London International Mime Festival 2003

M MIME FESTIVAL

M I M E C L O W N V I S U A L T H E AT R E

MAKING THEATRE MAGICAL

BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY WHAT’S ON

LONDON 10 - 2 6 J A N U A R Y 2003

www. mimefest. co.uk

CONTENTS

BOOKING INFORMATION PAGES 26 & 27

13 A2 19 Andrew Dawson 26-27 Booking Information Back cover Calendar 11 Chipolatas 14-15 Circus Ronaldo 9 Compagnie 111 12 Compagnie Jérôme Thomas 22 Company Collisions 8 Company F/Z 18 33 Fainting Spells 7 Fiat Lux 21

Jade 5 MZDP 17 Mossoux Bonté 11 Moving People 6 Okidok 20

Ralf Ralf 10 Spymonkey 16

Teatro Corsario 25 Theatre de l’Ange Fou 24 Told by an Idiot 4 Total Theatre Talks 23 Wishbone 4 Workshops

FOR DETAILS OF DISABLED ACCESS PLEASE CONTACT THE VENUES

A LARGE TEXT VERSION OF THIS BROCHURE IS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.MIMEFEST.CO.UK

The London International Mime Festival gratefully acknowledges financial support from: Association Française d'Action Artistique/Ministère des Affaires Etrangères; Commissariat General aux Relations Internationale de la Communauté Française de Belgique; French Embassy, Institut français du Royaume Uni; London Arts; Pro Helvetia; SBC (registered charity); Swiss Embassy; SWX Swiss Exchange; The Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals and Exhibitions, a public-private partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Department of State, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and The Rockefeller Foundation, with additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and administered by Arts International. The Barbican is owned, funded and managed by the Corporation of London.

FOR THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL MIME FESTIVAL Directors: Helen Lannaghan & Joseph Seelig Press Representative: Peter Leone at Anna Arthur PR (020 7637 2994) Festival Assistant: Silvia Maroino Brochure/Website Design: Iain Lanyon, Kean Lanyon (020 7354 3362) Printed by: Fulcrum Colour Printers

LIMF: 35 Little Russell Street, London WC1A 2HH Tel: 44 (0) 20 7637 5661 Fax: 44 (0) 20 7323 1151 e-mail: mimefest@easynet.co.uk web-site: www.mimefest.co.uk

With special thanks to the Citadines Hotel group

cover photo: Compagnie Jérôme Thomas

2

Many Happy Returns...

Welcome to the 25th London International Mime Festival. Since its first edition at London's Cockpit Theatre in 1977, the Festival has been a catalyst, a unique international showcase promoting innovative visual theatre. We have been fortunate to work with so many enormously talented artists over the years, and in this special season, alongside a host of new names, we are delighted to bring back some LIMF favourites including Circus Ronaldo and Compagnie Mossoux Bonté from Belgium, Compagnie 111 and Fiat Lux from France, and from Britain, Theatre de l'Ange Fou, John Paul Zaccarini and Told By An Idiot. We are especially grateful to The Arts Council of England and to London Arts for their long term support, to our colleagues at festival venues in London and beyond for their enthusiasm and care. This year we are delighted to be at The Barbican for the first time, as part of BITE:03 with Compagnie Jérôme Thomas, and to return to The Place, where the 2003 Festival opens with the UK debut of dazzling Swiss trio, Metzger/Zimmermann/dePerrot.

In a typically eclectic LIMF season there are shows for every taste, including yours.

It all starts here!

“The performers at LIMF are dedicated not just to the silent arts but to making theatre magical by any means necessary”. WHAT'S ON

“Three cheers for the London International Mime Festival. I had almost forgotten what strange tricks the human body can play, and the laughter and wonder its transformations can generate.”

SUNDAY TIMES Helen Lannaghan & Joseph Seelig, Festival Directors

WORKSHOPS

In collaboration with The London International Mime Festival, Total Theatre Network presents:

Total Theatre Talks: The Role of Design in Physical and Visual Performance Voice Box, Royal Festival Hall Sat 18 Jan 2.30-4.30pm £5 (£3 concs). Free for Total Theatre Network members.

This discussion will focus on the role of design in creating a performance, the designer's function in the creation process, how design influences the finished product, and whether a designer and scenographer are one and the same?

These and many more questions will be discussed by an international panel which will include Danny Ronaldo (Circus Ronaldo), Steve Wasson (Theatre de L’Ange Fou and Ecole de Mime Corporel Dramatique), Professor Anthony Dean (King Alfred’s College, Winchester) and Olivia Jacobs (Tall Stories).

Chair: Dick McCaw. Limited capacity. Early booking recommended.

To reserve a place and for further details call: 020 7729 7944, or email: talks@totaltheatre.org.uk.

Presented in association with SBC

FESTIVAL WORKSHOP Ron East: PASSION PLAY The School of Physical Theatre, Waterhouse Studio, Three Mills Film Studios Sat 11 Jan and Sun 12 January, 11am-4pm Go wild with your imagination!! In a world dominated by passion and accident, physical and visual theatre artists have a unique opportunity to be poets of play. Explore emotional imagery in both dramatic and commedic performance. These two one-day workshops will provoke your passion to create, and provide practical skills to develop your own work.

Ron East is Director of the School of Physical Theatre. He has been involved in theatre, film and television for more than thirty years, as an actor, director and playwright.

Location: Three Mills Film Studios, Three Mill Lane, Bromley-by-Bow, London E3 3DU. 5 minutes from Bromley-by-Bow tube station on the District Line.

Parking available on site.

Cost: £80 for the two-day workshop or £50 for one day only.

For more information and bookings call 020 8215 3350 or email: school@physicaltheatre.com 4

SWITZERLAND

Metzger/Zimmermann/dePerrot Gopf

The Place: Robin Howard Dance Theatre Fri 10-Sun 12 Jan Fri/Sat 8pm, Sun 6pm £5 Apex/£7 Concs/£10 Advance/£12 Standard/£15 Super Tickets: 020 7387 0031 Opening the 2003 Festival, three dynamic Swiss performers catch the spirit of the moment with this unique and stylish mix of circus, dance and club music. In a stunning decor of Bauhaus simplicity, a series of hinged doors transform into a labyrinth of different rooms and spaces, conjuring a sliding jigsaw show of surreal, segmented images. Inhabiting this Kafkaesque, architectural fantasy, two engaging characters try to co-exist. Perched high above them, a deejay with six turntables spins and mixes, controlling events like a puppet master.

The performers are Martin Zimmermann from the French National Circus School and Josef Nadj's Cri du Cameleon company, former Bejart Ballet principal, Gregor Metzger, and club deejay/composer, Dimitri de Perrot. Witty, sharp and entertaining, Gopf integrates diverse techniques and aesthetics from the performers three different worlds, to create an imaginative, new performance language.

'An absolute must see!'

Liberation Runs approx 60 mins without interval Performances sponsored by SWX Swiss Exchange and supported by Pro-Helvetia and the Swiss Embassy, London

photo: del Curto

5

www.mzdp.ch

BELGIUM

Okidok

Purcell Room Sat 11-Tue 14 Jan

Ha Ha Ha

Sat/Mon/Tue 8pm, Sun 4pm ÂŁ12 (ÂŁ9 concs) Tickets: 020 7960 4242 First London appearance by Xavier Bouvier and Benoit Devos, aka Okidok, one of today's outstanding theatreclown duos. Trained in Brussels and at the Montreal Circus School, their extravagant make-up and costume evokes the great tradition of Russian clowning, but these accomplished young Belgians have developed their own distinctive universe and style.

Ha Ha Ha is their first show, a series of original, wordless sketches and impressive physical routines developed and perfected in the course of touring with different circus troupes in Europe, America and Canada.

'Brilliant. They have that magic formula which appeals to all ages'.

Le Soir

OKIDOK ON TOUR

www.okidok2.com

Leicester, Phoenix Arts: Thur 16 Jan, 8pm.

Tickets: 0116 255 4854

Runs approx 75 mins without interval

Croydon Clocktower: Fri 17 Jan, 8pm.

Tickets: 020 8253 1030

Presented in association with SBC

6

photo: JC Dherville

FRANCE

Fiat Lux

Nouvelles Folies

Purcell Room Thur 16-Sun 19 Jan Thur-Sat 8pm, Sun 6pm £12 (£9 concs) Tickets: 020 7960 4242

On holiday in a remote fishing village, a smart young city couple falls foul of the fun-loving local trawlermen, with hilarious and surprising consequences.

A Total Theatre award winner at the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, top French ensemble, Fiat Lux, was first seen at the 2001 Mime Festival and now makes a welcome return to the South Bank with this brilliantly observed, wordless comedy of frisky manners down amongst the lobster pots.

'This gorgeous one-hour physical theatre piece lifts the heart; the sevenstrong performing company never put a foot wrong; and the strength of the theme gives the show a terrific discipline and energy, as well as a tremendous source of comedy.' The Scotsman www.ciefiatlux.asso.fr Runs approx 60 mins without interval.

Presented in association with SBC Supported by the French Embassy, Institut français du Royaume-Uni

photo: Jean Henry

7

photo: Eric Richmond

UK

Company F/Z Throat Purcell Room Mon 20-Wed 22 Jan, 8pm £12 (£9 concs) Tickets: 020 7960 4242 John Paul Zaccarini's teasing, erotic hybrid of circus, cabaret and performance art deals with sex, male identity and the yearning to be loved. Directed

by Flick Ferdinando, it won a Total Theatre award at the recent Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Choreographer, dancer and consummate aerialist, John Paul Zaccarini has worked with DV8 Physical Theatre (Enter Achilles), appeared in pop videos with Jamiroquai, The Rolling Stones and The Spice Girls, and starred as SkyBoy in the Millennium Dome Show.

Company F/Z was a recent recipient of the Jerwood Prize for contemporary circus.

‘A fabulous piece of work'. The Times Runs approx 55 mins without interval Presented in association with SBC

8

photo: Sissle Honore

FRANCE

Compagnie 111 I.J.K. Purcell Room Thu 23-Sun 26 Jan Thu-Sat 8pm, Sun 4pm £12 (£9 concs) Tickets: 020 7960 4242 A hit from last year's Festival, Compagnie 111 returns with its sensational, sonic juggling show. On a cunningly amplified set created from a series of variously sized wooden boxes, white juggling balls become instruments of dazzling sound and rhythm. Add a dash of aerial skills, flamenco, accordion and acrobatics and you have IJK, a seamless flow of artistry and magic. Performers Aurelien Bory, Olivier Alenda and Anne de Buck trained at France's famous Lido Circus School and worked with Mladen Materic's Tattoo Theatre before setting up their own company in 1999.

'Think of it as Stomp with balls or Mondrian on acid'. Sunday Times 'An astonishing blend of performance and sound installation'.

Le Republicain Supported by the French Embassy, Institut français du Royaume-Uni. Runs approx 55 mins Presented in association with SBC

photos: Aglaé Bory

9

UK

Spymonkey

ONE NIGHT ONLY

Stiff + Cooped

Stiff 7pm. Cooped 9pm Queen Elizabeth Hall Mon 20 Jan £12 (£9 concs) per show OR SEE BOTH SHOWS FOR £16 (£12 concs) Tickets: 020 7960 4242 They're back! Book early to avoid disappointment and to get best seats! Brighton-based Spymonkey presents its two acclaimed physical comedy classics, Stiff and Cooped, in a one-off double-bill. Grieve with great tragedian Forbes Murdston in Stiff, as he tries to bury his dear departed wife in fitting style.

Feel for rich, beautiful, fawn-like and swinging Laura du Lay, orphan heroine of Cooped, as she arrives for her first day of work at the Cornish mansion of her mysterious new employer. Will she find love or is it too.......late?

'Dead funny..this is a tragical tale and you'll weep, but only with laughter'.

The Guardian (Stiff) 'I laughed so much my throat hurt.'

The Times (Cooped)

STIFF runs approx 70 mins without interval.

COOPED runs approx 70 mins without interval.

Please note this production contains nudity.

Presented in association with SBC

Photo: David O’Driscoll

10

UK

Chipolatas Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer: Sat 18-Sun 19 Jan, 1pm Riotous routines, fearless feats and sparkling circus skills from a trio of multi-talented musical clowns. The Chipolatas celebrated their 10th anniversary in 2002, a decade in which they have performed in thirty countries across five continents.

Suitable for all ages.

'Magic.' The Scotsman Photo: Guto Muniz

Runs approx 45 mins Presented in association with SBC

Moving People

FREE EVENTS

The History Men

Clocktower Court, Croydon Clocktower Sat 18 Jan, 1.30pm and 3.30pm.

Two boffins have been unleashed from The Institute and are now at large. No one is safe from their prying eyes, prodding fingers and measuring sticks.

Will your smile measure up? Following similar surveys at festivals in Germany, India, Brazil and France, Moving People's life-size Bunraku-style puppets now investigate the Croydon genus of the human species.

Runs approx 45 mins

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FRANCE

Compagnie Jérôme Thomas Juggling Hands Barbican Pit Mon 13-Wed 15 Jan, 7.45pm £12 Half-price student night: Wed Tickets: 020 7638 8891 (bkg fee) Frenchman Jérôme Thomas and German stage partner Martin Schweitzke are olympian gold medallists of their art form, juggling. With eyepopping routines and artistry, their spectacular new show blends elements of circus, dance and illusionary magic in a programme of intricately choreographed solos and duets, woven together with live accordion accompaniment by Jean François Baez. Exhilarating entertainment for afficionados and newcomers alike, Juggling Hands is a masterclass in balance, speed, harmony and object manipulation. Formidable!

Jérôme Thomas first appeared in London at the 1986 Mime Festival as the star of Circus Fratellini.

As well as worldwide touring with his own shows he has worked with celebrated circus troupe, Archaos, and his influence has been central to the hugely successful resurgence of circus arts in France.

Runs approx 60 mins without interval Supported by the French Embassy, Institut français du Royaume-Uni Presented in association with

BITE:03 The Barbican is owned, funded and managed by the Corporation of London

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UK

A2

Do You Want This Once Again?

ICA Mon 13-Wed 15 Jan, 8pm £12 (£9 concs and ICA members) Tickets: 020 7930 3647

inc day m’ship

A2, a pair of darkly glamorous women with a gleam of real madness in their eyes, employs the spirited talents of senior citizen, Jean Morgan, to explore the concept of Time and Waste as we increasingly revere what is best, fast, new and young.

Through a series of emotional and thought provoking sequences involving a tree branch, microwave oven, teabags and a roll of clingfilm, our feelings and fears at being part of modern society come under the microscope. A2 creates fantastical images that linger long in the memory.

A2 is Alit Kreiz and Anton Mirto. Their previous show, Miss, did it hurt when you fell down from heaven? was performed in The Place's annual Resolution season and they have appeared in Simon Beaufroy's film, Everyone's Happy, at the London Film Festival.

‘Astonishingly risky and intelligent!

Here comes A2 to blow you out of your cerebral chair. They will have your mind full of thought and your cheeks full of chuckles’.

Resolution 2002 'Their special gift appears to be an ability to lure us into their world and hold us there, charmed, touched and rapt'. Dance Europe Runs approx 70 mins without interval

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photos: Michael Yee-Chong

BELGIUM

Circus Ronaldo Fili

Queen Elizabeth Hall Fri 17-Sun 19 Jan Fri 7.45pm, Sat 6pm, Sun 4pm £10, £12.50, £15 (concs £8, £10, £12.50) Tickets: 020 7960 4242

For six generations the Ronaldo family has toured the province of Flanders with its beautiful gypsy caravans and eccentric, hand-made mix of circus and theatre.

Since making its first ever overseas' appearance at the 1998 Mime Festival, Circus Ronaldo has gone on to win hearts around the world. True to popular commedia dell'arte tradition, its rollicking Fili features larger than life characters competing to impress with their skills, melodrama, masks, music and fire - not to mention an ambitious marionette opera. Fili has the gentle warmth of country fair entertainment and the surreal atmosphere of a Fellini film. Delightful and special, a show for the whole family to enjoy.

Presented in association with SBC Runs approx 90 mins without interval

www.circusronaldo.com

photos: Benny de Grove

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BELGIUM

15

SPAIN

Teatro Corsario

Vampyria

ICA Thur 16-Sun 19 Jan Thur-Sat 8pm, Sun 4pm £12 (£9 concs and ICA members) Tickets: 020 7930 3647

inc day m’ship

Teatro Corsario's blood curdling love story feeds off the rich tradition of vampire literature embodied in the works of such writers as Tolstoy, Goethe, Baudelaire and Bram Stoker. Spectacular, gory, sexually explicit and shot through with dark humour, Vampyria is large-scale puppet theatre like no other you've seen before!

Based in Valladolid, Teatro Corsario has appeared in all the major Spanish theatre festivals. Overseas it has toured to Portugal and Poland, and now makes its first visit to the UK. 'Gothic, perverse, sensual and technically superb...a magical experience which seduced the audience - one minute exploding with laughter, the next gripped in fear'. Diario www.teatrocorsario.com Runs 70 mins approx without interval NOT suitable for children.

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BELGIUM

Mossoux Bonté Light!

ICA Mon 20-Wed 22 Jan, 8pm £12 (£9 concs and ICA members) Tickets: 020 7930 3647

inc day m’ship

'When the door to the cellar was open I would go to any lengths to avoid passing in front of the black hole. Pulling on a sweater was a nightmare; when my head was hidden, as if blinded, I feared that anything might happen to me'. Michel Polac Driven by her childhood fear of the dark comes a remarkable new piece of visual theatre from Belgian performer, Nicole Mossoux, and director Patrick Bonté. Regular contributors to LIMF during the past decade, their productions, including the internationally acclaimed Twin Houses, have been among the Festival's most memorable and talked about shows.

At the crossroads of dance and theatre, Light! confronts real and imagined fears. A gripping journey through darkness and shadow to the furthest reaches of your imagination.

These London performances follow the world premiere of Light! at the Theatre Varia in Brussels on 10 January 2003 'Spoken text and explicable gestures could not begin to define the nebulous sensibilities that this show brings into focus. It nudges at the very beingness of being, If this is the way mime is going, then three cheers'.

Independent on Sunday (Twin Houses) www.mossoux-bonte.be Runs approx 60 mins without interval

With support from the

Co-production with

Commissariat General

Charleroi-Danses (Centre

aux Relations Internationale

Chorégraphique de la

de la Communauté

Communauté française

Française de Belgique

Wallonie-Bruxelles)

17

USA

33 Fainting Spells Dirty Work

ICA Fri 24-Sun 26 Jan Fri-Sat 8pm, Sun 6pm £12 (£9 concs and ICA members) Tickets: 020 7930 3647

inc day m’ship

Three women career through a shifting kaleidoscope of mad, anecdotal happenings, photo: Peter Mumford culminating in a robbery at a luncheonette.

'Smart, complex, slyly hilarious, altogether different with a vengeance' said the New York Times, 33 Fainting Spells are Seattle performance artists Dayna and Gaelen Hanson (no relation) and Peggy Piacenza. Their work has been commissioned and presented in America's leading contemporary arts venues including Dance Theatre Workshop, New York, The Wooster Group's Performing Garage in SoHo, and at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts. Dirty Work is inspired by sources ranging from Chekhov and Ingmar Bergman to Roger Whittaker's New World in the Morning. Through a filter of outdated lowfidelity media kit including school issue record players and projection equipment, the trio navigates a series of quirky, surrealist zones in which the act of performance teeters at a perilous junction between the sacred and the profane.

'33 Fainting Spells has its finger on the cultural zeitgeist... even more deliciously odd than I had hoped'. Village Voice www.33faintingspells.org

Runs approx 55 mins without interval Presented with financial assistance from Arts International: Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals and Exhibitions

photo: Loren Callaghan

18

UK

Andrew Dawson

Absence and Presence Created in collaboration with Jos Houben, Graham Johnston and Fabrik, Potsdam.

BAC Thu 23-Sat 25 Jan 8pm Tickets: 020 7223 2223 £10.75 (£6.50 concs) 'A man’s body lies, undiscovered for 10 days….My father’s body.

Years have passed during which I have dreamed of that lost time.

Now I have reclaimed it, and found again that father I loved.'

Using movement, music, mime, sculpture and much wry humour, Andrew Dawson's new show is an intimate, affecting, autobiographical exploration of loss and guilt the story of 10 days that shook his life.

Andrew Dawson was co-creator of the West End hit show Thunderbirds FAB. His previous work for the Mime Festival includes Quatre Mains with Jos Houben and Space Panorama with Gavin Robertson.

'Dawson has an astonishing eloquent physical presence'.

The Observer Runs approx 75 mins

To complement the production and reinforce its powerful theme – the consequences of unwitnessed events Andrew Dawson has created an art installation in the BAC Gallery.

Open from Thu 16-Sat 25 Jan between 6pm and 8pm, and also following the performances.

photo: Stefan Gloede

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presented in association with BAC In the successful 'scratch performance' format pioneered by BAC, the Mime Festival and BAC present an early glimpse of new work in development by two leading British companies.

Scratch Performances at BAC ÂŁ4.75 (ÂŁ3.50 concs) Tickets: 020 7223 2223

Scratch

UK

Mime Festival Scratch Performances

Photo: Tim Nunn

Ralf Ralf

Us Boys We Multi-Task

BAC Fri 17-Sun 19 Jan Fri-Sat 9pm, Sun 7pm

The brothers Stone, after many years of travelling on different tracks, have begun to make new things together. Alien things, pulsating rhythms, garbled tongues, odd physicalities, tunes that lodge between your teeth, that are strangely strange yet strangely understood.

These performances will be followed by a three week run at BAC from Jan 28-Feb 16.

With thanks to the Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation.

Commissioned by and developed at BAC. Supported by Your Imagination.

20

@

UK

Jade

On The Edge of the Wheel BAC Fri 17-Sun 19 Jan Fri-Sat 8pm, Sun 6pm

photo: John Williams

Jade's hit comedy, Grace, looked at the world of a woman turning thirty.

Writer Sarah Woods and performer Victoria Worsley join forces again, this time with director Arlette George and puppeteer-manipulators Rebekah Wild and Steve Tiplady.

An early work in development for a production in autumn 2003, the team is looking at how to integrate object manipulation, physical/visual comedy and writing, and working towards a surreal black farce that gets to the heart of the emotional extremities and identity crises involved in being a Mum – her attempts to fulfil her promise, change the world and above all finish baking the cake.

Commissioned by and developed at BAC

@ BAC 21

UK

Company Collisions La Petite Mort An adult interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid BAC Tue 21-Thur 23 Jan, 8.30pm ÂŁ8.75 (ÂŁ5.50 concs) Tickets 020 7223 2223

A visual re-interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen's much loved fable which restores the dark tone of the original. Directed by Tanushka Marah, recent winner of a Young Vic Young Director Award, La Petite Mort features an all female cast, and specially commissioned music by Jules Deering, a recent winner of the Stockhausen Award for composition. Swathed in a dreamlike atmosphere it evokes universal themes of innocence, loss, and triumph of the human spirit.

The success of its previous production, Frankenstein, marked young Brightonbased Company Collisions as one of Britain's most exciting visual theatre prospects.

'Direction and choreography are simply awesome!' Metro (Frankenstein) 'A memorable power piece.'

The Stage (Frankenstein) www.companycollisions.com Runs approx 70 mins without interval

22

UK

Wishbone Scapegoat BAC Fri 24-Sun 26 Jan, Fri-Sat 8.30pm, Sun 6.30pm ÂŁ8.75 (ÂŁ5.50 concs) Tickets 020 7223 2223

A small town in the mountains of Greece, patrolled by goats; a visiting writer and her boyfriend are caught up in the machinations of the local garage owner and his alcoholic wife. Winner of a Total Theatre award at the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Wishbone's first show explores love and abandonment. Its unique visual design provides a startling, cinematic context. Wishbone is Paul Murray, who trained with Marcel Marceau and Pierre Byland, and Canadian-born actress, Karen Glossop.

'Genuine theatrical innovation'. The Scotsman 'A company you just know has a great future'. The Guardian 'Rich in imagination and full of inspired moments'. What's On Runs approx 60 mins.

23

UK

Told by an Idiot A Little Fantasy Devised by the Company Directed by Paul Hunter Soho Theatre: Mon 13 Jan-Sat 1 Feb (not Suns) 7.30pm Mon £5, Tue-Thur £14 (£10 concs), Fri-Sat £15 (£12.50 concs) Tickets: 020 7478 0100 Two women meet Their paths are changed Their fate is set And a life less ordinary is about to begin Following the outstanding success of Shoot Me in the Heart and I Can't Wake Up, Told by an Idiot returns with its new show, A Little Fantasy.

Set in a world where seeing is not necessarily believing, A Little Fantasy tells the story of two women existing outside the law and living on their wits. People naturally fall under their spell. Escaping is a different matter entirely!

Meanwhile, a love triangle continues apace. As these two stories collide, a sublime mix of taut drama, wild comedy and alarming images is released.

Originally conceived as part of the 2001 London International Mime Festival, and now inspired by the short stories of Flannery O'Connor, A Little Fantasy comprises an outstanding company of performers led by Told by an Idiot's co-founder Hayley Carmichael (Time Out Award Best Actress); and collaborator Lisa Hammond (Told by an Idiot's Shoot me in the Heart, Graeae).

Over the past ten years, Told by an Idiot has established a national an international reputation for its unique theatrical style, where the line between comedy and tragedy has never been finer. photo: Richard Lewisohn

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‘Theatre about as inventive, imaginative, and fantastical as it gets’. Time Out 'Britain's barmiest physical theatre ensemble’. The Guardian

UK

Theatre de l’Ange Fou The Government Inspector

Pleasance Theatre Tue 14 Jan - Sun 9 Feb Tue-Sat 7.30pm, Sun 5.30pm. Not Mondays. £12 (£8 concs). All tickets £8 on Tuesdays.

Tickets: 020 7609 1800 (bkg fee) Theatre de l'Ange Fou returns to the Festival with an adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's celebrated satire on bureaucracy and corruption in provincial, nineteenth century Russia. Aided by a highly atmospheric lighting design, this large cast production brings out all of the story's grotesque comedy in a seamless flow of memorable stage pictures.

Nominated for both The Stage 'Best Ensemble Acting Award' and for a 'Total Theatre Award' at the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe. London-based Theatre de l'Ange Fou is a fifteenstrong ensemble comprising eleven different nationalities. Steve Wasson and Corinne Soum, founders of the company and directors of this production were the last assistants to the 'father of modern mime', the late Etienne Decroux.

'Truly awesome physical theatre' The Scotsman 'A stunning adaptation' The List Runs approx 2 hours inc interval photos: Geraint Lewis

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LONDON INTERNATIONAL MIME FESTIVAL 2003

DATE

THE PLACE

Fri 10

M/Z/dP

Sat 11

M/Z/dP

Sun 12

M/Z/dsP

PURCELL ROOM

QEH

QEH FOYER

ICA

8pm 8pm 6pm

OKIDOK

8pm

OKIDOK

4pm

Mon 13

OKIDOK

Tue 14

OKIDOK

A2

8pm

8pm

A2

8pm

8pm

Wed 15

A2

8pm

Thur 16

FIAT LUX

Fri 17

FIAT LUX

CIRC RONALDO

Sat 18

FIAT LUX

CIRC RONALDO

CHIPOLATAS 1pm

T CORSARIO

Sun 19

FIAT LUX

CIRC RONALDO

CHIPOLATAS 1pm

T CORSARIO

Mon 20

COMPANY F/Z

Tue 21

COMPANY F/Z

Wed 22

COMPANY F/Z

Thur 23

CO 111

Fri 24

CO 111

Sat 25

CO 111

Sun 26

CO 111

T CORSARIO

8pm 8pm 8pm 6pm 8pm

8pm

T CORSARIO

7.45pm 6pm 4pm

SPYMONKEY

7pm & 9pm

8pm 8pm

8pm

8pm 4pm

MOSS’X BO

8pm

MOSS’X BO

8pm

MOSS’X BO

8pm

8pm 8pm 8pm 4pm

Plus Total Theatre Talk and workshops - see page 4

33 FAINTIN

8pm

33 FAINTIN

8pm

33 FAINTIN

6pm

BARBICAN

BAC CROYDON C'TWR

BAC STUDIOS

PLEASANCE

JEROME T

TOLD BY IDIOT

7.45pm

7.30pm

JEROME T

ANGE FOU

7.45pm

7.30pm

JEROME T

ANGE FOU

7.45pm

O

ANGE FOU

TOLD BY IDIOT

OKIDOK

JADE 8pm RALF RALF 9pm

7.30pm

O

MOVING PEOPLE

JADE 8pm RALF RALF 9pm

7.30pm

JADE 6pm RALF RALF 7pm

5.30pm

1.30pm & 3.30pm

O

ANGE FOU ANGE FOU

TOLD BY IDIOT

7.30pm

TOLD BY IDIOT

7.30pm

TOLD BY IDIOT

7.30pm

ONTE

COLLISIONS

8.30pm

ONTE

NG S

7.30pm

ANGE FOU

ONTE

NG S

TOLD BY IDIOT

7.30pm

7.30pm

8pm

TOLD BY IDIOT

7.30pm

7.30pm

IO

NG S

SOHO THEATRE

COLLISIONS

8.30pm

ANDREW DAWSON

8pm

ANDREW DAWSON

8pm

ANDREW DAWSON

8pm

COLLISIONS

8.30pm

WISHBONE

8.30pm

WISHBONE

ANGE FOU

7.30pm

ANGE FOU

7.30pm

ANGE FOU

7.30pm

ANGE FOU

7.30pm

ANGE FOU

8.30pm

7.30pm

WISHBONE

ANGE FOU

6.30pm

TOLD BY IDIOT

7.30pm

TOLD BY IDIOT

7.30pm

TOLD BY IDIOT

7.30pm

TOLD BY IDIOT

7.30pm

TOLD BY IDIOT

7.30pm

5.30pm

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