Like this project!

Plus this project

Wefund Menu

create

The Wardrobe Ensemble ask what pushes civilised people to riot out of want; not of need.

project created by The Wardrobe En..., project category Theatre
  • Project home
  • Blog
  • Funders
  • Followers

The Show - RIOT

“I saw a woman screaming slightly louder than the rest. She lifted her child into the air, trying to pass it to a group of yellow crusaders. It was like Vietnam without the napalm”

10th February 2005. At the stroke of midnight the British public punch, kick, strangle and eventually stab their way to £45 sofas and £35 bed frames at the opening of their favourite Swedish furniture store.

RIOT is an epic tale of violence, greed, and cheap sofas, The Wardrobe Ensemble ask what pushes civilised people to RIOT out of want; not of need.

With frenetic, eclectic force The Wardrobe Ensemble build a flat-pack universe that is as funny as it is scary, and as bizarre as it is familiar. A company of 11 tear up the instructions and disregard the diagrams to construct a musical tragedy of a thoroughly modern kind.

The People behind The Wardrobe Ensemble
The Wardrobe Ensemble is a theatre company made up of performers and theatre makers who are currently resident at Bristol Old Vic on the Made In Bristol Programme. While being here we have all trained intensely in the skills of collaborative theatre making, acting, music, and physical performance. Our company includes Graduates from Warwick, Bristol, Bath Spa and Kingston University and a collection of Bristol based emerging artists. We are brought together by a desire to tell stories, to inspire to engage and entertain. An ensemble of storytellers, character makers and thought provokers, who are interested in theatre which explores, questions, and celebrates human life.

Why should you Get Involved?
We have already secured support in kind from The Bristol Old Vic through their Made in Bristol programme but we need your help to fully realise our aims for the show. ,

Our goal is for a performance run at a number of venues/festivals across the UK and abroad if possible, including our confirmed slot at Bristol Old Vic in June, followed by a 2 week run at the Edinburgh Fringe in August. This will be the perfect platform to establish ourselves as a genuinely exciting new company and give you all the chance to see what we do.

So I guess now, it’s up to you. Anything you can give, big or small, will help us closer to realising our ambitions for RIOT. Your money will go towards all elements of the production, from lighting, to set, to sound and costume; not a penny will be wasted on cider. If you still want to know a little more before you donate your spondoolies then drop us an email, give us a bell, maybe write a letter…do people do that any more?

Thanks in advance
Jimmy
The Wardrobe Ensemble

The Final Pieces... !

Posted on 05/06/2011

Hello We Fund Followers! I am Edie bringing to you The Wardrobe Ensemble’s latest news! Wow, so much has happened since our last post! Firstly, in regard to our last blog we were unsuccessful in bringing home the £1000 from NSDF in their Dragons Den competition. However, we did not go home empty handed. Our pitch (put forth by Tom and Jesse (boy version)) did win us £200! One of the judges wrote us a cheque on the spot feeling so strongly about our project! We now not only have followers in Bristol but NSDF theatre makers resident across the UK are intrigued and excited about RIOT. Last weekend Helena’s mum, Julie Middleton, hosted a fundraising event at her house. We had a great night of cocktails, music, laughing and dancing inter-spliced with snippets of performance from ROIT for the guests. As well as having a fantastic time we raised £700! Thank you so much for everyone involved! We are now that much closer to are target! If you have already donated it is much appreciated and we are extremely grateful. Please do keep following our progress, and letting people know about RIOT as we need all the support we can get!! :) Over the last few weeks we have had some exciting advances with the show…. As well as rolling out new scenes, songs and dance the design for the show is also coming together. Last week we made a trip to our beloved Ikea! Buying numerous lamps and white chairs…Exciting times! We have also ordered some of our costume ready for our last intensive week of rehearsals in the Bristol Old Vic Basement. Sadly today was our last day at our new home ‘Sound works’. We gave Gathering voices (the a cappella choir resident there) a theatre workshop, which resulted in a mass singsong, which was great fun! In our last few rehearsals we have been playing around with our new toy, the loop peddle. Creating some great life tracks, meshing voices, instruments and sound. It’s been great fun. We have also performed the first half of RIOT to the cast of Everyone’s Scared. Everyone’s Scared is a Bristol Old Vic outreach project. Through a collaboration with Princes Trust they invited15 young people, who have been out of work or education, to train and work with a professional creative team for three weeks, culminating in a devised production at both Easton Community Centre and Bristol Old Vic. They loved the first half of our show, and gave great feedback. (Although our run was pretty messy as some scenes we had only created that day- so we were a little forgetful and managed to break one of our new Ikea lights!! OOPS! No more glass ones from now on!) Despite this it was greatly received, so we're on the right tracks and are excited to show them the final product almost a weeks time! In turn we saw their finished production at Bristol Old Vic last week and it was so much fun, brimming with ideas and talent. So a big thank you to everyone involved in Everyone’s Scared! That’s all for now folks! Thanks for your support and we will keep you updated throughout the week. Not long until our first run now!!! (14th-18th June Bristol Old Vic Studio) Big Love Edie xxx

It's all coming together...

Posted on 09/04/2011

Oh my oh my! Not so much time has passed, yet there has been an outburst of developments which I, Jesse (the girl version of the two in the company, the fruit fanatic, carrot muncher), feel compelled to tell you about! We have a VENUE! We applied to more than one theatre space in Edinburgh to keep our options open, but then what to do when you get more than one offer?! After much deliberation, frustration and general stress, we had to make a quick decision before deadlines... and so our home for August will be... (drum roll please) ZOO ROXY! http://www.zoofestival.co.uk/ This is very exciting (for those of you who haven't heard of the venue). This part of the ZOO venues, opened last year to much critical acclaim. I saw some of the best Edinburgh Fringe there and their shows were young, fun, unique and highly skilled. So I think we'll fit right in! Companies there won numerous awards (so let's hope this year that will be us...) Added bonus is.... we have decided to do the full run, so three whole weeks of RIOT (now there is no excuse to miss it.) I think this works out better for us to gain publicity and reviews to maximize audience numbers... as exhausting as it might be. We have a HOUSE! After many enquiries, the one and only Ben in The Wardrobe Ensemble has hooked us up with a lovely sounding flat for the month. What a relief! As long as it comes with composting facilities, a swimming pool and weights room I'm happy... On a more serious note, although this was the best offer we could find, it still came in over our budget, so all the more reason to keep donating yes thank you please - I'd rather not sleep on the streets of Edinburgh. We have a BROCHURE COPY! What's that? What does this mean?! Well, as interesting as it might sound, this means that we have officially submitted out info for the Bristol Old VIc summer brochure, which will, of COURSE, feature RIOT! Lots of camera fun later, we have a publicity image which will make you laugh... so await with anticipation and all shall be revealed! I think I speak for the group in saying it is a very good feeling to have our marketing underway, as this image will need to be eye-catching to sell our show in Bristol, as well as making us stand out in the big crowd of Edinburgh. hint - Swedish meatballs anyone? We have a NEW REHEARSAL SPACE! All this admin is borrring you must be thinking! (me included.) But no fear, we are still squeezing out our creative juices in the rehearsal room. The new one that is! Nick and Hannah of Soundworks, Bristol, were so impressed with our performance at Prototype (see earlier blogs), that they kindly have offered us space to carry on creating RIOT in their beautiful converted church - http://thesoundworks.ning.com/. It's a longer cycle ride, but I'm not complaining... As Bristol Old VIc is being refurbished, space is limited, so it feels like a treat to have the opportunity to work out of the theatre in such a big space (we are not used to it!) It return, we are gladly collaborating with some sessions of the Gathering Voices project World Roots, which they run at Soundworks for young singers. I think running workshops with them will be a real opportunity for us to learn and make contact with other performance practices in Bristol. Can't wait! http://www.gatheringvoices.org.uk/ We have already been making bigger and better choreography in there (I've the bruised knees to prove it!) So everything seems to be coming together! On the funding front. MORE EXCITING NEWS - we have been shortlisted by Edinburgh NSDF (National Student Drama Festival) Brief which we applied to through Ideas Tap. http://www.ideastap.com/Opportunities/Brief/1393478b-a032-408d-8b2e-9e8e0103c0a5#Responses-Shortlist Out of 60 application for the £1000 funding, we are only amongst 8 to be shortlisted. The next round in taking part in a Dragon's Den style interview this Tuesday in Scarborough at the Drama Festival. Fortunately some of The Wardrobe Ensemble are going to be performing at the festival anyway, so they will also be representing RIOT. Good luck guys! We shall of course keep you updated... Thanks so much to everyone who has donated us money so far... we are really very grateful and I cannot emphasise enough what a difference each and every penny makes! I think I've banged on enough. I hope you are all enjoying the sun as much as me! We are now on some official holiday time so you will find us in Scarborough/Egypt/Toulousse/Croatia/Paris/Tunisia... or Ikea. Much love, Jesse x

Fun in the sun

Posted on 27/03/2011

Hey Wefunders, We thought it was about time we gave you a little update about what we're up to and I have been elected for the task. I am Helena, the rosiest cheeked member of The Wardrobe Ensemble and you're likely to recognise me because I wear playsuits and Germanic shorts. The Wardrobe Ensemble have spent a glorious few days reading scripts and eating ice lollies in Queen Square, the Bristol Old Vic's nearest bit of greenery, soaking in the rays as we flexed our creative muscles. We also tried out another RIOT funding scheme by having a Wardrobe Ensemble syndicate for last Fridays Euromillions, if we'd won, this update would probably be being sent to you on paper made of diamonds...as you can see, we had no such luck.... When confined to the indoors we'll be found in serious looking meetings about budgets and marketing and venues and all the important things that need to get sorted in order to get a show on the road. And on the subject of venues, we have heard nothing but good news so far and all there's left to do is choose one. So Edinburgh truly is our oyster. Jesse Jones (another member of the Ensemble) and I hit the air waves yesterday morning and spread the news of our show and WeFund on Bristol Community radio. We're likely to be making another appearance a few weeks before our performance at the Old Vic (which is the 14th-18th June by the by) so keep an eye out for that! I have been spending my time away from the theatre getting very familiar with our favourite Swedish furniture store, in fact I now have a job in the big blue box, so rest assured all content in RIOT will be extremely well researched. That's all for now, except for this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP4abiHdQpc Love Helena xx

Prototype Update!

Posted on 01/03/2011

Good Morning squires. Sunday the 27th marked The Wardrobe Ensemble’s first public performance! It was atrociously exciting. -Almost threw up. -In a good way. After mentioning a potential vomit, it seems like a great time to introduce myself. I’m Tom. Like Jim, I also make up 1/11th of The Wardrobe Ensemble (-funny that). You might see me around Bristol being awkward at parties. You might see me flailing my arms and gesturing involuntarily when I’m explaining things. You might find me at Clifton Magic Roll on a Saturday http://www.magicroll.co.uk/branches/ with fellow Wardrobe Ensembler Emily. Anyway, nice to meet you. “Prototype” is a scratch night for Bristol Based artists to try out work and receive feedback, and on the 27th of February 2011, it was the home of our debut public performance. We performed a bizarre 15 minute taster for our up and coming show “Riot”. http://tobaccofactorytheatre.com/news/detail/prototype_this_sunday_the_line-up/ As we waited for Prototype to begin in the foyer of Bristol’s hip and happening “Tobacco Factory” it was agreed that there was something especially terrifying about performing at this particular event. First off, we’d been cooped up in The Wardrobe for what seemed like a millennia with our lamps and instruments, so there was something pretty daunting about being away from home and showing our work to an actual, real, living audience. Secondly, we had irresponsibly gorged ourselves on mezze from a lovely (if weird) restaurant http://www.caffesazz.co.uk/ (website complete with tack-techno-turk music). This grub left us stuffed, which probably isn’t great when you’re about to theatricalise a Riot with your bodies. I apoligise for admitting that the thought of vom entered my mind moments before our show. During the meal, Ben was given a novelty hat: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=192361367464268&set=a.188019711231767.46477.183768968323508&theater Thirdly, We were in were in some well-renowned company, most notably The Idle Dream http://www.theidledream.co.uk/home (with a website and all) and fantastic-uber-meta-duo Halmarack / Wainwright. For me, I predicted subtle resentment from the audience: “who are these young whippersnappers? Who are these young fools thinking they can make theatre? How dare they?” I shouldn’t have worried, the post-show discussion was warm and supportive and lovely. Forthly, Arsenal lost a game of football which put Jesse Jones in a grumpy mood for a while. Never nice. We shouldn’t have worried about any of it. The whole prototype vibe was so utterly supportive and welcoming. A lovely evening for performers and audiences alike. My dad came along and bought a helmet. Jesse Jones Modelled it: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=192361584130913&set=a.188019711231767.46477.183768968323508&theater&pid=536651&id=183768968323508 Our showing went down very well with the crowd. We got big laughs when we wanted them and (although simple) they seemed to understand everything. Yay! Question is…where do we go from here? There are a hundred and one avenues we can take this piece. And it feels like we are really starting to build some momentum. Onwards and upwards friends! In other important news: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdCT5xw2yRw&feature=player_embedded Yours eternally. Tom xx

You must be a donator to see this content.

Hello WeFund!

Posted on 22/02/2011

Hello WeFund! So here we are: after much painstaking video-editing, blurb-writing and nail-biting (not to mention technology-fighting), we have finally emerged, bleary-eyed, from the Wardrobe into the wide world of WeFund. And geesirwhizz, are we glad to be here! Allow me to introduce myself- I'm Jimmy, and I make up 1/11th of The Wardrobe Ensemble. You can often find me wandering the streets of Bristol wearing a jacket with a furry hood (I own no other clothes), or sitting at the checkout in Morrisons wearing a heartfelt smile that never fades. Each week a different member of The Wardrobe Ensemble will keep you updated about our latest goings-on, but for this week you have me. Sorry about that. This week, our focus has been directed firmly towards Prototype. This is an evening taking place at The Tobacco Factory on Sunday, which is a fantastic opportunity for artists to present scratch performances of various projects to a big, scary, feedback-giving audience. And this, of course, signals the end of the "fun" part of the process: Gone are the days of creating with reckless abandon and in their place...collating material. Curating work. Assembling creative output. Call it what you will, it's long and difficult and potentially very frustrating. Luckily for me, in the other 10/11th of the company there are people with an attention span longer than a goldfish with ADHD and so, like a giant leech, I can feed off their creative juices. In terms of our "creative output", we must have hours of stuff to show, and so with a 20 minute slot difficulties are sure to present themselves. How can we possibly show everything we want to, from the religious fanatic to the 3 person crowd sequence, from the touching showroom romance to the ridiculously dangerous 11 person RIOT? Well don't you worry WeFund, as always we will find a way. And if you're local and fancy coming to support, here are the deets- it's only 3 quid, can you afford not to? http://tobaccofactorytheatre.com/shows/detail/prototype/ So, I guess that's all I have to say for now, except of course for a massive thank you to all our Funders so far. We received 12% of our funding within 24 hours of going live- WOW. This means so much to us and really makes us feel like this is something worth doing. However, there is still a long way to go and so, dear reader, we need your help: any Facebook link, email and casual mention to a friend goes a long way to helping us reach our target. The more people who know, the more likely we are to hit our target. Here are some links to help you out- http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wardrobe-Ensemble/183768968323508 http://twitter.com/WardrobEnsemble and finally, as a thank you for ploughing through this mess of a post, here's a little treat . Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/user/weirdchild#p/a/f/1/ItMJtA8vfpw Lots of love and stuff, Jimmy xxx
Name Amount
PatriciaThoralf 500
jandjmiddleton 350
jandjmiddleton 350
Wendymn 325
bii greenslade 250
James and Harriet 250
Marcus and Vicky 250
Andrew Brennan 250
pkandcc 250
herbie54 200
brennanthebest 200
James and Harriet 100
brennanthebest 100
Lollita and Luigi 100
Michael Waldman 100
deberker 100
Virginia Waterkeyn 100
Jesse Meadows 100
Wendymn 64
Wendymn 50
Margaret and Gordon 50
Jesse Meadows 50
Wendymn 50
Peterina 50
jokergoon 50
jokergoon 50
Aviv and Fiona 50
BIGBOSS 50
glencongresbury 50
emily greenslade 50
Wendymn 50
Margaret and Gordon 50
Monica and Roger 40
Chetters 30
maymemd 25
Archy de Berker 25
maynesp 25
dvorah getzler 25
Christina Shewell 25
Christine Lovell 25
rodsymmons 25
Jon 20
RobinHarris23 10
klmayne 10
Marieda 10
Jo 10
aldenvergano@cl... 10
eternalsummer 5
Corrinne 5
The Wardrobe En... 1
Name
BristolOldVicYC
Wendymn
maynea
maynesp
Kerry Lovell
Bootworks Theatre
jandjmiddleton

98%

£4915 Wefunded
of £5000 Target
50 Wefunders
46 weeks 3 days ago

  1. Pledge £5 or more

    Thanks, pal! As they say, every little helps. Next time we see you, expect a cheeky wink and a knowing look.

  2. Pledge £10 or more

    Cheers, mate! This deserves a gold star with your name on it on The Wardrobe Ensemble Walk of Fame. This will appear on our Facebook and website. After all, you have helped to make this happen.

  3. Pledge £25 or more

    Nice one, bud! With that tidy little parcel we can buy a prop knife so we don’t have to use real ones any more. You can expect a gold star too, as well as your name in the programme. Phwoooaaar.

  4. Pledge £50 or more

    Ta very much! Now we’re getting to the bigtime, baby. A crispy Fiddynote will pay for a lovely little number so we won’t have to perform in our grundies. You’ve got all of the above hurtling your way, plus a signed photo of the company with the thing you helped to buy.

  5. Pledge £100 or more

    Much obliged, Guv! Unglamorous as this may seem, this is a massive help in the hiring of a van and a friendly driver, possibly named Steve. In gratitude of this kind gesture, we will Swedify your name and include it, somewhere, in our show.

  6. Pledge £250 or more

    You hero. This lovely contribution will help pay for the venue in Edinburgh, and don’t we have a treat for you! We will record a personalized song about you, sling it your way, then tentatively push it out into the wild world of the interweb (with your permission, of course).

  7. Pledge £500 or more

    Serious thanks, friend. This really will make a world of difference. £500 can pay a lighting designer to transform our humble play into a shimmering visual feast. To thank you for your generosity, we will name a character after you and include a line of your creation in the finished piece.

  8. Pledge £1000 or more

    Legend. We seriously can never thank you enough. This is such a massive contribution that we couldn’t even begin to express what it would mean to us; you will have provided the essential support that we need to build our flat pack dream. Come spend a day in the rehearsal room with us, and who knows, we might even base a character on you. We’ll also sort you out with free tickets for you and your friends and you will be named as a producer! But let’s chat, and we can work out the details.

Project by:

The Wardrobe En...