Download house Announces Touring Productions for 2014

house Announces Touring Productions for 2014
November 2013
house has released details of the productions it will be touring throughout the South
East and Eastern England in the first half of 2014.
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Blind Summit’s The Table
Frozen Light’s Tunnels
Kid Carpet’s Blast Off!
Snuff Box Theatre’s Bitch Boxer.
Perth Theatre Company and Weeping Spoon Productions’ The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep
Sea Explorer and It’s Dark Outside.
Catherine Ireton’s What is it about that night?
house, the touring and audience engagement initiative supported by Arts Council England to improve the
range, quality and scale of contemporary theatre presented across the South East and Eastern England, has
now announced the seven productions it will be touring across the region next year.
This selection of critically acclaimed and award-winning shows has been curated by the house team, and
chosen by house’s steering group, comprising Brighton Dome, Colchester Arts Centre, Farnham Maltings,
Newbury Corn Exchange, New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich, New Theatre Royal Portsmouth, Oxford Playhouse,
South Street Reading, The Point Eastleigh, and Watford Palace Theatre.
Gavin Stride, Director of house commented; “Our broad early 2014 programme offers house venues the
opportunity to engage with exceptional theatre in a range of forms; from site-specific promenade to puppetry.
We at house are looking forward to supporting venues and artists in reaching new audiences throughout the
region with these productions”
Blind Summit’s multi award-winning The Table returns for another tour following national and international
success. Since premiering at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2011, where it picked up a Fringe First, this
unique piece of epic puppetry has toured the UK, Europe, China and the USA. The show tells the story of
Moses, a cantankerous two foot high puppet who lives on a table. Fed up of performing fairytales and
children’s stories, Moses wants a chance to prove that he is a serious puppet. So tonight the table is his and
anything could happen ...
Press quotes:
“Astonishingly accomplished”
The Telegraph ★★★★
“Blind Summit prove once again that when you’re working in miniature you don’t have to think small”
The Guardian ★★★★
Tunnels, a unique and enchanting piece of touring theatre, has been made specifically by Frozen Light for
young people with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD). Fusing live music, sign and movement,
it takes audiences on a multi-sensory journey through the weird and wondrous tunnels, as Lana embarks on a
quest to discover why the light has disappeared from the city and who has taken it. Frozen Light is a company
making multi-sensory theatre productions for new audiences and working with theatres to make their venues
more accessible for audiences with PMLD.
Following a successful autumn tour, Kid Carpet’s Blast Off! returns for a new set of dates in early 2014. This
rock ‘n’ roll musical extravaganza for kids follows The Noisy Animals, the biggest band in the world, as they
blast off into outer space to find their new sound and to play a gig on the moon. Featuring some very lo-fi
technological wizardry, the show turns ordinary everyday toys into magical superstars with the aid of a video
camera, comedy, audience participation and live music.
Press quotes:
“Great melodies and infectious pop hooks … if only all pop music could be this fun.”
iDJ Magazine (on Kid Carpet)
“This is a hugely inventive show. Kid Carpet. Remember that name.”
Bristol Culture (on Kid Carpet and the Noisy Animals)
Snuff Box Theatre present a new tour of Charlotte Josephine’s Bitch Boxer, fresh from a second run at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it appeared as part of the British Council Showcase. This critically acclaimed
one-woman show invites audiences ringside with Chloe, a 21 year old boxer from Leytonstone. As Chloe
trains for the fight of her life, she is left winded by two life-changing events. In a man's world, can she prove
she's still worth the title?
Press quotes:
"Josephine exudes the intelligence and bottled-up energy of one determined to prove to the world I'm worth
something"
The Stage
“a near-perfect piece of writing”
The Telegraph ★★★★
Perth Theatre Company and Weeping Spoon Productions are touring two productions in the first half of 2014:
multi award-winning The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer and new show It’s Dark
Outside. The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer, which has enjoyed sell-out runs in New York,
Sydney and Auckland, is a tiny tale set in the deepest dark blue sea, of a solitary explorer with a heart as big
as a whale. It’s Dark Outside, meanwhile, is a heartfelt tale about death, redemption and dementia, following
one old man as he wanders into the wild.
Press quotes:
“with a seamless blend of live drawing projected on a round screen accompanying simple animation, Mr.
Watts creates a vivid new theatrical world.”
The New York Times (on The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer)
“A rare triumph of theatrical ingenuity and human compassion”
The West Australian (on It’s Dark Outside) ★★★★★
Finally, Catherine Ireton’s What is it about that night? is back for just two nights in January 2014 following a
series of performances in Margate this November. This intimate show invites audiences into the backstage
spaces of their theatres, exploring a world full of promise, ghosts and quiet dramas behind the stage. A secret
musical about the smallness of things, of letting go into the dark and walking into the light.
Full tour dates for house’s 2014 productions will be released shortly.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
house
house supports venues across South East and Eastern England by improving the range, quality and scale of
theatre presented, and exists to build the audience for contemporary theatre throughout the region. house is
developing the theatre ecology of the South East by hosting training and networking opportunities, brokering
conversations between companies and venues, and developing the house website as a digital resource for
the professional theatre sector. It is funded by Arts Council England and is based at Farnham Maltings.
housetheatre.org.uk
Further Information:
Please contact Sarah Wilson, marketing and engagement co-ordinator , house, Farnham Maltings, Bridge
Square, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7QR
Telephone: 01252 745 419
Email: [email protected]