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THE SPECIAL GUESTS / Image: Nightfall / Photographer: Adam Faraday

Image: Nightfall
Photographer: Adam Faraday

THE SPECIAL GUESTS

Performance|Devised theatre|Theatre

SIZE OF COMPANY
4–5 on the road

SCALE OF VENUE
Small

PERMANENT STAFF
Company Member
Matthew Austin
Lucy Cassidy
Nina Wyllie
Suzie Zara
Creative Advisor
Sara Jane Bailes

ARTISTIC POLICY
The Special Guests is a contemporary performance company that works collectively, devising theatre for a variety of contexts, including theatres, outdoor festivals, and galleries. The Special Guests’ work seeks to question, interrogate, and respond to the world we live in and our relationships with other people through an open-hearted, playful performance style. The company seeks to make work that is ‘with’ an audience, and that plays with theatrical form and convention.

REVIEW EXTRACTS
A cool creation…hurtles the audience from belly laughs to a bad taste in the mouth with unsettling speed.
The Stage (This Much I Know [Part One])
Wonderfully manipulated without feeling manipulative…I am convinced by their veracity, impressed by their concentration and impeccable comic timing.
Real Time Arts, Australia (The Telephone Game)
Tight, exuberant and damn funny: sample The Special Guests’ strange and wonderful talents.
Venue Magazine, Bristol (This Much I Know [Part One])

CURRENT PRODUCTIONS
Something Got a Hold of Me
A performance about religious cults, charismatic leaders, power, persuasion, weakness and how everyone is really just looking for something, a little something to make them happy.
80 minutes, 3 onstage, 5 on the road
Nightfall
A time-specific theatre event, taking place near to sunset, inviting its audience to confront the uncertainty of darkness. When will the light return and when will the birds start singing?
80 mins, 4 on stage, 5 on the road
The Telephone Game
Using specially doctored telephones by sound artist Tom Bugs, The Special Guests while away the hours making calls to each other, to the audience and to the outside world.
Up to 6 hours durational, 4 on stage, 4 on the road
Peace and Quiet/Soundwiches/Witness Protection
Three flexible walkabout/non-theatre pieces suitable for music and arts festivals. All three work interactively with audiences and are suitable for families.
Variable lengths up to 4 hours, maximim 4 on stage and on the road.

WRAP-AROUND
The Special Guests can lead workshops in devised performance and theatre-making. The company will also undertake post-show discussions, residencies, talks and symposia.

TOURING AVAILABILITY
Something Got a Hold of Me: from September 2009
All other productions: please contact the company