Jude Starbeam and the Shadow Planet
A play for 7-11 year olds

Intrepid space explorers Captain Jude Starbeam and his sister, Major Nix,
Set out to find the mythical Sunstar plant – but the mission goes wrong.
Jude is sucked into a black hole, and is stranded on a shadow planet…
Nix searches the universe to find him, but when she does, he has changed:
Will they ever be able to fly through space together again?
Told through shadow puppetry and song,
this is a story about the love that endures when someone we love has changed.

Inspired by stories of young people growing up with a brain injury, Jude Starbeam and the Shadow Planet is a challenging and exciting new production about how two siblings come to terms with this trauma.

 

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The production will also tour with a workshop specially designed for primary school children years 4 and 5 . Visit here for more details.

BRITAIN’S GOT TENANTS

When did property become more valuable than the people who live in it? This is the fundamental question at the heart our Britain’s Got Tenants. The piece will take the form a variety show – Britain’s Got Talent by way of a history of social housing – with music (a DJ, sing-alongs), spoken word and comedy sketches. It will tour to spaces on or near estates: community centres, youth centres, or rooms in the backs of pubs. We want to make this a show with a party atmosphere which turns into a party with social housing residents afterwards – an opportunity for audience members to mingle with their neighbours and find out more about their tenants’ association.

While our  initial research is based in London, we want to explore what this question means beyond the metropolis. The housing crisis affects the whole country and input from communities living outside the capital will ensure the project’s relevance to areas across the UK.  We’re working alongside the West End Arts Centre in Aldershot and The Theatre Chipping Norton to explore issues of housing in the regions.

We’re making a series of podcasts about our research. Have a listen to them here!

 

              

 

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BEYOND TICS
Witty Ticcy Ray

on the button made a series of workshops and a short performance based around Witty Ticcy Ray from Oliver Sacks’ best- selling book, The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and conversations had with young people who have Tourette’s Syndrome.
Set in the sixties’ New-York Jazz scene, where Ray is a talented weekend drummer, the story wass fuelled by musicality and rhythm: the atypical rhythms of Ray’s Tourette’s, the slow, sedated rhythms induced by medication, and the wild rhythms of jazz drumming which plays a central part in his life.

In May 2014, the company performed a scratch of the work created, and invited people who had inspired our research to take part in a discussion panel.

Credits: Lexi Bradburn / Alex Lehman / Joe White / Sophie Winter
Director: Ben Hadley
Producer: Irene Paganelli
Sound designer: Jon McLeod
Set Designer: Carys Beard

With thanks to: Isobel Heyman and Tara Murphy of Great Ormond Street Hospital and Ruth Ojadi from Tourettes Action and London Brain Project

         

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NO PLACE LIKE

A piece of theatre inspired by the true stories of elderly people living in care homes

Rosa, Jean and Grantley are delighted to have you round for tea! Jean will be mother, Grantley’s the birthday boy, and Rosa’s in charge of the balloon.

An exuberant, poetic piece of theatre, by turns funny and touching, No Place Like charmed audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe and Stratford- Upon- Avon, and sold out shows in London and Exeter.

Winner: Mimetic Festival ‘Best Ensemble’ Award

Credits: Ben Hadley / Monika Lindeman / Sophie Winter
Deviser- director: Bryony Thomas
Sound design: Amber Priestley
Set Design: Tom Bravington
Costume Design: Sarah Booth
Graphic Design: Tom Harris

Press:

They managed to make the audience both laugh and cry… A must see
One Stop Arts *****

Genuinely Moving
The Herald Scotland ****

[The company] yield a play that is as good fun as it is a touch absurdist, and yet unexpectedly thoughtful.
The Skinny

The cast… are spot-on in their characterisations and display an attention to simple movement not often seen in this sort of UK-based ensemble.
The Stage

A beautiful piece of theatre…  thoughtful and engaging as well as superbly clever and witty.
Everything Theatre ****

 

             

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THE OVERCOAT

Akaky Akakievitch, an impoverished clerk, lives for his work while harbouring secret fantasies of greatness. But when too many harsh Russian winters take their toll on his beloved overcoat, he is forced to buy a new one or die in the cold. Only, how to pay for it is another matter… Sacrifices must be made, but at what cost? And to whom?

Gogol’s tale of one man’s struggle to overcome his own mediocrity is re-imagined as high octane physical theatre with live musical accompaniment from the Lecoq based company. Infused with dark comedy and packed with gaudy characters, The Overcoat is an unmissable celebration of a classic story.

Credits: Tom Bailey / Ben Hadley / Bryony Thomas / Sophie Winter
Set Design: Tom Bravington
Animation: Sue Elliott

Nominated: Best Play at the Buxton Fringe 2012.

Press:

[The company] have what it takes
Fringe Review ****                                 

[The company] give a virtuoso physical performance of Gogol’s short story… This is obviously a talented company
Total Theatre

Lovely… [an] enervating evening watching lively and engaging theatre
G- Scene

Previous casts include: Jon Levin / Rachel Lincoln / Maiken Schjøll Frisch / Kim Theodoridou Bergquist / Daivika Elouard

Musicians: Charlie Davies / Jonah Klein / Edward Day

 

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COMMISSIONS

on the button also do commissions for charity events or for one off shows. Our most recent have included:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Armscote Manor in association with The Orchestra of The Swan

The Trial of Portia as part of Smooth Faced Gentlemen’s Work Bard, Play Bard

Political Animals as part of Theatre Uncut at The Young Vic