeae presents Cosmic Scallies by Jackie Hagan and directed by Amit Sharma. This was another Royal Exchange Theatre co-production, the show would tour with a stint at Edinburgh Fringe.

  Graeae’s words: “Shaun and Dent grew up best friends on a council estate in Skelmersdale – a new town built on a utopian dream but now an abandoned reality. Dent tried to leave Skem, full of ambition, but ten years later she’s back. All she wants to do now is hide away and watch daytime TV – but then Shaun arrives…”

Autumn:

• Reasons to be Cheerful returned in a new production with strategic touring funding from Arts Council England. The cast included a combination of original cast members and new actors and musicians. An additional protest song that was created for the show by Blockheads, Chaz Jankel and Derek Hussey with John Kelly entitled If It Can’t Be Right Then It Must Be Wrong.

December- January 2018:

• Graeae presents Midwich Cuckoos for BBC Radio 4, a new dramatisation of John Wynham’s 1950s sci fi classic.