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Fat Rascal Theatre Company and Acting Workshops

Fat Rascal Theatre was set up in 2016 by a group of East 15 graduates. Since then they have quickly established ourselves as a home for new musical theatre, having produced 5 brand-new musicals in the space of two years. They are a company run by women; they challenge the constraints of being a female within the industry, and discuss social and political issues through an accessible and appealing format to engage a wider audience. They are supported by the English Touring Theatre and are an Associate Company of the King’s Head Theatre in London.

Fat Rascal has so far won the Otherplace/Balkan Award at Brighton Fringe, VAULT festival’s Festival Spirit Award, an Eddies Award, Fairy Powered Productions’ Best New Writing Award and the Stella Wilkie Award from the King’s Head Theatre, alongside garnering an Edinburgh Fringe Sellout Laurel. They were nominated for the Les Enfants Terribles Award in both 2016 and 2017 and received an Off West End Award nomination for their production of Beauty and the Beast: A Musical Parody.

Fat Rascal wants to create theatre which people are going to want to see for fun, and they want them to leave having had a great time, but also feeling ready to take on the world. They believe that theatre should always aim to inspire, educate or liberate and should be available to everybody.

Fat Rascal Theatre are able to lead workshops for all ages. Their acting  workshops are varied and can be tailored to suit you. From devised theatre and physical comedy, creating a show, writing and composition, to budgeting and taking a show to Edinburgh Fringe. 

Volunteer Backstage for a Theatre Company this summer!

Iris Theatre was created in 2007 to produce work at the world-famous St. Paul’s Church in Covent Garden. Growingyear-on-year, Iris gained full charity status in October 2009 with a mission to support the development of the next generation of professional theatre practitioners and to produce a fresh and vibrant repertoire of varied work resulting in affordable and accessible theatre.

Today the company is firmly rooted within the West End theatre environment. Every summer, we produce one Shakespeare play and one family play, which run throughout the summer as promenade shows in the beautiful gardens and inside St. Paul’s Church. 

After the success of 2017, with productions of Macbeth and Hansel and Gretel garnering significant critical acclaim and award recognition, Iris Theatre returns for its 11 th year with two exceptional new productions of The Tempest and The Three Musketeers.

We are looking for a team of Production Assistant volunteer, perhaps with some experience in a theatre environment, to help out with our summer season shows – The Tempest  and The Three Musketeers. This will involve supporting the day-to-day BACKSTAGE  work during the run of the shows.

Each year our pool of volunteers brings energy, commitment and life to our projects, and we are truly appreciative for all of their efforts. You will be able to play an important part in our unique work by making a real and satisfying contribution.

The volunteer programme is very flexible and we can provide tailored opportunities to get involved which fit around your other commitments. This is a great opportunity to practice and hone existing stage management skills, learn new ones and work within a warm friendly environment towards a set of common goals. You will also have the opportunity to see the making of a show, assist to some rehearsals and play an active part in our theatre.

To apply, please send the following documents and information to development@iristheatre.com: a CV, a short personal statement, including your availability; and completed equal opportunities form.

 

Told by an Idiot presents Napoleon Disrobed at the Arcola Theatre London

Told by an Idiot explores the human condition through theatre that is bigger than life. They acknowledge the artifice of performance & make no attempt to put reality on stage, instead they inhabit the space between laughter & pain which exists in the real world. Their work is rooted in the live event & thrives on a sense of spontaneity & risk, celebrating the unpredictability of performance. Through playful collaborative writing, anarchic physicality & a comedic sensibility they create genuinely spontaneous experiences for audiences.

Through their work on stage & through their Taught by an Idiot participation work they foster a sense of openness, curiosity & the desire to play.  They consistently experiment with what art can be & who can be involved, & in doing so their work blurs the lines between artist, participant & audience. Their commitment to accessibility informs the entwined relationship between their productions & their participation work. They take creative risks, they tell universal stories & they include everyone.  

Their latest production will open in Plymouth on 25 January and at the Arcola Theatre in London from 14 February. Napoleon Disrobed is a comic alternative history based on the novel The Death of Napoleon by Simon Leys. What if Napoleon didn’t die in exile? What if he swapped identities with a lowly sailor and made it back to Paris?What then?

One of the UK’s most unique theatre companies creates this poignantly moving and wryly humorous re-imagining of the final years of Napoleon Bonaparte. Using their trademark comic physicality Told by an Idiot explore the absurdity of trying to retrieve time and glory. An irreverent and hugely playful show about what it is to lose immense power but gain personal freedom; to transition from one identity to another, and to lose public face.

Following their collaboration on the smash-hit My Perfect Mind there’s nothing quite like it... Paul Hunter will take the role of Napoleon under the direction of Award-winning actor and director Kathryn Hunter. 

 

 

 

Strangeface Theatre Company UK

Strangeface brings mask and puppet theatre to audiences in Kent, regionally, nationally and internationally. We aim to make our work as accessible as possible by offering work that appeals across generations and travelling to venues across the UK from grand old theatres to tiny village halls.

Strangeface is a theatre company committed to producing an intimate fusion of mask, puppetry and live music. Its style arises from twin observations: that it is not in the interests of consumer culture to encourage imagination in its participants and that we live in an age where the individual is championed above the group.

In response to this Strangeface’s practice is to create theatre in a variety of spaces, which makes its audience aware of it’s own imaginative participation through various techniques and to elucidate the fact that identity is more transient than we would believe. In practice both of these aims can be deeply empowering. At the end of our performances we add time for audiences to come up on stage, to try on masks and play with puppets. In the case of mask and puppet theatre, showing how the magic is created makes the magic stronger.

Strangeface’s influences are diverse and growing. They include the mask cultures of Japan and Italy, the plays of Shakespeare and Brecht, the animation of Jan Svankmajer, Jirí Barta, Tim Burton and Nick Park, and contemporary companies such as Trestle, Faulty Optic, and Complicite. Our practice is also influenced by research into the application of Chaos Theory to semiotics and cognitive theory.

The company is also committed to outreach work. Schools, colleges and universities use our mask and puppet workshops (both making and using) not only to develop specific drama skills but also to address and encourage so called ‘soft skills’. Our workshops and residencies are ideal for building confidence within groups and individuals, encouraging team work, developing problem solving skills, imaginative engagement and extending emotional vocabulary. Strangeface is constantly developing its workshops and residencies to fit with changing educational requirements.

http://www.strangeface.co.uk

Kneehigh Theatre Company’s The Tin Drum

Kneehigh will retell this extraordinary story of love, war and fizz powder as startling musical satire: part Baroque opera, part psychedelic white-out, part epic poem. A burlesque, a blitzkreig, a tidal wave about to break.

On Oskar’s third birthday, he rails against the adult world and decides to remain a child forever. Armed with a heart full of rage, a singing voice that shatters glass, and a seemingly indestructible tin drum, Oskar sets about to reveal the world for what it truly is. However, the world has other plans for our hero… The tide is turning. People are taking sides. And the shadow of the Black Witch draws ever closer. Hailed as one of the greatest novels ever written, Günter Grass’ surreal post-war masterpiece has never been more prescient.

From the team that brought you the internationally acclaimed Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs)The Tin Drum is a folktale for troubled times: one political, profane and profound.

Kneehigh are a Cornwall based theatre company with a local, national and international profile. For over 30 years they have created vigorous, popular and challenging theatre and perform with joyful anarchy.They tell stories based in breath-taking barns on the south coast of Cornwall. They create theatre of humanity on an epic and tiny scale. They work with an ever-changing ensemble of performers, artists, technicians, administrators, makers and musicians, and are passionate about our multi-disciplined creative process.

http://www.kneehigh.co.uk