Theatre Royal to re-open on May 17 - with a series of 'love letters' to life and art

And it is planning to do so in a way that will help local artists and performers who have been struggling to make ends meet during lockdown.

The theatre has put out a 'call-out' to local performers, writers, singers, dancers and digital artists to create a series of five-minute 'love letter' performances, which it will bring together in a show called Love Bites.

The theatre aims to commission 20 Love Bites love letters altogether, each lasting up to five minutes.

They will be performed on the opening night of The Love Season - a season of plays based on the theme of love which will open the theatre once government restrictions are lifted on May 17.

After the opening night, the 'love letters' will then be presented across the following fortnight as a prelude to the theatre production playing each night - and performers and artists whose love letters are used will be offered a £1,000 commission plus £150 every time it is performed.

Poster for York Theatre Royal's post-pandemic opening season

The theatre's creative director Juliet Forster said the individual love letters could take many forms. "The love letter could be to a person, a place, an object, the city of York itself – or anything else," she said. "It could be a poem, a song, a piece of digital art, a dance piece - but should be able to be performed or shared both live and in digital form."

Chief Executive Tom Bird said the theatre deliberately wanted to re-open with a season that was upbeat - something that was celebratory after a year of pandemic. And it was also keen to help artists and performers who had struggled to make ends meet during the pandemic, he said.

"We can’t wait to welcome the people of York back to their wonderful theatre," he said.

“We’re ecstatic at the prospect of re-opening in May with the much-anticipated Love Season. After the challenges that the pandemic has brought for freelance artists, we’re particularly delighted to be able to commission 20 York artists to relaunch the theatre programme."

Ms Forster said artists who submitted ideas for 'love letters' would not necessarily need to perform them themselves. "If the artist doesn’t want to perform the piece themselves we will work with them on engaging an appropriate performer,” she said.

Those interested in being commissioned are being asked to write a short proposal for what their love letter might be, and how it could be performed live and translated into digital form. They are also being asked to submit links to their website or previous work. Submissions should be emailed to commissions@yorktheatreroyal.co.uk by 22 March 2021.

Details of how to apply are on the theatre website yorktheatreroyal.co.uk Full details of the rest of the theatre's 'Love Season' of plays and performances will be announced next month.