Proto-type News

Introductory Video to Fortnight online Now

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:45:00 +0100

Peter Petralia, Artistic Director of Proto-type Theater, introduces Fortnight – a two-week long performance experience located in the spaces, technologies and occurrences of our daily lives: an unfolding adventure into the limitless 'local'.

Watch the video by visiting the Dshed website.

Mapping intermediality in performance - now out!

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:40:10 +0100

Artistic Director Peter Petralia has contributed to a new book on the impact of acting and performance of digital technologies. His chapter focuses on Proto-type’s Virtuoso (working title) in regards to the use of screens as a fragmenting element of performance.

Full details:

Mapping Intermediality in Performance
Sarah Bay-Cheng, Chiel Kattenbelt, Andy Lavender, Robin Nelson (Eds.)

This volume examines afresh the impact upon acting and performance of digital technologies. It is concerned with how digital culture combines the traditional ‘liveness’ of theatre with media interfaces and internet protocols. The time and space of the ‘here and now’ are both challenged and adapted, just as barriers between theatre-makers and the ‘experiencers’ of events are broken down. Today many of us are everyday players performing the interconnectedness of digital culture and a key aim of the book is to unpack the multiple interrelations within the landscape of contemporary performance. Access to a range of ‘instances’ (The Builders Association, Castellucci, Castorf, Gob Squad, Lepage, Second Life and VJing) is through ‘portals’ which afford perspectives on the main characteristics of theatre and performance in the digital age.

‘A magnificent achievement that is likely to set critical agendas in the field for many years to come.’
-- Steve Dixon, Professor of Digital Performance, Brunel University

‘Reading this book is like surfing the web: it not only maps intermediality in performance - it exemplifies it.’ -- Philip Auslander, Professor, School of Literature, Communication and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology

The editors
Sarah Bay-Cheng is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Theatre at the
University at Buffalo. Chiel Kattenbelt is Associate Professor in Media Comparison and Intermediality at Utrecht University. Andy Lavender is Dean of Research and Professor of Contemporary Theatre at Central School of Speech & Drama at University of London. Robin Nelson is Professor at Central School of Speech & Drama at University of London.

ISBN 978 90 8964 255 4 * July 2010 * paperback, 304 pages * €32,50

www.aup.nl

For more information or a review copy, please contact Laura Claud on l.claud@aup.nl

Proto-type Awarded Theatre Sandbox Commission

Tue, 8 Jun 2010 12:39:43 +0100

Proto-type Theater is proud to announce that we are one of the six commissions to receive support from the Theatre Sandbox. From Theatre Sandbox:

“Each of the six successful recipients receives £10,000 to develop their groundbreaking projects at prestigious partner venues across the country ready for public events and testing in September. This will be followed by a final showcase event at Watershed in November.

Theatre Sandbox seeks to grow an active community of experimentation and learning and includes a structured programme of commissioning and knowledge exchange to grow awareness of technology in the theatre sector. IShed aims to encourage innovation and to leave a lasting legacy as part of the scheme.

The commissions were selected following an intensive application period, during which 275 theatre makers attended nationwide introductory workshops and almost 100 applications were received.”

Proto-type will be developing the Fortnight Project (formerly called cityEscape) in partnership with the Bristol Old Vic. Fortnight is a two-week long performance experience located in the spaces, technologies and occurrences of our daily lives: an unfolding adventure into the limitless ‘local’. Fortnight is also commissioned by Nuffield Theatre Lancaster, Soho Theatre London and Contact Theatre in Manchester and will premiere in 2011. As part of the Theatre Sandbox award, a work in progress showing will occur in Sept/October 2010 in Bristol.

Theatre Sandbox is originated and produced by iShed, part of Watershed. It is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and delivered in partnership with Bristol Old Vic, Soho Theatre Lyric, Hammersmith, mac, Contact and The Junction.

Sunday Lunch Club Awarded ACE Funding

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:13:40 +0100

Proto-type Theater has been awarded one year of funding at £12,000 to allow the company to run the Sunday Lunch Club for another year. This funding is matched by support from Nuffield Theatre Lancaster and New Work Network - two of the organisations that helped to start the Sunday Lunch Club back in 2008.

Here is a run down of some of our plans for 2010, made possible by the generous support of ACE, the Nuffield Theatre Lancaster and New Work Network: 
• We plan to host at least 6 events this year, possibly 7 or 8 pending funding. These events will primarily be in the NW of England which the exception of a national and an international event. We are currently in the process of putting together a list of venues and dates. We hope to have a year's worth of events to announce by the end of April/beginning of May.
• We plan to host one national event outside of the north region. We are currently in talks with organisations in Birmingham and London to host the national event. Through the generous support of the Arts Council England and Nuffield Theatre Lancaster we will be able to offer ten travel bursaries for artists from the NW to attend the national event. There will be an application process for the bursaries and we'll announce more information about this when we have all of the dates fixed.
• We plan to host one international event in mainland Europe. We are currently pursuing options in Belgium and Germany. Similar to the national event, we will offer ten bursaries for NW artists to attend the international event. We will also seek to bring ten artists from the international event to the NW for one of our local SLCs. Again, more information on this is forthcoming.
• The Nuffield Theatre Lancaster and Proto-type are in the process of putting together an idea for a book about the Sunday Lunch Club. Our aim is for it to be a useful tool for other networks to use to setup their own events that follow some of the principles that we've tested with the Sunday Lunch Club. In other words, it won't be just another documentation project - we want it to be valuable for artists, funders and venue managers. We will be putting out a call to lunch club members to contribute, comment on the structure of the book and help to ensure that it is as useful as possible. Watch this space for more soon.

Membership in the Sunday Lunch Club is generally by invitation only, through the recommendation of someone who is already a member. However, if you believe you should be invited to an event, send us an email at sundaylunchclub [at] proto [hyphen] type [dot] org telling us who you are and why you’d like to come. Please note that the membership is focused on artists based in the NW at this time.

More information about the Sunday Lunch Club is available on our website through this link.

DVDs now for sale

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:52:13 +0000

Proto-type Theater is pleased to be able to offer DVDs for sale of Whisper and Virtuoso (working title). Each DVD comes packaged in a six-panel, paper case that includes images from the respective show, descriptions of the piece, credits and press quotes.

Prices:

£15 Individuals (for personal/research use only - not for public presentation)
£25 Institutions (for libraries, educational organisations and others who will have volume viewers of the works)

These DVDs are available for sale at all Proto-type performances and can also be ordered online. To order a copy, download the order form here (individual or institution) or email us at admin [at] proto [hyphen] type [dot] org.

Placement Opportunity: Proto-type Administrator

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:54:57 +0100

Lancaster-based Proto-type Theater is offering a part time company administrator placement for recent graduates (MA or arts-administration training preferred) to work with us in developing our infrastructure. This is an opportunity for the right person to learn how to run a professional touring theatre company and to help Proto-type to develop a more stable administrative base. The administrator will be mentored by company members to be able to take on the following key tasks:

- Tour booking and tour management
- Project management of Proto-type projects (especially educational)
- Financial management
- Fundraising

The ideal candidate will:

- Will have undertaken some training in arts administration
- Be excited by contemporary performance, and specifically the work of Proto-type Theater
- Be extremely detail oriented and organised
- Be an excellent communicator.
- Be calm, flexible and open to working in an environment that requires some self-direction
- Have an interest in or experience with financial management

The company administrator will work out of Proto-type's office in Lancaster for up to twenty hours a week over the course of thirty weeks. Proto-type is flexible about working from off-site for some of these hours, but will require at least half of the time per week to happen in our offices for continuity sake. This position is a bursary-based position initially offered at £3,000 for the entire contract. Limited expenses for travel are also available. It is our hope that the successful candidate will grow this role until it can become a permanent part- or full- time salaried position. Interested candidates should complete an application form (downloadable from our website) and send this along with a CV to info@proto-type.org with the subject line "Administrator Application".

Please review our website carefully before registering your interest. Application deadline is 26 September noon.

Proto-type Theater sends Air-mail from the 4th Plinth...

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 18:59:05 +0100

Rachel Baynton of Proto-type Theater will join 2400 people taking their place this year on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square as part of Antony Gormley’s One & Other project which sees a different person on the plinth every hour, 24 hours a day for 100 days.

On Saturday July 25th, 5-6pm Rachel will be standing on the plinth and wants to know what you would say if you were up there. She intends to launch paper aeroplanes from the top of the plinth, with your messages written on them, to the world below. The messages will also be available to view and respond to at Proto-type Theater’s website on their plinthmail blog, www.proto-type.org/plinthmail.

Rachel said, ‘Antony Gormley (the artist behind The Angel of the North) described the One & Other project as being about the democratisation of art, that anyone could have an equal opportunity to take part and have an hour to present or communicate whatever they chose. I was lucky enough to receive one of those spots but not everyone can be. I’d really like to try and give a voice to those with something they want to say on the plinth but haven’t been given the chance to. If I shout then I’m not sure I’ll be heard over the noise in Trafalgar square so paper aeroplanes seemed a good way of sending a message.’

So, do you have something to say? Is there something that you’re passionate about that you’d like to draw attention to? Do you need to announce, explain, apologise, shout from the roof tops? If so then email Rachel at plinthmail@proto-type.org and she’ll pass the message on.

Rachel will be launching your messages on Saturday July 25th, 5-6pm

Send your messages to plinthmail@proto-type.org
Find your messages at www.proto-type.org/plinthmail
Watch Rachel launch them at http://www.oneandother.co.uk/

Please include your name and location and keep your messages to approx. 50 words, thank-you!

All enquiries:

plinthmail@proto-type.org

Proto-type's New Blog

Sat, 16 May 2009 13:46:30 +0100

Proto-type has launched a new blog that features writings from the company about our process. We are aiming to update the blog regularly with missives from the road when we are on tour, musings on shows we’ve seen, insights into our rehearsal process, exclusive announcements and images that won’t be seen anywhere else.

Check it out at online or subscribe to the RSS feed to get automatic updates.

Proto-type Featured in Performance in Profile

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:38:03 +0000

Proto-type has been included in the British Council’s 2009 edition of Performance in Profile. From the British Council website:

“Performance in Profile, now in its twelfth edition, is the British Council’s guide to UK companies and artists currently creating interesting work available for international touring. As such, the guide promotes UK performing artists for international creative engagement, allowing them to develop cultural relations between the UK and the rest of the world.

Performance in Profile includes brief statements of artistic policy, details of shows available for international touring, wrap-around activities, and contact information for 238 selected UK artists and companies working across the disciplines of dance, drama, live art and outdoor work. Listings are divided into these four art form categories, and sub-divided according to the size of the touring company.

Dance
Drama
Live Art
Outdoor Work

These divisions are flexible. Please bear in mind, for example, that a production with less than 10 people on the road might sit happily in a larger venue and have complex freight or technical requirements. Everything is a matter of negotiation between artists and host.

All companies and artists included have expressed an interest in international touring and have sufficient administrative capacity to support the demands of touring. As ever, inclusion does not automatically mean that the British Council will be able to offer financial support for every international invitation secured.

This directory is not an all-encompassing list of every interesting British company and artist and we are happy to provide information on others that may not be included here. You can contact us via email at performanceinprofile@britishcouncil.org.”

Proto-type Seeks Male Performer

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:06:59 +0000

Proto-type Theater is seeking a male performer to devise and perform in our newest piece, Virtuoso (working title) (see below for blurb). We are seeking strong male performers who:
-have an interest in technology
-are strong devisers
-are comfortable working with scripted and improvised text
-are between the ages of 22-36, with a youthful appearance
-are available to rehearse 1-7 Feb, 23 Mar-22 April, and to tour starting 23 April-end of May, other dates in autumn to be determined

Proto-type pays ITC minimum rates and rehearsals take place in the NW of England, primarily in Lancaster but also in Ulverston and (possibly) Liverpool. Interested performers should send a CV and photo (no headshots please) along with a short statement of why you are interested in our work to info@proto-type.org with "Virtuoso" in the subject line. Please review our website http://www.proto-type.org before applying. Auditions will be on Sat 24 Jan during the day in Lancaster. Please note that no expenses are provided for auditions.

About Virtuoso:
Visual foley. A film that doesn't exist. A spot on the wall. With Virtuoso (working title), Proto-type Theater expands on the sensual experience of their critically acclaimed Whisper into a world of cinematic decadence. Three performers stage a film about a stagnant suburbia where the minutiae of everyday life has become strange: glass windows portend violence, a spot on the wall promises freedom, a stranger appears in the living room. The audience witnesses the construction of a film on three flat screen television monitors, behind which three performers assemble the necessary backgrounds, costumes and props to craft the perfect image. Virtuoso (working title) is a negotiation of the live and the mediated, ruminating on love, home, and perfection.

About Proto-type:
Proto-type Theater is based in Lancaster, UK and Brooklyn, NY and we make original theater and media work that tours internationally. Our recent piece, Whisper toured throughout the UK and to PS 122 in New York City where it was acclaimed as “an intriguing brush with altered reality... poetic. And the production flirts with the feel of a supernatural, psychological thriller.” We are a company of multi-disciplinary artists interested in live performance. Creating original works that are diverse in scale, subject and medium, Proto-type is currently exploring the relationship between sight and sound, the virtuoso performer, and the role of the spectator in performance. Proto-type’s work is demanding and intricately crafted to create experiences for a diverse audience of intelligent, modern humans. www.proto-type.org