Avon Calling by The Other Way Works (photo by Chris Keenan)
When: 9th – 31st March 2012
Where: Camden People’s Theatre, 58 – 60 Hampstead Road, London NW1 2PY
£: Prices vary
What is it?
Sprint is Camden People’s Theatre’s (CPT’s) flagship annual festival of eclectic experimental theatre, the first to be presented by the venue’s new co-directors Jenny Paton and Brian Logan. This year they will summon audiences to riot, try to sell perfume to them in their own homes, and invite them into tents to talk about monsters. The programme includes over forty of the most exciting performers and companies shaping the UK theatre scene today, with work ranging from music to new writing, poetry, and interactive performance.
Highlights include Greg McLaren in A Symphony for Audience and Performer, Avon Calling by The Other Way Works, and Your Last Breath by Curious Directive.
Other performers include Tom Frankland, who’s returning to CPT after Frankland & Sons with a work-in-progress Don Quijote, BBC writer Molly Naylor with My Robot Heart, and internationally award-winning NIE with Tales from a Sea Journey.
Below are just some of the unique and quirky theatre performances you can expect to see as part of the Sprint Festival.
Kalagora by Siddartha Bose on 9th March at 7.30pm (£10, concessions £8):
From the street surrealism of Mumbai to London’s East End via Manhattan on Millennium night, the global wanderer collides with a midget tobacconist, paranoid immigration officers and cross-dressing hedonists. Splicing poetry with theatre, Siddhartha Bose exposes the shock of the megacity. Produced by Penned in the Margins.
The Last Tea Party by Amy Draper on 12th & 13th March at 9pm (£8, concessions £6):
From the director of Sunday Morning at the Centre of the World at Southwark Playhouse. The world will end in 40 minutes. A group of strangers assembles in one woman’s living room and tries to make up for lost time. This interactive piece explores loneliness in the city, while hinting at those bigger questions that are best discussed with a cup of tea.
Malaise Trio by Future Ruins on 13th & 14th March at 7pm (£10, concessions 8):
Following their sold-out tour of Exterminating Angel last year, Future Ruins return with a wildly original new show. This brutally naturalistic new play is improvised afresh by actors every performance. The characters watch live television: whatever is being broadcast on a particular evening becomes integrated into each show. The result is a seemingly unperformed black comedy, unrepeatable from one showing to the next.
The Games by Spike Theatre on 16th & 17th March at 7.30pm, extra show at 4pm on Sat (£10, concessions £8):
The story of three Greek nobodies caught up in a celestial bet between Zeus, Hera and Hercules, this comedy incorporates sporting equipment, original music, clown, shadow puppetry and scenes of simulated nudity…
Presented in association with Unity Theatre & The Met, The Games is co-directed by Mark Smith with Toby Park (Spymonkey).
Avon Calling by The Other Way Works on 16th – 18th March at 6pm & 9pm (£150 per performance):
Join the Avon Lady in the cosy surrounds of your own living room for an intimate Avon Party with a twist. Invite your friends round to share in a celebration of beauty in all its forms, and uncover the secrets that lurk beneath your visitor’s perfectly polished exterior. Avon Calling is performed in audience members’ own houses – for up to 10 audience members at a time. One ticket is booked by the householder.
Available to households within 30mins of CPT on public transport.
The Reservation by Ellie Harrison and Jaye Kearney on 20th & 21st March, performances every hour, on the hour, from 12pm to 10pm (£10):
An intimate performance in a nearby hotel, for one person at a time. The Reservation is the second part of Ellie Harrison’s Grief Series, and offers visitors time and space for reflection on and remembrance of those we love.
Presented in association with Best Western, at Swiss Cottage Hotel, 4 Adamson Road, NW3.
A Symphony for Audience and Performer by Greg McLaren on 28th & 29th March at 7.30pm (£10, concessions £8):
A trilogy of performances / interactions taking an oblique view of the social situation in England. A character that seems to be an animal looks for recognition from his masters. He then takes the form of Steve Jobs – back from the dead to tell us about his desires. Finally, he leads the audience in a riot.
More info: For more new and interesting theatre performances visit www.cptheatre.co.uk and sprintfestival.wordpress.com.