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A solo performance by Chris Johnston, using sound, movement and character, often presented with guests such as Rick Nodine (dancer), Rex Horan (musician) or Alison Blunt (musician). In this piece, the performer creates three character-based narrative pieces which during the latter stages of the show, interweave or cross over. The starting point is always movement or sound and from this abstract point, the piece moves slowly towards definition. This show has been presented at Neals Yard, Rose Bruford, the Shifti Festival, the Study Gallery Poole and will be shown at the Chicago Improvisation Festival in 2006.
In this show, six characters, recently dead, are presented to the audience. They are questioned by a Prosecutor about their lives - how well they lived and what service they did to society. It is the function of the audience to determine which three characters are to be sent to heaven and which three to hell. In the full length version of the show, the stage then shifts to the two destinations: heaven and hell. Audience members are invited to watch as the two stage actions continue simultaneously in the separate locations while a doorkeeper moves between them, dealing with complaints and requests. In Hell, three characters discover that being attracted to someone else who is attracted to the person who is attracted to you, never really works out. In Heaven, anything is possible, but what you can't have, even if it's not that interesting, can become the most fascinating option available. The performers explore these dilemmas through a series of improvisations involving movement, dialogue and conflict.
Running time: Short version 45 minutes, Long version 90 minutes.
This piece is in development. In the show, an animal and a human are in collision during a car accident. One or other will die as a result of the accident. Each has to justify his or her existence to a jury made up of the audience who will decide which must die and which return to earth. Prior to judgement, the interrogator asks that each presents a case for survival, and key scenes from that life are enacted. Human v. Animal deals with themes of animal rights, and man's exploitation of the natural world.
This show has been developed from Schnitzler's play, and presents an improvised dramatic exploration of current attitudes towards sexual behaviour. Following the pattern of the original text, the performance presents a series of interactions. Unlike the original play however, the interactions contain both heterosexual and homosexual couplings. The actors prepare characters in advance of their performance - however, who they meet on the night is determined by the audience. At the outset of the performance, audience members are invited to choose from a set of cards. These selections determine who meets who, and in what order. An internal architecture within the format ensures that each scene will each explore a different aspect of sexual culture. The rest is improvisation. Note that this production may contain scenes of nudity and is strictly not for children. LARI has been presented at the Theatre Topos Allou in Athens (2001), the Round Festival (2002), and at a number of other venues In the U.K., most recently at the Shifti Festival 06.
Running time: 75 minutes.
This format of performance involves the use of radio. Performers on stage are linked by radio contact to performers offstage, who function as Operators, making suggestions to the actors on stage. The world is therefore divided between 'Things' (humans) and 'Operators' (those who control the life choices of humans). Recent performances have involved for example, a picnic at a ruined abbey (performed on the ruin of an abbey) where characters have arranged to meet for a variety of romantic and clandestine reasons.
Running times: 75 minutes.
A show for children. In the mythical land of Tig Nip Toe, an order has gone out to BAN LAUGHING. The people are distressed but no one fights back - until our hero, with her faithful sidekick, sets out across the country to get the order repealed. On their way, their adventures - based on audience suggestions and donated props - ensure a wild and madcap journey. The piece was premiered in the Shifti Festival of 2006 and will return for London performances during the year. Following the show is a workshop on storytelling games.
This event/show was premiered at the Shifti Festival 2006 at Warwick Arts Centre. In it, any number of participants with m3s players respond to written and pre-recorded text by Chris Johnston, moving freely within the foyer and bar areas of the building. They speak the words they hear - heard for the first time - in synchronisation with the other performers, acting out a range of scenes in physicality and voice.
In this show, the company takes a contemporary theme and develops characters and relationships within preparatory workshops which are brought to a point of crisis and resolution in performance. The first half of the show will be planned but not rehearsed while the second half is roughed out by the company - perhaps in discussion with the audience - during the interval, and is then improvised accordingly. Themes of previous shows include animal rights, alternative cultures, theft, romance and religious cults. Our performance about 9/11 within a fortnight of the attack made fluxx the first theatre company to produce a full-length drama on these events. 'Spitting' was presented at the Spitz Arts Centre on a monthly basis during 2000 and 2001.
Running time: 90 minutes.
A narrative-based show which is improvised entirely on the night, within a house of string. Any show is likely to contain three stories. At the outset, the company invites the audience to make selection from a series of posters which are held up to them. The choice of posters determines information about the central character and something of that character's life. Additionally, the audience is asked for objects which will be used as props within the show. The playing style is somewhat more surreal than in other shows, with characters that may lean towards the grotesque. This heightening of style is complemented by the presence of 'the trickster' who introduces props into the action at different times, to be used by the actors spontaneously, without preparation. Stories are likely to revolve around archetypal relationships, for example between two rivals, or between an idol and an admirer, or an innocent and an exploiter. The Trickster Show has been presented at the Birds Nest, Deptford for several shows, the Amsterdam Improvisation Festival (2004) and the Improstival Festival in Paris (2005).
Running time: 60 minutes.
In this piece for three performers, a steady relationship is interrupted. At the outset of the piece, the performers are introduced and the audience invited to define which two of them live together within a relationship. The audience is then asked to define if this relationship is one of siblings, friends, parent and child, or lovers. The show begins in that house where the pair live. In scene two, the visitor arrives and presents a threat to the continuation of that relationship. The rest is improvisation. This is a production for a small, intimate venue exploring issues of loyalty, emotional commitment, social responsibility and the appeal of risk. Performances of The Visitor ran at Neals Yard Meeting Rooms throughout 2005.
In The Wedding, the audience take the part of guests invited to a reception. We know who is to be married to whom, and we know some of their families and friends. There's been a proposal, an engagement and money spent. There are caterers, guests, a disc jockey, a bride and a groom, who may or may not be male. Preparing the show involves the company developing these characters and relationships prior to the performance. At the performance itself, characters are set against each other as rivalries, jealousies or secret liaisons bring the conflicts to the surface. Each Wedding only takes place once. Should characters meet in future performances; incidents from this performance enter into the character's biography. The Office Party is similar in that it takes place during a single day. Again, characters and relationships are developed in advance, and plots are laid, but on the night, the performance is entirely improvised. The aim is to bring the plots to a point of crisis, and for resolutions to be discovered.
Running time: 60-90 minutes.
fluxx also works in collaboration with E.S.P. For more information, see the E.S.P. page.
fluxx is resident at Sebbon Street Centre in Islington where we have created a number of projects for local residents and children, including My Back Yard (with pensioners) and At Home With Magic (for children).