In the delivery ... Punchdrunk set up theatre at sorting off

[TrueBlueTerrier]

In the delivery ... Punchdrunk set up theatre at sorting office

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The acclaimed theatre company Punchdrunk today revealed a giant disused postal sorting office in Paddington will be the venue of their next work - and that the run is already being extended to Christmas.

The company teasingly used a shop in Dalston for a two-week taster of its new production which will transport Georg Buchner’s Woyzeck - a tragic story of a working-class soldier who earns extra money by taking part in medical experiments - to Sixties Hollywood.

But executive producer Griselda Yorke today reveals that a 200,000 square foot former Royal Mail building will be the home of the new show, The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable when it opens on July 4.

More than 40,000 tickets have already been sold so the run was today extended from September until December 31 and another 50,000 tickets made available.

“People are crying out for this kind of work, the search for a different persective, a search for entertainment, a spirit of adventure,” she said.

The Drowned Man is Punchdrunk’s first major UK production since The Masque of the Red Death at Battersea Arts Centre six years ago apart from a short run of The Duchess of Malfi, with English National Opera, in Docklands.

It will be its biggest production to date with a cast of 28 plus musicians and will see the sorting office transformed into the “legendary” if fictional Temple Studios which reportedly closed suddenly in 1962. “The dramatic events that led to the building being condemned have been a closely-kept secret ever since,” the audience will be told.

Griselda Yorke said Woyzeck was the original inspiration for Punchdrunk founder Felix Barrett when he created his form of theatre in which audiences navigate their own way through scenes taking place simultaneously in different parts of a building.

But it had been a real struggle to find a building big enough for the show which is a co-production with the National Theatre. “To have found this in zone one is too good to be true.”

The production is subject to planning and licensing from Westminster Council.

[britwrit]

I'm sure this'll be a wonderful show. Still, having worked at Paddington before it closed more than six-seven years ago, it would have been nicer to know that it hadn't been sitting vacant all this time.

[Lounge Lizard]

Theatre and Royal Mail reminds me of a play the Mikron are doing this year.
Don't Shoot The Messenger!
Adventures in the Post.
Writer and Lyricist : Maeve Larkin
Director : Marianne McNamara
Composer & Musical Director : Rebekah Hughes

When a gun-toting hoodlum holds up a sleepy village Post office he gets more than he bargains for as postmasters Mr and Mrs Pertwee embark on some restorative justice - enlightening the reprobate about the institution he’s been messing with.
But can a comical journey through five centuries of postal history really rehabilitate the rascally rogue?
And what of the Pertwees' retribution – grossly disproportionate or an act of ultimate public service?
Part skit, part elegy, discover the answer to these and more by travelling with us on a thrilling, head-spinning, mail-coach, night-train ride of your life only -
Don’t Shoot The Messenger!

http://www.mikron.org.uk/messengerBlurb.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Pop-up theatre at old sorting office is welcome ‘but not way past midnight’

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RESIDENTS have objected to plans to open a pop-up theatre until the early hours in an abandoned sorting office.

Punchdrunk – a production company who say they have revolutionised theatre with their “immersive” experience – will stage performances at the former Post Office site in London Street, next to Paddington station.

Visitors are advised to bring comfortable foot­wear for the “theatrical journey” – called The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable­ ­– which promises an experience where “celluloid fantasy clings to desperate realism and certainty dissolves into a hallucinatory world”.

The arrival of the theatre has been broadly welcomed by residents, but fears have been raised over noise levels as people leave the venue which is set to open in June.

Shows can last up to three hours and were originally expected to run until 1.30am at weekends. Residents fear that 600 punters and 100 staff pouring out on to the streets will disturb their quiet nights’ sleep.

Earlier this week the company released another 50,000 tickets to the season, which is being organised in collaboration with the National Theatre, following “extraordinary” demand.

The location had been a closely-guarded secret until earlier this week but was listed in planning and licensing documents submitted to Westminster Council in March.

Opponents have instead asked that the premises are cleared by midnight to fall inline with train station operating times.

John Zamit of the South East Bayswater Residents’ Association: “We welcome the theatre very positively, but object to the hours past midnight for 600 people with an alcohol licence.

“The objection is having 700 people including staff leaving, in the early hours, upsetting people trying to sleep in hotels and houses. But we welcome the theatre and we’re looking forward to them opening, but we’ve just got objections to the hours past midnight. We want everyone off the premises by midnight.”

A spokeswoman for Punchdrunk said: “We have applied to Westminster Council for planning permission for a temporary change of use for 31 London Street as a theatre and for a licence for the premises. Pending approval… we would like to present a new production in the space.

"The show is a co-production between Punchdrunk and the National Theatre. We have had meetings with three local resident associations; Paddington Waterways, HPEA and Sebra, and continue to work closely with them. We have altered some hours in light of their concerns and have held late night performances off sale while we seek to address other concerns.

"We are planning an extensive education programme around the production and discussion around these opportunities are at the heart of our conversations with local residents, businesses, schools and the community of St Mary’s Hospital.”

[fly-catchers]

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Check out Current shows

[fly-catchers]

Just came back from that. The location and its setup was more impressive than the acting which was more a case of dancing! However treating it a bit like a vast haunted house at a funfair I plan on doing a return visit. Wish my sorting office was as atmospheric!! And H&S went out of the window when you were groping around in the pitch dark trying to find a door. And where the bulk of the lighting were candles!!

On exiting I was wondering what all those satellite dishes were doing on half a dozen lorries. And an army of photographers/ camera crews till I realised that the St Marys Hospital was just round the corner!