Make Faces: A Silly Scribble Activity Book Published by...

Christopher Harrisson - copywriting portfolio

1

Make Faces: A Silly Scribble Activity BookPublished by Ivy Press 2013Illustrations by Abigail Burch

Extracts


2


3

Speculative brief: A blog about how to rent a room in London

Introduction

Renting in London

So you’re looking for a room to rent in London? You’ve surfed the couches of your friends for so long, they’re starting to pray for sharks. ‘It’s time to move and that journey starts here!’ you shout as you open your laptop in that coffee shop with the free Wifi. Will you go for a converted warehouse with some cool graphic designers? Or perhaps you’d even settle for a bit of dive, south of the river, to save on some money? So many choices! My friend, your optimism is truly touching.

But what kind of world are you entering? Before we begin, let’s set the scene: The average weekly rent for a 2 bedroom property in Dalston is £459. In Leicester it’s £565 per month. I fear I might even struggle to find you a dive that’s affordable.

However, everyone in the café is looking at you so you might as well pretend to be searching. That’s where I come in. Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London, upon the back of that most capricious of beasts: the Internet.

Don’t worry, traveller, I have been there. I have seen things.

It’s worth noting, there is also the old-fashioned route of going to an estate agent, though a friend took this path and the only room she visited was in a house share of agoraphobics. On the plus side, if you go to big branch, you usually get posh water for free, so there’s some smooth with the rough.

The property ecosystem online is divided into several components, and it’s up to you which one you’d like to waste a huge amount of your time with: Gumtree, SpareRoom (and other subscriber websites, where the clients are the landlord and/or current occupants and you), property-finder websites (where the clients are the estate agents/landlord and you).


4

Print advertisement for a theatre residency. Copy, design and formatting by Christopher Harrisson.

Rhum And Clay Theatre Company Presents

A STRANGE WILD SONG

THE MAN IN THE MOONE

5th-8th, 13th, 19th 7.30pm

9th, 12th, 14th-16th, 20-21st 7.30 pm(Sat matinées 2pm)

In northern France in the Second World War, three children encounter a lost American soldier. When the soldier’s camera is unearthed decades later, his grandson searches for meaning through the photographs inside. He discovers a surreal world of childhood and imagination, as fragments of

a half-developed war explode into the present-day.Accompanied by an original musical score, the company uses a mixture of stunning imagery and absurdist humour to tell an unforgettably touching story about finding light in the

darkest of places.

The Bike Shed Theatre, 162-3 Fore Street, EX4 3ATTickets £5-£12

01392 434169 www.bikeshedtheatre.co.uk

Dreaming of a better life, a man abandons everything he knew and embarks on an epic journey towards the moon. It takes him from the neon smog of the city to the heights of a treacherous mountain and beyond. Critically acclaimed Rhum and Clay weave myth, absurd humour and their unique visual style into a sublimely ridiculous tale about our insatiable

desire to venture into the unknown. Developed in association with Hertford Theatre, with additional

support from Beaford Arts and The Bike Shed Theatre.

Two critically acclaimed productions at The Bike Shed Theatre

NOVEMBER

NOVEMBER


5

Newsletter - Rhum and Clay Theatre Company mailing list.

This is a plain text version, a formatted HTML version with images is archived here: http://eepurl.com/KKYhr).

December 2013------------------------------------------------------------View this email in your browser (*|ARCHIVE|*)Here we are, at the end of a very eventful 2013. Chris wrote a blog (http://rhumandclay.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/twenty-thirteen/) about the year we've had, so if retrospective end-of-year posts are your bag, check it out! Below there's a brief summation of our eventful year, and a bit about what's coming up in the year ahead, including the opportunity to be involved in an upcoming Rhum and Clay project! With so much stuff going on for Rhum and Clay, we're going to put our feet up for a bit, but not before a healthy dose of news, events and items of interest.

The Year Behind------------------------------------------------------------

After such a totally jam-packed year, we're all about to take a little rest. We made a video (https://vimeo.com/81942504) of our autumn tour and residency, plus you can have a more in-depth look back at our year on our blog (http://rhumandclay.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/twenty-thirteen/) , but this is what Rhum and Clay's 2013 looked like:Performances

A Strange Wild Song

New Diorama Theatre (London), The Ustinov @ Theatre Royal Bath, Tolmen Centre (Cornwall), Chumleigh Community College & Winkleigh Village Hall (Devon, through Beaford Arts), Unity Theatre (Liverpool), Pegasus Theatre (Oxford), Winterbourne Academy (Bristol), Theatre Royal Margate, Embrace Arts (Leicester), Déda (Derby), Bie Shed Theatre (Exeter), Landmark Theatre (Ilfracombe)

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (with The Watermill Theatre)The Watermill Theatre, plus a tour of 21 village halls.

ShutterlandThe Globe (Hay-on-Wye)

The Man in the Moone(developed in association with Hertford Theatre, with additional support from The Bike Shed Theatre and Beaford Arts)Hertford Theatre, Pleasance Courtyard (Edinburgh Fringe), New Diorama Theatre, The Bike Shed Theatre.

Residency


6

We had a very successful residency of workshops, mentoring and performances of A Strange Wild Song & The Man in the Moone at the Bike Shed Theatre during November 2013. Have a look at our video (https://vimeo.com/81942504) !

WorkshopsIdeasTap, Bradfield College, Chalfonts Community College, Winterbourne Academy, Worcester University, Landmark Theatre, West Exe Technology College, Exeter College, Exeter University Theatre Co., The Defence Academy at Shrivenham, Tiverton High School, Hardenhuish School, Chumleigh Community College.

The Year Ahead------------------------------------------------------------

Our year's going to kick off with a bang and a new project called No Such Thing (http://rhumclay.wordpress.com/2013/12/01/rhum-and-clay-and-on-the-run-present-no-such-thing/) . We're running this event with On The Run, with support from New Diorama Theatre. It's a night celebrating the wonderful world of short-form theatre and we're currently accepting applications to perform as part of the evening. You've got until 23rd December to get your application in and the programme will be announced on 6th January. More information and a downloadable application form on our website (http://www.rhumandclay.com) .

Hardboiled: The Fall of Sam Shadow------------------------------------------------------------

Our next project at The Watermill Theatre is an entirely new show created by Beth Flintoff and us, set in Los Angeles in the 1940s. Drawn from hardboiled detective fiction and the world of film noir, it's going to be damn cool (just think of the hats we'll get to wear!). More information and tickets here (http://www.watermill.org.uk/hardboiled_the_fall_of_sam_shadow) .

The Perfect Game (working title)------------------------------------------------------------

We have begun research on a new show, to be fully unveiled in 2015. It's set in the world (and mind) of a former chess prodigy, framed by a single, beautiful game. We'll be presenting work-in-progress performances throughout 2014; we'll let you know where and when nearer the time.

News, Events and Items of Interest------------------------------------------------------------Pegasus Theatre needs your helpPegasus, where we performed on our autumn tour, is faced with drastic funding cuts from Oxfordshire County Council. It is a fantastic resource for touring productions like us, as well as the local community. Please sign the petition (http://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=48&RPID=4338100&HPID=4338100) against the proposed cuts. Pegasus isn't


7

the only theatre under threat- have a look at My Theatre Matters (http://www.mytheatrematters.com/news-info) to see how you can get involved.

Blogs and StuffA few blogs have been doing the rounds on social media that we think are really interesting. First, Bryony Kimmings posted this fairly open and honest look (http://thebryonykimmings.tumblr.com/post/67660917680/you-show-me-yours) at the financial realities of being a touring artist and the relationships between venues and herself/artists generally. This kickstarted a whole lot of blogs in response (here's a round-up (http://www.artsadmin.co.uk/artsonline/198/let-s-talk-about-the-money-artsfunding) ). Particularly nice was one by Alan Lane (http://alanlaneblog.wordpress.com) .

Things We LikeThe Wellcome Collection (http://www.wellcomecollection.org/whats-on/exhibitions/foreign-bodies-common-ground.aspx) , one of our favourite museums, has an exhibition showing the work of artists created during residencies at medical research centres around the world. Fascinating to see two worlds meeting, plus it's free! Until 6th February.Nebraska is a film about the road trip of a man and his senile father. It's fantastically composed, brilliantly acted and achingly bittersweet. From the director of Sideways and The Descendents.These photos (http://twentytwowords.com/2013/11/06/realistically-colorized-historical-photos-make-the-past-seem-incredibly-real-36-pictures/) make the past come to life.

Friends of Rhum and Clay------------------------------------------------------------On The Run's So It GoesOn The Run, currently co-running No Such Thing with Rhum and Clay, is presented a work-in-progress performance of So It Goes at The King's Head Theatre (https://kingsheadtheatre.ticketsolve.com/shows/873505032/events?TSLVq=6d67c9bf-27ae-4993-9d14-c5c6c29788e7&TSLVp=68c9a819-9692-491c-998d-d79d489356c7&TSLVts=1387024664&TSLVc=ticketsolve&TSLVe=kingsheadtheatre&TSLVrt=Safetynet&TSLVh=2facb636b06c5df24b6229e8575578ad) on 21st December at 3pm. 'Hannah’s father died of cancer when she was seventeen and in the seven years since, she hasn't talked about it much. Here she opens up, in a new show about memory, absence... and how hard it is to talk about death.'

Vault Festival

Coming up is this great looking festival (https://www.thevaultfestival.com) happening in the tunnels under Waterloo. We've got some friends and collaborators taking part :

A Fool's Proof by Scratchworks Theatre Collective (Week One)We mentored Scratchworks as part of our residency in Exeter while they were working on this funny, touching piece about a missing girl and the media frenzy surrounding her disappearance. Definitely one to watch.


8

Centralia & The Uncanny Valley by Superbolt Theatre Company (Weeks Two and Three)Classmates of ours from Lecoq, Superbolt make some lovely stuff. Centralia is about an almost-abandoned town and The Uncanny Valley is a futuristic tale of a man falling in love with a robot.

Body and Text by Wolf Pack (Week Three)The music and performance project by Laila Woozeer, composer and performer of the score for Rhum and Clay's A Strange Wild Song. A super-talented musician with several awards for composition- do go see.

Tickets and more info here (https://www.thevaultfestival.com) .

Theatre Ad Infinitum WorkshopOur friends at Theatre Ad Infinitum are delivering a week-long workshop from 6th-10th January 2014. Led by Nir Paldi (Co-Artistic Director and lead in Ballad of the Burning Star), it is a workshop on the telling stories as an ensemble. More details on their website (http://www.theatreadinfinitum.co.uk/education/) .

Thanks to all who have supported us during 2013: friends, audiences, venues, associates, funding organisations, newsletter readers...

Happy Christmas and New Year!Happy Christmas and New Year from Rhum and Clay!


9

Copy provided to Camden People’s Theatre on the show Shutterland, for use in print and online.

100 words

Shutterland: a landscape of recorded voices and lost stories. When a secret is discovered, it reveals a hidden past. Through a strange and unexpected turn of events, one man finds himself running from the system he spent his life serving. Surveillance agents prowl the streets. Every move is monitored. Every sound is recorded. This is Shutterland, where futures are decided and pasts are forgotten.

With a blend of absurdist humour and innovative physical theatre, Lecoq-trained Rhum and Clay present their Edinburgh smash hit.

50 words

A landscape of recorded voices and lost stories. One man finds himself running from the system he spent his life serving. Every move is monitored. Every sound is recorded. In Shutterland, futures are decided and pasts are forgotten. A cinematic blend of absurdist humour and innovative physical theatre

25 words

A cinematic blend of absurdist humour with innovative physical theatre. A man finds himself running from the system he spent his life serving.


10

Blog post for Rhum and Clay Theatre Company - end of year review

Twenty Twelve

And so we come to the end of an incredibly eventful year; a year that was by turns

fulfilling, frustrating and ultimately enriching for Rhum and Clay. This is an epic

summary blog, so get comfortable (or just skim). I’m going to try and look at some of

the broader issues this year brought up for us, as well as a recap of all the wonderful

things too. There’s lots missing, but I’m sure you don’t want to be reading for hours.

February & March

We started with a tour of A Strange Wild Song, which travelled from place to place,

north to south, city to countryside. We visited venues in areas as diverse and far

apart as central Liverpool and rural Devon. Happening within the body of the main

tour, the rural touring element, supported by Beaford Arts, was a first for us as a

company and it was a joy to discover a previously unknown audience with a hunger

for new work. It was also great to revisit some of our favourite venues from previous

tours, still supporting us despite an increasingly squeezed arts sector. It’s worth

noting that the spring tour and our autumn tour were aided greatly by the support

and subsidy of Arts Council England, as well as the in-kind support of friendly

venues and companies. As austerity continues to be a buzzword and with more

swingeing cuts to come I’m finding myself intermittently concerned and hopeful about

the future of public arts funding and sustainable (if that’s ever possible!) touring and

regional theatre spaces. An example of this: Pegasus Theatre in Oxford is faced

with local council cuts to their funding of around 2/3 over the next two years. We’ve

worked with Pegasus on our autumn tour and it’s a really fantastic venue (Julian

spent plenty of his adolescent years in its youth theatre) so it would be a shame to

see it lose the financial support of the Oxford’s council. In those circumstances, what

suffer are the projects and schemes with riskier returns i.e. ‘fringe’ productions and

outreach programmes. (You can sign a petition here against the proposal). As

someone who grew up outside London/South and its vibrant arts scene, well-

http://mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=48&RPID=4338100&HPID=4338100y


11

supported regional theatre (Lawrence Batley Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse)

gave me my first insight into what the form is capable of and sparked off a love affair,

the throes of which I am still living in and, thankfully, living off. Those theatres are so

hugely important and, apart from the support of a few committed critics, don’t tend to

get national attention (I ignore, of course, the fantastic local press and community

involvement in many places). I could write a whole blog about that, so I’ll stop there,

but its indicative of the problems that will drip down onto the smaller companies-

such as ours- in the future and some will inevitably find themselves frozen out.

However, there’s currently a lot of talk about how we can create a sustainable

creative world and venues, artists, producers and others are all thinking up solutions

to make the future more hopeful. There is a rather nice blog on this is by Alan Lane

of Slung Low.

May & June

The last days of Spring were spent in the idyllic surroundings of West Berkshire at

The Watermill Theatre, where we devised and performed The Strange Case of Dr

Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It marked a number of firsts for Rhum and Clay: It was our first

adaptation. It was our first production with a co-creator on the outside of the piece

i.e. not performing. It was our first co-production. There were plenty more discoveries

to be had, as there are with every new production, but these strike me as particularly

big ones. This was a rural touring production and so we set off in a van to the village

halls of Berkshire, Wiltshire, Surrey and more to prance about in Victorian suits. This

was an audience that was new to us and we were new to them, but the immediacy of

the performance (literally village halls- no lights, no sound, no black box, just what

we brought with us) meant there could be no distance, or stand-offishness on either

side. The success of the tour has led us to becoming an associate company of The

Watermill, working on a new production next year called Hardboiled: The Fall of

Sam Shadow.

July & August

Edinburgh. Oh Edinburgh. It seems strange to think that we won’t be taking a show

http://alanlaneblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/28/blog-post-transparency-money-and-being-the-theatre-company-we-want-to-be/

http://www.watermill.org.uk/hardboiled_the_fall_of_sam_shadow

http://www.watermill.org.uk/hardboiled_the_fall_of_sam_shadow


12

to the Fringe in 2014. It’s been a huge fixture of our calendar for the last three years,

with tours, rehearsals and lives planned around those three make-or-break (so

they’d have you believe) weeks in August. Our show, The Man in the Moone, just

about broke even financially, which is counted as a success in Edinburgh. We

garnered some decent reviews and audiences. No one got scurvy. It also felt like the

very limits of what we were capable of, creatively, in a very packed year. The great

thing about Edinburgh is the tremendous opportunity to have your work seen by a

huge amount of people, both from within and without the arts industry. Plus, it’s

brilliant fun and you get to be immersed in theatre, comedy, dance and bizarre

performance art for a month. However, it’s also a drain: emotionally, physically and

financially. With several Fringes under my belt, the ruthless, competitive edge of the

Fringe seems to have become more prominent as the novelty loses its shine. Work

is either incredible or terrible, though in reality most of it falls somewhere in between

those two poles. Not that this should be interpreted as an indictment of the Fringe (I

still love it deeply), but when you are forced to write show copy in April for a devised

show that doesn’t yet have a full plot or any character names, one can sometimes

find oneself making a show to fit what’s written in the brochure, and it feels in danger

of being ‘something that you do every year just because’. As our time gets packed

with multiple projects, it becomes harder and harder to avoid that scenario, so we’ll

be using the intervening year to make sure our 2015 Fringe show is something really

special. We’ve found a topic we’re excited about and more info should be cropping

up soon.

September, October & November

Our final engagements of the year were: a second tour of A Strange Wild Song and

a company residency. Once again, we were lucky enough to be supported by Arts

Council England, The Watermill Theatre, The Bike Shed Theatre and all our tour

venues to make it a reality.

This was our second residency at The Bike Shed and was a fantastic success. Our

shows did well, having been redeveloped for their idiosyncratic, intimate space and

we facilitated a huge amount of workshops. Over the last year, our workshops have


13

really gone from strength to strength, not just in demand, but in our facilitation of

them. This could have a whole blog to itself, but the engagement of the students has

been fantastic and the work they create has been, frequently and genuinely,

inventive, funny and moving. We worked with a lot of schools and organisations,

sometimes through the venue, sometimes because we were in the area and each

time was a new challenge, but with new potential as well. I’m currently working on a

video of the footage we shot on tour so if you are desperate to see how it all went

down, you will soon have the opportunity.

To round off, this is a photo of the view from last venue on our tour:

Photo by Chris Harrisson

CHRISTOPHER HARRISSON

http://rhumandclay.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/dsc_00422.jpg


14

Blog post for The Watermill Theatre on the creative process of making a show.

Jekyll and Hyde

Our first week of work on Jekyll and Hyde has finished. We’ve put the silly wigs back in the Watermill’s store cupboards and taken off our top hats for the next few weeks. We can’t wait to get started again and we’re really excited about how the show’s going to end up. With new projects, there’s always the opportunity to work with different people, and this time was no different, but it was also a different type of project for us for a couple of major reasons.

We’ve never adapted a book beforeAll our previous shows (Optic, Shutterland, A Strange Wild Song) have been created completely from scratch, so it was a new challenge for us to adapt a book, especially one that people know so well. Jekyll and Hyde is told predominantly through a lawyer called Utterson (who is basically described in the book as dry and boring) and all of the action is reported through other characters’ descriptions or by letters. Needless to say, this sort of thing doesn’t translate very well onto stage. The story is also very thin, with a lot of embellishment needed to make it rounded. One thing’s for certain with this adaptation: we won’t be sticking reverently to Stephenson’s version.

We’ve never worked with a director beforeUp until now, we’ve made our work as a group, with all performers acting as director and vice-versa. Although one of the pleasures of this is an egalitarian atmosphere in the rehearsal room and a strong sense of ensemble, it means making a show can take longer, with cast members having to step out of the action to see how things look and slot together. So making the show with Beth Flintoff has been (and will continue to be) something we have embraced. She was a fantastic help during the week, not only in being able to record and note what we discovered in the space, but in offering a fresh perspective and different approaches to things that we, as performers, were struggling with. To arrive in the rehearsal room with elements of script, however rough, was a huge time-saver and helped focus our energies. Beth is very much a co-creator of this show and it’s wonderful to have someone like her in the mix.

With all of this in mind, we had clear aims in what we wanted to achieve in our development week. Firstly, what story do we want to tell? And secondly, once we’ve worked that out, how do we want to tell it? Playing around in the rehearsal room


15

undoubtedly helped with the former, as we began to realise what characters and situations could be fleshed out and who we were interested in following. Having Hayley, designer for the show, in the room for most of the week was also a big help with the latter, as we began playing with props and costume. I’m hesitant to give too much away and ruin the surprise, but this show is going to be very silly, very funny and occasionally quite dark. Expect elements of penny dreadfuls, Hammer Horror and shadowy gothic styles! We’re excited to get back in the rehearsal room to get it finished before sharing it with the public. Thanks to the Watermill for having us.

Christopher HarrissonCo-Artistic Director, Rhum and Clay Theatre Company


16

Venue application and show information for a production by Rhum and Clay Theatre Company

The Grenata Street Army (Working Title)

By Rhum and Clay Theatre CompanyThe Production

A devised production inspired by a series of photographs taken by Léon Gimpel in France during the First World War, The Grenata Street Army (working title) explores the strategies children use to make sense of the adult world and the horror that it can bring. The piece is a collision between innocence and corruption, where bedrooms become battlefields and playgrounds transform into brutal conflict zones. Accompanied by an innovative, original score performed by a one-woman orchestra, the performers use dynamic physical movement, puppetry and a highly adaptable set to tell a dark war story, rich in humanity, humour and hope.

The Grenata Street Army. Léon Gimpel, 1915

“[a] fusion of mime, clowning and high-energy physical theatre”

The Stage

The Grenata Street Army follows the adventures of a group of children living in an abandoned town in the middle of a war zone. As the destructive adult world begins to encroach, the children take refuge in their imagination and the games they play. Not set during a specific conflict or time, The Grenata Street Army is a timeless story of the durability and inventiveness of a child’s imagination in the most extreme of circumstances. Through the clowning and acrobatics inherent in a child’s play, Rhum and Clay emphasise the absurdity of war in a hilarious and tragic way, sensitive to the warmth and humanity of the characters at its centre. Music forms an essential part of this piece, with the musician very much integrated into the


17

performance with additional accompaniment from the other performers.

The Company

Rhum and Clay Theatre Company was founded at l'Ecole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in 2010 and consists of Christopher Harrisson, Julian Spooner and Matthew Wells. The members of the company all trained together for two years and have a common desire to create highly physical and innovative theatre. Their first production, Optic, toured Britain in the summer of 2010. Shutterland, their second production, premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011 and was a critical and commercial success.

“If ever there was a time for a new wave of Absurdism now is it, let’s hope Rhum and Clay forge a way”

Total Theatre

Rhum and Clay took the show on a nationwide tour in early 2012, beginning with the Ustinov Studio in Bath, which was one The Guardian’s top five theatre picks for the week. Due to their success at Edinburgh, Rhum and Clay have been invited by the Watermill Theatre in Newbury to research and develop an adaptation of The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton. After only their second production, Rhum and Clay has secured their first international touring date, after being invited to perform at the Recklinghausen festival in Germany for 6 dates in May 2012. Rhum and Clay are currently rehearsing their third production, The Grenata Street Army, which will premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012.

Production Photograph for Shutterland (Edinburgh 2011).

Company mission statement

The theatre of Rhum and Clay is accessible and entertaining. With an economy of words and an emphasis on physical play and the pleasure of movement, Rhum and


18

Clay create unforgettable, hilarious and stunning theatre.

Marketing Plan

The Grenata Street Army will be a world premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012. Because of the accessible style of Rhum and Clay’s theatre, The Grenata Street Army will appeal to both young and old. In particular the piece will appeal to those with an enthusiasm for physical and visual theatre, and those with an interest in original live music.

Rhum and Clay are going to employ the services of a professional graphic designer, Sandra Dieckmann, to work with the company on the aesthetic of both the posters and the flyers for the Festival. This will enable the company to attract the attention of the public on the Royal Mile, and other publicity spots in Edinburgh, with a flyer and poster that has a professional design and an aesthetic that is in touch with that of the production.

The company will use offers such as a ‘2 for 1’ ticket price at the beginning of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012 and cheaper prices for preview performances, to encourage larger audiences, helping to create a buzz through word of mouth. Also, the company will put 20 tickets on the half-price hut for each performance at least for the first week. At the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011 the ‘half-price hut’ proved often to be a guaranteed 20 tickets sold for that day, and ensured a healthy house throughout the festival and is useful before reviews and word of mouth can boost audience figures. If pre-sales of tickets for The Grenata Street Amy exceed half the house, or if the show is beginning to sell out, the company will stop putting tickets on the half price hut.

Rhum and Clay have a professionally designed website which can be viewed at: www.rhumandclay.com. The advantage of this particular website is that it is incredibly easy to update, and so the company can upload reviews and news throughout the Fringe festival. The company can also upload news on ‘half-price hut’ tickets and ‘2-1’ deals onto the website, the address of which will appear on all publicity for the production. In conjunction with the website, Rhum and Clay often use Facebook and Twitter to have a direct and effective communication with the company fan base. It is through social networking sites that the company can inform the public on ticket offers, recent reviews and also developing relationships with other companies performing at the Fringe. The importance of this new media to the company can be shown in Shutterland being in the top ten most tweeted about physical theatre productions during the Edinburgh Fringe 2011, peaking at number three.

In the run up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011, Rhum and Clay will film a high-quality promotional trailer for The Grenata Street Army which will be uploaded onto Vimeo and distributed through the company website, Facebook and Twitter. A link to this trailer will be included in the press release sent out to all prospective reviewers and promoters before the beginning of the festival.


19

Rhum and Clay were finalists for the Ideastap Edinburgh Fund. The company was one of seven who are shortlisted for the prize from 280 companies who applied. This means that Rhum and Clay are currently featured on the Ideastap website and this is a good source of publicity and an example of the company establishing itself as one to watch.

The reputation of the company is also growing with substantial broadsheet publications. In January 2012, Lyn Gardner of The Guardian chose Rhum and Clay’s Shutterland tour as one of her theatre picks of the week, and appeared in ‘The Guide’ in the top 5 theatre pieces of the week. This will increase the chances of the company being reviewed by The Guardian at the Fringe 2012, which would boost audience numbers enormously. In addition to this Rhum and Clay have a substantial press contacts list, compiled from the previous Edinburgh Fringe 2011. Using this list the company can then send out press releases to all relevant contacts before the beginning of the Festival.

To compliment the marketing work carried out by the company, Rhum and Clay will also be working with experienced publicist Ben Clare, who has a proven track record working for organisations and performers such as The National Theatre, Gecko Theatre Company, Marcello Magni and Kathryn Hunter, Volcano, LIFT (London International Festival Theatre) and the London 2012 Festival.

Make Faces: A Silly Scribble Activity Book Published by...

Documents

Transcript of Make Faces: A Silly Scribble Activity Book Published by...