In a press statement, Herrin commented, "I am delighted to announce this season of shows, which are about what it is like to be alive now with all its contradictions and in all its glory. Headlong is about making exhilarating work and getting it out around the country and around the world, so it is brilliant to find new ways to engage with our regional partners by co-commissioning and co-producing plays with increasing ambition. It is an honour to be able to build on the company's recent remarkable successes, and I couldn't be more excited about joining with audiences, funders, colleagues and partners on starting this journey." Headlong will initiate a three-year partnership with the West Yorkshire Playhouse by continuing its emerging director scheme there, co-producing a new version of Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening by Anya Reiss that wil be directed by Ben Kidd and is being co-produced with Southampton's Nuffield Theatre and will tour to U.K. venues from spring 2014. It will begin performances in Leeds March 7 prior to an official opening March 11, for a run through March 22, then visit Southampton, Cambridge, Richmond, Liverpool and Newcastle.
Also planned are productions of Duncan Macmillan's People, Place and Things, described as being a new play about recovery, that Herrin will direct; and Jack Thorne's Junkyard, being produced in partnership with Bristol Old Vic, which is set in a playground in Bristol's Lockleaze, a space built by one man for a generation outside society.
For further details, visit http://headlong.co.uk/.