Shunt is a performance collective exploring the ‘live event’.
Formed in January 1998 by ten diverse artists; shunt is committed to site-specific performance in unusual spaces that involve the audience in different ways other than as passive observers.
Statement of Objectives:
- To produce work of the highest level of innovation and quality.
- To integrate theatre with audio/visual art, circus, dance and other art forms to redefine the nature of the performance event.
- To change the public’s perception of theatre/performance in order to encourage a new audience for our work.
From November 1998 the company developed two Railway Arches in Bethnal Green, East London, into a multi-functional performance space for shows, rehearsals and as a venue to exhibit work in progress. As a result of this process Dance Bear Dance was created gaining critical acclaim as Timeout Live Award winners of 2003.
In March 2004 Shunt occupied a 70,000 square foot network of railway arches under London Bridge Station – The London Bridge Vaults. Now, The Shunt Vaults. Having this permanent home and the support of The National Theatre has allowed Shunt to fully explore the model for creating theatre which was developed in Bethnal Green. This model allows for artistic development and experimentation while producing a popular and profitable show which becomes self-financing. The first of these shows was Tropicana which had audiences average of 600 people per week- often exceeded.
Throughout 2005 Shunt hosted monthly cabarets while simultaneously running Tropicana. These cabarets have informed the artistic exploration of The Vaults. NESTA have been funding these developmental cabarets which continue to inform the creative process and allow for the specific development of the varied disciplines evident within the company structure these being aerial work, video, performance, sound design, lighting design and dance. These explorations contributed towards forming Amato Saltone (again in collaboration with The National Theatre). Inspired by the work of Cornell Woolrich known as the ‘Father of Film Noir’. Amato Saltone ran for 6 months from October 2005 until March 2006.
Having completed two long running shows Shunt decided upon their next artisti project; The Shunt Lounge. This is an opportunity for the 10 founder Shunt Artists to work as individuals again after ten years of making work together. It is also a chance to reinvigorate the Shunt process while continuing to build their core audience.
A different Shunt artist curates The Shunt Lounge each week with performance, installation, music, film and video. The Lounge creates opportunity for the Shunt collective to collaborate with other artists to further ‘explore the live event’. Additionally The Shunt Lounge was also conceived to provide a much needed forum for the wider artistic community and to develop audiences for contemporary art practice.
Since the Lounge began on September the 15th 2006 we have achieved audiences of more than 27,200. Over 90 Shunt Lounge evenings have taken place. The Lounge has supported 100 artists and 30 companies. The Shunt Vaults has also hosted The Spill Festival - an international performance art festival in collaboration with The Pacitti Company facilitating 12 artists and 3 companies and including shunt artists in the devising and performing of the festival ‘Grande Finale’.
Previous Work
Amato Saltone (October 2005 – March 2005) Following the success of Tropicana, Amato Saltone continues to explore the 70,000 square foot labyrinth - The Shunt Vaults
‘This is underground theatre with a vengeance’ The Guardian
‘All theatre is about manipulation of the audience and, by the time you wander, with the throng, into the "penthouse" where the show begins, swigging from your second bottle of beer and nattering with your mates, Shunt have you entirely in the palm of their hand.’ The Independent
‘Who's watching who, and who's guilty? No one will leave Amato Saltone agreeing with their neighbour. It's an atmospheric exercise in wariness: like being on a ghost train without the train.’ The Observer
Tropicana (Sept 2004 – June 2005) The first performance in shunt’s new home The Shunt Vaults underneath London Bridge Station
‘A minimalist cocktail of sex-and-death, circus sleaze and club concert’ The Times
‘…..exhilarating, a peverse narnia full of surprise…..’ Critics Choice The Sunday Times
‘a metropolitan Alice in Wonderland,….a visually overwhelming experience’ The Observer
Dance Bear Dance (May 2002 to August 2003 – total of 9 months of performance) – a site specific performance in Two East London Railway Arches based on The Gunpowder Plot and more current acts of Terrorism. (London Arts Theatre Production Award)
Winner of Time Out Live Award 2003.
‘…more exciting and surprising than anything you will see in the theatre this year.’ The Guardian
‘The whole thing felt like being inside the head of a drunken genius’ The Daily Telegraph
‘ A seriously unusual night out’ The Independent On Sunday
‘Like so much of this company’s work, the experience manages to be both thrillingly absurd and cleverly atmospheric’ Time Out
The Ballad of Bobby Francois – The story of the Uruguay rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes in 1972. Last performed in The Drome – a railway arch under London Bridge Station - January to March 2001. Time Out Critics’ Choice, Nominated by The Evening Standard for a Creative Freedom Award. Winner of Total Theatre Award and Herald Angel.
‘shunt is playing with some of the more extreme possibilities of theatrical experience’ The Scotsman
‘Hugely ambitious, Highly effective’ The Glasgow Herald
‘This company are thrillingly inventive’ The Independent On Sunday
‘Radical, original, incredible- but not for the squeamish’ Time Out
The Tennis Show - An exploration of the etiquette and hierarchy of lawn tennis staged in a derelict barge house by the Oxo Tower. November-December 2000 (London Arts Theatre Production Award.) Time Out Critics’ Choice. Nominated by The Evening Standard for a Creative Freedom Award
‘sheer electric inventiveness’ Time Out
‘ It’s stumbling across something as unexpected and refreshing as this that makes living in London worthwhile’ What’s On
‘Fantastic, alarming inventiveness’ The Independent On Sunday
Sightings - a site specific project commissioned by Croydon Clocktower and London Arts for the daily users of this public space in which we imagined that the building was filling with water. May 2001.
Lost and Found - A performance installation in the disused Aldwych Tube Station. (June 2001)
Hedwig and Stoller - Performed at the ICA, The London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), the British Festival of Visual Theatre (BFVT), the Lion and Unicorn Pub Theatre and Chats Palace.
Dramaturgy – a users guide - We were the company in residence at this conference exploring the role of the dramaturg. (A collaboration with Total Theatre and Central School of Speech and Drama)
Pink ORTHODOX - An experiment in performance and projection in where the audience are served Polish vodka and then set on fire (simulated).
Riverside Studios May – June 2001
‘This is to Theatre what Tracy Emin’s bed is to figurative art’ The Stage
Shunt Company Members:
Layla Aldridge Aerialist/Choreographer
Serena Bobowski Performer/Choreographer
Gemma Brockis Performer
Lizzie Clachan Designer
Louise Mari Writer
Hannah Ringham Performer
David Rosenberg Director/Performer
Andrew Rutland Sound designer
Mischa Twitchin Dramaturg/Lighting Designer
Heather Uprichard Performer
Company Personnel:
Luke T.P Cooper General Manager
Andrea Salazar Buildings Manager
Emma Ratcliff Administrative Assistant
Board of Trustees:
Jamie Beddard
Graeae Theatre Company
Writer, Director, Performer
Gisele Edwards
Performer
Financial Advisor
Caro Howell
Head of Education and Public Events
Whitechapel Gallery
Judith Elman
Solicitor
Statement of Objectives:
- To produce work of the highest level of innovation and quality.
- To integrate theatre with audio/visual art, circus, dance and other art forms to redefine the nature of the performance event.
- To change the public’s perception of theatre/performance in order to encourage a new audience for our work.
From November 1998 the company developed two Railway Arches in Bethnal Green, East London, into a multi-functional performance space for shows, rehearsals and as a venue to exhibit work in progress. As a result of this process Dance Bear Dance was created gaining critical acclaim as Timeout Live Award winners of 2003.
In March 2004 Shunt occupied a 70,000 square foot network of railway arches under London Bridge Station – The London Bridge Vaults. Now, The Shunt Vaults. Having this permanent home and the support of The National Theatre has allowed Shunt to fully explore the model for creating theatre which was developed in Bethnal Green. This model allows for artistic development and experimentation while producing a popular and profitable show which becomes self-financing. The first of these shows was Tropicana which had audiences average of 600 people per week- often exceeded.
Throughout 2005 Shunt hosted monthly cabarets while simultaneously running Tropicana. These cabarets have informed the artistic exploration of The Vaults. NESTA have been funding these developmental cabarets which continue to inform the creative process and allow for the specific development of the varied disciplines evident within the company structure these being aerial work, video, performance, sound design, lighting design and dance. These explorations contributed towards forming Amato Saltone (again in collaboration with The National Theatre). Inspired by the work of Cornell Woolrich known as the ‘Father of Film Noir’. Amato Saltone ran for 6 months from October 2005 until March 2006.
Having completed two long running shows Shunt decided upon their next artisti project; The Shunt Lounge. This is an opportunity for the 10 founder Shunt Artists to work as individuals again after ten years of making work together. It is also a chance to reinvigorate the Shunt process while continuing to build their core audience.
A different Shunt artist curates The Shunt Lounge each week with performance, installation, music, film and video. The Lounge creates opportunity for the Shunt collective to collaborate with other artists to further ‘explore the live event’. Additionally The Shunt Lounge was also conceived to provide a much needed forum for the wider artistic community and to develop audiences for contemporary art practice.
Since the Lounge began on September the 15th 2006 we have achieved audiences of more than 27,200. Over 90 Shunt Lounge evenings have taken place. The Lounge has supported 100 artists and 30 companies. The Shunt Vaults has also hosted The Spill Festival - an international performance art festival in collaboration with The Pacitti Company facilitating 12 artists and 3 companies and including shunt artists in the devising and performing of the festival ‘Grande Finale’.
Previous Work
Amato Saltone (October 2005 – March 2005) Following the success of Tropicana, Amato Saltone continues to explore the 70,000 square foot labyrinth - The Shunt Vaults
‘This is underground theatre with a vengeance’ The Guardian
‘All theatre is about manipulation of the audience and, by the time you wander, with the throng, into the "penthouse" where the show begins, swigging from your second bottle of beer and nattering with your mates, Shunt have you entirely in the palm of their hand.’ The Independent
‘Who's watching who, and who's guilty? No one will leave Amato Saltone agreeing with their neighbour. It's an atmospheric exercise in wariness: like being on a ghost train without the train.’ The Observer
Tropicana (Sept 2004 – June 2005) The first performance in shunt’s new home The Shunt Vaults underneath London Bridge Station
‘A minimalist cocktail of sex-and-death, circus sleaze and club concert’ The Times
‘…..exhilarating, a peverse narnia full of surprise…..’ Critics Choice The Sunday Times
‘a metropolitan Alice in Wonderland,….a visually overwhelming experience’ The Observer
Dance Bear Dance (May 2002 to August 2003 – total of 9 months of performance) – a site specific performance in Two East London Railway Arches based on The Gunpowder Plot and more current acts of Terrorism. (London Arts Theatre Production Award)
Winner of Time Out Live Award 2003.
‘…more exciting and surprising than anything you will see in the theatre this year.’ The Guardian
‘The whole thing felt like being inside the head of a drunken genius’ The Daily Telegraph
‘ A seriously unusual night out’ The Independent On Sunday
‘Like so much of this company’s work, the experience manages to be both thrillingly absurd and cleverly atmospheric’ Time Out
The Ballad of Bobby Francois – The story of the Uruguay rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes in 1972. Last performed in The Drome – a railway arch under London Bridge Station - January to March 2001. Time Out Critics’ Choice, Nominated by The Evening Standard for a Creative Freedom Award. Winner of Total Theatre Award and Herald Angel.
‘shunt is playing with some of the more extreme possibilities of theatrical experience’ The Scotsman
‘Hugely ambitious, Highly effective’ The Glasgow Herald
‘This company are thrillingly inventive’ The Independent On Sunday
‘Radical, original, incredible- but not for the squeamish’ Time Out
The Tennis Show - An exploration of the etiquette and hierarchy of lawn tennis staged in a derelict barge house by the Oxo Tower. November-December 2000 (London Arts Theatre Production Award.) Time Out Critics’ Choice. Nominated by The Evening Standard for a Creative Freedom Award
‘sheer electric inventiveness’ Time Out
‘ It’s stumbling across something as unexpected and refreshing as this that makes living in London worthwhile’ What’s On
‘Fantastic, alarming inventiveness’ The Independent On Sunday
Sightings - a site specific project commissioned by Croydon Clocktower and London Arts for the daily users of this public space in which we imagined that the building was filling with water. May 2001.
Lost and Found - A performance installation in the disused Aldwych Tube Station. (June 2001)
Hedwig and Stoller - Performed at the ICA, The London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), the British Festival of Visual Theatre (BFVT), the Lion and Unicorn Pub Theatre and Chats Palace.
Dramaturgy – a users guide - We were the company in residence at this conference exploring the role of the dramaturg. (A collaboration with Total Theatre and Central School of Speech and Drama)
Pink ORTHODOX - An experiment in performance and projection in where the audience are served Polish vodka and then set on fire (simulated).
Riverside Studios May – June 2001
‘This is to Theatre what Tracy Emin’s bed is to figurative art’ The Stage
Shunt Company Members:
Layla Aldridge Aerialist/Choreographer
Serena Bobowski Performer/Choreographer
Gemma Brockis Performer
Lizzie Clachan Designer
Louise Mari Writer
Hannah Ringham Performer
David Rosenberg Director/Performer
Andrew Rutland Sound designer
Mischa Twitchin Dramaturg/Lighting Designer
Heather Uprichard Performer
Company Personnel:
Luke T.P Cooper General Manager
Andrea Salazar Buildings Manager
Emma Ratcliff Administrative Assistant
Board of Trustees:
Jamie Beddard
Graeae Theatre Company
Writer, Director, Performer
Gisele Edwards
Performer
Financial Advisor
Caro Howell
Head of Education and Public Events
Whitechapel Gallery
Judith Elman
Solicitor
1 comment:
I am particularly interested in The Shunt Bar as I am currently writing an essay on it (I am an MA student at Central School of Speech and Drama, and I understant that is where the 10 founder members met).
I was wondering if anyone could help me with the following:
I am interested in how the choices are made for artists appearing at The Shunt Lounge - how individually or collectively. I am aware that Shunt receives funding from NESTA (mentioned here) and from The Arts Council and I would like to know how this influences decisions made - are there specific requirements that Shunt have to meet in order to be funded?
I hope to hear from someone soon.
Thank you.
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