ARTS DIARY

New production from Utopia:

Sheffield-based African theatre company Utopia Theatre has announced its biggest production to date at the Crucible, bringing the powerful story of Death and The King’s Horseman by Akinwale Oluwole Soyinka to the steel city for the first time. The show is set to be staged from February 3-8 next year, with a 20-strong cast. It will feature dance and music and capture the spirituality of Yoruba people. Sheffield Theatres and Utopia Theatre have worked together for more than a decade, and this milestone underpins Utopia’s NPO status with Arts Council England. “It's a real privilege to be the first theatre company to bring this renowned and respected story to Sheffield Theatres,” says Mojisola Kareem, CEO and artistic director of Utopia Theatre..”

Beverley Puppet Festival: The festival returns this summer, bringing an impressive line-up of UK and international shows to East Yorkshire over the weekend of July 12-14. “Beverley Puppet Festival is a genuinely vibrant and colourful festival for all ages,” says Kerrin Tatman, co-artistic director. “This is our 11th festival and we are determined to keep it growing and growing, providing a unique weekend of puppet shows, workshops and spectacle for everyone to enjoy. We continue to be astonished and humbled by all the support the festival gets and the amazing feedback we receive from audiences. We've had some great festivals, but this year promises to be our biggest and best ever."

Short story competition:

Calibre Audio, the pioneering audiobook charity, this year celebrates 50 years of making books accessible to everyone. To mark the occasion, it has launched Inclusive Voices, a new short story competition aimed to raise print disability awareness and champion new creative voices. Entries to the competition (maximum 550 words) can be narrative or verse and can be submitted in written, video or audio form and must include a main character with a print disability. The deadline for submissions is 5pm on August 31. For details and to enter visit calibreaudio.org.uk/50th-anniversary/ inclusive-voices