User talk:Bobsclock

Precarious Physical Theatre and Multimedia
Precarious Physical Theatre and Multimedia was founded in 2006 when choreographer Karla Shacklock and actor/technologist Dan Shorten decided to combine their creative efforts into a multi-disciplinary company using the 'Dance consciousness model' Karla had formed in her PhD and Dan's increasingly sophisticated use of multimedia developed in his own postgraduate study and work in experimental theatre.

Junction 8
Precarious first appeared in the show Junction 8 in which Dan and Karla portrayed life in a Motorway service station in England through a combination of dance, text and video. The show featured a virtual birth, a janitor's plunge into a projected toilet and many moments of comedy and pathos which were well received at the show's debut at the Edinburgh Fringe and in subsequent dates throughout the U.K. The two person show proved to be a success and spurred the couple on to create larger scale works.

Druthers
Dan and Karla recruited performers from various disciplines to take part in the show Druthers. In scratch form it appeared at festivals in London and the south west before returning to the drawing board and emerging as a full scale, six person show at Zoo Southside as part of the Edinburgh Fringe in 2007. Druthers was a life affirming tale of a lonesome and reclusive everyman, brought to life through the invasion of his dark and secluded attic by a troupe of strange characters. The show's text was mostly drawn from existing works such as Beckett, Lewis Carroll and Shakespeare, while the choreography was both character driven and spectacular, drawing plaudits from the pressand gaining the Company a Total Theatre 'Wildcard' Award voted for by audiences. The show was also shortlisted for the Total Theatre Award for Best Emerging Company and the Three Weeks Editor's Choice Award. Druthers went on to tour to great acclaim in large and small venues throughout the U.K. in the spring of 2008, lauded for its unprecedented use of multimedia projectors with live performers. Buoyed by this quick growth in the company's renown, the founders were swift to return with a new show:The Factory

The Factory
The Factory was the result of many months workshopping with prospective performers and collaborators during the time between the end of Druthers' Edinburgh run and its tour. This dark dystopian tale was first aired in a preliminary scratch version at The Tobacco Factory in Bristol in early 2008. Many of the moments of automaton like choreography found their way into the subsequent full length show which also debuted at The Tobacco Factory prior to its month long run at Zoo Southside as part of the Edinburgh Fringe. The Factory was an exploration of the contemporary demands of consumerism and their effects upon the people who labour in the metaphorical factory of contemporary capitalism. The show was set in the dark bowels of a factory run by an omnipresent 'Prefect' with shades of Big Brother. The tone of the production was marked by an Orwellian aesthetic and had textual references to dystopian classics such as Brave New World as well as 1984. The visual side of the show was characteristically that of Precarious with astonishing contact and acrobatic work from the performers coupled with Shacklock's inventive choreography and Shorten's ever evolving repertoire of trompe l'oeil video work, this time involving gauzes to create an illusory depth to the mise en scene. The Factory played to packed houses in Edinburgh and was consistently well reviewed http://precarious.org.uk/p-reviews.php?page=reviews#, confirming Precarious' place as firm Edinburgh favourites. The Factory immediately went on a small tour of the South West of England and will return in the spring of 2009 with a nationwide tour with possible international dates to be announced.

Precarious was funded in all of the above projects by Arts Council England.

Shorten and Shacklock have not, however, been idle in the brief time since The Factory went into hibernation.

Anomie
As part the Oxford Samuel Beckett Trust Award 2009 Precarious were funded to research and develop a show dealing with the alienating effects of new technology which they entitled Anomie after the term coined by Emile Durkheim. The show will, after further workshops and refinement again debut at Zoo Southside, this time as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2009.

Collaborators
As well as the key team of Dan Shorten and Karla Shacklock Precarious uses a changing pool of dancers, actors, performers writers and technicians to create their shows, these include:

Emma Lee Emma assisted Karla in her PhD. research before performing in the scratch and final production of Druthers as well as undertaking the role of Fukuyama in The Factory.

Fionn Gill Fionn was taught dance at Bretton Hall by Karla before joining Precarious in the role of the Guide in both the scratch and full scale productions of Druthers as well as the scratch version of Anomie. He is artistic Director of Lost Spectacles Theatre Company.

Robin McLoughlin Robin has worked extensively with both Dan and Karla over the last decade. With Precarious he has performed in Druthers as the Clerk and played Prefect in The Factory as well as fulfilling many of the script-writing duties on that project.

Oliver Langdon Oliver played the part of Freidman in the Factory during its run at the Edinburgh Fringe and its subsequent short tour

Eleana Alexandrou Eleana is a student of Karla's who has appeared as Thalianaki in The Factory at Edinburgh and on tour. She also appeared in the germinal version of Anomie.

Rachel Waters Rachel played Marcella in The Factory. Her role with Precarious will continue in the spring tour.

Holly France Holly is a dancer who played the role Scruff in the full length production of Druthers.