By Miriam Bell from CommunityNI.org
Published on 31 Jan 2005
Big Telly is catching the critics eye for "pushing the bounds of theatre as far as they can go". Louise Rossington, General Manager, gives us a sneak preview of their upcoming programme.
Big Telly is a professional theatre company based in Portstewart. The company designs and delivers theatre productions, interactive workshop programmes and community creativity projects, which it tours throughout Northern and Southern Ireland.
The name
A friend of the founders had a little girl who thought that going to the theatre was like watching a big television and as the company's ethos is to make its work as accessible as watching a little television - the Big Telly Theatre Company was formed.
We concentrate on the visual potential of theatre through fusion with other art forms such as dance, music, circus, magic and film to create a unique sense of spectacle. Big Telly’s work is driven by a determination to offer audiences entertainment that surprises, stimulates and ignites the imagination.
The year ahead
Current activities include our ever popular Summer Workshop Programme which runs from 7 July – 30 August. The workshops are designed to fit into fun days, activity weeks and summer festivals in your community. Weoffer a wide variety of one or half day workshopsto suit your requirements. This year's workshops are:
- Magic Makers
- Create Your Wildest Dreams
- Physical Theatre
- Devising Musical Theatre
- Drama Workshops
- Performing Musical Theatre
- The Dressing Up Box
- Circus skills
- Dance Workshops
- Twistin’ Twins Balloon Antics.
The autumn sees Big Telly’s revival of Boucicault’s The Colleen Bawn , the second production in the company’s series of Irish classics, which follows hot-on-the-heels of the acclaimed 2003 tour of The Playboy of the Western World.
It is a timeless tale of love and intrigue across the classes and is told by a duo of damsels, a jumble of gents and a parade of peasants – portrayed by a cast of Ireland’s finest! This spirited revival, full of action, spectacle and physical comedy, offers audiences across Ireland a rare chance to see one of the country’s best-loved plays.
It is directed by Zoë Seaton and opens at the Riverside Theatre, Coleraine on Thursday 23 October 2003 and tours Ireland until Saturday 29 November. An access workshop programme will accompany the tour to introduce younger audiences to classic work.
If you would like to know more about the Big Telly Company, or would like to get involved with any of their projects, please contact Louise or Bernie:
info@big-telly.com
028 7083 2588
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