Bootworks Theatre Present The Many Doors of Frank Feelbad
Building on the huge success of critically acclaimed ‘The Incredible Book Eating Boy’ (***** Scotsman 2011), Total Theatre Award-winners Bootworks Theatre create The Lose-O-Porium – an intimate space where all lost things live. And where Frank’s adventures can be enjoyed by small audiences of children and their grown ups.
The Many Doors of Frank Feelbad
Frank is an inquisitive chap with a big problem; what’s happened to Mum? Join Frank on his adventure to find her. There’ll be scavenger hunts, puzzles to solve and even some dancing to dub-step. Dealing sensitively with grief and loss, the show asks how we cope when things go missing. This interactive performance is presented within The Lose-O-Porium – an intimate space where all lost things live, and where Frank’s adventures can be enjoyed by small audiences and their grown ups.
Running Time: 60 mins | Suitable for ages 5+
Commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre, greenhouse, artsdepot and Worthing Theatres. Supported by The ShowRoom, University of Chichester, Stratford Circus & Worboys Productions. Funded by Arts Council England.
James Baker said; This show makes a conscious effort to depart from work for young people loyal to happy endings and starts with the presumption that children are already more aware of the complexity of the world than perhaps we give them credit for; that they’re aware that Mum & Dad sometimes fight, that people aren’t always nice, that it’s possible to fall-sick or even die without rhyme nor reason. It celebrates the idea that children aren’t made of glass and require wrapping in cotton wool. That kids are not just receptive, but intrigued and enquiring, when it comes to addressing those taboos, that us adults, might find difficult. This show celebrates the complexity of children as they grow up, and how little as adults we really understand. It asks questions about how a child might cope with the death of a mother, and reaches out to our child audiences in helping answer that question.
Listings Information:
Venue: Pleasance Kids @ EICC
Performance dates: Wed 10th- Sun 28th August
Time: 12pm (60 minutes)
Tickets: Full price (concession price) £8.50 (£6)
Pleasance Kids @ EICC
Wed 10th- Sun 28th August
12pm (60 minutes)
Box Office: 0131 556 6550
Pleasance Press Office; press@pleasance.co.uk
Online booking: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/via/search/edinburgh
Review
The Many Doors of Frank Feelbad deals with death in the most precious, thought-provoking way for an audience of totally immersed children aged 5+ and their equally enthralled adults. Childrens Theatre Review
‘WHAT a delight this show is – a joy from start to finish.’
***** The Scotsman on ‘The Incredible Book Eating Boy’ (Edinburgh Fringe 2011)
‘It is utterly, sometimes alarmingly, consistently magically, wonderful.’
Guardian on ‘The Incredible Book Eating Boy’ (Edinburgh Fringe 2011)
Winners of a Total Theatre Award for Innovation 2010
Nominated for Total Theatre Award in Innovation & Experimentation 2009, 2015
About Bootworks:
Bootworks Theatre is a group of artists committed to making high quality and original theatre for unusual spaces. Our work appears anywhere we might be encountered; in cafes, garages, foyers, libraries tents, studios and pubs and we often design our own installations for to take place. We also publish articles and books that document both our practice, and work from like-minded artists and companies around the UK
Our work has been presented extensively across the UK including the National Theatre, the Southbank Centre, The National Museum of Scotland and once at a funeral. We’ve presented projects in 9 different countries worldwide in collaboration with the British Council; from a live silent film on the lake inside the Museum of Art in Kochi, to a 5-minute Oliver Jeffers adaptation for one child at a time at an orphanage of 78 children 4-hours drive outside of Cairo.
What draws us together is making performance that has its core focus on the person, intimate and nostalgic. And we aim to reach entirely new audiences with each new project that we develop; engaging audiences from all walks of life.
Credits:
Concept; Bootworks Theatre
Directed by: James Baker
Devised by: James Baker, Robert Jude Daniels, Andy Roberts and Sophia Walls. With performance from Josh Mathieson.
Producer: Becki Haines
Writing; Nick Field
Sound Design; Dougie Evans
Animation; Trevor Hardy
Puppets: Amelia Bird
Lighting Design; Vince Field
Photography; Alex Brenner
Film; Rosie Powell
@bootworks | #NLTMVC | www.bootworkstheatre.co.uk
