Takeoff Festival 2015 Delegate Brochure

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OF N O I AT HILDREN R B E L E E FOR C E A CA L P R T O E E H T G PESTIVAL N U O & Y EGATE F BER 2015K DEL 23 OCTOVAL .ORG.U I 21 –EOFFFEST TAK

LAURA CASE Chief Executive (maternity cover), Theatre Hullabaloo MIRANDA THAIN Creative Producer, Theatre Hullabaloo

WELCOME TO TAKEOFF FESTIVAL 2015!

Delegate Festival Wed 21 - Fri 23 Oct Durham City Centre

On behalf of Theatre Hullabaloo we are delighted to bring you this year’s TakeOff Festival of theatre for children and young people, packed to the brim with fantastic shows from the UK and abroad.

This year the festival brings you a wonderfully curated programme of shows that we are sure will delight your imaginations. We also have some fascinating scratch work for you to see, a great panel discussion, multiple opportunities to network and debate, the latest news on next year’s ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering ON THE EDGE, and even a festival party to enjoy!

A very special thank you goes to Kate Cross, this year’s Festival Programmer, for bringing us such a rich and diverse programme of work and giving us a flavour of the quality of work being produced in our sector.

KATE CROSS Festival Programmer, TakeOff 2015 Hello TakeOff 2015! Welcome.

I am honoured and proud to be offered the enticing job of programming this year’s highly esteemed TakeOff Festival.

I was trepidatious about giving myself a theme in case this skewed my judgement. I did decide, however, that the programme of work should be an unapologetic, eclectic celebration of English work, most of which is available for bookings, as being something that rarely ever happens. Accidentally, there is a lot of dance. No bad thing.

It may not escape your notice that much of the work and the artists have some connection with the South West; dare I say it, the egg, where I work. I chose to introduce you to Bath-based Kilter Theatre because of their unusual approach to environmentallythemed theatre; to egg ‘graduate’ Toby Thompson because we think he’s pure genius; to aboutNOWish because they are newly embarked on the early years 2

LUCY RIDLEY Festival Manager, TakeOff 2015 dance circuit. There is also an emphasis on theatre experiences for niche audiences: Welcome to Octoville - the installation and Bamboozle’s specialist approach to making work for a PMLD audience. There’s text too, with Our Teacher’s a Troll and Pocket Merchant.

There’s also a lot of work that has only just opened: balletLORENT’s rich and sumptuous Snow White, Ellen Havard’s Hurricane Boy, the egg & Dance Umbrella’s 16 Singers and Theatre Hullabaloo’s own early years show, Bear & Butterfly, a touching tale of friendship which I am really looking forward to seeing.

There’s risk in programming these shows so early on their journey but also a sense of irresistible excitement.

The two international shows in this festival could only hail from their homelands of South Africa and Spain.

Both demonstrate craftsmanship, resourcefulness and the adaptability of the human body.

I do hope you enjoy this festival. I look forward to meeting you in the bar each evening to celebrate these multiple endeavours of making theatre for a young audience.

For Theatre Hullabaloo & Takeoff Festival Creative Producer Miranda Thain Chief Executive (Maternity Cover) Laura Case Festival Programmer Kate Cross Assistant Producer Olivia Furber Festival Manager Lucy Ridley Festival Coordinator Laura Hunter Technical Director Simon Henderson Communications Manager Dorcas Pye Tour Coordinator Diann Allenby Finance & Operations Manager Alan Millar

WELCOME HOT DRINK & FLAPJACK A chance to say Hi to some old friends and make some new ones.

15:00 - 16:00 Wed 21 Oct Gala Circle

FESTIVAL HUB The TakeOff Festival office is located in DURHAM TOWN HALL in the MARKET PLACE and is only a short walk from the Gala Theatre, Alington House and Durham City Theatre. There will be a member of TakeOff Festival Staff manning the office from 9AM UNTIL LATE during the delegate festival, so please pop your head in if there is anything we can help you with or you need a space to rest your feet, check your emails or meet with future colleagues.

CHEERS TO EQUITY - WINE & NIBBLES A word from Equity with a complimentary glass of wine.

18:00 - 19:00 Wed 21 Oct Gala Circle

DELEGATE PARTY This year’s festival party will take place at THE BISHOP LANGLEY in Durham City and will be, in equal measure, a night of excitement, entertainment and eating – not forgetting a drink or two along the way! As far as entertainment goes, the exceptionally gifted performance poet TOBY THOMPSON will dazzle you with his beautifully crafted poems and will reveal a new piece of work created about and especially for this year’s festival. There will also be live music throughout the night as you take the time to catch-up with friends and colleagues. We look forward to seeing you there!

POST- SCRATCH EVENT HOT DRINK & FLAPJACK A chance to dissect the Scratch performances with your colleagues.

17:30 - 18:30 Thurs 22 Oct Gala Circle

21:00 - late, Thurs 22 Oct, The Bishop Langley

TakeOff Festival @takeofffestival #takeoff2015

Wi-Fi IS AVAILABLE IN THE FESTIVAL HUB AT DURHAM TOWN HALL

takeofffestival takeofffestival

NETWORK: DCC-Public PASSWORD: L1braryPubl1c

COFFEE & CAKE AT THE TYA EVENT Round the festival off with a cup of hot tea or coffee and a piece of cake, whilst finding out more about ON THE EDGE, Birmingham, 2016.

14:30 Fri 23 Oct Durham Town Hall

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FESTIVAL MAP

Durham City Venue Addresses

TakeOff Festival Hub Durham Town Hall, Market Place, 17 Claypath, Durham, DH1 1RH

Gala Theatre Millennium Place, Durham, DH1 1WA

City Theatre 2 Back Silver Street, Durham, DH1 3RA

Alington House North Bailey, Durham, DH1 3ET

Masonic Hall 36 Old Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HN

Trinity School Dunholme Close, Aykley Heads, Durham, DH1 5TS

Delegate Party The Bishop Langley, Framwellgate Bridge, North Road, Durham, DH1 4PW

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16 SINGERS

the egg & Dance Umbrella (England) 0 - 18 months 16 Singers is a rare opportunity to share a beautifully crafted music and theatre performance with your baby.

Pic: Whitespace Media

Celebrate the joy of music in this sparkling new production as the luscious sounds and movements of 16 singers are woven into a mesmerising performance, allowing the audience to ‘see’ and ‘hear’ sounds within a beautiful, eye-catching design.

TakeOff Festival Programmer says...

Credits

“This new piece is groundbreaking and extraordinary in its aspiration and will take us a little closer to understanding how babies spectate and appreciate art.”

Director Katherine Morley

About 16 Singers

About the egg

In 2014, director and author of the show, Katherine Morley, was appointed Leverhulme Scholar attached to the egg. Her proposal was to produce a play for babies whilst contributing to her doctoral research examining spectatorship in early years audiences and the significance of live music in an early years theatre setting. After a 20-minute scratch sharing in October 2014, the egg acquired sufficient funding to produce 16 Singers and take it on a 22-date national tour.

What makes this piece ground-breaking is how confidently it presents small babies with the full and simply human noise of 16 people singing. The title has come with challenges; the touring model was based on this nation’s love of singing and the current trend in theatre to work with community choirs.

At the mercy of the availability of local people to perform, 16 Singers is therefore a piece of ‘many voices’, but not always 16!

The egg is a professional theatre dedicated to children, young people and their families. Built from the shell of an old cinema in 2005, it has quickly grown into one of the leading children’s arts organisations in the UK. The egg presents a year-round programme of shows and events for young people of 18 months to teenagers, works with schools to explore and challenge the role that arts venues play in education, and is home to the Theatre Royal’s highly acclaimed Young People’s Theatre.

Composer Paul Rissmann Designer Sophia Clist Choreographer Rosie Heafford

Tour Booking Contact Kate Cross kate.cross@theatreroyal.org.uk Lindsay Baker lindsay.baker@theatreroyal.org.uk

www.theatreroyal.org.uk/theegg The Egg Theatre, Bath @theeggbath

About Dance Umbrella Dance Umbrella is London’s international dance festival, which celebrates 21st century choreography across the capital and beyond. Since 1978, the festival has brought over one million people in London a multitude of exceptional contemporary dance artists from 32 countries, as well as championing UK artists at the start of their careers. Dance Umbrella operates a year-round Creative Learning Programme that allows people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to engage with dance.

www.danceumbrella.co.uk Dance Umbrella @danceumbrellauk 5

UNDER FOOT

aboutNOWish (England) 1 – 5 years

A sound and movement sensory performance experience for under 5s and young people with additional needs.

An interactive and immersive sensory experience in which the audience are invited to explore three different floor surfaces, interact with the performers and respond to the textures and sensations through movement, dance and play.

Pic: Joe Wright

A unique sound-scape is produced via interactive technology beneath the floor that is triggered by the movement of the audience above and then further brought to life by a musician.

Credits

TakeOff Festival Programmer says...

Artistic Director Laura Street

“Under Foot explores the territory of audience engagement, sensory involvement and early years dance. A beautiful contract between performer and participant is forged.”

Musical Director Joe Wright Producer Lucy Howell Dancers Kim Noble Dan Martin Murilo Leite D’Imperio

Tour Booking Contact Lucy Howell underfootshow@gmail.com Tel 07775 429 059

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About Under Foot

About aboutNOWish

Under Foot is an immersive, interactive, multi-sensory performance installation, which provides a crossover between a performance and participatory experience.

The piece takes places on a 5x5m floor that holds three different floor textures and is performed by two dancers, a performing stage manager and a musician playing flute and saxophone.

The movement is performed as a structured improvisation and as the audience begin to engage, the dancers shape their movement in accordance with the children’s responses.

Sensors beneath the floor pick up movement from above and contribute to a unique sound scape that underscores the live musician with ambient sound.

There are three different versions of Under Foot for three different audiences: early years children and their accompanying adults (ages: walking - 5 yrs), 12 children per show; young people with profound and multiple disabilities (PMLD), 4 children per show, and young people on the autistic spectrum (ASD), 8 children per show.

aboutNOWish are a budding Sound & Movement Collective made up of Dancer/Choreographer Laura Street, Musician Joe Wright and Creative Producer Lucy Howell.

The aboutNOWish team share a desire to create and animate inclusive, accessible and inspirational environments in which young people and their accompanying adults can experience new and stimulating sound and movement together in magical surroundings.

“We create interactive, sensory-led work for early years children and young people with additional needs and specialise in using improvisational techniques that respond to the way audiences engage, making every performance unique.

Our first show, Under Foot, has been awarded Arts Council England funding to tour in Autumn/Winter 2015/16, visiting theatres, special schools and community spaces.”

www.aboutnowish.com About NOWish @aboutnowish

TREE

Magnet Theatre (South Africa) 3 – 7 years Tree tells the story of a man who is hungry and wants to eat a peach.

To satisfy his hunger he plants a tree. The tree grows through spring into summer and the man must learn to wait with patience for the tempting peach to ripen.

Pic: Mark Wessels

Through physical theatre, poetic language and song, we follow the tree’s journey through the seasons and its growing relationships with animals and humans.

TakeOff Festival Programmer says...

Credits

“A vibrant, energetic and heart-warming piece of theatre that reminds us, in this world of ‘spectacle and show’, how much can be achieved with just the human body in a space with an audience.”

Director Jennie Reznek

About Tree

About Magnet Theatre

Tree / Boom / Umthi was created by Jennie Reznek with the Magnet Theatre Trainees in 2013. It is a product of the Magnet Theatre Fulltime Training and Job Creation Programme for young township performers, which acts as a bridge into universities and the professional performance industry. With support from ASSITEJ South Africa and Roberto Frabetti from La Baracca (the founder company of the European Network of Art Organisations for Children and Young People), Tree was made to take to the most forgotten childcare centres and crèches of the Cape Town townships.

Tree toured to the Teatro Testoni Ragazzi, Bologna, Italy and the KinderKinder Festival in Hamburg, Germany, in 2014. In Cape Town it has completed two extensive community tours as well as a full run at Artscape Theatre Centre. To date the production has performed to nearly 5,000 children nationally and internationally.

The performance lasts 30 minutes plus 10 minutes interaction time.

Magnet Theatre is a high profile physical theatre company that has been operating in and out of South Africa for the past 28 years. As a company, they are on the cutting edge.

Foregrounding the language of the body, they create exciting, innovative and sophisticated African theatre that engages with the present condition in South Africa. Magnet Theatre also runs a Youth Educational Trust, dedicating itself to training and developing skills for impoverished and marginalised youth (both historically and geographically). The trust runs:

Designer Craig Leo Production Manager Themba Stewart Performers Thulisa Mayalo Lubabalo Nontwana Asiphe Lili Siphenathi Mayekiso

Tour Booking Contact Themba Stewart themba@magnettheatre.co.za Jennie Reznek jennie@magnettheatre.co.za

• A full-time 2-year training program in physical theatre as a bridge from the communities to tertiary institutions of education and the theatre profession as a whole (20 trainees) • Culture Gangs project with drama groups in the Cape Town townships, creating gangs of youths who are committed to culture and not to crime (200 youths) • Rural arts projects in the Cederberg municipality (700 youths)

www.magnettheatre.co.za Magnet Theatre @magnettheatre

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BEAR & BUTTERFLY

Theatre Hullabaloo & Theatre by the Lake (England) 4 - 7 years

Puppetry, live music and beautiful storytelling combine in this charming tale about love, loss and friendship.

Pic: George Carrick

Bear’s life changes forever when, deep in the branches of the tree, he hears the munching of a bright green caterpillar.

They become the best of friends, Caterpillar crunching happily through tales of Bear’s younger life catching fish, raising cubs and being big, strong and fierce.

But one day Caterpillar becomes sick. Bear fears he will lose his friend but, as if by magic, Caterpillar grows and stretches and from the leaves emerges a beautiful butterfly. Can Bear come to terms with this new version of his friend who flies high above the trees and has stories of his own?

Credits

TakeOff Festival Programmer says...

Devised by Creative team and cast

“Bear and Butterfly is an energetic, funny and poignant take on male friendship and loss, beautifully underscored with an original live cello score.”

Director Dani Parr Original Story by Gordon Poad Writer Annie McCourt Designer Bek Palmer Composer Simon McCorry Stage Manager Owen Thomas Movement Director Simon Jones Lighting Designer Andrew Lindsay Performers Micky Cochrane Robert Welling Simon McCorry

Tour Booking Contact Diann Allenby diannallenby@theatrehullabaloo.org.uk Tel 01325 352 004

About Bear & Butterfly

About Theatre Hullabaloo

In 2013, Gordon Poad approached Theatre Hullabaloo with a story outline about a friendship between an old Bear and a Caterpillar who becomes a beautiful Butterfly. The story appealed to the company and so the journey started to transform the story into the production you see at the festival this year. The show is a coproduction with Theatre by the Lake.

As with all of Theatre Hullabaloo’s work, children have been part of the creative process, collaborating with the creative team during R&D to ensure rigour in the choices we make when telling our stories. Director Dani Parr, the cast and the creative team took elements of the story to devise a show that explores love, loss and friendship. The result is a beautiful and poignant story, told by some energetic and funny performances and supported by live cello music.

Bear & Butterfly previewed in October 2015 and tours nationally this Autumn/Winter, finishing the 11-week tour at Theatre by the Lake for Christmas.

Theatre Hullabaloo is a pioneering organisation that makes, tours and promotes theatre for young audiences, aged 0 - 16 years old, because we believe that they are the most important audience of all. We create work that puts the young person at the heart of the creative process.

Our work is driven by the belief that young audiences have an entitlement to theatre of the highest quality, which inspires the imagination and challenges the mind.

www.theatrehullabaloo.org.uk Theatre Hullabaloo @hullabalootweet

About Theatre by the Lake Theatre by the Lake, set on the shores of Derwentwater, was described by the Independent as “the most beautifully located theatre in Britain” and is Cumbria’s only year-round professional producing theatre. Each year it stages up to nine of its own productions, presenting six plays in a repertory season that runs from May to early November.

The theatre hosts festivals of literature, film, jazz and outdoor pursuits, as well as welcoming touring theatre, music and dance companies.

www.theatrebythelake.com tbtlake @tbtlake 8

DOWN TO EARTH

Bamboozle (England) 4 - 19 years – Profound & Multiple Learning Difficulties

Down to Earth is an interactive, multi-sensory production inspired by the Land Army girls of World War II, designed for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Children will be welcomed individually and each moment will be tailored to their needs by a team of Bamboozle performers who are hugely experienced in adapting to, and interacting with, children and young people who have a variety of complex needs.

Pic: Jonny Thatcher

Participants will encounter a vegetable patch full of earth and fresh produce, shadows sliding across the forest floor and wildlife rustling through the leaves. They will then be transported to a magical forest with trees from each of the seasons.

TakeOff Festival Programmer says...

Credits

“I programmed Bamboozle because I wanted to celebrate what England does well: in this instance that is making theatre that is inclusive of the varied needs and dispositions of potential audiences. The work is beautiful, has a heart and understands its target audience.”

Director Christopher Davies Production, Puppetry and Design Director Sue Pyecroft Design Lucy Hammond Music composed and directed by Matt Marks and Steven Vitale Written by Christopher Davies and the company

About Down to Earth

About Bamboozle

Betty and Doris, Land Army Girls, welcome the children into their WWII allotment. Here, they explore the vegetables and herbs, which are wheeled round to each child on trays with compost in them. Children have a chance to handle the vegetables, smell the herbs, feel the soil and meet Arthur, a musician who is too old to go to war. Betty, Doris and Arthur sing a welcome song in which every child is individually welcomed by name before a noisy interruption. A mole! He scatters soil everywhere – often causing wild laughter. Betty and Doris sweep up while singing a song and invite each child to dance – swirling them round in their wheel chairs.

The performance lasts for about 40 minutes and caters for six children and their teachers/carers. The performance is designed for the 6 - 14 age range; however, we are able to adapt it for other ages if required.

Bamboozle is a charity set up in 1994 and based in Leicester.

We provide opportunities for some of the country’s most disabled children and young people to interact meaningfully with the world.

Betty Kayleigh Cottam

• We take high quality, interactive and immersive performances into theatres and special schools in order to reach, engage and entertain all children – whatever their ability.

Arthur Matt Marks

• We produce captivating multi-sensory experiences for profoundly disabled children and their families, and find ways to engage those that can seem hardest to reach.

Tour Booking Contact

Doris Nicole Arkless

Jade Cancelliere jade@bamboozletheatre.co.uk

• We provide creative and innovative learning experiences in schools for children with special needs and share our approach with teachers.

We have a belief that all young people, whatever their abilities or disabilities, can do more than we think they can and have the capacity to surprise us all.

www.bamboozletheatre.co.uk Bamboozle Theatre Company @bamboozlehq 9

HURRICANE BOY

Ellen Havard (England) 5 - 11 years

A blustery boy lives alone, each day rebuilding his house from the rubbish whipped up by the winds.

One day a girl appears and brings him through the gales and the rain.

Together they share a summer of blue skies and warm sun. But when the hurricane takes her away how will the boy find his way on his own?

Pic: Paul Blakemore

This imaginative tale of chaos and calm combines dance, playful physical storytelling and original live music.

Credits

TakeOff Festival Programmer says...

Writer and Director Ellen Havard

“Ellen Havard is new to the scene and well worth keeping an eye on. She has, in this her first solo piece, written and directed something which has a unique voice of its own – rare.”

Designer Rebecca Lee Lighting Designer Ashley Bale Sound David Gregory Dramaturg Mike Akers Original Music Alex Vann & Three Cane Whale Movement Director Rachel Drazek Performers Matt Mulligan Beth Caudle Edward Wren

Tour Booking Contact Nick Chesterfield nick.chesterfield@propeller.org.uk Tel 01691 600 321 Mobile 07802 433 624

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About Hurricane Boy

About Ellen Havard

The show was originally devised for the Oxford Playhouse when Ellen Havard, the Writer and Director, was Artist in Residence. Under the auspices of the theatre, she honed the show for its first public outing at Oxford Playhouse’s Burton Taylor Theatre last year.

The show was so greatly enjoyed by children and their families that Ellen applied for and received an Arts Council grant to tour the production nationally this autumn. Although generally very pleased with the performance, she has made some small tweaks to make it even more engrossing. Ellen is especially proud of the fusion between the originally composed music by Three Cane Whale (performed by Edward Wren) and the movement, which was developed through the contribution of the performers and Ellen, with direction on this remount from Rachel Drazek. This production’s approach to visual, physical and music-led storytelling makes it a piece suitable for an international audience.

Writer and Director Ellen Havard is a promising young Director who is currently Staff Director on the National Theatre’s Jane Eyre, Associate Director with Propeller and Supported Artist at Pegasus Theatre. From 2013 - 2014, Ellen was Artist in Residence at Oxford Playhouse. She graduated from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2010.

Her interest and experience ranges from Shakespeare, theatre for families, site-specific theatre, scripted work, musicals, devised collaborations, and new writing, as well as experience in directing young people. She makes work which is visual, dynamic and story-led, and uses live music in all her work.

Ellen was recently Propeller’s Associate Director on Pocket Dream: an hour-long version of Midsummer Night’s Dream, specifically devised for young people, following a European tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Comedy of Errors as Assistant Director. She is directing Snow Mouse at the egg, with award-winning company Travelling Light, this Christmas.

A MANO

El Patio Teatro (Spain) 6+ years A Mano is a story told with clay.

We meet a very special hero: a small person with a great desire to escape from the shop window of a tiny pottery shop and from those who live there too!

Told with beautifully crafted clay characters and remarkable artistry, A Mano is a touching and life affirming story about love, small failures, a potter’s wheel and four hands at play.

Pic: Clara Larrea

A delicious artisan-made play sure to delight young imaginations.

A Mano is a non-verbal performance.

TakeOff Festival Programmer says...

Credits

“Breath-taking skill, unprecedented focus and heart-breaking story. Faultless perfection.”

Idea, Creation, Dramaturgy, Artistic Direction, Lighting Design & Acting Julián Saenz-Lopez & Izaskun Fernández

About A Mano

About El Patio Teatro

A Mano (By Hand) is a story told with clay about a small person with a great desire to escape from the shop window of a tiny pottery shop and from those who live there. A Mano is a touching and life affirming story about love, small failures, a potter´s wheel, a cup that breathes, two people with great enthusiasm, a tiny pottery workshop and four hands that play.

A Mano is a small format show with a very big purpose: to touch you.

Since 2012, A Mano has been widely recognised and acclaimed by critics, theatre professionals and audiences. It has received the following awards: Small Format Best Show at Feten 2013, Gijón-Asturias, Spain; Autonomies Special Drac D’or Award at Fira De Titelles De Lleida 2013; Best Show Award voted by the audience at Festival Encinart, Enciso-La Rioja, Spain; Best Performers Award at Xxvii Valise Festival 2014, Lomza, Poland; and Best Show Award at Kuss Festival 2015, Marburg, Germany.

Artists Julián Sáenz-López and Izaskun Fernández founded the company in 2010 in Logroño (La Rioja, Spain). Inspired by simple stories from everyday life that moved them, they were driven to seek out their own language to tell them on stage. This lead to taking refuge in objects and animating them with their hands in small format. Their first creation is A Mano where terracotta, modelling and theatre come together.

The “patio” means meeting place, a place for reflection, listening, searching and playing… which is how they regard their work. They provide multiple interpretations of stories, giving the audience the possibility to discover different ideas, messages or mirrors to look at reality through. They stage stories for all kinds of people, regardless of age, and like their youngest audience members to take questions home about the show to discuss with their grown-ups.

www.ikebanah.es (Management Company) ElPatio Teatro Ikebanah Artes Escénicas P.

Technician Diego Solloa Graphic Design Diego Solloa Photography Clara Larrea Production El Patio Thanks to Zarándula Gestión Cultural Management Ana Sala, Ikebanah Artes Escénicas

Tour Booking Contact Ana Sala anasala@ikebanah.es Tel +34 9600 90504 Mobile +34 6199 51791

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OUR TEACHER’S A TROLL

Paines Plough & Half Moon (England) 7+ years

Pic: Richard Davenport

An outrageously entertaining, deliciously dark and terribly funny tale from Dennis Kelly, the writer of award-winning West End hit Matilda the Musical.

Can the twins save the school from the child-eating Troll? Can they get Brussels sprouts in peanut butter taken off the lunch menu? And most importantly, can naughtiness prevail? Come and find out and be outrageously entertained!

Credits

TakeOff Festival Programmer says...

Performers Sian Reese-Williams Abdul Salis

“This is a superb co-production between Paines Plough and Half Moon, just as it should be. Again: Actors. Space. Audience. And some really good words.”

Writer Dennis Kelly Direction George Perrin Creative Consultant Chris Elwell Design Lucy Osborne Original Lighting Emma Chapman Re-tour Lighting Peter Small Sound Tom Gibbons Music/Associate Sound Dom Kennedy Movement Kate Sagovsky Re-tour Production Management Fred Beaufort Re-tour Stage Manager Callum Thomson

Tour Booking Contact Chris Elwell chris@halfmoon.org.uk Tel 020 7709 8902

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Two terrible twins with a talent for turmoil rule their school with terror and tyranny. That is, until the arrival of a new head teacher with green scaly skin, sharp gnarly fangs and a long spiky tail.

About Our Teacher’s a Troll

About Half Moon

Our Teacher’s a Troll started in 2005 as a one-off performance as part of Fun Size, a script development programme by Paines Plough and Half Moon creating a fresh body of work for children by established writers and developed in direct consultation with children. Our Teacher’s a Troll was Dennis Kelly’s piece.

They decided to collaborate on a production in 2014 and this seemed the perfect vehicle. Given the play’s openness in style, written without part allocation or stage directions, it was decided quite early on that there wouldn’t be a real Troll, leaving it to be created in the audience’s imagination instead.

Characters are suggested through voice and gesture, allowing the audience to imagine the ‘real’ version and so become more involved as pupils and teachers.

Re-worked in 2015, opening at the Brighton Festival, then residencies at Southbank Centre and Edinburgh Fringe, Paines Plough and Half Moon now present the same actors/ production, the only difference being that the play has come out of the Roundabout, Paines Plough’s pop-up theatre, yet retaining the in-the-round experience for a short 18-venue tour.

Half Moon Theatre is the UK’s leading small-scale young people’s venue and touring company. They specialise in new writing and art form development. Half Moon’s activities include regular seasons of professional plays for young audiences at their East London base, national touring productions (15 in 2014) and an extensive creative learning programme, including seven youth theatres. Half Moon is a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England.

www.halfmoon.org.uk halfmoontheatre @halfmoontheatre

About Paines Plough Paines Plough is the UK’s national theatre of new plays. They commission and produce the best playwrights and tour their plays far and wide. Formed in 1974 over a pint of Paines bitter in the Plough pub, they’ve produced more than 150 new productions by world renowned playwrights including Abi Morgan, Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill, Dennis Kelly and Mike Bartlett. In 2014 they launched Roundabout, the world’s first pop-up, plug-and-play theatre.

www.painesplough.com painesploughHQ @painesplough

SNOW WHITE

balletLORENT (England) 7+ years

“In the cold heart of winter, when snow fell as though the sky was a story that had been ripped into a thousand pieces, a beautiful Queen sat by her window...”

balletLORENT’s dance theatre adaptation of this Brothers Grimm fairytale explores the true cost of being beautiful, the fear of ageing in front of the mirror and the beauty inside that counts above all else.

Pic: Ian West

A mother who wishes for a daughter with unrivalled beauty gets her wish, with devastating consequences. In the deep, dark forest, seven miners are Snow White’s only hope – and temptation is her biggest threat.

TakeOff Festival Programmer says...

Credits

“balletLORENT never fail to deliver rich and sumptuous renditions of well-known tales. I am as excited as you to see this, so shortly after its premiere.”

Director & Choreographer Liv Lorent

About Snow White

About balletLORENT

The second of balletLORENT’s trilogy of fairytales, Snow White, is created from an original re-telling by Carol Ann Duffy and follows the success of the award-winning Rapunzel (2012 - 2015). Snow White has been co-produced with Northern Stage and commissioned by Sadler’s Wells.

As part of the production, balletLORENT’s cast of professional dancers have been joined by 11 children aged 7 - 8 years old, found through workshops in primary schools and community centres in areas of low arts engagement across Newcastle upon Tyne. These children have been involved in the creation and rehearsals of Snow White, and performed with the company at the premiere of Snow White at Northern Stage. The company will recruit 10 - 12 local children aged 6 - 9 years old at each venue that Snow White tours to.

Established in 1993 by Artistic Director Liv Lorent, balletLORENT is a contemporary dance theatre company that prides itself on its ability to emotionally connect with adults, young people and children through its impressive and eclectic programme of dance for all ages.

Their fairytale productions tour to middle and large scale theatres across the UK, including Sadler’s Wells and Festival Theatre Edinburgh, meeting the growing demand for familyfriendly dance theatre with high production values. The company fully integrates their educational and artistic practices by involving groups of local children into the body of these performances. balletLORENT also tours site-specific works that seek to excite and enchant new audiences to dance. These immersive works fill ballrooms, nightclubs, outdoor and unconventional spaces to transformative effect. balletLORENT are funded as a National Portfolio Organisation by Arts Council England, who are supporting the company in delivering a programme of work in diverse settings with exciting collaborations.

Scenario Writer Carol Ann Duffy Composer Murray Gold Set Designer Phil Eddolls Costume Designer Libby Everall

Performers Natalie Trewinnard Caroline Reece Gavin Coward Gwen Berwick John Kendall Toby Fitzgibbons Juliet Thompson Akeim Toussaint Buck Philippa White Ray Roa Giulia Coti Zelati

Lighting Designer Malcolm Rippeth Narrator Lindsay Duncan Music performed by Royal Northern Sinfonia and Murray Gold Soprano Elin Manahan Thomas

Tour Booking Contact Christine Grimwood christine@balletlorent.com Tel 0191 233 1811

www.balletlorent.com ballet LORENT @balletlorent

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POCKET MERCHANT

Propeller (England) 11+ years

Pocket Merchant is an inspiring introduction not only to Shakespeare, but also to the very best of English theatre.

Pic: Dominic Clemence

The play is a condensed version of Propeller’s 2009 version of The Merchant of Venice. The all-male cast brings Shakespeare’s text to life with its invigorating, engaging and often funny approach to the play.

Credits

TakeOff Festival Programmer says...

Director Edward Hall

“Pocket Propeller deliver something which people want: Shakespeare, a modern twist, lots of fun, very good actors and direction.”

Designer Michael Pavelka Associate Director Dugald Bruce-Lockhart Text Adapted by Edward Hall and Roger Warren Sound David Gregory

Tour Booking Contact Nick Chesterfield nick.chesterfield@propeller.org.uk Tel 01691 600 321 Mobile 07802 433 624

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Pocket Merchant is an uncompromising tale of greed and revenge.

When Bassanio falls in love with the wealthy Portia, he becomes imprisoned in a bargain with a ruthless moneylender. A pound of flesh is sought in payment, and time is fast running to untangle the trap of his own making.

About Pocket Merchant

About Propeller

Pocket Merchant is a condensed version of Propeller’s critically acclaimed production of The Merchant of Venice. We create ‘Pocket’ versions of our full-length shows for audiences who might fight shy of seeing a full-length production of a Shakespeare play; this makes them perfect for family audiences and schools.

Director Edward Hall, together with Shakespearean scholar Roger Warren, cut the script to its essential element, creating a pithy new script full of action, which informs the text, making it easier to understand. Having said that, we do not compromise the beauty of the language. The all-male company, renowned for its clarity of the spoken text, are all involved in the creation of the play.

The show is suitable for 11 years + and has a running time of 1 hour, plus a 40-minute talkback. There is some bloodshed though not graphic and no swearing.

Propeller is an all-male Shakespeare company which seeks to find a more engaging way of expressing Shakespeare and to more completely explore the relationship between text and performance. Mixing a rigorous approach to the text with a modern physical aesthetic, they have been influenced by mask work, animation, classic and modern film, and music from all ages. Productions are directed by Edward Hall, and designed

by Michael Pavelka, with Lighting designed by Ben Ormerod.

Propeller has toured internationally to Australia, Bangladesh, China, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey and the USA.

www.propeller.org.uk Propeller Theatre Company @propellertheatr

THE LAST POST

Kilter Theatre (England) 11+ years

An interactive quirky compendium of correspondence delights and a love letter to a slower way of life.

Meet Verity, the irrepressible heiress of an international pen-pal agency, and Red, a redundant postmaster. Witness the unwrapping of a curious love story accompanied by “harmony-drenched, melancholy-tinged” live music, provided by Tomaz (who arrived one day in a jiffy bag).

Pic: Tom Ball

Step on board Mobile Sorting Office 451 and be transported to a world where snail mail reigns supreme. Our pillar-box red van is brimming with vintage paraphernalia from a much travelled life and a thousand items of real mail.

TakeOff Festival Programmer says...

Credits

“I have been watching Kilter Theatre for the past 10 years developing theatre which is entertaining and fresh whilst celebrating age-old customs and a more nature-based way of living. Site-specific, characterful and sustainable are their watchwords.”

Kilter Artistic Directors Oliver Langdon & Caroline Garland

About The Last Post

About Kilter Theatre

The Last Post is experienced inside our bespoke van-atorium, packed with correspondence delights from exotic stamps to vintage typewriters and feathered quills.

It can be booked as a play for an audience of 18 and can perform twice in a day with the Letter Writing Emporium installation taking place post-show. The running time is 1 hour 15 minutes with up to 45 minutes post-show.

The Emporium can also be booked independently as an all-day drop-in activity with writing activities facilitated by Kilter actors in character. A combination of both can also be booked.

The age guidance for the play is 11+ and the installation is 7+.

At Kilter, we lead by example in our efforts to create lowcarbon performances. The Last Post continues to develop our pioneering practice from rehearsal to production. Set, props and costumes are second-hand, recycled or sustainably sourced and energy requirements for performances are derived from a collapsible wind turbine.

Kilter is Oliver Langdon and Caroline Garland and a handful of talented multifarious friends. Creative teams evolve and change to include designers, musicians, actors, teachers and community champions.

Since 2006 the company has forged a reputation for creating a unique and pioneering brand of theatre and associated arts.

Audiences often become involved with Kilter as a first footstep on a lifelong journey.

Kilter’s events are carefully considered, precisely planned and professionally delivered… whether it be a large-scale cycling extravaganza or a primary school’s devising workshop.

“We want to make theatre that encourages debate about the environment, social justice, local heritage and the future.

For us it’s really important to make new work about the issues that are affecting our world today, but we want to do it without preaching. In our work we use humour and adventure, great stories, enthralling characters, stirring pictures and overwhelming emotions.”

Red Oliver Langdon Verity Caroline Garland Tomaz (musician) Tom Ball Project Manager Lucy Howell

Tour Booking Contact Lucy Howell kiltertlp@gmail.com Mobile 07775 429 059

www.kiltertheatre.org Kilter Theatre @kiltertheatre

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WELCOME TO OCTOVILLE

Marc Parrett & Fly in a Pie Productions (England) All ages

Welcome to Octoville, we hope you have a pleasant stay.

TOBY THOMPSON

Toby Thompson (England) 12+ years

This Wednesday, to celebrate Harold Gobsworth’s magnitudinous first year as Mayor of Octoville a new statue will be unveiled in the town centre. It is also pterodactyl nesting season so please either wear a fancy hat or protective clothing. Further news - an emergency town council meeting will take place on Friday to discuss the mysterious dissapearance of Percival Street. No pets.

TakeOff Festival Programmer says...

Toby will be the official poet in residence at TakeOff 2015.

He will take part in the delegate experience; attending shows, observing discussions and reactions, joining panel discussions and networking to create a new piece of work especially for us all to enjoy! Toby’s work will feature as part of our evaluation of the festival to document the experience and capture the highlights of the delegate event.

“Toby Thompson is the future.”

Kate Tempest www.tobythompson.net Toby Thompson Poetry

@tobythompson

TakeOff Festival Programmer says...

“Toby Thompson is a raw, young talent and one to watch on the spoken word scene. He has dedicated all of his school years and youth to the art of writing and performing poetry. Now – he is rather good.”

Tour Booking Contact Toby Thompson toby@tobythompson.net Mobile 07707 119 223

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“Marc Parrett is one of this country’s best puppet makers and in this exhibition he has created some true works of art, with a backstory and ongoing narrative. Interactive fun!”

About Welcome to Octoville

Credits

Welcome to Octoville is primarily the work of puppeteer and object artist Mr Marc Parrett. Part Micro town, part living drawing, part existential meditation on the urban experience Octoville is a gleeful celebration of freeform creativity. Visitors who enter the space will witness animated objects and characters clanking and twisting overhead; they will slowly unpick the myriad stories of the characters and locations within the town; they can even chat with resident Octoville engineer Mr Marc Parrett about the sheer randomness of it all before being invited to sit, draw, write and contribute their own ideas to the walls of this pullulating city!

Welcome to Octoville is scheduled to tour for the next 3 years and its ongoing development has been funded by Arts Council England and supported by Nottingham Lakeside Arts Centre.

Octoville Creator & ‘Engineer’ Mr Marc Parrett

About Marc Parrett & Fly in a Pie Fly in a Pie Productions (formally Fly in a Pie Puppet Theatre) is based in the South West of England and creates realtime multi media artworks for young children and adults. In 2014/15 the company created and toured ‘Mice on Skates!’ a theatre show for family audiences. Artistic Director Marc Parrett was the founder and former artistic director of Stuff and Nonsense Theatre Company and has created puppets for Julia Donaldson, Aardman Animations, BBC3, The RSC and many, many UK theatre companies.

www.flyinapie.com

@octovillenews

Artist in Residence Karen Wood Movement Artist Anna Croxson Music & Soundscapes Luc Parrett Additional elements contributed by Roma Patel, Sylvia Hunt plus visitors to the exhibition.

Tour Booking Contact Marc Parrett or Harriet Pocock info@flyinapie.com Mobile 07557 260 479

STICKING AROUND IN DURHAM FOR THE WEEKEND?

TAKEOFF FESTIVAL FAMILY FUN DAY SAT 24 OCT 2015

10:00 - 16:00, Durham City Centre Join us for a day of festival fun, jam-packed with shows and free activities for families to enjoy.

BOX OFFICE 03000 266 600 BOOK ONLINE takeofffestival.org.uk

SHOWS

FREE EVENTS

All tickets £6 or £20 for a family of four

No need to book, just turn up!

16 SINGERS

THE VEGETABLE NANNIES

0 - 18 months, Durham Masonic Hall 10:00, 11:30 & 14:30 • 30 mins

Two everyday gardeners who’ve taken their young vegetables out of the ground for a day trip.

UNDER FOOT

Prince Bishop’s Shopping Centre to Millennium Place

1 - 5 years, Alington House 11:00, 13:00 & 15:00 • 60 mins

TREE 3 - 7 years, Gala Studio 10:30 • 45 mins

A MANO 6+ years, City Theatre 11:00 & 14:00 • 45 mins

THE FALCON’S MALTESER

BY ANTHONY HOROWITZ

Pic: Red Dress Designs

Adapted for the stage by New Old Friends A hilarious family film noir pastiche following the adventures of the hopelessly inept private detective Tim Diamond and his sharp witted brother Nick. The plot sees the Diamond Brothers Detective agency on a thrilling case to discover just what is so important about those titular Maltesers. It features slapstick, comedy songs and a cast of four playing 20 brilliant characters like: The Fat Man (who has lost a lot of weight), Gott & Himmell, Lauren Barcardi, Beatrice von Falkenberg and Betty Cleaner.

8+ years, Gala Theatre 11:00 & 14:00 • 1hr 30 mins

11:00, 13:00 & 15:00

WELCOME TO OCTOVILLE All ages, Gala Theatre 10:00 - 16:00

LETTER WRITING EMPORIUM Step on board this quirky mobile sorting office and rediscover the job of letter writing, with the famous Great Aunts to help.

7+ years, Millennium Place 10:30 - 12:30 & 14:00 - 16:00

STORYTELLING Silly Jack and Other World Tales

4 - 6 years, Clayport Library 11:00 A Postcard from Africa

6 - 11 years, Clayport Library 14:00

CRAFT CORNER Pop into our Creative Corner full of colourful arts and crafts to get little imaginations flowing.

Clayport Library 10:00 - 16:00 17

SCRATCH AT TAKEOFF 2015 Theatre Hullabaloo is pioneering new ways of supporting artists in our region to make fantastic theatre for young audiences.

Working with our friends at Dance City, Live Theatre and Northern Stage, we have selected three artists – Laura Bridges, Susan Mulholland and Holly Irving – who we have supported to develop three new ideas to scratch at this year’s TakeOff Festival.

“The aim of TakeOff Scratch is to create a buzz amongst artists interested in developing their practice with children and to embed that energy in our leading regional theatres, thereby raising the profile of work for young audiences.”

Miranda Thain, Creative Producer

Pic: Yuvel Soria

Our artists have been mentored to develop their idea through our child-centred approach and have received a package of support that has included festival visits, masterclasses and sector specialist mentoring, enabling them to gain real insight into their target audience.

Tales of a Kind R&D

Delegates will be offered the opportunity to watch two out of three of the works in progress. Each commission will be presented at both 15:45 and 16:45, followed by tea and cake from 17:30 in the Gala Circle. There will be no formal feedback session but we encourage you to strike up conversations with the artists, to challenge and to encourage.

Dance City Commission

Northern Stage Commission

Live Theatre Commission

HOLLY IRVING: TALES OF A KIND

LAURA BRIDGES: DON’T MISS YOUR DREAMS

SUSAN MULHOLLAND: THE MACHINE

Durham Town Hall

Gala Studio

Gala Cinema

About Holly

About Laura

About Susan

Holly graduated from the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2008. Holly specialises in creating work which fuses contemporary dance, hip hop styles and physical theatre. She also leads outreach programmes with young offenders, homeless young people and ethnic minority groups.

Laura Bridges is a Director / Deviser / Facilitator who graduated from Middlesex University with additional training at LISPA. Her company, Seadog Theatre, has made two previous shows: Sea of Stories and Happiness Factory.

Susan has been writing for theatre for 8 years. During this time she has garnered a strong reputation for writing plays for very young children. Susan’s work always maintains a sense of humour and wonder about the world in which we live.

About Don’t Miss Your Dreams

About The Machine

Don’t Miss Your Dreams is a play for 2 - 4yr olds and their grown-ups.

Getting to sleep can be a tricky business – not least if there’s a noisy newcomer around. But staying awake is a recipe for disaster. What if you found a secret way to get away from it all, have a holiday, an adventure, without anyone else knowing? Welcome to your dreams. Starting in 4, 3, 2, 1...

The Machine is a new piece of writing for 7 - 11 year olds, developed with Katie Doherty, a musician and songwriter. Together they have worked with young people at Live Theatre to create Lucy Strange.

Lucy, aged 8, lives in the not so distant future where children are sent to meet The Machine. Here they are asked questions to determine their career, suitable life partners and a retirement plan, but Lucy won’t play ball. It’s a story about ambition and how it can so easily be curtailed unless you’re a determined 8-year-old.

About Tales of a Kind Holly took her inspiration for this piece for age 7+ from the psychology behind classic fairy tales – the underlying morals as well as the trials and tribulations that the characters go though.

Tales of a Kind takes the audience on journey as the characters are faced with challenges, explore new places, gain knowledge and test the levels of their friendship. Through perseverance and determination, the characters try not to stray from the path they have chosen and separately strive to find their own happy ever after.

www.ruffsole.com 18

www.seadogtheatre.co.uk www.elesladedesign.com @seadogtheatreco

@mullysaid

PRESENTATIONS AT TAKEOFF 2015 Panel Discussion

Update Meeting

HOW BRAVE CAN WE BE?

ON THE EDGE

What is your purpose as an artist and can anyone curb your freedom of speech?

ON THE EDGE is the World Festival of Theatre for Young Audiences and ASSITEJ Artistic Gathering taking place from 2 - 9 July 2016.

At what point do the freedom of my thoughts and speech as an artist become morally reprehensible, or even illegal?

The festival includes inspirational performances from across the world, a dynamic Symposium programme, and the chance for you to socialise with friends and colleagues. It is an unprecedented opportunity for the TYA sector in the UK that will offer unique cultural and artistic opportunities for over 10,000 young people, families and schools.

16:30 - 17:30, Wed 21 Oct, Gala Cinema, Screen 1

Can theatre and art psychologically damage children. More than the internet can?

Are there limits? Who decides?

Is the law enough?

Are we talking about ‘law’, morals’ or just good business sense?

Roger Hartley of the Bureau of Silly Ideas presents a provocative and mindbending keynote speech, accompanied by Helen Fenwick, Professor of Law at Durham Law School and Sue East, Head Teacher of St Andrew’s C of E Primary School in Bath.

The Panel is chaired by Kate Cross, Director of the egg and Programmer of TakeOff 2015.

EQUITY & DRINKS RECEPTION 17:30 - 19:00 Wed 21 Oct Gala Circle

14:30 - 16:00, Fri 23 Oct, Town Hall

The festival will raise the profile of the wider TYA sector with the media, schools, families, politicians and decision makers. It will encourage international exchange and collaboration, and provide exceptional networking opportunities. This will be the first time that an ASSITEJ Festival has been held in the UK. ON THE EDGE is organised by TYA Ireland and TYA UK Come and hear the latest news, and find out how you can get involved. www.ontheedge2016.com OnTheEdge2016 @ontheedge2016

Equity is the UK Trade Union representing professional performers and other creative workers from across the spectrum of the entertainment, creative and cultural industries.

employment, campaigns with members on their issues and provides tailored services and we are delighted to be a part of TakeOff again. Please pick up information from the Equity table in the hub or visit www.equity.org.uk

These include performers, stage management, designers and directors working in all areas of live performance.

Equity negotiates minimum terms and conditions of

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DELEGATE ROUTES ORANGE ROUTE

YELLOW ROUTE

BLUE ROUTE

GREEN ROUTE

PURPLE ROUTE

Wednesday 21st October 12:30 - 13:00 Welcome Gala Cinema, Screen 1

12:30 - 13:00 Welcome Gala Cinema, Screen 1

12:30 - 13:00 Welcome Gala Cinema, Screen 1

12:30 - 13:00 Welcome Gala Cinema, Screen 1

12:30 - 13:00 Welcome Gala Cinema, Screen 1

14:00 - 14:30 16 Singers Masonic Hall

13:30 - 14:20 Our Teacher’s a Troll Town Hall

12:45 Bus to Trinity School Freeman Place

13:15 - 14:15 Bear & Butterfly Gala Studio

13:30 - 14:20 Our Teacher’s a Troll Town Hall

15:00 - 16:00 Refreshments Gala Circle

15:00 - 16:00 Refreshments Gala Circle

13:15 - 14:30 Down To Earth Trinity School

15:00 - 16:00 Refreshments Gala Circle

15:00 - 16:00 Refreshments Gala Circle

16:00 - 17:30 Panel Gala Cinema, Screen 1

16:00 - 17:30 Panel Gala Cinema, Screen 1

15:00 - 16:00 Refreshments Gala Circle

16:00 - 17:30 Panel Gala Cinema, Screen 1

16:00 - 17:30 Panel Gala Cinema, Screen 1

18:00 - 19:00 Equity Drinks Gala Circle

18:00 - 19:00 Equity Drinks Gala Circle

16:00 - 17:30 Panel Gala Cinema, Screen 1

18:00 - 19:00 Equity Drinks Gala Circle

18:00 - 19:00 Equity Drinks Gala Circle

19:00 - 20:45 Snow White Gala Theatre

19:00 - 20:45 Snow White Gala Theatre

18:00 - 19:00 Equity Drinks Gala Circle

19:00 - 20:45 Snow White Gala Theatre

19:00 - 20:45 Snow White Gala Theatre

Thursday 22nd October

19:00 - 20:45 Snow White Gala Theatre

09:45 - 10:35 Bear & Butterfly Gala Studio

09:15 Bus to Trinity School Freeman Place

09:30 - 10:30 Hurricane Boy Town Hall

09:30 - 10:30 Hurricane Boy Town Hall

9:45 - 10:35 Bear & Butterfly Gala Studio

11:00 - 12:00 Hurricane Boy Town Hall

09:45 - 11:45 Down To Earth Trinity School

11:30 - 12:00 16 Singers Masonic Hall

11:00 - 12:00 Hurricane Boy Town Hall

13:30 - 14:45 The Last Post Millennium Place OR 13:30 - 14:30 Under Foot Alington House

13:15 - 14:00 Tree Gala Theatre

13:15 - 14:00 Tree Gala Theatre

11:00 - 12:15 The Last Post Millennium Place OR 11.00 - 12:00 Under Foot Alington House

15:00 Scratch Intro Gala Cinema, Screen 1

15:00 Scratch Intro Gala Cinema, Screen 1

15:45 - 17:30 Scratch Various, see page 18

15:45 - 17:30 Scratch Various, see page 18

17:30 Refreshments Gala Circle

17:30 Refreshments Gala Circle

19:30 - 20:30 Pocket Merchant Gala Theatre

19:30 - 20:30 Pocket Merchant Gala Theatre

15:00 Scratch Intro Gala Cinema, Screen 1 15:45 - 17:30 Scratch Various, see page 18 17:30 Refreshments Gala Circle 19:30 - 20:30 Pocket Merchant Gala Theatre

21:00 - late Festival Party The Bishop Langley

21:00 - late Festival Party The Bishop Langley

15:00 Scratch Intro Gala Cinema, Screen 1 15:45 - 17:30 Scratch Various, see page 18 17:30 Refreshments Gala Circle 19:30 - 20:30 Pocket Merchant Gala Theatre 21:00 - late Festival Party The Bishop Langley

21:00 - late Festival Party The Bishop Langley

14:00 - 14:30 16 Singers Masonic Hall 15:00 Scratch Intro Gala Cinema, Screen 1 15:45 - 17:30 Scratch Various, see page 18 17:30 Refreshments Gala Circle 19:30 - 20:30 Pocket Merchant Gala Theatre 21:00 - late Festival Party The Bishop Langley

Friday 23rd October 11:00 - 11:45 Tree Gala Studio

09:45 - 10:30 A Mano City Theatre

09:45 - 10:30 A Mano City Theatre

09:30 - 10:15 Tree Gala Studio

11:00 - 11:45 Tree Gala Studio

13:30 - 14:15 A Mano City Theatre

11:30 - 12:00 16 Singers Masonic Hall

11:00 - 11:45 A Mano City Theatre

13:30 - 14:15 A Mano City Theatre

14:30 - 16:00 TYA UK present On the Edge Town Hall

13:30 - 14:45 The Last Post Millennium Place OR 13:30 - 14:30 Under Foot Alington House

10:45 - 12:00 The Last Post Millennium Place OR 11:00 - 12:00 Under Foot Alington House

13:00 - 13:30 16 Singers Masonic Hall

14:30 - 16:00 TYA UK present On the Edge Town Hall

14:30 - 16:00 TYA UK present On the Edge Town Hall

20

14:30 - 16:00 TYA UK present On the Edge Town Hall

14:30 - 16:00 TYA UK present On the Edge Town Hall

DELEGATE TIMETABLE TIME

EVENT

COMPANY/INFORMATION

VENUE

DELEGATE ROUTE

e

Wednesday 21st October 12:30 - 13:00

Welcome

Hosted by TakeOff Festival

Gala Cinema, Screen 1

e

e

13:15 - 14:15

Bear & Butterfly

Theatre Hullabaloo & Theatre by the Lake

13:30 - 14:30

Our Teacher’s a Troll

Paines Plough & Half Moon

e Gala Studio e Town Hall

e

e

13:15 - 14:30

Down to Earth

Bamboozle (12:45 bus, Freeman Place)

14:00 - 14:30

16 Singers

the egg & Dance Umbrella

15:00 - 16:00

Refreshments

Hosted by TakeOff Festival

Gala Circle

e

e

e

e

e

16:30 - 17:30

Panel

How Brave Can We Be?

Gala Cinema, Screen 1

e

e

e

e

e

18:00 - 19:00

Drinks Reception

Equity

Gala Circle

e

e

e

e

e

19:00 - 20:45

Snow White

balletLORENT

Gala Theatre

e

e

e

e

e

10:00 - 17:00

Welcome to Octoville

Fly in a Pie Theatre (drop-in art installation)

Gala FOH

e

e

e

e

e

Trinity School e Masonic Hall

e

e

Thursday 22nd October e

09:45 - 11:45

Down to Earth

Bamboozle (09:15 bus, Freeman Place)

Trinity School

09:30 - 10:30

Hurricane Boy

Ellen Havard

09:45 - 10:45

Bear & Butterfly

Theatre Hullabaloo & Theatre by the Lake

e e Town Hall e Gala Studio

e

11:00 - 12:00 11:00 - 12:15

Under Foot OR aboutNOWish The Last Post Kilter Theatre

11:00 - 12:00

Hurricane Boy

Ellen Havard

Alington House e e Millennium Place e Town Hall

e

11:30 - 12:00

16 Singers

the egg & Dance Umbrella

13:15 - 14:00

Tree

Magnet Theatre

13:30 - 14:30 13:30 - 14:45

Under Foot OR aboutNOWish The Last Post Kilter Theatre

Alington House Millennium Place

14:00 - 14:30

16 Singers

the egg & Dance Umbrella

15:00 - 15:30

Scratch Intro

Hosted by TakeOff Festival

Masonic Hall e e e e Gala Cinema, Screen 1

15:45 onwards Scratch Performances 16:45 onwards

See page 18 for more details and to make your selection

Gala Studio, Gala Cinema, Screen 2 & Town Hall

e

e

e

e

e

17:30 - 18:30

Refreshments

Hosted by TakeOff Festival

Gala Circle

e

e

e

e

e

19:30 - 20:30

Pocket Merchant

Propeller

Gala Theatre

e

e

e

e

e

21:00 - late

TakeOff Festival Party

Hosted by TakeOff Festival featuring Toby Thompson

The Bishop Langley

e

e

e

e

e

10:00 - 17:00

Welcome to Octoville

Fly in a Pie Theatre (drop-in art installation)

Gala FOH

e

e

e

e

e

e

Masonic Hall e Gala Studio

e e

e e e e

Friday 23rd October 09:30 - 10:15

Tree

Magnet Theatre

09.45 - 10:30

A Mano

El Patio Teatro

Gala Studio e e City Theatre

11:00 - 11:45

Tree

Magnet Theatre

Gala Studio

11:00 - 11:45

A Mano

El Patio Teatro

11:00 - 12:00 10:45 - 12:00

Under Foot OR The Last Post

aboutNOWish Kilter Theatre

City Theatre e Alington House e Millennium Place

11:30 - 12:00

16 Singers

the egg & Dance Umbrella

Masonic Hall

13:00 - 13:30

16 Singers

the egg & Dance Umbrella

13:30 - 14:15

A Mano

El Patio Teatro

e Masonic Hall e City Theatre

13:30 - 14:30 13:30 - 14:45

Under Foot OR The Last Post

aboutNOWish Kilter Theatre

14:15 onwards

Refreshments

14:30 - 16:00

On the Edge

10:00 - 17:00

Welcome to Octoville

e

e

e

e e

e e

Hosted by TakeOff Festival

Alington House Millennium Place e Town Hall

e

e

e

e

Presented by TYA UK

Town Hall

e

e

e

e

e

Fly in a Pie Theatre (drop-in art installation)

Gala FOH

e

e

e

e

e

21

Theatre Hullabaloo is a pioneering organisation that makes, tours and promotes theatre for young audiences.

We believe that children and young people have an entitlement to access theatre of the highest quality and greatest artistic challenge, so we collaborate with artists working at the forefront of their artform, and develop ideas with young people, to create excellent and inventive theatre.

As the North East’s only specialist producer of theatre for young audiences, Theatre Hullabaloo recognises a wider Northern Echo on strategic responsibility to My Mother Told Me Not To Stare support regional artists and venues in the development of work for young people, to support programmers to access quality work and develop audiences and to ensure that the company’s own practice is innovative and collaborative.

“Brave, innovative and breaking new ground”

The Hullaballoon Theatre Hullabaloo are developing a new flagship theatre for children and young people in Darlington.

This new facility will be of national significance as a centre of excellence of theatre for children and will be a destination for families across the North East and beyond. The facility will be vision-led, creating a space that is truly child-centred, embodying the values of Theatre Hullabaloo and providing a base for the organisation to develop new strands of child-centred work.

The venue will include: • 150-seat studio theatre • creative play installation space • café area • workshop/studio space

• dressing rooms • toilets • play space

It will be the only specialist theatre provision of its type north of London.

A LO O : H U LL A B dialects)

(from NE

& Scots

or fuss. citement Noisy ex lebration ance, ce rm o rf e p ent.

A noisy ev or other protest. e made in ent. is o n d u m A lo ad excite Widespre ed to s u n o enti An interv ild (balloo, h hush a c llaby) as in lu

The development of The Hullaballoon will be aligned to the restoration and redevelopment of Darlington Civic Theatre, providing a new cultural hub for Darlington.

There will be a busy programme of visiting shows, workshops and play all year round from tots to teens. We want to make The Hullaballoon a fantastic place to learn and play and a true hub for children’s theatre in the North East.

Telephone 01325 352 004 Email info@theatrehullabaloo.org.uk

www.theatrehullabaloo.org.uk 22

SUPPORT TAKEOFF FESTIVAL & THEATRE HULLABALOO Donating to Theatre Hullabaloo will extend opportunities to children and families in some of the most deprived parts of the country, bringing communities together in the best way the arts can. Theatre Hullabaloo is core funded

by Arts Council England, so every penny that you donate will go directly into frontline projects that will help children and young people develop emotionally and imaginatively.

Make a difference to the lives of children in your community by supporting TakeOff Festival.

You can donate at www.takeofffestival.org.uk

TakeOff Festival is part of The Family Arts Campaign, a large scale, national collaborative programme led by the visual and performing arts sectors to increase levels of arts engagement by families.

The key features of the Campaign are the Family Arts Festival, the development of the Family Arts Standards and the commissioning of new training packages for arts professionals to improve best practice across the sector.

The first Festival attracted over 1500 events from over 750 different organisations all over the country and continues to grow each year.

TAKEOFF FESTIVAL GUEST PROGRAMMER 2017 Would you like to follow in the footsteps of Kate Cross from the egg or other past TakeOff Festival programmers such as Director Dani Parr or Chris Elwell from Half Moon? Then this could be your chance.

Theatre Hullabaloo are now recruiting for the next TakeOff Festival Guest Programmer. We are looking for an inspiring freelance programmer who can work with our Creative Producer and the festival team to curate a cutting edge festival that appeals to our audiences and challenges our peers. This person will be responsible for the development of the programme for TakeOff 2017 – the next Delegate Festival – as well as act in an advisory capacity to identify opportunities for TakeOff 2016, which will focus on growing audiences in communities across County Durham.

• Do you have experience of programming arts events or festivals for children and young people?

• Do you have an exceptional understanding of work for young people (including an appreciation of key practitioners and organisations)?

• Would you like the opportunity to have your voice heard?

Visit www.takeofffestival.org.uk for full information and to download a recruitment pack

23

Lead Festival Partners

Artist Development

Family Day Sponsor

Print Partner

TakeOff Festival is produced by Theatre Hullabaloo 5 Skinnergate, Darlington, County Durham, DL3 7NB Tel 01325 352 004 Web www.theatrehullabaloo.org.uk www.takeofffestival.org.uk Email info@theatrehullabaloo.org.uk

TakeOff Festival Theatre Hullabaloo @takeofffestival @hullabalootweet takeofffestival theatrehullabaloo

Charity Number: 279690

Design: Wayne Gamble

Festival Partners