RED SHIFT THEATRE COMPANY

SIZE OF COMPANY
5–8 on the road

SCALE OF VENUE
Small- to middle-scale

PERMANENT STAFF
Artistic Director
Jonathan Holloway

General Manager
Emma Rees

ARTISTIC POLICY
Red Shift was founded in 1982 to make a space for a form of theatre that draws on European influences, marrying traditional narrative and character-based drama with art-house performance, employing design, image, music and spectacle. Red Shift is committed to recruiting practitioners of calibre to create genuinely popular, exciting and accessible theatre, and to resisting compromise, either in the reach of ideas, or quality of production. Red Shift exists to tell important stories from diverse sources with commitment, style and wit.

REVIEW EXTRACTS
‘Red Shift live up to their reputation for stunning literary adaptations… striking stage version… beautifully designed adaptation… an entertaining and provoking drama.’ The Independent

‘Superb… reeks of sweat and piss, and disappointed dreams… quite brilliant, cool as heck… drama of the highest order…small-scale miracle.’ The Guardian (Get Carter)

‘You are getting theatre, not literature… Stunning… whole thing is thrillingly urgent. Makes you want to shut your eyes and hide.’ The Guardian (Hamlet: first cut)

CURRENT PRODUCTIONS
Much Ado About Nothing Adapted by Jonathan Holloway. An absorbing ensemble comedy, emphasising the brutal meat of Shakespeare’s text, its threatening atmosphere of humiliation, revenge and the startling brutality lying behind the smiling mask. (95 mins, no interval, 6 on stage, 7 on the road.)

Get Carter Originally by Ted Lewis, adapted by Jonathan Holloway. A provocative, shocking, perfectly structured tale of sin, revenge and redemption. This hard-boiled, quintessentially British thriller offers an enthralling take on post-summer-of-love Britain. (90 mins, no interval, 6 on stage, 8 on the road, includes strong language and nudity.)

Vertigo Originally by Boileau & Narcejac, adapted by Jonathan Holloway. A gripping, genre-hopping psychological thriller. Best known as Hitchcock’s classic movie, Jonathan Holloway returns to the original novel that inspired the great classic film. (90 mins, no interval, 4 on stage, 6 on the road.)

FUTURE PRODUCTIONS
Mephisto Originally by Klaus Mann, adapted by Jonathan Holloway. (90 mins approx, no interval, 6 on stage, 8 on the road.)

WRAP-AROUND
Participatory workshops, pre- and post-show discussions. All activity is designed to compliment the productions, looking at themes such as characterisation, staging and adaptation for the stage. A fully comprehensive study pack for each production is available. All workshops and support materials are currently in the English language.

TOURING AVAILABILITY
From March 2008 onwards