The Playwrights Database
ACTION HERO
(2005 - )Nationality: English
email: Click here to contact Website: Click here
Literary Agent: n/a
Action Hero is the collaboration between GEmma Paintin and James Stenhouse. We live and work in Bristol, where we have been making performance together since 2005. We make work that is interested in pop cultural mythologies, people being together in a room and the absurdity of standing in front of some strangers and doing something. Our work often has a sense of the epic, even though it is played out through a raw, DIY, lo-fi aesthetic. We like performance as an event, as a temporary community, and we like using our audience as collaborators and co-conspiritors within that frame. We have developed a reputation for creating performance that is distinctive and invigorating, and have created work for Theatres, parties, clubs, galleries and public spaces. We tour our work regularly throughout the UK and internationally. We enjoy meeting other artists when we are touring abroad and are interested in builiding and generating self supporting artist networks worldwide. We are members of Residence, an artist-led space for the creation of new performance work and are Forest Fringe artists and Chelsea Theatre Associates
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below is a list of Action Hero's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Extraordinary Rendition Frontman History Hoke's Bluff How To Disappear Noise Karaoke Robot Disco Slap Talk Tattoo Parlour Watch Me Fall Western, A Wrecking BallExtraordinary Rendition
Extraordinary Rendition is an experience for one person at a time in a temporary cabin. Built from the same materials used to construct temporary facilities at Camp X-ray in which many of enhanced interrogation' techniques were practiced, the performance space is the interior architecture of the audience member's mind. Text drawn from pop songs used for torture, war films and military and civilian air traffic communications appears on three screens, implanting images which we are unable to distinguish as real or fake. This colonisation of the inner psyche mirrors the military processes which attempt to win wars through supposedly non-violent means and reflects on how the military experience pervades the apparently banal arena of popular culture and by extension, our safe, protected, Western existence
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
In Between Time
1st Published:
in "Action Plans: Selected Performance Pieces by Action Hero", Oberon Books (2015) >>> 978-1783195008
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Performance piece
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageFrontman
Poised on the edge of catastrophe, Frontman is a furiously loud, raucous reproduction of the all the best gigs you never saw. With borrowed ramblings from iconic frontmen, the ghost of Elvis/Dolly/Kurt/Iggy is channeled by a girl in sequins, whilst a techie in rabbit ears refuses to watch the show. She turns up the volume and humps the speakers, and tells the crowd she loves them. Backed by an analogue synth and a tambourine, the performance is a defiant, brazen, half-cut version of a faded comeback gig, complete with dry-ice, lip syncs and extreme noise (earplugs provided. . .) Balancing between euphoria and a car crash, Frontman uses DIY analogue sound and is part-gig, part-perfomance for a standing audience who like it loud.
Notes:
Frontman is the third piece in an unintentional trilogy of work, following A Western and Watch Me Fall, about icons and the iconography of masculinity.
1st Produced:
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Organisations:
Action Hero
1st Published:
in "Action Plans: Selected Performance Pieces by Action Hero", Oberon Books (2015) >>> 978-1783195008
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Performance piece
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageHistory
Synopsis:
We want to declare an end to History because it's holding us back. It's taking up all our time and it's filling all our books. We're starting to feel the weight of it and it's slowing us down. Let's finish History. Let's put it behind us. History started at zero and it's come a long way. the birth of our sun, the Battle of Hastings, the Suffragettes, Vietnam, Foot and Mouth and now today. Today it's reached its peak. Today it can go no further. It's come to a stand still and we'll all be able to say "We were there. We were there when History was declared over and there were fireworks and a public announcement". We want to put an end to History so we're going to have a celebration. Before we wave it goodbye we want to re-enact History and remember the highlights. We want to have fireworks and feel a sense of warmth regarding all that we've shared and when History is over we'll all come together and look hopefully into our empty burdenless future. there's a list of people. A great list. A list of all the people that made History. We're going to wave goodbye to that list. We're going to give them a send off because we think they've deserved it. But before we do we're going to add our names to that list. All of us on this day will get our names on that list because we were there. We made History. We were then when it ended. We want it to be beautiful.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
Action Hero
1st Published:
- -
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Performance piece
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageHoke's Bluff
Welcome to Hoke's Bluff. the sun always shines, the grass is always watered and green, the roads are wide and the cars seat three in the front. It never rains and all the kids have straight teeth. their parents are firm but loving, and when they get things wrong they admit it, and say they're sorry. Yep, Hoke's Bluff is pretty ordinary. Could be anywhere, really. Just another town. With a whistful yearning for a world that never really existed, Hoke's Bluff uses high school storylines, inspiring locker room speeches and sentimentality to tell an underdog story that's been told a million times before, shifting and re-arranging the trite conventions and narratives of American teen movies to talk about what it means to be a winner on the inside.
Notes:
devised by James Stenhouse And Gemma Paintin (Action Hero)
1st Produced:
Organisations:
China Plate
1st Published:
in "Action Plans: Selected Performance Pieces by Action Hero", Oberon Books (2015) >>> 978-1783195008
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Performance piece
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageHow To Disappear
Synopsis:
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Notes:
devised by James Stenhouse And Gemma Paintin (Action Hero)
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Action Hero
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Performance piece
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageNoise Karaoke
Synopsis:
ever wanted to front your own post-punk noise-core industrial metal band? Or just fancy wearing a stupid wig and dancing to beepy noises? then Noise Karaoke is for you! Noise Karaoke was developed for Wunderbar Festival in Newcastle as an alternative karaoke night for the festival closing party. With help from a musician and a sound engineer, 7 Noise Karaoke tracks were created, from a track in the style of a genEric punk band (3 Chords), to doom metal (Drone Alone) to our own interpretation of Napalm Death (Napalm Breath). Noise Karaokes performers are the audience themselves. With a menu of tracks to choose from, audience members select their song, get dressed up and take to the stage with as much dry ice as they can handle. . . . .
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
Action Hero
1st Published:
- -
Music:
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To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Performance piece
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageRobot Disco
Synopsis:
Robot Disco is a disco for humans who want to be robots. Robot disco is a participatory Arts event that meditates on the nature of the cyborg in the post digital age. Or its a load of people with boxes on their heads dancing to electronic music. Whatever. Whilst James (Dr Autotune) plays robot music, GEmma (gembot) mans the craft table and keeps an eye on the gaffa tape and craft knives. Participants build their own robot costume from scrap collected for the event, and, following the Robot Parade, dance like robots all night long. Robot Disco is an event for parties and festivals, and is aimed at adults. We are however discussing ideas for a childrens Robot Disco in collaboration with an artist who specializes in working with children and young people.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
Action Hero
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Performance piece
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageSlap Talk
James and Gemma are getting ready for a fight. It is the press conference, the cameras are rolling and an autocue scrolls. As the pair's insults and self-aggrandising become more and more extreme the conversation becomes a linguistic version of the fight and then of life itself.
Notes:
Developed with the support of Caravan and BIOS, Athens
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Action Hero
1st Published:
in "Action Plans: Selected Performance Pieces by Action Hero", Oberon Books (2015) >>> 978-1783195008
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Performance piece
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageTattoo Parlour
Synopsis:
Action Heros Live Art Tattoo Parlour is a one-on-one experience in a DIY tattoo parlour. Participants choose a tattoo design from our selection with a slogan that encompasses their love of all things live and have their tattoo drawn onto the body part of their choice. Action Heros Live Art Tattoo Parlour is a piece for parties, festivals and events, and happens in any small, sweaty, dark space. Potential clients are helped to choose their tattoo in consultation with a tattooed lady who hosts the parlour, before being taken into the parlour itself to meet the tattooist. Steeled with a shot of vodka, the tattoo is hand drawn in permanent marker.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
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Organisations:
Action Hero
1st Published:
- -
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Performance piece
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageWatch Me Fall
explores daredevils, our obsession with those who attempt the impossible, the futility of their attempts and their inevitable fall from grace and features a real human cannonball.
Notes:
devised by James Stenhouse And Gemma Paintin (Action Hero)
1st Produced:
Organisations:
an Arnolfini We Live Here commission,
1st Published:
in "Action Plans: Selected Performance Pieces by Action Hero", Oberon Books (2015) >>> 978-1783195008
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Performance piece
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageWestern, A
A Western is a performance for a bar. Within the space we locate our valley, our saloon, our empty street. We find our audience and together we make A Western. the audience cheat at cards, beg our hero to love them and then shoot him down. We apply the ketchup blood. We wear the cowboy hats. We want the scene where our Hero walks into a bar and everyone stops talking. We want the scene where the whore begs to be loved. We want the scene where our hero dies a long and drawn out death. A Western collides the immediacy and intimacy of live performance with the epic emotional experience of the cinematic blockbuster, a celebration of a failure to capture the true size and majesty of the Wild West. It is an experiment with the relationship between an audience and an event, a re-imagining of everyday landscapes that helps uncover the beauty that already exists in the actual environments we inhabit.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
Action Hero
1st Published:
in "Action Plans: Selected Performance Pieces by Action Hero", Oberon Books (2015) >>> 978-1783195008
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
Performance piece
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
-
Top of PageWrecking Ball
Wrecking Ball is a new piece by Action Hero, and is presented tonight as a very early work-in-progress. The piece is a text to be read by an audience and two performers, and they're telling a story about a male celebrity photographer and a female celebrity. It's a conversation about consent, authorship and putting words in other people's mouths, about what it really means to say yes'.
Notes:
Wrecking Ball began as an experiment at Counterpulse in San Francisco as part of a Forest Fringe residency, working with the writer and director Andrea Hart. devised by James Stenhouse And Gemma Paintin (Action Hero)
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Sprint 2015
1st Published:
Oberon Books (2016) >>> 978-1786820211
Music:
-
To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies
Booksellers:
Genre:
work in progress
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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