NEWS: Watford Palace Theatre bring back socially distanced seating options for their Autumn / Winter season.

Watford Palace Theatre brings back socially distanced performance options as part of autumn/winter season.

This autumn and winter Watford Palace Theatre are to present a range of shows and events in a range of ways to offer cultural and entertainment opportunities for all audiences. Longer running shows, such as Dick Wittington and His Cat, will offer socially distanced performances during the run, which will see a reduction in auditorium capacity, with seating separated into blocks of up to 6 seats per party.

Watford Palace Theatre’s onstage programme starts with Tanika Gupta’s comedy Love ‘N Stuff (5 – 9 Oct), following Bindi and Mansoor as they negotiate marriage. As part of our annual Diwali celebration, Pagrav Dance Company will present an exquisite & uplifting contemporary dance-theatre, rooted in Kathak traditions, and choreographed by internationally renowned Urja Desai Thakore, whose choreography has been featured in the BBC programme, Young Dancer

Streamed productions to enjoy at home include Going the Distance (4-17 Oct) a comic play about a community drama group trying to save their local theatre, and drag king video series in the run up to the Glasgow’s climate conference Alan & Ron Go To COP26* (1-28 Oct).

Working with Watford African Caribbean Association (WACAS), the venue will mark Black History Month with a screening of the film I Am Not Your Negro, with a discussion afterwards, on the 16^th October, followed a few days later by a double bill from the multi award winning Ballet Black (21 Oct).

As the nights draw in and Halloween looms, audiences looking for a little something spooky can enjoy One Man Poe (1 -2 Oct) featuring four of the most terrifying examples of gothic literature; or Dracula (2 – 6 Nov) a radical new version of the classic vampire story set in the 1960s.

And, to lighten the mood, stand-up comedy with Luisa Omielan’s God Is A Woman (15 Oct) and Iain Stirling (Task Master, Love Island) presenting his new show Failing Upwards (13 Nov).

We will also be celebrating 21 years of associate company Rifco, who continue to amplify the stories of British South Asian people as they return to the stage for the first time in two years.

Meanwhile the theatre continues to nurture and promote local freelance creatives under the title Home Grown Talent.

Artistic Director Brigid Larmour said “We’re excited to welcome our audiences back into our beautiful theatre!  We’ve got a brilliant mix of live and digital events in our autumn season, and we’re offering special socially distanced performance options for customers who might be feeling a little more hesitant about returning to us.”

Watford Palace Theatre inspires and entertains through inventive, ambitious and inclusive drama, new plays, musicals, dance and family shows; free outdoor festivals; diverse stand-up; and a much-loved traditional pantomime. It reflects its diverse communities, and fully represents women, both onstage and behind the scenes, whilst celebrating and developing creativity and skill in the community and with young people. The theatre’s locally produced shows and home-grown talent have toured nationally and internationally, been seen on BBC iPlayer, won awards and transferred to the West End.  Recent productions include Jan Ravens in Talking Heads; an all-female Gaslight; the UK’s first African-American Glass Menagerie; and Ayckbourn’s Absurd Person Singular.  World premieres include musicals Miss Meena & the Masala Queens and I Capture the Castle, and plays good dog by Arinze Kene, Poppy+George by Diane Samuels, Coming Up by Neil d’Souza, Jefferson’s Garden by Timberlake Wertenbaker, and Jumpers for Goalposts by Tom Wells, Central to WPT’s vision is Resident Partner  Rifco Theatre Company.

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