The Possibilities

A group of activists come together to explore The Possibilities, ten stories of human life at the limits of our existence.

Red Line presents an exhilarating new interpretation of Howard Barker’s 20th century classic The Possibilities, a series of short plays spanning a diverse range of times, locations and cultures from the distant past to an imagined dystopian future. Each play explores how we cope with and react to oppression in its many guises and, in doing so, raises fundamental questions about the differences between the oppressor and the oppressed, the terrorist and the freedom fighter, the wronged avenger and the murderer. It is a piece that raises far more questions than it answers, and it is at the same time absurd, compassionate, harrowing, funny, brutal and ultimately unforgettable.

The Possibilities features an ensemble cast; striking, contemporary music and choreographed movement in an innovative and exhilarating production that shines a light on the darker recesses of human behaviour and the choices we make in extreme situations.

“When the door is knocked on, open it”

Howard Barker is one of the most significant and controversial dramatists of our time. His plays challenge, unsettle and expose with a vital energy, poetic language and vivid imagination. 25 years since the play was written, The Possibilities still grips the audience while at the same time, in Barker’s words, “making suffering beautiful”. The themes of conflict and control in the play strongly resonate with the world events shaping our society.

Intense, emotionally raw and visually arresting, The Possibilities is an experience that will catch your breath and make your heart beat faster.

The production ran from 31st October to 19th November.

Cast

  • Phil Bishop
  • Jonathan Butler
  • Rafid Golby
  • Helen Meadmore
  • Nina Moniri
  • Olivia Onyehara
  • Adam Seigel
  • Robert Sladden
  • Francesca Wilding

Creatives

  • Director/Choreographer: Matthew Parker
  • Producer: Nina Moniri
  • Stage Manager: Jess Ormsby
  • ASM/Technicals: Jo Abram
  • Lighting Designer: Simeon Miller

By arrangement with Judy Daish Associates

Mary Rose

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 20th 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

Ward No.6

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

A Woman Alone

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 20th 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

Two

Dispense Theatre proudly presents a very special 21st Anniversary Production of Jim Cartwrights Two directed by Matthew Parker.

After a very succesful initial run of the show in April – which Claire Birch of English Touring Theatre described as “an inspired and brilliantly executed new site-specific production of a timeless classic” – Dispense Theatre return with another, longer run to mark the 21st Anniversary of Cartwrights masterpiece.

Once again the Cellar Bar at Dirty Dicks opens its doors as the Landlord and Landlady invite you for a few drinks in their humble establishment. Meet the regulars and take in the surroundings in the one pub where bitter is never off.

Performed from the 11th to 28th September.

Cast

  • Nicky Diss
  • Simon Pennicott

Director Matthew Parker

Stage Manager Lizzie Patrick

The Late Edwina Black

Matthew directed The Late Edwina Black for Sheringham Little Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Summer Rep season.

Cast includes:

  • Jennifer Bryden
  • Rupert Mason
  • Bryan Pilkington
  • Joanna Watt

For more info please visit Sheringham Little Theatres website here