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type Theatre - Performance in Profile 2010 - British Council - Arts

Peter S. Petralia or Lisa Mattocks
PD01
The Storey Creative Industries Centre
Meeting House Lane
Lancaster LA1 1TH

T +44 (0)7748 419925
E peter@proto-type.org
lisa@proto-type.org
W proto-type.org

Performance in Profile links:

Dance
- Small-scale companies/artists
- Middle-scale companies
- Large-scale companies

Drama
- Small-scale companies/artists
- Middle-scale companies
- Large-scale companies

Live Art
- Live Art companies/artists

Outdoor Work
- Outdoor companies

SIZE OF COMPANY
6 on the road

SCALE OF VENUE
Small-scale

PERMANENT STAFF
Company Member/Artistic Director
Peter S Petralia

Company Member
Rachel Baynton

Company Member/Performer
Gillian Lees

Company Member/Performer
Andrew Westerside

Trainee Administrator
Lisa Mattocks

Performer
Mark Esaias

Performer
Nicola Hobday

Production Manager
David McBride

Stage Manager
Emily Cole

ARTISTIC POLICY
Proto-type Theater is a company of multi-disciplinary artists interested in live performance. Creating original works that are diverse in scale, subject and medium, Proto-type is currently exploring the relationship between sight and sound, the virtuoso performer, and the role of the spectator in performance. Proto-type’s work is demanding and intricately crafted to create experiences for a diverse audience of intelligent, modern humans.

REVIEW EXTRACTS
‘A dynamic cut-up of parody pulp, cultural history and meta-theatrical angst... plays with our sense of performance, and our sense of emotional as well as spatial depth... an exhilarating theatrical experience.’ Total Theatre (working title)

‘… [is] an intriguing brush with altered reality… And the production flirts with the feel of a supernatural, psychological thriller.’ Anita Gates, The New York Times

‘The mixture of foley soundscapes and the strange melding and disconnect between image and sound sucks you in.’ Lyn Gardner, The Guardian ()

CURRENT PRODUCTIONS
Proto-type tackle the big stuff: decay, death, and rebirth in a lecture-cum performance that explores the notion of a life cycle. Using a variety of low-fi media, Proto-type connects death to lemonade, dancing and a night avoiding the dark. (60 mins, no interval, strong language, 2 on stage, 3 on the road.)

(working title) Three performers stage the story of a stagnant American suburbia, circa 1963, where everyday life has become strange. The audience witnesses the construction of this world on three flatscreen monitors, behind which the performers assemble the backgrounds, costumes and props necessary to craft a series of perfect images. (85 mins, no interval, strong language, 3 on stage, 6 on the road.)

Audience members each receive a pair of headphones and are seated in front of a large white screen. Through the headphones, they hear the voices of three live performers narrating a walk through a city, along with live sound effects and cinematic visuals. (50 mins, no interval, strong language, 3 on stage, 6 on the road.)

FUTURE PRODUCTIONS
A multiplatform, multicity narrative and performance that unravels to its participants in real time. Engaging with the work through a variety of media including SMS, emails, postal mail, webcams and live encounters, participants will embark on a journey in which they write themselves into an ever-growing narrative. Audience/participants will sign up to a two-week-long performative experience through which they will not only discover their often surprising place within the complex narrative cityscape creates, but they will also re-discover a relationship to their communities.

WRAP-AROUND
Video Foley – age 15+ all skill/experience levels, max 25 participants, 3–4 hours (longer version available). This workshop builds on the work of Proto-type’s (working title) and allows students to explore the use of live video in performance. Proto-type company members will introduce participants to the technology used in (working title), demonstrate the construction of perfect televisual images from fragmented live source material and lead the group in creating short performances using the technology.

Writing Workshop: Re-mapping the City – age 16+ all skill/experience levels, max 20 participants, 3–4 hours (longer version available). This workshop explores some of the inspiration for Whisper, and give writers practical ideas and techniques for creating performative writing, based on the city. This workshop will touch on world-building, site-as-inspiration, psycho-geography, mathematics, and architecture and will include time for gaining inspiration, writing and providing peer feedback. Appropriate for writers of all types. Workshop uses the neighbourhood around the hosting venue as a source for inspiration.

Headphone Performance Workshop – age 16+ all skill/experience levels, max 20 participants, 4 hours (longer version available). Includes a primer on the creation of live sound effects using the film technique ‘foley’ and will see workshop participants creating their own short performances using this technique.

Using Technology in Performance – age 18+ professional artists, max 15 participants, 6 hours (shorter version available). This workshop looks at issues of using media in performance and explores techniques for using live feeds, recorded video, screens, projections, televisions, the internet, GPS and other technology in the context of live performance.

How to Give Feedback – age 16+ all skill/experience levels, max 20 participants, 1.5 hours. This workshop is a primer for how to get and give constructive feedback when showing work in progress or completed performance work. It is most appropriate for practicing artists but can be adapted to work with university groups or colleges.

The company is also available to teach devising and other less specialised workshops upon request and we are happy to create custom workshops where appropriate.

RECENT INTERNATIONAL WORK
2008 USA ()
2006 USA ()

TOURING AVAILABILITY
All current productions available anytime
cityscape available from July 2010

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