Tread the boards of One Night in November

10/10/2013

Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre is giving audience members the chance to own a keepsake from its Coventry Blitz play One Night in November by sponsoring one of the many pairs of shoes that feature in one of the most poignant scenes in the play.

Towards the end of One Night in November numerous pairs of shoes are laid out on stage by the cast in memory of those people who sadly lost their life during the Coventry Blitz. The Belgrade is giving people the chance to sponsor a pair of these shoes for £5, in return for a picture of the shoes, personalised with a name or short message. This image will also be displayed on a plasma screen in the theatre foyer during the run of the show.

The company in One Night in November at Belgrade Theatre - credit Robert Day

The Belgrade Theatre is a registered charity (No 219163) and all the money raised and earned by the theatre is not distributed as profit but kept and reinvested in its productions and community work. As such, all funds raised from sponsoring the shoes will go towards the cost of staging One Night in November, which includes building the set, making the costumes and the special effects and pyrotechnics that help recreate the aerial bomb attack the city suffered that night.

David Jane, the Belgrade’s Development Director said, “The Belgrade is committed to telling the stories of Coventry and plays like One Night in November, Too Much Pressure, which portrayed the decline of the city’s motor industry, FA Cup play We Love You City, help to ensure that these moments in our history are not forgotten. By sponsoring a pair of shoes for One Night in November, audiences can help to ensure that we are able to continue staging these productions.”

Currently running at the Belgrade until 19 Oct, One Night in November was first staged in the Belgrade’s B2 auditorium as part of the theatre’s reopening season in 2008. The production received an overwhelming response from audiences and critics alike, resulting in it being restaged later that year for another sell out run. 2010 saw the production move to the Main Stage to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Coventry Blitz.

This latest production sees the show return to the Main Stage with a brand new stage set and an all new cast of actors, including Charlotte Ritchie who stars alongside Jack Whitehall in Channel 4’s BAFTA nominated student comedy Fresh Meat.

Directed by the Belgrade’s Artistic Director Hamish Glen, the play tells the story of Katie, a headstrong 18 year old training to be a teacher, who encounters Michael, an Oxford tutor of Romantic Literature and Language, while waiting for the ‘All Clear’ at a railway station.

It’s the beginning of what could be a straightforward love story. But nothing is straightforward in wartime. Unknown to Katie, Michael has been forced to turn his language skills to deciphering codes at Bletchley Park. Katie, who lives with her family in Coventry, has no idea how terrible the threat of war is. But Michael does…

To sponsor a pair of shoes visit www.belgrade.co.uk/shoesor call the Belgrade’s Development Office on 024 7684 6758.

Tickets for One Night in November are available now from the box office on 024 7655 3055 priced from £16.25 to £31 or via www.belgrade.co.uk where cheaper tickets are available.