A summer collection for curious audiences

a summer collection for curious audiences

OVALHOUSE 20 may – 27 july 2014

This season we’ve invited some amazing artists to create work especially for us, as well as collecting together the most exciting, shocking and daring new theatre we could find.

We hope you can join us to come and spend some of your summer exploring our new collection!

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h ork at t BiTES: w T S turns iR F w nal tour: HEART re Five ne mmission to a natio co ed se se ou alh From an Ov Full-length versions of you r favourites from previo us seasons Two pow erful ne w commis A trip sions ex le bil ploring ‘ l o The Oth f f I Am abulo er 1914’ us ne You w r Ne Q u eer c ighb omm our ission : ou s r sit e-sp ecifi c Cr eati ve Y out h Fe stiv al

Ovalhouse Downstairs Tues 20 – Sat 24 May 7.30pm Ovalhouse and Jamie Wood present

O NO!

By Jamie Wood in collaboration with Wendy Hubbard and Dominic Kennedy

When John Lennon fell in love with Yoko Ono the world was shocked. When John and Yoko claimed that their love was politics and art, the world squirmed. When Lennon was assassinated the world mourned.

Following the success of last year's Beating McEnroe, Jamie Wood returns to Ovalhouse to share a first draft of his new show.

Playing amongst the enigmatic instructions of Yoko Ono's art works, in the shadow of Lennon's death, O NO! is a psychedelic ride, a wonky homage to the woman damned for destroying the Beatles. A show about reckless optimism, high art and what we might yet have to learn from the hippies. jamiewood.org.uk | @jamieofthewood

Suitable for ages 12+

Supported by National Theatre Studio.

Photo by Jack Taylor Gotch

Ovalhouse Downstairs Tues 27 – Sat 31 May 7.30pm Tues 27 May: post-show Q&A with the cast & creative team Weds 28 May: post-show panel debate lead by three influential feminist speakers Is it time we remembered real?

Ovalhouse and Jackdaw present

TEN WOMEN Written and directed by Bethan Dear

The image of a hyper-sexualised, grossly exaggerated, objectified woman’s body is used to sell pretty much anything. We see it everywhere, all the time. It has become completely normal and incredibly powerful.

What if this view of women is trapping us? What if the way women are portrayed, what we are associated with and how we are told we should look, is feeding a culture of critique and self-hatred?

What if it’s damaging all of us, men and women?

Filling the stage at Ovalhouse with women, Jackdaw invites everyone – men, women, young and old – to join them to explore, remember and celebrate everything that makes us. jackdawtheatre.co.uk | @Jackdawtheatre

Contains adult themes and content.

Photo by Coco Moon Photography

Ovalhouse Downstairs Tues 3 – Sat 7 June 7.30pm Tues 3 June: post-show discussion with the creative team Thurs 5 June: post-show discussion with the Iran Heritage Foundation Fri 6 June: BSL interpreted performance and post-show Q&A Ovalhouse and ZENDEH present

HEART Written by Steven Gaythorpe | Directed by Nazli TabatabaiKhatambakhsh

An explosive mix of political thriller and passionate love story, ZENDEH’s new play HEART is inspired by the epic ancient Arabian love poem, Leili and Majnoun.

Set in 1950s Durham and Tehran, as a British and American orchestrated coup destabilises a nation, an intoxicating love triangle unravels. The characters, an Iranian woman, her English husband and her Syrian beau, tell their stories amongst the insistent urgency of newsreel and the rhythmic wit of poetry. zendeh.com | @ZENDEH_tweets

Weds 4 June HEART TAILS: tickets include a complimentary Persian Rose cocktail or Fentimans Rose lemonade on arrival.

HEART is developed with support from Northern Stage and Ovalhouse.

Ovalhouse Upstairs Weds 11 – Sat 14 June 7.45pm Ovalhouse and permanent red present a Theatre In The Mill commission

TRAvESTy Written and performed by Alex Swift | Directed by Jamie Wood “Don’t you don’t you wish that you never never met her?”

PJ Harvey You whose charm is easy and graceful. You for whom beauty comes effortlessly. You who refuse to squander your talent. You whose skin is without flaw. You who think well of others...

Welcome.

Travesty is a punked-up, broken-down drag show about man's inhumanity to woman. There'll be a guitar and some dancing of sorts. Probably she'll make a scene. She'll try to tell some stories, but I imagine she won't get very far. As best we can, we'll try to meet without our weapons... swiftalex.co.uk | @iamalexf

“I've been talking about it all week as a drag show featuring a lecture about gender and sexuality by Iggy Pop channelling Bette Davis shredding a guitar with a boxing glove. The best performance I have seen in months.”

Oli Conway, audience reaction to previous version of Travesty

Photo by Jessica Bearsden

Ovalhouse Upstairs Tues 17 – Sat 21 June 7.30pm Ovalhouse and Greg Wohead present

THE TEd BuNdy PROJEcT Made and performed by Greg Wohead

In November 2012, Greg stumbled upon the confession tapes of Ted Bundy, the American serial killer, rapist and necrophile. He couldn't stop listening.

The Ted Bundy Project was born from a curiosity about the nature of charm, the label of 'monster' and the tension between attraction and repulsion.

Greg has a wig, a bit of rope, a few YouTube videos and Bundy's confession tapes. Come hear what he has to say to you. @gregwohead | gregwohead.com

16+ This performance contains extreme images and graphic, violent subject matter.

A Contact Flying Solo Commission developed at Ovalhouse, Bristol Old Vic Ferment and the Orchard Project.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Photo by Rod Farry

Ovalhouse Downstairs Tues 17 – Sat 21 June 8.45pm Ovalhouse and Christopher Brett Bailey present

THIS IS HOW WE dIE Written and performed by Christopher Brett Bailey

Tales of paranoia, young love and ultra-violence... a spiralling odyssey of pitch-black humour and nightmarish prose.

Savage, surreal, hypnotic and apocalyptic, THIS IS HOW WE DIE blends spoken word, storytelling, caustic humour and gutter philosophy into a dizzying exorcism of a world that is convinced it is dying.

With echoes of Lenny Bruce, William Burroughs, Beat poetry and B-movies, THIS IS HOW WE DIE is a prime slice of surrealist trash and a blood-soaked love letter to the depraved, the depressed and the death-obsessed. @ct_bailey | christopherbrettbailey.com

“A glorious piece of grindhouse grotesque” Three Weeks HHHHH

An Ovalhouse Commission.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Developed with support from The Basement, Cambridge Junction and Norwich Arts Centre as part of East By South East.

Image by Julián Martínez Millá

Ovalhouse Upstairs Ovalhouse presents a co-commission with Theatre in The Mill and Pink Fringe

Weds 25 – Sat 28 June 7.45pm

TRANSfORMINg STORIES: A triple bill I'd LIkE TO TELL yOu ABOuT THIS

By Lucy Hutson Lucy has been practicing breast binding for years.

She’s interested in its associations with sex, safety and secrecy.

She’s interested in how it affects people’s lives, relationships and sense of self. She's interested in a ritual that can transform a person. And she’d like to talk to you about it. @lucy_hutson | lucyhutson.com

cAfé SALOMé

By DeNada Dance Theatre | Choreographer Carlos Pons Guerra A fantasia of ham and sequins, Café Salomé is a dingy, Spanish Civil War cabaret, where a feisty troupe of female impersonators fight the advance of fascism through a seductive, riotous show of the kitschiest flamenco – hiding from the impending fear of intolerance behind the guise of 1930's divas. @CarlosPons_G | denada-dance.com

ARTfuNSHAck (There be Dragons here but I carry something of you everywhere I go)

By Evan Ifekoya ARtFUnSHACK is a fast moving and interactive art show hosted by Evan. Expect eye-catching visuals and tips for making fun stuff out of rubbish. Evan can’t always maintain the role and sometimes slips up. By weaving together video, performance and the words of queer heroes, tales of a queer reality seep through. @evan_ife | evanifekoya.co.uk

Ovalhouse presents The Other 1914 seed commissions: two new pieces that tell the unwritten histories from the year that changed the world forever, and take true events as their starting point.

Ovalhouse Downstairs Tues 1 – Sat 5 July 7.30pm Ovalhouse and Zoe Palmer present

fOSTERLINg

By Zoe Palmer

1914. An orphan is delivered to a new life in a remote village in Yorkshire. With a haunting and powerful vocal score for A cappella female voices, Fosterling is a remarkable story of love, loss and redemption based on true events in the lives of Mary Drysdale and Elsa, the child she chose to raise against all odds against the backdrop of impending war.

Ovalhouse Downstairs Tues 8 – Sat 12 July 7.30pm Preview Tues 8 July Ovalhouse and StrongBack Productions present

cHIggER fOOT BOyS

By Pat Cumper

Love, duty, death and dominoes makes for an intoxicating cocktail in Chigger Foot Boys.

Based on true events in the lives of Jamaicans who fought in World War One and set amid the banter in a rum bar near Kingston Harbour, three young men tell their stories of death and glory as the end of the British Empire looms. @PatriciaCumper | patriciacumper.com

Ovalhouse Upstairs Weds 2 – Sat 5 July 7.45pm Ovalhouse and Barker & Larkin in association with Tobacco Factory and Nightingale Theatre present

THE AyN LAdy Written and performed by Emma Kilbey, with Henry Garrett | Director and dramaturge Caroline Hunt

Who was Ayn Rand – and why do her questionable beliefs still resonate so strongly today? What’s the impact of a powerful life lived without empathy?

Barker & Larkin attempt to crack through the Russian-doll layers of this self-styled individualist, author and philosopher.

Expect thorny issues, heartbreak, humour and accents. Spaseeba! @EmmaKilbey | emmakilbey.com

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Photo by Paul Blakemore

Ovalhouse Upstairs Weds 9 – Sat 12 July 7.45pm Ovalhouse and Seiriol Davies present

HOW TO WIN AgAINST HISTORy

By Seiriol Davies

The 5th Marquis of Anglesey burned brightly, briefly and transvestitely at the end of the 19th Century, blowing his family's colossal fortune on diamond frocks, lilac-dyed poodles and putting on simply amazing plays to which nobody came. After he died at 29, his family burned every record of him, and carried on as though he never was.

How to Win Against History is a hilarious, ripped-up musical about expectations, manliness, disappointment and being totally fabulous. A frothy, glossy costume drama about the stories we tell to convince ourselves it's all going well, and the moments we realise it’s not. @seirioldavies

“Every time I've seen Seiriol on the circuit I get excited, his ideas are always exquisite and it's always coming at something from an angle I didn't see coming.”

Bryony Kimmings

Ovalhouse Upstairs Tues 15 – Sat 19 July 7.45pm Ovalhouse and Move To Stand in association with LittleMighty present

fAT MAN

By Martin Bonger

Orpheus is doing stand-up for the gods.

A sharp new take on a classic Greek myth, this is a bitterly funny story of love, loss and eating your way out of grief. As the audience are transformed into the gods of legend, will Orpheus ever escape his past?

The award-winning Move to Stand are back with a black comedy that bridges the everyday with the celestial.

Martin Bonger (NIE’s North North North, The Plasticine Men’s Keepers) delivers a gripping solo performance. There might even be a song. @MovetoStand | movetostand.co.uk

“Heart and substance… A joy to experience.” Total Theatre (on previous show The Collision of Things)

An Ovalhouse Commission.

Photo by Alex Brenner

OvALHOuSE cREATIvE yOuTH EVENTS Sun 20 – Sun 27 July I AM yOuR NEIgHBOuR Truth about Youth’s next project is an exciting week-long festival of events in venues across Brixton. Bringing together communities to celebrate the artistic works of young people in south London, the festival will include spoken word evenings, community art workshops, dancing in the street, plays inside people’s houses and much more!

CLASSES & WORKSHOPS TRuTH ABOuT yOuTH is now recruiting for Drama for 13-18 year olds and Dance for 13-18 year olds.

Contact naomi.shoba@ovalhouse.com for more information.

23 April – 21 May & 4 June – 16 July, Weds 4.30 - 6pm PIck&MIx A new project for children aged 8-12 years from south London who are young carers, in care or are at risk of being placed into care.

Places are free, available through referral only.

Contact emily.doherty@ovalhouse.com for more information.

NEWS Young migrants from Ovalhouse’s Paper Project will be performing at the V&A Museum of Childhood as part of the New Voices Festival on 21 June. Find out more at www.refugeeweek.org.uk @TAYLondon1 | truthaboutyouthlondon.wordpress.com For more information on all events: ovalhouse.com/under26

JuMP OuT Of A PLANE fOR OvALHOuSE!

Wanted: fearless, adventurous, heroes...

Ever wanted to plummet through the air from 10,000 feet reaching speeds of up to 120mph? Then Ovalhouse can help you (while you help us)! We would love you to be one of the first people to jump out of a plane to raise money for Ovalhouse! We’ve teamed up with the events company Skyline to enable us to offer you the chance to parachute FOR FREE! Rather keep your feet on the ground? There are many more treks and challenges that you can throw yourself into to raise funds for Ovalhouse, from cycling to Paris to trekking in China.

Go on... take up a challenge for Ovalhouse. Get in touch today!

Find out more at ovalhouse.com/support or contact the fundraising team: fundraising@ovalhouse.com | 020 7820 7273

dIARy 20 – 24 May

O NO! by Jamie Wood (FiRST BiTES)

27 – 31 May

TEN WOMEN by Jackdaw (FiRST BiTES)

3 – 7 June

HEART by ZENDEH

11 – 14 June

Travesty by Alex Swift (FiRST BiTES)

17 – 21 June

The Ted Bundy Project by Greg Wohead

17 – 21 June

THIS IS HOW WE DIE by Christopher Brett Bailey

25 – 28 June

Transforming Stories triple bill

1 – 5 July

Fosterling by Zoe Palmer

2 – 5 July

The Ayn Lady by Emma Kilbey (FiRST BiTES)

8 – 12 July

Chigger Foot Boys by Pat Cumper

9 – 12 July

How To Win Against History by Seiriol Davies (FiRST BiTES)

15 – 19 July

Fat Man by Martin Bonger

20 – 27 July

I Am Your Neighbour: Creative Youth festival

*SEASON OffER Book for 2 or more shows and receive 25% off your order.

Ovalhouse 52-54 kennington Oval, London SE11 5SW Box office 020 7582 7680 | Book online ovalhouse.com Tickets £10 / £6 concessions Preview all tickets £6 FiRST BiTES all tickets £5 Our series of work-in-development giving you the opportunity to see an idea in its earlier stages and share your feedback with the theatre-makers.

SPECIAL OFFER See THIS IS HOW WE DIE and The Ted Bundy Project on the same night for just £12. Discount applied at checkout.

SEASON OFFER Book for 2 or more shows in our summer 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 Theatre Bar Our Theatre Bar and Pop-up Garden is open throughout our summer season from 6pm for hot and cold bar service, snacks and ice creams.

Access Ovalhouse Downstairs, Gallery, Bar and Garden @ovalhouse

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Ovalhouse (Christ Church [Oxford] United Clubs) is a registered charity no. 2888931