An ordinary looking caravan. An extraordinary experience. A treasure trove of magical theatre and digital wizardry.
New dates for The Paper Birds’ tour of Mobile have just been announced. Continuing to make theatre as accessible as possible, they will caravan the breadth of the country popping up by the seaside, on high streets, at schools, and in arts centres and theatres across the UK.
Staged in a caravan, Mobile is an inventive and intimate piece of verbatim theatre about class, family and belonging. Based on personal testimonies collected in the community workshops, from research by collaborator Professor Sam Friedman, and the company’s own lives, the play explores our sense of home, aspiration and the realities of social mobility.
We are taught from a young age to aim high, to reach for the stars, to want more, more than our parents, more than the generations before us, to climb the social ladder. But, as we surge forward, what are we leaving behind? And, if we look back, what do we see?
The Paper Birds will take Mobile to new locations for the very first time such as HighTide Festival in London and Aldeburgh, HOME in Manchester, Festival of Thrift in Redcar, and Arts Depot in London. The company will also make its debut in Wales at The Ffwrnes in Llanelli and The Miner’s Theatre in Amanford.
Jemma McDonnell, Artistic Director of The Paper Birds and director of Mobile, comments, Mobile explores class with both head and heart. Whilst social mobility is highly political, at the root of it Mobile is about family. Who we are is so deeply influenced by where we have come from; the homes we grew up in, the food we ate, the jobs of our parents, the holidays we did or didn’t go on, they all affect our seating in the world. Mobile aims to transport its audience to board games on rainy family holidays or busy Christmas dinners with not enough chairs, to question how these long-forgotten childhoods have shaped who we are today.
Mobile is The Paper Birds’ second show in a trilogy about class in modern Britain. Made for audiences of up to eight people at a time, this intimate 40-minute show incorporates stunning digital visuals by The Media Workshop and original music composed by Shane Durrant. As the caravan comes to life so do stories of origins and aspirations.
Mobile neatly turns the caravan into a magic box where every cupboard and drawer springs a surprise in a piece that explores social mobility, class and what going on a caravan holiday says about you (the Guardian).
This is a co-commission by Live Theatre and The Marlowe Theatre that has been supported with public funding by Arts Council England.
Running time 40 minutes
Website www.thepaperbirds.com
Twitter @thepaperbirds
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thepaperbirds
Trailer https://vimeo.com/168301442
Artistic Director Jemma McDonnell
Creative Learning Director Kylie Walsh
Producer Bonnie Mitchell
Directors Jemma Mc Donnell and Kylie Walsh
Performers Georgie Coles, Shona Cowie, Olivia Birchenough
Creators The Paper Birds
Creative Technology Design The Media Workshop
Production Design Rajha Shakiry
AV Design The Media Workshop
Composer Shane Durrant
Sociologist Dr Sam Friedman
Movement Advisor Jonnie Riordan
Vocals Rosie Doonan
Cello Lindsay Wilson
The Paper Birds
The Paper Birds are a devising theatre company with a political agenda. They are artists, entrepreneurs, investigators and educators. They pride themselves on taking big socio-political subjects and making them deeply accessible. They aim to discuss and inspire. They are story collectors; they spend time in communities whose words and experiences form the verbatim content in their shows, giving voice to the voiceless. They often make work about the UK. They tour the UK and internationally. They have an award winning artistic programme and a thriving education programme; they nurture both equally. They try to continue to seek new audiences and show bravery and vision in the work that they are making so that their audience are impacted both intellectually and emotionally.
Tour Dates
Thurs 15th June The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury
Sun Street, Tewkesbury GL20 5NX
Fri 16th June The Pound, Corsham
31 Pound Pill Corsham SN13 9HX
Sat 17th June Eastleigh Unwrapped, Eastleigh
Fri 23rd - Sat 24th June The Met, Bury
Market Street Bury BL9 0BW
Tues 27th – Wed 28th June The Miners Theatre, Ammanford
Wind Street, Ammanford SA18 3DN
Thurs 29th Jun – Sat 1 July The Ffwrnes, Llanelli
Park Street, Llanelli, SA15 3YE
Fri21st – Sat 22nd July Departure Lounge at Derby Theatre, Derby
15 Theatre Walk, St Peter’s Quarter, Derby DE1 2NF
Sat 29th - Sun 30th July Waterside Arts Centre, Sale
1 Waterside, Sale M33 7ZF
Sat 9th – Sun 10th Sept Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal
122A Highgate, Kendal LA9 4HE
Tues 12th - Sun 17th Sept HighTide Festival, Aldeburgh
Wed 20th - Thurs 21st Sept Stantonbury Theatre, Milton Keynes
Stantonbury, Milton Keynes MK14 6BN
Sat 23rd – Sun 24th 24 Sept Festival of Thrift, Redcar
Kirkleatham, Redcar TS10 5NW
Wed 27th – Thurs 28th Sept Bedales School, Steep
Church Road, Steep, Petersfield GU32 2DG
Fri 29th – Sat 30th Sept Arts Depot, London
5 Nether Street, North Finchley, London N12 0GA
Tues 3rd – Sun 8th October HighTide Festival, London
Wed 11th - Sun 15th Oct HOME, Manchester
2, Tony Wilson Place, Manchester M15 4FN
Thurs 19th – Sun 22nd Oct Harrogate Theatre, Harrogate
6 Oxford Street, Harrogate HG1 1QF
