Laurel and Hardey meets Samuel Beckett!

Matthias and Benny are two ordinary guys who live inside a box in the middle of a field somewhere. Their domestic world is a condensed comic cosmos. One day, for the first time in living memory, the phone on the wall rings. What ensues is the weirdest day of their lives.

Featuring Andrew Cory and Leon Cain, two of Brisbane’s best clowns, this new show uses a brilliant combination of clowning, dark comedy and satire to present a contemporary dystopian fairytale.

Venue Format
Theatre, Black Box Venue
Technical Rating
A, B, C
Touring Party
4
Considerations

The show would suit a diverse range of venues, with Category A and B venues being most appropriate. It is to be noted that due to some of the action taking place inside a box centre stage, venues with an audience bank wider than 10 metres may have intermittent restricted views in the outer seats. This is however, flexible dependent on the depth of the stage and details of impacts on sight lines to be discussed with the venue.

Dog Spoon is a performance company that creates theatre using various permutations of clown, visual theatre and text to explore the human story. Founded by Andrew Cory in 2017, Dog Spoon is the culmination of Andrew’s theatre practice spanning over 25 years.

Dog Spoon works with the highest calibre artists to develop and present theatre that is poetic, immediate and urgent. We aim to make work that uses a heightened theatricality to beguile, seduce, entertain and inspire our audiences. We are not afraid to mix the light with the dark, skillfully balancing both to create theatrical experiences from the hilarious to the haunting

Our inaugural production Two Guys In A Box opened to sell out houses for the 2017 Brisbane Festival. In 2018 we created a brand new work A Coupla Dogs which was one of the highlights of the Theatre Republic program at the 2018 Brisbane Festival.

Company Website
dogspoon.com.au

Unique Selling Point

The show is a brand new absurdist comedy that combines highly accessible clowning with a darker allegorical tale of fear of change. It speaks directly to current global climate of fear in a rapidly changing geo-political era but locates that commentary within an identifiable comic relationship. Due to the forms within the work it is also highly recommended for high school drama students studying Theatre of the Absurd and Political Satire (Senior Drama) as well as Years 8, 9 & 10 (Comedy and Clowning).

Marketing Materials

A range of marketing materials will be available for the production. These include:

• Trailer (30 sec online-ready trailer) • Extended Trailer (4 minute online-ready trailer) • High resolution production photography (Example photos on page xx) • Poster, flyer and print advertisements • Social media posts and campaign material • Media release • Full Education Pack

Community Engagement

The production presents multiple forms/ideas that can be explored as part of an audience engagement offer extending beyond and adding value to attending the show.

WORKSHOPS / ARTIST RESIDENCIES The cast are highly trained performers and facilitators and therefore can provide participatory workshops that explore both form and content of the production. This will leave a legacy by enabling audiences to have a deeper engagement with the play and to develop communities' skills and knowledge. For deeper engagement with the work and/or its themes and forms, we can work with venues to explore possibilities for artist residencies.

Q & A A post-show discussion with the cast can be made available and, where possible, with the co-writer and/or director. This addition to the programme may encourage audiences to attend and facilitate a deeper understanding of the work.

SCHOOLS ENGAGEMENT Theatre of the Absurd is included in the senior drama curriculum across states, but with few opportunities to see absurdist work; this production offers a unique opportunity to engage students in contemporary Australian absurdist theatre; directly delivering on curriculum outcomes. We can work with presenters and schools to create a tailored engagement package which can be complimented by our teachers pack.