Les Enfants Terribles Announce Shortlist for 6th Annual LET Award

Today, Les Enfants Terribles in collaboration with Greenwich Theatre have announced the ten nominees for the sixth LET Award. The award is designed to help two new companies produce an original piece of work each at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2017.

All ten entries will take part in a showcase at Greenwich Theatre on 6 February 2017. Two will be selected that evening to win a performance slot at the Pleasance as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, a cash injection of £1000 and industry mentoring from Les Enfants Terribles and their partners Greenwich Theatre. Ticketing information to attend the showcase can be found at www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk.

Oliver Lansley (Artistic Director) and James Seager (Producer) of Les Enfants Terribles said: "We are thrilled to present the ten nominees for our sixth LET Award. Supporting emerging companies and encouraging a spirit of entrepreneurship amongst a new generation of theatremakers and storytellers has been one of the great joys throughout our fifteen years of Les Enfants Terribles. It's exciting to see the people who we have supported through this award, such as David Byrne who is now Artistic Director at the New Diorama, go on to produce such brilliant work. Our 2017 cohort of nominees are all producing incredibly innovative and daring new work and we are looking forward to the showcase when we get to see them all in action."

The previous winners of the LET Award over the past six years were SharkLegs Theatre for The Inevitable Heartbreak of Gavin Plimsole (2016), Fine Mess Theatre for Divas (2015), The Human Zoo Theatre Company for The Hive (2014), PIT Theatre and the New Diorama for Kubrick3 (2013) and Magpie Puppet Company for The Kites Are Flying (2012).

---

The nominated ten productions for The LET Award 2017 are:

A Heart at Sea by Peter Morton and Avi Simmons

A Heart at Sea is the collaboration between indie-folk artist Avi Simmons and visual artist/puppeteer Peter Morton. Grown through a love for storytelling, music, and puppets the performance is an intimate piece of gig-theatre. Peter Morton and Avi Simmons wanted to create an accessible performance that is perfect for any small performance spaces as well as unconventional spaces. A Heart at Sea weaves haunting live music and stunning visuals to tell the story about a Boy who throws himself into the sea in a heart-warming tale of danger and discovery.

Form by Rendered Retina Theatre Company

Rendered Retina Theatre Company are passionate about creating striking, energetic and visual performances that let loose their audience's imaginations. Formed from an intense curiosity of the human experience, they are constantly looking for inspiration for their next performance, drawing from themselves, their daydreams and everyday life. Having worked closely together for five years, their work is extremely collaborative and the trust which they have built up over this time allows them to constantly push their limits as performers and creators.

Women at War by Rebecca Johannsen

With a Ph.D. in theatre, specializing in both feminist criticism and trauma theory, Dr. Rebecca Johannsen was the founding artistic director of Stone Soup Theatre, a critically-acclaimed California company. She left the company in 2011 to teach theatre at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and produce and direct in NYC. While there, she produced Erik Ehn's Soulographie: Our Genocides at La MaMa and developed plays with new playwrights. Her drive has always been to produce work that engages society with difficult questions and to promote more women on and off stage.

Tom and Bunny Save the World by Fat Rascal Theatre

Fat Rascal Theatre are a young company fresh from East 15's BA Acting and Contemporary Theatre Course. They use music and quintessentially British humour to tell relatable stories. They are bold and cheeky, exploring taboo subjects with a cup of Yorkshire Tea in hand and discuss socio-political issues through an accessible and appealing format to engage a wider audience. Fat Rascal Theatre want to appeal to people who would usually shy away from topical theatre by presenting it in a medium which is familiar to them. They believe that theatre should always aim to inspire, educate or liberate and should be available to everybody.

Hexagon by FLYWHEEL

FLYWHEEL is an East 15 CT graduate company obsessed with telling new stories through original and challenging means. They are a company of actors who enjoy working through action to discover surprising composition in gesture, music, text and social declaration. Courageous dreaming, playfulness and innovative art are important to them. FLYWHEEL work collaboratively to make adventurous new work with popular appeal which offers gripping stories which responds to the world in instinctive, intellectual and thought-provoking ways. Their production Hexagon is a new play using an original score and playful physical storytelling.

Astronauts of Hartlepool by Shuttle Buttle

Shuttle Buttle have been creating theatre since 2012, focussing on strong visual elements using light and sound to explore contemporary social issues through intimate, challenging storytelling, which will be key elements of Astronauts of Hartlepool. Astronauts of Hartlepool follows Shuttle Buttle's Off West End Award-winning (Most Promising New Playwright) play The Dogs of War which used invisible dogs and Egyptian mythology to explore mental illness in rural environments.

Witt 'n Camp by Witt 'n Camp

Charlie and Holly are the double act Witt 'n Camp. Their alter egos are two wild ladies - oversexed, pretentiously immoral and they can't help but put on a show. Meanwhile two opera stars reach dizzying heights of fame after creating a new genre "HipOpera" - but these lifelong rivals will go to any lengths to steal the limelight. Then there's Bridget and Braun, two battery chickens who dream of escaping their shitty boyfriend, Steve. The show guarantees an hour of laughter and tears. Witt 'n Camp's recent performances include The Giants Gala (hosted by David Schwimmer) and Wifi4Refugees Fundraiser (alongside James McAvoy).

The Conductor by Mid-Atlantic Productions

Mid-Atlantic Productions are a group of graduating students based at Goldsmiths University. The focus of The Conductor is robotics in which a robotic puppet will take centre stage as the train station conductor. Mid-Atlantic Productions' passion is in developing technologies for new theatre that can be used effectively and affordably. The company want to explore and tell stories with the technological advancements made in recent years.

Goody by BoonDog Theatre / Lucy Roslyn

BoonDog Theatre is a collaborative team looking to make intimate, dynamic work. The play Goody, is one of a series of interweaving plays all set in the same darkly comic BoonDog Circus. As a playwright Lucy Roslyn hopes to create something striking which draws audiences in and asks you questions. Their debut play The State Vs John Hayes told the story of a murderer and her alter ego. The production won the Argus Angel Award going on to tour the UK and New York.

Ingo's War by Ditto Theatre Company

DITTO are a UK-based physical theatre company with a passion for playing, moving, devising and creating visually exciting and bold new work. As, graduates of East 15 Acting School, BA Physical Theatre 2016, they come from a physical theatre background. Their training is varied, with a strong emphasis on devising their own material in all of these disciplines: puppetry, story-telling, expressive mask, physical comedy, movement and so much more. Having worked closely now for almost four years, they know each other personally and socially, thus are able to work together well and are committed to each other as a group and ensemble.

---

IF YOU GO:

The LET Award

Monday 6 February, 7.30pm

Greenwich Theatre, Crooms Hill, SE10 8ES

Box Office: 020 8858 7755 | www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Razor sharp theatre group Les Enfants Terribles' (THE TELEGRAPH) is one of the most innovative and exciting theatre companies working today.

Our work includes award winning, international stage shows such as THE TRENCH and THE TERRIBLE INFANTS, groundbreaking immersive work like ALICE'S ADVENTURES UNDERGROUND and THE GAME'S AFOOT, innovative outdoor touring work such as THE MARVELLOUS IMAGINARY MENAGERIE and large scale public events for the likes of Save the Children, the British Library and the V&A.

Run by Oliver Lansley and James Seager the company is dedicated to creating original, innovative and exciting theatre. Known for our striking visual aesthetic and innovative use of props, puppetry and live music we are constantly pushing ourselves to explore new ways of telling stories and immersing ourselves and our audiences in the weird and wonderful worlds created by our shows. Our artistic policy is to make theatre we love and theatre that excites us, and we hope in turn excites our audiences.

Founded in 2001 by Artistic Director Oliver Lansley, Les Enfants Terribles has established a large and loyal following for its unique work, performed all over the world including as well as building a large and loyal UK touring audience. In 2012 Les Enfants Terribles formed sister children's company Les Petits Theatre with a focus on taking well known children's literature and bringing them to life on stage in creative and exciting ways.

Award winning children's theatre company Les Petits was established in 2013 as the children's arm of critically acclaimed parent company Les Enfants Terribles (Alice Adventures Underground, The Trench, The Terrible Infants, The Vaudevillians). Using well-known and loved children's literature they aim to take stories from the page and bring them to life on the stage in creative and exciting ways.

The company is run by James Seager and Oliver Lansley and has become known for its striking design aesthetics, use of puppetry and song and immersive approach to storytelling.

Their work includes the hugely successful Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs based on the popular book by Giles Andareae and Russell Ayto. Flinn has toured to venues across the UK between 2012 and 2015, won the Primary Times Award and had runs at the Underbelly at The Edinburgh Fringe and Queen Elizabeth Hall at The Southbank Centre as well as touring abroad to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. After the success of Flinn, Les Petits went on to create the critically acclaimed sequel Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs 2: The Magic Cutlass which debuted at The Pleasance, Edinburgh Fringe in 2016 and then embarked upon a UK tour. The latest production from Les Petits in the stage adaption of David Walliams' The First Hippo on the Moon which is currently embarking upon a major UK tour.

For more, go to www.lespetitstheatre.com.

To post a comment, you must register and login.