12 JAN 2013.  Well, we certainly can’t be accused of failing to plan.

Already, the REP has a list of plans for 2013, as we aim to really stamp our presence in the city of Sunderland and beyond.  Our opening production for this year – the first in a series of rehearsed readings – is already well underway, and will take place on 31st January.  Go here for more details.

Then in February we are planning a fantastic event for Valentine’s Night, which will take place in a popular restaurant in the heart of the city.  We’re currently finalising the details for that, so keep an eye on this site for more details as they emerge.

Comedy is high on the list of priorities for us here at the REP.  As well as continuing to write and produce our unique style of radio comedies, we will be putting on a comedy sketch night (heavily influenced by Python, no doubt!) some time towards the end of February/early March. We are hoping to work closely with a local charity, and all the profits from the night will be donated to them.

Continuing with the comedy theme, our good friends at Mackem Laugh have worked like trojans over the past year to build up an incredibly successful comedy club here in the city.  In July this year they will be hosting Sunderland’s first ever Comedy Fringe Festival, and Sunderland REP plan to be a part of that fantastic event.  We will certainly be mounting a production to put on as part of the festival (probably a ramshackle bunch of half-written sketches and badly composed songs with rude lyrics!), as well as helping where we can on the organising side of things.

We also plan to stage some serious plays this year.  In June, we’ll be presenting a new piece about Emily Davison, the suffragette who was killed after stepping out in front of King George’s horse as it ran the Derby, and November will see us mount a new work surrounding the subject of the JFK assassination.  We’ve also had the recent privilege of reading a fantastic script by local writer and director Kayleigh Oliver about the 1883 Victoria Hall disaster, and we’re hoping to work with her this year to produce it somewhere in the city.

So plenty of plans already – and that’s only the ones we’ve started working on…

We’re very excited to have had a meeting yesterday with Chris Alexander, the head of events at Sunderland City Council.  Chris is a highly driven man, a real advocate for Sunderland and passionate about its potential.  2013 sees Sunderland celebrating 21 years as a city, and there will be a whole host of exciting, innovative and truly inspirational events happening citywide throughout the year.  Take a look at the Sunderland Live listings page – and keep checking it because it will no doubt be added to.

It was an interesting meeting, where much was discussed and agreed upon. We here at the REP liked the sound of a lot of what Chris told us (you may already have seen on his twitter feed that there’s a possibility of a screening of the ’73 FA Cup – and that’s just for starters!) and we’re looking forward to being involved in what we think will prove to be a special year of celebrations!

2012 may have been Britain’s year of celebration.  2013 should most certainly be Sunderland’s Year – and the REP plan to be right there in the midst of the celebrations.