THE pioneering company Full Body and The Voice is raring to go with a new production.
And the company’s artistic director Vanessa Brooks can’t wait to share the buzz that has been created among a 14 strong team of actors as they have worked together on a new piece called Heaven Lives in Holmfirth (Light Years From Here)
The show is premiered at the company’s home base, the Lawrence Batley Theatre on Tuesday where it runs until Friday. Then the actors move out first to Honley and then Cleckheaton.
Check with the LBT box office for times and dates of all the performances.
What is in store is another piece of magic from a company which currently seems to be pulling out all the creative stops.
Hypothermia, the remarkable piece FBTV seen earlier in the year at the LBT, is heading for an autumn tour.
But first up is this latest challenge which harnesses the talent of the company’s current team of young actors.
“It feels a luxury but to have the energy of 14 people in the rehearsal room, people who are very switched on and committed to what we are doing, has been great,” said Vanessa.
That despite soaring temperatures and a hot rehearsal room high up in the eaves of the theatre’s north wing.
“We’ve been getting through with lots of water and lots of breaks. But it has been hard,” she said.
The company works both with disabled and non-disabled performers to produce pioneering performances.
Working on this show has clearly offered the actors yet further challenges.
“Knowing that we had actors coming up to the end of a course with us, we decided that it was time to take a show out, said Vanessa.
“We had a chat about the kind of things that inspired them. I’m a great science fiction fan and that started a great conversation.”
The result is Heaven Lives in Holmfirth, scripted by Vanessa, with a new set designed by Kevin Jenkins plus an original soundtrack.
Add to that the visual, physical and emotional skills of the actors and the scene is set for more powerful theatre from this innovative company.
Their target this time is consumerism, the sort that many think is already destroying our planet.
As they journey through the third millennium, Holmfirth is a distant, green memory for these brave adventurers.
Theirs is a future where people are addicted to Stella Burgers, always hungry, always wanting more and where the world is covered by plexi-glass domes. And where the last burger is about to be eaten.
“It is a cautionary tale, a morality tale and it is also a very human story,” said Vanessa.
At its heart is a shared view of working together for a sustainable future. And who would disagree with that?
