Three cheers for 360

The winter olympics are in full swing and Hugh is approaching his next tour of 360 faster than you can say 'short track speed skating', although probably not as fast as the snowboarders travelling down the boarder cross track, or the bobsleighs, because that would be ridiculous.

Anyway, March is looking very close and we think visiting Oxford and Liverpool is as exciting as the Giant Slalom (now I'm a seriously big skiing enthusiast so that really is very exciting indeed). Plus the chance you'll enjoy the show is as great as the chance that the figure skaters will be wearing sparkly lycra and too much make up (extremely high).

Now in case you haven't got your mittens on a ticket yet, and still need convincing, here is a trailer to whet your appetite...



Convinced? No? Then perhaps this will sway you...



Still not gone to book via the websites of Oxford Playhouse or Everyman in Liverpool to book? Watch this and maybe you'll change your mind...



I can even hear the curling team in Vancouver shout 'say hello to Hugh for us'. Now if that isn't a reason to see 360, then I don't know what is.

Plans...

The sun is shining, it is Friday afternoon, and the smell of mulled wine being brewed for the festive season is about, but Simon and I are being very good and working hard, in spite of the potential distractions (I do like a good glass of mulled wine). As you may have seen on Simon's last post we have announced some more dates for 360, so if you missed it in Edinburgh then Spring is the chance to book in for 70 joyful minutes with Hugh Hughes either in Sydney, Oxford or Liverpool.

Simon has very bravely (or maybe 'foolishly', would be more appropriate) handed over the majority of the responsibility for the marketing of the show over to me. As 'the intern', I feel very honoured to be promoted like this, and to give you an insight into my new daily life, and to prove that we do more in the Hoipolloi office than drink tea, eat cake, and discuss red carpet fashion, here's a lowdown of how the 360 plans are going...

Our venues are booked and contracts sorted. Even though the performances aren't for a few months, all the legal stuff - pages with clauses, and lots of jargon - get signed way in advance to ensure the venue and company know exactly what the deal is. I've never been very good with big legal words, and still haven't perfected my 'official' signature, so Simon deals with the contracts.

In order to spread the word we'll need literally thousands of posters and flyers. Liverpool and Oxford - watch out for the iconic blue clouds and face of Hugh on the 360 posters hitting you soon! We are using similar print to Edinburgh, although we need to ask our designers to make some alterations to the venue and performance dates. Otherwise we would end up with rather a few confused audience members looking for Hugh at the Pleasance Courtyard in March. We're also changing the quotes on the publicity. Some lovely things were written by the press in the summer, and we're so proud that we want to put them on our flyers, and that way you can see them too. Once the designs have been finalised they can be sent to the printers and from the printers the publicity will go to the venues. In order to give people time to notice the posters, check their diaries and book tickets, we usually send print out a few months before the performances.

We always like to let friends of Hugh know directly that he will be performing again. So he has been writing some letters, and I have started writing some letters, and sometimes the venues will also send out letters too. We love email, but you can't beat a nice bit of snail mail can you?

Something else we are very keen on this time round is creating an education pack for drama teachers and students. I was mightily inspired by the ones offered by the marvellous National Theatre, so I've started making a 360 one myself. In order to get a bit of extra help from some experts I'll be visting the education department at the Everyman in a few weeks. I've never been to Liverpool before, so I'm very excited about having an adventure. I'll have quite a lot of time to kill after my meeting and before I get my train back to Cambridge, so if anyone has any 'top tips for what to do in Liverpool' then do let me know!

So there you have it, the update so far. I'll keep you informed as plans progress.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Photo by Geraint Lewis

New UK dates for 360

Just a quick blog post from a dark and wet Wednesday evening in Cambridge!

I will leave Marieke to do a far more interesting post on Friday when she's back in the office but for today, I wanted to let you know that we've just announced some further touring for Hugh Hughes in... 360.

In addition to a return to Australia to perform at the Sydney Festival (performances from 22 to 30 January 2010), we'll also be doing shows back in the UK in early March with a return to both Oxford Playhouse (3 March) and the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool (4 to 6 March).

We haven't had a chance to update the main website with these new dates but full details can be found either by clicking the individual links above or they're posted at the top of the right-hand bar of this blog.

Ok, sales message over. You can get back to your normal routine!

Posted by Simon Bedford (Producer, Hoipolloi)

Tour dates announced!

Posted by Simon Bedford (Marketing & Touring Manager)

Now that the first period of rehearsals for this conveniently curious comedy have finished, we’re pleased to announce the full UK tour schedule for The Doubtful Guest in March and April.

The show opens at Watford Palace Theatre, with performances from 13 to 22 March. Following this, the show will head to Liverpool, European Capital of Culture 2008, and its Everyman Theatre (25 to 29 March).

April sees the show head to the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich from 3 to 5 April before finishing the spring tour up in Newcastle upon Tyne. There we’ll be performing from 8 to 12 April at Northern Stage.

Don’t miss your chance to be the first to see this mischievous show! Full details of the tour and details of how to book can be found by clicking here