Table Tennis and Football in Germany

We played four shows in Recklinghausen as part of the Ruhrfestspiele Festival. And we played in a tent… it was a very nice tent but was a bit hot sometimes. I had to dry clean my costume twice when Cat (our producer) told me that I was smelly. We had four really good shows with a bit of a small audience on the Thursday (but still a great show).

We were worried about the audience for the show on the Friday as we were competing with the opening of the World Cup in South Africa which was a big event in Recklinghausen but in fact it was our best show and biggest house.

On Thursday we bought Table Tennis bats for Euro 1.50 and played on the table in the school-yard where the tent was pitched. We found this 4 way table and sort of worked out how to play on it. It’s a bit like the four-square game that we often play in rehearsals. When we left I donated the bats to the tech crew who were brilliant all week (at teching not at table tennis – they might be good at that too but they would not play us – scared of my killer serve I think)



On Friday night we packed up My Life With the Dogs and headed off to watch France – Uraguai in a bar – as you know it was 0-0 and a bit boring.

Back home now but off to the Czech Republic next week for the festival in Hradec and a big workshop.

Posted by Alex Byrne - Artistic Director

A Bristol Sandwich - Lund/ Bristol/ Stamsund

10 - 23 May 2010

Loyal readers of the NIE blog might notice a few new authorial voices in the mix as we share out some of the blog reporting for NIE over the next few months..

After Lund we headed to Junges Ensemble Stuttgart (JES), Germany to play both Berlin 1961 and Everything Falls Apart as part of their anniversary celebrations. These went really well and the company really enjoyed seeing and meeting performers from some of the other shows in the festival.

After a days rest, NIE headed off to the UK to play Everything Falls Apart as part of Mayfest - an annual festival of contemporary theatre in Bristol. We were performing at one of our favourite UK venues, the Tobacco Factory and those who had been there before look forward to coming back.

Volcanic Ash and airline strikes did not hamper our travel endeavours so everyone got from Germany/ Belgium/ Norway/ Czech Republic to Southville in Bristol by Thursday for the set-up and get-in of the show.




Before we arrived we weren't sure how the height of the space would affect the show and if we would need to modify some bits, but once we had carried all our stuff into the space, we found ways and a spot to make Unai's scenes on the fridge work. The industrial building lent itself to the urban feel of the show, so once we had everything prepared the show looked great. Unai, Liz and Cat headed off to Bristol Radio for a quick interview explaining the show and the company.



After the get-in on Thursday we explored Bristol a bit more and saw some other shows as part of Mayfest - the ever-brilliant Will Adamsdale in The Human Computer at Bristol Old Vic studio and the massive installed outdoor performance Electric Hotel by the waterfront. Both shows are highly recommended so if you get a chance to catch them elsewhere I would get a ticket!

We had a great couple of show days in Bristol with 2 of the shows sold out - audiences seemed to really enjoy the promenade style and the story, appreciating the new ways we make shows without losing the NIE style. By Saturday night, we were once again packing up in our newly decorated van and heading over to Norway for the Stamsund International Theatre Festival next week.
www.stamsund-internasjonale.no

Posted by Cat Moore, UK producer for NIE