As part of the brand new curatorial project MimeLondon, created by former directors of London International Mime Festival (LIMF) Helen Lannaghan and Joseph Seelig, Shoreditch Town Hall announces the productions it will be hosting as part of the programme. With a powerful story of love and loss and a tale of unlikely friendship alongside a five-day immersive workshop, there’s something for everyone in this fantastic season.
Ellie Browning, Head of Cultural Programme of Shoreditch Town Hall, comments, We are thrilled to be one of the hosts of the first season of MimeLondon, following a longstanding partnership with Helen Lannaghan and Joseph Seelig’s award winning London International Mime Festival (LIMF). We’re looking forward to welcoming audiences to our grand Assembly Hall for two new shows by acclaimed companies Ad Infinitum and Vamos Theatre, as well as workshops for performers with Shoreditch Town Hall favourites Theatre Re.
Multi-award-winning theatre company Ad Infinitum present Last Rites (24th – 27th January), a bold new performance celebrating the transformative power of grief and ritual, and taking audiences on a powerful journey of love, loss, and what it means to be a parent. Combining striking visual and physical storytelling with dynamic projection and a resonant soundtrack, internationally acclaimed theatre makers Ramesh Meyyappan and George Mann collaborate for the first time to create an epic non-verbal show.
Co-commissioned with London International Mime Festival and co-produced with New Wolsey Theatre, the UK’s leading full mask theatre company Vamos Theatre bring Boy On The Roof (1st – 4th February) to Shoreditch, telling the story of unlikely friendship where acceptance, understanding and love find their way to centre stage.
Created through Community Conversations across the UK, gathering people’s experiences of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity (ADHD), loneliness, aging, hearing loss, connection and community, Boy on the Roof is a dynamic non-verbal performance based on lived experiences of young people, featuring full mask, vibrant projection and an original soundtrack.
Vamos Theatre are also hosting a creative, high energy and inspiring masterclass in full mask technique (3rd & 4th February), presented by Honor Hoskins, Creative Producer at Vamos Theatre. Through exercises and shared exploration, this two-day masterclass introduces mask characterisation, mask physicality, and techniques such as clocking, stillness and isolation, helping to build confidence and understanding of mask performance. More advanced full mask skills and a deeper understanding of the form will also be covered, including devising – both individually and as a mask ensemble.
Leading visual theatre company Theatre Re are hosting a five-day workshop, The Art of Details (8th – 12th January), focusing on why and how the tiniest choices play a key part in the way we develop shows. It is led by Guillaume Pigé (Theatre Re Director and RADA Associate Teacher) and Claudia Marciano (Theatre Re Performer and Teacher), and is designed for professional and semi-professional performers, actors, dancers as well as visual artists, students and recent graduates.
Through Corporeal Mime and the study of articulation – space, body, rhythms, and weight – participants will explore how the smallest things take on a larger significance, and become more than what they are. Learning to own and play with physical details to enhance their performance skills, delegates will develop new material, and push the boundaries of what theatre, without a playwright, can do.
You can find the full programme at https://shoreditchtownhall.com.
