SIZE OF COMPANY
4 on the road

SCALE OF VENUE
Small to medium

PERMANENT STAFF
Artistic Director
Alex Mudoch
Core Company
Becky Hurst
Core Company
Brian Logan
General Manager
James Turnbull

ARTISTIC POLICY
Founded in 1997, Cartoon de Salvo is one of south-east England’s most respected national and international touring theatre companies. Their cocktail of script-defying improvisation, live music, and exceptional storytelling has won critical acclaim and a devoted following. On their quest to mess with the live theatre experience, the Salvos make theatre that wears its heart on its sleeve, that likes an adventure, and that never forgets that the audience is the number one reason for putting on the show.

REVIEW EXTRACTS
You come away in awe of the human imagination and feeling like you have been to the best party in town. Magic.
Daily Telegraph (Hard Hearted Hannah)
Surreal, unpretentious, swashbuckling theatre. The honest, accessible philosophy of the company shines through in every scene. An all too rare and refreshing theatrical treat.
Time Out, Critics Choice
There’s only one word to describe the gloriously theatrical Cartoon de Salvo – and that’s delicious.
Wall Street Journal.

CURRENT PRODUCTIONS
Hard Hearted Hannah and Other Stories
Part juke-box, part theatre, part ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’, Hard Hearted Hannah tells a different story in each performance. Led by the audiences, who give the title and soundtrack to make each show brand new.  
Long-form improvisation,90mins, no interval, 4 on road
Meat and Two Veg
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night imagined in post-war seaside Britain. Featuring cake, biscuits and live skiffle, this UK visual theatre classic was in the Observer’s 'Top Ten Theatre' in 2002.
75 mins, 4 to 5 on the road, suitable for small-scale and non-theatre spaces
Pub Rock
Pub Rock starts like any other gig. (We may well start the night with Mustang Sally) But a few songs in, the band's artistic differences emerge, and this story of just another cover band becomes something weirder and more unexpected…
Site-generic event for pubs and bars, 90 mins, 5 to 8 on road

FUTURE PRODUCTIONS
The Irish Giant
London in the 1780s loved a curiosity – and they didn’t come more curious than Charles Byrne, ‘the Irish Giant’, the capital’s larger-than-life – 'much' larger-than-life – celebrity. God or humanity? What is the soul? And does a celebrity get any privacy? In the era of Gunther von Hagens, Heat magazine and religious fundamentalism, Cartoon de Salvo revive a story from the age when these questions were pertinent for the first time.
Cyrano de Bergerac
The Salvo’s mess with Edmond de Rostand’s romantic swashbuckling love story. We feel for Cyrano who wears his heart on his sleeve and lives and dies with panache. We hope to work with French hip hop band Java.

WRAP-AROUND
The company are excellent workshop leaders and regularly devise and run workshops, master classes and productions for various groups. Areas of expertise include:
Long Form Improvisation
Based on techniques popular in the states and rarely practiced in the U.K., the company help develop skills in Long Form – narrative, location, character and ensemble.  
Devising for Story
What happens to the actor and the devising process if the focus is on story? Who is the ‘writer’? Who has the ideas? Practical and provocative devising for actors, writers and directors.
Complicity & Presence
Some actors can just ‘be’ on stage and be so totally watch able. We’ll look at how actors can find this pleasure to be present in front of (and with) the audience – and why this is important in all sorts of theatre.
Rural Touring
This is a hands-on introduction to rural touring in a highly practical way, through group work, exercises, tutor-led discussion and question and answers. There’ll be an emphasis on exploring the artistic value of taking theatre to village halls and non-theatre spaces. Participants will be encouraged to share their own experience, problems and ideas. This course is endorsed by the Independent Theatre Council.
We can devise programmes of work for businesses, young people and theatre professionals. These can range from 2 hours to two weeks.  Longer projects often result in a performance opportunity, such as our summer project with Lyric Young Company 2008.  We are also leading Central School of Speech and Drama’s Major 2009 project at the Minack Theatre, Cornwall.
Please contact the company to get more information on this work.

RECENT INTERNATIONAL WORK
2005 Ireland: Meat and Two Veg
2005 Hong Kong: Meat and Two Veg

TOURING AVAILABILITY
Various, please contact the company to discuss you requirements.