The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich is delighted to announce the full programme for the 14th annual Pulse Festival Ipswich from Thursday 29 May to Saturday 7 June 2014. Pulse Festival Ipswich is a part curated, part open application 10-day festival focusing on new and innovative work, offering a bright and inspiring snapshot of contemporary theatre and performance.
The 2014 programme presents a diverse range of work by regional, British and international artists across a variety of genres, with highlights including:
Credible Likeable Superstar Role Model | Thursday 29 May, 7.00pm
In a provocative protest against global attempts to sexualise and commodify childhood for profit, award-winning artist Bryony Kimmings and her niece Taylor, nine, play the global tween machine at its own game by inventing dinosaur-loving, bike riding, tuna pasta-eating, alternative pop star Catherine Bennett. ????? Independent
Suitcase Day | Friday 30 May
A Pulse initiative, launched at last year's Festival, The Suitcase Prize is aimed at encouraging theatre makers to think in an environmentally and economically sustainable way. 10 work-in-progress performances will be presented that must be brand new and able to travel on public transport in luggage carried by those taking part. At the end of the day a panel of industry professionals will award £1000 to one of these bold and adventurous ideas.
Gym Party | Saturday 31 May
Last year, Pulse presented their first co-commission [to the festival], a work in progress of Made In China's Gym Party in collaboration with Battersea Arts Centre, Mayfest, Sprint and Sampled Festivals. This year's Festival presents the final version, which received rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2013. ???? The Times
My Son and Heir | Saturday 31 May
A work-in-progress performance of a Pulse Festival Ipswich co-commission with MayFest, Sprint and Cambridge Junction, about parents who have a son born in the same year as the royal 'Baby Cambridge'. Confronting the spectacle of the 'New Royals' and their strategic attempts to appear just like us, My Son & Heir is an anarchic celebration of the everyday heroism of parenthood.
Dance Night | Monday 2 June
New to the 2014 Festival, DanceEast and Pulse Festival Ipswich presents Hetain Patel's American Boy, and a preview of Wendy Houstoun's Words Into The Dark
Raymondo | Thursday 5 June
The World Premiere of a New Wolsey Theatre commission from playwright/performer Annie Siddons (Kneehigh, BAC, Unicorn, Bristol Old Vic). A show about growing up for grown ups, Raymondo weaves a dark, funny lyrical narrative of love and survival over an atmospheric live score.
The festival provides a platform for the development and presentation of new work by regional, British and international artists of vision, and aims to nurture artistic ambition and excellence across a range of art forms. The 2014 Pulse Festival Ipswich will present work across a variety of genres, from comedy to dance and everything in between, in various forms from tour-ready work to rehearsed readings, and works at an advanced stage of development.
Now in its 14th year, Pulse Festival Ipswich has presented new work from a host of local and international artists and companies including Gecko, Talking Birds, Lucy Ellinson, Made in China, Caroline Horton, Victoria Melody, Chris Goode, Mark Thomas, Daniel Bye, Chris Thorpe, Action Hero and Ursula Martinez.
The 2014 Pulse Festival Ipswich welcomes back China Plate as Festival Directors. The established producing team bought last year's festival a fresh, adventurous line-up that included Caroline Horton's Mess, Mark Thomas' Bravo Figaro, a bespoke commission from Lucy Ellinson, and last year's festival co-commission Gym Party which was developed in collaboration with SPRINT, Mayfest,Battersea Arts Centre and Cambridge Junction's Sampled Festival. As part of the Festival and China Plate's commitment to developing work across the country, they will be supporting Search Party's production My Son and Heir as this year's co-commission alongside SPRINT, Mayfest, and Cambridge Junction.
The New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich is a regional theatre with a national reputation for the quality, range and reach of its work and for embracing cultural diversity in the widest sense. The theatre is central to the creative life of Suffolk and seeks to expand the horizons of audiences and artists by presenting a programme designed to entertain, enrich and challenge.
FESTIVAL LISTINGS
THURSDAY 29 MAY 2014
Bryony Kimmings presents
CREDIBLE LIKEABLE SUPERSTAR ROLE MODEL
Triple Award Winning show by artist Bryony Kimmings and her 9 year old niece.
Venue: New Wolsey Theatre 7pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
Every Day presents
THE LOVE PROJECT
A verbatim play about the subject of love.
Venue: New Wolsey Studio 9pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
FRIDAY 30 MAY 2014
SUITCASE PRIZE DAY SESSION ONE 1.00-2.20pm
Venue: New Wolsey Studio (Tickets: day ticket £15.00, add Near Gone for £5)
Lawrence Speck and Joe Wild present
BROTHERS OF JUSTICE
Brothers of Justice are real-life superheroes!
Jack Bennett in association with ARC Stockton presents
TOO MUCH TOO YOUNG
A funny and ambitious clarion call to put education right
Antler
COPY
A show about invisibility and impersonation and vicariousness and narcissism
SUITCASE DAY SESSION TWO 2.50 - 4.10pm
VENUE: New Wolsey Theatre (Tickets: day ticket £15.00, add Near Gone for £5)
Catherine Dyson presents
WE DON'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE
A family falls apart in this darkly vivid rural mystery
Hester Chillingworth presents
AGENT EVERYWHERE
'Visualise or kill' Agent Everywhere is waiting for your text
Sh!t Theatre presents
GUINEA PIGS ON TRIAL
Sh!t Theatre share their ongoing efforts to sell themselves to medical science
SUITCASE PRIZE DAY SESSION THREE 5.30 - 7.30pm
Venue: New Wolsey Studio (Tickets: day ticket £15.00, add Near Gone for £5)
Tessa Waters presents
WOMANz
A high octane physical comedy celebrating what it means to be a woman
Hannah Silva presents
SCHLOCK!
A collision between Fifty Shades of Grey, the radical punk-pirate Kathy Acker and the sounds of Sonic Youth
Tom Marchman presents
A PLACE IN THE SUN
Exploring the pleasures and pains, and highs and lows of all-inclusive holidays
Rachel Lincoln presents
LIE BACK AND THINK OF ENGLAND
A clown teaches sex education in this touching, irreverent, physical comedy
Two Destination Language presents
NEAR GONE
Two performers, four hundred flowers and a heartfelt story of survival - with fantastic gypsy music
Venue: New Wolsey Theatre 9pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
SUITCASE PRIZE AWARDS CEREMONY 10.30pm
VENUE: New Wolsey Theatre
SATURDAY 1 JUNE 2014
Greg Wohead presents
THE BACKSEAT OF MY CAR (and Other Stories)
An interactive true storytelling piece for one audience member at a time that takes place in a parked car.
VENUE: Car in a car park (Free sign ups throughout the day)
John Osborne presents
THE NEW BLUR ALBUM
A life story told through Blur albums
Venue: New Wolsey Studio 10am (Tickets: £15 for all Scratch Sessions, or £5 individually)
SCRATCH SESSION 11am - 11.50am
VENUE: New Wolsey Theatre (Tickets: £15 for all Scratch Sessions, or £5 individually)
Little But Fierce presents
TORTOISE: REDUX
Three women, one psychiatric ward, one Christmas. Lots of fun?
Greg McLaren presents
ICON FOR IPSWICH
A new type of socio-industrial experiment - based in Ipswich!
SCRATCH SESSION 12.10pm - 1.00pm
VENUE: New Wolsey Theatre (Tickets: £15 for all Scratch Sessions, or £5 individually)
Sophie Woolley and Gemma Fairlie present
HOLIDAY SELFIE
A comically inspirational journey of selfie escape
Eggs Collective present
EGGS COLLECTIVE GET A ROUND
Dark, satirical, heart-warming comedy from Duckie favourites, Eggs Collective
Analogue present
STOWAWAY
The story of a desperate act for a better life
VENUE: New Wolsey Studio 2.30pm (Tickets: £15 for all Scratch Sessions, or £5 individually)
Eastern Angles present
CHICKEN
A quirky and darkly funny new play from Molly Davies
VENUE: New Wolsey Studio 3.30pm (Tickets: £15 for all Scratch Sessions, or £5 individually)
Search Party presents
MY SON AND HEIR
An anarchic celebration of the everyday heroism of parenthood
VENUE: High Street Exhibition Gallery 5.30pm (Tickets: £15 for all Scratch Sessions, or £5 individually)
Made In China presents
GYM PARTY
A razor sharp and darkly comic exploration of our universal desire to win
VENUE: New Wolsey Theatre 7.30pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5 - add this show for £5 when you book for all 6 Scratch sessions)
SUNDAY 2 JUNE 2014
FAMILY DAY
New Wolsey Theatre present
STORYMAKER
If you're 3 to 6 years old and love silly stories and tremendous tales then you've got to come and meet the Storymaker.
VENUE: New Wolsey Theatre 12 noon, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm ,4pm (Tickets: Free)
Highly Sprung and Vortex Creates presents
TRAVELING TREASURY
A magical story telling experience that takes places in a beautifully transformed caravan
VENUE: New Wolsey Terrace 12 - 3pm and 4 - 6pm every 10 mins (Tickets: Free)
Kid Carpet presents
BLAST OFF
An entertaining mix of live music, silliness and lots of laughs
VENUE: New Wolsey Theatre 1pm (Tickets £8.50/£5)
A Little Commitment and Red Earth Theatre Company in association with Birmingham mac present
PIRATE AND PARROT
World's smallest pirate meets world's biggest parrot = fun and adventure
VENUE: New Wolsey Theatre 3pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
Join A Little Commitment for a fun workshop aimed at parents, carers and children that explores the concept that everyone is different.
MacRobert Arts Centre presents
TITUS
The smash-hit drama about big lies and small truths. Suitable for ages 10+
VENUE: New Wolsey Studio 6pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
MONDAY 1 JUNE 2014
DANCE NIGHT AT DANCEEAST
Wendy Houstoun presents a work in progress of
WORDS INTO THE DARK
A work in progress using word association and loose improvisation
VENUE: DanceEast 7pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
Hetain Patel presents
AMERICAN BOY
A witty personal; take on the influence of movies and how we form our identity
VENUE: DanceEast 9pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
TUESDAY 4 JUNE 2014
Francesca Millican-Slater presents
THE FORENSICS OF A FLAT
A bit of stand up, a bit biography, a bit documentation - a love affair with a flat
VENUE: New Wolsey Studio 7pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
Babakas presents
OUR FATHERS
A journey through fatherhood, inventive comedy and unforgettable emotion combine
VENUE: New Wolsey Theatre 9pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
WEDNESDAY 5 JUNE 2014
New Wolsey Young Associates present
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
A 10 step guide to adult life: by teenagers
VENUE: New Wolsey Studio 7pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
Nigel Barrett and Louise Mari present
A CONVERSTION
A darkly comic show guided by a 1920's conversation manual
VENUE: New Wolsey Theatre 9pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
THURSDAY 6 JUNE 2014
Vital Xposure presents
LET ME STAY
A tender and unique exploration of the impact of Alzheimer's on family relationships
VENUE: New Wolsey Studio 7pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
Annie Siddons presents the World Premiere of
RAYMONDO
A show about growing up for grown ups
VENUE: New Wolsey Theatre 9pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
FRIDAY 7 JUNE 2014
Theater Aan Zee, Richard Jordan Production, Big in Belgium and Theatre Royal Plymouth present
FREEZE
An artist balances stones on top of each other
VENUE: High Street Exhibition Gallery 7pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
Greyscale present
GODS ARE FALLEN AND ALL SAFETY GONE
A story of a mother and a daughter, performed by two male actors
VENUE: New Wolsey Studio 8.30pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
Brian Lobel presents
PURGE
Part game show, part love story, part lecture exploring modern friendships
VENUE: New Wolsey Theatre 9.45pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
SATURDAY 8 JUNE 2014
METIS presents
WORLD FACTORY: THE SHOP
Immers yourself in the world of the global textile industry
VENUE: Tower Ramparts Shopping Centre 10am - 4pm (Free)
Join METIS at 5.30pm at the New Wolsey Theatre for WORLD FACTORY: THE SHIRT - a presentation of the project so far (Tickets: Free - ticketed)
Selina Thompson present
CHEWING THE FAT
Glitter, chicken, rice-pudding piñatas: a midnight feast like no other
VENUE: New Wolsey Studio 2.30pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
Sue MacLaine presents
STILL LIFE
A meditation on the complex relationship between artist and model
VENUE: High Street Exhibition Gallery (Tickets £8.50/£5)
New Art Club present
FEEL ABOUT YOUR BODY
An uplifting and hilarious spectacle about how we feel about our bodies
VENUE: New Wolsey Theatre 7.30pm (Tickets: £8.50/£5)
GabbleBabble present
THE BLOODY BALLAD
Murderously sexy, riotously bloody, dark and debauched with rockin' music
VENUE: New Wolsey Studio 9.30pm (Tickets £8.50/£5)
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