Stan’s Cafe is one of Britain’s foremost contemporary theatre companies, famous for experimental theatre in unusual locations. If you went to last year’s Arts Fest you may remember their brilliant ‘Of All The People In All The World’ – a performance which used huge piles of rice representing people of the world. Their new production ‘Home of the Wriggler’ will be staged in their brand new venue @ A. E. Harris, in the heart of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.
Home of The Wriggler is a lo-fi sci-fi docu-drama: Lo-fi because the lights and sound are all powered by the cast and Sci-fi because the show is set at some indeterminate future time when the Rover brand, the Longbridge plant and cars in general have become the subject of myth and speculation. Docu-drama because the show is founded on interviews, anecdotes, personal experiences and documents about living, working, growing-up, falling in love, making/buying/selling/driving/sitting in cars in Birmingham.
Four actors, dressed down in workwear and parka coats, drive the show on. An exercise bike and twelve speed racer have been customised with dynamos and switches to run seven lights, a kettle and a home-made turntable.
Home of The Wriggler runs 23rd – 25th April, 7.30pm. Tickets: £10 / £7.
You can read the original text – Griff’s Story here. You can read all the bits they ‘cant find a sensible place for on their website’ in the blog.
Am I allowed to be really anal and say that this isn’t a ‘new’ production? I saw it about 3 or 4 years ago. Maybe it’s ‘new’ as in a new version, or a revival, or the latest thing they’re doing …
Not to detract from the show though; I thoroughly enjoyed it!
(I hate pedants like me…)
oops! My fault, thanks for the heads up!
Kate
Well done Fiona, good on you. We’ve not been plugging it as a new show, but it is tweaked and honed and generally made better. Then the collapse of Rover provided some of its topicality, now Detroit is threatening to do the same.