Requardt & Rosenberg's DEADCLUB and More Set for Fuel Theatre's Autumn 2017 Season
By: BWW News Desk Jun. 01, 2017
Fuel and The Place have partnered up to present a brand-new show from Requardt & Rosenberg, the theatremakers behind outdoor dance extravaganzas The Roof, Electric Hotel and Motor Show. Shunt co-founder David Rosenberg (Ring, Fiction, Séance) and director/choreographer Frauke Requardt (Things We Love, Episode, Roadkill Café) collaborate to create contemporary dance pieces either in outdoor locations or within temporary structures. In a shift from their previous spectacular outdoor collaborations, they have created an up-close experience for a limited audience, informed by research into how memory can be distorted by traumatic events and the psychology of how individuals respond. With DeadClub (7-30 Sept) they investigate death, living for today, making the best of it, and what gets in the way.
Alongside DeadClub, other Fuel projects at The Place include two work-in-progress performances from Encounter Productions, as part of Choreodrome, The Place's biennial research and development programme for British-based dance makers. Encounter Productions' Jen Malarkey, a new Fuel collaborator, has been selected for the programme, with two new works Island and Deaf Choir.
Also this autumn, Fuel will stage a multi-venue festival in partnership with three venues in the city of Exeter. FuelFest will take place in November. The festival will be the first on this scale to be produced by the company and artists confirmed to take part so far include Inua Ellams and Uninvited Guests, who will perform at the Bikeshed Theatre, and puppet theatre company Gyre and Gimble, who will perform their new show The Hartlepool Monkey at Phoenix in Exeter as part of the production's UK tour.
Produced in association with Stratford Circus Arts Centre, where it opens in September, The Hartlepool Monkey draws on the coastal myth of a monkey hanged as a French spy by the people of Hartlepool in 1814. It is set to be a dark comedy which explores xenophobia - its causes and consequences - whilst celebrating children's ability to overcome prejudice. The new production makes use of Gyre & Gimble's trademark puppetry to follow the adventures of two survivors washed up on unwelcoming shores.
Inua Ellams' An Evening with an Immigrant will also arrive in Exeter in November as part of an extended UK tour. Littered with poems, stories and anecdotes, Inua tells his ridiculous, fantastic, poignant immigrant-story of escaping fundamentalist Islam, performing solo shows at the National Theatre, and drinking tea with the Queen of England, all the while without a country to belong to or place to call home.
Co-Founder of Fuel alongside Kate McGrath, Louise Blackwell has announced that she is stepping down as Co-Director from 1st July. As Louise explores new opportunities independently, she will continue to develop and produce some projects for Fuel, while Kate continues to lead the organisation.
Kate and Louise said, "For us, this new season reflects the changing and complex world we are living in and we hope you can join in the conversations started by these projects. We're pleased to be collaborating with The Place, London on Requardt and Rosenberg's newest show DeadClub and developing two new projects with Encounter as part of the Choreodrome residency programme. We are also really looking forward to hanging out in Exeter for a while in November where we will present our next FuelFest.
"The big change for us is that Louise is stepping down as Co-Director. We co-founded Fuel in 2004 and since then have made over 100 projects happen in over 70 places around the UK and beyond for over 400,000 people. Together we have worked with a diverse range of artists and partners from Sadler's Wells to Turner Contemporary and from David Rosenberg to Melanie Wilson. We're excited by the new opportunities Louise's move will bring for Fuel and each of us and we hope you'll join us at some of the shows we are offering in 2017."
For more information, visit fueltheatre.com.
DeadClub
7 - 30 September
Requardt & Rosenberg
A club for those who are not dead yet - the recently dead need not apply. A new show by Requardt & Rosenberg, creators of Electric Hotel, Motor Show and The Roof. Between two heartbeats, the light creeps closer and closer to your number. It won't be everyone, it can't be everyone tonight, but it might be you. There is only now. Make the best of it. DeadClub is commissioned by The Place, and co-produced by The Place and Fuel. Supported using public funding by the Arts Council England and the Wellcome Trust. Frauke Requardt is a Work Place artist.
7-30 September | The Place, London
8pm (Tues-Thurs), 7pm & 9pm (Fri & Sat), previews 7-9 Sept | £20 (£12 concs, £15 previews)
Press Night: Friday 12 September, 7pm performance only
www.theplace.org.uk | 0207 121 1100
The Hartlepool Monkey 14 September - November
Created by Gyre & Gimble with Carl Grose
In 1815, during the Napoleonic Wars, a French warship is wrecked off the coast of Hartlepool. Only a brave young cabin girl and the ship's mascot, a chimpanzee, make it to shore. But the townsfolk, having never seen a real Frenchman before, mistake the costumed ape for a French spy, condemning him to a life-or-death trial. A boisterous crew will use thrilling stagecraft, spirited sea shanties and a mischievous puppet to tell this timely tale that explores xenophobia - its causes and consequences - whilst celebrating mankind's ability to overcome prejudice.
14 - 30 Sep | Stratford Circus Arts Centre, London
www.stratford-circus.com | 020 8279 1080
Oct - Nov | UK Tour
Dates to be announced
Black T-Shirt Collection
5 - 10 September
Written and performed by Inua Ellams
"He unfurls, slow, like a dust flower, except, he is looking at his black shirt. Santana's footprint: stamped on his chest; perfect stone crystals glinting in the grooves..."
From Fringe First winner Inua Ellams comes a story about two foster brothers building a global t-shirt brand. On their journey from a market in Nigeria to a sweatshop in China, Matthew and Muhammed discover the consequences of success.
5 - 10 September | Melbourne Arts Centre, Australia
www.artscentremelbourne.com.au | +61 1300 182 183
An Evening with an Immigrant
28 Sept - 2 December
Written and performed by Inua Ellams
Born to a Muslim father and a Christian mother in what is now considered by many to be Boko Haram territory, Inua Ellams left Nigeria for England aged 12, moved to Ireland for three years, before returning to London and starting work as a writer and graphic designer. Littered with poems, stories and anecdotes, Fringe First winner Inua tells his ridiculous, fantastic, poignant immigrant-story of escaping fundamentalist Islam, performing solo shows at the National Theatre, and drinking wine with the Queen of England, all the while without a country to belong to or place to call home.
28-29 September | The Tricycle, London
7.30 pm | £12 - £15
www.tricycle.co.uk | 020 7328 1000
19 October | The Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare
tropicanaweston.co.uk | 01934 626 982
11 November | The Bike Shed, Exeter (as part of FuelFest)
www.bikeshedtheatre.co.uk | 01392 434169
20 November | Quarterhouse Folkestone
www.quarterhouse.co.uk | 01303 760750
21 November | Nordern Farm Centre for the Arts, Maidenhead
norden.farm | 01628 788997
22 November | Cambridge Junction
www.junction.co.uk | 01223511511
23 November | Gosport Discovery Centre
0300 555 1387
28 November | Regis Centre, Bognor Regis
alexandratheatre.co.uk | 01243 861010
29 November | The Woodville, Gravesend
woodville.seatlive.com | 01474 337459
30 November | The Bay Theatre Weymouth
weymouth.ac.uk/the-bay-theatre | 01305 208702
1 December | Dorchester Arts Centre
www.dorchesterarts.org.uk | 01305 266926
2 December | Bridport Arts Centre
www.bridport-arts.com | 01308 424204
The Preston Bill
19 October
Written and performed by Andy Smith
The tale of a man from a city in The North of England. A reflection on the last 80 years of world politics and history. The story of a life. The story of our lives. Written and performed by award winning theatre maker Andy Smith.
19 October | The Unity, Liverpool
Tickets on sale from 5th June.
www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk | 0844 873 2888
Portrait
November
Written and performed by Racheal Ofori | Directed by Kate Hewitt
A frank, fun and provocative look at the trials and tribulations of modern life as seen through the eyes of a young black woman. Inspired by Racheal's own experiences, Portrait uses music, poetry, humour and dance to examine identity and role models and challenge cultural stereotypes. After a hit run at Edinburgh and a successful UK tour in 2015, Racheal brings back her debut show for new dates.
1 November | The NASH, Hawes Village Hall, North Yorkshire (Rural Arts Create Tour project)
www.ruralarts.org | 01845 526536
2 November | Leyburn Community Arts Centre, North Yorkshire (Rural Arts Create Tour project)
www.ruralarts.org | 01845 526536
3 November | The Georgian Theatre Royal, Richmond, North Yorkshire (Rural Arts Create Tour project)
Tickets: £10 (including £1 restoration fee)
www.ruralarts.org | 01845 526536
4 November | Newton-le-Willows Village Hall, North Yorkshire (Rural Arts Create Tour project)
www.ruralarts.org | 01845 526536
7 November | South Street Arts Centre, Reading
www.readingarts.com/south-street | 0118 937 3456
Under Glass
Autumn 2017
Clod Ensemble
Under Glass is a promenade production in which the performers are presented within glass containers. Sound and light work together to guide the audience through the space and encounter this disparate group of individuals, sometimes coming within inches of the performers. At once a museum exhibit, an installation and a medical laboratory, characters appear almost as specimens; a woman in a jam jar, a couple negotiating their space in a bed-like Petri dish, a shy 'wallflower' pinned behind a glass panel, a man clock-watching in his office, a woman on the phone in a test tube observing the disintegration of village life.
Dates to be announced
www.clodensemble.com
Work in progress and previews include:
Island
September
Encounter | Presented as part of Touch Wood, work-in-progress from The Place's Choreodrome programme
Exploring how children process tragedy differently to adults, parental anxiety in the face of the unknown, and the vital nature of children defining their individuality, this ambitious project has been created with active participation from primary age children alongside adult performers.
Date TBC | The Place, London
http://www.theplace.org.uk/ | 0207 121 1100
Deaf Choir
September
Encounter | Presented as part of Touch Wood, work-in-progress from The Place's Choreodrome programme
Challenging socially-held notions of 'beautiful' sound, 'high' art and 'professional' dance, Jen Malarkey's Deaf Choir uses collaboration to explore how sound is experienced in the body, a listening not of the ears but of the being as a whole working with hearing dancers and a chorus of deaf singers.
Date TBC | The Place, London
http://www.theplace.org.uk/ | 020 7 121 1100
To Those Born Later
November
Uninvited Guests
It is 150 years from now, when none of us will be around. Imagine that you are a future generation - your children's children's children's children - and you have discovered a time capsule that was buried in 2017. Contained inside this, on an antique memory stick, are messages of hope and warning sent from today to a future generation. Join us in 2167 as we open the capsule to reveal the images from amongst the digital noise and decipher the corrupted information left for us to find 150 years ago.
November Dates TBC | Beaford Arts Centre, Devon
http://www.bikeshedtheatre.co.uk/ | 01392 434169
November Dates TBC | The Bike Sked, Exeter (as part of FuelFest)
http://www.bikeshedtheatre.co.uk/ | 01392 434169
Fuel aims to catalyse positive change in the world by producing new live performance by inspiring theatre makers for and with people across the UK and beyond. We seek to realise this vision by producing a programme of artistic work inspired by the ambition of the outstanding artists we support. These artists encourage audiences to understand fears, imagine a different future, and through that experience and insight, inspire change - individually and collectively - in order to better understand and more fully contribute to the world we live in. Fuel was founded in 2004. From a base at Somerset House, London, Fuel works locally, nationally and internationally to develop, create and distribute new work to the widest possible audience. Fuel is a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England, and a registered charity.
Fuel is currently working with artists including: Will Adamsdale, Clod Ensemble, Encounter, Inua Ellams, Lewis Gibson, Gyre & Gimble, Nick Makoha, Racheal Ofori, Frauke Requardt, David Rosenberg, Andy Smith, Melly Still, Uninvited Guests and Melanie Wilson.
Choreodrome is The Place's biennial research and development programme for British-based dance makers. Selected dance artists are invited to spend time at The Place developing a new dance work. Alongside, they run professional classes, workshops and laboratories, and give audiences the chance to come and see what's been happening in the studios during one of the Choreodrome work-in-progress performances called Touch Wood.
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