After the success of our latest Shakespeare reworking, HAMLET: ROTTEN STATES, and the previous success of MACBETH: A TALE OF SOUND & FURY, we have decided to share some of our practices in a brand new workshop. With MACBETH and HAMLET, we have established a fairly successful formula for approaching and reworking Shakespeare texts, making them exciting, vibrant and original pieces of theatre whilst respecting the language and the beauty of the verse. We want to share our approach to Shakespeare in a workshop that will explore:
We think this workshop will be hugely enjoyable and useful whether you're a fresh-faced acting student or a seasoned thespian. It is primarily aimed at:
We welcome participants from all backgrounds and all levels of training. If you have any access requirements please let us know. The workshop will involve a lot of movement, so please come in comfortable clothes. Date: Saturday 1st February 2020 Time: 10am - 4pm Location: Brixton, London Price: £35, concessions £25 The workshop will be run by 6FootStories' co-artistic directors, Jake Hassam and Nigel Munson. To book your place, please email with a short introduction to yourself to info@6footstories.co.uk.
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 We are taking work to a delectable array of festivals, fun days and fresh venues this summer, and we thought you'd like to know where you can see us, and when! We've got a whole range of different work going out over the next few months, from interactive family shows to brand new science-fi entertainment. We hope to see you in the sun somewhere! Check back here as we will be adding additional dates very soon... 26-28 May - POTATO PUPPET PLAYGROUND/SWAP SHOP GAME SHOW at... GERONIMO FESTIVAL, Arley Hall, Cheshire 29 May, 11am - POTATO PUPPET PLAYGROUND at... EAST DULWICH TAVERN CHILDREN'S ARTS FESTIVAL, East Dulwich, London 31 May, 7:30pm - NIGEL'S BIG BINGO BALLS UP at... FARR'S SCHOOL OF DANCING, Dalston, London 26-28 June - POTATO PUPPET PLAYGROUND at... 3 FOOT PEOPLE FESTIVAL, Hylands Park, Chelmsford 30 June - THE GYPSY LODGE at... FLING FESTIVAL, Hylands Park, Chelmsford 30 June/1 July - POTATO PUPPET PLAYGROUND/SWAP SHOP GAME SHOW at... GERONIMO FESTIVAL, Knebworth House 2 July, 7:30pm - MACBETH: A TALE OF SOUND & FURY at... THE QUARRY THEATRE, Bedford 7 July - POTATO PUPPET PLAYGROUND at... GUILDFORD FRINGE FESTIVAL, Guildford 14 July - POTATO PUPPET PLAYGROUND at... BIG DAY OUT, Maidstone 19-22 July - THE INTERGALACTIC CIRCUS OF TRUTHS at... LARMER TREE FESTIVAL, Wiltshire 2-5 August - THE GYPSY LODGE and THE SWAP SHOP GAME SHOW at... CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL, Cambridge 3-5 August - A MENU OF DELIGHTS at... VALLEY FEST, Somerset 16-19 August - THE INTERGALACTIC CIRCUS OF TRUTHS at... GREEN MAN, Brecon Beacons
 6FootStories are looking to expand our pool of performers and creatives for a busy summer of festival bookings and various events. We are still taking bookings for the summer, but we’ll be touring to places like Geronimo, Big Day Out, Valley Fest, Larmer Tree, Boomtown and Green Man.
We are keen to meet new performers interested in outdoor arts, interactive theatre and storytelling. Our work, like much festival performance, crosses genres and forms - in the same weekend a performer may be a game show compère, storyteller, puppet maker and fortune teller. Our performers need to be flexible and willing to get stuck in and immerse themselves in our peculiar worlds. We are often camping at events, so you should also consider this before getting in touch! Do you like eating fried eggs in a field? Then you might just be perfect for us! We are holding workshop days in London on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th April. At this workshop participants will be trained up in some of our key work:
We will also be exploring some new ideas for some aquatic themed entertainment, and for our existential alien game show the Intergalactic Circus of Truths. It will be a fun and lively workshop full of improvisation, potatoes and playful interactive madness. We would love to hear from:
If you think you would be interested in joining us this summer for an adventure then please email info@6footstories.co.uk with an introduction to you and your work, a CV, and any links that might be worth looking at. Special consideration will be given to applicants that include potato-based wordplay. You can see plenty about what we do on this website. The Festivals & Events page will be particularly useful. We look forward to hearing from you!
Over the weekend, Nigel took a trip to Devoted & Disgruntled 12 down in Bristol with some of our friends from Haringey Shed, and here are his thoughts...
Wow. What a weekend. As I sit here reflecting on all the talking, debating, tea-drinking, talking, idea-popping, provoking, sharing, asking, talking, expanding, despairing, and loving that went on, I feel quite overwhelmed. Of course I feel inspired and energised and positive, ready to attack this year with renewed vigour, but I also feel small, utterly inexperienced and naïve, a toddler staring up at all these adult types having all these important conversations about things they know lots about, and all I want to do is play with my toy car. But I think all that is a good thing. It's good to be surrounded by people with all kinds of deep and varied experiences, who have been doing this a lot longer than I have, who have considered how they feel about theatre for longer than I have. It makes me ask myself, what do I want to be in our fractured little theatre world? What do I want to stand for? What change do I want to make? What do I really care about? I have left D&D feeling that these questions really are important. It's not enough to just want to make fun theatre. Sometimes it is, because we need to be present more than anything, and I think having fun is the best way to do that. But to really have meaning, to really amount to something, I think I need to start answering these questions. Or start trying to answer them. And D&D is an amazing way to help in this journey. Anyway, back to what actually went down...
For those of you that don't know, Devoted & Disgruntled is the big theatre event of the year, run by Improbable. All these arty theatre types from all over come to gather and talk about anything and everything. It's a conference, but not as you know it. It's all run using an idea called Open Space Technology. Basically, it is completely democratic, and there is no agenda. Or rather, there is, but that is decided by the people in the room, on that day. If you want to talk about something, you write down a title and stick it on the timetable, e.g. "Emma Rice got sacked from the Globe - so what?" Then when all the titles are up, you have a little looky at the timetable, and go to whatever takes your fancy. It's all happening in one big hall, and the "Law of Two Feet" or "Law of Mobility" means that if you're not feeling the talk that your in, then you can use your two feet/two wheels/flying carpet to go somewhere else. It's all very relaxed and free-flowing and organic, which makes for some absolutely fantastic conversations.
I went to some brilliant chats over the weekend, and co-hosted a couple, but the big highlight for me has to be a session entitled "How do we better support people with mental health needs when they're touring/working away from home?" This talk was so relevant to the work we're doing at 6FootStories, especially with The Burgundy Boy, but I think the things we covered are important for any tour, anywhere, whenever. Touring is tough, especially if you're touring a solo show or a two-hander, and this session made it very clear that we don't have to just accept that it's tough and get on with it, but we can actually take some pretty significant steps to make the whole process healthier, for us doing the shows, and for our audiences. Things came up that I'd never heard of - Mental Health First Aid Training for instance, which seems like such a brilliant idea, and I think all the 6FootStories core team should go on a course. I met the lovely Rachel from Art With Heart, and the support they have built in for their show Declaration sounds incredible. All in all, a hugely useful, important and inspiring session. That talk alone would have made the whole weekend worth it.
Other interesting sessions included "The Great Outdoors", where I was introduced to a concept called Landscape Theatre, which sounds very intriguing, and "Inclusion - what's all the fuss about?", which I co-hosted with my Haringey Shed colleagues. This was a really lively and provocative discussion. I'm not sure if we solved anything, but we flagged a lot of stuff up, and heard some really interesting thoughts and experiences from the wonderful people at Taking Flight, an organisation I shall be keeping a very close eye on in the future...
I shan't drone on for any longer, as I think I've made it pretty clear that I had a great time, but I shall simply end with a mighty endorsement for Devoted & Disgruntled. If you make theatre, and want to make your work (and the world you work in) better, then there's no better place to start the conversation. I shall see you at the next one...
 Germany in the time of the Burgundy Boy The Burgundy Boy is a popular folk character originating in North Germany, and has spread through much of northern Europe. In Finland they have an annual Burgundy Brunch celebrating the legendary figure, during which all food consumed has to be of a burgundy hue. In older celebrations it would have been a simple feast of wine, red cabbage and grapes, but in recent years revellers have taken to using food dye in order to broaden the culinary selection. What we know of the Burgundy Boy is derived from a collection of ballads, folk songs, oral legends, nursery rhymes and one or two large historical accounts from Bavarian chronicles of the late 16th century. He usually appears as a boy of about 7 years old wearing a kind of monk’s habit, the colour of which is of course a deep red. He is said to cry tears of blood but never speaks in any of the legends save for one peculiar French account that asserts it was his voice that Joan of Arc heard, and not God’s. The most widely-known myth is recounted below: In a small town in Germany some time ago, the residents started to encounter various problems. The local mill burnt down, and the people there had no work. Even more people had no bread. Many were poor and hungry. They went to church and prayed, but nothing changed. They knocked on every business in town, but could find no work. They knocked on every rich man’s house in town, but could find no bread. Their numbers grew, and so did their poverty. Soon, what had been a prosperous and happy town was reduced to misery. The poor and rich were miserable alike. The poor were miserable because they had nothing to eat, and the rich were miserable because every time they ate they felt guilty, and every time they walked in the park, or by the river, or near the castle, they felt the pain and hunger of the poor, but were too proud to help, and too afraid to look them in the eye. And so it went on, the rich folk of the town hiding away, getting smaller in number as the work ran out in other places, while those with nothing grew. Their clothes became worn and their stench became unbearable. Their suffering was clear to all, but no one helped. It looked as though the town would waste away, be consumed by despair and desolation, until a small boy wearing a deep red monk’s habit was seen. Then things started to change.  Artist's representation of the legendary figure It isn’t known who saw the boy first, but soon word had spread that a boy priest had arrived in the town and was there to offer them salvation. The rich folk put together a fine offering of bread, fruit and vegetables, and the poor folk contributed what they could, which was very little. Many wondered why it had been so difficult for the rich to offer them a crumb, but so easy to gather a feast for the boy priest, but they put their grumblings to one side, because they too saw hope in this mysterious burgundy boy. The feast was laid out in the church and the town waited for the boy to come. They waited, and waited, and the bread became stale and the apples turned brown, but still they waited. The boy did not come. The most outspoken members of the community questioned his very existence, and decided the food should not go to waste. But alas, the fruit was already full of maggots and the bread had turned mouldy. Slowly the poor and rich made their way home, disheartened and disappointed. Their salvation had deserted them. The air in the town turned cold and grey, and the hearts of many frosted over. Sadness and emptiness filled the streets, and many decided the end was near. For the most melancholy folk in the town, no ointment, no prayer, no word of hope was good enough. And then he came again.  The Burgundy Boy, with his faithful horse, Tuomas. A poor drunk man who had once been a miller was seen walking over the town bridge late at night, but the next morning was found drowned in the river. The magistrate declared his death an accident, and a reminder of the value of temperance in these dark times, but several witnesses swore they had seen the boy in red push the miller off the bridge. A few days later an old preacher who had grown bitter and gloomy in these dark days was found with his brains blown out and a pistol in his hand. A local tramp testified that he saw the preacher shooting pigeons and that a small boy had bent the barrel of the gun towards the preacher’s head. Several destitute women were tragically cut to pieces down on the railway track, and more than a few passers-by claimed to have seen a boy in red in command of the locomotive. A poor young doctor whose patients could no longer afford to visit him was discovered in his bath with his throat cut. His wife through her screams could be heard wailing about a little monk who had jumped out of the window. More and more tragedies struck, all involving the most pained and sorrowful members of the community. Every time the Burgundy Boy was implicated, but of course there was little evidence. Parents told their children not to cry, otherwise the Burgundy Boy would visit them, and the less sensitive folk in town mumbled that perhaps this small monk was putting the poor people out of their misery.  The funeral of the town doctor In this time the population of the town decreased rapidly, and mass funerals had to be arranged at very little expense. The town was still poor and could ill afford a full service for each of the deceased. Over time, however, the prospects of the town began to turn. With a reduced population there were less mouths to feed. Poverty was felt less acutely, and soon there were enough jobs to go around. With the saddest people in the town wiped out by the wrath of the Burgundy Boy, those that were left had hope in their hearts and secretly thanked the Burgundy Boy for giving the town a second chance. In time people began to share their gratitude for his mercy openly – a shrine was built in his name, paid for, of course, by the same rich folk that had gathered the feast of bread and fruit so many years before. These rich folk were thankful that this Burgundy Boy had cleared the streets of crying mothers and drunk fathers, and restored order and prosperity to the town. Time went on, and the men and women of the town soon forgot that they had ever been burdened with such misery. The last time the Burgundy Boy was seen was at the bedside of an elderly widow who had been ill with consumption for weeks at the local hospital. The nurses differed in their description of the event. One nurse said the Burgundy Boy had waited at the widow’s side throughout her last night, holding her hand and finally giving her the most tender of kisses on the forehead before she passed. Another nurse swore there had been a pillow between his kiss and her head, but all agreed that she was at peace now and that the Boy had been a comfort to her in her last hours. The town grew and grew in size and happiness, and was eventually renamed Hamburg, in honour of the Burgundy Boy, and to this day you can still hear parents warning their children never to be sad, always to be happy, lest the Burgundy Boy return and continue his work…  A father warning his children of the Burgundy Boy We've been letting the Diver loose in Islington in his wetsuit and flippers - we really want to get to know the local area while we're here. So if you live in Islington keep your eyes peeled, because you might just see a dead man walk...             After taking Soften the Grey around the country or the last two years, we've finally arrived at our first ever full London run, at The Hope Theatre in Islington. This is a truly big moment for us. We have been so used to packing our sheets, wetsuit and onesie up in a suitcase and trundling on to the next town, waiting to see what delights our next venue/converted hall will hold. Will there be any blue gels? Will it have a working lighting rig at all? Is there such thing as a "night out" in Buxton?  Don't get us wrong - we have loved every minute of life on the road with Soften the Grey. We've been to wonderful places like BikeShed in Exeter and the Ventnor Fringe, places that we'll remember forever. But now we have the luxury of taking over The Hope Theatre for three whole weeks, and transforming their little black box into our very own Citizens Advice Bureau for the deceased.  We're not going overboard - we're keeping the set and lighting as minimal as they've ever been, but we now have a freedom with the staging and space that we've not had throughout the show's history. Rather excitingly, we've decided to do the show in traverse - something we've never done before (and neither have The Hope for that matter). The performance corridor that playing in traverse creates is perfect for the bureaucratic world of Soften the Grey, and it's also quite odd, and will instantly lift the audience away to somewhere slightly surreal, a never place... We couldn't be more thrilled.  There will be more updates to come, but with the show only a few days away, there's lots to be getting on with to make sure we're ready for this historic moment in 6FootStories history. There are programmes to be printed, press to chase, tins of grey paint to be bought, lines to be learnt - no, hang on, I'm pretty sure we know them by now... Anyway, look out for our new trailer, and there's also some exclusive interview footage coming. We can't wait to see you all at the Hope this month. Until we do, remember - there's an afterlife for everyone... SOFTEN THE GREY runs from 13th - 31st January 2015 at The Hope Theatre, Islington.
Tickets are £14/12 and can be booked at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/thehopetheatre death(having lost)put on his universe and yawned:it looks like rain – E.E. Cummings Death is the only certainty that we have in life. There are other certainties, I’m sure, such as growing, breathing, blinking. Yes, of course. But death is something that will happen, whether we want it or not. As far as I’m aware, no one has discovered the cure for mortality. Yet.  That being said, it stands to reason that we should, at least to some degree, set aside some time to think about it. We don’t know what happens next. Heaven or Hell. Nirvana. Summerland. Nothing. In the words of Toyah Wilcox: “It’th a mythtery!” (She had a lisp, remember). Death and what happens to us afterwards has provided humanity with a plethora of theories and ideas. Whole religions were born as a way to give death and the afterlife a narrative. Entire cultures were built around it – the Ancient Egyptians, for example, spent their lives honouring the dead by building the pyramids: tombs for their pharaohs still living and in power. The mystery of the afterlife – of every afterlife ever conceived in a human brain or brains – is fascinating. So fascinating that of course we had to write a play about it.  It’s fair to say that over the course of time, Nigel and I have developed the way we write together and the way that we formulate our ideas. In the beginning, we couldn’t write a play longer than 15 minutes, and they all ended with a blackout. Dramatic, sure, but tedious after a while. No, that’s unfair. Soften the Grey – an hour-long, you’ll be pleased to know! – ends with a blackout. (Sorry – should have said spoiler alert. It doesn’t really ruin anything if you haven’t seen it. And if you haven’t seen it – why not?!) Blackouts are fun, and effective, and I suppose, if we were being deeply psychological for a moment, reflect a very simple idea of death – that of the difference between light and dark, being active and alive one moment, inert and deceased the next.  We have written many pieces of work that centre around the theme of death. The Number of the Beast, Soften the Grey and Immortality combine what we are calling the Death Trilogy. They explore reincarnation, the afterlife and immortality (obviously) respectively, and though they sound like rather heavy topics, we do keep it light-hearted and fun. We are here to tell stories, to entertain, after all. But there is a deeper, underlying conversation that goes on, one that, I hope, in certain moments of the plays, the audience participates in. In their heads of course. And afterwards at the bar. To have that conversation out loud with the person in the seat next to them while the play is still happening would be downright rude. It may seem morbid to have such a fascination and interest in death. Well, the subject of death. In the quiet moments throughout the day I often find myself thinking about what happens when one dies – we decompose, obviously, but what happens to the mind? This body will pass. This life will end. But does the mind go on? The mind – with its capacity for imagination and for learning and for understanding – surely goes on somehow? Otherwise, what is the point of this shambling existence, with the tsunami of human history looming ominously over us? Is it all really for nothing? Einmal ist keinmal? I don’t have the answers, nor does anyone. Moreover, I’m not interested in an answer. The journey is far more important – and enlightening – than the destination.  Someone, somewhere, said, “Only in studying silence can we truly understand music.” I don’t actually know if anyone did say that. It feels like something someone would say, doesn’t it? I mention it because, essentially, in writing plays about death, what we’re actually doing is writing about life and all its wonders. “Doesn’t writing about death get depressing?” someone once asked me. “No,” I responded. “I don’t look on death as a negative thing – the realization of my own mortality and its inevitable end is a blessing, not a curse.” By which I meant that the focus on life and the time that there is left is all the more powerful and profound. This fascination offers endless possibilities. The work of 6FootStories is rooted in the mysterious, the wonderful, the uncanny. What better source of inspiration than a subject that has no definitive answers? A subject that delves deep into the hearts of all religions, of all lifestyles, of all cultures. Everything is possible. – Jake Hassam, September 2014
Well, with just under two weeks to go until we kick off the 2014 season of Soften the Grey down at the Bike Shed in Exeter, we thought it fitting to have a look at some of the fun we had touring the show last year. Back in August we were at the gorgeous Ventnor Fringe Festival on our favourite island, the Isle of Wight. As part of the publicity for the show we did this great little interview for a local podcast, and performed an excerpt of the show. Have a listen here: https://m.soundcloud.com/ventnorfringe/prufrock-coffee-pidge Works well as a radio play doesn't it? Hmm... that's an idea... Right, well that's all for now, but there shall be more posts from the Vault soon! In the meantime, why don't you grab your tickets for the Bike Shed? Book here: http://www.bikeshedtheatre.co.uk/whats-on/soften-the-grey/ Goodbye for now 6Footers, speak soon!
6FootStories and The Oxy Morons have joined forces for this spectacular night of variety entertainment, all to raise money for our trip to Edinburgh this summer. All the fun of the fringe will be captured in a single evening, as a whole host of acts preview their material with you before heading up to Edinburgh this summer. Nigel's Edinburgh Extravaganza is happening at Bar des Arts in Guildford, on Thursday 29th May. Tickets are just £5 and can be booked by calling the bar on 01483 453227. Alternatively you can contact us, and we will reserve some tickets for you. Click here to go to the Facebook event. THE LINE-UP!
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