In partnership with theatre companies in Greece and Lithuania, we will stage a production of King Lear to tour the UK Spring 2018. The cast will be a mixed group of British, Greek and Lithuanian actors, living and rehearsing together over six weeks in each other’s countries. The final production will be a “melting-pot” piece of theatre, fusing elements of the three dramatic traditions.
Recently shortlisted for The Adrian Pagan New Writing Award, this powerful and lyrical play tells the story of Alice Wheeldon, a Suffragete who sheltered conscription-evaders during WW1. On the basis of fabricated evidence, Alice was imprisoned for “attempting to poison the Prime Minister”, though a national campaign later led to her release. The piece will tour venues in the South West and London Feb-March 2018.
One-week training courses in Georgia, Albania and the UK, led by our Artistic Director, Alexander Gifford. Skill-based courses with an emphasis upon theatre- in-the-community, leading to a public performance. For more information and to apply to participate, please follow:
Georgia AlbaniaWe have creative partnerships with a number of theatre companies across Europe. We regularly run theatre-based training courses in the UK, Georgia and Albania - funded by the EU Erasmus + programme and attended by young people from all over the continent. These are precious experiences, through which we build a real sense of social cohesion and artistic togetherness - learning and sharing from all our different theatre traditions. Participants on these courses have described them as: "more useful to me than three years at drama school", "very powerful and helpful, I received more than I thought possible". We believe that the European project is an important one, to which transnational theatre collaborations can make an important contribution. In Sept 2017, we will launch The International Shakespeare Project with a production of King Lear, staged in partnership with Ch-erete (Greece) and The House of Puglu (Lithuania).
Youth Theatre for Social Inclusion - Georgia, December 2013, Theatre for Young Europeans - Albania, January 2014, Act for Europe, Theatre for Active Citizenship - UK, October 2014, Act for Europe, Theatre for Active Citizenship - Albania, November 2014, Act for Europe, Theatre for Active Citizenship - Georgia, November, 2014, Youth Takes the Stage, Theatre and Campaigning - Georgia , May 2015, Youth Takes the Stage, Theatre and Campaigning - Albania, June 2015, Youth Takes the Stage, Theatre and Campaigning - UK, September 2015
We began with family theatre. Resident at The Picturedrome on Barton Street, we created large-scale adaptations of classic children’s stories, using live music, puppetry and dance. Alongside these professional shows, we developed a thriving-in-the-community scheme, including a particularly popular young company. Some of our young actors were so good, we decided to put them in our professional shows – providing them with on-the-job training. We realized that, in doing this, we were effectively rediscovering the principles of regional, repertory theatre. This became our goal as a company: to work constantly on productions with casts that include both experienced professionals and young actors, learning their craft. In recognition of this work, we have received large-scale funding from The Arts Council, The Sainsbury’s Trust, The BBC, The British Council, Gloucester Council and the Erasmus + and Youth in Action programmes of the EU.
Over the years, we have developed a working relationship with a number of theatre companies around Europe, in partnership with whom we deliver actor-training courses. These courses run throughout the year and have been attended by actors from practically every country in Europe. We are currently building an pan-European ensemble with the goal of launching The International Shakespeare Project. We are also launching ourselves as a touring company, due to tour our first piece, A Dangerous Woman, in 2018.
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