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Company number: 3724349
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Past programme
Showcases an eclectic range of fresh and interesting contemporary work, largely by emerging artists
At the Heart of Things
At the Heart of Things is a dance-puppetry performance inspired by Oscar Wilde’s book De Profundis. Movement improvisation, visual imagery and devised text create a contemporary adaptation that dives into female sexuality, queer identity and homophobia.
In a dystopian world where growing fear takes centre stage, two young women Lilly and Nina are dancing in a nightclub. When a gunman enters and opens fire, nothing will be the same again. Lilly tries to make sense in a senseless world. What does it mean to be a woman? What does it mean to fall in love? Out of her frustration, Oscar Wilde will be born, to guide her, page by page, towards rediscovering her sexuality and womanhood.
''An intriguing show to watch, full of little flashes of beauty and excellence.'' Views from the Gods
Vertebra Theatre is a physical and visual theatre company that creates international devising, puppetry and film work. Their previous work includes Dark Matter, which had a sold-out run at the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The Tell Tales
Gather round, there's a story to be told.
The Tell Tales is a brand new storytelling show for adults, exploring folk tales from across the globe. This piece of innovative new theatre immerses the audience in the magical worlds of tall tales and fantastical adventures. The storytellers cleverly weave a tapestry of myths and legends from the threads of yarns old and new. Come and be wrapped up by this group of first class raconteurs.
This ragtag bunch of storytellers are led by Paul Andrew and Minnie Wilkinson - experienced storytellers who are happiest when sat around a campfire swapping stories and tall tales. Whilst they are experienced children's storytellers, they decided that kids shouldn't have all the fun! And thus, The Tell Tales was born.
A Tuttifrutti Cabaret: Little April Showers
We are whispering to your left ear, tickling you with our petals:
"Don’t be upset about the rain. Spring is coming and we all are just about to bloom and it is going to be a revolution like every year. It is like they say: April showers bring May flowers."
After a successful Edinburgh Fringe festival 2017 and a monthly sold out cabaret nights, A Tuttifrutti Cabaret lands at the Blue Elephant Theatre with all-new exciting acts and fresh guests.
A monthly rendezvous with an all fierce female international cast. Featuring original material from the worlds of comedy, clown, circus and bouffon.
Expect a juicy, fruity cabaret you will never forget!
WHO ARE DIVABSURDITY?
An ensemble of hilarious soul sisters who met few years ago in France at the École Philippe Gaulier and never left each others since then.
As independent performers, self-producers and lovers of strong female comedy they have joined forces for to birth an all female comedy cabaret, absurd and unapologetic.
Our April international ladies:
NINA DIVINA
Monia Baldini, alias Nina Divina, is the artistic director of Divabsurdity and the hostesse maitress of A Tuttifrutti Cabaret.
She is a Gaulier trained clownesse and she has been a theatre writer and director for the past ten years in Italy where she is from.
She has moved to London a couple of years ago with her family and she is working on her own stuff, writing silly songs about snakes and working with amazing women. She is currently working with Lucia Bombilla in a new clown show called "Amazing scenes of legendary where snakes where (kind of) present".
LUCIA PENA PIN
Lucia is a basque clown Gaulier trained.
In A Tuttifrutti Cabaret she is Lucia Bombilla the irreplaceable assistant of Nina Divina, prop maker, costume designer and occasionally graphic designer. She loves motorbikes and perform silent clown pieces. She is currently living in London and working with Nina Divina in a new clown show called "Amazing scenes of legendary where snakes where (kind of) present".
EVIE FEHILLY
Evie Fehilly is an actress and theatre maker from Birmingham, a graduate of theatre and clown at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris, and, in the words of QX Magazine, "hilariously unhinged". Having honed her talents on the London cabaret scene, working with creators such as Caroline Horton, Ursula Martinez, Duckie and David Hoyle, Currently, Evie is working on a solo show about friendship and loneliness and was a founding member of Cabaret group Queerlective. Evie wants to make people laugh and make people (well, mainly herself) feel a little bit better about the world.
IRENE NERYS
Irene Nerys is a dancer, actress and performer. Engaged in creating and exploring new choreographic and artistic patterns, her very atypical path brings her to discover and fuse the most diverses disciplines (stand up and contemporary dance, oriental dance and ballet, visual art/new media and clown,
Photography and vanguardist poetry etc..). She lives in Paris and believes in beautiful and cool stuff that makes ones happy for real.
JULIA MASLI
Julia is Russian born in Estonia and based in London. Since graduating from Ecole Philippe Gaulier she has performed a one woman play "Radiator" written and directed by Madeleine Bye. The show played at Tristan Bates Theatre as part of The Camden Fringe 2016 ("brilliant" ** - gingerwigandstrollingman) She is a member of the comedy troupe "Sensitive Bricks" which has been described by Kate Copstick as "If you feel the need for a little crazy in your life...they would be the people to provide it." They have recently performed their show ‘’Late Night Nonsense - Variety Show’’ at Adelaide Fringe. (****1/2 - Adelaidian)
SHEA WOJTUS
Shea Wojtus is an actress, creator and clown originally hailing from Canada. She is currently appearing in Somnai, a new site-specific immersive show in London. She can often be found at comedy nights in London performing weird new solo bits or sharing the stage with her clown partner Lulu. Shea tries let humour and lightness inform all of the work she creates.
TOP TEN MUST SEE CABARETS The List, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2017
"…we were often surprised, things took different turns and there was plenty to enjoy and even be fascinated by…Plenty of comedy, cheeky one-liners, wit and a bit of rule-breaking – the ingredients of good, offbeat cabaret… left the audience clapping with delight …."
Paul Levy from Fringe Review
“It was amazing to spend five minutes in each one of your heads”
Tamara Astor, Actress
“I felt like I was sixteen again in the bedroom laughing with my girlfriends”
Francesco, an audience member
The Curious Case of the Missing Eggs...
Bring your little detective to help the Easter bunny find the missing eggs! Drama, music and games led by Blue Elephant Theatre bring the riddles to life as children solve the mystery and save the day!
All are welcome, these performances are family friendly and aimed especially at early years. Meet in The Trunk at Artworks, before heading round to Elephant Park, Elephant Road.
Three peformances at 12.00pm, 2.00pm and 3.30pm, and all are completely free! Spaces are limited, so booking in advance here is advised.
Find out more about Elephant Park.
Please note these performances are NOT at Blue Elephant Theatre.
Sisyphus Distressing
Sisyphus Distressing is an experimental music and theatre show, built around the myth of Sisyphus, as it was seen through the eyes of Albert Camus. Devised by Gregory Emfietzis, Sisyphus Distressing focuses on the values, ethics and struggles of modern society, inspired by the well-known myth. A highly emotional sonic journey, melded with a variety of non-musical elements, including drama, lighting, movement, and video. The show is supported by the Arts Council and the Hinrichsen Foundation.
The Metapraxis Ensemble is a flexible group of musicians and collaborators. Their productions focus on presenting contemporary music structured around narratives, and reinforced by extra-musical elements. Metapraxis events have taken place in venues such as IKLECTIK, Cafe Oto, LSO St Lukes, The Space, TripSpace, Iris and Chelsea Theatres.
Supported by
The Glorious Tour
 image Mitzi de Maragary for website.jpg)
These days everything seems to be wrong for Roni, from her stupid name that nobody can pronounce to a body that somebody else must have the instructions for. Meanwhile, Mia wonders how life got so messy. Together, Roni and Mia take us on a journey through family, personal identity, 90s R&B slo-jams, birthday cakes, flavoured condoms and first adventures in sex, love and death through dance and spoken word.
A contemporary hiphop dance theatre performance about many kinds of love,The Glorious Tour is a female-led exposé of the heightened emotions surrounding motherhood, adolescence, growing up and letting go. Combining talking, dancing, reminiscing and paper aeroplanes, The Glorious Tour is an unfiltered social commentary on contemporary life, inspiring audiences and provoking debate.
Fly No Filter combines dance, creative writing, spoken word and the subversive culture of hip-hop to create arresting, physical, narrative dance theatre.
Artistic Director Lucy Crowe has been creating dance theatre since 2000, showing work at venues including The Place, Stratford Circus and Sadler’s Wells. The Glorious Tour is Lucy’s first production with Fly No Filter.
Previous praise for Fly No Filter (formerly SIN Cru Theatre):
“A powerful expression of freedom through hip-hop… vibrant, irrepressible performance art
of the highest quality.” – Graham Watts, londondance.com
"I really enjoyed it!" - Alistair Spalding, Sadler's Wells
Audience Feedback:
“An outstanding amount of energy and great, funny acting.”
"Nostalgic, funny and vulnerable"
Age Guidance: 15+
A small amount of flour is used during this performance
Supported by
Oneness
Oneness is a contemporary physical theatre play about identity and mainstream culture in today’s world and how it affects the way women see themselves. Taking a strong movement and physical theatre approach to create a vivid visual impact, Oneness encourages us to think about our perception of identity. It incorporates African and middle Eastern sound, a mixture of dance and live vocals, and asks bold and fierce questions. This thought-provoking play is sure to move you.
The performance at 8pm is sold out so we have added a preview performance at 5pm. Tickets for the 5pm show are £10 (full) and £5 (concessions and Southwark residents). The evening performance will be followed by a Q&A.
Sticky Tape
Sticky Tape follows a young woman, Brolly, who has experienced a sudden, life altering bereavement and her journey after losing her mother. Based on true life events and using verbatim text, Moon On A Stick will be combine puppetry, movement, live soundscapes and artistic design to develop the project. Inspired by watercolour painting and charcoal illustration, Sticky Tape will take Brolly’s previous reality and explore how it changes in this forever altered world.
Featuring intricate life-size puppetry, the project will look at the contradictions that lie within loss by presenting stark reality next to extraordinary fantasy. How life can be both truly beautiful and utterly ugly and how we might live, held between these things.
Sticky Tape is Moon On A Stick’s first production for an adult audience having toured successfully with many Arts Council England Supported family shows. Moon On A Stick aim to create a fresh, stunningly visual piece with a moving and personal story at its heart. Join us for this scratch performance and feedback session.
Tickets are FREE but should be booked in advance to avoid disappointment - available here.
Split Bill: Meadow by Meadow / Serena Flynn: Prune in Progress
This is a split-bill work in progress performance from Meadow and Serena Flynn.
Meadow has a flair for the fabulous. She puts the "oh" in “oh my days” and the "ding" in "demanding." A famous vlogger, Meadow is now reaching out to her fans in real life and touring her new cabaret show to the masses. Join her for stories of heartbreak, the red carpet and her dog Choo Choo.
Serena Flynn’s ex cheated on her with webcam girls. She’s totally fine and doesn’t want to go on about it or anything. She’s just made a whole show about it.
Anarchic, grotesque and a bit nuts; this oversexed, outspoken bouffon playfully parodies gender performance and ridicules her own heartbreak.
Photo Credit (Meadow): Daniel Woodfield
Ribbet Ribbet Croak
Join Grandma and Grandpa Frog as they leave the pond to plan a big surprise. Help them keep a look out for their cheeky Grandfrogs, who pop up in unexpected places!
Featuring puppetry, Makaton and plenty of audience interaction, Ribbet Ribbet Croak is a playful multisensory exploration of frog life.
Ribbet Ribbet Croak is suitable for complex needs audiences and groups.
★★★ The Stage - "a great success"
★★★★ Broadway Baby - "a gentle and successful piece of theatre"
★★★ The List - "inventive sensory elements for an early years audience"
★★★★ Threeweeks - "plenty to see, things to touch and lots of sensory audience participation"
Performance Times:
Sunday 4th February: 12:00, 14:30 & 17:00
Tuesday 6th February: 10:00 (sold out), 11:30 & 13:45 (sold out)
Supported by
Desert Dust at The Star of Bethlehem
Developed as part of The Once Upon a Christmas Song Project, Blue Elephant Theatre and The Dot Collective are proud to present an alternative Christmas show, created from the magical stories, music and poetry springing from the dynamic minds of those with dementia.
The Dot Collective creates and provides professional theatre for those living in care, and share their work with the public. Not only do they bring innovative new theatre, but transform everyday spaces with all the aesthetics one would expect when going to the theatre.
Desert Dust at The Star of Bethlehem
Desert Dust at The Star of Bethlehem is a new play by Alexander Moschos (Brainville at Night, Found In Translation) directed by Dan Ayling (The Print Room, Hampstead Theatre, Arcola and regular Associate Director for Katie Mitchell). Presented by The Dot Collective’s latest project: Once Upon A Christmas Song, It has been written in response to ideas of participants we met during a series of theatrical workshops who live with dementia.
The night before Christmas, two siblings discover a homeless couple hiding in their pub and endeavour to keep their secret. Fusing sensory elements of live music, puppetry, immersive design elements and audience interaction, an ensemble of four professional actor/musicians will bring the spirit of Christmas alive. Join us as the three wise birds take us on a Christmas journey through the story of The Star of Bethlehem one night of Christmas Eve.
This project is truly a collaboration between the many minds met during the workshops, the playwright, director, designer and entire creative team.
Suitable for all ages
Reviews
Press
Breaking the Fourth Wall
A Christmas Carol
Will the spirits of Christmas transform the miserly old Scrooge? Which lucky audience member will get to play Tiny Tim? And who on earth gave the telly away? Wonderfully silly and tenderly heart-wrenching, Charles Dickens’ spellbinding tale is imaginatively brought to life in this fast-paced adventure comedy - featuring spooky spectres, audience interaction, and many a change of hat!
A perfect seasonal treat for ages five to five hundred, this tremendous new adaptation proves that nothing can replace your friends - and that with just a little kindness, the world can be very exciting indeed.
Supported by
Little Red Riding Hood
All previously advertised performances are sold out but there is a NEW performance on Saturday 9th December at 12.30 and there are still tickets left for this performance!
This much-loved story is reinvented as a playful pantomime. Moon On A Stick combine enchanting puppetry & storytelling with all the traditional pantomime elements in a fun, imaginative show.
Featuring live music, dance and audience interaction, get really involved with the story and help Little Red through the forest. Packed full of silliness, a sassy heroine and sparkles, this is the perfect introduction to panto for children aged 3+ and their families.
Performances on Saturday 9th December are relaxed performances, especially suitable for young children or those with additional needs.
Performance Times:
Thursday 7th December: 11:15, 13:45 & 16:30
Friday 8th December: 10:00, 11:15 & 13:45
Saturday 9th December: 14:30 & 17:00 - NEW performance at 12.30
Supported by
Blue Cloud Scratch
Blue Cloud Scratch is an exciting new dance scratch night, showcasing works in progress from a diverse range of choreographers, and is curated by Blue Elephant Theatre and Cloud Dance Festival. Blue Cloud Scratch aims to encourage and provide emerging dance artists with opportunities to present their works in progress and receive feedback from audiences and peers.
For more about the Blue Cloud Scratch and Cloud Dance Festival, click here.
Walls Between Us - Eriketi Andreadaki
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall. That wants it down.
So why do we continue to build them?
Walls Between Us explores the contradiction of creating and breaking boundaries and barriers. It dwells on the human need for fellowship and meaningful connection as well as the distance and barriers between us.
Drawing inspiration from Robert Frost’s Mending Wall, we investigate the concepts of limitation, personal space, touch and communication in an attempt to discover whether indeed “good fences make good neighbours.”
Eriketi Andreadaki is a London-based dance artist, originally from Athens, Greece. She graduated with a MA in Contemporary Dance from London Contemporary Dance School, where she toured nationally and internationally with postgraduate company EDge. She also holds a BA (Hons) in Media Studies and Communication. Since graduating she has worked with a number of independent artists, such as Joanna Kalm and A(r)ct. Her most recent choreographic work Walls Between Us was presented in October 2017 in Greece, in collaboration with Emi Amerikanou.
Performers: Sophia Sednova and Eriketi Andreadaki
Originally performed by: Emi Amerikanou and Eriketi Andreadaki
Baby Plus Two (Excerpts) - Bricolage Dance UK/Lise Smith.
“There is no more sombre enemy of good art than the pram in the hall,” said some bloke who
was clearly no good at multitasking. This solo is our rebuttal.
Pram firmly in the hallway, Baby Plus Two brings to life the physical and psychological experiences of early parenthood - from breast engorgement to mastery of nappy-sniffing via a constant low-level angst; filled, like motherhood itself, with angst, humour and love.
Lise Smith trained at Trinity Laban, graduating in 2006. She has produced companies including Kate Flatt, Scarabeus Aerial Theatre and Kamala Devam, and made work for companies including Cambridge Contemporary Dance as well as performing and rehearsal directing. She has worked with Bricolage Dance since 2012, becoming a co-director in 2017.
Performer: Jodie Adele Cole
Music: Lise Smith
Quebranto - Lucía Piquero & Renzo Spiteri
This work in progress is a personal collaboration based on ideas surrounding freedom of expression and the loss of it either by external means or personal impositions. It explores feelings of inadequacy, lack of words in the face of current political and social situations, and how, although it is not possible to express certain horrors, silence is even worse a response.
Choreographer Lucía Piquero and sound artist Renzo Spiteri come together once again to explore the possibilities of performance to incite discussion and present different view on current social issues
Performer: Lucía Piquero
Sound Artist: Renzo Spiteri
Exhibit F - Becky Namgauds
Exhibit F is a raw and commanding solo work exploring how female oppression, identity and a collective loss of memory are connected. For how long can women study their own absence? Bare chested and breathing heavily the performer searches her tendrils of hair which soon become parted and dragged across the floor.
Becky Namgauds has worked with artists such as Marion Motin, Holly Blakey and Marianne Elliott at the National Theatre, and is featured in videos for Dior, Klyne and Dua Lipa. Her solo work Severed Dreams has been performed around the UK and in 2016 Becky was selected by Hofesh Shechter to create ‘RodaDoras’ for East Wall Warm Up produced by East London Dance and Hofesh Shechter Company.
Performer: Becky Namgauds
Extra Direction: Marso Riviere
We Received Orders Not To Move - Margherita Borg and Ming
We have received orders not to move. We have been instructed how to sit, stand, walk. Our bodies reject these orders.
Ming & Marg Are currently studying at Roehampton University to receive an MFA in Choreography. They recently collaborated a lighting design for The Print Room’s International Festival.
Performers: Margherita Borg and Ming
The Invisible
She waits for airplanes to cross the sky. She wants to see the outside world. She folds paper planes. She takes a flight. She leaves home. She arrives in a foreign country. She feels invisible. She asks why.
A storyteller stands alone on the stage, sharing a story about an invisible character.
What happens when East Asian culture lands at Heathrow Airport? How much do you know about the invisible? How little do you know? The Invisible is a one-woman show by Yuyu Wang, drawing on real experiences of living in a foreign country, incorporating story-telling, music and movement. It aims to explore the vulnerability, homesickness and otherness of Asian communities overseas, offering a new perspective on current contemporary discussions around immigration, alienation and home.
Reviews
