© Broken Glass 2009

Broken Glass: Projects

Current

Scenes From the City [As part of 'Beyond the Curve']

Scenes from the City (5.45pm, Sunday 4th April, Beyond the Curve at The Camden Head) 'A million miles away, or so it just as well might be, the actress dreams she is made of words' As part of Beyond the Curve (link to our homepage and programme) we are proud to present a radio play based on a series of short stories by Vicky Flood, accompanied by an exhibition of Ben Lambert's surreal illustrations from the original stories, and photography by David Reece of the city landscape. The illustrations will be displayed alongside the photography, re-ordered and re-arranged throughout the exhibition to demonstrate the changing nature of the piece's connections. Radio play featuring Daniel Binham, Iain Blackwell, Alex Buckingham, Louisa Coward, Vicky Flood, Imogen Goodman, and Thomas Ward. Directed by Alex Buckingham and Vicky Flood Illustrations by Ben Lambert, photography by David Reece. For full details, click here, and for a full programme of the evening please click here..

Short Fuse [Ongoing Performance Platform]

Following the success of the first Short Fuse back in February, Broken Glass Theatre Company are proud to present the return of Short Fuse at the Camden Head on Sunday 15th November. Short Fuse is a twice-yearly performance platform showcasing new dramatic and musical talent. The evening includes five short plays and extracts from new works in development from young writers, directors and companies - with support from musical acts. Many of the performances you see here will be heading to Fringe festivals and London venues in full this summer, and Short Fuse is your first chance to see them. Featuring new work from award-winning poet Helen Mort, 'ventriloquent agitation' from London puppetry troupe The Dummy Company, a light show from Wellcome Trust sponsored visual artist Jennie Pedley, the quirky acoustics of Laura Hocking, and a preview of the opening act of Broken Glass's summer performance 'Paul McCartney is Dead', Short Fuse presents a gathering storm of London's newest theatrical and musical talent. For full details, click here, and for a full programme of the evening please click here..

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History

The Golem [The Roundhouse Studio Theatre, Chalk Farm Road, August 2009]

Broken Glass presented The Golem at The Roundhouse Studio Theatre as part of The Camden Fringe 2009. A 1915 novel by Gustav Meyrink, The Golem tells of a psychic phenomenon sweeping the Jewish ghetto in Prague during the early years of the twentieth century. The centuries-old myth of the Golem, a superhuman figure made out of clay and animated by kabbalistic words, re-asserts itself violently in the thoughts and actions of the inhabitants of that quarter once a generation. This is traced through the experiences of the novel's narrator Pernath, and those he encounters. An original script matched to choreographed movement and music, The Golem works with only the essential elements of performance, drawing them together in a tangible synthesis in which every word, movement and tone counts. Broken Glass Theatre Company will bring the Golem legend to a 21st century audience, in a unique production re-telling the tales, mysteries, and magic surrounding this age-old story.

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Short Fuse [The Liberties Bar, 100 Camden High Street, Friday 6th February 2009]

An opportunity for new or young performers, writers and directors and a platform for experimental and innovative theatre, the night marks the coming together of young companies, directors, and writers to try out new ideas in a supportive environment. Taking place above Liberties Bar in Camden, the space is basic and unadorned, allowing for total re-definition for each performance. Very much an experiment in Poor Space, the companies will use all of their dramatic ingenuity to make the space their own, creating productions which do not rely on expensive devices, possessing merit as works of pure theatre. As part of Short Fuse we adapted a scene from The Golem, by Gustav Meyrink. This scene of heightened electricity revolves around the telling of stories and seedy exchanges taking place at Salon Loisitschek, the underground bar at the heart of the Jewish ghetto in turn-of-the-century Prague. In it we intended to show the reactive malleability of the immediate on-stage audience to the myths and urban legends current in their environment; stories possessing a transformative power verging upon cruelty. The piece is characterised by a synthesis of music, physical performance styles, and poetic diction, something which we hope to pursue in our up-coming full length production of The Golem at The Camden Fringe in August 2009. For details of the other acts who performed at Short Fuse, in February 2009, click here

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Song [Edinburgh Fringe 2008: Rocket @ Demarco Roxy Art House, 19th - 24th August 2008]

An original piece of writing, the Cambridge run of Song was acclaimed as a sensitive portrait of psychological collapse. The piece employs innovative performance methods and storytelling techniques through a disjointed narrative charting the last days and memories of a troubled young man in the wake of his chaotic relationships, who mixes images, and ghosts, of the distant past with his immediate surroundings, to narrate his own story. The project was very much about giving the unspoken, and the unspeakable, a voice. An experiment in audience engagement, the performance was intricately structured to give an appearance of sparseness which confronted the audience directly with the protagonist and his narrative. Cast: Steven King, Lydia Birch and Andrew Buckingham. Click here to view the video of the recording made of Song during the Edinburgh run. Reviews 'This is harrowing and dark, but serves as an atmospheric and deeply haunting tale of revenge and desperation...' read more Audience Reviews 'Song drags you through a mire of emotions with passion and considerable grace...' read more 'Song is a sharp-edged drama in which three actors, nameless and black-clad, triangulate around a single prop: a cast-iron bathtub that in the course of the play starts to take on a fateful look...' Read more - View the publicity flyer online.

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Broken Glass [Corpus Christi Playroom, Cambridge, 2nd-26th January 2008]

"Do you remember the night we met? You stepped on the bottle shards between the cracks in the pavement...We danced in your bedroom, to the sound of broken glass." Two short plays unified under the themes of fragility and fragmentation. Losing Adonis is a modern treatment of classical myth, exploring the consequences of a life lived through fairytale. Song recalls the chaotic memories of a troubled young man on the brink of self-destruction. Broken Glass is a new and innovative project, drawing on the loves and losses so common to us all, yet so resolutely unique. Cast: Ian Calvert, Rob Frimston, Julia Hart, Steven King, Eve Rosato, and Jennifer Wainwright.

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The Taming of the Shrew [Clare May Week Show, 20th-23rd June 2007]

Shakespeare's classic comedy relocated to the world of manners, tea-dances and the serious matter of the marriage market, as suitors vie for the affections of the eligible Bianca, whilst her sharp-tongued sister Katherina battles against the crazed and persistent attentions of Petruchio. A battle of wills and intrigue of disguises and deceptions, set in the beautiful surroundings of Clare College's sunken garden, starring some of Cambridge's most promising young actors, musicians, dancers and performers. Cast includes: Anna Hobbis, Tom Hensby, Imogen Begg, Ian Calvert. Photos: David Reece, Samuel Dub.