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Company number: 3724349
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What's on - March 2023
The Blue Elephant should be on every theatre goer's map
Led By The Wind
At what moment do you want to fly?
At what moment are you willing to give up the desire to fly?
Led By The Wind is a devised work-in progress that will embark from these questions. A rhapsody breaching boundaries between the memory and the imagined, the personal and the world, documentary and fiction through a blend of live music, moving images and performance.
About Ensemble Not Found
Not been said, not been shown, not been found.
Initially inspired by the infamous HTTP error message, Ensemble Not Found is a newly created theatre collective looking to provoke discussion through new forms of performance and collaborative theatre-making. We are currently run by a group of East Asian theatre artists who are looking to collaborate with artists of all cultures and disciplines.
ERECT - 42 minutes plus shipping
Two young men make their first steps into the world of manual labour, and begin to face the demons it brings out in them.
ERECT is about friendship and hardship. Using song and dance to show what can't be said, and beer and sarcasm to say it another way, it highlights the pitfalls of putting on brave face for too long.
Devised by new company Wafer-Thin Theatre, ERECT focuses on masculinity, particularly male insecurities, and their ability to disrupt communication. It is a calling to the wonderful personalities within that get wrapped and packaged, stapled up and shipped away by a society unwilling to hear them.
About Wafer-Thin Theatre
Wafer-Thin Theatre is an emerging company run by Ty Nicholls and George Wait. They focus on devising original theatre, drawing from the techniques of a variety of European theatre practitioners and implementing elements of both naturalism and surrealism. Their work thus far has had a particular focus on men’s mental health, with a vision to uplift and inspire young men.
Bamboozled
The game is simple... you won’t know it until you’re in it.
Welcome to Bamboozled. We don’t know what’s going on, and neither do you.
About PipeItUp Theatre Company
PipeItUp members come from different theatrical backgrounds, and share interests of abstract storytelling through physical theatre and multimedia. Their process relies on ‘tentacular’ improvisation observed through their lens, taking inspiration from ‘Viewpoints’ theory and taking stylistic cues from Japanese ‘Butoh’ and the European ‘OBRA’ theatre company. They make honest work that incorporates the body in an authentic way.
Follow PipeItUp on Instagram: @pipeitupcompany
Attempts On Her Life
Anne has lived a hundred lives.
She is a movie star, a refugee, a femme fatale, the girl next door, she is nothing and everything all at once.
Attempts on Her Life is a story of womanhood, the beauty of it and the threats to it. We see Anne through the various versions of her existence; a Hollywood actress, refugee, porn star, religious figure, the girl next door. All the things that Anne can be, under the thumb of impossible expectations. We follow her through the highlights and heartbreaks of her life, with the greatest tragedy of all being that Anne is in every one of us. The play consists of 17 scenarios where a range of nameless characters attempt to define who Anne really is.
About Eight Square Theatre
Eight Square Theatre was established at the end of 2021, first creating a Christmas-themed TIE piece which toured in primary schools, sharing the importance of looking after our environment. They are a group of 8 actors who are currently training at the Miskin Theatre and are looking to create a variety of work.
Follow Eight Square Theatre on socials: @8SquareTheatre
Content warnings: flashing lights, explicit language, sexual content
Lasagna
What would you do if a neighbour started to leave food on your doorstep? It’s the first national lockdown, two women, both strangers, step out and across the line that divides them.
Lasagna is based on the true life experiences of women who have lost multiple children to the care system. It celebrates community, generosity and humanity.
This performance of Lasagna will be followed by a post show panel including:
Catrina McHugh MBE, Artistic Director of Open Clasp & Writer of Lasagna (Chair)
Vanessa, Co-Creator of Lasagna
Jules Hillier, Pause CEO
.
From the company behind Key Change - New York Times Critics’ Pick and Sugar on BBC iPlayer.
“It made me smile and cry and restored faith in common humanity.”
“Lasagna provides much food for thought.”
“Lasagna was a fantastic production, I watched it twice…thought provoking, motivating and powerful piece.”
About Open Clasp
Open Clasp place theatre at the heart of transforming the lives of women and girls. We collaborate with women and young women excluded by theatre and society to create bold and urgent theatre for personal, social and political change.
We often work directly with women who are affected by the criminal justice system in England in prisons and in community settings to produce theatre of the highest quality. This is then used to influence public opinion, train service providers and influence policy debates. Our work is supported by the women we work with, and the partnerships nurtured in the women’s service sector, community organisations, and academia.
“Open Clasp - a remarkable company working with disempowered women.” The Guardian
Community Street Party
We are back for another Street Party!
Join us on Saturday 25 March from 12pm to 5pm for a street party on the Wyndham Road side of the Jessie Duffett Hall!
Supported by Southwark Council's Cultural Celebrations Fund, it will be a family-focused day with workshops and performances open to all.
Live music, dancing, performances, workshops... It's a day of celebration and a chance to get to know Blue Elephant and its activities better!
(in case of bad weather, the event will be relocated to Blue Elephant Theatre, 59A Bethwin Rd, SE5 0XT)
FREE
INCLUDING:
• A performance by Blue Elephant's very own Young People's Theatre
• Drama games led by our facilitators
• A giant mural to draw and paint on
• Music & salsa dancing
• Free tea, coffee and soft drinks
Blue Elephant Theatre will be open for bathroom facilities, just a few minutes walk away.
ELEFUNNY COMEDY NIGHT
A terrific line-up of up-and-coming comedians is taking over Blue Elephant - grab a drink and witness some of the most exciting acts the UK comedy circuit has to offer!
Line-up
COMPERE: FITZGERALD HONGER
A regular on the London comedy circuit, Fitzgerald Honger is a dynamic comedian who has performed in top comedy clubs across London and the UK including Up the Creek and the comedy store. When not doing comedy, Fitz is a producer. He’s worked for international companies spanning PR and broadcast television including MTV and Discovery, and has developed a wealth of contacts within the TV and entertainment industries.
DEE ALLUM
Dee Allum is an award-winning stand-up comedian and writer.
Dee started her comedy career performing sketches with the Cambridge Footlights and wrote the prestigious Footlights Pantomime in 2018. Dee has also written and performed a 45-minute solo stand-up show, and has performed on the UK Comedy circuit, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at Latitude Festival.
In the last two years Dee has been nominated for Best Newcomer at the Chortle Awards, placed as runner up in the Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian of the Year award 2021, won the 2Northdown New Act Competition 2021 and was a finalist in the 2022 BBC New Comedy Award competition.
SHARON WANJOHI
Sharon Wanjohi is an up and coming stand up comedian with a varied act ranging from shock to absurd comedy. A Chortle Student Comedy Award Finalist and Funny Women Stage Award Finalist, with 4 years on the circuit, she talks (maybe too much) about children's films and the cartoon dilfs that inspired a generation of sexual awakenings. And she thinks Ratatouille is a commentary on race.
SHALAKA KURUP
Shalaka is an observational comedian and a huge fan of living, laughing & loving.
She's performed at venues across London, including Angel Comedy, Vauxhall Comedy Club and the Comedy Store.
2Northdown New Act Competition Finalist 2022
Brighton Komedia New Act 2023: Runner Up
"Deadpan joy" - James Walsh, The Morning Star
“(an) air of easy professionalism” - Chortle
LUKE CRAIG
Finalist in the 2019 Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year, Luke Craig draws the audience in with his impeccable wit and stage presence. With topics ranging from his South London upbringing to fatherhood, Craig is surely one to watch out for.
“He is a compelling storyteller, with command of pacing, timing, and the dramatic pause.” – The Evening Standard
“His talk of growing up around the shady characters of Croydon and Lewisham, offer[s] some insight into a world not often credibly portrayed” - Chortle
RICKY BO LEE
Ricky is an upcoming comedian and writer from South London who uses his lived experiences to dissect and make fun of everyday life. He uses his comedy to point out the unspoken everyday things with a tint of nostalgia. Be sure to catch him on the circuit!
LUCA CUPANI
Luca has been no stranger to the comedy world circuit since – gigging in Dubai and across Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark to name a few) and of course in Italy, where he has appeared on Zelig, the most successful Italian TV comedy show (recorded live in front of an audience of 2300 people).
Cupani has appeared at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, competed in Seattle and San Francisco International Comedy Festival and regularly performs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Luca’s latest show Happy Orphan received multiple rave reviews.
His solo show in Italian has been broadcasted on the TV channel Rai 5 and it is available on streaming on Amazon Prime Video (Italian Stand Up, episode 3). Luca’s UK credits include appearing on Comedians Vs. News (BBC World Service) The Arts Hour (BBC World Service) and The Arts Hour International Comedy Show (BBC World Service)
Not A Girl Not Yet A Woman
“I'm not a girl, not yet a woman. All I need is time, a moment that is mine, while I'm in between.”
Remember that Britney-themed sleepover you had in 2002? Welcome back to your mum’s basement, sort of… Come over, put on your pjs, try your best to sing karaoke without waking your dad. But wait, you’re not a girl anymore, are you? Are you a woman? Something in-between? None of the above?
In Not a Girl Not Yet a Woman, two confused performers in their late-twenties submerge themselves in Britney’s story to interrogate their own adultness. Expect fun noughties nostalgia as they take you through a coming-of-age, Britney-themed sleepover. Dabbling in dance, live music, other-people’s-poetry, comedy, and games, they unpack what we can learn from the Princess of Pop (while trying not to have an existential crisis). It’s messy, it’s a 13-year-old’s sleepover nightmare, and it’s about control.
About Popsie Theatre
Popsie Theatre is a female, queer, migrant-led devising company based in London. Members include performers Talia Kracauer and Rute Costa, and director Tilney Brune. They joined forces to make movement-based work with a strong comedic vein - camp and entertaining, whilst exploring the political and profound topics that take up a lot of space in our brains.
Content warnings: swearing, partial nudity, discussions of mental illness, heavy use of perfume