FAMILY is the focus of the new season programme at Proteus Creation Space.

Titled We Are Family, the autumn season at Proteus includes performances about families and others made for families.

Friends of Proteus gathered at the space in Council Road to find out more about what’s on over the next few months, enjoying fizz and canapes whilst hearing about some of the entertainment on offer.

Director Mary Swan welcomed guests and showed teasers for some of the performances coming up, including Prison Factory Cult Circus – the unbelievable true story of an upbringing that led Lucy Gamsby-Frost to master the most dangerous old-school circus skills.

Audiences are set to be thrilled watching a close-up experience of knife throwing, lasso and walking on broken glass when the performance is shown on September 26.

Proteus is also welcoming back regular Umar Butt, who last appeared at the theatre’s production of Macbeth, returning with his own written and directed show, Alex and Eliza on October 16.

Mary said: “Another true story, this show follows the extraordinary experiences of Umar’s own grandparents in an epic, sweeping tale of love and loss set against a backdrop of the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan.”

There is plenty of entertainment aimed at children planned for the autumn, including resident artists Scratch Built presenting A Christmas Knight; a tale of jousting and dragons, full of beautifully created puppets on November 29 and 30.

The popular Halloween Fun Day will return in the half term holidays on October 31, but the highlight for little ones will be the return of the interactive, sensory experience for pre-school children – Father Christmas’s Christmas Workshop in December.

Promising to be magical, the event will see the Creation Space transformed into a walkthrough adventure where children are encouraged to explore, play, create and interact with the enchanting surroundings and colourful characters that they meet along the way.

Proteus has also planned several informal events, when the café will come alive for evening entertainment ranging from quizzes to balloon modelling, with cocktails served as part of the late-night fun.

Mary said the Creation Space offers affordable entertainment, particularly for those under five, adding: “We know that there’s very little for under-fives. I have kids and I can appreciate how expensive it is to take them to the theatre not knowing if they are going to sit still or if they will want to go. Pantos are too big and noisy so we want to cater for the under-fives.”

For more information visit proteustheatre.com/whats-on.