Welcome to 2012

A belated Happy New Year from myself, Hugh Hughes and the rest of the Hoipolloi team. We're all really looking forward to the year ahead. It's certainly going to be busy and I hope you'll be able to join us along the way.

Hugh has already started the year with some very good news. His afternoon play version of Floating, created with BBC Radio 4 has been nominated for "Best Scripted Comedy Drama" at the first ever BBC Audio Drama Awards. The ceremony, to be hosted by David Tennant, takes place on 29 January and we'll let you know how he gets on.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us during the autumn. I certainly had lots of fun driving Hugh to a couple of places for performances of 360 and the year ended in style with the run of Story of a Rabbit at Sydney Opera House.

At present, we're in the thick of development for Hugh's brand new project, Stories from an Invisible Town. Here's a quick intro from Hugh...

Stories from an Invisible Town - An Introduction (by Hugh Hughes by hughhughes

It'll be both an online space and a live work, which will tour the UK in the autumn. We'll be announcing more information as the year progresses but if you're in Cambridge, you can get some sneak previews by joining Hugh for some further work-in-progress performances at The Junction. These take place on 8 March, 20 April and 25 May. More details here.

We look forward to sharing our work with you in the not too distant future and hope you'll be able to join us at some point this year.

Simon Bedford
Executive Producer, Hoipolloi

ps. if you live in or near Cambridge, we think these might be of interest...

NIE: Clown on stage - a master class at The Junction
This Master Class led by NIE’s Artistic Director, Alex Byrne will explore the physical preparation of the body for performance through work on pure and expressive movement and the playfulness of the actors in performance through games and group work. Alex will explore work in red noses as a way to access emotions, material and playfulness.

Saturday 4 February from 11am – 6pm
Suitable for ages 18+
Price: £35 (£25 conc)

To book: please visit www.junction.co.uk/artist/4058

HOTBED 2012: CAMBRIDGE’S NEW WRITING FESTIVAL

26 - 29 January at The Junction

12 new commissions, live literature, film showings, masterclasses, workshops, a One-Page-Play Competition and free foyer events.

Writers at Hotbed: Janice Okoh (Bruntwood Award Winner 2011); Ed Harris (Writers’ Guild Award Winner 2011); Chris O’Connell (Multiple Fringe First Award Winner), plus many more of the UK’s leading and up-and-coming writers.

Guest Production: Hotbed will host world-class production of SILENT by Ireland’s leading new writing company, Fishamble.  The show was the hit of the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and won a plethora of awards, including the prestigious Fringe First Award.

Box office: 01223 511511 or book online: www.junction.co.uk

Exclusive previews in Sydney

 

Are you in Sydney? Perhaps you'd like to join Hugh Hughes at Carriageworks for some exclusive work-in-progress sharings of Stories from an Invisible Town.

The sharings take place this week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (15 to 17 December) at 8pm. They are free to attend, all you need to do is sign-up here online beforehand to reserve your place:

Stories from an Invisible Town is Hugh's brand new project and an artistic investigation of childhood. It's probably easiest if I let Hugh explain...

Stories from an Invisible Town - An Introduction (by Hugh Hughes by hughhughes

Posted by Simon Bedford, Executive Producer, Hoipolloi

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)

Things to see in Cambridge

For anyone in Cambridge, I wanted to share a couple of recommendations of things you should definitely see at The Junction over the next month or so.

Starting next Monday, the fabulous Non Zero One are heading to the city with The Time Out. I've become a huge fan of this emerging company since seeing their technically spectacular and surprisingly emotional show, Would Like To Meet at the Barbican Centre last year. And their beautifully poignant farewell to the old Bush Theatre recently was one of the best shows I've seen for a while.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Time Out when I caught it in Edinburgh this year - it's a great opportunity to bond with strangers and become a successful team in the space of an hour. You'll need to be prepared to get involved but trust me, it's definitely worth it! 

As it's a limited capacity, some of the performances are already sold out. There are currently spaces left at 9pm on Mon 21 Nov and then 6pm, 7.30pm and 9pm on Tue 22 Nov and Wed 23 Nov.

More info here at The Junction's website... http://junction.co.uk/artist/3687

And if you're looking for Christmas entertainment, our good friends at NIE are creating Hansel and Gretal  for your viewing pleasure.

Not only that, but Hoipolloi's own Associate Director, Stefanie Mueller is both designing and performing in the show.

The show opens on 7 December and runs right the way through until 3 January so there's plenty of opportunity to catch the show. And as they say, it's "a delicious Christmas show for the whole family to enjoy."

More info here at The Junction's website... http://junction.co.uk/artist/3419

And NIE are blogging their way through the making of the show so if you'd like to see what Steffi has been up to, you can see plenty of pics here.

Posted by Simon Bedford (Hoipolloi's Executive Producer)

A few reminders and recommendations

Firstly, a quick reminder that Hugh is performing 360 at the Words in Walden Festival over in Saffron Walden on Friday night (7 October). There's still a few tickets left and you can find out more by visiting the festival's website.

For those of you in Cambridge, Hugh will also be doing some more work-in-progress on his new project, Stories from an Invisible Town at The Junction on Friday 28 October if you'd like to join him. More info here.

The Junction itself has a packed autumn schedule and if you're in Cambridge I can definitely recommend getting yourself down to see as much as it as you can, including (if you can get a ticket) Little Bulb's Operation Greenfield which is on tonight and tomorrow. I adored this show when I saw it at Soho Theatre in the summer and if you enjoy Hugh's work, I'm sure you'll be charmed by this too.

In the week before Hugh's visit to The Junction, Forced Entertainment will be bringing Void Story to Cambridge on 18 & 19 October. Forced Entertainment's work is admired around the world and, although I'm sure it'll be quite different from the work we produce, it sounds very intriguing. Here's a taster...

And in November, you should definitely be getting yourself a ticket to Non Zero One's The Time Out. I love their work (they're most definitely my favourite company at the moment) and I saw this in Edinburgh in the summer. You need to be prepared to work with your fellow audience members to become a successful team but it's a lot of fun too.

And finally, just to give some balance to non-Cambridge things - if you're a director and can get yourself to London, why not book yourself a place on Told by an Idiot's intensive Director's workshop with Paul Hunter. It's taking place from 17 to 21 October at the Jerwood Studios and costs £200. More info here.

Posted by Simon Bedford (Executive Producer, Hoipolloi)