The Global Playground
Manchester International Festival & Theatre Rites
Great Northern Warehouse, 2021
Director - Sue Buckmaster
Choreographer - Gregory Maqoma
Designer - Ingrid Hu
Composer - Ayanna Witter-Johnson
Lighting Designer - Guy Hoare
Sound Designer - Nick Sagar
Production Manager - Ali Beale
Digital Film & Production - Martin Riley
Assistant Director - Rebecca Taylor Sharman
Assistant Choreographer - Gemma Nixon
Assistant Designer - Michael Douglas
Puppet Makers - Stitches & Glue, Talk to the Hand
Performers - Jahmarley Bachelor, Thulani Chauke, Annie Edwards, Sean Garratt, Merlin Jones, Kennedy Junior Muntanga, Charmene Pang
Photography by Tristram Kenton
A group of dancers meet to make a film – but things get wonderfully weird when the camera takes on a life of its own…
We can now connect with anyone, in person and on screen – but is the camera our friend, our playmate or something else entirely? Partly inspired by our year under lockdown, The Global Playground explored the magic of our first encounters, how we play together, how we connect and sometimes disconnect – and ultimately how we make the most of the time we spend together, however we spend it.
ZERAFFA GIRAFFA
An Omnibus Theatre and Little Angel Theatre co-production
A play by Sabrina Mahfouz
Based on the book by Dianne Hofmeyr and illustrated by Jane Ray
Director – Elgiva Field
Puppets and Puppetry – Matthew Hutchinson
Set and Costume Designer – Ingrid Hu
Composer – Candida Caldicot
Lighting Designer – Oscar Wyatt
Sound Designer – Jon McCleod
Cast – Ashton Owen, Andre Refig, Nadia Shash
Photography by Ellie Kurttz
21 September – 4 November, 2017 Little Angel Theatre, London
25 Nov – 17 Dec, 2017 Omnibus Theatre, London
Production for Young People aged 0-7
Based on the book by award-winning children’s author Dianne Hofmeyr, Zeraffa Giraffa is inspired by the true tale of a giraffe and its keeper Atir. Sent as a diplomatic gift from the Great Pasha of Egypt to the King of France in the 1820s, the story follows the various stages of the epic trip taken by these two companions. The pair are thrown through terrifying storms and encounter all sorts of nerve jangling creatures – and not to mention locals – before they arrive in France where no one has seen an animal like Zeraffa before.
Working in close collaboration with the creative team, the design of the stage and costumes evolved from ideas based around children’s perception of the visual world. Objects, scenery and costumes transform with and by the puppets and performers in unexpected and imaginative ways.
★★★★★ “a delightful production” Theatre Bubble
★★★★ “This is such a creative production with spellbinding surprises galore for the little ones, not to mention the wonderfully mature themes of difference and friendship”
Everything Theatre
★★★★ “interesting insights for all ages to ponder on”
London Theatre 1
Light / Dark
SU-EN Butoh Company, Uppsala Concert and Congress studio, Sweden
Installation performance
Filament LED light bulbs, cables, paper
Choreography - SU-EN
Light installation - Ingrid Hu
Music - Mikael Stavöstrand
Performers - Madeleine Holmund, Heiko Klandt
Photography by Ingrid Hu
We perceive light because we experience darkness. It is never just one or the other.
For over a century, we live as if we no longer rely on daylight. It is a paradox of wanting both. Artificial light presents a physiological dilemma, and more so in a place like Sweden where duration of daylight varies from one extremity to the other.
The installation is a response to this constant power negotiation between light and dark, seen and unseen. An artificial topography of light that evolves and adapts around our changing body. At the centre, a luminous element remains constant, reminding us the physical reality that dictates our natural world. This topography illuminates, in total darkness, and in our mind.
Invited by SU-EN, the collaboration started with a research and development period around light as a material. Using commonly available domestic light bulbs, the process involved dipping light bulbs in paint to reveal the glowing filament and making the glass to be its own light shade.
Produced by SU-EN Butoh Company and Uppsala Konsert & Kongress, Sweden
Chotto Xenos
Akram Khan Company
World tour
XENOS Artistic Direction and Original Choreography - Akram Khan
Chotto Xenos Direction and Adaptation - Sue Buckmaster (Theatre-Rites)
Set Designer - Ingrid Hu
Lighting Designer - Guy Hoare
Original Music - Domenico Angarano, inspired by Vincenzo Lamagna’s score for XENOS
Sound Design - Domenico Angarano, Phil Wood
Costume Design - Kimie Nakano
Film and Projection Design - Lucy Cash
Assistant Choreographer - Nicola Monaco
Rehearsal Directors - Nicolas Ricchini, Amy Butler
Dancer - Guilhem Chatir or Kennedy Junior Muntanga
Photography by Jean Louis Fernandez
How does war begin? And how does it end? It depends on who is telling the story.
Inspired by the award winning final full-length solo XENOS, Chotto Xenos is a captivating dance production that takes young audiences back in time, exploring the often forgotten and untold stories of World War 1 colonial soldiers, in order to shine light on our present and future.
Chotto Xenos will be performed by either Guilhem Chatir or Kennedy Junior Muntanga and is for anyone over the age of 8.
