Theatre company research

PunchDrunk:

PunchDrunk is a British Theatre Company formed in 2000. The company was founded by a gentlemen called Felix Barrett. Punchdrunk is known best for its style of immersive theatre; the theatre of allowing the audience to choose what to watch and where to go.

In the past, PunchDrunk have performed interesting pieces for example The Borough which allows the audience to have their own individual theatrical experience and The Duchess of Malfi which is performed entirely from 21 singers and dancers, and a 69 piece symphony orchestra to tell the story. The Firebird Ball was another of their creations which was performed in a dis-used factory, using only a cast of 14 and a live band and also a recreation of Midsummers Night Dream in which the company used a Private house and garden as their stage, allowing the audience to roam the house whilst watching the ‘casual’ living of the actors. And also a play which came under the more horror/ scary style which gave the audience a chance to find out as much as they could about the inhabitants or as little as possible…

PunchDrunk’s executive producer comes under the name of Griselda Yorke, and  the companies members include: Steph Allen the creative assistant, Katy Balfour the associate artist, Felix Barret the founder also the artistic director, Sarah Davies the head of development, Maxine Doyle the associate director and choreographer, Beatrice Minns the design associate and  Jennie Hoy the general manager.( This is only a selection of members and their jobs inside PunchDrunk as the list is huge)

Barrett (Felix, the founder of PunchDrunk in the year 2000) graduated at the University of Exeter with a degree of Honorary Fellow in drama. He started out with the idea of allowing people to forget the outside world and allow them to enter a completely different one.  Other members mentioned above all took part in past experiences or occupations similarly to the ones they do for the company.

Shows that are coming up for PunchDrunk include Sleep No More which is currently being shown in New York. Sleep No More is based on the famous Shakespeare play Macbeth. They took over two abandoned warehouses and created their stage to perform, audiences, again, are free to roam and explore more into the performance. 

PunchDrunk was mentioned to me in a previous lecture, we were only told that they often used large, unused buildings as there stage and automatically this enticed me to the fact that they’ve moved away from the ordinary stage performance but they have brought their audience into the performances as well.

Gecko Theatre company:

Gecko Theatre company was formed in the year 2000 by Amit Lahav and Allel Nedjari who later became the co-directors of the company. Eight years on (2008) Allel Nedjari moved on but Amit Lahav continued his work on the company. They both set out to create a “launch pad for our audience’s imagination” they really wanted to create something unique. The company focuses on mime, movement clowning and dance to the style of improvised exploration.

Gecko’s work was highly influenced by the likes of Steven Berkoff and David Glass (Both Berkoff and Glass studied under Lecoq). Gecko uses these styles of drama and with input of their own personal experiences, relationships, and emotional responses to the world they created their own creative development route for success in projects. Gecko are sometimes known as a “physical dance company.”

Performance wise: Gecko have done The Overcoat which is a mime story of how a gentlemen is trying to get the attention of a lady, and the only way he can do this is if he gets a new coat. The movements and dance in this piece are all energetic, big and bold. Another of their performances Missing, is all about looking into ‘the depths of the human psyche.’ And thirdly another of Gecko’s popular projects Institute, a play that invites the audience into ‘four gripping journeys’ which ‘collide in an extraordinary world.’ And for this project, Gecko said that they looked into the meaning of caring for someone- speaking to colleagues, relatives, elderly and mixed the opinions up to create Institute.

Amit Lahav is the artistic director of the company as well as the founder; he also features in the shows that they present, as an actor. He was born in Israel and trained in Physical Theatre; he then went on to look into dance and other Physical Theatre pioneers such as the likes of Berkoff. The other members of the group purely consist of other actors, however Amit does the majority of the work to keep the company running alone.

As far as my research can take me, Gecko haven’t released any teasers into what project they are embarking on for this year etc. We can only assume it will be something more unique than ever…

Gecko was a company I found purely by looking through various theatre companies. Mime is something that I enjoy watching but never tried out myself; so this was a way in which I could learn more about it and how the company uses it in performances.

The Graeae Theatre company:

(The correct pronunciation being grey-eye)

 

The Graeae company was founded in 1980 by Nabil Shaban and Richard Tomlinson- and they set out with the ambition of bring disabled and mentally disabled persons to the stage. They wanted to dispel the delusion of someone being less able, the stereotypes and to prove all this wrong by bringing them into the theatre industry.

Graeae have toured nationally and internationally with their performances for example; The Iron Man, which was a huge success throughout British summer festivals last year. The well- known story has been recreated into an even more mythical synopsis with aliens included. Another of their projects was Reasons To Be Cheerful; a part gig part play which was performed at the Olympic Ceremony alongside Stephen Hawking’s speech. Many of their plays include sign language and audio description; and the plays are generally based around what the members of the group would like to go see themselves.

The artistic director for the company is Jenny Sealey. She joined Graeae in 1997, with the ambition to find a new ‘theatrical voice.’ Since joining Graeae, Sealey was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Honours and she also directed the cast for the Olympic Ceremony; which in itself is a great experience/ opportunity.

An upcoming performance from Graeae is Blood Wedding to come out in spring of this year. Blood Wedding is about the ‘myths’ or taboos of anyone loving anyone. A story of a young couple who stick together through what we can assume some difficult times and “the consequences are explosive” …

This is a company that has my full interest into because they set out with what could be a difficult ambition to bring disabled people to the stage, and not only did they do that but they’ve become really successful i.e. Olympic Ceremony. Starting up a group like this would be something that I would consider in my future in the acting industry because I can understand how rewarding it would be just to see the actors being more independent and just enjoying themselves in an industry I, myself, is interested in.