https://nigelandlouise.com Nigel Barrett & Louise Mari Mon, 11 May 2026 07:20:26 +0000 https://nigelandlouise.com en https://nigelandlouise.com/about-us Thu, 12 Sep 2019 16:23:17 +0000 Nigel Barrett & Louise Mari https://nigelandlouise.com/about-us ︎ Nigel &amp; Louise are working class artists ‘Nigel Barrett &amp; Louise Mari are pioneers in the field of live performance. They are truly one of a kind, creating innovative, unique, boundary-pushing work that makes you think, makes you laugh, makes you question, makes you giddy with excitement, makes you see the world through a different lens.Constantly responsive to spaces, participants, history, communities, and new and evolving trends - they create events, they create experiences, they create work that is uncategorisable, unpredictable and unforgettable.’James Pidgeon. Shoreditch Town Hall/Regents Park Open Air Theatre 'I am privileged to experience new works by new artists on a weekly, if not daily, basis and I trust that I have developed the critical faculties to know great work when I see it. I believe that Nigel and Louise are two of the most generous and original artists working in the UK today.'Lois Keidan, Founder of Live Art Development Agency 'Nigel Barrett and Louise Mari are compelling artists at the centre of an important movement that dismisses divisions between visual art, live art and theatre. Their practice is restless and probing, with a wit, intellegence and imagination that makes it sustain'Tim Crouch, writer 'Nigel and Louise have created quite the most distinctive, unique and disturbing projects of any of the artists we've worked with at Forest Fringe. Their work, and their approach to making it, is exhilarating and relentless. Yet in addition to this unique strain of adventurousness, their work remains thoughtful and intelligent, in ways that are accessible yet challenging, immensely fun yet consistently disturbing. They are true originals'Andy Field, Forest Fringe 'Nigel and Louise's work is always bold, always ready to throw itself in front of an excited crowd. Their work is original with a dark humour that is visually arresting but subtle, complex but accessible to curious audiences'Gemma Paintin, Action Hero 'When I encounter Nigel and Louise, I have the invigorating feeling of being caught in a fire of ideas. But it isnʼt just that they are constantly creating; they are doing it with total conviction and dedication and leave you with the impression that there is nothing they set their vision to that they canʼt make happen.'Erin Brubacher artist, director, curator Toronto, Canada Nigel and Louise are my go to artists when I am looking for exciting and ground breaking new work. They can make work from an idea, an artwork, a principle, a visual, from science or technology or indeed from a passing comment. They are consummately professional, passionate and innovative. Top of all my listsTania Harrison, Latitude Festival/Destination City ‘Nigel and Louise are two of my very favourite theatre-makers. They make you fall in love with anarchy.&nbsp; Each piece they make is entirely different, but every show is thoughtful, deeply researched, and utterly surprising.John McGrath, Manchester International Festival Nigel and Louise are unique. They approach each piece of work with a freshness that makes the end result so different it’s sometimes hard to believe they’re made by the same artists. What does unify each production, though, is a commitment to originality and liveness - that thrilling, barely comfortable sense that something could go wrong at any time, but never does.David Lockwood, Bike Shed/Trowbridge Town Hall/The Arts Development Company Nigel and Louise are always thinking outside of all the boxes, these guys strech, expand and utterly confound minds. They make completely original theatre experiences.Ali Pidsley&nbsp; Barrel Organ ‘Nigel and Louise are the subversive godparents of alternative theatre. They have made some of the best, weirdest, most brilliant bonkers shit I’ve seen in ten years of theatregoing.’Megan Vaughan&nbsp; "Synonyms For Churlish" <img src="https://payload.cargocollective.com/1/3/121226/1577354/_XOQvY3Q_400x400_400.jpg" width="400" height="400" style="width: 400px; height: 400px;"> https://nigelandlouise.com/Contact-us Thu, 12 Sep 2019 16:23:18 +0000 Nigel Barrett & Louise Mari https://nigelandlouise.com/Contact-us louise mari 90 new river crescent n135rj07546 375023louise@nigelandlouise.com ︎ nigel barrett 8 kemp house sewardstone road e29rl07976 634724 nigel@nigelandlouise.com ︎ &nbsp; https://nigelandlouise.com/Criticism-Love-8-Performance-in-an-Age-of-Precarity-by-Maddie-Costa Wed, 26 Sep 2018 13:05:57 +0000 Nigel Barrett & Louise Mari https://nigelandlouise.com/Criticism-Love-8-Performance-in-an-Age-of-Precarity-by-Maddie-Costa 1. The story of how much I love Nigel Barrett &amp; Louise Mari begins about thirty years ago in the quiet village about eight miles north of Cambridge where I grew up; ancient cottages and new-build estates, a crossroads, a shop, a pub, a garage. We went to Sunday school in the vicarage and played football on the recreation ground, in the woods by the railway line we shot at pigeons with air rifles and then once or twice a year my parents would take us on a daytrip to London. On the train from Cambridge, London appears gradually from a fog of suburbia, high brick walls tattooed with graffiti and beyond them neat rows of narrow gardens: there is a football stadium, an industrial estate and with a final flourish, the Victorian grandeur of Kings Cross Station where suddenly we were dizzying down escalators towards the howl of tube trains and then to the Christmas decorations on Oxford Street or the street performers in Covent Garden or a birthday visit to the London Dungeon or the HMS Belfast or Madame Tussaud’s; we’d eat McDonalds in Leicester Square and drink in the bright lights through a plastic straw thinking how big it all was and how wondrous, a ravishing phantasmagoria of a city barely concealing beneath its glittering skin all the unnameable amazements that Sunday-night movies had taught us London and adulthood would contain. When years later I moved to London I carried this version of the city with me; a snow globe placed on the windowsill of rented rooms in Tooting and Walthamstow and Bethnal Green where those seductive surfaces no longer appeared like gateways to a hidden world of glamour that simply reaching adulthood would unlock. Now they were just surfaces, like the blinding glare of a Piccadilly Circus Pepsi Ad or the computer-generated image of a gleaming skyscraper on a building-site hoarding, concealing only compromises and inequalities, boring men and their equally boring dreams. London was a city of locked doors. Apart from one door. The door stood in London Bridge Station, it was small and black and if not secret then at least very discrete; no sign, no branding. On the other side of the door was the Shunt Lounge; the one in place in the entire city that seemed to belong more to my childhood idea of London, and of adulthood itself, than the grey reality of the rest of the city. Shunt were, and still sort-of are, a theatre company made up of ten core members and a sprawling community of associates, collaborators and friends. They made shows of feverish energy and extravagant visuality in unlikely venues around London, including the space behind the small black door in London Bridge station. I never saw those shows though; I didn’t move to London until 2006, by which point they were over and the space behind the door was called the Shunt Lounge. The Lounge was not a show exactly, but neither was it a venue or a bar; you could instead perhaps describe it as an immersive light and sound installation, a cavernous art-machine smelling of railway-arch damp and looking like the mines of Moria if the Dwarves had all been really into techno; a vast subterranean labyrinth filled with lights and noise and people, carrying in its huge crocodile jaw an ever-changing line-up of performances, encounters, interventions, live bands, DJs and numerous other uncategorizable goings-on. There was a giant zip-line at one point, I think, and a temporary lake with its own rowing boat and a caravan and a forest of antique pinball machines. Then unexpectedly in its quieter corners you would find smaller, more delicate things; intimate shows in dusty rooms for a handful of people. Mischa Twitchin’s hands moving very slowly for half an hour in near total darkness; Simon Kane covered in rice pudding and carrying a giant dead fish, leading us out into the late-night emptiness of London Bridge station. What I am trying to say is that the Shunt Lounge was audacious, perhaps the most audacious place I have ever been; a defiantly unsustainable, borderline uncontrollable theatre-grotto of wild fantasies and improbable spectacle built by a group of people just about holding it all together, and doing it for us, for anyone, for the people who came and paid £5 or whatever preposterously negligible price the entry fee was. In its warm bear-hug of an embrace, its cavernous depths, its unconcealed workers and workings, its invitation, implicit or otherwise, to be a part of it all whoever you might be, it was the literal opposite of the opaque surfaces I saw everywhere else around me. And if you stood in the middle of the packed bar on the right night, you could look up and see Nigel Barrett, his face obscured by thick wet mud, his naked arse silhouetted by the blinding white lights, staring down at all of us; a maniacal manifestation of everything weird and grandiose and right about this delirious fever dream of a place. 2. In my mind and in my heart, Nigel and Louise remain the living embodiment of the Shunt Lounge; its apostles, its torch-bearers, its designated mourners. Which is not to minimise the importance of other Shunt artists like Gemma Brockis, Hannah Ringham and David Rosenberg, who share its spirit in other ways and whose work I also continue to love. But there is something of the raggedy, subterranean spirit of the lounge that finds its ultimate expression in Nigel and Louise and the wilfully idiosyncratic, endlessly unpredictable, fearlessly audacious work they continue to make. It is I think the audaciousness more than anything, and as has already been established I am a sucker for it, for those moments of swaggering wonder that go off like a firework or a hand grenade, dazzling you initially and then burnt into your memory, recounted to friends and colleagues, recalled even years later with a half-smile and a shake of the head – the audacity of it, the staggering chutzpah, the forest of real pine trees planted in a Wapping warehouse, the choir hidden in silence and darkness for over an hour for one minute of ecstatic harmony, the moment all the walls fall down, the moment the doors open and the light comes in, all these moments that make me feel like a child again, staring upwards in bewildered exhilaration at the world and all its infinite possibilities. I will forgive almost anything for a moment of theatre like this. Such audaciousness is not simply about scale and spectacle. There is little risk in filling the stage with bodies and dazzling with light and sound when the size of both the stage and your budget make such actions unremarkably feasible, if not entirely expected; there is no hint of impudence or nerve in fulfilling the basic expectations of such a context. Perhaps in such circumstances, the audacious thing to do is almost nothing; Jerome Bel giving the whole of the stage of the Paris Opera to a soon-to-be-retired dancer from the corps de ballet to tell us the story of her life and career in thirty quiet minutes. For me audaciousness comes from fracturing the perceived limits of a given situation, stubbornly refusing to recognise the constraints or the expectations you are operating under. There are few artists I know as stubbornly audacious as Nigel and Louise, as committed to the great gesture, to images of bewildering grandeur in tiny studio theatres, to conceits of painful complexity on the tightest of rehearsal schedules, to ideas of sweet impossibility. They are willing to experiment when no one wants them to, to genuinely embrace the possibility of failure in pursuit of something amazing, something that will amaze you; willing to believe that performances of limitless scope can made not just as we expect by grand companies on vast European stages but by two probably-drunk idiot-mystics who have seemingly no notion of what they should realistically be able to achieve on the budget they have and in the time frame they have promised. Nigel and Louise are concerned with what is possible, or perhaps with the limits of possibility. They are mechanics, lunatic clockmakers, forever building theatre machines of fiendish complexity and intricate beauty, things ornate and spectacular with all their many parts on show. In Party Skills For the End of The World, for example, where the labyrinthine basement of Shoreditch Town Hall became a literal workshop in which we could learn to pick locks, throw knives, start fires and make crossbows, or at their The Festival of Adventures, where primary school children were whisked through a secret door behind the teacher’s back, to enter an elaborate world of hidden experiences taking place in the normally forbidden parts of the building. Like the Shunt Lounge itself, theirs are shows we are invited to step inside of, either literally or figuratively, ballets of moving parts, magic tricks performed inside out. In The Body the audience were wired up to heart-rate monitors and their own internal mechanics formed the soundtrack of a show in which a cavalcade of other mechanical bodies swept across the small stage in a seemingly infinite collage of micro-scenes, each only a few seconds’ long but almost all of them staggering beautiful – a mechanical doll swimming endlessly in a tank of water; a microscopic camera reducing Nigel to a collage of colours projected on to the wall behind him; a doll sitting on a mound of sand whilst seaside holidays flicker in the background; the back wall of the theatre pulled away to reveal a vast warehouse full of dolls, at least three times the size of the entire room the rest of the show happened in, and in the centre of it a violinist playing, almost lost in this sea of artificial bodies. I will probably remember forever that moment when the doors opened and the world expanded; its audaciousness, its ridiculousness, all these hundreds of tiny figures arranged backstage in a matter of minutes for a moment lasting mere seconds. It was not only beautiful, not only completely improbable, it was filled with an uninhibited, uncontrollable love of theatre and its myriad possibilities; their love definitely but also ours. Uncovering, unfolding, lovingly teasing things apart and putting them together again to see how they work, Nigel and Louise are the people I hoped I’d one day meet, inviting me behind the hidden doors of my childhood to see the things I always knew such doors concealed; all the violence and sex and laughter and chaos and adventure of the London I wanted to believe in, of adulthood I hoped I might live. Performance in An Age of Precarity - 40 reflections by Maddie Costa &amp; Andy Field is published by Metheun Drama https://nigelandlouise.com/POCKET-MONEY Mon, 11 May 2026 07:20:26 +0000 Nigel Barrett & Louise Mari https://nigelandlouise.com/POCKET-MONEY UNICORN THEATRE <img width="562" height="356" width_o="562" height_o="356" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e973879ee210ef14114c2a06b5043346df334131f558b0ec97f930ec0111f57d/Pocket-money_Web_770x460px_V03_bd6972d61eb1009bded0659566c5f859.jpg" data-mid="248183989" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/562/i/e973879ee210ef14114c2a06b5043346df334131f558b0ec97f930ec0111f57d/Pocket-money_Web_770x460px_V03_bd6972d61eb1009bded0659566c5f859.jpg" />Sat 26 Sep –&nbsp;Sun 1 Nov Weston Theatre Choose! Choose! Choose! Choose! Choose! Choose! Choose!&nbsp; POCKET MONEY is a wild ride into the world of finance where children make the decisions.Featuring big ideas, an interactive voting system and a live DJ set, this world premiere for 7 to 11-year-olds explores financial literacy in the digital age, empowering children to think critically about money, their choices and their future.Created&nbsp; in consultation with the Unicorn’s young Creative Associates, local schools, a clown, a cutting-edge DJ and a team of financial experts.BUY TICKETS Pocket Money is generously supported by the Aberdeen Group Charitable Trust and the Bank of England. With special thanks to Charles Holloway OBE, Weston Theatre Season Partner. Developed in consultation with an Advisory Group of financial experts, led by Nizam Uddin OBE (Executive Consultant). https://nigelandlouise.com/DOG-BALLET-AND-MINI-GOLF-1 Sun, 13 Jul 2025 13:30:45 +0000 Nigel Barrett & Louise Mari https://nigelandlouise.com/DOG-BALLET-AND-MINI-GOLF-1 with Amy Pitt Lewis Gibson &amp; AK/DK DOG BALLET &amp; MINIGOLF&nbsp;&nbsp; Dog Ballet &amp; Mini Golf is a performance installation that celebrates dogs’ abilty to bring communities together and the joy and tenderness that can be found in these relationships of mutual care. Nigel &amp; Louise interview local dog walkers about their dogs, their lives and the place they live. They weave these voices into a sound work that is set to original music by a local virtuoso musician or band - transforming the everyday into something beautiful and profound. This sound work is then launched at an all-day listening party in a local park, beach or open space featuring a 10 hole mini golf course designed for dogs and their owners to play together. At the end of the day, as the sun goes down, the course illuminates and there is a live concert to accompany the dogs as they play with light up balls - creating a freeform ballet of light and abstract movement. The event ends with a parade of dogs wearing light up collars, chasing balls into the darkness - in a celebration of place, people and community. The sound work to watch dogs by, continues to be free for you to listen to at your own park or beach - transforming the everyday act of dog walking into something poetic and unexpectledly moving. SOUND WORKS :&nbsp; DOGS OF LONDON&nbsp; DOGS OF HASTINGS <img width="2200" height="1467" width_o="2200" height_o="1467" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/43f204b5fbe60d2b245d49acb6b145a5c3170a040061cb8fb68c342dc6f43dea/210903_dog_ballet_081.jpg" data-mid="235750198" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/43f204b5fbe60d2b245d49acb6b145a5c3170a040061cb8fb68c342dc6f43dea/210903_dog_ballet_081.jpg" /><img width="2200" height="1467" width_o="2200" height_o="1467" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bc204c8ce5169c6efc21715317c2aaf179f87324e3364f07b3798999d8618fdb/210903_dog_ballet_104.jpg" data-mid="235750200" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bc204c8ce5169c6efc21715317c2aaf179f87324e3364f07b3798999d8618fdb/210903_dog_ballet_104.jpg" /><img width="2200" height="1467" width_o="2200" height_o="1467" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/27cc690bdb38a18d154dac9faa920c182219fe46412c6c6c9a2a07f5c340060d/210903_dog_ballet_147.jpg" data-mid="235750201" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/27cc690bdb38a18d154dac9faa920c182219fe46412c6c6c9a2a07f5c340060d/210903_dog_ballet_147.jpg" /> <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/503ae8c7c6f905bcf0b8ad85801bae7740ad309943ecc0000944a72e3398a8b4/0E3771FD-43C1-486D-AEB0-504BFD73A6CC_1_102_o.jpeg" data-mid="235750216" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/503ae8c7c6f905bcf0b8ad85801bae7740ad309943ecc0000944a72e3398a8b4/0E3771FD-43C1-486D-AEB0-504BFD73A6CC_1_102_o.jpeg" /> <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a86501319a10d1e200ed2aceef702794afaa94e9efaec470487c95ca20a33676/IMG_8008.jpeg" data-mid="235750206" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a86501319a10d1e200ed2aceef702794afaa94e9efaec470487c95ca20a33676/IMG_8008.jpeg" /><img width="3756" height="2509" width_o="3756" height_o="2509" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/27c57cc02e1cf8e70e3e37cca0947e5240465a42b637055c2d17169c82634dc4/DSC00381.jpg" data-mid="235750205" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/27c57cc02e1cf8e70e3e37cca0947e5240465a42b637055c2d17169c82634dc4/DSC00381.jpg" /><img width="3509" height="2480" width_o="3509" height_o="2480" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/353e5c5c8c789c4a22312e95eb1bd9fba7fcd465532fc905e639f243c74c1d52/dog-ballet-hastings-11.jpg" data-mid="235750236" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/353e5c5c8c789c4a22312e95eb1bd9fba7fcd465532fc905e639f243c74c1d52/dog-ballet-hastings-11.jpg" /><img width="4813" height="6000" width_o="4813" height_o="6000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e1c6ad4da147dfcffd1a3805ff6a89e8e68d36e51896a7e2c73a32370f8815eb/dog-ballet-hastings-22.jpg" data-mid="235750243" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e1c6ad4da147dfcffd1a3805ff6a89e8e68d36e51896a7e2c73a32370f8815eb/dog-ballet-hastings-22.jpg" /><img width="3508" height="2480" width_o="3508" height_o="2480" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/733910d33046dfea4a9b3e56b9d5ebc8ffd848a97ea55419ab490e26e76f6844/dog-ballet-hastings-13.jpg" data-mid="235750237" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/733910d33046dfea4a9b3e56b9d5ebc8ffd848a97ea55419ab490e26e76f6844/dog-ballet-hastings-13.jpg" /><img width="3849" height="4800" width_o="3849" height_o="4800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1aaf7a48d8a4c69def4eae443ff2362256dd7c0c73887a0dc0da37e2a45aaa90/dog-ballet-hastings-20.jpg" data-mid="235750241" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1aaf7a48d8a4c69def4eae443ff2362256dd7c0c73887a0dc0da37e2a45aaa90/dog-ballet-hastings-20.jpg" /><img width="4960" height="3508" width_o="4960" height_o="3508" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/75629a2fea964715b3d42896ca2b3d3dc772c08d10eb7d2d756aa46dcfe4a885/dog-ballet-hastings-3.jpg" data-mid="235750231" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/75629a2fea964715b3d42896ca2b3d3dc772c08d10eb7d2d756aa46dcfe4a885/dog-ballet-hastings-3.jpg" /><img width="4964" height="3508" width_o="4964" height_o="3508" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/05ce1a548c0d4cd0cf7ac2cd808530d029bba10e88af58eefc84bb2df5a8fe09/dog-ballet-hastings-2.jpg" data-mid="235750229" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/05ce1a548c0d4cd0cf7ac2cd808530d029bba10e88af58eefc84bb2df5a8fe09/dog-ballet-hastings-2.jpg" /><img width="4961" height="3513" width_o="4961" height_o="3513" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/82cb5a6a29d6171243b8a69d7ba0fb7960f0916f7db53b08c1a161cbdbce7756/dog-ballet-hastings-19.jpg" data-mid="235750240" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/82cb5a6a29d6171243b8a69d7ba0fb7960f0916f7db53b08c1a161cbdbce7756/dog-ballet-hastings-19.jpg" /><img width="3331" height="2225" width_o="3331" height_o="2225" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/78017230eff8adcf7caa112830b36d8d859ee0fcbe072aa3fb0eee1735476399/DSC00356.jpg" data-mid="235750204" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/78017230eff8adcf7caa112830b36d8d859ee0fcbe072aa3fb0eee1735476399/DSC00356.jpg" /><img width="4963" height="3508" width_o="4963" height_o="3508" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e70215b54bf2ce8b56961b51df9f9d90088dae2344eb4b87f5670aeab4628559/dog-ballet-hastings-.jpg" data-mid="235750230" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e70215b54bf2ce8b56961b51df9f9d90088dae2344eb4b87f5670aeab4628559/dog-ballet-hastings-.jpg" /><img width="3588" height="2397" width_o="3588" height_o="2397" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9b8349c0b062c2193954adf02ad5599fc1e47bf39895fc04c4cbd5536b194ddc/DSC00344.jpg" data-mid="235750203" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9b8349c0b062c2193954adf02ad5599fc1e47bf39895fc04c4cbd5536b194ddc/DSC00344.jpg" /><img width="3899" height="2604" width_o="3899" height_o="2604" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7d7945e0c7a5e2c81f38646753e3b85da9873f20d2ca30f298b09d1e50053f0f/DSC00119.jpg" data-mid="235750202" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7d7945e0c7a5e2c81f38646753e3b85da9873f20d2ca30f298b09d1e50053f0f/DSC00119.jpg" /><img width="3505" height="2480" width_o="3505" height_o="2480" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a7cac89fc8027ded5a133221471be3fd868ab72655e87d76ddb705ce6c6c8460/dog-ballet-hastings-29.jpg" data-mid="235750248" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a7cac89fc8027ded5a133221471be3fd868ab72655e87d76ddb705ce6c6c8460/dog-ballet-hastings-29.jpg" /><img width="4959" height="3508" width_o="4959" height_o="3508" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ae3923e9b19649ac06ccd29bc6bdf16d71d9e58d4053573bf97fb4c692b14f46/dog-ballet-hastings-23.jpg" data-mid="235750244" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ae3923e9b19649ac06ccd29bc6bdf16d71d9e58d4053573bf97fb4c692b14f46/dog-ballet-hastings-23.jpg" /><img width="3509" height="2480" width_o="3509" height_o="2480" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9e742df36b299e95fd221f11e414bf42655d2ffe1bfb3fc0cd10d1f59eea681e/dog-ballet-hastings-28.jpg" data-mid="235750247" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9e742df36b299e95fd221f11e414bf42655d2ffe1bfb3fc0cd10d1f59eea681e/dog-ballet-hastings-28.jpg" /><img width="2806" height="3969" width_o="2806" height_o="3969" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/45473f0ae87781b9f0dbb3f602c5de32adc55286840903ba28f96384dd0326c3/dog-ballet-hastings-30.jpg" data-mid="235750249" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/45473f0ae87781b9f0dbb3f602c5de32adc55286840903ba28f96384dd0326c3/dog-ballet-hastings-30.jpg" /><img width="2479" height="3508" width_o="2479" height_o="3508" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/29131c4e5015157992d7cf3c74ee9e29302a6cfecb79ab899b4249d9aed58c90/dog-ballet-hastings-25.jpg" data-mid="235750245" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/29131c4e5015157992d7cf3c74ee9e29302a6cfecb79ab899b4249d9aed58c90/dog-ballet-hastings-25.jpg" /><img width="3508" height="2486" width_o="3508" height_o="2486" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/82355aa084dc4a449c2433de735c6edded32d2ce6d303e987a0d0ad32b17f78c/dog-ballet-hastings-31.jpg" data-mid="235750250" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/82355aa084dc4a449c2433de735c6edded32d2ce6d303e987a0d0ad32b17f78c/dog-ballet-hastings-31.jpg" /> <img width="1086" height="724" width_o="1086" height_o="724" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/deef180d0fc3eb65bf8ed03dfb3c54990b94c1d797440f0cdf47a856a3760b39/17834CF6-B56B-4B68-8482-A3D80393D336_1_105_c.jpeg" data-mid="235750194" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/deef180d0fc3eb65bf8ed03dfb3c54990b94c1d797440f0cdf47a856a3760b39/17834CF6-B56B-4B68-8482-A3D80393D336_1_105_c.jpeg" /><img width="366" height="489" width_o="366" height_o="489" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c3c5b8425c590b7953bbe2dea7dc4f902aad9bbe7ca6b384d9ade7aa45b1af44/Screenshot-2022-04-07-at-15.20.44.png" data-mid="235750213" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/366/i/c3c5b8425c590b7953bbe2dea7dc4f902aad9bbe7ca6b384d9ade7aa45b1af44/Screenshot-2022-04-07-at-15.20.44.png" /><img width="897" height="661" width_o="897" height_o="661" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/05143ecf51ebab9865acd15afce6feed33c72db7a7837cf741b21ed8046f6e7f/Screenshot-2022-04-07-at-15.18.06.png" data-mid="235750210" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/897/i/05143ecf51ebab9865acd15afce6feed33c72db7a7837cf741b21ed8046f6e7f/Screenshot-2022-04-07-at-15.18.06.png" /><img width="4962" height="3508" width_o="4962" height_o="3508" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/288c54d6a179b61cd6c4a3d715241bdadf75ef6983b4b67085d10c76e4007b2c/dog-ballet-hastings-35.jpg" data-mid="235750251" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/288c54d6a179b61cd6c4a3d715241bdadf75ef6983b4b67085d10c76e4007b2c/dog-ballet-hastings-35.jpg" /><img width="1086" height="724" width_o="1086" height_o="724" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ab03841e10d6ef0ea3047106e8ddb99c21272023e23aab1d415aa03254a2a8f5/526B6310-3FC1-4679-A58A-32775919DC9C_1_105_c.jpeg" data-mid="235750191" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ab03841e10d6ef0ea3047106e8ddb99c21272023e23aab1d415aa03254a2a8f5/526B6310-3FC1-4679-A58A-32775919DC9C_1_105_c.jpeg" /><img width="1086" height="724" width_o="1086" height_o="724" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ed824d1f39e2926455c97209f5993c8c35bd55c1a5b2f2752d8afd83d76338e/69009B26-71E6-4FB5-9116-4A0D6B789786_1_105_c.jpeg" data-mid="235750189" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2ed824d1f39e2926455c97209f5993c8c35bd55c1a5b2f2752d8afd83d76338e/69009B26-71E6-4FB5-9116-4A0D6B789786_1_105_c.jpeg" /> <img width="1179" height="536" width_o="1179" height_o="536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e299fb225239a7be9d6c8982c0357b68b3375bbef986aeabdd7354aa9991e485/dachsund-mini-golf.png" data-mid="235750255" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e299fb225239a7be9d6c8982c0357b68b3375bbef986aeabdd7354aa9991e485/dachsund-mini-golf.png" /><img width="1048" height="622" width_o="1048" height_o="622" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/81398200f869613ee0d043bbefb71c42d9eb1e5c5ebf30dd606889a039f24403/Screenshot-2022-04-07-at-15.18.50.png" data-mid="235750212" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/81398200f869613ee0d043bbefb71c42d9eb1e5c5ebf30dd606889a039f24403/Screenshot-2022-04-07-at-15.18.50.png" /> <img width="3742" height="1183" width_o="3742" height_o="1183" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bb2164db3629b774ec306c624d9a4e6b8ed5c84b4afe3e3e52744d9a97c56c8e/grand_jpeg_white.jpg" data-mid="235750254" border="0" data-scale="33" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bb2164db3629b774ec306c624d9a4e6b8ed5c84b4afe3e3e52744d9a97c56c8e/grand_jpeg_white.jpg" /> DOG BALLET &amp; MINI GOLF Supported in London by LIFT, Artsadmin, Art, Climate, Transition through the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, Arts Council England, Here For Culture and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Supported in St Leonards and Hastings as part of the Knotty Festival by Home Live Art, Live Art UK, Arts Council England and Good Stuff in St Leonards https://nigelandlouise.com/KIDSTOWN Tue, 21 May 2019 22:57:55 +0000 Nigel Barrett & Louise Mari https://nigelandlouise.com/KIDSTOWN With AMY PITT and Mirain Fflur KIDSTOWNA performance installation for children to play inside and adults to listen to from the outside. <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bbdc5e3f529d994e96b4a3d53786d03f0f90a656b94ce590c1d8e36178a71595/F3xCnV1XsAAdrKr.jpg" data-mid="247608257" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bbdc5e3f529d994e96b4a3d53786d03f0f90a656b94ce590c1d8e36178a71595/F3xCnV1XsAAdrKr.jpg" /> Artists Nigel &amp; Louise: “We wanted to make something for children that thinks about theatre and storytelling in a different way. Something that children could create without us dictating the parameters of what the outcome might be. So we made a live performance, a story, an installation, a game called Kidstown - where children can do and make whatever they want, have fun and play with other children, without any rules. Here they are, in fact, creating the story live, totally uninhibited by the pressures of making a performance or adults telling them what’s right and wrong. A different narrative evolves over the course of each day, for the children inside the walls to enjoy and for the adults listening outside to imagine, as a by-product of their play. As theatre makers we are handing over the arena to the children, then our job will be to listen and ask questions while their imaginations get to work.” <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2324de520bf9611cb025ea87d8888b24f616d1a661444ece9d078e4f3b8dfbbc/CA73AB1A-23E6-4D04-B1D5-19E076A8C33D_1_102_o.jpeg" data-mid="247607879" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2324de520bf9611cb025ea87d8888b24f616d1a661444ece9d078e4f3b8dfbbc/CA73AB1A-23E6-4D04-B1D5-19E076A8C33D_1_102_o.jpeg" /> The Story of KidstownLorne Campbell - Artistic Director of NTW : Roll back to 2021. We were all feeling our way back to life after the shock of lockdown and for many children it was a terrifying time of confusion and readjustment. Many were overwhelmed and unprepared to step back outside again.<img width="1280" height="853" width_o="1280" height_o="853" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2f954467764cf1fbbd2428c70a2b6e0846672e10ec9b57de515df5e427962700/KIDSTOWN-NTW-AUGUST-21ST-PICTURES-PAUL-BLAKEMORE-14.jpeg" data-mid="247608230" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2f954467764cf1fbbd2428c70a2b6e0846672e10ec9b57de515df5e427962700/KIDSTOWN-NTW-AUGUST-21ST-PICTURES-PAUL-BLAKEMORE-14.jpeg" /> We talked about this with Nigel Barrett and Louise Mari, two artists who are never short of ideas. We spoke about the significance of kids experiencing something that grown-ups couldn’t give them a map for - all new, unknown, sometimes scary, sometimes just really, really boring. <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1e3e36fd71f317c10ed3ff7c2b03aa318bd41012fabe908816b31f34b1280f86/B7E0D444-6FB9-428F-B0C8-BA89ACAAFC20_1_102_o.jpeg" data-mid="247607877" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1e3e36fd71f317c10ed3ff7c2b03aa318bd41012fabe908816b31f34b1280f86/B7E0D444-6FB9-428F-B0C8-BA89ACAAFC20_1_102_o.jpeg" /> There’s something about Nigel and Louise and their work; they radiate warmth and weirdness and indulge us in the beauty and madness of the world. They remind us that there’s a child in all of us. <img width="1024" height="768" width_o="1024" height_o="768" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1037007bae7aedb26153ea9e4eb73e8acee89c45127984affc131935535ad4c8/0A276BD7-F061-4570-B958-17BEC76CB833_1_105_c.jpeg" data-mid="247607881" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1037007bae7aedb26153ea9e4eb73e8acee89c45127984affc131935535ad4c8/0A276BD7-F061-4570-B958-17BEC76CB833_1_105_c.jpeg" /> Their idea was to create an experience that could revive a sense of freedom and joy in our kids. Empowering them to make sense of their environment by making and building - through imaginative, chaotic and uninhibited play. Where grown-ups weren’t allowed and children set the rules. And children could be together again, not watched over every second of the day. <img width="1200" height="877" width_o="1200" height_o="877" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5b629bde907c929fe0f3684271dd5cec092c68f619b3957cc829b8a509ec1f9f/F3wuiMUWIAAuMFg.jpg" data-mid="247608324" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5b629bde907c929fe0f3684271dd5cec092c68f619b3957cc829b8a509ec1f9f/F3wuiMUWIAAuMFg.jpg" />We put a lot on this generation of kids - we’re hoping they’ll be the ones who can think and do things differently. To get us out of the mess we’ve created.Play will be the thing that lays down the foundations for our next generation of inventors, innovators and creators. And theatre can do its bit in this. It’s what theatre is, isn’t it - play and storytelling?<img width="1200" height="800" width_o="1200" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c331783ba8a60660f66843e3035bd83555040d1d861c81752296be32482402d2/F3w_jqHXUAEvFzo.jpg" data-mid="247608534" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c331783ba8a60660f66843e3035bd83555040d1d861c81752296be32482402d2/F3w_jqHXUAEvFzo.jpg" /> That's what inspires us about Kidstown. We’re not a society known for our ability to listen and learn from our children. But maybe that’s a change we need to start to see. Give them a chance to show us what's possible and see what happens… <img width="1200" height="800" width_o="1200" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3ca3140a11ced3bb8d0ebca3b2875880cc43d995a7ab9d6fafb8e84044661325/F3w243WW0AAbHzg.jpg" data-mid="247608532" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3ca3140a11ced3bb8d0ebca3b2875880cc43d995a7ab9d6fafb8e84044661325/F3w243WW0AAbHzg.jpg" />We got to know the people of Newtown and asked for their help making this magical playground for children where there are no rules and no adults call the shots. We piled up cardboard, fabric, paint, clothes, broken machinery, anything we could lay our hands on ... and let the kids of Newtown put their imaginations to work and tested the idea, with their feedback showing us the way forward. <img width="1024" height="768" width_o="1024" height_o="768" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3b4cfb387ed8518c56d94a0463a18eddcf7dfeee89f8e6862d700dd0864c37d2/F3xAi6OXcAIgaqp.jpg" data-mid="247608288" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3b4cfb387ed8518c56d94a0463a18eddcf7dfeee89f8e6862d700dd0864c37d2/F3xAi6OXcAIgaqp.jpg" /> Castles were built. Shops opened. Mayoral elections were rudely interrupted by escaped tigers. Grown-ups flicked through copies of National Geographic listening intently from the outside to the stories unfolding inside. All the while, Nigel and Louise asked questions and listened to what the kids had to say. This was just the beginning of Kidstown.&nbsp; <img width="4096" height="2731" width_o="4096" height_o="2731" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/cbb447a7c077707046f7880b28e4bf1755294853ea36a7b0dc05ce25a75600b8/F3wnFdFW4AEu2aa.jpg" data-mid="247608325" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/cbb447a7c077707046f7880b28e4bf1755294853ea36a7b0dc05ce25a75600b8/F3wnFdFW4AEu2aa.jpg" />The following summer Kidstown came back to Newtown in an epic manifestaion of everything we had talked about and worked on with the kids. It suddenly appeared on the Llyn Peninsula for the National Eisteddfod and and finally popped up in a football field in Ebbw Vale. <img width="1200" height="800" width_o="1200" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2b98f0c91d59142ba6bc08c3cbdafed79ba0404784de7692dbdd9063cfc180dc/F3w96CFXAAAkaOC.jpg" data-mid="247608529" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2b98f0c91d59142ba6bc08c3cbdafed79ba0404784de7692dbdd9063cfc180dc/F3w96CFXAAAkaOC.jpg" /> Children aged 6-11 years old were invited to get a passport to enter Kidstown and play a massive game that they make up themselves. There were no rules. Most stayed all day.&nbsp; And then returned the next day with more friends. Stories unfolded over the week. Children took home what they’d made and carried it back day after day. Noone wanted to leave Kidstown. <img width="1200" height="800" width_o="1200" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/677732a20b9b0792f6666b80c6c3a15b5154d9d030eb4eef6a946bf3e6c22572/F3w-gZVWsAESFBQ.jpg" data-mid="247608292" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/677732a20b9b0792f6666b80c6c3a15b5154d9d030eb4eef6a946bf3e6c22572/F3w-gZVWsAESFBQ.jpg" />Through the joy of unadulterated play and the power of storytelling&nbsp;Kidstown offered children a space to imagine the world they want to live in and shape a better future for all of us. It’s time for us, as grown-ups, to listen.<img width="1512" height="2016" width_o="1512" height_o="2016" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/26563517c8223a17c1eb626c319611f053a140dcd4c273c1439976c858f90f08/F28llZPXYAAUhI2.jpg" data-mid="247608350" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/26563517c8223a17c1eb626c319611f053a140dcd4c273c1439976c858f90f08/F28llZPXYAAUhI2.jpg" /> Not only is Kidstown playful and transgressive, it’s also about spotlighting voices more than often unheard on stages across the UK - those of our children. All of NTWs’ work is focused on delivering the goals of the Well-being of Future Generations Act, but Kidstown truly puts our future generations front and centre. <img width="675" height="900" width_o="675" height_o="900" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7a321f8377f06854da2489537c6b0353fb50c2a57804b0c572502d2b073583f1/F3wwntmWgAAFzHX.jpg" data-mid="247608628" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/675/i/7a321f8377f06854da2489537c6b0353fb50c2a57804b0c572502d2b073583f1/F3wwntmWgAAFzHX.jpg" /> We’re taking a genuinely collaborative approach to this project, listening deeply to children as they experience Kidstown and building a massive bank of their stories, observations, concerns, hopes and dreams to create a radical theatre production in 2024 - A Requiem for our children and their futures. <img width="2016" height="1512" width_o="2016" height_o="1512" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e71dcae8a066cc269abad44fc824697370bfdd98bcff0b4af24b204685926eed/F28lkMWXwAAxGrd.jpg" data-mid="247608332" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e71dcae8a066cc269abad44fc824697370bfdd98bcff0b4af24b204685926eed/F28lkMWXwAAxGrd.jpg" /> <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f7a348101f331d6fbcb3e6afae5dc2633cefc596d5967c470274ba1a0bdccd6b/2D17C759-4101-444B-B730-9DE8D4D40B88_1_102_o.jpeg" data-mid="247607633" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f7a348101f331d6fbcb3e6afae5dc2633cefc596d5967c470274ba1a0bdccd6b/2D17C759-4101-444B-B730-9DE8D4D40B88_1_102_o.jpeg" /> https://nigelandlouise.com/Elvis-Hamlet-1 Wed, 17 Apr 2013 01:00:06 +0000 Nigel Barrett & Louise Mari https://nigelandlouise.com/Elvis-Hamlet-1 ELVIS/HAMLETwork in progress Shoreditch Town Hall Jan 2020 A High speed collision between Shakespeare &amp; Tribute Acts ‘68 Special Elvis/Hamlet - Chris Brett Bailey &nbsp; G.I. Elvis/Laertes - Nicki Hobday Vegas Elvis/Claudius - Nigel Barrett Pricilla/Gertrude - Clare Beresford Young Pricilla/Ophelia - Gabrielle Brooks The Colonal/Polonius - Greg Wohead The Player King - Pete Storm Design - Ginger Johnson Sound Design - Eleanor Isherwood Lighting and Projection - Sarah Readman Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. https://nigelandlouise.com/The-Body Mon, 07 Dec 2015 18:24:48 +0000 Nigel Barrett & Louise Mari https://nigelandlouise.com/The-Body THE BODY WINNER OF THE OXFORD SAMUEL BECKETT THEATRE TRUST AWARD 2015 The Pit. Barbican Theatre. In 2015 we built a curious structure within the walls of the Pit theatre. 16 audience members entered this structure and attached themsleves to heart rate monitors. Their seats were fitted with movement sensors. From this point on the audiences body data drove the sound and light for the show and brought the structure to life. Each audience member was lovingly handed a reborn doll - a realistic synthetic baby. The doll slowly warmed up in their arms and their hearts started to beat in time with their own. What unfolded before them over the next hour was like the turning of the pages of a book about the human body. Played out by two performers and a cast of dolls : dolls who could talk, walk, sing, swim, dance and ride mopeds.&nbsp; <img width="1200" height="800" width_o="1200" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3ff8e82d3dfd588d32f445ea1790172a0f62d047c1982eafb82c2ffc5359c182/RWD15_The-Body_074.jpg" data-mid="50382325" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3ff8e82d3dfd588d32f445ea1790172a0f62d047c1982eafb82c2ffc5359c182/RWD15_The-Body_074.jpg" /> <img width="1200" height="800" width_o="1200" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/467b50e4117842c3d8ae3fd1dbfc37d77ca39d6f0d580626659bf91fd76a3a81/RWD15_The-Body_100.jpg" data-mid="50382328" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/467b50e4117842c3d8ae3fd1dbfc37d77ca39d6f0d580626659bf91fd76a3a81/RWD15_The-Body_100.jpg" /> <img width="1200" height="800" width_o="1200" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/75c203eab0dda19e395b752f1d95825295fa772bd581888c98fa68249cd7f3d0/RWD15_The-Body_095.jpg" data-mid="50382326" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/75c203eab0dda19e395b752f1d95825295fa772bd581888c98fa68249cd7f3d0/RWD15_The-Body_095.jpg" /> <img width="800" height="1200" width_o="800" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/04e6841a538e597625da56d246b02234e080bb4dc6645f23ed9519cee1d4aa51/RWD15_The-Body_151.jpg" data-mid="50382331" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/04e6841a538e597625da56d246b02234e080bb4dc6645f23ed9519cee1d4aa51/RWD15_The-Body_151.jpg" /> <img width="3898" height="2598" width_o="3898" height_o="2598" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/210542788496c5a72d70af2f2912ff49c978563293e9f648b67c2d6ada37bcd1/THE_BODY_21_01_12_154.jpeg" data-mid="133444402" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/210542788496c5a72d70af2f2912ff49c978563293e9f648b67c2d6ada37bcd1/THE_BODY_21_01_12_154.jpeg" /> <img width="800" height="1200" width_o="800" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/40c59d7079783bb15f7df807fb232fe05b908575171df019195785d4a495e3c0/RWD15_The-Body_022.jpg" data-mid="50382319" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/40c59d7079783bb15f7df807fb232fe05b908575171df019195785d4a495e3c0/RWD15_The-Body_022.jpg" /> <img width="2598" height="3898" width_o="2598" height_o="3898" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e24c7c7171d77cca371cb412a424cec533670db9a688e2bb12f0dcc6afceee7f/THE_BODY_21_01_12_243.jpeg" data-mid="133443751" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e24c7c7171d77cca371cb412a424cec533670db9a688e2bb12f0dcc6afceee7f/THE_BODY_21_01_12_243.jpeg" /> <img width="1200" height="800" width_o="1200" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c46da11968140a3f78595818bfc003fc07dbea5518a9931807418c840a23a42e/RWD15_The-Body_056.jpg" data-mid="50382324" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c46da11968140a3f78595818bfc003fc07dbea5518a9931807418c840a23a42e/RWD15_The-Body_056.jpg" /> <img width="800" height="1200" width_o="800" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5de1eb5712748e13c46a2cd862196131bcd23e6d219d5ca8c92c6ba5ce76ff14/RWD15_The-Body_128.jpg" data-mid="50382329" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/800/i/5de1eb5712748e13c46a2cd862196131bcd23e6d219d5ca8c92c6ba5ce76ff14/RWD15_The-Body_128.jpg" /> <img width="4272" height="2848" width_o="4272" height_o="2848" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dd5d27270d1b6556faf6cd637b33e7ed7a7d5fdf05f062d4241f641b9859ee04/_MG_0450.jpeg" data-mid="133443595" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dd5d27270d1b6556faf6cd637b33e7ed7a7d5fdf05f062d4241f641b9859ee04/_MG_0450.jpeg" /> <img width="4272" height="2848" width_o="4272" height_o="2848" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ae11e5c876272fed41d2a94e34056fade915ae1aa0e3fe614f0ec6eb79ab21f2/_MG_0514.jpeg" data-mid="133443641" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ae11e5c876272fed41d2a94e34056fade915ae1aa0e3fe614f0ec6eb79ab21f2/_MG_0514.jpeg" /> <img width="1200" height="800" width_o="1200" height_o="800" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/450d2fefaff2ad26a29d4412cdc0a1435c73818e807880f15651c84ad4bf1589/RWD15_The-Body_005.jpeg" data-mid="133443697" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/450d2fefaff2ad26a29d4412cdc0a1435c73818e807880f15651c84ad4bf1589/RWD15_The-Body_005.jpeg" /> <img width="3898" height="2598" width_o="3898" height_o="2598" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4ab58bb228358852197dbe774bf34609b0100a9e17f77de1985a07c979e03303/THE_BODY_21_01_12_388.jpeg" data-mid="133443780" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4ab58bb228358852197dbe774bf34609b0100a9e17f77de1985a07c979e03303/THE_BODY_21_01_12_388.jpeg" /> <img width="2598" height="3898" width_o="2598" height_o="3898" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bb584218f8e93add5ed9a227c61ae4e6fa43ad7d91c1df3b48f3752afcdade9a/THE_BODY_21_01_12_025.jpeg" data-mid="133443482" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bb584218f8e93add5ed9a227c61ae4e6fa43ad7d91c1df3b48f3752afcdade9a/THE_BODY_21_01_12_025.jpeg" /> “Breathtakingly beautiful” **** The Guardian “Funny and wildly inventive.. Mortality lurks behind every deftly handled, splintered moment. At a time of swingeing arts cuts, we should be grateful to the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award, which went to The Body this year. Support for work of this calibre is worth shouting about. Lose yourself in its giddy weirdness.” **** The Stage “Hypnotic, eccentric and unsettling” Financial Times “A creepy, mannequin-tastic exploration of the human body. The show isn't just in uncanny valley: it's built a haunted house there and is busy making the surrounding hills ring with its riffs on the body's organs. This show focuses its considerable ingenuity on human biology” Time Out “This fusion of art installation and performance is often both deeply creepy and perversely funny” The Times "As scene after scene spills through the revolving doors at the sides of the miniaturised auditorium at a rate of about one every minute and a half, it felt like I was having to learn a new theatrical language. The body is a show about bodies and it is a re-embodiment, connecting us not only with our own fleshy superficiality but with the object world that we are so ineluctably a part of. In its delirious and deranged way it dredges meaning from depths and makes it a function again of light and sound and our own physical bodies in space. In doing so it feels not only excitingly new, but perhaps also connected to set of traditions that are very old indeed." Andy Field Ephemerous “What counts most is that the quality of the work itself, and that the OSBTTA can legitimately maintain their claim to support the bold, the challenging, the innovative. Looking at ‘The Body’ squarely in theses terms, I’d say right off I think it’s a success. I think it is bold, challenging and innovative. I think it deserves the money because, despite being - potentially - ‘formally’ challenging, I reckon it’s accessible to pretty much anyone. I think most people would see the point of it, enjoy it. In a culture where we’re often crowded, often seemingly anonymous, it was a pleasure to be in a small audience, one that is small by design. ‘The Body’ reveals the age of the human in the world we inhabit. It is a show which is, in its means and in its sentiment, utterly of the present” Simon Bowes Theatre Blog “It’s scary and weirdly jolting, yet it’s also funny and close and tender. At the end of the show you’ll want to sit and linger and think, but you’ll also want to stagger out of the room in search of a drink. The power-play in this production is peculiarly volatile and it makes for an exceptionally edgy show. There are so many snaps, so many physical and visual and emotional slaps and surprises. It’s an exceptionally textured and rippling piece of theatre that digs as deeply into the audience as it does the actors and space on stage. It feels still and intense and rich with meaning” Miriam Gillinson Sketches on Theatre Performed by Nigel Barrett and Jess Latowicki Produced by Becky Darlington Production manager Andrea Salasar Design Myriddin Pharo Sound design Lewis Gibson Lighting design Richard WilliamsonVideo Luca Biada Technologists Tim Burrell Seward, Henry Cook, Micheali Panagossi Many thanks to Leanne Cosby from the Barbican and our mentor Franco B https://nigelandlouise.com/Party-Skills-For-The-End-Of-The-World-MIF-17-1 Thu, 12 Sep 2019 16:17:41 +0000 Nigel Barrett & Louise Mari https://nigelandlouise.com/Party-Skills-For-The-End-Of-The-World-MIF-17-1 with&nbsp;Abigail Conway Party Skillls For The End Of The WorldManchester International Festival ‘17 A celebration of the people of Manchester in the wake of the the horrific events of May 2017 “I can imagine a LOT of people will go to Party Skills and come out having had the best night of their lives – and they should, and I’m glad that they will. One of the first comments I made after I came out of Party Skills was “It’s very Manchester”. I didn’t explain that, because I wasn’t sure what that meant –&nbsp; it was simply a feeling. A few days later, I’ll try to describe it. It feels broadly political, but it’s also personal. It’s learning, it’s communal, it’s like nothing else. It’s an enormous house party with surprises and mad dancing (if you want) and music that envelopes you if you give in to&nbsp;it. That’s what’s very Manchester, to me at least.&nbsp;You’ll have your own Manchester, and your own experience of Party Skills." Laura Maley
‏

 "CULTURAL SHENANIGANS Nigel Barrett and Louise Mari have created this immersive, chaotic and high-spirited performance to help you get by when the end of the world is nigh. Party Skills for the End of the World asks us to celebrate our experiences and our individuality and resist the fear that stifles our enjoyment of living.It's a site-specific show, set in the corridors, labs and vaults of Salford’s Centenary Building, which blurs the boundaries between performance and spectatorship. Who are the performers here and who are the audience? And arguably, one of the strengths of this show – is that you never really know.This is intelligent, immersive performance on a grand scale.Party Skills for the End of the World is an innovative experience and as a member of the audience – the more you contribute to the performance, the more you get out. The performance stays with you long after you have left the wild confines of the Centenary Building and certainly fuels a conversation that carries on long after the dancing has ended." Kristy Stott Upstaged Manchester **** <img width="1280" height="926" width_o="1280" height_o="926" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/68edaf733dd49b8c6f4060ecefad08d1d6eabe4e64733cd14008485c89511338/image.jpeg" data-mid="173372508" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/68edaf733dd49b8c6f4060ecefad08d1d6eabe4e64733cd14008485c89511338/image.jpeg" /> Gemma Ashcroft
‏

 
@AshcroftGemma



LOVED ‪#partyskillsfortheendoftheworld ‪ Fun, surprising and moving at times. One of the most memorable things I've ever seen Charlie
‏

 
@LottieDean
If you do one thing this year do this, absolutely brilliant, I've never seen anything quite like it ‪#partyskills ‪#MIF17

 <img width="4000" height="2656" width_o="4000" height_o="2656" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/54b8b7c966866b664aeba8fa4c6a575e8eeb7194fcbe0d5d6a726be1a096d875/image.jpeg" data-mid="173374953" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/54b8b7c966866b664aeba8fa4c6a575e8eeb7194fcbe0d5d6a726be1a096d875/image.jpeg" /> Nicole Kenny
‏

 
@Nicole_Kenny



What a night! ‪#PartySkills ‪@MIFestival is amazing! Forget end of the world - that should happen every night Geek Girl Up North "This morning, we may ache from all the dancing, but one thing is certain, that was the best night out we’ve had in a long time. If that was how the world had ended, I’d be ok with that." <img width="2669" height="4000" width_o="2669" height_o="4000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/01bc8c2b975576254bab2bff1a246c3cc49131623bf4a0b106b92029f736523a/image.jpeg" data-mid="173375023" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/01bc8c2b975576254bab2bff1a246c3cc49131623bf4a0b106b92029f736523a/image.jpeg" />Jake Garriock
‏

 
@JWGarriock



Party Skills for The End Of The World had me crying tears of joy at my own pathetic humanity. Recommended.
 Linford Butler
‏

 
@LinfordB
4 Phwoar. Party Skills for the End of the World @MIFestival was incredible. Textured, well-told and infectious fun <img width="1280" height="850" width_o="1280" height_o="850" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/17df248af1d4868bdd5874440941c1afa463a1846909799ef264a8de2da68b88/image.jpeg" data-mid="173373733" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/17df248af1d4868bdd5874440941c1afa463a1846909799ef264a8de2da68b88/image.jpeg" /> Iain Brassington 
@IBrasso



Still not sure what to make of ‪#partyskills, but I can now snare a rabbit, make a lava-lamp, and turn a teaspoon into a weapon. ‪#MIF17
 Kristy Stott
‏

 
@Kristobel
I've learnt more useful things tonight at ‪#PartySkillsForTheEndoftheWorld than I did during my 5 years at Grammar School ‪@MIFestival - INSANE
 ! <img width="3264" height="2448" width_o="3264" height_o="2448" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ddf6d77fdff64b44682a26d5f15584ae7a61557db8f713501a8b88cb5e782450/IMG_3270.jpeg" data-mid="96397184" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ddf6d77fdff64b44682a26d5f15584ae7a61557db8f713501a8b88cb5e782450/IMG_3270.jpeg" />Scotty 
@ScottEyton



Still not sure what I just experienced but I’m drunk and have a party bag so it’s all good! ‪‪#PartySkillsForTheEndOfTheWorld







 Duncan Elliott
‏

 
@duncphoto
29 


Saw ‪@MIFestival Party Skills for the End of the World last night. Absolutely incredible!!
 <img width="1280" height="855" width_o="1280" height_o="855" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dadbda5401413ffae3d8fb9882699d1aa4d787597659d181ba63003474236a78/_DSC1989_preview.jpeg" data-mid="173374598" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dadbda5401413ffae3d8fb9882699d1aa4d787597659d181ba63003474236a78/_DSC1989_preview.jpeg" />Mark Roberts
‏

 
@MDRoberts82
27 #partyskills blew me away...... totally amazing!

‬ Martin Sutherland
‏

 
@masutherland
7 "Good people of the world, what is that we fear?" asks Party Skills ‪@MIFestival. "Immersive theatre" would be my usual reply. Not this time!
 <img width="2743" height="4000" width_o="2743" height_o="4000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0d74a92caf54d14e811a833ae7e9ccf771553eda1efde5429fc20a4eb628308c/image.jpeg" data-mid="173372808" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0d74a92caf54d14e811a833ae7e9ccf771553eda1efde5429fc20a4eb628308c/image.jpeg" />Harriet Mallion‏ @MissMallionSuper impressed by #PartySkills @MIFestival tonight Loved every minute. Rachel Fox 

‏

 
@therealdaftbear
Hands down ‪#partyskillsfortheendoftheworld is the best thing at ‪#MIF this year. <img width="1280" height="833" width_o="1280" height_o="833" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/306455b8e934b30487aee07aa1581100f596fbda6b936b81146e6f36fc6b0f9e/image.jpeg" data-mid="173372962" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/306455b8e934b30487aee07aa1581100f596fbda6b936b81146e6f36fc6b0f9e/image.jpeg" />Laura Maley
‏

 
@elle_c_emm
Get a group of friends and see for yourself. The concept, design &amp; staging is simply fantastic. It's strange &amp; brilliant. I hated it. I loved it. It's very Manchester. ‪#MIF17 ‪ Graham Whitehead
‏

 
@graham_gw
8 Absolutely loved ‪#partyskillsfortheendoftheworld ... mad, bonkers, strange, wonderful! ‪@MIFestival <img width="4000" height="2206" width_o="4000" height_o="2206" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a2fc6c68428f94e985f16ea4168eb9ec532d557341386fec6b0566340e967023/image.jpeg" data-mid="173375074" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a2fc6c68428f94e985f16ea4168eb9ec532d557341386fec6b0566340e967023/image.jpeg" />fereshteh
‏

 
@feresht60750842What an incredible, entertaining, intellectual show-party tonight. So relevant, moving and engaging.
‬ Stephen Sorrell
‏

 
@StevieSorrell
So much fun but also disturbing and thought provoking ‪#partyskills ‪@MIFestival well done <img width="4000" height="3063" width_o="4000" height_o="3063" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1931a049329a1a866085666d399bb65f80b5fdde485a831a42a258394d54097e/image.jpeg" data-mid="173375104" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1931a049329a1a866085666d399bb65f80b5fdde485a831a42a258394d54097e/image.jpeg" />Jonathan Collins
‏

 
@JonathanACollsExciting, bizzare, insightful, great fun. ‪@MIFestival just delivered an amazing experience ‪#partyskills for the end of the world! Superb!
 Pip Rustage
‏

 
@_PipSqueek
Loved every weird second of it x
‬ <img width="4000" height="2432" width_o="4000" height_o="2432" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/543fd8af45059e95fd9e1987b4c47517a821be9baa623316c6d3c91427a09628/image.jpeg" data-mid="173375149" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/543fd8af45059e95fd9e1987b4c47517a821be9baa623316c6d3c91427a09628/image.jpeg" />Camilla Thomas
‏

 @darkgreentrees
 #partyskillsfortheendoftheworld - a thought-churning event

‬ Megan Marie Griffith
‏

 
@MeganMegaMegMe


If you've not got ‪#PartySkills tickets ‪@MIFestival yet GET ON IT! Best 2 hours entertainment/experience ever - absolutely loved it <img width="4000" height="2524" width_o="4000" height_o="2524" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b86a658d452c0d1719888f3d5f96f1f32beab5c337a98f3202c948ccc2560e76/image.jpeg" data-mid="173375308" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b86a658d452c0d1719888f3d5f96f1f32beab5c337a98f3202c948ccc2560e76/image.jpeg" /> Jenny Gaskell
‏

 
@JenniferGaskell



I don't think I'd even witnessed pure joy until I saw ‪@Emmott_Sarah dancing at the end of the world ‪#MIF17 Pip Rustage
‏

 
@_PipSqueek
‪#partyskillsfortheendoftheworld‪ The most bananas thing. So much fun and also deeply poignant <img width="4000" height="2448" width_o="4000" height_o="2448" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1e4c95bc8a1b8aa59b893506270f20bc7e6d7ef78e70b08952d9da7c4ab94ae4/image.jpeg" data-mid="173375265" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1e4c95bc8a1b8aa59b893506270f20bc7e6d7ef78e70b08952d9da7c4ab94ae4/image.jpeg" /> Mark Roberts
‏

 
@MDRoberts


‪Speech at #party Skills tonight. Took my breath away. #mif
‬ NiktoriaM
‏

 
@NiktoriaM



Came home from ‪#partyskills with my brother and had a little chat about how amazing life really is! <img width="2481" height="4000" width_o="2481" height_o="4000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ee4c2ec28c34424914751bc7d0b003ca4b9613f6db5fcd18bab73e9ebefb059/image.jpeg" data-mid="173375331" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2ee4c2ec28c34424914751bc7d0b003ca4b9613f6db5fcd18bab73e9ebefb059/image.jpeg" /> <img width="1240" height="1753" width_o="1240" height_o="1753" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/30b1904900c333486146ccd5b8c68bdbb20317b3ae22d354175d17e704371556/PARTY-SKILLS-SPEECH-1.jpg" data-mid="173362506" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/30b1904900c333486146ccd5b8c68bdbb20317b3ae22d354175d17e704371556/PARTY-SKILLS-SPEECH-1.jpg" /><img width="1240" height="1753" width_o="1240" height_o="1753" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4463641d2c3b5e56e016d2ec7b457b45725556e3f04ddce3ac9a7e050677e1a7/PARTY-SKILLS-SPEECH-2.jpg" data-mid="173362554" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4463641d2c3b5e56e016d2ec7b457b45725556e3f04ddce3ac9a7e050677e1a7/PARTY-SKILLS-SPEECH-2.jpg" /><img width="1240" height="1753" width_o="1240" height_o="1753" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2b82c5d331f5c20ee14bad7d985684868248ab218d6ae5432d88f383916a662c/PARTY-SKILLS-SPEECH-3.jpg" data-mid="173362579" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2b82c5d331f5c20ee14bad7d985684868248ab218d6ae5432d88f383916a662c/PARTY-SKILLS-SPEECH-3.jpg" /> <img width="1240" height="1753" width_o="1240" height_o="1753" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9047d5ef46e013f2727b6faac0b624a6f5a78b9563e824d97bb216d93ea696f0/PARTY-SKILLS-SPEECH-4.jpg" data-mid="173362638" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9047d5ef46e013f2727b6faac0b624a6f5a78b9563e824d97bb216d93ea696f0/PARTY-SKILLS-SPEECH-4.jpg" /><img width="1240" height="1753" width_o="1240" height_o="1753" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e7ac4658b4bc5b3abfdc41f61d29f3c713fecc28be473cb5054b15b22109ec5f/PARTY-SKILLS-SPEECH-5.jpg" data-mid="173362835" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e7ac4658b4bc5b3abfdc41f61d29f3c713fecc28be473cb5054b15b22109ec5f/PARTY-SKILLS-SPEECH-5.jpg" /><img width="1240" height="1753" width_o="1240" height_o="1753" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/835ed2da739366a6200192a69183c3f9b1d566537c8f58c05b2b15e511e96a5a/PARTY-SKILLS-SPEECH.jpg" data-mid="173363673" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/835ed2da739366a6200192a69183c3f9b1d566537c8f58c05b2b15e511e96a5a/PARTY-SKILLS-SPEECH.jpg" /> Next https://nigelandlouise.com/Party-Skills-for-the-End-of-the-World-STH Wed, 28 Nov 2018 23:57:10 +0000 Nigel Barrett & Louise Mari https://nigelandlouise.com/Party-Skills-for-the-End-of-the-World-STH Party Skills For The End Of The World Party Skills For The End Of The World&nbsp; Party Skills For The End Of The World Shoreditch Town Hall 2018 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Party Skills For The End Of The World Party Skills For The End Of The World <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a859dbeafed2b201abcdc787bd514e6cfa60ad709ae2c45d3840cc2584bf6ef0/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-062.jpeg" data-mid="126550957" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a859dbeafed2b201abcdc787bd514e6cfa60ad709ae2c45d3840cc2584bf6ef0/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-062.jpeg" /> <img width="640" height="360" width_o="640" height_o="360" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/217372dc4193bdad452009e8d1f1bead05b80e589f8564b7e1e33a1cbcad3b4a/thumb.php.jpeg" data-mid="50382276" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/640/i/217372dc4193bdad452009e8d1f1bead05b80e589f8564b7e1e33a1cbcad3b4a/thumb.php.jpeg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3120a4f7f99707d5dea9954ea3e952d06f6f825bad948afbbf659e9126b436be/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-071.jpeg" data-mid="126551043" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3120a4f7f99707d5dea9954ea3e952d06f6f825bad948afbbf659e9126b436be/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-071.jpeg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e1faff30cacb66327bf64cd013ce01040d0ed9a466d3b42d3e5dd8c839b157b2/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-105.jpeg" data-mid="126551425" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e1faff30cacb66327bf64cd013ce01040d0ed9a466d3b42d3e5dd8c839b157b2/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-105.jpeg" /> <img width="1024" height="683" width_o="1024" height_o="683" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/54a9833df7c4be5a75635962f3ab229dbc4087a06eab67bfc68772cdec173113/February-12-2018_PartySkillsRehearsal_STH_084-1024x683.jpg" data-mid="50382278" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/54a9833df7c4be5a75635962f3ab229dbc4087a06eab67bfc68772cdec173113/February-12-2018_PartySkillsRehearsal_STH_084-1024x683.jpg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0d7c550b57f6bdc64ab01b7a9051e0d1e4075c05284a9c861ddc2c6ca139c1d8/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-113.jpeg" data-mid="126551523" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0d7c550b57f6bdc64ab01b7a9051e0d1e4075c05284a9c861ddc2c6ca139c1d8/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-113.jpeg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8b3f471de1452992b53dd99ff7313a8d4cc55bba9158d915ad4759e2dd007f26/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-170.jpeg" data-mid="126551693" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8b3f471de1452992b53dd99ff7313a8d4cc55bba9158d915ad4759e2dd007f26/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-170.jpeg" /> <img width="1333" height="2000" width_o="1333" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0075253b225eb37ad69c7bb7bc6a92305a3c5322129f0ebcd9481668b34874c7/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-177.jpeg" data-mid="126551786" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0075253b225eb37ad69c7bb7bc6a92305a3c5322129f0ebcd9481668b34874c7/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-177.jpeg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7ff79e63ddef14c4547acc4ef33688c8533df9d68e7f300ec71678f9b93db559/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-115.jpeg" data-mid="126551531" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7ff79e63ddef14c4547acc4ef33688c8533df9d68e7f300ec71678f9b93db559/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-115.jpeg" /> <img width="1333" height="2000" width_o="1333" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8932f55fc267ae92dc895876b0a193076f5a9d79255e3c35d6e7c1d6b4f43e7f/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-129.jpeg" data-mid="126551593" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8932f55fc267ae92dc895876b0a193076f5a9d79255e3c35d6e7c1d6b4f43e7f/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-129.jpeg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/41e058eeea157f758d80764c291da29d8fb3541089aaa31e9a331e5bbcdebe8d/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-081.jpeg" data-mid="126551212" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/41e058eeea157f758d80764c291da29d8fb3541089aaa31e9a331e5bbcdebe8d/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-081.jpeg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7bb883a21f45b428c5b57aace6d4adc474b7615933744e4af7f3ca8e783c60bf/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-086.jpeg" data-mid="126551247" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7bb883a21f45b428c5b57aace6d4adc474b7615933744e4af7f3ca8e783c60bf/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-086.jpeg" /> <img width="1333" height="2000" width_o="1333" height_o="2000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d429d270c802e7e020c1ab9c78ab8f9a177473226938ee359d705fba12accc31/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-088.jpeg" data-mid="126551276" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d429d270c802e7e020c1ab9c78ab8f9a177473226938ee359d705fba12accc31/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-088.jpeg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b2d498131a57294ecfd0e8ac7dc481218836789fc1c487cbfaccbd060a3ef1e6/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-090.jpeg" data-mid="126551279" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b2d498131a57294ecfd0e8ac7dc481218836789fc1c487cbfaccbd060a3ef1e6/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-090.jpeg" /> <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3ba73da6c5370d69f343dfa94fa9dee95178148757718ae71496ea45f0cb1ed0/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-093.jpeg" data-mid="126551354" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3ba73da6c5370d69f343dfa94fa9dee95178148757718ae71496ea45f0cb1ed0/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-093.jpeg" /> Party Skills for the End of the World by Dorothy Max Prior Total Theatre : “Skills. It’s all about skills. Party skills. Survival skills. Party Skills for the End of the World: How to mix a martini – shaken not stirred, naturally. How to play a record – yes, there are people in this world old enough to drink alcohol who do not know how a turntable works. How to make a balloon animal. How to make a light bulb. How to tie a knot. How to pick a lock. How to use a knife – it needs to be sharp, and best to go for arterial points on the body that are low in fat, like behind the knees. How to turn your trousers into a float that can save you from drowning – come on, you did this at school, surely? Or scouts. Lifesaving badge. How to signal to a landing aircraft – you never know when that might come in handy. How to walk in high heels – heel, then toe, not toe first. How to dance. How to dance like all those people we see on YouTube, in all those clips we cheerily share on Facebook, to brighten up our workdays. Party Skills for the End of the World takes us on an exhilarating journey: lambasting us with survival information (surviving life, surviving war and terror, surviving parties); embroiling us in party games (musical chairs, hurrah!); and showing us that there is nothing to fear except fear itself. Yes, bad things happen. It’s how we respond to them that matters. Do we grow ever more timid, terrified to walk the streets, or to talk to strangers? Or do we feel the fear and do it anyway? Yes, let’s dance, we have nothing to lose. We are all going to die, one way or another. We are all going to die. Nigel Barrett – tall, broad, dressed in dusty jeans and a white T shirt stretched across his belly, a commanding presence yet vulnerable, his body still, his head face-on – stands on stage and says these words, looking out at a sea of young faces looking up at him. Are we afraid? Are we afraid of dying too quickly, without saying goodbye? Are we afraid of dying too slowly, in pain? We are all going to die. This bald statement – the only thing that we all know for sure – comes a good way into the show. We’ve supped cocktails, we’ve donned paper party hats, we’ve heard about the 32 things you need to teach your children, we’ve learnt that buttercups are poisonous, and that we should avoid furry caterpillars. We’ve seen two teams of people dressed in a hotch-potch of charity shop clothes dance a lackadaisical Macarena. We’ve peeled oranges and sewn their skin back together: ‘This is how to sew skin together. Imagine it is your neighbour, or your mother’. We’ve seen the space transform from a catwalk for survivors in evermore bedraggled and surreal garments to an arena rock gig, as two kit drummers (from the magnificent experimental music group AKDK) battle it out. Ah yes, an arena, where there is live music, and young people enjoying a night out… <img width="1024" height="683" width_o="1024" height_o="683" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9cd0b0b7a3f157f4ec5bff08ba2e79665b820384554552e4b528595ebeba0434/February-12-2018_PartySkillsRehearsal_STH_112-1024x683.jpg" data-mid="50382277" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9cd0b0b7a3f157f4ec5bff08ba2e79665b820384554552e4b528595ebeba0434/February-12-2018_PartySkillsRehearsal_STH_112-1024x683.jpg" /> Party Skills for the End of the World is created, written and directed by Nigel Barrett and Louise Mari of the Shunt collective, and produced and co-commissioned by Manchester International Festival and Shoreditch Town Hall. It was originally made as a celebration of the people of Manchester. The artists worked in the city for months ahead of the Manchester International Festival 2017 premiere, engaging scores of people in the local community, creating and joining in with ‘skills’ workshops, and starting the process of occupying a large and complex site. On 22 May 2017, in the middle of the devising process, a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb was detonated as people were leaving Manchester Arena following a concert by the American singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-three people were killed, many of them young people, and over 500 were injured. In a country used to regular terror attacks, this one was particularly harrowing and terrible because so many of the victims were children and young adults on a night out. Now they’re coming for our children? The worst nightmare of all. This event didn’t alter the content of Party Skills: it placed the content within a particularly poignant context. Here were Nigel and Louise, working with dozens of young community performers and students from Manchester, when suddenly the very essence of the show they were all working on – how we brave the onslaught of fears the modern world throws at us – seemed suddenly to be about the current moment. Now the show is being remounted at Shoreditch Town Hall, where a small R&amp;D showing took place a few years ago. They have made the show in collaboration with visual artist/designer Abigail Conway. For this leg of the journey, Nigel and Louise are continuing to work with the core Manchester team, with additional participants and backstage helpers drawn from drama colleges such as the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (where Shunt formed almost 20 years ago). When I see Party Skills on the opening night of its London run, I go in unaware of how and when it was made, which is good as its powerful message of the power of life over death (until we die, anyway!) and facing up to fear comes through loud and clear as something with universal meaning. The Manchester arena bombing, the war in Syria, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 1970s IRA campaign of terror on the British mainland, the rise (then fall then rise again) in knife crime, the rise in gun crime, the Blitz, the refugee crisis after the Second World War, the current refugee crisis, school shootings in the USA – depending on your age, and where you live, any one of these could have sparked the same anguished soul-searching about fear, survival, and the need to party on, regardless. <img width="2000" height="1333" width_o="2000" height_o="1333" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/84e0072b5df55dee3e9a29940701547706096e890b4074f31b226b16a1a7fe1d/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-093.jpeg" data-mid="126551284" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/84e0072b5df55dee3e9a29940701547706096e890b4074f31b226b16a1a7fe1d/Party-Skills--Shoreditch-210218-093.jpeg" /> It asks us – sometimes obliquely, sometimes directly – what we feel about fear and survival. How much time and energy do we give to our nightmares? One by one, people emerge from the audience to take the performance space, stating their name, age, address, where their parents are from. They offer us helpful or humorous or disconcerting or downright ludicrous information and advice. You suspect that every single thing we hear is true, and features in some government pamphlet or other, somewhere in the world. We are bombarded with this stuff throughout our lives, and we have to judge, on a daily basis, how to respond. Perhaps we might be better off worrying less about our news-media-induced nightmares and fears, and more about the things we can change. We can choose to be kind, to help other people. We can choose how much to consume, and what resources to use. We can choose to party, rather than cower in the bunker. Yeah, let’s dance. Let’s dance like there’s no tomorrow. There’s a robust mix of professional and community performers in the show – a marvellous mish-mash of humanity of different ages, genders, cultures, and yes – skills. I especially like the way the young people taking part are honoured and profiled. In one scene, the performers and participants walk on a diagonal across the room, making numerous transits, the lighting creating a corridor to walk along until they reach the silver slash of the exit curtain. We watch this seemingly endless river of humanity flow past, and marvel at just how beautiful and strong and watchable all human beings are. <img width="1024" height="683" width_o="1024" height_o="683" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/54a9833df7c4be5a75635962f3ab229dbc4087a06eab67bfc68772cdec173113/February-12-2018_PartySkillsRehearsal_STH_084-1024x683.jpg" data-mid="50382278" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/54a9833df7c4be5a75635962f3ab229dbc4087a06eab67bfc68772cdec173113/February-12-2018_PartySkillsRehearsal_STH_084-1024x683.jpg" /> Party Skills, perhaps because of the scale, feels more like a Shunt show than some of the previous work Nigel &amp; Louise have made together. When we end in the Shoreditch Town Hall basement, invited to drink and play in a number of delightful cellar rooms, each hosted by a performer, it feels almost as if we are back at a Lounge night in the Shunt Vaults underneath London Bridge station. But this is no bad thing. Shunt have been the leaders and innovators in the field of immersive, site responsive theatre over the past two decades, and there is no reason at all why the company members should not continue to use the tropes and devices of their past successes. But it is also very much a Nigel and Louise show, and like previous work is tightly written and artfully directed, the dramaturgical purpose of every word, action, sound and image carefully thought through. It’s a clever and thought-provoking show, and it’s a very loveable show. I love the site and set-up. And who doesn’t love a show with free cocktails at the start? I love the performers, and I love the audience. It’s a show in which the two can’t be separated. None of us are passive in this experience. We move around, we play games, we learn skills, we dance. Some of the actors/participants are ‘in performance mode’ from the off; others emerge throughout the evening – and in some cases we are never totally sure who is and who isn’t, as there are ‘returners’ to the show who know the score and join in with authority. But despite – no, because of – the fun elements it is also a show unafraid to broach the most serious questions we face. Questions that human beings have been facing forever: look around you, look at the people in the room with you. We are all afraid. We all want to be loved. We are all going to die. We are all here to dance. Dance, dance, dance – for the world might end tomorrow.” <img width="1024" height="683" width_o="1024" height_o="683" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e51d4e5a1ed807b9572b7732473a8187104adfd69564cd36e69ea33e624be3db/February-12-2018_PartySkillsRehearsal_STH_0541-1024x683.jpg" data-mid="50382279" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e51d4e5a1ed807b9572b7732473a8187104adfd69564cd36e69ea33e624be3db/February-12-2018_PartySkillsRehearsal_STH_0541-1024x683.jpg" /> Next