Gonzo Moose Theatre Company to Welcome UK Tour of THE THING THAT CAME FROM OVER THERE

Gonzo Moose Theatre Company have announced the UK Tour of The Thing That Came From Over There, running January 27th 2017 - April 8th 2017.

Inspired by 1950's B movies with a healthy dose of silliness and mayhem, this show is a fast-packed rollicking ride, mixing paranoia, suspense and hilariously gruesome deaths.

It's 1912, and as renowned adventurers Scott and Amundsen have begun their race across Antarctica, meanwhile our more hapless explorer, Captain Reginald Scottt (note the impressive number of "t"s) has ruined his chances in the competition by accidentally landing on the wrong side of the continent.

As a dejecTEd Scottt and his motley band of incompetent cohorts set up base camp as best they can, they are witness to a sudden nearby meteor crash. Deciding to investigate, for how are they to call themselves explorers if they fail to explore, they bravely set out towards the crash site - unaware of the danger that awaits not just them, but the whole of planet earth.

What ancient evil lurks inside the crater? Will they ever learn the dark secret of the slimy fungus? And just what is the horrifying and mysterious fate, of those who encounter the parasitic space worms?

Join three daring actors as they play over 15 roles in 85 minutes creating a frenetic performance full of shocks, spine tingling stillness, and blood curdling terror. With comedy and thrills galore, audiences can expect visual delights, a supremely silly script, giant puppetry, and live music.

The Thing That Came From Over There is directed by award winning director Abigail Anderson (previously Associate Director at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds and Assistant Director at The Globe) and stars Mark Dawson (theatre work includes parts in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' and 'Back To The Future' for Secret Cinema and performances directed by Cal MacCrystal, Fluxx Theatre and Ken Campbell); Gaullier trained Alys Torrance (recurring role as the ICU Consultant in Coronation Street); and Ben Whitehead (regular voice actor in the Wallace & Gromit films, providing the voice of Wallace in live shows and video games). Puppetry direction by LeCoq trained and West End mask and Puppet designer Jonny Dixon.

Since exploding onto the scene in 2000, Gonzo Moose has become renowned for its accessible brand of stage comedy which combines improvisation, music, physical theatre and clowning. The company was founded by Artistic Director Mark Dawson with a strong focus on visually exciting stage comedy. Gonzo Moose used a range of techniques to keep its work at the cutting-edge of physical comedy and improvisational performance with previous shows including 2008's Edinburgh Fringe hit and Total Theatre Award nominated, "You Don't Need to Know That".

IF YOU GO:

The Thing That Came From Over There

VENUE: Pegasus Theatre, Oxford

DATE: 27th - 28th Jan

TIME: 7.30pm

RUNNING TIME: 85 mins

PRICE: £13, £9 concessions, £6 under 18s

BOOKING: 01865 812160

Tour Schedule:

January 2017

27th - 28th - Pegasus Theatre, Oxford

31st - Phoenix Theatre, Exeter

February 2017

2nd - Kirkgate, Cockermouth

3rd - Beggars Theatre, Milom

4th - Coronation Hall, Ulverston

7th - Eastbourne College Theatre

10th - Calstock, Cornwall

12th - Callington Town Hall

14th - 18th - The Drum Theatre, Plymouth

22nd - Gedling Village Hall

23rd - South Luffenham Village Hall

24th - Century Theatre, Coalville

25th - Robin Hood Theatre, Averham

26th - Stretton-on-Foose Village Hall, Warwickshire

March 2017

1st - Middlesbrough Theatre, Middlesbrough

3rd - Grittleton Village Hall

4th - Benson Hall, Briar Leaze

8th - 9th - Applause Rural Touring

10th - Leeds CarriageWorks

11th - St Martins Church, All Hollows

12th - Applause Rural Touring

14th - Caerphilly Working Mans Club

15th - Wycombe Swan, Wycombe

16th - Rondo Theatre, Bath

17th - Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton

18th - Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead

23rd - Cheshire Rural Touring

24th - Wilmslow Library, Wilmslow

25th - Lache Library, Lache

29th - Queens Hall Arts Centre, Hexham

30th - Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond

31st - New Greenham Arts Centre

April 2017

1st - The Mill Arts Centre, Banbury

5th - The Met Arts Centre, Bury

6th - 8th - Greenwich Theatre

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Abigail Anderson (Director and Co-writer)

Abigail has directed the last five Gonzo Moose shows and she's delighted to be back! Other recent work includes: The 39 Steps for Theatre by the Lake in Keswick, Round and Round the Garden for the Mill at Sonning, two national tours of Pride and Prejudice for Two Actors, a rollicking new adaptation of The Canterbury Tales for Guildford Shakespeare Company and this year's Chipping Norton pantomime, Robin Hood. Shakespeare is one of her passions, having assisted at Shakespeare's Globe and the RSC. She's so far directed 17 of Shakespeare's plays.

Mark Dawson (Performer and Co-writer)

Mark trained at Circomedia, Centre for Physical Theatre and Circus in Bristol. He is co-founder and artistic director of Gonzo Moose and has appeared in all nine of their previous shows. Theatre includes Ken Campbell's Table-top Tragedies (Barbican), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Secret Cinema), Back To The Future (Secret Cinema) and Dick Wittington (Corn Exchange, Newbury). Mark is also an experienced improviser, and has guested with Hoopla Impro and appeared in the Liverpool and Bristol Improvathons. Other work includes: appearing in a ballet version of the Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol, being a stunt man in the film short, The Deal and an IRA terriorist on Newsnight. Directing includes the award winning sketch double act, Kiosk of Champions.

BEN WHITEHEAD (Performer and co-writer)

Ben has worked closely with multi-Oscar winning company Aardman Animations since 2003 and has been the voice of Wallace (Wallace & Gromit) for productions including; Wallace & Gromits Musical Marvels, (Royal Albert Hall) and Wallace & Gromit's Grand adventures (video/PC game). He is also featured as several voices for the feature films, Wallace & Gromit and the curse of the Wererabbit and The Pirates! In an adventure with Scientists. He has recently worked with internationally acclaimed company 1927 providing the voice for the titular character in GOLEM (currently touring). As a writer and performer: Pekka & Strangebone's comedy showpiece and The Honky Bonk Comrades (Pleasance Theatre) And 2015's one man show Fred Strangebone's freakshow london Horror Festival. For the Wireless theatre company: The Trail of Sherlock Holmes; Painted Blind; The Strange case of Springheel'd Jack; Gino Ginello is dead. Live Recordings: The Piper & musicians of Bremen Stage Frights; Open Spots; Amelie's party. Stage credits include Blackout Hull (Truck theatre) and The Bald Prima Donna (The Space London). Ben is very excited about his first engagement with Gonzo Moose.

ALYS TORRANCE (Perfromer and co-writer)

Alys trained at Birmingham School of Speech and Drama, and as a clown at Ecole Gaullier. Alys has recently finished filming Bollywood film Bar Bar Dekho, playing Annie Kapoor, the mother of the bride. She returned to Coronation Street for a second stint as an A&E consultant, presumably moonlighting from her job as a doctor in Doctors. She toured in Gonzo Moose's last show What The Dickens! in 2014. Other recent work has included BAFTA award-winning The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies. What else? Miss Prism in The Importance Of Being Earnest (Contexture Theatre), all the women in Michael Frayn's The Two Of Us (directed by Abi Anderson for Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds), the goat in Grimm Tales (Theatre By The Lake). Screen work includes People Like Us (with Bill Nighy), Harry Enfield's Yule Log Chums, 2.4 Children, and Manchild. As half of double act Faultless and Torrance, Alys has co- written and performed numerous comedy shows including The Flirt Lab, The Snag, The Three Musketeers, Face/Off and A Night of Shining Armour. A founder member of sketch group The Four Horsemen, she has improvised with the YarnBards, and clowned with High-Veld and Slung Low.

MANDY DIKE AND Ben Rigby (Set Design and Build)

Mandy and Ben have worked indoors and outdoors for the past 25 years creating images, environments, settings and performance structures for dance, theatre, community celebrations, site specific shows and events. Companies they have designed and created for include: Theatre of Fire, Welfare state International, Ludus Dance, Ashton Contemporary Theatre, Walk the Plank, The Dukes Playhouse and summer promenades. Mandy is a co-director and designer for internationally acclaimed pyrotechnic company, The World Famous creating multimedia fire shows combining flames, fire sculpture music and performance all over world.

JONNY DIXON (Puppetry Direction)

Having trained at the LeCoq School in Paris and Bretton Hall, Jonny has been performing around the globe for the past 20 years with Companies including Improbable Theatre, RSC, Welsh National Opera and the Kevin Spacey Foundation. He has performed Shakespeare in Singapore, puppet theatre in Norway and award winning mask theatre in Iran. As a maker he has made puppets and masks for numerous theatre companies including Billy Elliot the Musical in the West End. He is currently building a 90 foot houseboat.

MATT EATON (Sound Design and Original Music)

Matt is a Sound Designer and composer for theatre, film and television. He is an associate artist at Creation Theatre in Oxford. For Gonzo Moose: I'm an Aristocrat, Get Me Out of Here! Recent work includes: Not the End of the World (EFF), The History Boys (UK Tour), Ravens, Titus Andronicus (USF, Florida); Kethra (Venetian Biennale of Architecture), Wuthering Heights (YAT), Break The Floorboards (WPT), Medea (Rose Theatre), Treasure Island and The Wind in the Willows (Creation), Alice in Wonderland and The Winter's Tale (GSC). Composer: The Picture of DorIan Gray (Trafalgar Studios), Dracula (tour), Helen (tour), Shadow Shows (Edinburgh International Film Festival), Nosferatu (WAC), The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari (MAC), On the Shore with Caution (Klangbad, Germany). Film & TV credits include: The Gambler (BBC Radio 3), Volkswagen and BT advertisements, Hallam Foe (Channel 4 Films), short films for Filmficciones and Bolex Brothers. Matt releases music with Birmingham collective, Pram, on the Domino Recordings label.

CHARLIE BAPTIST (Costume Designer)

Charlie Baptist is delighted to be making her British debut with Gonzo Moose her recent credits include The Rattler with Mahogany Opera, Robin Hood with Chipping Norton Theatre, She has also worked with New Zealand Opera on La Traviata, Don Giovanni and La Boheme. Jesus Christ Superstar, The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate and Sons with Auckland Theatre Company, Angels in America with SILO, Dust Pilgrim with Red Leap Theatre Company. She has a diploma in Costume Construction from Toi Whakaari in New Zealand. More at www.charliebaptist.com. She is not scared to get her hands dirty and is often the first person to rip into something if it is not quite working.

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