Genuine or Genu-wine?

Posted by David Ralfe (Marketing & Admin. Assistant, Hoipolloi)

Hugh Hughes premiered brand new material last night in a sold-out show at The Junction in Cambridge. It was the first time Hugh had shared the work he has done on his new solo show with an audience, and he admitted to me just before he went onstage that he was a little bit nervous!

Here's what Hugh said about the show in the programme notes:

"In some ways tonight's performance will be very different from my previous shows. I will be onstage completely alone, with no set, costumes, props, music or multimedia.

But I hope that together we will be able to fill this empty space using our imagination. I believe this will allow me to share my experiences in new ways and to make more intimate connections with audiences than ever before."

I was in the rehearsal room with Hugh a little bit last week. It really was fantastically exciting to see Hugh continuing to experiment with theatrical forms, never content to re-use an old artistic formula, as he seeks new and different ways to communicate with his audiences.

There's a moment in the show when Hugh tells the audience about a game he used to play as a child, and we've found ourselves playing it in the Hoipolloi office today! If someone says something a bit unexpected, you ask, "Are you being genuine or genu-wine?" "Genuine" means they're telling the truth, "Genu-wine" means they're joking. It's a little childish but I think Hugh would approve of that!

All the performances for this week have now completely sold out but we very much hope to take Hugh's solo show out again in the near future.

Keep checking in with this Blog for all the latest updates!

The Dong With the Luminous Nose flies to LA

Posted by David Ralfe (Marketing & Admin. Assistant, Hoipolloi)


The Dong With the Luminous Nose and The Pobble With No Toes will soon be flying to Los Angeles, as Hoipolloi revives its comic and colourful production My Uncle Arly: a show based on the nonsense poetry of Edward Lear.

First performed in 2002, My Uncle Arly has been one of Hoipolloi's most popular shows. It was nominated for a Total Theatre Award in 2003. It was also the first Hoipolloi show I ever saw, back when I was seventeen!

The tour has been organised in association with WebPlay, a company which allows primary school children in Britain and America to talk online, and discuss a play which will be performed in both of their countries. This year's project will link London with Los Angeles.

The first performances of My Uncle Arly will be at the Unicorn Theatre from 11 to 13 March. Then the company will be flying to Los Angeles to perform at UCLA from 27 to 29 March.

To get you in a silly mood, I'll leave you with a stanza from my favourite Edward Lear poem, The Dong With the Luminous Nose. (Click here to read the whole thing.)

Slowly it wanders,pauses,creeeps,
Anon it sparkles,flashes and leaps;
And ever as onward it gleaming goes
A light on the Bong-tree stems it throws.
And those who watch at that midnight hour
From Hall or Terrace, or lofty Tower,
Cry, as the wild light passes along,
'The Dong! the Dong!
'The wandering Dong through the forest goes!
'The Dong! the Dong!
'The Dong with a luminous Nose!'

Hugh Hughes solo show: selling fast!

Posted by David Ralfe (Marketing & Admin. Assistant, Hoipolloi)

It's not much more than a week since Hugh Hughes was at The Barbican, performing sneak previews of his new show Invisible Town. As we walked to the pub after the last performance, someone asked, "So what's next Hugh, are you going to have a bit of time off now this is over?"

Ha ha.

Hugh Hughes has at least six projects up in the air at any one time. As soon Hugh finished at The Barbican he went back to work on another brand new show:
The Wonderful World of Hugh Hughes.

Invisible Town was a chance for Hugh to work with a larger ensemble than ever before, with six performers and three musicians joining him on stage. His new solo show takes the opposite road, putting Hugh onstage completely alone, sans performers, sans multimedia, sans music, sans everything.

It will allow him to connect with audiences more intimately than ever before, as he tells stories from his past, taking us even deeper into his wonderful, fantastical and imaginative world. I've been in some of the rehearsals and I can promise it will be an incredible show, and a chance to see a slightly different side of Hugh.

The Wonderful World of Hugh Hughes will be performed for the very first time at The Junction in Cambridge from 29 to 31 January. But Friday's performance has already sold out! So book for the remaining nights quickly to avoid disappointment, particularly since tickets are a credit-crunch-busting £5 each.

You can book tickets via The Junction's website: just click here.
Or call The Junction's Box Office on 01223 511 511.

We hope to see you there!

Life on the ocean waves

Posted by Simon Bedford (Marketing & Touring Manager, Hoipolloi)

As you might have guessed, this post has a nautical theme.

It's all in honour of a little ship called YM Utmost which at present is speeding from Felixstowe to Antwerp on its way to Singapore and Sydney.

Actually to be honest, it's actually quite a big ship; a bit of digging on the internet tells me that its 336m long (0r 194.4 smoots) and can carry approx 8,189 standard-sized containers. I've found some photos but to keep on the right side of the copyright laws, I'll ask you to click on this link if you'd like to take a look.

If you're wondering, the photo above is the Utmost's sister ship YM Success, thank you to Uzvards for sharing.

So why is this of interest, I hear you cry. Don't worry, I've not become a ship spotter (is that the correct terminology?) - it's just that it is the current and temporary home of the sets/costumes/props for Floating and Story of a Rabbit.

Our foreign tours have become a step closer with this first stage in our journey across the world. Sadly I can't get the tracker to work on the shipping site above so I don't think I'll be able to give you regular updates.

But needless to say, we'll be letting you know when it's arrived safely along with the human cargo that will be flying out in mid-February!

And whilst we're talking about our international touring, a warm welcome to the many Australian visitors who've arrived at our sites over the last 24 hours. We look forward to seeing you in Sydney, Melbourne or Tasmania!

A note from our friends at Sound & Fury

Posted by David Ralfe (Marketing & Admin Assistant, Hoipolloi)

Thank you to everyone who came to see Hugh Hughes' work-in-progress presentation of Invisible Town at the Barbican Centre last week! We had a fantastic time working at The Pit and I promise to write a proper Blog entry later this week, updating you all on the project.

But in the meantime, we'd like you to know that our friends Sound&Fury will be performing their new show Kursk at The Junction in Cambridge this weekend....


A Young Vic and Fuel Production:
Sound&Fury's Kursk
In collaboration with Bryony Lavery

Inspired by the tragic event of 2000, when a Russian submarine, The Kursk, suffered a huge explosion that ripped the bow apart and sent the vessel to the seabed, Sound&Fury and Bryony Lavery will explore the unique experience of the submariner deep below the arctic seas, alone, contained, controlled and yet with Armageddon at their fingertips.

Join us for this last stage of development before Kursk opens at the Young Vic in the spring. Each showing will be followed by a Q&A and opportunity to meet the company.

"An extraordinary piece of theatre. Form and content are perfectly married."
The Guardian on Watery Part of the World

Commissioned by The Junction. Funded by a Wellcome Trust Arts Award.

Suitable for ages 12+

Tickets: £8/£5


Performances will take place at 8pm on Friday 16 January and 4.30pm and 8pm on Saturday 17 January. You can buy tickets from The Junction website here.

Invisible Town: Leave your feedback here!

Posted by Simon Bedford (Marketing & Touring Manager, Hoipolloi)

Following all the excitement and demand for tickets, we've finally arrived at the work-in-progress performances for Invisible Town, a brand new Hugh Hughes project.

Hugh and the rest of the team started work on the project back in July last year and you can read more about how its all come together here, here and here.

This is really a short entry to say that if you've seen (or seeing) either performance, we'd be delighted to receive any feedback you might have. You can do this by commenting on this blog entry (by clicking on comments at the bottom of the text), heading over to our Facebook group to write on its wall or by sending us an email.

Finally, it just leaves me to thank the National Theatre Studio for supporting the development of the piece thus far and to the Barbican Centre for allowing us to use The Pit this week.

Join the team...

Posted by Simon Bedford (Marketing & Touring Manager, Hoipolloi)

Happy New Year!

We're gearing up for a fantastic 2009 here at Hoipolloi and although today is allegedly the most stressful day of the year, we're attempting to help blow away any new year blues with news that we're recruiting for a brand new position within our admin team:

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Salary: £45k to £50k pa.

We are looking for a highly motivated experienced senior executive to fill the new position of Business Development Director. Accountable to the Board, you will provide financial and commercial leadership. Working in close partnership with the Artistic Director, you will be responsible for ensuring the development and implementation of an ambitious, sound and sustainable vision and strategy.

The post-holder will assume overall responsibility for the growth of the company, generating new income streams, developing our brand, brokering, developing and maintaining key partnerships and overseeing the distribution of creative content online, on television, radio and film, and on the stage.

Full details of the job, including an information pack, can be found here on the main Hoipolloi website.

The deadline for applications is Friday 23 January and interviews will take place Monday 2 February.

Hope it's of interest!