Bric à Brac Theatre and Told by an Idiot are joining forces to present an unmissable dark comedy, The Intrusion. The newly announced cast is set to bring this Kafka-inspired tale on a UK tour, which follows a group of survivors navigating the end of human civilization, exploring the very real and often overwhelming climate crisis. The show uses humour and original music to create a comic production that offers audiences across the UK an anarchic look at extinction and questions who gets to survive.
The cast comprises of the founding members of Bric à Brac Theatre, Kitty Devlin (Bridgerton) and Alex Hinson (Glass Ceiling Beneath the Stars, Edinburgh Festival Fringe; Mr. Gumpy’s Outing, Riverside Studios). Devlin was previously Associate Director and now an Associate Artist at Punchdrunk Enrichment and Hinson is a New York Sarah Lawrence College and Jacques Lecoq graduate. Joining Kitty and Alex is Siobhan Cha Cha (Birmingham Rep’s Little Red Riding Hood) who will complete the cast of this fresh response to the climate emergency.
Director and fellow founding member of Bric à Brac, Anna Marshall, is currently Resident Director on the National Theatre’s production of War Horse and specialises in collaborative and devised theatre. Working alongside Anna is art director Michael Julings (co-founder of Piñata); sound designer Ellie Isherwood (The Fir Tree, artdepot); lighting designer Anna Reddyhoff (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, the Garrick) and creative captioner Virginie Taylor (London Performance Studios).
Bric à Brac Theatre and Told by an Idiot will blend their innovative storytelling to present a comedic and captivating show that follows a community in the aftermath of a climate disaster. This devised work demonstrates both companies’ belief in the power of physical comedy to share important information and encourage discussion.
The show has been developed in partnership with both expert voices and local communities’ experiences of, and attitudes towards, climate change. Through an outreach workshop programme, participants gain first-hand experience in Told by an Idiot and Bric à Brac’s collaborative approach to creating work, delving deeply and personally into the themes of The Intrusion.
Bric à Brac Theatre are a Lecoq trained devising company who champion feminist theatre to address taboo subjects. Unafraid to push the boundaries, their collaborative practice aims to tackle challenging current affairs and showcase stories that deserve to be seen onstage. Combining various theatre mediums, Bric à Brac creates work that causes their audiences to become proactive and ask questions, all whilst maintaining the desire to develop meaningful connections.
Paul Hunter, artistic director of Told by an Idiot comments, We are delighted to announce our new collaboration with our associate company Bric à Brac. The Intrusion is a highly theatrical fable inspired by Kafka, which fuses elements of the real and the fantastic, the documentary and the dream. As the world hurtles ever closer to climate catastrophe, we were interested in supporting a playfully comic response to a desperate situation. With creative use of creative captioning and dynamic original music, this is a show that will play across both theatre spaces and in the heart of local communities. The Intrusion continues the Idiots’ commitment to supporting the next generation of innovative theatre makers, and we look forward to once again engaging with audiences across the UK.
Bric à Brac Theatre comments, We are thrilled to be creating this new show alongside the brilliant Told by an Idiot, a company we’ve long admired. We are excited to delve into the challenging topic of climate change and create a hilarious call to arms for our audiences that provokes, engages and leaves them with a flicker of hope.
Listings and ticket information can be found here
