Fuse Medway Festival announces outstanding theatre to bring communities together

Fuse Medway Festival announces outstanding theatre to bring communities together

17-19 June 2011

From 17 – 19 June, outdoor theatre will fill the streets and open spaces of Medway, Kent.  Fuse Medway is no ordinary Festival – its cutting edge programme of new commissions and high quality work has people and place at its very heart.   Celebrating the Medway and its rich heritage and culture, FUSE is helping to develop the area’s identity and bring people together through the medium of theatre. 

 

This year’s sharply realised programme of real ingenuity includes Central School of Speech & Drama’s new work Alice?, which makes clever use of ensemble performance, puppets, music and song for a family audience.   Hoodwink Theatre’s Leap of Faith is a celebration of the human aspiration to fly; paper wings, balloons, feathers, flying monks, music, extraordinary visual effects and a human cannonball finale all make this an outstanding act.  Bicycle Ballet bring their dynamic new outdoor show Where are the girls when the boys are learning to bunny hop? fusing dance, circus, physical theatre - and bicycles. The show uses spectacular bike tricks, fast-paced choreography and theatrical vocabulary to chart a bicycling journey from adolescence to adulthood.

 

A fantastic line-up of street arts and comedy will unfold as the weekend progresses and includes pyrotechnicians The World Famous’ brand new commission All Hands (a work in progress), celebrating human collective endeavour and the power of connection – combining pyrotechnics,  music and performance to create a moving transformation of Rochester Castle grounds.   Pan Gottic’s Full Twist promises an upbeat silent comedy, mixing physical theatre, clowning and contemporary circus.  And Medway’s very own Imagination Our Nation puppet Sparky will be visiting as part of a carnival arts project for young people linked to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and led by London-based Kinetika.

 

The weekend will be punctuated by performances from The Weirdy Beardies, Wet Picnic’s Tea Ladies, Reckless Invention’s The Pedalo, Dizzy O’Dare Presents..’ The Tiny Travelling Tightwire Show, Big Bubble’s new commission Smile, Roustabout Theatre’s My Secret Garden and Willett and Patteson's amazing Camera Obscura – to name just a few theatrical events.

 

Designed for all, whether they live in or are visiting Medway, FUSE Medway Festival provides entertainment for everyone.  It’s funded by Medway Council and supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.   For more information go to the website at www.fusefestival.org.uk , or join them on Facebook or Twitter.