Autumn At ovAlhouse 4 oct - 23 Nov 2014
Light up your evenings with our wonderful
programme of exciting new theatre
Welcome to our autumn season 2014
ovalhouse takeover Sat 4 – Sun 5 october, 10.30am – late
Fun PAlAces ovalhouse’s Fun Palaces weekend is a glorious mix of FRee hands-on fun and theatrical encounters for both big and little people. there’ll be crafts, music, fun and games, theatre, art events, workshops, eating, discussions, chance encounters, dancing, science, improvising, cycling... and you are invited! (and did we mention it's all FRee?!) come along during the daytime and you could join in with Maths on Toast, help choreograph a dance performance, make a badge, write a protest song, or watch a fabulous new family show. In the evenings we’ve brought back some of our favourite theatre productions plus there’s late-night live music and DJs on Saturday night. check out our Fun Palaces web pages at ovalhouse.com for the full programme: you can sign up in advance for some events, or just turn up on the day for most of them. Artists and organisations contributing include Arch 468, Helen Arney, Rebecca Atkinson-Lord, Jonny Berliner, Box clever, Hannah Boyde, Daniel Bye, copa America, Daedalus, Seiriol Davies, Dirty Market, Eri okan Bloco, fanSHEN, Janine Fletcher, Hyperpotamus, Emma Jones, Kennington People on Bikes, Lab Notes, Lambeth Live Explosion, Matilda Leyser, carissa Hope Lynch, Jake orr, Andrew Pontzen, Sarah Punshon, Sophie Samson, Stockwell Good Neighbours, Boogaloo Stu, toot, We Are London, Jack Webb, Jamie Wood and Jamie Zubairi. Fun Palaces is a national initiative based on the ideas of Joan Littlewood and cedric Price and the notion Everyone an Artist, Everyone a Scientist. @FunPalaces | funpalaces.co.uk
photo by Sid Scott
illustration by Emily Medley
ovalhouse Downstairs 8 – 25 october, tues-Sat 7.30pm, except Sat 18 october 6.30pm Previews Weds 8 & thurs 9 october Arch 468 and ovalhouse present
milkmilklemonAde By Joshua conkel | Directed by Rebecca Atkinson-Lord
Emory and Linda are best friends. they spend their time choreographing dance numbers to earn them fame and fortune on Reach For The Stars. the only problem is Linda’s a chicken and they live on a chicken processing farm. Emory's chain-smoking Nanna wants him to get his head out of the clouds and make friends with Elliot, the boy down the road with a penchant for burning things. But Emory and Elliot already have a relationship – just not one Nanna would expect or approve of. the UK premiere of a bittersilly gender-bending comedy about growing up a bit weird. @Arch468 | Arch468.com "The acting is accurate and believable... it straddles the perfect line between hilarious and horrifying." HHHHH tim Macavoy for Sosogay.co.uk "Atkinson-Lord’s direction adds power to the already punchy dialogue." Jake orr for A Younger theatre (on Sluts of Sutton Drive by Joshua conkel) tickets £10 | £6 concessions Previews all tickets £6
photo by Alex Beckett
ovalhouse Upstairs Weds 15 – Sat 18 october 7.45pm An ovalhouse FiRSt BitES work-in-development
the view FRom down heRe By Kitty Withington | Directed by Jamie Jackson
In the flats where seventeen year old christie lives, nothing really changes and nobody ever leaves. She and her friend Danny spend their lives sitting in the stairwell, playing scratch cards in the hope of a big win. But when her love of drawing offers her another way out, and christie starts to imagine a life elsewhere, she realises she must face leaving the people she loves more than anything else. The View From Down Here is a play about being young, about love and friendship, moving on and standing still. @kittywithington
A commission by 33% London: our creative Youth programme that supports participants making the transition to professional work.
tickets £5
photo by Sjoerd Lammers
ovalhouse Upstairs Weds 22 – Sat 25 october 7.45pm ovalhouse presents a FiRSt BitES work-in-development double bill
hARd GRAFt By David Sheppeard Men used to make things, men used to make sense. A history that doesn't add up and a body that's never been strong enough; join David Sheppeard as he picks through the carcass of modern masculinity. Hard Graft takes you from the bottom of a mine shaft in South Wales, to a sleepy suburb on the south coast, in search of something 'authentic', something David is clearly not... @dsheppeard | davidsheppeard.co.uk
+ exPectAtions By Jamie Zubairi and Sioned Jones He’s an abstract artist tiring of the usual gay scene. She’s a figurative painter, over 40 and the alarm's ringing on her biological clock. What if they have more in common than Art? Embarrassment and hilarity ensue in an unexpected creative collaboration. Expectations is a work-in-development performance featuring live painting, music and a turkey baster. @jamiezoob | @arcatipro Jamie Zubairi is an ovalhouse Associate Artist. In collaboration with Arcati Productions Ltd.
tickets £6
photo by Spix.net
photo by Duncan Jarvies
ovalhouse third Space thurs 23 & Fri 24 october, hourly at 5-9pm & Sat 25 october, hourly at 2-8pm
you have to forgive me, you have to forgive me, you have to forgive me By Brian Lobel
In the words of carrie Bradshaw: “They say that the unexamined life is not a life worth living. But what if examining becomes our life: is that living, or just procrastinating?” you have to forgive me, you have to forgive me, you have to forgive me is a durational, one-to-one performance using Sex and The City to explore intimacy, isolation and the pervasive legacy of carrie Bradshaw ten years after going off television. Hop into bed with Brian to discover the effect of television and binge watching on our sex lives, on our psyches, and in our shoes. @blobelwarming | blobelwarming.com
Before the performance, you need to complete and bring a 94-question survey.
tickets pay what you can, advance booking required.
photo by Julia Bauer
ovalhouse Downstairs Weds 29 october 11am & 2.30pm
tony & mike or the country owl and the city Squirrel created by tom Frankland and Laura Mugridge
tony the owl lives in the countryside. He’s really happy in his little garden until Joe and charlotte turn up and ruin his peace and quiet. they’ve moved from the city for a quieter life and, to be honest, they’ve got no idea what they’re doing. to make matters worse, they’ve bought Mike the Squirrel with them. He’s loud, he’s cheeky and he likes to party. Featuring puppetry, original music, and a squirrel flying machine, this is a story about making friends, being different and why that’s oK. A new story, inspired by The Tale of the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, suitable for anyone aged 3 and over, but especially 4-7 year olds. @ItstonyandMike | tonyandmike.co.uk
“In every sense this is a quality production, a simple evocation of country life rich with an honest sense of joy...” HHHH David Pollock, the Scotsman
Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts council England.
tickets £10 | £6 concessions Family tickets £23 | £15 concessions
photo by Mark Dawson
ovalhouse Upstairs Weds 29 october – Sat 1 November 7.45pm ovalhouse presents a FiRSt BitES work-in-development double bill
leARninG how to die Written and performed by Luca Rutherford this is a show about death. Don’t let that put you off. It’s not a show about being sad. or about grief. or pity. this is a show about the actuality of dying and how an acceptance of our own mortality can drive a passion for life. Join Luca in Learning How To Die and it might just change the way you live. @LucaRutherford An ARc Stockton and ovalhouse commission.
+ we cAn see it FRom heRe By Another Place Written by Abigail Butler | Directed by Abigail Butler and Bella Riza thelma lives two lives: one with her husband Daryl, one with her friend Louise. With Louise, she slips into a fantasy world where their intense and obsessive friendship takes hold. Meanwhile, thelma is suffocating in the reality of her home. Borrowing from the 1991 road movie Thelma & Louise, We Can See It From Here is a hybrid performance of video and physical theatre. @itsanotherplace | youareinanotherplace.com
tickets £6
Photo by SĂŠbastien Dehesdin
photo by topher McGrillis Photography, Š Northern Stage
ovalhouse Downstairs Weds 5 – Sat 8 November 7.30pm ovalhouse and Dirty Market present
mRs hoRton’s FinGeR '‘I didn’t arrive here fully formed. I dragged and etched my way through the bracken, the Steppe, the rain forest, the winds of Antarctica, the clouds of Heaven and the sweet light of many dreams.’' 96-year-old Mrs Horton is quite content with her cats and a cactus for company but when her old friend gives her a magical hearing device, a cold, hard truth becomes clear. Mrs Horton’s world is ending – in fact the whole world as we know it is ending – and it’s time to wake up and pay attention because soon will come the most terrifying challenge of all… Employing their signature bricolage style, sumptuous visuals and live music, Dirty Market are developing their new show in response to the fabulous anarchic world of Surrealist genius Leonora carrington. A world where, in the face of aging, senility and death, rebellion, humour and a childlike heart are the order of the day. @Dirty_Market | dirtymarket.co.uk
“Dirty Market have a reputation for aesthetic verve and rigour and they don’t disappoint with this deliriously warped fairy tale.” time out HHHH (on Dirty Market’s Oxbow Lakes) Dirty Market are ovalhouse Associate Artists. An ovalhouse Seed commission, presented in-development. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts council England.
tickets £8 | £5 concessions
photo by cor Jaring
An ovalhouse Elsewhere show at Asylum, Peckham tues 11 – Sat 15 November 7.30pm, Matinee Sat 15 November 4pm Moving Dust present
sometimes theRe’s liGht [Sometimes there’s Dark] I am a heartbeat and two lungs. Each breath is a new beginning. Options are infinite. Moving Dust bring their latest multi-sensory performance to the atmospheric space of a derelict chapel. Fragile stories of love and loss emerge in the shifting beam of hand-held lights. Somewhere out at sea a lover dies, just as a white bird glides high overhead. on the turning of the tide everything changes. Lyrical text and explosive dance combine as five performers interact with a movable light installation. this unique event allows you to experience dance up-close. Feel the air move as the dancers pass by you, and listen as they whisper in your ear. @Moving_Dust | movingdust.com
this performance will take place at Asylum, caroline Gardens chapel, Peckham, SE15 2SQ. Please come wrapped up warmly as the venue may be chilly.
tickets £15 | £12.50 concessions | £10 students & under 25s
photo by Roswitha chesher
ovalhouse Downstairs Fri 14 & Sat 15 November 7pm, Sat 15 & Sun 16 November 2pm coney present
eARly dAys (of a better nation) the war is over and the nation lies in ruins. You and your fellow survivors must build the beginnings of a new country. What are the rules you’re going to live by? And can you avoid the mistakes of the past? A piece of interactive theatre for a playing audience, Early Days (of a better nation) explores the possibilities of nationhood and democracy, drawing inspiration from the 2011 England riots, Arab Spring, Iceland’s crowd-sourced constitution and the rise (and fall) of occupy. Early Days is presented as a part of Parliament Week 2014, a programme of events that connect people across the UK with Parliament and democracy. @agencyofconey | coneyhq.org
“I play it as if it's real – and that's exactly how it feels. For two hours, I lose myself in the show." Lyn Gardner, the Guardian (on coney’s A Small Town Anywhere)
co-commissioned by Warwick Arts centre, National theatre Wales and Battersea Arts centre. Production development supported by cultural Institute at KcL.
tickets £10 | £6 concessions
Photo by Ryoko Uyama
ovalhouse takeover Sat 22 & Sun 23 November 10am-5pm Dialogue present
tAlkinG/mAkinG/tAkinG PARt: a festival of theatre and discussion Do you love watching plays but find participation alarming? Do you love thinking about theatre but find it hard to talk about? then this is the festival for you… Talking/Making/Taking Part invites you to play, chat and share through informal discussions and interactive performances. Let’s spend a weekend together and see what new ideas we can grow and communities we can build. visit the ovalhouse website for more information about the performers and speakers. Dialogue was set up in 2012 to inspire new relationships between people who make, watch and write about theatre. @theatreDialogue | welcometodialogue.com
In collaboration with ovalhouse, culturebot, theatre Bristol and Something other.
tickets £7 | £5 concessions weekend ticket £10 | £8 concessions
Illustration by Javier vรกzquez
Behind the scenes: process As well as public performances for which you can buy tickets, ovalhouse curates a programme of activity which helps artists turn their ideas into the next step in their creative and professional practice.
AssociAte ARtists Each year, we invite a group of promising artists whose work excites us to work with us over an extended period. Members of this group meet regularly, support each other and collaborate with ovalhouse to develop and present work. our associate artists for 2014 are carissa Hope Lynch, Dirty Market, Jake orr, Jamie Zubairi, Janine Fletcher, Joshua Pharo and Sylvia Darkwa-ohemeng.
oPen ReheARsAl Rooms Many of the artists who make work at ovalhouse have a carefully honed process and artistic practice that might be of interest to other theatre-makers. We’re experimenting with having times when other artists can come and be present in their rehearsal rooms, as observers. this season Babakas, who are doing some technical R&D on a new project, will be holding an open rehearsal, date tbc. If you are interested in coming please email faith.dodkins@ovalhouse.com
hot-deskinG We know that it can get lonely working from home. ovalhouse is open 9.30am – 6pm, tuesday – Saturday. We have WIFI, free tea and coffee, and desks. Don’t be a stranger.
Go to ovalhouse/theatre/ behind-the-scenes for more info.
Behind the scenes: process ARtist woRkshoPs While we provide bespoke support to the artists we’re working with, we’ve noticed that there are certain areas which lots of artists are unsure about. this season, we’re trialling a series of open workshops to respond to the questions we’re often asked; you can find more detail about the workshops on our website. All workshops are practical, free to attend and open to anyone. Weds 15 october 2-4pm talking about your work | talking to theatres about your work Rebecca Atkinson-Lord and Rachel Briscoe, Directors of theatre at ovalhouse. Weds 22 october 2-4pm what is a producer and where do i find one? | Budgets Faith Dodkins, independent producer and Producer at ovalhouse. Weds 29 october 2-4pm writing a Grants for the Arts application Alex Rogerson, theatre Relationship Manager, Arts council England. Weds 5 November 2-4pm contracts | company structures Wendy Dempsey, General Manager at ovalhouse. Weds 12 November 2-4pm communicating your work to audiences Elin Morgan and Sharon McHendry, Mobius PR and Faith Dodkins, ovalhouse.
Please email faith.dodkins@ovalhouse.com to reserve your place.
Behind the scenes: performance ovalhouse works with artists in a number of ways. Sometimes a project that we have supported with rehearsal space will return as a FiRSt BitE (work-in-development sharing) or full production; sometimes it will grow into a project for another theatre, or will simply form an important episode of the artist’s development. Associate Artist Janine Fletcher started developing this piece with ovalhouse in october 2013; it returns as an industry showcase, with a handful of exclusive tickets available to the public. Fri 26 September 5pm
tRAce elements created and performed by Janine Fletcher | coaxing and direction by Sue MacLaine A woman struggles; trying to be honest without telling the whole truth. She is going round in circles trying to figure it out, leave it behind but old habits die hard. Trace Elements is a haunting new solo work that fuses repetitious movement of the everyday with taut stylisation, to create a silent plea for the past not to be repeated. @janinesfletcher | janinefletcher.co.uk
Janine Fletcher is an ovalhouse Associate Artist and part of Escalator Live Art 2014. An ovalhouse Seed commission developed with support from Escalator, Yorkshire Dance, the Basement and the Nightingale. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts council England. tickets pay what you can, bookable in advance.
Photo Š Matthew Andrews
ovALHoUSE cREAtIvE YoUtH tRuth ABout youth We are entering our fifth and final year of our cooperative Foundation project truth about Youth; we’ve recruited a group of talented Young Associates who will be training with us and helping us to deliver our workshops and classes through the upcoming year. Watch this space for exciting performances, Live Nights and opportunities! 33% london our 33% London project for young people under 26 is seeking applications from young writers or theatre companies for our spring and summer season commissions. Please email Naomi.Shoba@ovalhouse.com for details. deadline for applications: 31 october 2014. 33% London is our highly acclaimed programme that supports youth arts participants making the transition to professional work. (Bursaries are available). @tAYLondon1 | truthaboutyouthlondon.wordpress.com For more information on all events: ovalhouse.com/under26 weds 3 december, 10.30am-5pm cReAtinG links conFeRence ovalhouse is hosting the creating Links conference as part of the creating change Network. We are gathering arts organisations, researchers and local authorities interested in work with excluded and marginalised young people. there will be presentations from professionals at the forefront of effective research and delivery; from ethical approaches, to pedagogy, to forum theatre. We invite delegates to consider how different sectors can jointly influence policy and work together so that the most disadvantaged of our children and young people can make the most of their lives. Who should come? Artists, practitioners, academics, researchers, charitable/third sector, local authority officers, students, policy makers. For more details go to creating-change.org.uk
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 26 Sept
trace Elements by Janine Fletcher
4 & 5 oct
Fun Palaces
8-25 oct
MilkMilkLemonade by Joshua conkel
15 oct
Artist Workshop
15-18 oct
FiRSt BitES: the view From Down Here by Kitty Withington
22 oct
Artist Workshop
22-25 oct
FiRSt BitES double bill: David Sheppeard | Jamie Zubairi and Sineod Jones
23-25 oct
you have to forgive me... by Brian Lobel
29 oct
tony & Mike by tom Frankland and Laura Mugridge
29 oct
Artist Workshop
29 oct -1 Nov
FiRSt BitES double bill: Luca Rutherford | Abigail Butler
31 oct
33% London commissions deadlline
5 Nov
Artist Workshop
5-8 Nov
Mrs Horton’s Finger by Dirty Market
11-15 Nov
Sometimes there’s Light [Sometimes there’s Dark] by Moving Dust
12 Nov
Artist Workshop
14 -16 Nov
Early Days (of a better nation) by coney
22 & 23 Nov
talking/Making/taking Part Festival by Dialogue
3 Dec
creating Links conference
seAson oFFeR Book for 2 or more shows and receive 25% off your order.
020 7582 7680 | ovalhouse.com
ovalhouse 52-54 kennington oval, london se11 5sw Box oďŹƒce 020 7582 7680 Book online ovalhouse.com seAson oFFeR Book for 2 or more shows in our autumn season and receive 25% o 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 Garden is open throughout our autumn season from 6pm for full bar service and hot and cold drinks. Access ovalhouse Downstairs, Gallery, Bar and Garden @ovalhouse
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Ovalhouse (Christ Church [Oxford] United Clubs) is a registered charity no. 2888931