Can you hear the call?

In the grey waters surrounding the Hebrides, a fir tree and a rowan keep vigil over a mysterious island where spirits walk.

In a Sussex manor house another ghost keeps watch, yearning for the return of her beloved boy.

Mary Rose is a supernatural story of love, lost innocence and the parallel world where our departed ones are still present, just beyond reach.

Award nominated theatre company DogOrange brings its imaginative style to this 20^th Century classic ghost story by Peter Pan author J M Barrie in a beautifully haunting new production at the Brockley Jack Studio, directed by Matthew Parker and featuring new music by Maria Haik Escudero.

a haunting, and beautifully sincere production, that will leave you with traces of its spirit way after the curtain call…. if you want to see some theatre with real conviction, sincerity and artistry go and see this play, and keep your eyes and ears open to anything from Dog Orange or Matthew Parker; I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Remotegoat

 Director Matthew Parker delivers a scrupulously detailed, gripping, genuinely goose-bump inducing vision of this high Victorian ghost story… Parker’s sterling cast, and his sure, hugely inventive dramatic touch generate an impressive, lingering impression of real loss and longing.

Time Out

Mary Rose should not be missed. Rarely does every element of a production slide together without crease the way this does, providing a majestic evening of escape from the “fearfully solid” structure of the everyday.

Extra Extra

An absolutely superb mix of psychological heft and energetic physical theatre… an imaginative and dynamic production, realised with passion and wit

Time Out – Recommended

Sell Out Run

Innovative and imaginative theatre company DogOrange followed their critically acclaimed production of A Woman Alone with the London transfer of their Stage Award nominated production of Ward No.6

Stuck in a thankless job in a small town, Dr Ragin finds himself in the company of a young inmate in the asylum known as Ward No. 6. Their conversations lead him to reject the definitions of madness and sanity he has taken for granted, and to question his role in keeping the patients locked up. Betrayed by his friend, he ends up imprisoned himself – trapped in an ‘enchanted circle’ formed by his former patients’ rituals and superstitions.

By turns comic, tragic and absurd, DogOrange’s punchy, vivid style brings the cast of bizarre and stylised characters to life. Director Matthew Parker has embraced a style of storytelling that owes much to absurdism & theatre of cruelty and which blurs the boundaries between comedy and tragedy. The play expands and complements the original story, giving life to the inmates of the Ward as they re-enact the downfall of Dr Ragin. The production was nominated for Best Ensemble in The Stage Acting Excellence Awards.

Cast

• Charlotte Blake
• Oliver Lavery
• Michael Linsey
• Harry Lobek

Directed by Matthew Parker

An absolutely superb mix of psychological heft and energetic physical theatre… an imaginative and dynamic production, realised with passion and wit

Time Out – Recommended

The production is excellent… Ward No 6 was nominated for best ensemble at the 15th Annual Stage Award following its Edinburgh run, and it is easy to see why… The darkly serious subject matter is set off by some fittingly dark physical comedy, which the cast carry off with aplomb.

Remotegoat

Parker’s absurdist interpretation of Ward No. 6 releases the kinetic energy of Chekhov’s words in a production that is often as exhilarating to watch as it is disturbing… this production is like an adrenaline shot. It moves with manic energy, sweeping up the audience with it… strangely graceful in its lunacy.

Exeunt

an engaging cast – directed meticulously – who manage their character shifts with real style, and present us with a drama which has a question of real substance at its core.

Fringe Report

Oliver Lavery is superb as the mad but brilliant Gromov and the odious Hobotov… his expressive face switches effortless from the frustrated and frantic intelligence of Gromov to the smug one of Hobotov.

British Theatre Guide

Increasingly compelling (and) punctuated with moments of humour… the intensity is sustained superbly with some faultless performances

Spoonfed

View two extracts from Ward No.6 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on the Videos page.

Read the full reviews of Ward No.6 2011 below

Time Out

Remotegoat

Exeunt

Photographer: James Oaten

Poster Image: Jide Fado/Michael Linsey

Locked in a flat, a solitary woman makes her confession. Amid domestic chores, dodgy phone calls, a sex-mad brother-in-law and a forever screaming baby she tells us the story of how her love for a young student led to her imprisonment at the hands of her jealous husband. Through farce to tragedy, her story propels the audience to its shocking climax.

A maid, a nurse, a babysitter, a charlady. Do all, wash all, f*cked up and f*cked over

DogOrange’s inventive new adaptation features a cast of five talented women portraying the many facets of Franca Rame and Dario Fo’s Woman Alone. With a mixture of slapstick, fast-paced physical comedy, movement and raw emotion, they explore the heights and depths of this 20^th Century classic to the full.

A kaleidoscope of character and physical comedy… A Woman Alone is the most impressive piece of its scale I’ve seen in a long while.

What’s On Stage

The device is highly effective, allowing for physical and vocal exploration of the conflicts within this tortured woman… constant energy and creative versatility on display… terrifically fun moments.

Remotegoat

Striking performances leave a lasting impact

Time Out

Blending strong elements of comedy and tragedy in such a lively and engaging production… DogOrange, in a stroke of inspiration, has vibrantly refreshed the performance… the production is without a dull moment

Art Wednesday

Cast

• Cristiana Dell’Anna
• Laura Harling
• Alison Shaw
• Fleur Shepherd
• Joanna Waters

Producer Saba Burali

Director  Matthew Parker

Designer Suneeda Maruthiyil

Lighting Designer Allan Ramsay

Stage Manager Tim Berryman

Assistant Director Catherine Gerrard

Production Assistant Luke Holbrook

This production was devised in association with First Draft at The Horse and follows DogOrange’s successful adaptation of Chekhov’s Ward No.6, which was nominated for the Best Ensemble Stage Acting Excellence Award 2009.

DogOrange

Imaginative retellings of classic stories and flights of fancy

Production photos: James Oaten

Flyer/poster Design: Laura Harling

Read the review of the First Draft performance here