Go and See: 'Beginning' at The Royal Exchange

Go and See: Beginning by David Eldridge at The Royal Exchange, Manchester

Ballot closes

Sunday 19 February, 2023 at 11pm

Go and See Trip

Saturday 4 March, 2023

What's the play about?

Beginning, by David Eldridge and directed by Bryony Shanahan is an intimate and beautiful comic play about risking it all and wearing your heart on your sleeve. Beginning was a smash hit when it premiered at the National Theatre in 2017.

“I feel like my whole life’s on the toss of a coin.”

The housewarming’s over. The place is a mess, but Laura doesn’t give a toss, not even about the fag burn on the carpet; she has other things on her mind. She’s 38, single, and has just bought a ‘fancy’ one-bedroom flat, but she’s sick of being sensible. Tonight though, she has a feeling in her bones. Then there’s Danny, whose ‘radar’ is out of battery, ketchup on his work shirt and a Peroni in his hand… just to calm his nerves.

In the post-party chaos, Laura and Danny slowly orbit each other – awkward moves, first dances, fish finger butties, embarrassing banter. Together they navigate infinite possibilities, and as night shifts into day, an unthinkable, impossible and life-changing opportunity becomes clear. Amongst the missteps and butterflies, there might just be…. a beginning?

Who is the trip for?

This Go and See trip is for any Bradford-based creative who would like to connect with other local artists. If you’re craving a day out and fancy seeing new work that might inspire you – enter our ticket ballot now!

How to get a place on the trip

We know lots of artists will want to join us on our Go and See trips, so we have therefore decided that the fairest way to allocate tickets is through a ballot. The ticket ballot for this trip is now open and closes on Sunday 19 February, 2023 at 11pm.

We will inform entrants of their place on the trip by Wednesday 22 February, so please pencil the trip date in your diary on entering the ballot.

Ticket ballot timeline:

If you need to enter the ballot in another way, please email us at hello@bdproducinghub.co.uk

Trip itinerary

FAQs

What’s included?
Return train tickets to Manchester, museum entry, lunch and one theatre ticket to see Beginning.

What’s not included?
Snacks/drinks, gifts and souvenirs, or travel to Bradford Interchange (unless requested in your access requirements, see below)

Do I have to travel with the group?
Yes. This trip is organised so we can make connections and see the show together, and train tickets are pre-booked.

Access and travel costs

Ticket and travel costs from Bradford Interchange are automatically covered as part of our Go and See trips. However, we realise other costs may cause a barrier to you being able to attend – and we can help with that.

We have travel and access funds available to make these opportunities as accessible to as many people as possible. Please let us know what you need when entering the ballot – your requests won’t affect your chances of being selected to attend.

Things we can cover:

Access costs: additional costs you may have to enable you to attend; things like disability support, interpretation, or childcare.

Travel costs: if you have any other associated travel costs that you need assistance with, please let us know in your entry.

We do not means-test or ask you to prove that you need this financial support, but where possible we need to agree in advance on what costs we will cover, and you will need to provide receipts to claim costs back from us. Please only apply for these if you need to, as this will ensure we can provide funds to those who really need them.