DUMBSHOW (2007 - ) |
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Nationality: British Email: Click here to contact Website: Click here to visit Address: n/a |
The Dumbshow ensemble was established in 2007 by Artistic Director Michael Bryher and has been working together for over 6 years. We have a shared history, complicity, a common language and confidence in each other. We love playing games together (which sometimes get dangerous), we eat together and enjoy each others company. We share a belief in the power and importance of telling stories as a way to understand ourselves and the world around us, but we have a variety of skills and backgrounds, all of which go towards making a Dumbshow show what it is.
World Premieres of Plays by Dumbshow
Clockheart Boy | ||
| 1st Produced: | Warwick: Arts Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL >>> | 2007 | ||||
Organisations: | Dumbshow | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #181584 | |||
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 | |||||
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Genre: | macabre fairytale | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 5 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Created by Hester Bond, Nicola Cutcher and Sam Gayton. The show has a long and successful history. It began as a macabre fairytale at Warwick Arts Centre in 2007, transformed for a colourful world premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008, toured to Londons Cochrane theatre as a family christmas show that year, went on to the Manchester Royal Exchange in Easter 2009 and revived for the Edinburgh Fringe in 2011. | |||||
Synopsis: | Wound up by the Professor, Clockheart Boy dances with a ballerina, meets the moon, loses his heart and sees the world through new eyes. Join Dumbshow for puppetry, piano playing and Plato. Sell-out Scotsman Hot Show 2007. www.dumbshow.org | |||||
Further Reference: | Theatre Record Vol XXVIII (2008) Page 1427 - [Theatre: Cochrane] | |||||
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written by Michael Bryher, Jack Cole, Nicola Cutcher, Pia de Keyser | Electric Dreams | |
| 1st Produced: | Camden People's Theatre, 58-60 Hampstead Road, London NW1 2PY >>> | 05 May 2015 | ||||
Organisations: | Dumbshow | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #181585 | |||
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 | |||||
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Genre: | piece | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | written by Michael Bryher, Jack Cole, Nicola Cutcher, Pia de Keyser | |||||
Synopsis: | inspired by the ideas in Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine. Rose can't remember the first 18 years of her life. What happened to her? Seeking to unravel this mystery she turns investigator, piecing together her history from fragmented memories, documents and dreams. Using live music and video, Electric Dreams journeys from 1950's Canada to the Iraq war, but does exploring the past offer a warning for the future? | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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An original idea conceived by author Sam Gayton and director Michael Bryher | Moon | |
| 1st Produced: | Shoreditch Town Hall, London | 14 Mar 2014 | ||||
Organisations: | Dumbshow | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #181586 | |||
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 | |||||
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Genre: | work in progress | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | An original idea conceived by author Sam Gayton and director Michael Bryher | |||||
Synopsis: | Acclaimed young company Dumbshow present a brand new piece of theatre for family audiences. MOON is a story about what it means to feel different, and the moment in life when you realise you are part of a much bigger universe. It tells the story of a young boy, Edwin Moon, who discovers he is an alien when he turns different colours one day on the school playing field. An original idea conceived by author Sam Gayton and director Michael Bryher, the Dumbshow ensemble will create a weird, wonderful and colourful world of characters including; Edwin Moon's neurotic new-age Mother, his sister Trude who is part of a militant version of the Brownies and Babooshka, the old lady that lives next door - who knows about his past and may hold the key to his future. The story will explore big ideas and small details about how we all find our way through life and how difficult, messy and beautiful this journey can be. MOON will be entertaining, thought-provoking and ultimately uplifting. Through an R&D period funded by Arts Council England, we aim to build on the success of our previous piece Clockheart Boy, which toured in 2012, to make a new show for family audiences (particularly for children aged 8-12 but with a universal appeal), with a view to touring in 2014. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Oedipus: a love story | ||
| 1st Produced: | Edinburgh Festival Fringe | 0 | ||||
Organisations: | Dumbshow | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #181587 | |||
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 | |||||
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Genre: | piece 60 min | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 3 | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | This is a playful retelling of a story you thought you already knew. Narrated by a flock of Welsh sheep, this energetic yet tender adaptation of Sophocles' ancient myth brings light and soul to a very twisted love story. Charting Oedipus' fateful journey from birth to banishment, it's a tale of love, loss, destiny and adventure that promises to warm the heart. Oedipus: A Love Story was devised and written especially for the Fringe. Suitable for the whole family, the show skilfully fuses innovative storytelling techniques, live music, puppetry and dance to reveal a side to this tragic hero that you've never seen before. Leave your pre-conceptions about Greek Tragedy at the door as a cast of irreverent Oracles, saucy Sphinxes and Freudian fools descend on Edinburgh for the show's world premiere. At just an hour long, this fast-paced and rather touching drama will be asking some big questions about fate, family and the potential pitfalls of falling crazy in love with older women. Oedipus previewed at schools and youth theatres around the UK in the lead-up to the Fringe. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Out of Clay. . . | ||
| 1st Produced: | Helen Martin Studio, Warwick: Arts Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL >>> | 03 Nov 2015 | ||||
Organisations: | Dumbshow | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #181588 | |||
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 | |||||
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Genre: | interactive theatre | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Part of EMERGE FESTIVAL, Warwick 2065: Performance and the University | |||||
Synopsis: | n/a | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Pearl, The | ||
| 1st Produced: | Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Festival Fringe | Aug 2013 | ||||
Organisations: | Dumbshow | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #181589 | |||
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 | |||||
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Genre: | adaptation, storytelling 1 hour 10 minutes | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 2 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | with doubling | |||||
Notes: | adapted from book by John Steinbeck | |||||
Synopsis: | When impoverished pearl-diver Kino finds the pearl of the world he believes his family's life will be transformed. Seduced by the pearl's beauty and promise of riches, he's blind to the danger of possessing something that everyone else wants. A timeless fable about the allure of greed, the confines of class, and the transforming power of love. It asks us to consider what we value most in the world. Dumbshow bring John Steinbeck's novel to life with their trademark visual inventiveness and playful theatricality. Past productions: 'Pick of the Day' (Guardian), 'Hot Show' **** (Scotsman). | |||||
Further Reference: | Theatre Record Vol XXXIV (2014) Page 1083 - [Theatre: Greenwich] | |||||
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Roar | ||
| 1st Produced: | Edinburgh Festival Fringe | 03 Aug 2011 | ||||
Organisations: | Dumbshow | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #181590 | |||
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 | |||||
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Genre: | piece | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 5 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | London is in trouble. Greed, debauchery and excess are dancing like fire through the streets. A young woman is stolen from the arms of her husband on their wedding night and spirited away by the riotous Moll Cutpurse. Doused in gin, Moll will lead the women to devour, seduce and consume until there is nothing left. Can anyone contain them? A lusty tale of 16th century London starring love and revenge, rampant Judges and raucous women, chaos and the darkest of desires. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Seething Wells and the defeat of King Cholera | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | 06 Nov 2012 | ||||
Organisations: | Dumbshow | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #181591 | |||
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 | |||||
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Genre: | piece 40 min | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | created by Lotte Allan, Michael Bryher and Jack Cole | |||||
Synopsis: | Dumbshow in collaboration with The Community Brain and Smoking Apples present to you the story of how clean water came to London. It is August 24th 1854, an oppressively hot summer in the heart of the emerging metropolis. Soho, an island of dirt, where the comings and goings of debauchery and creativity dance a merry dance. The streets are filthy, the air is fetid, but the sun in shining as Sarah Lewis carries her baby home. Little does she know that she is about to wipe out an entire community. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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To The End of The World | ||
| 1st Produced: | C Soco, Edinburgh Festival Fringe | Aug 2007 | ||||
Organisations: | Dumbshow | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #181592 | |||
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 | |||||
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Genre: | piece | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 6 | Female | 5 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | In 2007 Dumbshow donated all profits from To The End of The World toActionAid. We are proud that we gifted over £4000 to the charity. Thank you very much to everyone who came to see us! As Dumbshow weaved its magic on the Royal Mile everyday, good word-of-mouth spread. Every performance saw the audience expanding until we were selling out every performance. We performed in C Soco every day at 3:45pm. We received a wonderful audience response and consistently excellent reviews. We were featured on the front page of The Scotsman as a Hot Show and Mark Radcliffe reviewed the show on BBC Radio 2 and interviewed the company. Even Richard and Judy featured us pitching our show on the Royal Mile. We couldn't have hoped for a better fringe debut. | |||||
Synopsis: | When the prosperity of Sous L'Eglise is threatened, fruit seller Philippe Sidel is sent on a journey across the globe to the furthest reaches of the world. His wife Ava remains at home and continues to lead an uncomplicated life of simple routines and small pleasures. Meanwhile Philippe's encounters with an enigmatic merchant and his seductive courtesan weave into a love story filled with trains, dramatic shipwrecks, migrating geese, war and coffee on a Sunday. A story of seduction and love, as Philippe suddenly finds himself on the edge of the map. Will he turn back or throw himself off? | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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