Three French Hens...

We're really storming through the year now! If you've just arrived at the party, we're reviewing the year and here you can find part one and part two.

JUNE

Hugh and Aled returned to the UK after their American tour. It was officially a smash hit with more lovely comments: one review, on the Charleston City Paper's Spoleto Buzz Blog, began with these words:"Hugh Hughes made me cry. It's a good thing".

The same blog also named Story of a Rabbit the best show at the festival, calling it "pitch-perfect theater". The Lantern said: "some in the audience were left with tears in their eyes, while others had smiles on their faces". The best comment though has to be in a review in the Charleston SC newspaper which urged people to go and see Story of a Rabbit with a wonderfully Hugh-ish call to arms: "embrace it, and remember that Life IS spectacular!"

Not quite everyone agreed though, and critic Tim Page got a bit of an ear-bashing from audience members who disagreed with his not so charming review of the show!

When one tour ends, there’s always the risk that there will be an empty hole left, and a sad cry for more performances. Fortunately June wasn’t just the end of the USA tour but also the month when it was announced that Hoipolloi would be taking not one, but TWO shows to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This is one of my favourite of David’s blogs, mainly because of the insanely cute picture of a cat in a bag.

As if things couldn’t get more exciting than the Edinburgh announcement and the cat photo, June also revealed that The Scotsman listed both The Doubtful Guest and 360 in its Top 100 shows to see at the Fringe feature.

JULY

Of course July was mainly focused on gearing up for Edinburgh, but one of the fold, Ben Frimston, was busy being a television star… Ben has performed in Hoipolloi’s last five ensemble shows, but somehow managed to find time to appear in a Rowntree’s Randoms advert.



And if that video wasn't enough, David made his video debut with Simon as they selected the winners of our little competition for Edinburgh tickets...



Other highlights of the month included the arrival of the 360 badges and Hugh’s performance at Latitude.

Posted by Marieke Audsley (Marketing & Admin Assistant, Hoipolloi). Thanks to LizJones112 for the photo

Latitude - our best ever wet weekend

Well we've just about dried off... And despite the rain, we had a fantastic weekend at Latitude! Hugh Hughes' special preview performance of 360 went down a storm and we all found time to see some brilliant acts.

My highlights were Grace Jones and The Gossip (and not just because I love strong women). Regina Spektor was fantastic and I fell in love with 1927 all over again (...more strong women).

Slightly further off the beaten track, we enjoyed the endearingly adolescent Ruby And Her Whorses, a super-subversive performance by David Hoyles and my favourite ever stand-up Andy Zalztman. (Choice one-liner: 'Don't complain about being eaten by a horse if you play polo dressed a sugar cube.')

Our most magical festival moment came on the opening night, in the form of La Reve, a commissioned performance by The Irrepressibles. Imagine an alternative baroque orchestra, with musicians dressed in Tim Burton (or even Edward Gorey)-esque costumes performing in the Human Music Box (pictured below) but at night, with the lights shimmering off the lake.


And I must also give a massive shout-out to the people running a shop stall which at night transformed into an unofficial jungle 'stage'. Dancing in the rain with twelve other people - all totally comitted members of the Junglist Massive - was a delight!

Most importantly, Hugh Hughes' performance in the Theatre Tent on Sunday was a great success. With so many other things on offer, it was to Hugh's great credit that the audience grew and grew as the show went on until the tent was absolutely packed. And 360 is in fantastic shape, with just one more preview to go before Edinburgh!

I should take this opportunity to say hello to Harvey, who Hugh invited on stage to play the role of Gareth. Harvey is eight, the same age as Gareth in the story Hugh wanted to tell, and he gave a great performance - thank you!


Don't forget that 360 will head to Reading's South Street Arts Centre on Thursday for a performance at 8pm, with tickets at just £5. Click here to book! We hope to see lots of you there.

Finally, Hoipolloi must thank everyone who made Latitude happen. It was a wonderful festival which we would all heartily recommend. And most importantly, thank you to Emma Bettridge and all at Pleasance for inviting us to be part of Latitude's Picks of the Pleasance season.

A return to Reading, Ipswich and Plymouth

Do you want to see Hugh Hughes in... 360 but are not able to make it up to the Edinburgh Fringe? Fear not, as today I have a some exciting news!

This weekend we're taking Hugh off to the Latitude Festival. He's particularly excited at the chance to be part of this fantastic festival on a hugely diverse bill alongside Grace Jones, the Pet Shop Boys, Dave Gorman, the RSC and our good friends at English Touring Theatre! His performance of 360 is on Sunday at 12.10pm in the Theatre Arena.

And I'm delighted to announce a further exclusive pre-Edinburgh preview at South Street Arts Centre in Reading on Thursday 23 July. We were last in Reading back in 2005 and so we're excited to return to share the new show with audiences there.

And following the show's run in Edinburgh, we'll also be returning to the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich (our co-producing partner on Story of a Rabbit) for a performance on Sunday 11 October followed by a week at the Drum Theatre Plymouth at the end of November.

All these dates are now on sale and we'd be delighted to see you there!

Full details here...

Thu 23 July, 8pm - South Street Arts Centre, Reading

Tickets: 0118 960 6060 or book online here

Sun 11 October, 7.45pm - New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich

Tickets: 01473 295900 or book online here

24 to 28 November, 7.45pm - Drum Theatre Plymouth

Tickets: 01752 267222 or book online here

And of course, we're in Edinburgh from 5 to 31 August. Book your tickets here!

360 web page launched!

Hugh Hughes' new show 360 now has its own page on our website! Click here to have a look and learn more about Hugh's latest show.

The new pages include some lovely new pictures of Hugh! The photos were shot by our old friend Geraint Lewis. He, Simon and Hugh did a photo shoot a few weeks ago and had great fun. Click here to have a look at Geraint's own website.

Hugh will be doing a preview performance of 360 at Latitude Festival between 16-19 July as part of the Picks of the Pleasance season. Click here for the official Latitude website.

Hugh and everyone at Hoipolloi hopes you'll be able to join us for performances of 360 which are coming soon. Keep your eyes peeled, we'll be announcing some more tour dates at the start of June...!

A special announcement for our 100th Post

As luck would have it, our 100th blog post is also a very special annoucement!

Finally, after lots of discussion, Hugh has decided on a title for his brand new show! It was christened in a coffee shop in Melbourne a few weeks back and we’ve made a little video to announce it officially:



The show will receive it’s official world premiere at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. We’ll announce the full details of this gig when the Fringe launches in June but needless to say that anyone who saw Floating and Story of a Rabbit at the Fringe in 2006 and/or 2007, won’t have too far to look to find him!

In the meantime, Hugh will be packing his tent, his wellies and his flask of coffee and heading off to one of the summer’s fastest growing festivals, Latitude. Taking place at Henham Park in Southwold, Suffolk on 17, 18 and 19 July, Hugh has been asked to perform some special previews of the show as part of the Pick of the Pleasance’s mini-season.

To book your tickets for the festival, head here. Last year’s festival sold-out and there’s plenty of other exciting theatrical offerings including performances from our friends over at English Touring Theatre.