Welcome to a world of wonder. Welcome to a world of absolute possibility. This is BackPage. We Want Your Soul.

Transcription

1 Welcome to a world of wonder. Welcome to a world of absolute possibility. This is BackPage. We Want Your Soul. Journey A New Play by Matthew Emeny & Calf 2 Cow Company in association with theatrelab Within the walls of a base pumping, heart rocking nightclub, Lucky a young girl, determined to find her boyfriend, makes one simple mistake that sends her tumbling down the deepest and darkest of holes. Find the monsters that hide under your bed. The Lawyers who own your soul. The woods full of corpse s. The hope that never dies. Brand new Ensemble Company, Calf 2 Cow, led by theatre-maker Matthew Emeny, present this brand new, brave, multi-role performance. Developed after four weeks of research and development during SparkFest Bath Journey is a play that exposes the hidden horrors that lurk just around the corner.

2 Production Background: Journey, is an experiential, intermate, intense and boundary pushing theatre production that was created in reaction to an article in the Bath Chronicle. The paper reported that a nail bar in the heart of Bath had been closed due to its workforce being trafficked from Vietnam. Disgusted by my own naivety and complete lack of knowledge towards this epidemic, the article prompted as a springboard into further research. The discovery that nearly 50% of all trafficked women in the UK are from the UK was utterly shocking; more so, that many did not know this was even happening, or if they did, they would never consider it could happen to them or their friends. Through conversations with my peers and colleagues, it was found that very few people, within my own community of 18-35, knew about the high level of slavery taking place in the UK today. Furthermore, many people had no idea it was affecting under-age, local UK nationals, of any class and any background. Journey was created over an 18 day research and development phase and played over two evenings within SparkFest in May Achieving sell-out audiences, highly praised feedback and a 4 star review. The story is of Lucky as she searches for her runaway boyfriend. After an unexpected night of partying, she finds herself alone, missing all her personal belongings. What appears to be a welcoming act of kindness leads her tumbling down a path where our worst nightmares live. In a click of a finger Lucky goes from a young innocent woman to enslaved, drug addicted sex worker. The production was developed and written using real accounts of survivors. Only the characters and locations had been devised from fiction. It is of most importance to the company to construct and present a piece of theatre that displayed the truth. The theatrical components of the production, from the marketing plan to the play its self was created in mind of our target audience, A generation immersed within on-demand high budget media. We have created a piece of theatre that immersers and provides a new theatrical live experience. It is a mash up of immersion, and intermate in-yer-face theatre. Think TrainSpotting Live meets Mercury Fur. The production has now partnered with Charity Unseen and the Bristol Cathedral as we work towards an ACE application for further development and productions.

3 Review: Journey is an all too real horror story about the disturbing things that go unnoticed in the dark. It focuses on Lucky, a fifteen year old girl who parties solo one fateful night, and loses her bag at the club. A seemingly caring, wellspoken woman called Scab comes to the teenager s aid, tempting her with a warm cup of cocoa at her home (big red flag there), where we meet Scab s eccentric writer partner, La Pa. Both of whom you guessed it turn out to be not so nice at all Lucky finds herself locked in their dingy basement with another trapped girl, Star Flower (who has Stockholm Syndrome) and a bag of rice to keep her company. Burdall s Yard is somewhat like a basement itself; the tunnelling, narrow walls play a fitting part in the girls claustrophobic predicament. Additionally, the use of contrast lighting cleverly represents glimmers of hope, but also fades into hopelessness. Matthew Emeny s writing is solid and worthy of a chuckle when needed. His script is excellently brought to life by a small cast of Bath Spa University students who aren t afraid to laugh maniacally, convey gut-wrenching emotion, or occasionally switch roles. In particular, the actors portraying La Pa and Scab know exactly how to trick the audience with their deceptive duo but which characters are we supposed to trust? It s all part of Journey s engrossing game All I want is your soul. Nothing more, nothing less. Scab taunts menacingly. This is where my mature content warning comes in. Journey features several strong, graphic scenes. That s one of the reasons why I questioned if I d wandered into the wrong show. From its advertising, I was under the impression that Journey consisted of three different storylines within one play. While I think there were elements of the other two, the story really centres around Lucky s misfortune. The actors convincingly give their all, especially in traumatic scenes, which makes this intense show hard to stomach at times. I thought it was a nice touch to be handed a glow stick bracelet at the Box Office (acting as my ticket) which made sense when the audience were ushered into a night club setting by the characters. Oh, and to add to the

4 scare-factor, they were wearing grungy, intimidating clown make up. Let s just say this production wouldn t feel out of place at Halloween! Given Journey s heavy content, to say I enjoyed the show wouldn t be the right choice of words, but I didn t dislike it either the stellar performances and faultless production value all contributed to telling this depressing story in the way it was intended. One to watch if you re in the mood for an hour of insane theatre. Stay safe. **** Lauren Skillman Creatives: Written and Directed by Matthew Emeny (Calf 2 Cow) Designed by Erica Groves Lighting Design by Connor Sullivan Sound Design by Mike Jordan

5 Co-Produced by Kerry Irvine and Spark Fest 2018 Theatre Makers Bio: Since training in Acting at Bath Spa University Mathew has worked in and created productions across theatre and film. Work includes Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Directed by John Ward, Romeo in Rome and Juliet, (Blue Orange Theatre), Jamster in NightFlyer, (Lion and Unicorn), Ferdinand in The Tempest (Petersfield Shakespeare Company) Jez in Philip Ridleys MoonFleece (Onset Productions) and Hayden in Matthews writing debut Footprints (Winner of a Bath Fringe 5 star review). Matthew has helped design and create multirole children s theatre for Far Fetched Productions and Rainbow South West. Matthew recently premiered his first professional short film production, Othello directed by Martin Denham, Matthew appeared as Iago. The film is a British Urban Film Fest official selection. Matthew is a working member of the Natural Theatre Company, performing comedy street theatre across the world and directing the Youth theatre, where he recently collaborative with the very impressive, The Man Engine (2018) event. Matthew is an Associate producer for OnSet Productions and Co-Director of theatrelab. Previous Produced Work: NightFlyer By Martin Malcom - ****(4 Star) Theatre Bath 2015 Altogether a hugely impressive example of the standard of professionalism and passion that comes out of Bath Spa University these days. This isn t pretty, it is remarkable (Don t Mention the M Word) An absorbing piece of theatre that grabbed myself and the rest of the audience and kept us spellbound until the final moment. (London Theatre 1 ****) 2016 Emeny is so quick and sly that you don t realise what you re thinking until it s too late. (A Younger Theatre) 2016 Footprints By Matthew Emeny - ***** (5 Star) Theatre Bath 2017 A performance of tremendous emotional intensity This is hard-hitting, gut-wrenching stuff, and their performances are faultless, mesmerising; the onstage rapport palpable, the emotional truth shattering in its impact. This beautifully-crafted production is a theatrical experience of exceptional power, meaning, and truth. More, please.

6 Journey Technical. Running time: 1 hour Cast: 5 Performance space Traverse with additional seating at the end. Set: None Main Props: 1 bench. Tech: Projector, PA system, full lighting rig with strobes. Get In 30mins Audience warning: This play contains moments of extreme sexual and physical violence. Strobe lighting, loud music and blood. The show has been developed from the accounts of survivors of Human and Sex Trafficking. Every moment of violence has been created from truthful, factual events, that can be found across UK broad sheets and Documentary's. The production is unsuitable for those who feel such events will trigger personal trauma and are uncomfortable with staged violence. You are free to leave the show at any moment. Ushers are on hand to assist @theatrelab #Journey For more information about booking and programming Contact: Matthew on matthew.emeny93@gmail.com Examples of Marketing images below.

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