This week we take a look at a range of ‘devising’ theatre companies. We have used the companies featured in The Contemporary Ensemble: Interviews with Theatre-Makers edited by Duška Radosavljević and Devising in Process edited by Alex Mermikides and Jackie Smart. This can be a visual accompaniment to these fantastic books.
Song of the Goat
In this interview Grzegorz Bral director of Song of the Goat Theatre and LSPAP talks about London School of Performing Arts Practices, Brave festival, coordination technique and his approach to theatre and performing arts.
The Riot Group
SOPHIE GETS THE HORNS
By Adriano Shaplin
Directed by Rebecca Wright
Performed by Kristen Bailey, Drew Friedman, Adriano Shaplin, Mary Tuomanen, Stephanie Viola
Set by Caitlin Lainoff / Lights by Maria Shaplin / Costumes by Katherine Fritz / Sound by Adriano Shaplin
Performed at Incubator Arts Project, May 2012, NYC
“Delicately hilarious…a clear-eyed ethnography of our own species at a specific developmental stage…the ensemble seems exquisitely tuned to a difficult chord of poignancy and awkwardness.” –Time Out
SOPHIE 5-18-12 MASTER H264 1280×720 from The Riot Group on Vimeo.
FREEDOM CLUB
By Adriano Shaplin
Directed by Whit MacLaughlin
Performed by Drew Friedman, McKenna Kerrigan, Jeb Kreager, Mary McCool, Paul Schnabel, Adriano Shaplin, Stephanie Viola
Lights Maria Shaplin / Costumes Rosemarie McKelvey / Sound Whit MacLaughlin / Projection Design Jorge Cousineau / Production Stage Manager Emily Rea / Executive Producer: New Paradise Laboratories
Freedom Club was made possible with the support of Princeton University, Drexel University, the Off-Center for Dramatic Arts, the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
“Epic theatre…possessing a unique, violent, and total language, at once written, spoken, and played.” –CultureBot
“In Freedom Club the darker underpinnings of human liberty are considered with a grim cackle.” –The New York Times
“A daring mashup by two experimental companies (Philadelphia’s New Paradise Laboratories and New York’s the Riot Group) and two eras (1865 and 2015), “Freedom Club” indicts fanatical radicalism in America. Aptly self-described as “a hallucination on national themes,” the satire vividly skewers self-aggrandizing extremists from John Wilkes Booth to a feminist collective that spawns another presidential assassin.” -Variety
Freedom Club from The Riot Group on Vimeo.
The Neo-Futurists
A short documentary about The Neo-Futurists and their long running late night show Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind. Contains clips from the show and interviews with, Jay Torrence, Heather Riordan, Caitlin Stainken, Greg Allen and others. The Neo-Futurist are a Chicago based theater company who produce the longest running show in Chicago, T.M.L.M.T.B.G.B. (30 plays in 60 minutes) , as well as a full season of original primetime shows.
Ontroerend Goed
History oktober 2014 deel 2 from Ontroerend Goed on Vimeo.
ALL THAT IS WRONG – FULL PLAY from Ontroerend Goed on Vimeo.
Tom Nicholas caught Ontroerend Goed’s £¥€$ (or Lies) at the Drum Theatre this week ahead of its transfer to Summerhall and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This interactive piece by the Belgian provocateurs sees the theatre transformed into a casino and audiences into freewheeling free market capitalists. Here’s Tom’s performance analysis of the show.
Tom is an exciting theatre vlogger putting out interesting new videos every week discussing theatre and playwriting from the perspective of an aspirant and (some might say) emerging playwright, theatre maker and academic. Support this fantastic tool with a subscription.
Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com
The People Show
People Show 121: The Detective Show from People Show on Vimeo.
Station House Opera
Julian Maynard Smith is the founder and artistic director of Station House Opera. Founded in 1978, Station House Opera creates solo and group performance work as well as sculpture and installation. Dissolved is the company’s first new work since the city scale site specific project Dominoes in 2009 and follows earlier intercontinental performances developed as far back as 2004. Their distinctive engagement with audiences crosses new boundaries with an installation and performance that uses live video streaming to dissolve spaces in London and Berlin, bringing people from both cities into dynamic connection.
dissolved (extract) from julian maynard smith on Vimeo.
Station House Opera – Snakes and Ladders from julian maynard smith on Vimeo.
Station House Opera – Mind Out from julian maynard smith on Vimeo.
Theatre O
This is Theatre O’s vision statement. Rather than just have something written down on a piece of paper, they thought it would better to reflect how they approach work by making something a little more visual. They worked with animator and long term collaborator, Paddy Molloy, who made a stop frame animation of the creation and destruction of a drawing he made based on our previous work.
Vision from theatre O on Vimeo.
Delirium Trailer from theatre O on Vimeo.
The Argument – Car Crash from theatre O on Vimeo.
The Argument – On Old Age from theatre O on Vimeo.
Gecko
Gecko Compilation 2015 from Gecko Theatre on Vimeo.
About Gecko | Education from Gecko Theatre on Vimeo.
Amit FAQs | Education | Gecko from Gecko Theatre on Vimeo.
FAQs for a Gecko Performer | Education | Gecko from Gecko Theatre on Vimeo.
Third Angel
Third Angel have always worked with rules when making shows, and they’ve always enjoyed the creativity that those restrictions give us – as well as enjoying the moment when you realise that the rules need to be broken. Popcorn is a performance for both camera and live audience reflecting on rules, time, making stuff, shared language, shared history and friendship. Performed and filmed on location at The Holt cafe and art-space, Sheffield.
Third Angel: POPCORN from Third Angel on Vimeo.
