The countdown is on for the Stockton International Riverside Festival 2011
Home >
What's On in Stockton
> The countdown is on for the Stockton International Riverside Festival 2011
The countdown is on to the start of the 24th Stockton International Riverside Festival (4-7 August).
Taking place in and around Stockton on Tees, the festival returns to the River from which it takes its name to bring audiences a stellar lineup of co-commissions, UK premieres and international artists.
For four extraordinary days in August, Stockton-on-Tees in the North East of England will be transformed into a vast performance space for both homegrown and international street theatre artists.
Visitors will be treated to a spectacular launch event. Eyes will look skyward forWired Aerial Theatre’s performance of As The World Tipped on Thursday, 4 August at 9.30pm.
This ambitious and extraordinary piece of epic theatre will be staged for just the fifth time ever when it comes to SIRF, having premiered at Norwich and Norfolk Festival this year.
Stockton High Street will play host to the one-off performance which will see a 120 tonne crane lift a horizontal stage to become a vertical screen almost 100 feet into the air. The suspended screen will provide the platform for 11 performers all attached to bungee ropes as they use breathtaking aerial skills to look at the topical theme of climate change through aerial theatre and video footage.
At the large scale end of the spectrum the festival finale is always a special occasion. This year’s event is a UK premiere featuring the Argentinean company Voala. Taking inspiration from the psychedelia of the 1960s, Moare features a giant mobile suspended from a 100 tonne crane, 13 extraordinary acrobats suspended from the mobile and uplifting rock music. Don’t miss it on Sunday, 7 August.
Now in its fifth season, the Without Walls commissioning consortium presents ambitious new work from British companies.
One show guaranteed to be spectacular is Graeae Theatre Company’s adaption of The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. The book is part children’s story and part science fiction and Graeae’s version will feature an Iron Man the size of a double deceker bus! The UK’s leading disabled and deaf company spins the tale with words, signs and an audio descriptive narrative.
Smaller in scale but promising to be equally memorable are two dance shows by Bad Taste Cru and Deaf Men Dancing.
Bad Taste Cru’s Tribal Assembly fuses physical theatre, dynamic b-boy moves and body contact to tell the story of four very different characters. Originally from Northern Ireland and Lithuania, the company is based in Newcastle.
As the name suggests Deaf Men Dancing are an all male deaf company who are working with choreographer Mark Smith and visual artist Rachel Gadsden on Alive! Through dance, visual art, sound and spoken language they aim to turn reality on its head and remind everyone to embrace being Alive!
Finally the Without Walls programme presents two inventive street theatre performances. SIRF favourites Whalley Range Allstars are collaborating with Dutch company Babok to present Imaginary Friends. Ten performers and ten life sized puppets will lead the audience on an entertaining journey through life via the streets of Stockton.
There’s an opportunity to experience Punch and Judy you’ve never seen them before with Red Herring’s That’s The Way To Do It! The grotesque sideshow characters come to noisy life and the action culminates in a huge tug-of-war with an enormous string of sausages and a lot of audience participation.
Audiences at SIRF will have the chance to see some of the country’s brightest emerging street art talent thanks to a new project with one of the five host Boroughs of the London 2012 Olympics.
Called Gone in 20 Minutes, the project will present 10 new shows from a variety of disciplines including theatre, dance, circus and cabaret, at Spitalfields in London on Sunday, 17 July and SIRF on Friday, 5 August.
It gives 10 companies the chance to present their work and to compete for two prizes – one awarded by a panel of judges and the other voted by the audiences at Spitalfields and SIRF.
Among the companies performing are Bui Bolg with The Chancy Brothers. Enjoy watching a quintessential Irish scene unfold through giant puppetry and music.
Estelle Rosenfeld and Philip Parr bring Spread the Love to SIRF – take time out to have your senses awakened and learn the truth about love. If you need to get anything off your chest thenBiding Time’s Rantbox could be for you. Three roving performers interview passers-by about the state of the world. They then rant on your behalf – with some famous speeches and dancing thrown in for good measure.
The hugely popular Community Carnival will take over Stockton High Street from noon on Saturday, 6 August and you can be part of the must-see event.
This year’s carnival theme is ‘Dare to Dream’ and is inspired by everything to do with dreams, hopes and aspirations for the future. The theme was chosen as the winning entry to the People’s Choice competition which gave people the opportunity to come up with the idea for the parade.
So far, more than 60 groups have signed to be part of the Carnival.
Frank Wilson, Artistic Director:
“This year’s Without Walls programme offers everything from traditional street theatre through contemporary dance to some of the most spectacular, thought provoking and inventive work ever presented by British companies at SIRF.
“Gone in 20 Minutes is a great opportunity for these young companies and a chance for the public to see an amazing variety of new shows made for the street. Let us know what you think by voting for SIRF’s first ever audience prize.”
