SIZE OF COMPANY
18 on the road

SCALE OF VENUE
Large-scale

PERMANENT STAFF
Composer/Director
Orlando Gough

General Manager
James Turnbull

ARTISTIC POLICY
Imaginative and invigorating, The Shout redraws the boundaries of a conventional choir to create exhilarating and emotive choral theatre. Its powerful work can envelop the listener in an all consuming mass of human voices or bewitch them with the most intimate solo. Equally at home on a conventional stage as tin mines or art galleries, the company works often with hundreds of amateur singers, children and instrumentalists. The Shout creates serious yet playful new work.

REVIEW EXTRACTS
‘Beautiful to hear, and funny to witness.’ The Guardian

‘Relevant, witty, intelligent, powerful – should be widely seen.’ Independent

‘The Shout continue to develop an ensemble sound and attitude like no other.  It is entertaining, funny and deadly serious.’ The Guardian

CURRENT PRODUCTIONS
Fingerprint Non-narrative choral theatre. The Shouts work with local amateur singers over a week of intensive rehearsals to create this piece that unpicks the role of the individual within a community. (90 mins with interval, 19 on the road, suitable for ages 14+ years.)

The Shout Stand Concert performance of 18 songs from the repertoire. A mixture of songs of protest, lullabies, experimental contemporary improvisation and jazz riffs. Hosted by Orlando Gough, the concert introduces The Shout – its unique sound and impressive history. (70 mins with interval, 17 on the road.)

Hen and Stag Performed through the streets and clubs of the host city, separate groups of men and women parade on Hen and Stag nights. Pack mentality, bizarre rituals, sexual games. Hen and Stag unpicks the inherent separateness of men and women. Performed by Protein Dance, The Shout and 200 amateur singers from the city. First performed at Brighton Festival 2008. (75 mins, 16–18 on the road, festival/large project piece.)

WRAP-AROUND
The Shout offers a choral singing master-class. Working with Shout singers and composer Orlando Gough, a group of participants learn skills in choral singing, improvisation and theatricality of choral performance. Suitable for children, amateur singers, and professional groups. These can last anything from two hours to three days. Musical styles include jazz, opera, early music, Indian classical, pop, gospel, etc. The Shout also facilitates project-based outreach. Projects such as Hen and Stag and Fingerprint involve local singers working intensively with The Shout to create a new performance. These pieces can be large-scale and involve hundreds of participants.

RECENT INTERNATIONAL WORK
2007 Poland (Stand)
2006 Netherlands (Noorderzon Festival opening concert)
2005 Germany (Singing River)
2004 Netherlands (Shouting Fence)

TOURING AVAILABILITY
Stand always available
Fingerprint from late 2008 to mid 2009
Hen and Stag from 2009