Box House Theatre bring their new show, Twisted Tales, to the Brighton Fringe next month.
“In a dystopian world where there is no possibility of choice and occupations are assigned at birth, we observe a group of actors who have been bred for one sole purpose: to entertain.
Each night, the thespians are brought to the stage filled with nothing but a large book and forced to retell nostalgic folk tales.”
Where: The Bunker @ Fool’s Paradise
When: 3-6 May, 7pm
Ticket link: https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/twisted-tales/
Lewis Evans and the team at Box House were happy to tell us a bit more about Twisted Tales and their company.
What’s the best thing about bringing your show to Brighton Fringe?
The best thing about bringing our show to Brighton Fringe is the fact that you are surrounded by theatre, art, music and everything in-between 24/7!
The supportive community of the Brighton Fringe festival is unlike anything we have experienced before and we are so excited to be returning for our second year.
This year, we have actually been able to secure accommodation (which is very rare for us!) which means that we are able to spend our whole run together as a cast and maybe have a pint after the show, actually being able to spend time together rather than spending our post-show highs on the motorway!
Can you tell us a bit about Twisted Tales?
Our production Twisted Tales is an original Platform Theatre piece that has been developed over a 10 year period through tireless dedication and an undying passion for our craft.
Set in a dystopian world where there is no possibility of choice and occupations are assigned at birth, we observe a group of actors who have been bred for one sole purpose: to entertain.
Twisted Tales explores the miseries and raptures of life as a performer, set against the backdrop of nostalgic folk tales.
If you’re wondering what Platform Theatre is, it is the practice where actors are confined to the space of a gym mat whilst only using their body and voice to create props, set, costume and sound to build the very world in which they tell their story.
Twisted Tales is a comedy, drama, action and adventure, physical theatre love child. You are sure to be kept on your toes from the breathtaking, bloody battle of Wessex to the laugh out loud moment of Little Red discovering “Granny’s f****** teeth!”.
What was your background before getting into theatre?
Our cast is a complete mix! By day we have pallet repairers, dog walkers, drama therapists, foodbank workers, and by night they all get shoved onto a mat!
As well as the cast, the co-owners of Box House have always been involved in theatre, however, Box House was born from the barriers that most theatre makers are currently facing: budget and funding!
Our experience with theatre making was always hindered by not having “100k”, and having our ideas and ambitions squashed in the process.
So we decided to create theatre that doesn’t cost a penny, allowing us to bring rebellious renditions of traditional stories that everybody knows and loves without having to break into the piggy bank!
What is your favourite experience at the fringe?
Our favourite experience lies in the act of assumption because when you assume at the Fringe, it really does make an ass out of U and ME!
At last years Brighton Fringe performance, we were playing on the Brighton city stage at Caravanserai and a rowdy group of stone island donned men came blasting past our space laughing and joking about our show.
We then got to our acapella number and all of them stood stunned in silence!
With us originally thinking they weren’t all that interested in the show, they were the only ones that spoke with us afterwards saying how much they enjoyed our performance and one then said “the song was most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard live!”.
If they are reading this right now: please do come see us again!
It’s these moments we absolutely love in how theatre can surprise, shock, move and even stun (you should have seen the looks on their faces!).
What’s next for Box House Theatre?
We’re taking our time in what’s next.
We are planning for Twisted Tales to be the first instalment of a trilogy that is all set within the same universe.
Ideas are flying around, and talks are happening on potential stories we can bring to the stage, but we know for certain that our next production will be a Shakespeare anthology all in the style of Platform Theatre.
If anybody has any Willy Shakes’ favourites they want to see from us, let us know!