The other side of the world

Hugh Hughes and Sioned's plane landed safely in Singapore last night. We've just had a Skype conversation between Hugh's hotel and the Hoipolloi office. Hugh said it was very hot and that the decor in his hotel is rather eclectic.

Soon Aled will be joining them, and while he and Hugh stage Story of a Rabbit at the National Museum of Singapore, Sioned will be sharing her expertise in a series of workshops organised by the British Council.

Next Friday, Hugh will be contributing to a symposium on the subject of autobiography in theatre. He'll be joined by theatre practitioners and academics from all over the world, and I know he feels very excited and extremely priveleged to have been given this opportunity by the British Council, who have been friends of Hoipolloi for many years.

Hugh and Sioned have promised to record their jounrey through Singapore and across Australia on this Blog, so keep your eyes peeled!

And finally, another chance to play with Hoipolloi's interactive, international touring map...


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Thanks to Katie Cowden for the photo above - click here for her Flickr photostream.

Back to the National Theatre Studio!

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

I wrote last July about our time at the National Theatre Studio, working on Hugh Hughes' new production Invisible Town. It was the first time Hugh had introduced us to the show and by the end of the week it had developed incredible momentum, branching off in all sorts of exciting directions, as Hugh and an ensemble of actors found different ways to share the stories Hugh told us about his childhood.

Next week, we'll be heading back to the Studio, to catch up with Hugh and spend five more days working on Invisible Town. Hugh's spent this week in one of the Studio's writing rooms, getting his thoughts in order before the rest of us arrive next week.

I'll be doing as much blogging as I can, and hopefully getting some video footage, so you can keep up to date with everything that's going on!

The National Theatre Studio is a wonderful space to work in and we're really grateful to have been invited to work there. This is a video taken the last time we were there, in which Hugh talks about Invisible Town and Sioned shows us the delights of the Studio's lighting facilities!

Video interview with Hugh Hughes

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

After a gentle summer lull, things are getting busy again at the Hoipolloi office. The Doubtful Guest is going back on the road in October and November: you can find all the tour dates here. We’re also preparing to mount an exhibition at CB2 café in Cambridge in September. It will feature work by renowned photographers Geraint Lewis and Richard Heeps, who have been photographing Hoipolloi shows since the company was founded almost fifteen years ago. Most of the work will be for sale, so if you want a Hugh Hughes print or a picture of The Doubtful Guest on your wall, head for CB2! The exhibition starts Monday, 1st September.

In the last blog post, Simon told us about his trip to Helsinki with Hugh Hughes. Just before they left for the airport, Hugh was in the office, and I grabbed him for a moment, sat him in front of a video camera and conducted an interview for your collected viewing pleasures.

In the first video, Hugh talks about how he came to make his award-winning show Floating, how he met Sioned Rowlands at a voice workshop in Romania and how he hopes his shows will help people make connections. In the second part, Hugh talks about his next show Invisible Town, Heidegger and his mother’s garden shed. Enjoy!

Part 1:



Part 2:

Videos from Hugh Hughes & Sioned

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

We've just finished another great day at the National Theatre Studio, working on Hugh Hughes' new show Invisible Town. Here's a video of Hugh and his friend Sioned (who you'll recognise if you saw Floating) talking about their week at the Studio and what we can expect from the new show!

Story Machine

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

Hugh Hughes is spending this week at the National Theatre Studio working on a new show called Invisible Town. He's brought some of his friends along, including Sioned and Aled, and we're all working really hard, trying out ideas for the show.

There's a game we play every day which I'd like to teach you. It's called Story Machine.

Hugh's Story Machine is a huge piece of paper with 100 words written on it. All Hugh's words are to do with his childhood but you can make yours about anything you like! Hugh's words include names, places, emotions, days of the week, activities, and lots more. One of us presses one of the words (which we pretend are buttons on the machine) and then Hugh has to tell us a story to do with that word. Anyone can press any other button at any time, and when they do, Hugh has to incorporate the new word into the story as quickly as he can. Sometimes the actors perform the story as Hugh is telling it, and we also like making up songs about characters in the story.

It's great fun, and if you like using your imagination, like Hugh does, you should try it out!

If you make a really good story come out of a Story Machine, send me an email (david@hoipolloi.org.uk) tell me all about it. I'll pass them on to Hugh, he'd love to hear them!