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Epic a larger than life theatre show, exploring memory and history of the 20th century. To tour the UK in Spring 2011

project created by Chloe Dechery, project category Theatre
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Please help us raise funds for the touring of EPIC across the UK in Spring 2011!

Epic is an innovative piece of theatre, mixing video, movement and original music, that sets out on a playful and experimental journey through 20th century history.

Amongst other things, the show features a ridiculously ambitious battle re-enactment, a cameo from Bertolt Brecht, a herd of wild horses, a French-speaking Jewish grandmother living in Istanbul, a torpedoed boat, Boris Yelstin dancing, angry students on the streets of Paris in May 1968.
Oh! and life-size projections of our grandparents on stage.

Featuring a cast of four international performers (UK, France, Turkey), Epic will take a fresh and ambitious angle on History and its impact on our daily life today. With playfulness, affection, and occasional bouts of anger, the show re-visits 20th century moments; both those that have made their way into the history books and others that tie us personally to the century.

Our mission is to make thrilling, accessible, pared-down theatre that bridges the gap between audience and the performers.

Alongside the tour of the show, we will be running a workshop programme for both young and older people alike. These workshops will focus on how we can look back at our past and use theatrical tools for a better understanding of where we come from. Not to by shy about it, we’re hoping that by the end of their ‘Epic’ experience, the younger people will feel excited about history and the older people will feel excited about the young folk that are making the theatre!

So, Epic will be touring to 10 great venues in England in April and May 2011, including the following:

April 30 and May 1: Junction, New Work Week-End, Cambridge (preview)
May 5 and 6: Corn Exchange, New Greenahm Arts, Newbury
May 7: mac, Birmingham
May 10: Exeter Phoenix, Exeter
May 11 and 12: Tobacco Factory, Mayfest Festival, Bristol
May 13: greenroom, Manchester
May 17: Carriageworks, Leeds
May 26, 27, 28: Soho Theatre, London
June 2: North Wall, Oxford
June 9: Colchester Arts Centre, Colchester

But, to make this happen, we need your help!
Every pound helps and anything you are able to donate will help to get this (we think) incredibly exciting show out on the road. And then, we can knock on the doors of even more theatres throughout the land to make sure we’re coming to a town near you.
We need you folks on We Fund to be part of raising £5000 to enable this to happen. Please help if you can!

Thanks for checking us out. See you at the show and let’s definitely grab a drink after.

Chloé and Lucy

HOW THESE FUNDS WILL BE USED
Any donation will go towards the making of the show, allowing us to take it out on tour and also enable us to run our educational workshops. So, the kind of things your donation would go towards would be rehearsal space, artists’ fees, promotional campaign, travel and accommodation, production expenses and insurance.
We already have a financial commission from the Corn Exchange in Newbury as well as a Grant for the Arts From the Arts Council and we will receive a split box office income from the venues, but we need your help with this extra £5000 to complete our overall budget, which will enable the project to happen in the best conditions.

Credits
Epic, conceived by Chloé Déchery and Lucy Foster

Performed by Chloé Déchery, Lucy Foster, Philip Arditti, Ed Rapley
Video: Chris Eley
Music: Nick Gill
Choreography: Pia Nordin
Produced by David Luff
Photo credit: Manuel Vason, 2010
Graphic design by The Letter O

Commissioned by the Corn Exchange Newbury and funded by Arts Council England

First update of our EPIC blog!

Posted on 01/12/2010

So! This is the first entry of our blog. Welcome! And first of all, thank to all of you who have already backed and donated to "Epic"! We have had a very generous response so far from people from all over; England, Belgium, France...and this is really heart-warming. We are still very much in the process of raising money so that we can develop and tour "Epic" by Spring. We expect to hear from the Arts Council of England by early January and we already have almost reached 20% of our target on We Fund it. So far, we are very very happy with how it's going and the lovely and warm support we have experienced from friends, relatives, supporters, fans... We really do believe that, as responsible artists, we have to prepare ourselves for some leaner times ahead with big cuts to the Arts Council and to look at alternative models of funding. Knowing that not all of us will attract the big sponsorship that the National Theatre does, we are hoping that the new model of crowd funding will suit us better! Other than that, in terms of the preparation of our project, it's moving forward. We have had two new venues confirmed for the touring in May in the UK, with the Greenroom in Manchester and the Colchester ArtsCcentre. We might even be invited to perform in a theatre in Sweden; Anktor in Gottenburgh where I have been this week-end and where I have met the artistic directors. They seemed genuinely interested and curious about the project and we've been talking about ways to organise a series of workshops with artists and young people in the city for a week around the topics of "Epic" (intergenerational dialogue, re-enacmtent of historical scene, use of news and historical video footage in performance, elements of Brechtian theatre). In early March, Lucy and I will go and spend two weeks of research and reading at the National Theatre Studio, which is fantastic. I am really looking forward to spending some more time deepening the thoughts, intuitions and inspirations we've been using to develop the show. We will be writing, debating and going over some historical and theoritical essays - a form of really energising study that could then inform our creative process.. Hopefully, the tour will be completely planned before Christmas and we'll just have to concentrate on the creative, gather the team and start the research process. Really looking forward to that. Don't hesitate to spread the work about this project, it is Christmas soon and if you're feeling in a Christmassy feeling, maybe a little donation to "Epic" could be a nice and original gift? Check out this space for more update and info! Thanks! Chloé on behalf of the Epic team
Name Amount
Anon 660
Lesleigh Eley 500
trexfoster 250
Anon 250
Chloe Dechery 240
colomba 200
gabrielbofill 150
lucyfoster 120
antheafoster 100
Nickpowell 100
elledel 100
antheafoster 100
colgray 100
lucyfoster 100
lucyfoster 80
Ab Fab 70
val 50
Clotilde Lefebvre 50
Jennifer Harris 50
colomba 50
pedropinter 50
matilda Leyser 50
scott harris 50
agnesperpere 50
Fishbones 50
Morven Macbeth 50
Lilli Geissendorfer 50
Hannah Foster 50
Zerrin Atakan 50
trexfoster 50
Fishbones 50
Jonathan Pether... 50
Jonathan Pether... 50
Phelim 50
pedropinter 50
chris eley 50
Come Dechery 50
shaspeslagh 50
marianne 40
alexbarlow 30
Taudevin 30
Hannah Foster 30
cblache 25
lucyfoster 25
Frankie Mulligan 20
caro 20
Stan Guerini 20
jhenochsberg 20
david 20
Allegra Galvin 20
Name
michael
Box of Tricks
Toksvig
BristolOldVicYC
sparkleanddark
Phelim
nigel j

100%

£5011 Wefunded
of £5000 Target
85 Wefunders
1 year 12 weeks ago

  1. Pledge £10 or more

    LITTLE GEM (£10)

    You help with: the ‘power of the people’ will ensure that all your £10 donations turn into much, much more.

  2. Pledge £20 or more

    SPECIAL FRIEND (£20)

    You help with: at £20 you might be buying the prop or costume that ends up stealing the show!

    You receive: a personal thank you note from the artistic team and your name in the programme and on the website (if you would like it there).

  3. Pledge £50 or more

    VIP GUEST (£50)

    You help with: this makes a serious contribution towards the printing of our flyers.
    You receive: all of the above plus 2 free tickets to the show on a night of your choice.

  4. Pledge £100 or more

    DRINKING PAL (£100)

    You help with: you will be covering a day’s rehearsal space. Just think what could happen in that day!
    You receive: all of the above plus free drinks with our charming performers after the show.

  5. Pledge £500 or more

    PATRON SAINT (£500)

    You help with: covers the choreographer fee and travel.

    You receive: all of the above, plus an additional 4 free tickets for the show for your friends + a framed limited edition print of our fantastic Epic image by renowned photographer Manuel Vason, signed by the members of the cast.

  6. Pledge £1000 or more

    EPIC DEMI-GOD (£1000)

    You help with: covers the composer’s fee.

    You receive: all of the above, plus 6 free tickets, a soundtrack of the show, and a very special post-show reception with the cast. You are also invited to spend a day with us in the rehearsal room if that tickles your fancy.

  7. Pledge £10000 or more

    GOD (£1 million)

    You help with: the Broadway transfer, 3D feature film (including glasses), merchandise production, a recording of the soundtrack by a renowned Philharmonic orchestra...

    You receive: your very own part in the show, plus eternal love and adoration from all of the creative team, their friends, their families, their pets…

Project by:

Chloe Dechery