The Playwrights Database
LITTLE BULB THEATRE
(2008 - )Nationality: English
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Little Bulb started out at the University of Kent where its members, strung across different years, collaborated for the first time on Crocosmia, a devised piece exploring the memories (both joyous and tragic) of three precocious siblings through their parents record collection. The show premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2008, and went on to win Fringe First, Total Theatre and Arches Brick awards as well as touring extensively both home and abroad. In 2009 we returned to Edinburgh as the resident company of the Forest Fringe performing Sporadical: the epic folk opera and in 2010 with Operation Greenfield which was awarded the Herald Angel. Operation Greenfieldreturned once more to the theme of growing up this time focusing on the lives of teenagers, rather than children, in a small fictional village. The piece was also a study of faith and friendship and our most ambitious exploration so far on the interplay between music and theatre. That same year we were commissioned by Farnham Maltings to create a new show specifically for village hall touring for which we made The Marvellous and Unlikely Fete of Little Upper Downing: a raucous folk extravaganza which has since toured to village halls all over England. For the 2011 Fringe music became the entire focus as we presented Goose Party an experimental free set of bizarre compositions and genre fusions performed by our alter ego band. For the past two years we have been working in collaboration with Battersea Arts Centre to create Orpheus, a 1930's Parisian retelling of the Orpheus myth, inspired by the music of Django Reinhardt. For this production we have teamed up with many wonderful collaborators to create by far and away our largest show to date. We are thrilled to finally be sharing it from the 16th of April to the 11th of May. Since forming in 2008 Little Bulb Theatre have gone on to create a diverse and stylistically vibrant body of work encompassing larger scale theatre pieces, small intimate experiments in dimly lit caverns and much else in between. We are passionate about fusing more traditional theatrical forms such as character acting and dramatic structure with elements of devised visual and musical performance thereby creating fresh, live experiences that aspire to touch, startle and entertain. Little Bulb Theatre are produced by Farnham Maltings.
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below is a list of Little Bulb Theatre's plays - click on a Play Title for more information
Antarctica Crocosmia Goose Party Goose Party Hot Club De Bulb Marvellous And Unlikely Fete Of Little Upper Downing, The Night That Autumn Turned to Winter, The Operation Greenfield Orpheus Sporadical Squally Showers WailAntarctica
Synopsis:
Only the bravest of explorers have ever set foot in the South Pole: a magical world of snow, ice and some of the most wondrous creatures on Earth. Will you be one of them? This Christmas, our Studio is once again transformed into a wintry wonderland for our younger audiences to enjoy, as the incomparably brilliant Little Bulb Theatre (Orpheus, Operation Greenfield, Crocosmia, The Marvellous and Unlikely Fate of Little Upper Downing) take you on a journey armed with songs, instruments, puppets and plenty of snowy surprises. Age 3-6
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
Little Bulb Theatre
1st Published:
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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
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Genre:
TYA 50 min
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 1 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageCrocosmia
Synopsis:
You go into the attic, you find a box. . . it's full of records. They haven't been played for years. They were once so important but now they're just a bunch of weird faces in bad clothes. You're looking through the names and all the many titles, there's a squeeze in your tummy and music fills your ears. . . Little Bulb Theatre presents an explosion of fast-paced visual storytelling. Follow the Brackenberg siblings and their attempts to make sense of the world through puppetry, singing, romantic slide shows and ingenious bulb experiments, all backed by their parents' vintage record collection. The Battenberg puppetry is a moment not to be missed!
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1st Produced:
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Aug 2008
Organisations:
Little Bulb Theatre
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:
TYA
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageGoose Party
Synopsis:
Treat your sweet senses and dancing legs to the party's sonic antipasti of sassy pseudo-fiesta funk, water story power folk, electronica gender anthems, dirty agro railway blues, plus a bit of the strummy soft stuff for the lovers or the lonely, in a high octane evening of madcap musical wildness, wilderness and general gooseyness as we all endeavour to find out WHO. WE. ARE.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Aug 2011
Organisations:
Little Bulb Theatre
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:
TYA
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageGoose Party
Synopsis:
Treat your sweet senses and dancing legs to the partys sonic antipasti of sassy pseudo-fiesta funk, water story power folk, electronica gender anthems, dirty agro railway blues, plus a bit of the strummy soft stuff for the lovers or the lonely, in a high octane evening of madcap musical wildness, wilderness and general gooseyness as we all endeavour to find out WHO. WE. ARE.
Notes:
The Identity Tour (a search for identity)
1st Produced:
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Organisations:
Little Bulb Theatre
1st Published:
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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:
piece
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageHot Club De Bulb
Synopsis:
Little Bulb continue to explore their fusion of Orpheus in the underworld, with the 1930s Parisian Gypsy Jazz scene. Expect hot club music, cheeky theatrics and a certain mustachioed guitarist. Little Bulb Theatre is an award-winning national touring company based in the South East of England. They are committed to developing devised and physical theatre performances which explore and illuminate minute human details that, in a world so big, are easily swallowed up. Combining innovative character work, beautiful imagery and exciting homemade music, we aspire to create performances that with humour and sadness will touch, startle and entertain.
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
Little Bulb Theatre
1st Published:
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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:
piece
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageMarvellous And Unlikely Fete Of Little Upper Downing, The
Synopsis:
the most important day in the village calendar is almost upon us and the eccentric inhabitants of Little Upper Downing are all in a flutter. there's gossip in the tearoom and a flurry in the florists to say nothing of the deep seated rivalry on the allotments. the village is pulling out all the stops and the fete hasn't even started yet. Join us for a theatrical feast celebrating the unique charms of village life and the people who live there. expect live music, innovative puppetry, vibrant visuals and a vast array of unforgettable characters as they prepare for a big day that's getting increasingly out of control . . .
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
Little Bulb Theatre
1st Published:
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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:
epic folk opera Piece
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageNight That Autumn Turned to Winter, The
Synopsis:
Winter is on its way, and deep within the wild wood animals of all shapes and sizes are busy getting ready. Come and join us for a frenzy of nut gathering and nest building in a magical world full of stories, songs and silliness. Additional woodland creatures are very much invited! This Christmas, Bristol Old Vic's Studio is once again transformed into a wintry wonderland for our younger audiences to enjoy, as the incomparably brilliant Little Bulb Theatre take you on a journey armed with songs, instruments, puppets and plenty of wintry surprises.
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
Little Bulb Theatre
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:
TYA
Parts:
Male: 1 Female: 2 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageOperation Greenfield
Synopsis:
Somewhere in middle england four unlikely teenagers are preparing for judgment day with ladders, Elvis and Forest Fruits squash - Stokely's annual Talent Competition is nigh. With a stage full of instruments and an eclectic mix of recorded music, Little Bulb theatre capture the confusing, awkward and beautifully naive time of adolescence. the time when the once simple beliefs you held dear now need re-adjusting to face the complexities of adulthood. Operation Greenfireld is a bizarre and visually fantastical exploration of faith and friendship.
Notes:
devised by Clare Beresford, Dominic Conway, Eugenie Pastor And Shamira Turner
1st Produced:
Organisations:
devised by Clare Beresford, Dominic Conway, Eugenie Pastor And Shamira Turner
1st Published:
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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:
Piece
Parts:
Male: 2 Female: 3 Other: -
Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume XXXI (2011) Issue 10 Page 520
Top of PageOrpheus
Synopsis:
Prepare to be transported to 1930s Paris where legendary musician, Django Reinhardt, has been cast as the lead in a new production of Orpheus. Your host for the evening is the charismatic songstress Yvette Pepin. With her troupe of operatic players she will perform the thrilling tale of Orpheus's ill-fated descent into the underworld to reclaim his lost love, eurydice. Set to a live score of hot club jazz, opera and French chanson, Orpheus is a musical re-imagining of the epic Greek myth.
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1st Produced:
Organisations:
Little Bulb Theatre
1st Published:
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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:
piece
Parts:
Male: 4 Female: 4 Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageSporadical
Synopsis:
even such a gradiose term as "epic folk opera" - Little Bulb theatre's own description of Sporadical - is too small an umbrElla to cover everything the company pile into this show. It's too restrictive a pigeonhole even to contain the show's full musical gamut, which includes sea shanties, Gothic piano-led laments and beat poetry; yet the musical, too, nestles within a larger frame. the big picture is the 2010 Welles-Ferry family reunion. the audience assumes the role of the extended family, while Little Bulb are the family's youngest generation. This provides the pretext for some exuberant audience interaction - the gently immersive kind, not the threatening kind - and for the meta-musical: the little 'uns are performing the family's origin story as passed down by recently-deceased patriarch Reginald Welles-Ferry.
- Matt Boothman , British theatre Guide
- Matt Boothman , British theatre Guide
Notes:
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1st Produced:
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Aug 2009
Organisations:
Little Bulb Theatre
1st Published:
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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:
epic folk opera Piece
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageSqually Showers
Synopsis:
It's the decade of all or nothing and a magical storm is gathering pace. Told with exciting choreography and bizarre characters, Squally Showers is a fantastical balletic farce of politics and power, loneliness and love. Brought to you by multi-award winning ensemble Little Bulb Theatre on their pre-Edinburgh tour.
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1st Produced:
The Garage, Norwich, Norfolk
11 Jul 2013
Organisations:
Little Bulb Theatre
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:
70 min piece
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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Top of PageWail
Synopsis:
Nuffield presents a dynamic and playful new piece of work-in-progress performance which will take inspiration from cutting-edge scientific research into the song patterns of humpback whales. Award-winning theatre company Little Bulb explore the mysteries and motivations behind both human and animal song in an cabaret-style performance using their trademark multi-instrumentalist approach.
Notes:
Wail was developed in partnership with Nuffield Laboratory, with especial thanks to Prof. Paul White of Southampton University for sharing his whale-y wail-y good knowledge.
1st Produced:
Organisations:
Little Bulb Theatre
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:
piece 60 min
Parts:
Male: - Female: - Other: -
Further Reference:
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