Circus Abyssinia and Buffy Revamped lead Woolwich Works' autumn season
Woolwich Works has announced an autumn programme led by Ethiopian Dreams, a new show from Circus Abyssinia, and Buffy Revamped, the award-winning solo comedy that races through all 144 episodes of the cult series in 70 minutes.
Woolwich Works has announced its autumn season, running from September into November at the Royal Arsenal venue. Two ticketed productions headline it: Ethiopian Dreams from Circus Abyssinia, and Buffy Revamped, Brendan Murphy's award-winning one-man show.
Ethiopian Dreams plays the Fireworks Factory on 7-8 November. Circus Abyssinia's international cast combine Ethiopian cultural traditions and live music with contortion, hand-vaulting, juggling, Chinese pole and aerial work. Tickets are £25, with a family ticket at £91.
Before that, Buffy Revamped arrives at the same space on 28 October. Created and performed by Brendan Murphy, it retells all 144 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 70 minutes from the perspective of Spike, with a heavy freight of 1990s pop-culture references. Tickets are £29, or £35 for premium cabaret seating.
September brings two pieces of work still in development. The Passenger (19 September) is a free work-in-progress showing of the follow-up to From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads, mixing storytelling, character, physical theatre and music in a journey through Los Angeles that takes in the Chateau Marmont. Six days later, BrainFools present Circus Scratch Night (25 September) in the Ropekeepers Studio, where contemporary circus artists test new material in front of an audience and take live feedback. Tickets are £13.50, or £9.50 concessions.
The cabaret strand belongs to Hundred Watt Club (3 October), one of the longest-running burlesque revues in the country, making its Woolwich debut with an evening of burlesque, vaudeville, comedy and song.
"That sense of discovery runs through the whole season," said Nick Williams, director of Woolwich Works. "Over the following weeks audiences can experience extraordinary Ethiopian circus, step into the world of burlesque, hear new voices in spoken word or see circus artists testing brand-new ideas. We want Woolwich Works to be somewhere people come for the things they already love, but also somewhere they can take a chance on something unexpected."
Around the performance programme sit a number of free and community events: Woolwich Carnival on 12 September, a Heritage Open Day on 20 September opening the venue's Grade II and II* listed buildings, the MixTape Poetry Festival on 26 September, and Make Joy, a day of yarn and craft, on 7 November. The season also includes the venue's first Big Beer Fest on 19 September, with 24 beers on tap, six guest breweries, street food and a quiz.