Story of a Rabbit in Sydney

 

We're really excited to be returning to Sydney Opera House with Hugh Hughes and Story of a Rabbit.

It's Hugh's third visit to Australia and his second to the Opera House itself. And I'm giddy with excitement at the honour of once again helping Hugh tour to such a prestigious venue.

Hugh is especially excited as Aled, who created the show with Hugh is returning to the stage after having handed over the musical and technical reins to his brother, Dafydd for the last year.

If you are in Sydney, or can get to Sydney or know people in Sydney, we'd be delighted to see you there for Story of a Rabbit. The show opens on Tuesday 29 November and runs until Saturday 10 December.

There's more information here at the Sydney Opera House website... http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/whatson/story_of_a_rabbit.aspx

You can also read more about the process involved in the creation of Story of a Rabbit in this blog from Shon, Hoipolloi's Artistic Director...
http://freshinkaustralia.com/2011/11/16/hugh-am-i-the-hugh-hughes-project/

And if you're after a quick preview of what to expect, here's a short snippet of the show:

 

Posted by Simon Bedford (Hoipolloi's Executive Producer)

Daniel Kitson recommends Story of a Rabbit

We've been a little quiet on the blog front recently but we've suddenly sprung into action with two posts already this week, and here's a third for you! I hadn't planned this one but a pleasant surprise arrived in my inbox this morning and I wanted to share it with you!

The Hoipolloi office has long been a fan of Mr Daniel Kitson and his fabulous work both in stand-up and his story-telling shows.

We also know that Daniel has popped in to see a couple of Hugh Hughes' shows during the last couple of Edinburgh Fringes and we're really grateful that he shared the following paragraph with his email list this week...

"...also, here is a little tip for you good people of edinburgh and the surrounding regions, Story of a Rabbit, a lovely show that i saw during the festival of 2008 is at the traverse theatre for 4 nights in november, i think its the 11th to the 14th, but im typing this on a train and the internet connection isnt great. i mean, its still pretty good, considering im on a bloody train. still. its all relative. anyway, i very strongly recommend seeing it. it was something of an influence on my more recent stuff and its brilliant. funny and sad and lovely."

Thank you for such an exciting recommendation. I know that Hugh was touched to find out that the show provided some influence on your work. And a reminder that we're not just playing in Edinburgh (at the Traverse) but also at the Point in Eastleigh, Cambridge Arts Theatre and the CURVE in Leicester. Full details here!

And as it'd be rude not to return the favour, if you haven't seen a Daniel Kitson show, go see one, immediately!

Following this link will take you (eventually if you keep scrolling down) to a list of where he's playing his stand-up show in November in the UK (if they haven't already sold-out). And also, as I know we have Australian visitors here, you can also catch him at Sydney Opera House from the end of November into December with 66a Church Road.

Feeling the earth move in Melbourne

Ladies and Gentleman, I'd like to report that a minor earthquake has just hit our current home of Melbourne! It was about 20 minutes ago and Hugh and Sioned were in the middle of a tech rehearsal for Floating.

We all stopped, looked at each other and tried to work out what was happening. But thankfully it wasn't too strong and passed after about 20 or 30 seconds! Fortunately we had passed the moment in the show when an earthquake hits Anglesey otherwise we would have been really confused! It was worst for Tom as he was up on a rickety balcony overlooking the space.

The show opens here at the Arts House at North Melbourne Town Hall tonight. We're all really excited to see how it goes, particularly following the success of our time in Sydney.

And speaking of Sydney, I've finally had time to edit together a quick video leading up to our first night at the Opera House. Here you go...

Moving to Melbourne

G'day!

Today I'm blogging from Melbourne, our second Australian destination on this tour. All went fantastically well in Sydney - a huge thank you to everyone who joined us there, Hugh and Sioned had a blast.

We transferred over yesterday (driven through the above bit of road in our taxi from the airport!) and were met by our lovely new host, Jude who works at the Arts House, the show's new home for a week.

She showed us around town a bit, sharing us the delights of Lygon Street and it's many Italian restaurants.

Today is going to be a relaxed day as we try and prepare ourselves for the week ahead. I've already completed a radio interview and am now attempting to catch up with myself in terms of sharing photos, editing some video footage and doing some jobs that I've been putting off!

If you saw the show in Sydney and have friends or family in Melbourne, please let them know where to find us (Arts House at North Melbourne Town Hall from 18 to 22 March!).

Hugh and Sioned can't wait to connect with a brand new set of people!

And thanks to SYN+H for the photo!

Heralding a good morning!

Breakfast this morning was a rather exciting affair! As I tucked into my muffin and jam and flicked through the Sydney Morning Herald, a very pleasing sight caught my eye.

There on page 15 was a picture of Hugh staring back at me and the headline "Fantasy world makes real one hard to rejoin".

I think it's actually the best review of the show we've ever had! Here are just a few little highlights:

"The audience is carried effortlessly along, put at ease and immersed in good-humoured theatrical playfulness."

"The ease with which both performers establish rapport with the audience, make ambitious ideas accessible and glean laughter from all possible sources is disarming."

"Entertainment is first-rate when the audience has to be encouraged to rejoin the real world."

I don't think it's made it in full online as yet but will update this entry once it does so that you can read it in full. If you're reading this in Sydney and haven't bought tickets yet, I'd do so as soon as you can as the show is proving to be very popular.

And don't forget we'll be at the Arts House in Melbourne from 18 to 22 March and at the Ten Days on the Island Festival from 28 March until 5 April. Full details can be found here.

Finally, a massive thank you to everyone who's joined us at the show so far. Hugh and Sioned have been having a blast! Please continue to recommend the show to all your friends.

If you'd like to keep in touch with us, please join our free mailing list, or the Hoipolloi or Hugh Hughes groups on Facebook.

Good morning Sydney!

Good morning, welcome to Sydney and our first proper blog entry from our international tour. I'm going to be your main guide to our time in Australia although Hugh and Sioned will do their best to say hello as and when their busy schedule permits.

Hugh apologises for not updating you from Singapore. He, Aled and Sioned had a fantastically hectic week in the city, thank you to everyone who joined them at Story of a Rabbit, the symposium or one of the workshops. We'll try and post a catch up about their time there soon.

In the meantime, tonight is our first performance from Sydney Opera House. The building definitely lives up to its iconic status and I'm currently sat in the Green Room with a delightful view of the harbour and the city beyond. Something I could definitely get used to.

We've got a busy day ahead. Hugh and Sioned should arrive in about 30mins and then we'll be continuing the tech run. Floating hasn't been performed since Moscow back in May last year so everyone's doing there best to remember exactly how it fits together. But I'm sure we'll get there in time for the imminent opening!

I arrived in town early on Sunday morning and enjoyed the luxury of being collected by an Opera House driver. He'd just delivered Juliette Binoche to the airport so I enjoyed my little VIP connection!

I'll keep you posted on how it goes tonight with a few twitter updates as and when I can! I'm just in the process of putting together a little video and if I can work out a way of getting it online without crashing the Opera House's server, I'll post it to YouTube.

In the meantime, here's a few pics of outside of our current 'home' for you to enjoy!

Speak soon! Simon (Hoipolloi's Marketing & Touring Manager)

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!

Ten Days on the Island... hopefully not Floating away!

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

As David's already mentioned, next year Hoipolloi and Hugh Hughes will be spreading their wings and going global! We've discussed before on this blog (in some detail, as we are stupidly excited about it!) our trip out to Sydney Opera House but that's not the only place we'll be visiting in Australia.

On Tuesday, the Ten Days on the Island festival had its official launch and so we're finally able to reveal to you some further performance dates. It's an honour to be part of this exciting event and Hugh is really hoping to make some fantastic new connections with another set of island dwellers - this time on the other side of the world in Tasmania.

So, here's the exact information on where we'll be:



Earl Arts Centre in Launceston, Tasmania
28 March 2009 at 2pm and 6pm
29 March 2009 at 6pm

Playhouse Theatre in Hobart, Tasmania
2 to 4 April 2009 at 8pm
5 April at 6pm

Tickets for both venues can be booked online here

That leaves just one more set of Australian dates to announce, over in Melbourne! Hopefully we'll be able to do this very soon, keep checking back here for the latest.

And thanks to Foraggio Fotographics for the image!

Floating off to Australia

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

Since his first ever theatre performance, in Belfast in 2005, Hugh Hughes has made connections all over the world. He’s already ticked Colombia, New York, Moscow and Helsinki off his list of places to visit, and now Hugh is looking forward to performing on a fourth continent.

In March 2009, he’ll be flying to Australia for a five-week tour, which will include eleven performances of Floating at perhaps the most famous performing arts centre in the world: Sydney Opera House!

The Sydney Opera House was designed by Danish architect, Jørn Uzton, who won an open competition in 1955. There was a slight hitch though: Uzton designed a building which, at the time, nobody knew how to build. The concrete shells, or “white sails”, which make the building so distinctive caused a lot of headaches during the early stages of the project. Between 1957 and 1963, at least twelve different versions of the design were created before an affordable and feasible solution was found. Needless to say, almost everyone who worked on the project, from Uzton himself to the tea boy, claims to be able to remember the “eureka” moment and more often than not tries to take credit for discovering it. It’s still unknown where exactly the solution came from.

Despite being a hive of culture, a cursory glance at the internet demonstrates that Sydney Opera House attracts some really tacky merchandising... Here you can send an “animated” Sydney Opera House e-postcard. Not exactly Harry Potter-esque levels of photo animation, you’ll agree. And the photograph top left seems to be of the Sydney Opera House mid-apocalypse. This is a nice little video of the Opera House, taken from the sea, but turn the volume down... what an odd soundtrack to choose. And finally, a Sydney Opera House “joke” I found on the web:

-What powerful reptile is found in the Sydney Opera House?
-The Lizard of Oz!

(If you’re struggling to get that one, as I did for a while, it might help to know that you could replace Sydney Opera House with the name of any other place in Australia. Or with “Australia”.)
But amongst all the tat, I’ve found two wonderful items: here you can download and print all you need to make a paper model of Sydney Opera House! And here’s a second one, designed by a man who calls himself “Papermeister Dooney”.

It’s Friday afternoon, so I can’t possibly be expected to do any more work this week. I suspect the rest of my day will be spent with a furrowed brow and my tongue poking out of the corner of my mouth, wrestling with fold lines and Pritt Stick, until my paper Sydney Opera House is complete. Papermeister Dooney, I salute you.

With thanks to Sir Mervs for the photo!