Last year, we were devastated by the news that NST Theatres had gone into administration and the theatres looked set to close permanently. However, back in September, it was confirmed that The Mayflower Theatre Trust had been successful in their bid to take over the City theatre, and today MAST Mayflower Studios is finally opening.
The first performances taking place at Southampton’s newest cultural hub are by RAMBERT2, a dance troupe with influences of hip hop, jazz, African dance and classical ballet. They performed last night (28th May) at 7:00 pm, and have two further performances today (2:30 pm and 7:00 pm). Tickets are still available – you can find out more information here.
There are several more exciting performances over the coming months, spanning comedy, theatre, music and more. From June 2nd-5th, Rhum and Clay’s acclaimed production of War of the Worlds is coming to MAST: “We like to take source material and deconstruct it. We thought this wonderful sci-fi yarn, along with the extraordinary reaction to Welles’ radio broadcast, was a fascinating combination to use as an illustration of early fake news and we wanted to put our own spin on that,” Co-Artistic Director of Rhum and Clay Matt Wells explains.
On 26th June, Russell Kane will be bringing his stand-up comedy show to MAST, while Mock The Week regular Rhys James will be taking to the stage on 25th July as part of his first national tour.
Ralph Fiennes directs and stars in a world premiere adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets from 12th-17th July, and the following week Stephen Tompkinson and Jessica Johnson are set to star in Educating Rita, which will be at MAST from 20th-24th July.
After over a year of its absence, it’s amazing to see the return of live theatre, and even better to see that Southampton’s theatre scene is going from strength to strength with a brand new venue.
For more information on MAST Mayflower Studios, and to see a full list of upcoming shows, head to their website.
