A brand-new piece of gig-theatre, Half Man Half Bull, will come to Birmingham Hippodrome this November.
Presented by Wright&Grainger, Oliver Tilney, James Simon, Kevin O’Driscoll and Oliver Award-Winning Molly Morris as part of REWRITES, Half Man Half Bull, comes to the Hippodrome’s Patrick Studio from Friday 14 – Sunday 16 November.
Half Man Half Bull tells two inextricably linked stories of hope and loss by reimagining the classic Greek myths of Theseus and The Minotaur and Daedalus and Icarus. This epic theatrical double-album, full of virtuosic spoken word and soaring live music is a story in two halves.
The piece of gig-theatre played at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last summer. An extended version is now being redeveloped via REWRITES, a partnership programme led by The Lowry, Birmingham Hippodrome, MAST Mayflower Studios and Norwich Theatre.
Launched by Lowry in 2017, REWRITES supports and promotes new musicals at the start of their journey to the stage. The programme puts shows in front of an audience for the first time via presentations including scratch nights, works-in-progress workshops and concerts. The showcase was expanded in 2024 to create a new touring platform for new musicals in development.
The hit West End musical Operation Mincemeat started out at a scratch event at The Lowry as part of REWRITES and other musicals featured previously include: No Miracles Here by The Letter Room, A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Sad) by Jon Brittain and Matthew Floyd Jones, A Mother’s Song by Finn Anderson and Tania Azevedo [now called Ballad Lines), Snowflake by Lewis Cornay and 2024’s Nell’s Place by Sheep Soup and Chosen by Taiyo Yoshida and Dominic Varney.
Matt Eames, Head of Theatres (Contemporary & Commissioning) at The Lowry, said: “As a group of regional organisations we recognise that it is an impossibly challenging period for artists and companies making new work at the moment and REWRITES continues to evolve to respond to what new musical productions need to develop and thrive in this environment. We all loved HALF MAN || Half Bull in Edinburgh last year and felt that the show would really benefit from the platform and support that REWRITES offers, as it continues to develop.”