THE CRASH OF THE ELYSIUM to Open at Manchester Int'l Fest 1 July - 17 July

MIF and the BBC are delighted to announce that they are collaborating with the award-winning theatre company Punchdrunk to create an extraordinary event for children aged 6-12 and their families: The Crash Of The Elysium

Tom MacRae, writer and co-creator of The Crash Of The Elysium said: "The Crash Of The Elysium is unlike anything else you have ever experienced in the world of Doctor Who. This is your story, your mission, you are the hero. Everything depends on you. If you don't turn up, the world does not get saved.

Punchdrunk are theatrical wizards. Their shows are a stunning blend of magic, excitement, adventure and impossibility. Once you enter a Punchdrunk show, the laws of physics are switched off until you leave again. There is no stage, there is no comfy seating, there is no division between the world of the audience and the world of the show. You are at the heart of the action and you drive the story forward. No two shows will ever be the same, no individual adventure will ever be repeated.

The madness and brilliance of Doctor Who could not find a better theatrical partnership than Punchdrunk, and slamming these two incendiary giants together has produced the most exciting hour of entertainment anyone could ever wish for. I only hope that everyone who enters Punchdrunk's world is brave and smart and brilliant enough to survive the crash of The Elysium...?

Steven Moffat from the BBC said: "Doctor Who has always been interactive. Children don't just watch it, they join in, they play at it, they become part of it. It invades their living rooms, their dreams, and sometimes the space beneath their beds. To me, ordinary theatre never quite seemed right for the Time Lord and his monsters - you don't want to see all that terror and wonder tamed behind a proscenium arch - but that's not what Felix and Punchdrunk are about. In Tom MacRae's brilliant play the audience will tipped into the terrifying heart of a Doctor Who adventure - not a theme park ride, not an exhibition, an honest to goodness battle to the death, with the worst nightmares of the Time Lord's world."

Felix Barrett of Punchdrunk said: "Punchdrunk is delighted to be working with the BBC once again, this time for an exciting new audience and one that's very dear to our hearts. You might say 6 - 12 year olds are at the perfect ages for Punchdrunk's work. Certainly, we've always been on a mission to spark our adult audiences back to that childhood state of imaginative freedom and sense of adventure that kids possess in abundance. Over the past couple of years, our Enrichment department has been developing innovative work with children in schools, exploring the same immersive techniques that make up the Punchdrunk theatrical experience. Now, with The Crash of the Elysium, there's a fantastic opportunity for Punchdrunk to take all of that imaginative energy back to the source, in a thrilling live show made especially for kids."

Alex Poots from MIF said: "Punchdrunk and the Doctor Who team are world leaders in their fields. We're delighted to have brought these two brilliant architects of the imagination together to create what we believe is going to be one of the most talked about children's shows this year. MIF takes its work for kids seriously - and this is going to be seriously exciting theatre for 6-12 year olds."

There are two different types of performances of The Crash of the Elysium - Children Only
performances and Family performances (please see notes to editors).

Press tickets are available in two different formats. Adult reviewers accompanied by
appropriately aged children are welcome to book tickets for the following performances:

Friday 1 July: Saturday 2 July: Sunday 3 July:

Very limited numbers of tickets are available for these performances, so please respond as
quickly as possible with your requests. For those of you that would like to send an
unaccompanied child to review the show, please contact us with the date and time slot that
you would like and we will do our best to accommodate you. Performance times can be
found by checking http:/mif.co.uk/event/the-crash-of-the-elysium-a-punchdrunk-show-for-
children-aged-6-12/.

CREATIVE TEAM: 

Created by Felix Barrett and Tom MacRae Written by Tom MacRae Based on an original idea by Steven Moffat Directed by Felix Barrett Designed by Livi Vaughan Lighting Design by Paul Normandale Sound Design by Stephen Dobbie

Commissioned by Manchester International Festival, BBC, London 2012 Festival and Salford City Council. Produced by Manchester International Festival, Punchdrunk and BBC Wales. Funded by the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor.

THE CRASH OF THE ELYSIUM
MediaCityUK Studios, Salford Quays
Onsale now
Advance booKing Strongly recommended as capacity is strictly limited
Box Office: www.mif.co.uk / Quay Tickets + 44 161 876 2198

Children's performances

These performances are designed for children only. The children must be aged 9-12.
Accompanying adults will leave the performances after 5 minutes, while the children complete
the show. Adults will be taken to the on-site café to wait for their children to finish. Children will
be accompanied by an actor at all times. Each child will require their own ticket. Accompanying
adults do not require tickets. Children younger than 9 will not be admitted to these performances.

Fri 1
Sat 2 and Sun 3
Tue 5 to Fri 8
Sat 9 and Sun 10
Tue 12 to Fri 15
Sat 16 and Sun 17

Family performances

These performances are designed to allow adults to accompany children and are particularly
suitable for younger children (ages 6-8). A maximum of 1 adult can accompany each child and
adults are requested to hold back and allow children to lead the performance.

Fri 1
Tue 5 to Fri 8
Sat 9 and Sun 10
Tue 12 to Fri 15
Sat 16 and Sun 17

4pm, 4.10pm, 4,20pm, 4.30pm, 4.40pm and 4.50pm
12.30pm, 12.40pm, 12.50pm and 1pm
12.20pm, 12.30pm, 12.40pm, 12.50pm and 1pm

18.40 to 20.50
11.00 to 20.40
18.40 to 20.50
18.00 to 20.40
18.40 to 20.50
18.00 to 20.40

16.00 to 17.30
16.00 to 17.30
11.00 to 15.30
16.00 to 17.30
11.00 to 15.30

Felix Barrett, Direction and Design, Punchdrunk

Artistic Director of Punchdrunk and a graduate and Honorary Fellow in Drama, University of Exeter, Felix has conceived, designed, and directed all of Punchdrunk's productions since founding the company in 2000. He is a Critics' Circle Drama Award winner (Best Design, Faust, 2006) and one of the first recipients of a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Breakthrough Fund Award (2008-2011), which supports exceptional arts practitioners in the development of their vision. In 2009, he directed (with Tom Morris) the Stoppard/Previn Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at The National Theatre, London, It Felt Like A Kiss, a collaboration between Punchdrunk, documentary film-maker Adam Curtis, and rock musician Damon Albarn for the Manchester International Festival (2009), Punchdrunk's award-winning US debut production, Sleep No More (2009) and The Duchess of Malfi (collaboration with English National Opera, 2010). Most recently, Felix was Creative Director for Shakira's current world tour The Sun Comes Out.

Tom MacRae is an award winning screenwriter and author. He has written for Channel 4's No Angels and As If, Lewis and Marple on ITV and several episodes of Doctor Who for the BBC, as well as on numerous other drama series. He was nominated for a BAFTA in 2002 for Off Limits: School's Out for Channel 4, and is the writer and creator of a new seven part comedy-drama series for Comedy Central, premiering in 2011. MacRae has also written three books for children; Baby Pie, When I Woke Up I Was A Hippopotamus and The Opposite, which won the prestigious Parents' Choice Award in the United States.

Formed in 2000, Punchdrunk is the internationally acclaimed pioneer of a new form of immersive theatre that places the audience at the centre of the action and the experience.

Award-winning productions include Faust (in collaboration with The National Theatre, 2006), The Masque of the Red Death (2008), Tunnel 228 (in collaboration with The Old Vic, 2009), It Felt Like A Kiss (with Adam Curtis and Damon Albarn, Manchester International Festival, 2009), Sleep No More (with The American Repertory Theatre, Boston, Mass., 2009), The Duchess of Malfi (with ENO, 2010). In 2008, the company formed its education and outreach department, Punchdrunk Enrichment, which now works with schools and community groups across London to deliver innovative participatory projects. As well as producing epic theatrical productions, Punchdrunk occasionally works with corporate partners in the execution of unusual experiential projects and events. The company is currently presenting its New York debut, a new version of the critically acclaimed Sleep No More at the legendary -McKittrick Hotel? in the Chelsea district. Punchdrunk's Sleep No More has won a 2011 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience and a Special
Citation For Design And Choreography at the 2010-11 Obie Awards. www.punchdrunk.org.uk

Manchester International Festival is the world's first festival of original, new work and special events and takes place biennially, in Manchester, UK. The Festival launched in 2007 as an artist-led, commissioning festival presenting new works from across the spectrum of performing arts, visual arts and popular culture.

Manchester International Festival 2011 will run from Thursday 30 June - Sunday 17 July
2011. Register for updates at www.mif.co.uk.

 

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