Playwright to tour Norfolk and Suffolk with special production
"It's very much my story but I didn't feel ready to play the part myself when it was first staged," he said."The experiences I went through were too recent and too raw. But now the time seems right and I will be supported by a cast of four professional actors in telling a story that I know people will find uplifting."
'Overcome challenges'
The play - also available as a book - charts his recovery, exploring themes of hope and healing, and the transformative power of support from family, friends and the community."If there's one thing I would like audiences to take away from Matt is that it is possible to overcome seemingly impossible challenges with the help of others," said Dewar.He has received almost £17,000 in Arts Council funding to stage the production in theatres around the two counties, including Southwold Arts Centre and the Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft, Norwich Theatre Stage 2, and Sheringham Little Theatre.The play will also return to St George's Theatre, with shows taking place in October and November.
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BBC News
9 hours ago
- BBC News
Playwright to tour Norfolk and Suffolk with special production
A playwright will take his autobiographical stage play to audiences in Norfolk and Suffolk, thanks to funding from the Arts Dewar wrote and directed Matt, which premiered at the St George's Theatre in Great Yarmouth in story reflects Dewar's own battle with depression, anxiety and addiction to prescription painkillers - which saw him receiving weeks of treatment at Great Yarmouth's Northgate Hospital - and the resilience of those who supported him through it."I'm thrilled to be taking Matt to all these places," said Dewar, who also directed the play's premiere, and will play take the lead role in the touring production. "It's very much my story but I didn't feel ready to play the part myself when it was first staged," he said."The experiences I went through were too recent and too raw. But now the time seems right and I will be supported by a cast of four professional actors in telling a story that I know people will find uplifting." 'Overcome challenges' The play - also available as a book - charts his recovery, exploring themes of hope and healing, and the transformative power of support from family, friends and the community."If there's one thing I would like audiences to take away from Matt is that it is possible to overcome seemingly impossible challenges with the help of others," said has received almost £17,000 in Arts Council funding to stage the production in theatres around the two counties, including Southwold Arts Centre and the Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft, Norwich Theatre Stage 2, and Sheringham Little play will also return to St George's Theatre, with shows taking place in October and November. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
North Wales Chronicle
2 days ago
- North Wales Chronicle
75 arts projects across NI to benefit from £2m of funding
Seventy-five organisations have been given the funding totalling £2,114,195 from the Arts Council's National Lottery Project Funding, to support the development and creation of events through festivals, literature, drama, visual arts, music and community programming. Roisin McDonough, chief executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said: 'Today's National Lottery arts funding investment will have tremendous impact on rural and urban communities across Northern Ireland, with 75 awards made to a diverse range of arts organisations who will deliver exciting, innovative, high-quality, arts-based activities and events. 'Thanks to money raised for good causes, the last three decades of National Lottery funding has made an important contribution to the social, economic and cultural growth of Northern Ireland. 'This vital source of funding allows the Arts Council to support our core infrastructure of skilled arts organisations and also helps develop our creative individuals and artists, who in turn, deliver work across towns and cities all over Northern Ireland. 'We are making the arts more accessible to all.' The Arts Council said this year it had encouraged applications from rural areas and those which encouraged the involvement of under-represented artists and groups, such as minority ethnic communities, programmes which involved children and young people, older people, or people with disabilities. Eleven of the 74 organisations to be offered funding are new to the National Lottery project funding portfolio. Among the groups to benefit will be the North West Cultural Partnership which has been awarded £14,100 to support Songs of Life, a year-long creative programme led by New Gate Arts & Culture Centre, engaging older adults in Londonderry through songwriting, music-making, and performance. The project supports participants in transforming their life stories into original songs, guided by local artists Richard Laird, Eilidh Patterson, and Tracey McRory. Off the Rails Dance, established by artistic director Eileen McClory, will be awarded £25,000 to support the development of a new body of work and a Northern Ireland tour of GUTTER, the company's solo work. The Royal Ulster Academy of Arts has been awarded £9,000 to support the expansion of its educational programme, engaging post-primary schools and community groups with its annual show at the Ulster Museum and a permanent, portable historical timeline display will chronicle the RUA's 150-year history alongside global events which will be loaned to community groups and art spaces across Northern Ireland. Newry Chamber Music has been awarded £50,000 to support its main concert season in 2025-26, which will include seven programmes of music and a new piano festival. The Portico of Ards has been awarded £40,167 to deliver a year-long programme of 20 national and international music concerts and one choral workshop.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Telegraph
Jennifer Aniston: We mourned Matthew Perry before his death
Jennifer Aniston has said the Friends cast felt as if they had been mourning co-star Matthew Perry 'for a long time' before his death. The Golden Globe-winning actress, 56, starred alongside Perry in the popular US sitcom for 10 years from 1994 to 2004. Speaking about Perry's long-term battle with addiction, which he famously struggled with throughout his role as the sarcastic Chandler Bing, Aniston said: 'We did everything we could when we could. 'But it almost felt like we'd been mourning Matthew for a long time because his battle with that disease was a really hard one for him to fight.' Perry died in 2023 aged 54 from the acute effects of ketamine and other factors that caused him to lose consciousness and drown in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home. He had written about his battles with addiction the year before in his bestselling memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing. 'I have mostly been sober since 2001, save for about 60 or 70 little mishaps,' he wrote. Speaking about the death of her former close friend and co-star, Aniston told Vanity Fair: 'As hard as it was for all of us and for the fans, there's a part of me that thinks this is better. I'm glad that he's out of pain.' She had previously spoken about her fear of losing him to his addiction in a broadcast interview with Diane Sawyer. The actress became emotional when discussing it, adding: ' We weren't equipped to deal with it …the idea of even losing him…he's having a road, but he's all right.' In 2018, Perry suffered a burst colon after overdosing on opioids and underwent multiple surgeries. Aniston previously paid a touching tribute to the actor, saying that his life 'literally depended on' making people laugh. She played Rachel Green in the hit US sitcom Friends which also starred Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc. Discussing its impact on her career with the US magazine, she said: 'What helped raise me is something I got to put into the world and help other people. 'If [Friends] was the only thing on my resume, I would be very happy and blessed.' Elsewhere, the actress also spoke about her star turn as famous news presenter Alex Levy on The Morning Show, which is returning to Apple TV in September for a fourth season. Her love interest in the show is a rocket-building billionaire played by Jon Hamm. When asked if the character is loosely based on Elon Musk she disagreed, saying: 'I don't find him desirable in any way or shape.' She also spoke about the media frenzy she faced in the 2000 when her relationship with Brad Pitt, 61, hit the headlines, particularly during their divorce in 2005. Aniston said: 'It was such juicy reading for people. If they didn't have their soap operas they had their tabloids. 'It's a shame that it had to happen, but it happened. And boy did I take it personally.' She added: 'I didn't have a strong enough constitution to not get affected by it. We're human beings, even though some people don't want to believe we are. 'They think, 'You signed up for it, so you take it'. But we really didn't sign up for that.' The actress also revealed that she swaps stories about Pitt with his ex-fiancee Gwyneth Paltrow, 52, saying: 'Of course, how could we not? We're girls.' The full interview appears in Vanity Fair's September issue.
