Hurrah!

Lots of smiles and cause for celebration at Hoipolloi this week. Hugh and Simon are back from Sydney and it is lovely to have company in the office again. Things got so quiet last week that I actually started talking to myself. Never a good sign. I then put the radio on in order to hear some other human voices, but I soon regretted this decision when a song came on that I just had to get up and dance to (I won't tell you which one as it will only unveil my horrendous taste in music). So there I was, prancing around, when I noticed that there was a builder on the roof peeking in the window and laughing at me. Oh the shame.

Anyway, there are plenty of things to be happy about to distract me from the mortifying embarrassment incurred last week...

Item number 1: we have over 1000 followers on Twitter! Considering that we only started tweeting about a year ago, that's a fantastic number. Huge thanks to everyone who has supported us. Please keep following!

Item number 2: Hugh had a brilliant run of 360 in Sydney. The show went extremely well, in fact so well, and the weather was so lovely that Hugh and Simon didn't get a chance to send a report of the trip while they were there. Once they've recovered from the jet lag and readjusted to the arctic UK temperature they will write up their adventures so that you can read all about the festival.

Item number 3: Hugh Hughes' Rough Book is still going strong. We hope you have been enjoying the glimpses into Hugh's studio and the things he creates in there. The Rough Book will be continuing for the next few weeks, with new posts on Mondays and Fridays. I'll also be doing a 'non Rough Book' post on Wednesdays. So keep your eyes on the blog as there'll be plenty of new things springing up.

Item number 4: We are very very excited about going to Oxford and Liverpool in March. We'd love to see you there. You can book tickets for the Oxford show (3rd March) by clicking here, and the Liverpool shows (4th, 5th, 6th March) by clicking here.

And last, but by no means least...(in fact you may say I've saved the best for last)...
Our very own Mr Ben Frimston, who you may have seen recently in The Doubtful Guest or in the famous Rowntree's Randoms advert, or just in the picture above, is on the silver screen again. He's starring in a new Burger King advert. Here it is...

EDIT (14 July 2010): Flicking back through some old blog entries, I've just discovered the video has been taken down from YouTube. Sorry that you've missed seeing Ben in that BK advert, but he's currently appearing in a new Dutch beer advert which you can find here! Simon

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

No problem, monkey socks

Obviously we're not paying our actors enough! Ben Frimston, who has performed in Hoipolloi's last five ensemble shows, most recently playing Charlie in The Doubtful Guest, has burst onto our TV screens with a starring role in a Rowntree's Randoms advert. And a very fine performance it is too.

We like to think he learned everything he knows about nonsense whilst performing in My Uncle Arly. And I'd like to take this opportunity to warn him that we'll be calling him 'Monkey Socks' forever more.

Tragically, our Doubtful Guest posters and flyers had been printed by the time the ad came out. Had we been able to include 'Starring Ben Frimston, Star of the Rowntree's Randoms advert' it would have sent our ticket sales through the roof.

But you can still see him for yourself in The Doubtful Guest at the Traverse from 18 to 30 August (with no performance on the 24th; click here for full performance details and to book.)

Of course, we wouldn't normally use the blog to carry adverts. But for Ben, we'll make an exception. Enjoy!

And if you're off to Latitude this weekend, come and find us with Hugh Hughes in the Theatre Tent on Sunday at 12.10pm...