The Wardrobe Ensemble are celebrating the last week of their ambitious theatre festival with a final serving of fantastic shows.
The venue in Bristol which has championed the local theatre scene from August to October, has created a multitude of creative opportunities for South West artists, including investing £18,000 to develop new pieces of theatre, and provided a community-focused hub in the city for audiences to enjoy after a year inside.
Running throughout the week will be Moist, Moist, Moist, a part poetry, part stand-up, part gig; fea-turing live music from Hal Kelly, recipient of the 2021 National Partnership Award with Theatre Royal Plymouth and The Pleasance Theatre Trust. One man show Borderline is a journey through a mental break, drug addiction, obsession, a life of crime and a life in and out of institutions… all in the pursuit of love. There Was a Little Girl by Millie Wood Downie is a witty, comedic and truthful insight into growing up opposing the female narrative. Winners of The Wardrobe Ensemble commission, Hannah Kumari will present her extraordinary show Spinning Wheel, alongside Brook Tate’s unforgettable bio-graphical play Birthmarked. Closing the week will be the legendary Theatre on the Downs closing party, Wheel of Fortune combining iconic game shows, unexpected mayhem and live music.
In this post-pandemic climate, the investment made by The Wardrobe Ensemble has allowed the opportunity for artists to still develop innovative and ground-breaking work. Hannah Kumari, per-former, writer and puppeteer received £10,000 to develop her experimental show Spinning Wheel, alongside an additional £3,000 for Brook Tate for his play, Birthmarked. Theatre company Ad Infini-tum also received £5,000 to develop their latest work-in-progress Beautiful, Evil Things.
Having received funding from Arts Council England for The Theatre on the Downs, The Wardrobe En-semble created the commission to enable select South West artists to keep doing what they do best. The panel which consisted of Jesse Jones and Emily Greenslade from The Wardrobe Ensemble, Aisha Ali, vocal artist, cultural and inclusion producer, composer, improviser and artistic director of Kiota, and Jay Zorenti-Nakhid, Resident Assistant Director at Tobacco Factory Theatres were looking for new and progressive shows and were staggered by the sheer volume of talent.
The Wardrobe Ensemble says, We’ve had 5,431 people attend The Theatre on the Downs so far, and we’ve still got a week to go. This support and appetite has been really overwhelming and we’re so thrilled to have worked with the 34 amazing companies we have programmed as part of The Theatre on the Downs. Investment in new work is so vital and we are so glad to be able to support other artists as part of this project. Come and see us in this final week!
Commissioned by The Wardrobe Ensemble and in association with Blind Summit, Hannah Kumari will present Spinning Wheel – an interdisciplinary examination of sobriety and the rule book. A weird and wonderful peek at the semi-secret world of Alcoholics Anonymous, through the eyes of three women who might not belong there.
For full programme listings, please visit The Theatre on the Downs website.
