The Grinning Man to be streamed as part of Bristol Old Vic’s first At Home season

Bristol Old Vic’s critically-acclaimed The Grinning Man is one of five productions to be streamed live on YouTube as part of the Bristol Arts Channel launched to bring the arts to stay-at-home audiences during lockdown.

Directed by the theatre’s Tony Award-winning artistic director Tom Morris (War Horse) and based on the Victor Hugo novel The Man Who Laughs, the gothic love story which premiered at the Bristol Old Vic in late 2016 before playing a successful season in the West End, will be available from 26 June until 3 July 2020.

Written by Kneehigh Theatre company’s writer Carl Grose and with a score by Tim Phillips and Marc Teitler, the revised production reunited director Morris with two puppeteers from the original War Horse, Finn Caldwell and Toby Olié (from puppetry company Gyre & Gimble).

Part of the Bristol Old Vic’s At Home initiative which was launched by the theatre last month, the season on the Bristol Arts Channel will begin on 29 May with the week-long release of the cinematic capture of the Bristol Old Vic’s acclaimed 2017 production of Handel’s The Messiah which was also directed by Morris.

The following Friday (5 June) Bristol Old Vic will co-present the Olivier Award-winning Old Vic production of A Monster Calls created in association with Bristol Old Vic, Jonathan Church Productions and Global Creatures. The remaining two titles selected for the season will be announced on 29 May.

All performances will feature additional material aimed at making the viewing experience as close as possible to the experience of visiting the theatre.

Announcing the season Morris said: “Watching theatre on your screen at home is not the same as experiencing a play in a beautiful auditorium with hundreds of others. That is why our ambition for this pilot season is not only to make some of Bristol’s most-loved plays accessible to a wider audience, but also to give people a little taste of the magic they may experience when they step into our theatre on King Street, from arriving at the bar to taking your seat as the lights go down. It’s that transformational feeling of surprise and delight that we want to share and celebrate.”

The Bristol Arts Channel has been created to bring together venues and artists from across the city’s vibrant arts community to create online programming during May and June.

Founding partners include Bristol Old Vic, Watershed, Colston Hall, St Pauls Carnival, Trinity, Spike Island, St George’s Bristol, MAYK, Arnolfini, Paraorchestra & Friends and Bristol Museums with support from Bristol & Bath Creative R&D and The Space.

Curated by Bristol’s cultural organisations, the programme will include streamed performances, both live and archived as well as interactive events, carnivalesque experiments, online galleries and mini-festivals.

Angela Thomas