SIZE OF COMPANY
2–12 on the road

PERMANENT STAFF
Artistic Director
Ralph Oswick
General Manager
Helen Chamberlain

ARTISTIC POLICY
The Natural Theatre Company takes accessible visual and verbal comic theatre to places where theatre does not normally occur, such as streets, shopping malls, foyers, boats, planes, trains, campuses, conferences, exhibitions, and festivals. The performances use recognisable comic characters in inappropriate or surreal situations. The work transcends language barriers and can change the audience’s perception of familiar public spaces. The company is renowned for its immaculate appearance and has virtually no technical requirements.

REVIEW EXTRACTS
Street theatre re-invents itself.
The Times
Fast becoming a national treasure.
Bath Chronicle
A phenomenally successful tour...pure delight and enjoyment...many thanks for your professionalism and co-operation.
British Council, Pakistan

CURRENT PRODUCTIONS
Over 100 comic scenarios which are constantly updated & refreshed. Well known favourites include The Pink Suitcases, The Coneheads and The Weeping Brides.
Examples include:
Underpant Wedding
Macho bridegrooms walk together in strict time, dressed only in vests and underpants. Their ignored brides throw themselves to the ground and weep. Every male passer-by is another jilting husband and every woman is comforting shoulder to cry on. Is this a searing attack on male chauvinism, or is it just completely mad?
Flowerpots
Immaculately suited men and women whose heads are  beautifully arranged pots of flowers go for a gentle stroll. Highly photogenic surreal image

FUTURE PRODUCTIONS
Freezies
Striding in strict formation, these serious looking gentlemen stop in mid-step and freeze for up to five minutes. A crowd gathers to investigate. Suddenly, the freeze is broken with a blood-curdling primal scream. They then continue their progress, repeating the exercise. People love to follow them to watch the reaction of the next unsuspecting audience.
Leaky Briefcases
Smart business-types make their way through the crowd, carrying briefcases from which pour streams of water. The business types are oblivious to this and cause mayhem as the onlookers jump out of the way of the deluge.
Coneheads
Pointy-headed aliens equipped with the wrong information about Earth, and naively puzzled by the reaction of Earthlings. Fascinated by both long hair and bald heads. A traffic-stopping scenario.

WRAP-AROUND
Natural Theatre can offer workshops in the art of visual street theatre and building comedy characters. These can be advanced for practitioners or simply fun for beginners and young people. The workshops can be tied in with a street theatre programme or can stand alone. Most of the workshops result in some kind of public performance. Workshops have also been used for team building and can be adapted to be language oriented. The company’s workshop activities are refreshing, fun and confidence building. Workshops can be a few hours long, or more in depth over the course of a few days.
More elaborate community performances in the form of a magical mystery tour can be devised. These call upon the skills of local arts and performance groups and students, with an entertaining public event as the result.

RECENT INTERNATIONAL WORK
2008 Denmark: Coneheads, Paparazzi, Pinks, Reds
2008 Luxemburg: Flowerpots, Gnomes
2008 Belgium: Flowerpots
2008 Russia: Nudes, Coneheads
2008 Germany: Housewives, Coneheads, Naval Walkies, Nudes

TOURING AVAILABILITY
Year round availability