Mental Fight Club Presents:
Run Away, Embrace Your Circus
A Waterloo Festival Special Event
Monday 17th July, 12pm - 8:00pm
On Monday 17th July, Mental Fight Club in collaboration with St John’s Waterloo are delighted to bring you a unique participatory day of spectacular experimentation.
We think Mr Astley, inventor of the circus, may well agree that what makes the circus truly spectacular is the collective talent of the people who light up the big top. The circus has traditionally been a space where those who have not historically been embraced by mainstream society find alternative places of belonging.
Which is why we have invited an exceptional roster of talented artists who have never met or worked together before, to leave their daily practices, and run away to our circus.
They are theatre makers, puppet performers, music devisers. Together, they will experiment with what might happen in this alternative space. We invite you to run away and join us in experimenting. Something wondrous, possibly weird, certainly alternative will ensue. We don't know what it may be. But whether big top or small tent that something will be spectacular.
All of the day’s activities are free and open to everyone. Come one, come all.
Check out all the weekends events here!
Full Timetable:
11:30am: Our day begins! Come and find us at St John's Church in Waterloo.
12pm- 1:30pm: Big Top, Big Drums - The London School of Samba with support from Danceworks
An interactive Samba workshop exploring the tradition of informal and improvised performance on circus grounds. Come along and learn the basics of playing samba.
Where: Come find us in the Gardens of St John’s Waterloo
2pm – 2:30pm: That Big Celebratory Samba Sound - The London School of Samba in collaboration with Danceworks
A relaxed performance. Come along, relax and listen to The London School of Samba play. You can even join in with a Samba Dance Llesson if the mood takes you.
Where: Come find us in the Gardens of St John’s Waterloo
3pm – 7pm: Sitting in the Uncanny Valley - With Lee Hart, Russell Dean, Johnny Dixon and Mike Simmonds.
A half day exploration which brings together some of the best theatre, mask, and music artists in the UK.
The uncanny valley is the negative feeling felt by people when faced with a Robot, Puppet, Mask, or any imperfect human replica which is extremely similar to a human, but different in an unsettling way. This societal push to expel those who are different, and the wonderful things that can happen when those who are cast aside find a home and a place of belonging is the theme of our days experimental work.
You are encouraged to come along and stay for the whole workshop. There will be plenty of breaks, and opportunities to join in during the course of the workshop.
Over the course of this experimental workshop, participants will be invited to join award winning theatre practitioner, and friend of Mental Fight Club, Lee Hart who will use games and play to explore ensemble building, shared physical dynamics, and the building blocks of devised performance.
This work will then be built upon by acclaimed mask and puppet performer Russell Dean from Strangeface Theatre company. Working together with Lee and us all, Russell will begin the process of telling the stories we’ve devised using props while accomplished violin and fiddle player Mike Simmonds improvises accompanying music.
Mike is inviting any other musicians who may wish to come along with their instruments to feel more than welcome to join him in improvising along.
Where: Find us in the main hall of St Johns Waterloo
7pm – 8pm: The moment in which we sit in the Uncanny Valley
The day will conclude with fragmentary presentations of some of the work made during the workshop. It will be experimental!
Where: Find us in the main hall of St John’s Waterloo
4:30pm – 7pm: Table Top Circus - with Jonny Dixon
Making Table. Drop in any time and explore the art of prop making with curio animator, prop maker and puppet performer Jonny.
Biographies
Russell Dean - Russell Dean is artistic director of Strangeface Theatre Company. He is a writer and maker with a particular interest in cognition and what masks and puppets reveal about the way we perceive the world. He has made masks and puppets for Trestle, Geese, Vamos, ITV, Channel 4, and is responsible for the large Mrs Thatcher puppet in Stephen Daldry’s Billy Elliot. After touring nationally and internationally with Strangeface, his recent work has focused on using puppets in workshops with vulnerable adults, families with children in hospices and fathers in prison.
Lee Hart - Lee Hart is a director, devisor, and practitioner, making ambitious theatre experiences with, and for, some of the hardest to reach members of our communities. Since 2012 Lee has worked closely with the Theatre Royal Plymouth to develop, deliver, and creatively direct the Our Space project – a theatre making programme working with adults who may have faced challenges involving homelessness, isolation, mental health issues, substance misuse or re-offending. Lee Hart was the recipient of the Arts Foundation Theatre Maker Of The Year 2022.
Mike Simmonds - Mike is a multi talented musician and violinist, just returned from Glastonbury festival with an impressive résumé having toured with Nick Cave, The Levellers and Quantic Soul orchestra amongst many others. Mike has a wealth of experience in creating and writing music for theatre, film and community projects.
During the day Mental Fight Club will be providing free hot drinks and snacks for light refreshment between workshops.
Tickets are available from the link below but are not essential.
Full Address: St John's Waterloo, 73 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8TY
St Johns Church is a 4 minute walk from Waterloo Station.
BY TUBE
The nearest underground stations are Waterloo, accessible via Bakerloo line, Jubilee Line, Northen Line, Waterloo and City Line. This station is a 5 minute walk from St Johns Church.
BY TRAIN
St John’s Church is 5 minutes' walk from Waterloo train station.
BY BUS
The following bus routes stop near St John’s Church: 26, 76, 172, 341, 521, 139, 176, 234. There are also many other close bus stops.
We hope you can all join us for this very exciting day!
