SIZE OF COMPANY
3–5 on the road

SCALE OF VENUE
Small- to middle-scale

PERMANENT STAFF
Co-Artistic Directors
Jon Haynes
David Woods

General Manager
Jo Crowley

Producer
Sarah Greentree

ARTISTIC POLICY
Ridiculusmus produces brilliant, unconventional, innovative and accessible theatre. Theatre that is seriously funny and deadly serious. Work is created, written and performed by Co-Artistic Directors David Woods and Jon Haynes. Ridiculusmus’ motto is ‘to find a form to accommodate the mess, that is the task of the artist now’ (Samuel Beckett).

REVIEW EXTRACTS
‘As an articulation of the chaotic nature of life and the sheer vitality of which theatre is capable but so rarely achieves, Ridiculusmus would be hard to better.’ The Irish Times

‘Their writing is brilliantly surreal, their performance not just comedy but a theatrical tour de force… unspeakably skilled and highly original.’ The Melbourne Age

‘Absurd, nonsensical, puerile and brilliant – everything you would expect from the award-winning duo Ridiculusmus. A meandering medley of madness…brilliant.’ Time Out, London

CURRENT PRODUCTIONS
Tough Time, Nice Time Plunging into the deepest and darkest holes, exposing the poignancy of lives lived without meaning, a tragicomic exploration of two people trying to make sense of their lives through the stories they tell each other. (80 mins, 2 on stage, 2–4 on the road, contains strong language and adult content.)

The Importance of Being Earnest Ridiculusmus presents a glorious subversion of Wilde’s comic masterpiece, in which all nine roles are performed by David Woods and Jon Haynes. (140 mins with interval, 2 on stage, 5 on the road.)

Ideas Men Merciless satire on contemporary office life and the industrialisation of creativity. (70 mins, no interval, 2 on stage, 3 on the road, contains strong language.)

Say Nothing An irreverent provocation for peace, when the general rule is ‘whatever you say, say nothing’. (70 mins, no interval, 2 on stage, 3–4 on the road, contains strong language.)

Yes Yes Yes Mr H An excitable bundle of confused identity, and his friend Mr Chatterjee, attempt to explain the meaning of life. (60 to 120 mins, varies due to improvised scenes, 2 on stage, 3-4 on the road, contains strong language.)

How to Be Funny Ridiculusmus presents its seminal lecture on the art of being funny. (60 mins, 2–4 on the road.)

WRAP-AROUND
Post-performance discussions, residencies, talks and lecture demonstrations.

RECENT INTERNATIONAL WORK
2007 Ireland (Tough Time, Nice Time), USA (The Importance of Being Earnest)
2006 Australia (How to be Funny/The Importance of Being Earnest), USA (The Importance of Being
Earnest)
2005 Australia (The Importance of Being Earnest), Canada (Say Nothing)

TOURING AVAILABILITY
April to September 2008