Venue Pack 45 minutes no interval For family audiences 4+ Touring to small and mid-scale theatres Autumn 2017 & Spring 2018
INTRODUCTION An innovative, non-verbal solo show aimed at ages 4-10 and their families, A Strange New Space follows the journey of a girl called Amira. Amira is obsessed with space and has always dreamt of being an astronaut. One day, Amira s imagination crash-lands into her reality as she is forced to leave her home, so she packs her bag for the intergalactic trip she has been waiting for. The journey into her imagination is played out on stage, paralleled with her real journey as a refugee. A Strange New Space provides an exciting introduction to theatre and triggers conversations about a topic that has never been more relevant than in today's society. Photography by Paul Blakemore A Strange New Space is an original story using beautiful hand-made puppets, physical theatre and original music to bring one small child s journey across continents to the theatre. Devised, performed and produced by children's theatre specialist Tessa Bide. REVIEWS and TESTIMONIALS: "This is a very lovely show not just about the journey and adventures of a refugee child but about the brilliance of the imagination." Weston Super Mum "There is something magical about this solo production. Stripped of words, the production rests on Tessa Bide s performance, which captivates the audience from the start. Her performance is imbued with humour and compassion as she gently guides the audience through Amira s travails." Female Arts "An emotional rollercoaster...the topic of child refugees has been handled with great care and tenderness. We applaud Bide for getting the balance just right... just goes to show what an inspiring production this is, sparking curiosity and genuine wonder." Curious Mum "Lovely audience interaction and excellent comic timing...it s impossible not to believe in and warm to Bide as a performer she is winning, charismatic and versatile." Children's Theatre Reviews "I absolutely loved A Strange New Space - its a really beautiful, ambitious and important piece of work. It's very exciting to see such a complicated issue unpacked for such a young audience. My favourite sequence was when Amira visits a visa office, and the company make the process of getting papers seem like an alien abduction and interrogation! It's like Kaftka for children. The levels of fear and apprehension were skilfully managed and delicately balanced through the score and sound design. The set was powerful yet simple; as Tessa said after the show, if the audience have a cardboard box or a bottle, they can have exactly the same adventures at home." Felicity Ward, Senior Producer at Omnibus, Clapham (London)
REVIEWS FROM TESSA S OTHER SHOWS: The perfect example of a show where the adults are just as enthralled as the kids. A Younger Theatre (on Tessa Bide s The Tap Dancing Mermaid) Tessa Bide understands children in a way that can t be taught. Children s Theatre Reviews Bide absolutely smashes the fourth wall this is just everything a children s theatre experience should be. Childplays (on Tessa Bide s The Tap Dancing Mermaid) We knew straight away this was going to be a great show for kids. Weston Super Mum (on Tessa Bide s The Melody Makers) CREDITS: Original story by Tessa Bide Devised by the company Performer: Tessa Bide Director: Joseph Wallace Dramaturg: Mike Akers Movement Directors: Laura Street & Bryn Thomas Composer: Matt Huxley Designer: Sarah Dicks Lighting Designer: Joe Stathers R&D Direction: Adam Fuller Assistant Producer: Claire Crawford Production Assistant: Jemima Knight Produced by Tessa Bide Productions Photography by Paul Blakemore Bristol April 2017 ABOUT TESSA BIDE Bristol-based Tessa Bide started puppeteering and performing with renowned masters of children s theatre and puppetry, Stuff and Nonsense Theatre Company, in 2010. In 2012, Tessa embarked on her own theatre-making career. She is passionate about delivering high-quality theatrical experiences to children that inspire and excite but not patronise. She aims to excite the adults just as much as their children. Tessa has made four Arts Council England-funded productions: The Tap Dancing Mermaid, Arnold s Big Adventure, The Melody Makers and of course; A Strange New Space. The Tap Dancing Mermaid is a solo show for family audiences which has toured to sold-out audiences and brilliant reviews across the UK (including a run at Summerhall, during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2015) and has now been sold to Pigtails Productions. Arnold s Big Adventure is an innovative, intimate twohander, set in a custom-built bell tent with specially-adapted canvas for 360 shadow puppetry around the outside. The Melody Makers is a festive musical adventure, with over 20 instruments played by four talented Actor-Musicians throughout the show. A Strange New Space is Tessa s fourth production and first non-verbal piece, and began its first tour in Easter 2017.
SYNOPSIS Amira arrives in the space, she looks like she has been journeying. There is just a cardboard box and a room full of people watching her. She tries to act nonchalant in front of these people but secretly wants to make friends with them. After exploring the box, and making the audience laugh, she decides to invite the audience in on her story and the journey she has undertaken to arrive in this place today. She imagines her journey to be a space adventure, something she has always dreamt of going on, and she tells it just using the box and a few objects she has in her bag (a colouring book, bottle, bowl, two dolls and some bike lights). Throughout the show, Amira's imagined world is interwoven with her reality as a refugee, encountering strange lands and beings with different languages. We see her encounter a scary alien with eyes like searchlights and a checkpoint in which she has to try and pass using her colouring book as her passport. Stunning lighting, an original sound score and physical theatre are used throughout the show to differentiate between the two worlds, and Amira s blossoming relationship with the audience facilitates her in physically making a new friend to take with her, and finding the confidence to continue her journey. This one-woman show is non-verbal; using physical theatre, puppetry and music as an international language. It is therefore suitable for children of all nationalities, along with those with additional needs. The show is accessible and attractive for groups in our society who may find the arts intimidating, as well as being an exciting, beautiful and memorable production for the whole family to enjoy. Space is an appealing theme for all ages and genders and provides an appropriate metaphor for travelling to a new and unknown place. The show is thought-provoking but fun. THE PROCESS: The project underwent an Arts Council England funded R&D stage in October 2016, and an ACE-funded development stage in March-April 2017. The company worked closely with partner organisations May Park Primary School, Integrate UK, The Trinity Centre and Circomedia in order to create the show. Working with May Park Primary School, one of the largest and most diverse primaries in Bristol - with many of its students starting life outside of the UK - we ran a series of workshops across all KS2 year groups. These workshops enabled the children to play with the idea of home, 'journeys', 'first experiences' and space and create their own material which then went on to inform the initial creative process. To ensure that we could deliver these workshops as a safe and positive experience for all involved, we partnered with Integrate UK, a charity specialising in arts projects for refugee and asylum children who have settled in the UK. During rehearsals, the creative team expanded and built on the Photography by Paul Blakemore children s ideas, generating more concrete material for the show. This was performed in work-in-progress showings at May Park and partner venue The Trinity Centre, with additional support from second partner venue Circomedia. The tour started in April 2017, and is travelling over the UK until August when it goes to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the month (it will be in the Cairns Lecture Theatre at Summerhall at 10:45am every day). It is then touring nationally and internationally from Autumn 2017 - Autumn 2018, including a residency and run in Goa, India, during the Story of Space festival in November 2017.
EDUCATIONAL THEMES Tessa is an experienced workshop leader and Arts Award Advisor and will be co-writing a free downloadable Teacher s Resource Pack alongside the project s consultant teacher Yvonne Dobson for schools to use alongside to the tour. She is also available for workshops alongside the show. PSHE / RE / Geography / The Refugee Crisis The aim for this show was to educate and enable young children to start to ask questions and become curious about the experiences of people just like them, with similar interests and dreams, who may happen to be refugees. The very nature of the show brings themes of identity, nationality and difference into question for young people, which we hope will spark discussions about the refugee crisis and other journeys like Amira s. Through a gentle introduction to the topic in an accessible and engaging way, we hope to break the complexities of the issues of migration and journeying to new places down for young audiences. Amira will encounter lots of different people from around world on her journey; learning new languages and cultural traditions. This could be used as a discussion point in schools about inclusion and tolerance of others, not simply in terms of their race or religion but in terms of children as individuals and their different qualities and skills. Drama / Dance & Movement As a non-verbal show, movement is an integral and key storytelling device to A Strange New Space. We hope that a lack of dialogue will encourage children to see that there are many ways in which to write and tell a story. Amira tells her own story through her body, which helps to break through language barriers. MARKETING TOOLS Flyers and posters - A5 flyers, A3 and A4 posters. Full marketing support pack for venues (containing copy, press releases & PR ideas, box office information and biographical notes). Promotional teaser film Company website, Facebook page and twitter presence. Colour images supplied as jpegs. Post-show Q&A and interviews with the company on request. Photography by Paul Blakemore OUTLINE TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS The show is still in early development so technical requirements are an approximation. Generally: Get in and fit up will take approximately 3 hours. Get out will take approximately 1 hour. Minimum space 7m wide x 6m depth with a height of 3m. We have some flexibility within this. We carry a set of one freestanding cardboard box (fully fire retardant) which will be arranged to suit the space. Black box space required, with borders, legs and full black (or painted walls) in their standard configuration. PTO
Lighting: We require the space to be pre-rigged ahead of our arrival. Where this is not possible please contact us so that we can arrange earlier access to the venue. We tour with our own desk. We carry all colour required, but if you have colour in stock it will save time in the get out. Please feel free to substitute colour where necessary. Sound: Operated from Q-Lab on toured computer, with external soundcard. We require two balanced jack inputs to the house sound desk. We require a stereo PA system appropriate to the space. Where foldback is available, we will use it, but it is not required. For a full specification and plan please contact Joe Stathers on joe@joest.co.uk.