After a sell-out run at the London International Mime Festival earlier this year, award-winning Barely Methodical Troupe brings SHIFT to Shoreditch Town Hall following their smash-hit shows Bromance and KIN. Directed and devised by Melissa Ellberger, Ella Robson Guilfoyle and the cast, SHIFT opens on 8 May, with previews from 7 May and runs until 18 May.
Combining show-stopping acrobatics with the emotional punch of theatre, extraordinary performers test their physical limits in an explosive display of power-based acrobatics.
Marooned in an unstable environment, where everything moves and nothing is certain, the performers work to understand the space they find themselves in. Using all available resources – string games, storytelling, rubber bands - they push physical performance to its limits to pull through.
SHIFT experiments with pace and plays with ordinary objects creating an unusual and transformative dreamscape. It's fresh, fun and scary!
Director of Shoreditch Town Hall, James Pidgeon today said “We are thrilled to welcome the incredible Barely Methodical Troupe to Shoreditch Town Hall for the first time, with their jaw-dropping production of SHIFT. Here at the Town Hall we’re committed to presenting a programme of bold and innovative live performance made by top quality artists who push boundaries. Barely Methodical Troupe embrace all of this whilst remaining incredibly accessible. We can’t wait for them to take over the Assembly Hall – a space always intended to house an eclectic programme of live entertainment – for what promises to be an electrifying couple of weeks.”
Ella Robson Guilfoyle today said “Barely Methodical Troupe’s mission is all about exploring and expanding the performative boundaries of contemporary circus. SHIFT exemplifies this. It bravely explores a physical world incorporating wider ideas and narratives using their exceptional circus skills, collaborating with specialist performers and incorporating new disciplines. We drew on their love of parkour, breaking, tricking, contemporary dance and circus in a dynamic and challenging creative process that has delivered a unique, charming, funny and altogether thrilling show.”
Melissa Ellberger studied circus at the National Centre for Circus Arts in London and DOCH in Sweden. Based in Switzerland, Melissa choreographs dance and directs circus in France, Holland and Switzerland and has collaborated with choreographers including Andrea Bol, Krisztina de Châtel and Lea Anderson. She shares Barely Methodical Troupe’s interest in street dance and martial arts.
Ella Robson Guilfoyle trained at Laban, London and is a choreographer and director creating for circus, theatre, fashion and events. Ella’s first full length piece, Echoes premiered at the Roundhouse’s CircusFest in April 2014. Ella worked as choreographer and Associate Director for Barely Methodical Troupe’s Bromance and Kin, which are currently touring the UK and internationally.
Please find images here - https://we.tl/t-6cg29ZKe8Y
Commissioned by Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2018 and co-produced by Norfolk & Norwich Festival and DREAM. Supported by Arts Council England’s Grants for the Arts.
SHOREDITCH TOWN HALL
380 Old Street, London EC1V 9LT
Box Office: 020 7739 6176
www.shoreditchtownhall.com
Tuesday 7 May – Saturday 18 May 2019
Press Night: Wednesday 8 May, 7.30pm
Tickets: £12.50 - £22 (incl. concessions)
Recommended for ages 8+
