Warwick Arts Centre Presents Bite Size Festival

A new take on Ovid's Minotaur myth and an innovative jukebox musical featuring the songs of John Bon Jovi are among the varied theatre shows on offer as Bite Size Festival returns to the Warwick Arts Centre. The festival offers an eclectic day-long showcase of new work from theatre makers across the East and West Midlands, combining performances from well-established companies alongside emerging artists. The shows will be at different stages of development - pitches, works in progress, fully-finished or extracts - giving audiences the chance to see an exciting range of work from across the region throughout the day.

Among the highlights of the day will be a chance to see extracts of three brand new shows selected from ideas presented at the First Bite Festival, which took place across the Midlands in the Spring: Paul O'Donnell's We've Got Each Other, Maison Foo's The Interlude and Serious Business' Captain Simon. Each company was awarded £3,000 to develop their ideas for performance at Bite Size. First Bite and sister festival Bite Size have been promoting the best of Midlands theatre talent since 2009, with the 2017 edition featuring work by 18 companies.

The day's events will be split into six sessions. Tickets for individual sessions can be purchased for £4.50, alongside a limited number of Day Passes covering entry to all the day's events for £29, (including a full performance of Motionhouse's new multimedia circus show Charge).

Paul Warwick, Co-Director of China Plate said "Theatre and performance making in the Midlands continues to go from strength to strength, as the quality and variety of shows we saw at First Bite this year testifies. Bite Size promises to be a terrific opportunity to come and see an exciting snapshot of what the Midlands has to offer and the terrific value day pass means you can see the work of 16 artists for less than £30.

@youroldchina | #FBBS17| www.chinaplatetheatre.com

Bite Size Festival 2017 Line up

Family Show: 10.30am

Library Lion by Untied Artists FULL SHOW
Everyone knows rules have to be followed, especially in libraries. No running allowed. And you must be quiet. But what would happen if a lion came to your storytime? There aren't any rules about lions are there? This beautiful story invigorates an endangered species - the local library, with songs, laughter, lots of joining in, and maybe even a big furry hug. But NO ROARING! Adapted by Untied Artists from the book by Michelle Knudsen & published by Candlewick

Session one: 11.35am

The Interlude by Maison Foo WORK IN PROGRESS

The Interlude is a show about a new place, a place that exists in between where you once belonged.....and in this place, two lost clowns: one displaced, one misplaced; both on a journey to find home. Maison Foo blend puppetry, objects and live camera with clowning and humour to tell their latest tale. Traveling through miniature worlds and surreal realities The Interlude explores themes of migration, journey and home, asking the question 'where do we belong?'

The Female Warrior; Or The Surprising Life and Adventures of Hannah Snell by Talking Birds FULL SHOW

The Female Warrior is a theatrical account of the many surprising incidents that befell the said Hannah Snell, born in 1723, and also known as James Gray, in her extraordinary career as soldier, marine, mother, performer upon the stage and sometime publican of the eponymous London tavern.

Session two: 1.45pm

Horizontal by Suriya Aisha PITCH

Horizontal is project exploring invisible disabilities, our bodies and how we relate to the world. In 2009 Suriya was diagnosed with chronic Chiari malformation type 1. Chiari is a condition where the lower part of the brain pushes down into the spinal canal. She underwent brain surgery in 2011. The condition means she is registered disabled. Although you wouldn't know it looking at her. This will be an honest, funny and challenging exploration of how capitalism and our medicalised systems collide.

BULLISH by Milk Presents PITCH

Milk Presents drop a bull into a gender shop and hope it breaks everything. A wild show about not taming the minotaur within. In BULLISH, ancient mythology meets modern gender negotiation. Inspired by Ovid's Minotaur, a gender fierce ensemble of hopers and renegades try to pass, pack and blag their way out of the labyrinth.

An Island Nation by Francesca Millican-Slater PITCH

We are an island nation, surrounded by water that has been our protector and our isolator throughout history.

I'm going to swim to Europe and back in municipal pools, talking to people who swim inland about what it means to Brexit, investigating who we are as an island nation of inland swimmers as we set sail to leave a union behind. And then I will tell you about the people I meet, the stories I hear and the swimmers I find.

The Fear of Fear by Stephanie Ridings PITCH

Fear is inherent within us as a survival instinct but in today's world are our fears justified, or are they a means of keeping us oppressed by those who seek power and personal gain? Fear of Fear will explore personal and universal fears to see if we have every reason to be constantly shit-scared or if, like an illusion, we're seeing what the magicians want us to.

Session three: 3.05pm

The Audit by Proto-type Theater WORK IN PROGRESS

A new performance exploring greed, capitalism, economics, power and how our relationship with money defines our relationship to the world. The Audit turns a questioning eye and pointing finger to big banking, the human cost of economics and the hidden monetary systems that govern how we live our lives.

Anyone's Guess How We Got Here Barrel Organ
She's standing in what used to be her bedroom. She's come back to reclaim what she buried. The car waits outside. On debt, eviction, childhood, and the thing under the floorboards. On what remains, long after you've paid it off. After 2014's multi award-winning Nothing and 2015's Some People Talk About Violence, Barrel Organ return with Anyone's Guess How We Got Here. A road-trip. A haunted-house. A bedtime story. A photo-album. An '80s fantasy film. A demolition project. A riot.

Session four: 4.15pm

The Nose That Nobody Picked by David Parkin EXTRACT

A surreal, ripsnorting yarn for all the family with songs...and snot. Christopher, a keen but unorthodox gardener, finds a living nose raised by slugs in his garden. In their hunt to find Little Big Nose a face they encounter Doctor Skinner, an eccentric plastic surgeon, who has connections with the nose's past and sinister intentions for its future. Expect mountains of mucus, toe tapping tunes and two nostrils full of magic.

Elephant and Castle by Tom Adams and Lillian Henley EXTRACTS

'The first thing I said to Lillian in my sleep was "I want to get in a wardrobe and take you to Elephant and Castle." She was slightly alarmed.' That's the dangerous premise behind Elephant and Castle, a new, experimental, funny show that springs from three years of recorded sleep talk. Using live music and extracts from those recordings, Elephant and Castle is a Gig Theatre show about how honest it is possible to be and have your relationship survive.

Session five: 5.35pm

The Black Cat by LaPelle's Factory EXTRACT

A renegade retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's twisted tale. Two performers dismember the process of adaptation by reimagining a macabre classic with the cheekiest of glints in their eyes. An enigmatic writer has adapted Poe's original story and handed scripts over to two performers who are now taking merciless liberties with the words - like a madman taking out a furious rage on a helpless pet. Balanced between the hilarious and the horrific, this show revels in the darkness that hides just under the surface.

Captain Simon by Serious Business WORK IN PROGRESS

Simon doesn't want to talk about sex. But he does talk all the way through it. Sex soothes him. Makes him feel better. Makes him feel like a big man. Like his girlfriend Kathy's big, strong man. But Kathy's sick of mopping up after him. Captain Simon is a wry, tender and anarchic show about porn, men and sex, including the messy bits.

SEXY by Vanessa Kisuule EXTRACT

Oi, you. Sentient flesh owner. Do you think you're sexy? What do you find sexy? What does sexy even mean? As a young woman who loves poetry, smashing the patriarchy and a well-timed slut drop, this has been a question that has plagued Vanessa her whole life. SEXY uses truthful wit and clever verse to explore our conflicted relationship with our bodies and sexiness, exploring our obsession with what is sexy through comedy, spoken word, dance and various states of undress.

FULL SHOW: 7.30pm
Charge by Motionhouse

Motionhouse's incredible new multi-media show is about energy. From the electrical charge that sparks human life, to the beating of our hearts and the memories we make, six performers use dance and acrobatics to delve deep into the human body, tracing the incredible story of energy in our lives.

Session six: 9.15pm

We've Got Each Other by Paul O'Donnell WORK IN PROGRESS

We've Got Each Other is a tragic love story following a docker and waitress, and their forbidden love for one another. Featuring the music of Sir Jon Bon Jovi*, this joyous jukebox musical arrives with 12 Olivier Nominations** and universal acclaim***. We've Got Each Other takes a sideways look at the pomp and circumstance of modern jukebox musicals, and questions if the art of imagination is being lost to machinery, illusion and extravagance.

* Jon Bon Jovi may not appear in person. Jon is not an actual Sir.

** Anticipated nominations.

*** Paul's aunt in Australia loved it (via Skype).

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