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Bristol’s festival of contemporary theatre 1 – 16 May mayfestbristol.co.uk
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Mayfest 2009
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“A terrific season of cutting-edge work from new and established companies taking place all over the city” The Guardian
Welcome to Mayfest 2009
Mayfest is an annual celebration of contemporary physical, visual and experimental theatre from Bristol, the UK and overseas. 2009 is our most ambitious festival yet, with performances from over thirty-five artists and companies, and marks our return to a reinvigorated Bristol Old Vic, where it all began in 2003. This year we offer you a two-week roller-coaster ride of performance, taking up roost at the Tobacco Factory, Circomedia, the Wickham Theatre, Bridewell Island and throughout Bristol Old Vic as well as taking flight out into un-discovered spaces across the city.
Alongside a blistering mix of work from Bristol and the UK, this year we welcome acclaimed physical theatre from the Czech Republic and the international hit The Smile Off Your Face from Belgium’s fabulous Ontroerend Goed. We have commissions from local artists, collaborations with national venues, and a whole raft of additional activities for you to get involved with.
And we’ve heard rumour of a credit crunch so prices are low and ticket offers are plenty. Have a look and take your pick. It’s good to be back. Kate and Matthew
The Mayfest Team Producers Production Manager Assistant Producer Marketing & Production Assistant
Thanks to...
Connect:
mayfestbristol.co.uk Facebook: Mayfest Bristol twitter.com/mayfestbristol youtube.com/mayfestbristol myspace.com/mayfestbristol Plus check out our exclusive content on theatrebristol.net
Mayfest is produced in collaboration with Media Partner With funding from
B
Kate Yedigaroff & Matthew Austin Jo Cuthbert Fiona Baxter Bethany Haynes (Bristol University Industrial Placement)
Dick Penny, Nigel Gardner, Jane Totney, Layla Barron, Jessica Hellens, Scott Rogers, Chris Bagust and all at Bristol Old Vic; Ali Robertson, Dave Dewhurst, Matt Graham, Megan Farrow, Carrie Rhys-Davies and all at the Tobacco Factory Theatre; Helen Cole and Sarah Warden at Arnolfini; Jan Winter, Joanna Crowson, Jo Mapson, and all at Circomedia; Rona Fineman, Rod Terry, Simon Jones, and all at the Wickham Theatre; Katie Keeler, Seth Honnor, and all at Theatre Bristol; Doug Francis and ArtSpace LifeSpace; Harun Morrison and at all at BAC, Qu Junktions, Bints, Pig, Matthew Aitken at Start the Bus, Residence, Venue Magazine, Taste, Mercure Hotels, Bristol ENT Partnership. Festival partners
TOBACCO FACTORY THEATRE
Mayfest 2009 Launch Party Bristol Old Vic Fri 1st, 7.30pm – late
The Master Chayn jis
To launch Mayfest 2009, we’re throwing a party which will take over Bristol Old Vic. Join us for a heady mix of music, dancing and performance with live acts and DJs, featuring Bristol’s very own musical mavericks The Master Chaynjis and The Lexie Mountain Boys, direct from Baltimore, USA.
The Master Chaynjis: Moving Pictures A muffled voice from a tape recorder. Slides of an unmade bed in a lonely motel. A melodramatic swell of strings and sweat pour from a reddened faced cocktail singer. These fractured film stills and fragments of sounds are drawn from memories of B-movies. Loose narrative threads are woven and unwoven as performers assemble and splinter off. The Master Chaynjis use their reimagining of the B-movie emotional landscape to transform the spaces in and around the Old Vic. themasterchaynjis.com The Lexie Mountain Boys’ live performances are not to be missed: dancing, spinning, running, jumping, laughing, tangling. From a twelve-person dress sculpture-cum-maypole to chanting human pyramids, this a capella singing group is guaranteed to be a sight to behold. myspace.com/lexiemountainboys
Taste
Bristol Old Vic Sun 3rd – Mon 4th, 2pm – 7pm Spring has sprung. It’s Bank Holiday weekend, and Mayfest will be cooking up a sumptuous feast of locally sourced work and serving it up non-stop throughout the day in various spaces across Bristol Old Vic.
s Lexie Mountain Boy
Tickets: Free This event is not ticketed. Entry on a first-come first-served basis. ed. More acts still to be confirm for Check mayfestbristol.co.uk ced. details as they are announ
For full details visit mayfestbristol.co.uk or pick up a Taste performance menu from any of the Mayfest venues. Tickets: £6 for a full day – access to specific performances is on proof of ticket and subject to availability.
With support from Taste, Cafe and Deli, St Nicholas Market. See page 21 for details of a special offer!
Taste is an informal platform event designed to celebrate and share a broad range of fresh new work from over twenty of Bristol’s most exciting theatre artists. And not only is there a back-to-back programme of debut performances, but you will also be able to hang out at the theatre and soak up the atmosphere of our very first Mayfest Market – an exuberant affair for which we’ve invited a selection of Bristol-based theatre companies to pitch a stall and tout their wares. It’ll be like Albert Square, only with talent and without Pat Butcher. Expect the unexpected. We are.
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The Other Way Works Black Tonic
Mercure Holland House Hotel & Spa Fri 1st – Mon 4th You are invited to unravel an original detective story, where even love can be bought for the price of a cocktail. Be our guest: check-in at the hotel reception two by two and journey along the corridors and into the bedrooms to piece together the clues and uncover what makes the hotel tick.
Black Tonic is an interactive performance in the bedrooms and corridors of Holland House Hotel, Bristol. Mayfest is delighted to bring this acclaimed site-specific adventure here for its South West debut. Originally commissioned by Camden People’s Theatre. Project Development funded by a Wellcome Trust Arts Award, Arts Council England, Birmingham City Council & The Sir Barry Jackson Trust, and supported by CPT, Contact Theatre & mac.
Sponsored by the Mercure Holland House Hotel and Spa Bristol, part of Accor Hospitality. 4
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The Other Way Works are a Birminghambased company formed in 2001 who create daring and highly interactive theatre which draws the audience into the very heart of the experience. theotherwayworks.co.uk
Age guidance: 18+ Tickets: £10 “An evocative thriller” Performance Times: 2pm, 3pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm The Guardian Location: Mercure Holland House Hotel and Spa, Redcliffe Hill, Bristol, BS1 6SQ Advance booking essential. No door sales. Very limited capacity: only 4 people per show. Bookings should be made for 2 or 4 people per slot by calling Bristol Old Vic Box Office (see page 23 for details). Book early to avoid disappointment. If you like this, check out… My World is Empty Without You (Duncan Speakman) and The Smile Off Your Face (Ontroerend Goed).
Tmesis Theatre Anima Circomedia Sat 2nd – Sun 3rd, 8pm We are delighted to welcome Tmesis Theatre to Bristol for the first time with Anima, their acclaimed collaboration with Malou Airaudo (Pina Bausch, Tanztheater Wuppertal) and Tanya Khabarova (Derevo). Anima transports you to a dreamy world where the dynamics between the conscious and subconscious are distorted, revealing the conflict and harmony within all of us. Anima is a gorgeously lyrical piece with engaging physicality, aerial elements and a pulsating original soundtrack. By turns unsettling, humourous and moving, it’s perfectly suited to Circomedia’s beautiful church, and regular Mayfest home on Portland Square. This is the third production from Tmesis Theatre (formerly Momentum Theatre) and follows European tours of previous
shows Tmesis and Memento Mori to complete their breath-taking trilogy on life’s journey. momentumtheatre.com Commissioned by the Liverpool Culture Company as part of Liverpool 08 Capital of Culture.
Tickets: £9/£6 Location: Circomedia, St. Paul’s Church, Portland Square, BS2 8SJ Advance booking recommended. Book through Bristol Old Vic Box Office (see page 23 for details). Door sales cash only (subject to availability). If you like this, check out… Polaris (Adriatic) and The Weepers (Skutr)
“Visually stunning, artistically inspired… physical theatre of the very highest standard” The Stage “Physical theatre of the highest class” Wupperguide, Germany mayfestbristol.co.uk
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Aurora Nova Productions presents
John Moran… and his Neighbour Saori Tobacco Factory Theatre Tue 5th – Wed 6th, 9pm
Adriatic Polaris Bristol Old Vic Studio Tue 5th – Thur 7th, 8pm
Ontroerend Goed
in association with Richard Jordan Productions Ltd presents
The Smile Off Your Face Bristol Old Vic Wed 6th – Thur 7th, 2pm – 10pm Welcome to the dark stage of Ontroerend Goed. You are blindfolded, you are in a wheelchair, tied up. It’s not about viewing. It’s about experiencing. There is no stage. There is no public, no fixed spot in the lights where actors perform. In fact, you don’t know where you are. You suspect something. You imagine something. Everything happens only in your head, and yet it doesn’t. You are in a dark room. There are other people. They want something from you. Or not. Sometimes you are alone. We know that. We take care of you.
John Moran is a unique New York composer and theatre artist. Hugely acclaimed and notoriously unclassifiable, his work is an intricate blend of music, sound, choreography and theatre. He performs with his collaborator and muse, dancer/gymnast Saori Tsukada.
The disarming, theatrical and multi-layered self-portraits the pair create are expertly choreographed with Saori’s movement carefully synched to an elaborate score. A protege of Philip Glass, John Moran’s previous work includes large-scale productions of high precision dance, opera and music-theatre which have featured performers including Uma Thurman, Julia Stiles and Iggy Pop. John Moran… and his Neighbour Saori is like nothing you’ve seen before – prepare to be surprised… myspace.com/johnmoranandsaori Tickets: £9/£6
If you like this, check out… The Smile Off Your Face (Ontroerend Goed)
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“Obviously and absolutely brilliant in their virtuosity” Seattle Times “One of the most important and innovative works of the year” New York Times mayfestbristol.co.uk
Get Involved! See p.18 for details of our pre-show supper on Tues 5th and post-show music on Wed 6th.
This year we welcome two Czech physical theatre companies to Mayfest for the first time. Adriatic bring a beautiful, hypnotic two-hander, Polaris, and Skutr perform the effervescent The Weepers at the end of the festival (see p.16).
Polaris is a story of two men on an Antarctic pilgrimage. It’s a tale of solitude, friendship, faith, hope and waiting for help which never comes. It’s a tale of lost things, the desire to lose oneself, and what it is to suffer hardship. Above all it’s a performance about the strength of man’s will to survive.
Ontroerend Goed are a Belgian company who are fast gaining a reputation for their extraordinary performance work, including last year’s Edinburgh smash hit Once And For All We’re Going to Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up and Listen. ontroerendgoed.be
Tickets: £10 Age guidance: 15+ Limited capacity. Advance booking essential. Please call Bristol Old Vic Box Office to book a slot. With the support of the Flemish government, the province of East-Flanders & The City of Ghent.
If you like this, check out… My World is Empty Without You (Duncan Speakman)
WINNER Total Theatre Award Fringe First Award
“… a disorientating but extraordinary performance … It leaves you feeling fantastic.” The Times #####
“…astounding … I am confident we will be seeing, and feeling, more of the Belgian company responsible – Ontroerend Goed.” The Guardian ####
“Is this theatre? Absolutely. It demands response… As the tears disappear into the distance, it is the sadness that made you smile and the smile that made you sad.” Adelaide Theatre Guide ####
“An unforgettable experience.” The Scotsman ####
Adriatic have created an enchanting story inspired by adventure novels and the desire to discover unknown territories. Mixing imagination and reality, two exhausted polar explorers are confronted with polar bears, seals, migrating birds and other inhabitants of the unforgiving landscape of the Antarctic.
Adriatic are Vojta Švejda and Jan Beneš-McGadie. Together they have created three performances: The Bloody Cabinet of Dr Schreck, Homework Out of Diligence and Polaris, and have performed across the world. Tickets: £9/£6
If you like this, check out… The Weepers (Skutr)
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Cartoon de Salvo Hard Hearted Hannah and Other Stories Tobacco Factory Theatre Thur 7th – Sat 9th, 8pm
One of The Telegraph’s Top 10 Comedy Gigs of 2008.
Hard Hearted Hannah… tells a different story every night. Choose from a playlist of bittersweet songs inspired by the Jug Band music of the American South – think souped-up washboards, guitars, banjos and cider jugs for bass. Yarns will be spun using only your imagination and thin air. Every performance of this improvised show will be entirely unique.
Over the last ten years, Cartoon de Salvo have captivated audiences with their giddying cocktail of exceptional storytelling, script-defying impro and live music. They are one of the most respected touring companies in the UK and have developed work with members of Kneehigh, Improbable, Told By An Idiot and Complicite. cartoondesalvo.com Tickets: £9/£6
If you like this, check out… If That’s All There Is (Inspector Sands)
Get Involved! Cartoon de Salvo workshop Fri 8th, 1.30pm – 4.30pm Tobacco Factory (see p.19)
“You come away in awe of you've just the human imagination and feeling like raph Teleg ic.” Mag . been at the best party in town “Off the cuff but on the button.” Observer what “Goofy, wreckless fun, and all in all, some o Metr ” inspiring.
Top of the World Paperweight Fri 8th, 1pm & 6pm Sat 9th, 2pm & 6pm Meet at Bristol Old Vic Box Office
Paperweight is the absurd story of two men trapped in mindless office jobs. As the pressures of work and the ever present threat of the telephone ringing increase, chaos descends. An (almost) silent comedy of escalating intensity and surprising tenderness. Top of the World is Tom Frankland, Sébastien Lawson and Jamie Wood. Their collaboration fuses surreal humour, visual poetry and arresting storytelling to present a bold and uncompromising theatrical experience.
Developed at Camden People’s Theatre.
Tickets: £9/£6
Contains nudity and strong language. Recommended age 14+. Limited capacity, advance booking strongly recommended. Door sales cash only (subject to availability).
If you like this, check out… If That’s All There Is (Inspector Sands), Home of the Wriggler (Stan’s Cafe).
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“The observations of office life are WINNER so acute they belong in an Fringe First Award o #### Total Theatre Award emergency room” Metr ient trans of thing small “A Nominee beauty” Financial Times ####
Inspector Sands return to Mayfest following their 2007 sell-out hit, Hysteria.
A mini epic of longing, envy, disappointment and psychobabble, starring a therapist vigilante, her moody daughter, her happy son, her pent up patient and his thrill-seeking fiancée.
Inspector Sands If That’s All There Is Fri 8th – Sat 9th, 8pm Bristol Old Vic Studio
Over one long summer, their lives intertwine, knot and fray, periodically hinting at an explosive climax. Will it be a gunfight between two women? A terrible motorcycle accident? Or will it just be an ordinary summer which threatens to be swelteringly hot but never quite caps pleasantly warm?
If That’s All There Is takes a funny and unflinching look at our obsession with finding happiness. Tickets: £9/£6
Commissioned by The Lyric Hammersmith. Developed at South Street and The Nightingale Theatre, Brighton.
If you like this, check out… King Pest & Night Flyer (The Paper Cinema) and The Weepers (Skutr).
“The perils, complexities and absurdities of modern life faultlessly performed, painfully real and very, very slick. Hilarious.” Metro (on Hysteria) #### “A rib and mind tickling delight.” The Times (on Hysteria)
The Paper Cinema & Kora King Pest & Night Flyer Bristol Old Vic Paintshop Fri 8th – Sat 9th, 9.30pm Sat 9th, 2.30pm
Get Involved! Post-show discussion: Fri 8th Ink drawings brought to life through a hand-made collage of high and low tech landscapes built around the guitar and viola of Kora.
The Paper Cinema was devised by artist Nic Beard from ink blotches in his sketchbook, which evolved into fullyfledged puppet actors. For this charming event we invite you to sneak into the private spaces of Bristol Old Vic where this magical ensemble will pull you through their dark fairytales into a bewitching fusion of live music and puppetry. thepapercinema.com Tickets £8/£5
If you like this, check out… The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley (Chris Goode) Get Involved! The Paper Cinema Creative Drop-in for Kids Sat 9th, 11am – 1pm Bristol Old Vic (see p.18)
“Fragile and beautiful… sinister and enchanting… wonderful music gives the whole thing the feel of a quirky silent movie.” The Guardian ####
WINNER Brick Award 2008, The Arches Shortlisted Total Theatre Award 2008 mayfestbristol.co.uk
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ance An afternoon of perform d from two Bristol-base puppetry companies, developed through the Theatre Bristol/Tobacco e. Factory Prototype initiativ
Bric a Brac Productions Richard’s Love Bristol Old Vic Studio Sun 10th, 2pm
Delta Foxtrot is a devised work inspired by the quest of scientific discovery and the conflicts and connections between science and religion.
Five explorers/scientists/researchers/humans (?) look into the ways we exist; examine the dangerous times in which we live and try to find out what makes a human being.
Richard’s Love tells the tale of shop girl Sarah, her unlikely hero Richard and her tricky mother, who is determined to stand in their way of love. It’s a story of love, hope, isolation and betrayal in a world where mermaids can be seduced out of the sea and gnomes might be called upon to leave the garden… Bric a Brac weave together intricate shadow puppetry and quirky mask characters with a strange and beautiful soundtrack and some impressively fast costume changes! bricabracproductions.co.uk
Soap Soup Theatre Sir Gregory’s Hutch Bristol Old Vic Studio Sun 10th, 3.45pm
Delta Foxtrot is about danger, fear, isolation and morbid curiosity. It is a fond memory of the ways things were and a hopeless looking forward to the way it might be.
Orbita are an emerging company formed by graduates of Dartington College of Arts. This is their Mayfest debut. You can also catch Orbita as part of Taste. myspace.com/five_orbiting
Orbita Delta Foxtrot Wickham Theatre Sat 9th – Sun 10th, 6pm
Douglas has writer’s block. His ideas seem anchored to the mysterious image of a rabbit, from which he can’t escape. Yearning for some kind of change, Douglas is unsure whether his words or the rabbit hold the key.
Tonight we are becoming a family. We have read about natural selection. We are prepared for survival. We have our grandmothers’ eyes and our fathers’ ears. We are forming a pack, and we’d like you to be part of it.
A moving and magical piece fusing puppetry, music and live performance. Tickets: £8/£5 or £10 for both Bric a Brac and Soap Soup
Fourteen musical instruments, four clowns and one wedding. In To Have and To Honk, four musicians are on their way to a wedding. But, in true Honk form, the journey doesn’t quite go according to plan…
With their special blend of amiable chaos and hilarious physical theatre, The Honk Project will have you laughing until you cry, even as you thrill to the musical delights on offer. Come along for an hour, laugh and listen, and enjoy a unique and honkingly good show – a joy for audiences aged tiny and up. honkproject.com Created in association with Jacksons Lane. Funded by Arts Council England and the Jerwood Charitable Foundation. 10
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Tickets: £9/£6
If you like this, check out… Our Fathers’ Ears (Tinned Fingers)
2009 marks the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, and Tinned Fingers invite you to raise a glass and journey with them on an exploration of evolution, extinction and survival. How do we interact with ‘the wild’? Are we still evolving? Have we lost our natural instincts? Tinned Fingers will be making it all and they’re going to need your help.
Sir Gregory is unsettled by images from his past. His memories are beautiful, but they grow too powerful and he is forced to relive them over and over again. He is troubled by his inability to take control, and more than anything, he wants to leave.
The HONK Project To Have and to Honk Bristol Old Vic Studio Sun 10th, 8pm
Tickets £8/£5. Advance booking recommended. Book through Bristol Old Vic Box Office. Door sales cash only (subject to availability). Wickham Theatre, Cantocks Close, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UP
Tinned Fingers Our Fathers’ Ears Bristol Old Vic Paintshop Mon 11th – Tue 12th, 6pm
Roustabout John & Jim Bristol Old Vic Basement Tues 12th – Wed 13th, 9.30pm
Bristol-based Tinned Fingers make experimental theatre with a home-spun, DIY aesthetic. They return to Mayfest after last year’s When You Cry in Space Your Tears Go Everywhere. tinnedfingers.co.uk Developed in association with Mayfest
Tickets £9/£6 See Our Fathers’ Ears for £5 when you book for Kellerman
If you like this, check out… Delta Foxtrot (Orbita) and The Middle Bit (Edward Rapley) Starting with nothing but an empty room and you, John McGrellis and Jim Rastall improvise and clown their way to something. What that something is, we have no idea – the evening is completely unprepared, gloriously unrehearsed and totally unrepeatable.
John and Jim’s Empty Room has been developed with Toby Hulse, specialist in the ludicrously ambitious (The Lost World, Bristol Old Vic 2009), the impossibly daft (Around the World in Eighty Days, Bristol Old Vic 2006) and the stupidly made up (The Great Big Story Mix Up, Bristol Old Vic 2006). Tickets: £3 on the door (no advance booking).
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Kellerman
imitating the dog and Pete Brooks
Bristol Old Vic Theatre Royal Mon 11th – Wed 13th, 8pm
Kellerman is a gothic tale of obsessive desire, demonic doctors and monstrous nurses, a story that explores how meddling with the past can have tragic consequences. Combining film, animation and live action, and drawing on graphic novels and filmic narrative, Kellerman is a moving and sumptuous new performance.
Diagnosed as delusional, Harry is in a hospital where he’s struggling to come to terms with a tragedy that nobody believes has taken place. His notebooks are filled with calculations that attempt to show that the past can be manipulated and the future predicted. Can he prove everyone wrong by changing the order of events that led to the disappearance of everything he loved? Fresh from West Yorkshire Playhouse, imitating the dog complete their UK tour with three nights at Mayfest. Kellerman places a dark, brooding and visually arresting world in the beautiful Georgian auditorium at Bristol Old Vic.
“…headily ambitious…technically and visually a treat…” The Guardian on Hotel Methuselah ! Early Bird Offer you book before if £10/£8 tickets 3rd April
Get Involved! imitating the dog workshop and seminar (see p.19)
Kellerman is the second collaboration between imitating the dog and Pete Brooks (Impact Theatre and Insomniac Productions) following the critically acclaimed Hotel Methuselah. Designed by Laura Hopkins, Sound by Neil Boynton
Supported by Arts Council England. Commissioned by ICIA, Bath, Nuffield Theatre, Lancaster and Cochrane Theatre, London. Also supported by Leeds Metropolitan University Gallery and Studio Theatre, Lantern House and Lancaster Institute for Contemporary Arts.
imitatingthedog.co.uk Tickets: £13/£11
If you like this, check out… The Weepers (Skutr), Of All The People In All the World (Stan’s Cafe)
Chris Goode The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley Tobacco Factory Theatre Tue 12th – Wed 13th, 8pm
Stan’s Cafe Home of the Wriggler Tobacco Factory Theatre Thur 14th – Fri 15th, 8pm
ultimately “A clever, entertaining and ingham Post moving piece of theatre.” Birm s most “Stan’s Cafe is one of the UK’ tre innovative and exciting thea Sunday on nt nde epe Ind ies.” compan
A new solo performance by “British theatre’s greatest maverick talent” (The Guardian).
Shirley is a teenage boy. He’s a dreamer, a bit of a loner, and a fan of desperately uncool pop music. He’s also hopelessly in love with a classmate at school who barely knows he exists. Then, one night, a mysterious figure moves into his ordinary surburban street. Wound Man is an unconventional superhero, who happens to have a vacancy for a teenage side-kick… The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley tells the story of two unlikely friends and the adventures they share. It combines intimate storytelling, animation and music into a comic-book, super-hero story about growing up and getting braver.
Over the last decade Chris Goode has created a diverse body of unpredictable work: from large-scale theatrebased projects to solo storytelling pieces. In 2008 he was winner of the Headlong/Gate Theatre New Directions Award for his radical rewiring of Chekhov in ...SISTERS. beescope.blogspot.com Get Involved! A Queer Up North and Ric Watts Post-show o-production, in association with Contact Theatre. discussion: Tue 12th Tickets £9/£6
If you like this, check out… John Moran… and his Neighbour Saori and The Middle Bit (Edward Rapley)
In a disused factory, away from the raging weather, a team of investigators unravel the threads of a thousand people’s stories to ask who are the people who make the sandwiches, who cut the hair, who teach the kids, of those who shape the parts of the cars that fill our roads. Full of humour and with a haunting conclusion, Home of the Wriggler examines how our personal fates are entwined, for better or worse, with an industrial heritage, in a volatile global economy, on a warming planet. All of the light and sound in this show is generated by the cast, live on stage, using a range of ageing technologies.
You can also see Stan’s Cafe’s unique performanceinstallation Of All the People in All the World at Bridewell Island between 14th and 16th May (see p. 14). stanscafe.co.uk Tickets: £9/£6
If you like this, check out… Kellerman (imitating the dog), Of All the People in All the World (Stan’s Cafe)
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By doing no more than making abstract statistics tangible and placing them in careful relation to each other, Stan’s Cafe create a powerful work of art. It is politically engaged, subtly witty, diverting, shocking, humane and deeply moving. Stan’s Cafe is a theatre company based in Birmingham whose witty and provocative work has been cropping up in unusual settings since 1999. They are one of the UK’s most successful international touring companies. You can also see Stan’s Cafe perform Home of the Wriggler at the Tobacco Factory on Thur 14th and Fri 15th May. stanscafe.co.uk Free Opening Times: 12pm – 7pm Location: Bridwell Island, Bridewell Street, Bristol, BS1 2DL If you like this, check out… Home of the Wriggler (Stan’s Cafe) and My World is Empty Without You (Duncan Speakman)
Photo: Richard Anderson
For this beautifully simple performance Stan’s Cafe are bringing 989kg of rice to Bristol, a grain for everyone in the country. Over the course of four days, a vast array of human statistics will be carefully weighed out in rice and arranged beside each other in labelled piles.
“Stan’s Cafe’s Of All the Peo ple astonishing, an installation-cuin All the World is from one of our most tireless m-performance companies” The Guardian ly inventive theatre “Wonderful” The Times ## ## Everyone born today All the millionaires in the country The population of Bristol Everyone in Britain who is HIV positive All the country’s dentists People who were murdered last year The population of Iraq People without clean water in Chad Members of the Labour Party Everyone on Death Row The capacity of Old Trafford Victims of The Somme UK registered Deaf Blind Everyone who’s swum the channel People who have died in space
Stan’s Cafe Of All the People in All the World Bridewell Island Thur 14th – Sat 16th, 12pm – 7pm
Duncan Speakman My World is Empty Without You A secret location in central Bristol Thur 14th – Sat 16th, 6pm What happens when everyone in the city is listening to the same song?
Wearing headphones, the audience travels across the city, an immersive soundtrack filling their ears, turning the world around into a poignant and personal cinema. As strangers drift past you and events unfold it becomes harder to separate the staged and the real. Exploring ideas of social disconnection in the age of the iPod; part love song, part theatre… My World is Empty Without You will leave marks in your heart.
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My World is Empty Without You is a development of Duncan Speakman’s piece of the same name shown at Mayfest 2008.
Commissioned by Mayfest, supported by Arnolfini and developed at the Pervasive Media Studio.
Tickets: £9/£6 Location: A secret location in central Bristol (full details when booking). Limited capacity. Advance booking strongly recommended. Book through Bristol Old Vic. Door sales cash only (subject to availability). Dress for the weather! If you like this, check out… Black Tonic (The Other Way Works)
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Fresh from a hugely successful run at 2008’s Edinburgh Fringe, we welcome Skutr, a brilliant young Czech company with a thrilling blend of music, dance and physical theatre. Weep-songs are traditional Slavic songs for the dead. Skutr use this tradition as the basis for The Weepers, bringing the world of their great-grandfathers crashing together with contemporary central European life. Plunge headlong into the bitter-sweet territory of childhood games, courtships, broken hearts and age-old hopes. Tickets £9/£6 If you like this, check out… Polaris (Adriatic), Anima (Tmesis).
atre ments of physical the “Full of delightful mo to the sh tti ue coq lly ica ranging from the com ### l” Fringe Review ## astoundingly physica the theatre changed” “Captivating…I left # Three Weeks #### of beauty” ng “The Weepers is a thi ## ## es Tim Financial shadows al sparring that leave dent “Flurries of emotion en ep Ind they are over” in the air long after
On Little Bu lb Fringe First ’s Crocosmia: W Total Theatr inner 08 e “A gorgeous Award Winner 08 hour full of gentle quirks and affe Metro ## ctionate oddities” ###
Little Bulb Theatre H.E.L.P/H.O.P.E Bristol Old Vic Basement Fri 15th, 9.30pm
Skutr The Weepers
Bristol Old Vic Theatre Royal Fri 15th, 8pm Sat 16th, 2.30pm & 8pm
ley Edward Rap Bit The Middle Studio Bristol Old Vic m p Fri 15th, 6.30 The Middle Bit is an unfulfilled promise, a good intention, a hollow gesture. It’s breakfast to bedtime, neither here nor there, it could try harder, it couldn’t care less. Can someone tell me what I’m supposed to do? The second part of a trilogy that begins with 10 Ways To Die On Stage and ends with everyone dying.
Some months ago now, I lost sight of what my dream was. I thought I wanted to be a performer, only now I was one, it was just more stuff – just another way of passing the time – and most of all it was just as difficult as everything else. In search of meaning in my life I tried to join the UN, but of course they didn’t need me, instead I started to make this show, and that’s when things went really wrong… Edward Rapley is a member of Residence.org.uk and is an Arnolfini Associate Artist. Previous work includes 10 Ways to Die On Stage. edwardrapley.co.uk Developed in association with Mayfest
Tickets: £9/£6 16
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“One of the most darkly funny, tension-managed performances this noble reviewer has ever seen. Seek him out.” Venue
Being made redundant is never easy, especially in a time of financial crises, political apathy and global meltdown! Yet amidst this sorry state of affairs two unassuming candidates find themselves the unlikely heroes of a revolution. A really important revolution! But they can’t do it alone… Inspired by a certain “audacity of hope” and the helping hand of a stranger, you could find yourself just a hairs breadth away from serious and lasting change.
Little Bulb are a critically acclaimed emerging company based in Canterbury. Their previous show, Crocosmia, was a smash hit at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe. This is a workin-progress performance of a new work. littlebulbtheatre.com
p a l r e Ov Tickets: £6
Bristol Old Vic Studio Sat 16th, Doors 3pm
Two cities – Bristol and London. Two theatre studios – 118 miles apart. Two festivals, Mayfest and BURST. As Mayfest draws to a close in Bristol, the BURST festival at BAC in London springs to life, and for one day they will be connected. Wander into the Studio at Bristol Old Vic and experience a unique performance-installation in which audiences and artists from Bristol and London will be able to acknowledge one another, collaborate, entertain and make friends… Doors open 3pm, with scratch performances at 5pm, 7pm & 9pm. Artists TBC, visit mayfestbristol.co.uk for details. A Pay What You Can event. Door sales only.
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Get Involved Pre-show Supper Tobacco Factory Theatre Foyer Tue 5th, 7pm
Celebrate our first night at the Tobacco Factory by joining us for an informal pre-show supper in the theatre foyer, with discounted drinks all evening. New local chippy Fishminster is sponsoring the event by offering anyone who presents their ticket for that evening’s performance of John Moran… a 15% discount off any meal purchased between 6.30pm and 8.30pm. (Salads, sarnies and other forms of takeaway are, of course, welcome…)
John Moran Post-Show Music Tobacco Factory Theatre Foyer Wed 6th, post-show, free
Limited Words: Graphic Landscapes in Cine-Theatre – Andrew Quick Bristol Old Vic Studio Mon 11th, 6.30pm, Free
This presentation will explore the ways in which the visual ‘look’ of cinematic and graphic novel based narrative structures have impacted on contemporary multi-media performance. Taking the work of imitating the dog and paying particular attention to their performance of Kellerman, Andrew Quick describes how new technologies are changing the ways in which we make and encounter contemporary theatre.
Dr. Andrew Quick is a founding member of imitating the dog, and teaches at Lancaster University. He is author of The Wooster Group Workbook (Routledge).
John Moran and Saori will be playing some music in the bar after their show on Wed 6th, so grab a drink and listen up.
A Word Unbecoming Flesh: Beyond Text, Across Media event, supported by the Bristol Institute for Research into the Arts and Humanities, University of Bristol.
Post-Show Discussions Inspector Sands, Fri 8th, Free, Bristol Old Vic Chris Goode, Tue 12th, Free, Tobacco Factory
Bristol England’s first cycling city so we thought why not hold a Tour de Mayfest on the final day of the festival. It’s a busy day and we’ll need some sustenance, so meet at the Tobacco Factory to pick up your packed lunch, and then we’ll see the sights in convoy. Taking in Of All the People in All the World, Overlap, My World is Empty Without You and finishing at Bristol Old Vic for The Weepers, we’ll see a whole day’s worth of theatre for just £20/£15 including lunch.
There’ll also be music after other selected performances throughout the festival so keep an eye on our website for updates.
Stick around after the show for some inspiring discussions with our visiting artists.
Creative Drop-in for Kids The Paper Cinema Bristol Old Vic Paintshop Sat 9th, 11am – 1pm, Free
This drop-in session is an opportunity for children to bring their drawings to life, with help from The Paper Cinema. this will be a fun-filled session for both kids and parents followed by their latest show King Pest and Night Flyer at 2.30pm (see p. 9).
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Get Your Hands Dirty: Artists Workshops and Talks for
mayfestbristol.co.uk
Tour de Mayfest Meeting point: Tobacco Factory Theatre Sat 16th, 12pm
Bikes not provided, dress for the weather. Children must be accommpanied by an adult. Limited capacity. Book in advance through Bristol Old Vic Box Office.
Long Form Improvisation Techniques Cartoon de Salvo Tobacco Factory Theatre Studio Fri 8th, 1.30pm – 4.30pm, £10 (book through Tobacco Factory Theatre Box Office) A unique opportunity to participate in a hands-on workshop from the UK pioneers of long-form improvisation – Cartoon de Salvo.
In order to keep stories going we need to invest in character, ‘playing for real’, location and ensemble. This workshop will be rooted in Keith Johnston’s basic impro techniques, but will also explore where stories come from. It will be challenging, safe and fun. Visit mayfestbristol.co.uk for further details.
Interactive Technologies imitating the dog Theatre 2, Dept. of Drama, University of Bristol Wed 13th, 2pm – 5pm, £15 (book through Bristol Old Vic Box Office)
imitating the dog’s work uses filmic landscapes within a theatrical setting and the tools of video and projection to create fantastical worlds. This half-day workshop will provide participants with the skills and inspiration to engage with texts and technologies in a similar way. Participants will work with blue screen and experiment with changing filmic backgrounds and live image manipulation.
The Generator: Starting Points Tobacco Factory Theatre Studio Fri 15th, 1.30pm – 4.30pm, Free
Mayfest is delighted that the Tobacco Factory is bringing you the first of its Generator sessions as part of this year’s festival, providing opportunities for local artists to learn from and be inspired by each other through exchanging tools and strategies for making work. For the first session, led by an experienced practitioner, artists making visual, physical and experimental work are being invited to share the games and exercises they use to get the creative process started. This session is free. To find out more and to book a place, please contact Carrie on 0117 902 0345 or email theatre@tobaccofactory.com
Artist Breakfasts at Start The Bus
kes, or aspires to make If you’re an artist who ma for coffee, croissants us professional theatre join … ion uss disc ly live and
How To… know when you’ve had a good idea and what to do about it in a cruel, cruel world Adam Gent, Tanuja Amarasuriya, Katie Keeler, Theatre Bristol Wed 6th, 10am – 12pm, Free
Do you have a brilliant idea that the world doesn’t know about? Do you kill off your ideas the minute you start talking about them and before they’ve had chance to grow? Are you waiting for the world to knock at your door? Well, it might, but in the meantime, join the Theatre Bristol Producers to talk about good ideas, how to articulate them and how to develop them further.
How To… go international Andrew Jones, British Council Wed 13th, 11am – 1pm, Free
From networking and the initial approach to promoters through to the wider artistic and practical considerations involved, this session aims to provide a warts and all overview of international touring and the ways UK practitioners can maximise the opportunities to present their work overseas. Andrew Jones is currently a Drama and Dance Adviser for the British Council; specifically working in Central & Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and Central Asia. Prior to joining the Council, Andrew was Co-Artistic Director of the multi-award winning Volcano Theatre Company. Start The Bus, 7-9 Baldwin Street, Bristol BS1 1RU startthebus.tv
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Let Your Hair Down…
Specialist food Specialist food outlet and o utlet a nd café café é Seafood local meats ggame ame bakery baker y products products and and patisserie llocal, ocal, oorganic rganic aand nd ppremium remium IItalian talian ffruit ruit and vvegetables egetables a wide wide range range of of high high quality quality meals meals to to takeaway in house patisserie tak eaway wild mushrooms cheese c cakes preorder celebration cak es breakfast b meeting vvenue enue outside catering licenced bar ar and cafe
The Invisible Circus Carny Ville The Island, Silver Street, BS1 Sat 2nd – Sun 3rd, 8pm – late
Tickets from Bristol Ticket shop. bristolticketshop.co.uk The Island, Silver Street, Bristol, BS1 2PY
Keda Breeze Presents Hoochie Coochie Jesters Comedy Club Thur 14th, doors 7.30pm, show starts at 9pm, dancing until 2am Hoochie Coochie is an exiting arts event with a cutting edge approach to cabaret. It features outstanding performers from a multitude of genres, and gives a new platform to many disciplines. Hoochie Coochie will feature Empress Stah, who is widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest cabaret performers. myspace.com/hoochiecoochieburlesque Tickets: £7-£15 Jesters, 135-137 Cheltenham Road, Bristol, BS6 5RR
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n Photo: Richard Anderso
Carny Ville returns to set the city centre ablaze once again. The Invisible Circus invite you to embrace the fool within at this anarchic pantomime of degradation and delight. Dredging up the murky world of carnivals and funfairs past Carny Ville is a gaudy cocktail of clashing colours, peeling paint, flickering lights and faded glitz, populated by weird and wonderful characters to lead you astray. invisiblecircus.co.uk
Café open Mon-Sat 8am-5pm am-5pm Tues-Sat Shop open T ues-Sat 9am-6pm am-6pm
TTaste, aste, 1-3 Exchange Avenue, St Nicholas Market, Market, Bristol TTel: eel: 0117 9272998 Web: Web: www.taste.gb.com www.taste.gb.com om
l Offer! Specia our % off y on Get 10 fe a C aste bill at T tion of a ta n e pres (p.3). r Taste ticket fo d 5th-16th ali Offer v 2009. May
Also at Bar Barrow row Gur Gurney, ney, on the A38 south of Bristol, just 300 metres south of Bar Barrow row Gurney Gur ney traffic lights and two miles from Bristol ristol Lulsgate Inter International national Air Airport. por t. FFree, ree, easy par king, wheelchair access parking, Photography: Katr Katryn-katrynet@hotmail.com yn-katr ynet@hotmail.com
Bristol ENT Partnership www.entbristol.co.uk
Breathe a sigh of relief as Bristol ENT Partnership brings together three of Bristol’s leading ENT specialists. Are you suffering with chronic or acute ear nose or throat symptoms? If you are…let us help you. Bristol ENT Partnership provides comprehensive treatment of all ear, nose and throat symptoms including:
adenoid swelling tonsillitis nose bleeds hearing disorders ear pain throat pain salivary, parotid and thyroid gland disorders reflux cosmetic nose reshaping cosmetic ear pinning sinus surgery sleep apnoea snoring tinnitus balance disorders vertigo voice disorders nasal polyps paediatric and adult ENT disorders
For more information or to book an appointment please contact Emmie on 0117 9734111, visit www.entbristol.co.uk or e-mail us on info@entbristol.co.uk
! s r e f f O t e k c i T
Diary
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Fri
Bristol Old Vic Studio Bristol Old Vic Theatre Royal
Sat
Opening Party 7.30pm – late
Sun
Taste 2pm – 7pm
Mon
Taste 2pm – 7pm
Tue
Wed
Thur
Fri
Sat
Sun
Adriatic 8pm
Adriatic 8pm
Adriatic 8pm
Inspector Sands 8pm
Inspector Sands 8pm
Bric a Brac 2pm Soap Soup 3.45pm HONK 8pm
Opening Party 7.30pm – late
Ontroerend Ontroerend Goed Goed 2pm–10pm 2pm–10pm The Paper Cinema 9.30pm
Bristol Old Vic Paintshop Taste 2pm – 7pm
Bristol Old Vic Basement
John Moran 9pm
Tmesis 8pm
John Moran 9pm
Cartoon de Salvo 8pm
Cartoon de Salvo 8pm
Wed
Andrew Quick Seminar 6.30pm
imitating the dog 8pm
imitating the dog 8pm
Tinned Fingers 6pm
Tinned Fingers 6pm
Chris Goode 8pm
Cartoon de Salvo 8pm
Orbita 6pm
The Other Way Works 2pm, 3pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm
The Other Way Works 2pm, 3pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm
Fri
Sat
Edward Rapley 6.30pm
Overlap 3pm – 9pm
Skutr 8pm
imitating the dog 8pm
Skutr 2.30pm 8pm
Orbita 6pm
The Other Way Works 2pm, 3pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm
The Other Way Works 2pm, 3pm, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm
Chris Goode 8pm
Little Bulb 9.30pm
Stan’s Cafe Stan’s Cafe Tour de (Wriggler) (Wriggler) Mayfest 12pm 8pm 8pm
Top of the World 1pm, 6pm
Top of the World 2pm, 6pm
imitating the dog Early Bird Offer # Get £10 tickets if you book before 6th April.
Other Special Offers # Buy a ticket for imitating the dog and get into Tinned Fingers on the same day for £5 # See Soap Soup Theatre and Bric-a-Brac Productions for £10 (usually £8 each) # See Edward Rapley and Skutr on Friday 15th for £12 (usually £9 each) # See Inspector Sands and The Paper Cinema for £12 (usually £9 each)
k o o B o t w o H
imitating the dog workshop 2pm – 5pm
Artist Breakfast 11am– 1pm
Bristol Old Vic Box Office 0117 987 7877 10am – 6pm Monday – Friday Book online at bristololdvic.org.uk King Street, Bristol, BS1 4ED
A 50p transaction fee applies to all credit/debit card bookings and £2 for online bookings.
Stan’s Cafe Stan’s Cafe Stan’s Cafe 12pm– 12pm– 12pm– 7pm 7pm 7pm Artist Breakfast 10am– 12pm
Festival Multi-Buy # Book four different Mayfest shows in one transaction for £30/£20 concession. Offer applies to shows priced at £9/£6 only.
All offers subject to availability.
Carnyville Carnyville Carnyville 9pm – late 9pm – late 9pm – late
Bridewell Island
Thur
Tmesis 8pm
Wickham Theatre
Other
Tue
John & Jim John & Jim 9.30pm 9.30pm
Taste 2pm – 7pm
Tobacco Factory Theatre Circomedia
The Paper Cinema 2.30pm 9.30pm
Mon
Duncan Duncan Speakman Speakman 6pm 6pm Hoochie Coochie 9pm–late
Duncan Speakman 6pm
For The Other Way Works, Tmesis, Top of the World, Orbita and Duncan Speakman, book in advance through Bristol Old Vic Box Office. Some tickets may be available for cash only on the door (subject to availability). All events at the Tobacco Factory Theatre 0117 902 0344 10am – 6.30pm Monday – Saturday tickets@tobaccofactory.com Book online at tobaccofactory.com Raleigh Road, Southville, Bristol, BS3 1TF
Card Handling Fee of 50p for 1 ticket or £1 for 2 or more tickets applies for all card transactions. There is a £2.50 fee per transaction for online bookings.
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