I'm very proud to announce that Hugh Hughes won Best Scripted Comedy Drama at the BBC Audio Drama Awards last night. It's a real honour, particularly as Floating was both Hugh's first live show and his first work to be broadcast on the radio.
Andrew Davies, who wrote the TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, was one of the judges in Hugh's category and this is what he had to say about Floating:
"Floating
was totally original. Generally I hate fantasy, but this was very different,
somehow sweetly earnest as well as daft, with sadness at the heart of it. I
loved it that it had a cast of two, and I’d never heard of either of them. It
used the radio medium with enormous (concealed) sophistication and reminded one
of the almost limitless power of radio to create a world."
The award itself was presented by actor Richard Wilson and, as you can see from the photo, Hugh also met David Tennant who was master of ceremonies.
It being radio awards, someone sneakily managed to record some audio of Hugh on stage...
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...
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)
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.
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...
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.
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.
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."
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