S GOD GODS & MONSTERS
MON-
S STER
GODS &m
mMONSTERS Bears, vampires, explorers. Journeys in search of elusive certainty. Belief systems that sit on the border between imagination and reality. GODS & MONSTERS is a season of adventures in live performance that asks which is which; and why, even in an age of twenty-four hour news and online shopping, both gods and monsters seem so essential to the way we see ourselves. Rebecca Atkinson-Lord and Rachel Briscoe Directors of Theatre, Ovalhouse
Ovalhouse Upstairs 14 May – 1 June, Tues-Sat 8pm Preview 14 May Ovalhouse and Arch 468 present
CUDDLES By Joseph Wilde | Directed by Rebecca Atkinson-Lord Eve is a 13 year old vampire. She has never left her room and everything she knows about the world and herself comes from what her sister Tabby has told her. Eve lives in a world without sunlight. A world where Harry Potter, Bilbo Baggins and the cast of Dante’s Inferno are real; where princes called Charming and Valiant seduce beautiful princesses against the odds. A world crammed full of story book characters but with just one living, breathing human being to cuddle. Eve does everything a good little vampire girl should, including drinking her (human) sister’s blood. But one day, Tabby tires of opening her veins and, in a breath, the whole world changes. Cuddles is the stunning debut play from Capital Award-winning young playwright Joseph Wilde. arch468.com | @BexArch468
“Arch 468 is a laboratory for incubating the theatre of the future” Evening Standard
Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
photo by Alex Beckett
Ovalhouse Downstairs 21 May – 8 June, Tues-Sat 7.45pm Previews 21 & 22 May Tues 28 May Post-show discussion with the creative team Weds 5 June BSL interpreted performance Angela Clerkin in co-production with Improbable, in association with Ovalhouse present
THE BEAR Directed by Lee Simpson, Co-Artistic Director Improbable Performed by Angela Clerkin and Guy Dartnell, Improbable Associate Artists Designed by Rae Smith and Lucy Sierra He's on trial for murdering his wife's lover. She's the clerk for his defence team – just there to take notes. He tells her, "It wasn't me. The Bear did it." She thinks he's lying or mad, but looks at the evidence anyway. And there it is. The Bear. Someone else saw it. Angela, the solicitor's clerk, finds herself investigating a murder and hunting a bear. Till she discovers that The Bear is hunting her. A noir thriller about an everyday murder and a mythic bear. Improbable.co.uk | @AngelaClerkin | @Improbable1
"Improbable... is one of the most energising and provocative forces in British theatre" The Guardian “War Horse was beautifully designed by Rae Smith” New York Times
Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Illustration by The Red Dress
Ovalhouse Upstairs 4 – 22 June, Tues-Sat 8pm Previews 4 & 5 June Post-show panel debates: 13 June Travel and Theatre 18 June Solo Theatre and Society Ovalhouse and Nick Field present
ADVENTURE/ MISADVENTURE Written and performed by Nick Field | Directed by Rachel Mars Nick Field has chased geishas, discoed with Buddhist monks and travelled to the ends of the earth, all in pursuit of a freedom that constantly seems – quite literally – over the next horizon. With darkly funny tales of crap jobs, relationship disasters and intrepid exploration, Nick journeys from romanticism to reality and back again to question where we can really find freedom. A trip of a lifetime told through a megamix of theatre, rollerskating and a dash of surrealism. Accompanied by a live score of puckish rediscovered pop classics performed on the harp; explorers welcome. nickfieldpoetic.co.uk | @Nickfieldartist
Nick Field is an Ovalhouse Associate Artist.
Co-produced by Ovalhouse, with support from Pink Fringe. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery though Arts Council England.
Photo by Holly McGlynn
Ovalhouse Downstairs 11 – 29 June, Tues-Sat 7.45pm Previews 11 & 12 June Ovalhouse and Amaara Raheem present
SHIELD By Amaara Raheem and Collaborators Shield is a contemporary tale about three voyages of discovery. The first, a historical legend about a Great Explorer, the second, a personal memoir concerning National Sorry Day and the third, a psychological experiment that could forever change your understanding of love. Shield is a cross-art collaboration with musician, Tobias Sturmer, who fuses various world-music traditions with contemporary sound art. Combining dance, story-telling, live music, costume and filmscapes Shield is a humorous, physical and delicate journey to a fragile land, where identity, diversity and love are re-imagined. amaararaheem.blogspot.co.uk
"Raheem’s work contains a quiet beauty that doesn't hide from difficult questions, but rather moves them into the body, simultaneously conveying rawness and profound craft." Bronwyn Lay, Creative Director Australia Festival/Festival Australie, France 2012
AN OVALHOUSE COMMISSION
Photo by Tobias Sturmer
Ovalhouse Third Space 24 & 25 May 8.15pm Ovalhouse and Greg Wohead present
THE TED BUNDY PROJECT Made and performed by Greg Wohead The Ted Bundy Project is a solo work-in-progress showing about Greg’s relationship to an American serial killer, rapist and necrophile: the famous Ted Bundy. A few months ago – late on a Thursday night – Greg stumbled across a video on YouTube: an interview with Ted Bundy the day before he was executed by electric chair. He couldn’t stop watching. The Ted Bundy Project is an exploration born of a curiosity about the nature of charm, the label of ‘monster’ and the tension between attraction and repulsion. gregwohead.com | @gregwohead
1 June 5.30pm Ovalhouse and Paper Tiger present
TARANIS A salon with readings of stories from our Associate Artists Paper Tiger and discussion with guest speakers Omar Waraich and James Bridle. Drone pilots clutching PS3 joysticks, watching images beamed in from thousands of miles away. Military training in fake villages populated by amputee actors. PTSD treated with 3D simulations. Afghani kids given wire-tapped mobile phones as British Army strategy. These aren't scenarios from science fiction, but the reality of contemporary 'war at a distance': all-seeing, all-knowing, godlike and monstrous. papertiger.org.uk | @papertigerprods
FREE EVENT
Illustration: Flying Machine by Leonardo da Vinci
Photo by Rod Farry
Ovalhouse 52-54 Kennington Oval, London SE11 5SW
Box office 020 7582 7680 Book online ovalhouse.com Tickets £14 / £8 concessions Previews all tickets £7 Under 26, Equity, BECTU £10 FiRST BiTES all tickets £5 SEASON OFFER Book for 2 or more shows in our GODS & MONSTERS season and receive 25% off your booking. Discount applied at checkout. Getting Here Nearest tube OVAL (Northern Line) or VAUXHALL (Victoria Line & BR) Buses 3, 36, 133, 155, 159, 185, 436 Car parking for disabled visitors only, on-street parking after 6.30pm Barclays Bike dock directly opposite, on Kennington Oval We are not in the congestion zone Access Ovalhouse Downstairs, Third Space, Gallery and Café Bar BSL interpreted performance: The Bear, Weds 5 June
@ovalhouse ovalhouse
Ovalhouse (Christ Church [Oxford] United Clubs) is a Registered Charity No. 288931
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