- February 2008
"Malcolm Scrawdyke. On behalf of the party, on behalf of the nation, I address you. You are the fount of our wisdom, you are the source of our strength, you are our bastion against eunurchy. Dynamic Erection is the future!"
"Little Malcolm and his Struggle Against the Eunuchs," follows expelled art student Malcolm Scrawdyke as he persuades his fellow students to join him in forming, The Party of Dynamic Erection. To Malcolm, the real reason for his failure at art school is that society is run by 'eunuchs' who stifle true geniuses like himself. With his friends Irwin, Wick and Nipple, he plots to conquer the world and enjoy 'power for power's sake.'
- January–February 2008
A minor masterpiece from Tennessee Williams' lesser known explorations into the theatre of the 'Outrageous'; featuring a giant pelican, a drunken fisherman, a Hollywood Indian, two stoned female clowns and a tragic ex-Vaudevillian soubrette, accompanied with a Chaplinesque set and an on-stage gypsy-klezmer band, THE GNADIGES FRAULEIN (The Gracious Maid) will be an unprecedented theatrical experience at the ADC theatre.
Written in the 1960's, during his self-professed 'stoned age', Tennessee Williams found himself spurned by critics for not producing another Glass Menagerie or Streetcar; the original Broadway production closed after only six days of performance. But this was more of a sign of Williams' transgressive talent than failed artistry; in his own words it was "a grotesque comedy that was incomprehensible to people" but "everyone has the tears that are expressed in this play". This is not, as narrow-minded critics have claimed, a second rate attempt at the theatre of the absurd but a logical climax of themes and emotions that are central to Williams' theatre: tragedy, comedy, black humour, pathos, the grotesque, melodrama and an underlying spirit of endurance pitted against the unrelenting cruelty of the world.
The play is set in Cocaloony Key, a non-realistic evocation of the Southern Florida Keys in which giant birds that resemble Pelicans (Cocaloonies) ominously co-inhabit with their human counterparts. In order to pay her rent for the local boarding house, run by a cruel and clownish landlady, Molly, the 'Fraulein' has to submit herself to a savage, daily contest with the Cocaloonies to catch fish from the harbour. As the two unsympathetic clowns watch her clockwork battle with the birds they wonder if she has "guts enough to fight the good fight or will she retire from the fish-docks like she did from show business?"
It is at once deeply tragic and profoundly comic. This production will be infused with a faithful spirit of play, spectacle, sensitivity and, most importantly, a commitment to entertain, move and disturb its audience.
- November–December 2007
Attempts to describe her? Attempts to destroy her? Or attempts to destroy herself?
Seven nameless figures. One hour. One red bag. One ashtray. One hotel. One protagonist, missing.
In 1997, Martin Crimp’s controversial scenarios for the theatre revolutionised British playwriting, challenging audiences and defying critics. The seventeen ‘attempts’ are the search for the perfect story, and the action runs the gamut of modern life – from terrorism to pornography to gap years and smoking in the blink of an eye. Our protagonist is the ultimate enigma, and the possibilities are endless.
More relevant than ever to the world and our attempts to explain it, this daring and emotionally charged production of a modern classic will leave you speechless.
Ten years on, Attempts on her Life is back with a bang.
- November 2007
Once Upon a Time… there was an ADC/Footlights Pantomime.
You want traditional? This is traditional. The panto is back, and back to basics.
In a land where bulbous beanstalks grow, dark forests lurk, and the monarchy teeters on the edge of survival, get ready to see your favourite characters as you’ve never seen them before. From the three little pigs to the Fairy Godmother, and a big, bad pantomime wolf. Prepare to boo and hiss as you encounter the wicked Stepmother and cheer as Prince Charming tries to save the day.
The biggest and boldest show of the theatrical calendar, this year's pantomime features a script by Footlights regular Alex Clatworthy and Footlights Harry Porter Prize winner Rory Mullarkey, a catchy-as-hell original score by Harry Winstanley and performances from Cambridge's top comic actors. Once Upon A Time… is guaranteed to be fantastic fairy-tale fun for all the family. Oh, yes it is!
- November 2007
"Out there, where the sky shines, humans say: 'To thyself be true'. In here, trolls say: 'Be true to yourself - ish.'"
Caught in a place between reality and fantasy, Peer Gynt is searching for his identity- what is that? Who is he? What can he trust to tell him? Peer begins his quest through a landscape of time, place and mind. At times tragic, comic and fantastic, Ibsen fashions a world that is other to our own yet inextricably connected, a Borderland between here and now and other and elsewhere. Are we alone here? This imaginative and lively production creates the energy, bawdiness and innovation of Kenneth McLeish's National Theatre translation.
Book through the Cambridge Arts Theatre, St Edward's Passage on 01223 503333.
www.peer-gynt.co.uk
- November 2007
What exactly do we mean by charity? Delve into the dirty, underhand and political world of big business philanthropy where principals and ideals simply disappear. Churchill's unnerving dark humour and trademark wit coupled with the Fresher talent on display make this play this season's must see!
- November 2007
Crowds are gathering. The town is made ready. The Visit begins. The arrival in Güllen of Claire Zachanassian, billionaire and former resident of the town, sends ripples of excitement through the sleepy eastern European settlement. But after Zachanassian offers the townspeople the grant they so desperately need in return for settling her old scores, the veneer of civilised life is scraped off to reveal the darkness beneath. Alfred Ill must die. And his neighbours and friends must do it. It’s only a matter of time.
The inspiration for Lars Von Trier’s Palm d’Or winning ‘Dogville’, ‘The Visit’ has transfixed audiences around the world with its blend of broad humour and bleak drama.
The CU Amateur Dramatic Club's Freshers' mainshow: see the best of Cambridge’s new theatrical talent in this dark comedy.
- October–November 2007
Oli Robinson's fab new production of Roald Dahl's classic.
- October 2007
- October 2007
“To the future or to the past, to a time when thought is free, when men are different from one another and do not live alone – to a time when truth exists and what is done cannot be undone:
From the age of uniformity, from the age of solitude, from the age of Big Brother, from the age of doublethink – Greetings!”
Winston Smith opens his diary. He thinks the year is nineteen eighty-four, but he can’t be sure. In fact, in the totalitarian superstate of Oceania, one can’t be sure of anything anymore. Winston is propelled on a voyage through love and rebellion and finally into the hands of the dreaded Thought Police. He has committed the ultimate human crime; he has fallen in love.
In this exciting stage adaptation of George Orwell’s timeless novel, beauty and horror collide. Winston gradually remembers how to feel, but in doing so, he condemns himself to death. But in a world where love and sex are banned, where everything is written in pencil and can be erased in a second, in a world where two plus two no longer equal four, aren’t we dead already?
- October 2007
"All memories are false, yours in particular."
Three strangers enter a house. Sisters, in fact. One remembers a sunny childhood, another remembers abandon and rain. Shelagh Stephenson's award winning play, THE MEMORY OF WATER is a witty and brutal examination of our tendency to reappropriate the past. Follow six characters as they are forced to untangle the knotty skein of memories. Places and memories collide, stories are diluted, and obsessions recur. Amidst nervous laughter and haunting snapshots: does the past really matter?
- October 2007
www.aslanisonthemove.co.uk
'They say Aslan is on the move - perhaps he has already landed...'
Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy have been evacuated from London during the Blitz to a big old house in the country. While exploring, Lucy comes across a wardrobe through which she reaches the magical land of Narnia. She meets a faun who tells her of the cruel White Witch, who turns innocent creatures to stone and has cast a spell of perpetual winter over the land. When Lucy returns to Narnia with her brothers and sister, however, the faun has been captured by the White Witch. Teaming up with a couple of beavers, the children set off to rescue him and to find the great lion Aslan, with whose help they must set things right.
C.S. Lewis' classic tale of good and evil is brought vividly to life in Adrian Mitchell's thrilling adaptation, originally written for the RSC. Join us for what promises to be one of the most exciting productions at this year's Edinburgh festival!
- August 2007
A woman sits on the rubbish-strewn streets of a Dystopian London in which the sad, mad and lonely sift through lives entangled in loss, violence and grief. A series of surreal scenes of uncanny familiarity follow and the question is not whether she will survive the rigours of homelessness, but whether she will find a forgiving father. A mother awakes from a terrible dream to face an even more terrible reality; a wanderer finds an abandoned pram in an urban wasteland, an affluent family sit at dinner, unaware of the dreadful prophesy which is writing itself on the wall of their house and two drug addicts await a meeting in which only one will leave alive.
The play originated in the concept of modernizing the apocryphal gospels of the bible, adapting them into modern settings and forging a new understanding of the role which religion has to play in our society. Thus, the play is formed by six scenarios, which resemble scenes from the Bible, whose fates are entwined, and endings often unpredictable.
- May 2007
Portia’s father has died leaving a bevy of suitors trying to solve the riddles on three caskets to win her hand * and her large fortune. Bassanio must raise a sum to travel to Belmont and try his suit. His friend Antonio leverages his credit to secure money from the Jewish money lender Shylock for Bassanio’s quest. All seems to go well for Portia and Bassanio when Antonio’s ships miscarry and Shylock demands the collateral for his loan: a pound of Antonio’s flesh. On their wedding night, Bassanio flees to Venice to be at his friend’s side. Things look ill for Antonio when Portia arrives disguised as a Doctor of Laws (with her waiting woman Narissa disguised as her Clerk) to save Antonio’s life and her marriage. After winning the case, Portia tests Bassanio’s commitment and he is found wanting.
- May 2007
“I’ve caught a cold. A germ. In my eyes. It was this morning. In my eyes. My eyes. Not that I had any difficulty in seeing you, no, no, it was not so much my sight, my sight is excellent – in winter I run about with nothing on but a pair of polo shorts – no, it was so much any deficiency in my sight as the airs between me and my object, the shades they make, the shapes they take, the quivering, the eternal quivering – please stop crying – nothing to do with heat-haze.”
Edward and Flora enjoy a happy country-side life. Goose for lunch, a garden flowering with clematis and convolvulus, and a plentiful supply of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Nothing could be more splendid. But who’s that shady figure lurking at the back gate? Is he really just a match seller? There’s a slight ache in Edward’s eye, niggling away at his very core, and nothing will make it go away until he’s found out…
- March 2007
http://www.forbiddenplanet.org.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/forbiddenplanetcambridge
‘Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Fire!’
5...4...3...2…1…BLAST OFF!!
Join us on board the mother ship ADC for a journey into deepest space. Robots, mad scientists, and aliens all welcome. BEWARE, our journey may be treacherous. There may be asteroid showers and there may be monsters but that’s just what we’ve come to expect from space travel these days.
What is set to be the theatrical highlight of the Lent term, Return to the Forbidden Planet is a joyous mix of fun. This is Shakespeare's forgotten rock and roll masterpiece. The Tempest as a 1950s B-movie, bursting with 60s and 70s pop numbers including classics such as ‘Good Vibrations,’ ‘Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Fire,’ ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll’ and ‘Born to be wild’ . There is something for everyone aged 2 to 200 - human, cyborg or robot…
VISIT OUR BLOG - Regular posts from productionland and from Outer Space
http://blog.myspace.com/forbiddenplanetcambridge
Education
Space Cadets on a Mission of Discovery to the Forbidden Planet!
Saturday Week 8&9 Fun workshops based on The Return to the Forbidden Planet and The Tempest will be run on Saturday mornings before the matinee performances of the show.
10-11am – discovery into space- exploring the key elements of the show, set, costume, make-up, lighting and sound throughout the theatre while touring the theatre at your own pace
11am -12 noon- workshop on stage for Primary age children including singing, dancing and movement based on the show
12 noon-1pm- workshop on stage for Secondary age children including singing, dancing and movement based work on the show
ADVANCED BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL – book your place by calling the theatre on 01223 300085 or going online to www.adctheatre.com
Education packs focused on inter-textual links between Return to the Forbidden Planet and The Tempest are available for Primary and Secondary age children. To request an education pack and/or a free practical workshop in your school alongside your school booking please contact Hazel Sheard at hjs38@cam.ac.uk
http://www.forbiddenplanet.org.uk/
- March 2007
In 1941, the fathers of quantum mechanics and, consequently, the atomic bomb, met in Copenhagen.
Niels Bohr and his wife, Margrethe, in Nazi-occupied Denmark, entertain their old friend and colleague Werner Heisenberg, who is heading the Nazi nuclear program.
Now they are "dead and gone", they attempt to piece together that fateful evening, to make history certain, and to work out exactly why that meeting ended the two scientists' friendship - the friendship that discovered quantum mechanics and put human subjectivity back at the centre of the universe – the friendship that raised the awful spectre of nuclear annihilation.
Humanity was "Preserved, just possibly, by that one short moment in Copenhagen. By some event that will never quite be located or defined. By that final core of uncertainty at the heart of things."
Michael Frayn’s enthralling drama portrays the human faces behind quantum theory and the development of the nuclear bomb. History, ethics and science fuse and ask: can anything ever be certain?
- February 2007
NEW WRITING!
The residents of Perdido believe the guagua will appear any minute to rescue them from the banality of their provincial existence. But this soon becomes a farce of confused clocks and helpless men. The only thing to materialize is the white heat of the afternoon. The village square becomes a fly infested inferno. The enthusiasm of morning is replaced by the afternoon fever of frustrated dreams. The plot thickens. Track of time is lost. How long have these people really been waiting? How long have they left to wait? And what happens if they wait that long? An irresistible tragicomedy of a single day and a whole lifetime.
- February 2007
"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, Where oxslip and nodding violet grows, There sleeps Titania sometime of the night, Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight…"
Lovers, fairies and the worst actors in Athens find themselves roaming an enchanted forest, “ill-met by moonlight” in Shakespeare’s most magical comedy. Between the Mechanicals’ hilarious rehearsals of Pyramus and Thisbee and the prima-donna antics of Bottom the Weaver, we see young lovers chase eachother through the trees and fairies dupe one another with spells and enchantments. Fusing the magic of Shakespeare with ballet and an original score, this production will leave you laughing, tingling, and wondering what’s lurking in the shadows...
- February 2007
A NEW PLAY by FOOTLIGHTS President Tom Sharpe.
After a string of successful comic ventures (FAUST, GROW UP, CIRCUS, OUR DARKER PURPOSE) it's time for something a little more worthy. Funny, sure, but not just funny.
A spirit makes mad old Peter find some imaginary people, seemingly just so they can be slaughtered. Despite protesting its pointlessness, he finds it hard to stop himself complying. Skewed versions of old friends and relatives are summoned, all proving to be highly troublesome house guests. Things get totally out of hand, but we don't know which bits are genuine memories from real life, which Peter has changed in his mind for comfort and which have changed, of their own accord, to become far worse.
http://www.hangonmrbugson.co.uk
- February 2007
www.the-seagull.com
Young girl lives on shore of lake since childhood like you. Loves the lake like the seagull. Is happy and free like the seagull. Then one day a man turns up, sees her, and mindlessly destroys her.
This production of The Seagull by Chekhov will provide all involved with an incredible and challenging acting experience. Working on a production of a classic text is by no means easy and the large cast who take part will be expected to treat the entire process professionally. Crimp's version sees the text wholly renovated; it is shorter, leaner and more angular stripping away all the creaky 19th century theatrical conventions, such as monologues and asides. It requires a real depth of understanding from all involved as to create an engaging and emotive piece of theatre. This pared-down version of Chekhov's first great play reveals the full force of its comedy and cruelty. The Seagull should never allow an audience to relax what should underlie the production is a fluttering neurosis and ill-supported hysteria. It shows the tragicomic anatomy of unrequited longing.
Chekhov's setting provides extreme provincial dullness and creates a sense of extreme isolation. Isolated from culture, an alternative is never realised. The characters have no escape and are therefore pressed back on themselves and each other. The overall design of the production will reflect Chekhov's relationship with Beckett � restricted circumstances for the artistic purpose of confinement. The stark emptiness of the world will rely on fascinating the characters bringing the production to life. Out of the stillness, the environment of nothing, the characters create something; ideas, the artist, love they talk.
- December 2006
Dodgy deals with devils and dames.
The big fat Footlights pantomime is back: and this year it's going to be Hot as Hell.
What are your deepest desires? What are your wildest dreams? What are they worth? Three Wham bars? ALL your pogs? How about your EVERLASTING SOUL?
Come join us on the Faust-track to the Underworld and barter with temptress Mrs Topheles, fall in love with history's hottest tottie Helen of Troy, and quake before Satan himself.
It's big (it's massive) and it's clever (it's pretty clever), but above all FAUST will be full of thigh-slapping hell-arity for all the family.
Book now before it sells out. Come on, everyone: Go to Hell.
EXTRA PERFORMANCE ADDED THURSDAY 2.30pm !!
www.faustthepanto.com
- November 2006
‘Morning Glory’ merges the visuals of black-light theatre with the macabre and burlesque humour of the Parisian ‘ Grand Guignol,’ The play offers a tangible feast for the senses –combining its lyrical dialogue with filmic imagery and characterization. Through dark comedy the play dissects the psyche of its protagonist – a lone woman. This deconstruction is undertaken by sinister and cruel gargoyles, who offer a poetic chorus on the proceedings. By cutting away the unnecessary flesh ‘Morning Glory’ heralds the existence of a voyeurs paradise, a new level of unwelcome intrusion.
- November 2006
"We took six songs and we made a play about them..."
Six young people are moving into a shared house on a rainy autumn night. They explore each others ideas and feelings. Topics as diverse as leaving your parents to the number of kisses on a text message are discussed. “Something about life and music...” is a beautifully honest portrayal of life on stage.
“Something about life and music…” is a daring new piece of theatre exploring what it means to be here and now. You are unlikely to have seen anything like it before – it draws more from naturalistic films from the likes of Richard Linklater and Andrew Bujalski than from any theatrical tradition. Melancholic, empathetic and uplifting, this is theatre to enthral and inspire anyone who's ever felt anything at all.
Soundtrack includes; Ben Folds, Bloc party, Regina Spektor, Dashboard Confessional, Counting Crows, The Shins, Devandra Bernhardt, The Arcade Fire, Eels, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly., Lambchop and many, many more...
www.myspace.com/aboutlifeandmusic
- November 2006
A group of students get together to perform a play, something called "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare. You won't know it, and they certainly don’t. The actors speak in a strange language called Dogg, but in their public school surroundings have worked at understanding the play; the extent of their understanding, however, is questionable.
The audience witnesses the effects of two worlds colliding; communicating in what the inhabitants think is the same lingo, but which quite clearly isn’t. Dogg's Hamlet is an experiment in theatrical language, an investigation of meaning, a comedy of confusion and a very silly play.
- November 2006
In one of Samuel Beckett's greatest plays, the ancient Krapp tries to make sense of his life, past and present, by recording all of his memories and experiences. He listens back to old tapes, astounded by how far he has progressed. We see that he has barely changed at all. The younger Krapp learnt that love does not work out uncomplicatedly or without loss; the older Krapp is just relieved that his sex life is better than a kick in the crutch. By turns both hilarious and moving, Beckett shows his understanding of the weight experience can bear on a man as Krapp is reduced to nothing more than a commentator on his earlier life. "Perhaps my best years are gone. When there was a chance of happiness. But I wouldn't want them back. Not with the fire in me now. No, I wouldn't want them back."
- November 2006
Who is responsible when a train crashes, killing or injuring hundreds of ordinary and innocent commuters? David Hare's shocking parable of British mismanagement tells the various 'true stories' of the most devastating rail disasters of the past two decades, providing a platform for the testimonies of politicians, rail companies and the many bereaved.
In this tragic and compelling tale, witty and acute observations mingle with dramatic graphic effects to create the ultimate emotional rollercoaster. When everybody is blaming each other, how can we tell where the truth really lies?
- November 2006
“A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face!” The small theocratic community of Salem is stirred in to madness after some young girls are accused of consorting with the devil. A terrifying witch-hunt ensues, fed by superstition, paranoia and malice, culminating in a violent climax. Miller’s classic parable of mass hysteria draws a chilling parallel between the Salem witch-hunt of 1692 and the McCarthyism which gripped America in the 1950s. It is a savage attack on the evils of mindless persecution and the terrifying power of false accusations.
This production is a Cambridge first, as it will be staged in the famous Round Church; performed in-the-round creating a powerful atmosphere which forces the audience to suffer the hysteria themselves.
- October–November 2006
This play is the story of Hester, Hester la Negrita, the mother, the worker, the oppressed black woman with a sense of humour the size of the States and no money to feed her children. The music is straining through the theatre, the set is banging and the people are shouting to the beat that jumps through everything, every seat, every head, every complacent conservative mindless mind. Hester la Negrita will jump through your head like a hip-hop migraine.
- October 2006
'Communities without fathers are vicious places to live and people who have money choose not to live there.' Charles Murray, The Sunday Times 2000.
'We sat and cuddled and cried. I sat rocking her like when she was a little baby. I sat rocking her for ages' Natalie, 'A State Affair'.
In 2000, Robin Soans and director Max Stafford-Clarke travelled to the Bradford Estate where groundbreaking playwright Andrea Dunbar had died tragically a decade before as a result of years of wife-beating.
'A State Affair' is the record of what they found...
Exploring abuse and misery driven by massively low expectations, 'A State Affair' is an example of the 'Verbatim' Theatre which Soans demonstrated to such effect in his recent play 'Talking to Terrorists'.
Its words are taken from real conversations, giving for one night only, honest and raw emotion, coupled with a rarely seen truth through theatre.
- October 2006
'I think that what happens in war is that suddenly, violently, without any warning whatsoever, people's lives are completely ripped to pieces. So I literally just picked up a moment in the play, I thought I'll plant a bomb and blow the whole fucking thing up.'
Sarah Kane
Slaughtered by the press when it first opened, Blasted, is the most controversial and talked about play of the last 20 years. You can't beat Sarah Kane's 'sustained onslaught on the sensibilities for sheer, unadulterated brutalism'. Not a play for the faint hearted, Blasted, is sure to provoke a searing debate between audiences at the ADC. Imagine an expensive hotel room, imagine it being blown up. Blasted pushes the medium of theatre to its furthest limitations. It is an essay on extremity, on desire, fear and barbarity, it defies any definite situation which prevents us from neatly defining it as something alien to us. The play's horror is inescapable, it avoids attribution to any single scenario or character type, the brutality that will unfold on the ADC stage will be both recognisable and applicable to you, as much as you attest otherwise. Let your morbid fascination manifest. Blasted's violence is a reality, a reality this production will force us to accept.
- August 2006
Joseph K is under arrest. As he struggles to work out what he has been accused of, and why, it emerges that the authorities themselves don’t know. The establishment is answerable to no one; his colleagues at the Bank don’t care about him; the women he meets are cheap; relationships and sex are meaningless. No closer to understanding the situation, Joseph is summoned to court and stands trial.
Weaving in mime and choral speaking, the actors slide from one character into another; one minute playing Joseph’s crooked laundry woman, or the heavies who come and arrest him, the next forming a chorus which surrounds and oppresses Joseph with their snarling speeches. Engaging in a poignant battle with the endless absurdities of the establishment, Berkoff’s acclaimed adaptation of Kafka’s most celebrated novel promises to be a thrilling theatrical event.
www.the-trial.com
- August 2006
A sleazy and menacing post-modern cabaret, where Pinter’s Revue sketches sit beside new writing, the tuneful noises of a jazz band and sketches from the comedy cannon. Finally, in a flurry of movement and excitement, the stage becomes theatrical, a set is laid to the rolling syncopated rhythms of the drum kit, and Sweeney Agonistes - T. S. Eliot’s barely performed masterpiece - knocks the audience for six.
- July 2006
Rape, murder, revenge and honour in the wars of 15th Century Spain. The village of Fuente Ovejuna is being used as a base for a military expedition. The commander abuses his power and position, especially with the peasant women. Eventually he abducts and assaults the mayor's daughter on her wedding night. The villagers are outraged and take action, but their methods and results are far from predictable... The 2006 Town and Gown production, supported by the Amatuer Dramatic Club, will see Steven Siddall, director of 15 Arts Theatre productions, working with actors and technicians drawn both from the University and the local talent. A fantastic opportunity for students to collaborate with older and more experienced practioners, 'Fuente Ovejuna' will be a powerful and visually exciting production.
- June 2006
The ADC Mayweek show is taking your favourite Disney classic and adding an edge of sex, violence, fear and innovation. ‘The Jungle Book’ will transform Emma Gardens into a sexual fantasia of David Lynch inspired madness. Through the jungles humid mist one is never sure where their mind has taken them. Could it be a seedy strip joint, a grimy metal club or are you surrounded by yobs from a derelict urban oasis. Everything is ambiguous; everything is elusive. As we follow Mowgli through the realms of the ‘jungle’ we meet Big Issue selling Baloo, a pole dancing snake Kaa, a libertines-esque rock group ‘The Monkeys’, and a group of elephants in the midst of dementia. The tension is high, with the ominous presence of the bi-curious sexual predator, Shere Khan. ‘The Jungle Book’ promises to be like looking through a kaleidoscope of non-sensical madness. Vividly imaginative, it will use physical theatre to truly bring the vibrant jungle animals to life. On a hot lazy drunken Mayweek afternoon- walking into Emma Gardens will be like stepping back into the psychedelic trip you had at King’s Affair the night before. Enjoy the classic songs and old tale with a bit of spice and humour- it will be the most fun to be had at a Mayweek Show.
- May 2006
"Torture. Barbarism of all sorts. Starvation. Chemical warfare. Public hangings. Mutilation of children. Raping of mothers. Raping of daughters. Raping of brothers and fathers. Executions of entire families. Executions of entire generations of families. Amputation of private organs. Decapitation. Disembowelment. Dismemberment. Disinternment. Eradication of wildlife. You name it... It's a question of destiny..."
Sam Shepard's 'States of Shock' charts a mealtime encounter between an army veteran, his mutilated companion - Stubbs - and two civilians. With the invention of death, anti-state blasphemy, and the threat of a good solid spanking, this lacerated encounter leaves no stone unturned and no turn unstoned.
Is aggression the only answer? Without the enemy we're nothing. Soldiers aren't toys, are they? The situation has to be faced! If you keep thinking of home, you won't slip into doubt.
