Award-winning company 1927 returns to the UK for the first time since 2021 with their new show Please right back at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre, where they are Associate Artists, from 24 – 27 July. The production then travels to the Edinburgh International Festival (2 – 11 Aug) before embarking on a UK Wide Tour to Oxford Playhouse (25 – 28 Sep), Northern Stage (1-5 Oct), Exeter Northcott (9-12 Oct), Leeds Playhouse (15 – 19 Oct), Derby Theatre (29-30 Oct), Belgrade Theatre (1-2 Nov) and The Old Market, Brighton (6-21 Dec).
Combining handcrafted animation and bold storytelling, Please right back sweeps audiences into a magical, mischievous world, inspired by a true story.
Kim and Davey’s dad, Mr E, has disappeared. When Mr E writes to his children to tell them what has happened, his imagination takes over. Reality collides with fantasy, as we travel on a fast-paced journey through his wild adventure stories.
Mr E’s letters are staged using song, dance, and absurd, subversive animations, as his stories become a kind of game between him and his children – a cathartic release in the face of distress.
Please right back explores the difficulties children go through when a parent leaves the family. Part social realism, part science fiction with animation, live action, a filmic soundscape, and song Please Right Back is a eulogy to the power of the imagination and the use of storytelling and make believe to get through difficulties.
1927 works at the intersection of animation and performance, the live and the digital. Founded in 2005 by Co-Artistic Directors Writer & Director Suzanne Andrade and Illustrator and Animator Paul Barritt, since its 2007 debut 1927 has worked across theatre and opera to craft multi award-winning productions of ambition and scale that synchronise performance and live music with handcrafted animation.
Please right back is written by Suzanne Andrade, directed by Esme Appleton and Suzanne Andrade with Animation and Video by Paul Barritt, stage design by Paul Barritt and 1927, music and sound by Laurence Owen, costume by Sarah Munro and dramaturgy by Andreas Karlaganis, Ben Francome & Shelley Hastings. The German language version of Please right back, Mehr als Alles Aus Der Welt, was a co-production with Burgtheater Vienna which premiered in October 2022, ran for a year and won the Stella Performing Arts Award.
Over 2 million people in 50 countries have seen 1927’s work, across 6 continents.
Previous works include theatre: Roots (Co-production with Edinburgh International Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Théâtre de la Ville Paris & HOME Manchester), Golem (Co-production with the Young Vic, Théâtre de la Ville Paris & Salzburg Festival); The Animals and Children Took to the Streets (co-commission Malthouse Melbourne, Sydney Opera House, Showroom Chichester, Battersea Arts Centre & National Theatre), and Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.
Music and opera productions include: The Magic Flute (Komische Opera Berlin, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, LA Opera, Minnesota Opera, Polish National Opera, Finnish National Opera, Danish National Opera); The Krazy Kat Project (Ensemble Musikfabrik Koln); Petrushka and L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (Komische Opera Berlin & Deutsche Oper am Rhein) and Tales of Hoffmann, a collaboration with Graz Opera
TV and film work includes: Golem (The Space, BBC Four), White Morning (Sundance Festival) and for radio: Decameron Nights (BBC Radio 3 & BBC Taster).
1927 also made a video for Ozzy Osbourne, featuring Eric Clapton – you can see it here. 1927 spent much of 2023 working on Season 2 of Interview with the Vampire for AMC/AMC+, creating the theatre staging and animation for the series and specifically for the ‘Théâtre des Vampires’. The trailer can be seen here and the UK release is coming soon!
Based in Margate and London, 1927 is an Associate Company of HOME Manchester and Gulbenkian Canterbury.
