THE L O O S E C H A N G E TRILOGY
“ HOIPOLLOI has enormous fun examining the nature of make-believe and the power of the imagination while revealing the trick of theatre itself �
Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
PHOTO: GUY MYHILL
HOIPOLLOI is an expression from Greek, meaning
‘ THE COMMON PEOPLE ’ HOIPOLLOI was established by Shôn Dale-Jones and Stefanie Mueller and first opened its rehearsal room doors in October 1993. Since then the company have…
created and toured
22 new plays,
2 outdoor events, recorded 4 plays for BBC Radio 4, made 5 films, 1 audio walk and 1 dedicated online nonlinear
staged
storytelling project
The work has been presented in‌
160 UK venues, across 9 London theatres, at over 20 festivals worldwide, in 17 countries across 6 continents, collaborating with over 60 artists over
from
11 countries
winning several awards, including ‌
The company produces the writing of Artistic Director, Shôn Dale-Jones, changing shape and size according to the scale and needs of each project. It maximises the benefits of being independent and flexible, agile enough to respond to current events, making work that is immediately relevant. Since 2015, HOIPOLLOI has focussed on making work that aims to inspire social action in audiences, partnering with charities to present shows, offering a new model for theatre and social justice. As Bunuel says,
“ reality and fantasy are equally important and equally felt and so their confusion is a matter of only relative importance” While we live in very challenging times, with divisions appearing all over society, we need to find our common ground. Today, theatre has a very real and exciting opportunity to support social change through encouraging empathy and solidarity. We aim to harness the value of art and the power of story, finding ways of immediately and directly engaging with what’s happening in our rapidly changing world.
HOIPOLLOI has put on shows to tell their stories in charity shops, pubs, cafés, fields, schools, streets, a law court, forests, cinemas and theatres. We’ve made ensemble pieces indoors and outdoors. We’ve made shows with fire and fireworks. We’ve made solo shows with no props, no set, no costume. We’ve played to over 600 people, created experiences for an audience of 4 and broadcast plays to nearly 2 million listeners.
PHOTO: JAIMIE GRAMSTON
BBC award-winning writer-performer, ShĂ´n Dale-Jones, brings together three plays -
THE DUKE, ME & ROBIN HOOD & THE LADDER in THE LOOSE CHANGE TRILOGY Written over a three year period, between 2016 - 2019, the shows examine our need to respond to the refugee crisis, inequality - the gap between privilege and poverty and climate emergency. They encourage us to stand together in solidarity, recognising the need to support each other. The three shows playfully challenge what we value and our readiness to make the changes we need to make in today’s chaotic world.
THE LOOSE CHANGE TRILOGY focusses on making work that weaves the personal with the political, aiming to inspire social action in audiences, partnering with charities to present shows, offering a new model for theatre and social justice.
2016 - 2019
THE LOOSE CHANGE TRILOGY We have given over 220 performances to over 16,000 people, across three continents, raising £75,000 for children refugees and street-connected children, supporting Save The Children and Street Child United. The shows have played across London - Soho Theatre, Unicorn, Barbican, Royal Court; all over the UK, including the Liverpool Everyman; Theatre Royal Plymouth; Cambridge Junction; Brighton Dome; HOME, Manchester; at festivals, including Edinburgh, Latitude and Wilderness; internationally to Ireland, Norway, Australia and South Africa. The shows have been translated into Norwegian, Turkish, Flemish and Brazilian-Portuguese. The plays have gained critical acclaim, including over twenty 4-star reviews, a Scotsman Fringe First, a nomination for a Prix Europa in the ‘Best European Radio Fiction’ category and a commendation from SitUp Awards, in recognition for services to charity sand children refugees. THE DUKE and ME & ROBIN HOOD have both been adapted for radio and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 reaching almost 2 million listeners.
The Duke
“ Genius” BBC Radio 4 Pick of the Week
“ A fantastic and likeable storyteller” Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
“ Outstanding” Theatre Bubble
“ thoughtful, quietly powerful” The Scotsman’s Fringe First Award Winner / Edinburgh 2016
“ He makes the real world seem wondrous and, in that, THE DUKE is its own antidote: art that alleviates, but also art that does its bit. This is art that practices its preaching: made for nothing, but doing something. And delighting as it does, just as art should. You won’t find a show with a bigger, better heart” What’s On Stage
“ engaging and complex, existing somewhere between truth and fiction, drama and radio, fantasy and reality. Dale-Jones is a natural and immediately likeable storyteller” The List
“ Dale-Jones has achieved quite a special thing” Theatre Bubble
“ This multilayered piece of timetravelling fiction is ingeniously constructed. THE DUKE asks powerful questions of social responsibility and accessibility, art and commerce, family and comradeship, all through the masterly mingling of fact and fiction” Fest Magazine
“ …the quiet power of this funny, gentle and exquisitely empathetic jewel of a piece is its ability to humanise a global crisis by personalising it” The Herald
ME & ROBIN HOOD “ ME & ROBIN HOOD is clever and thoughtful and angry. It is driven by a real anger at the growing inequality we allow to disfigure our society. It’s about home and friendship and memory and what artistic work is worth, and at its heart is a very real question about what it is to be a radical in the 21st century” The Scotsman
“ Shôn Dale-Jones becomes the radical figure that the modern age lacks in this thought-provoking performance… Weaving a cunning web of his own playful and, at times, emotionally raw stories with the well-known tale of Robin Hood, Dale-Jones proves to be a gifted storyteller with a palpably important story… it is engaging and thoughtful as it gnaws away at inequality of opportunities and the widening gap between rich and poor, and asks whether art really can change the world ” The Guardian
“ An inventive piece of storytelling magic - a charming comic drama with a heart of steel” BBC Radio 4 Pick of the Week “ One hour: one man, no set, no lights, no music, no props. And yet he manages to captivate the audience from start to finish… With so little needed to say so much, there is no doubt that Shôn Dale-Jones is one of the best living storytellers in the world today” The Outlier
PHOTO: MURDOS HOOD
“ It’s all about truth, not the raw kind but the shifting sands type.
“ This is such a clever and satisfying piece of theatre.
The magic where fantasy and reality merge… It’s warm, funny and dances a graceful and gentle line between playfulness and pathos”
A show about death that is thoroughly life-enhancing.
Exeunt Magazine
A show that embraces so much about working-class male culture and small-town life, in a manner that is humorous but never cruel or condescending. A theatre show about making theatre shows… always entertaining and accessible ” Total Theatre Magazine
PHOTO: CLAIRE HAIGH
HOIPOLLOI created and delivered THE LOOSE CHANGE TRILOGY with the support of dynamic and effective partnerships with:
A R T S C O U N C I L E N G L A N D , R O YA L C O U R T THEATRE ROYAL, PLYMOUTH CAMBRIDGE JUNCTION BBC RADIO 4 NORFOLK & NORWICH FESTIVAL PLEASANCE THEATRE TRUST PBJ MANAGEMENT A U R O R A N O VA O B E R O N B O O K S N O O R D I N A R Y E X P E R I E N C E THE LOOSE CHANGE TRILOGY WAS CREATED BY S H Ô N D A L E J O N E S W I T H T H E S U P P O R T O F C O L L A B O R A T I V E A R T I S T S : JOHN BIDDLE JOSIE DALE-JONES JAMES BURGESS TRUI MALTEN HAMISH PIRIE J U L I A N S P O O N E R G U Y M Y H I L L S T E FA N I E M U E L L E R SOPHIE VAUGHAN THE LOOSE CHANGE TRILOGY IS MANAGED BY : J U S T I N E WAT K I N S - F I F E JO DIVER WES FIFE NANCY POOLE GEORGINA BEDNAR TONI TIPPETT SARAH CROMPTON SUPPORTED BY THE HOIPOLLOI BOARD: D A V I D S A B E L B E C K Y S C H U T T H E N D R I K M C D E R M O T T
Every year, conflict, displacement and natural disasters threaten millions of children’s lives and well-being. When an emergency strikes, whether it’s an outbreak of a deadly disease or violent conflict, Save the Children know that we need to respond as soon as possible to save lives. The Emergency Fund means that Save the Children can respond wherever the need is greatest, whether a crisis is making the headlines or has been largely forgotten by the world. Allowing them to work faster and respond to the real need, they are able to deliver life-saving food, shelter, education and medicine straight to the families who require it most. It also allows Save the Children to avert crisis before they become life-threatening by preparing communities with pre-positioned resources to respond within a few hours of an emergency occurring and limit the impact they can have. In many cases, that means the difference between life and death.
Here are some examples of what your money supports: £8 lifesaving polio and measles vaccinations for a child in an emergency £12 a child’s schoolbag kit containing essential learning equipment £25 a surgical kit + sterilising box for an emergency medical team £38 a water filter £50 15 blankets to keep children warm in winter conditions £100 mosquito nets to protect 30 children from malaria £235 a tent which is big enough for a family of five £290 a Teacher’s Kit, containing all the equipment necessary for a class of up to 100 children £5,000 an emergency health kit - to treat 10,000 over 3 months for basic primary health needs £50,000 materials and furniture needed to set up 15 Child-Friendly Spaces for up to 1,500 children
A Passport To A Better Life:The UN estimates there are 150 million children surviving on the streets worldwide. ME & ROBIN HOOD’s first fundraising target is £8,640. This amount of money will enable Street Child United to arrange passports for 216 children to attend the Street Child World Cup in Moscow in 2018 enabling them not only to play in the tournament but to be recognised as a legal entity. The more you donate in return for this script the quicker we can hit our target – GOAL!
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Cover: Photo by Jaimie Gramston Design by Stefanie Mueller
SHÔN DALE-JONES ME & ROBIN HOOD
Hoipolloi’s Artistic Director, Shôn Dale-Jones, the multi-award winning writer/performer, wrote ME & ROBIN HOOD as a response to human self-absorption and the growing gap between the rich and the poor. This is the second version of the script, created after it’s opening run at the Edinburgh Fringe at Pleasance Queen Dome, August 2017. This script will be exchanged in return for a donation to Street Child United streetchildunited.org Between August 2016 and August 2017 Hoipolloi have used theatre performances to raise over £50,000 for children refugees and children living on the street via Street Child United and Save The Children.
Me & Robin Hood cover.indd 1
O B E R O N M O D E R PN L A Y S
31/08/2017 10:38:26
“ In the last 12months, I have had the privilege to visit our work in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya and Za’atari camp in Jordan. Both have been humbling insights as to the challenges faced by child refugees. Overwhelmingly, however, the visits have highlighted how small interventions and incredibly positive Save the Children aid work can have long-term sustainable impact for children. In Jordan alone, Save the Children has reached over 600,000 beneficiaries during the last 18months. This work simply could not take place without the efforts of fundraisers like you and the generosity of your audiences”
“ I’ve had the privilege of working for Save the Children for the past 17 years and have been involved in many emergencies during that time. The difference your support makes is enormous. It brings both immediate life-saving assistance and the opportunity for a better future to huge numbers of children caught up in disasters and conflicts around the world. Without incredible supporters such as yourself and your audiences we simply could not do our jobs” GARETH OWEN OBE Humanitarian Director Save the Children UK
Hugh Hughes presents Shôn Dale-Jones in SHÔN DALE-JONES THE DUKE
Hoipolloi’s Artistic Director, Shôn Dale-Jones, the multi-award winning writer/performer behind Edinburgh Fringe favourite Hugh Hughes, wroteThe Duke, a new solo show, toraise money forSave TheChildren’s Child Refugee Crisis Appeal . Whenever possible, the show is presented for free, with audiences asked to make a donation to the charity rather than buy a ticket.
Funny, poignant and playful,The Dukeweaves together the tragi-comic fate of a family heirloom – a porcelain figure of The Duke ofWellington, the quandary of a scriptwriter stretching his integrity, and an unfolding disaster as thousands of children flee their homes.Blending fantasy and reality, the show gently challenges our priorities in a world full of crisis.
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Cover: photo by Jaimie Gramston design by Stefanie Mueller
All profits from sales of this publication go directly to Save The Children’s Child Refugee Crisis Appeal.
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CLIVE SANDERS Director – Communities, Regional Corporate, Events & Volunteering Save the Children
“In the autumn of 2015 I sit at my desk waiting for an email that will tell me what I need to do to the script to get it onto the screen. I turn the radio on. I listen to a report about the refugee crisis. My mother calls. She tells me she’s broken The Duke…My mother, my film script and the refugee crisis all need my attention.”
There are children living in poverty; there are children dying as they flee their countries seeking refuge; there are children living on the street - there are political regimes, politicians, policies and systems that are ignoring their plight, getting on with business as usual.
We are in the middle of a catastrophic climate crisis. It’s not around the corner - it’s here.
Our lives are changing and will keep on changing We have to react We need to fight We need to stand up We need to take responsibility We need more than empathy We need solidarity
“ The hand in the pocket to the bucket is more powerful than the transaction at the box office or online. One of the things I hope the show will do is make us think about what it is we value, what we can give and contribute to the conversation about the refugee crisis. We can’t keep closing our eyes. The Duke is my small way of doing something” Shôn Dale-Jones, interview with Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
“ Over the last three years, while creating, touring and performing this trilogy, my main drive has been to find ways of bringing us closer together - trying to counter the division that is growing between us. I’ve wanted to seek commonality, while so much of what we hear is what divides us; I’ve wanted us to not just sympathise with people we call refugees, but stand in solidarity with them; I’ve wanted to understand and respect our privilege and be better at sharing our ‘good fortune’; I’ve wanted us to recognise our shared vulnerability and to confront the mistakes we all make” Shôn Dale-Jones, interview with BBC Radio Wales “ We’re not best at fighting, we’re good at being caring and generous in our thoughts, and aspirational at how beautiful our lives can be – but right now we need some fighters on the front line, and that needs to be us. The well-educated, middle class – we know who we are we are the powerful ones at the moment, whether we like it or not: we are well-equipped, we are well-networked, we are clever people and we are generous people, and together we could do awesome things and we could stand up against this tide” Shôn Dale-Jones, interview with Maddy Costa, Exeunt Magazine
To donate to
To donate to
justgiving.com/fundraising/ hoipolloi-theatre
justgiving.com/fundraising/ meandrobinhood
THE DUKE is produced by HOIPOLLOI, PBJ Management, Theatre Royal Plymouth in association with The Pleasance Theatre Trust in aid of Save the Children’s Emergency Fund ME & ROBIN HOOD is a HOIPOLLOI & Royal Court co-production in association with The Pleasance Theatre Trust, PBJ Management and Theatre Royal Plymouth. Supporting Street Child United THE LADDER is commissioned by Norfolk and Norwich Festival in association with Theatre Royal Plymouth & Cambridge Junction