Hello!

We are busy over the summer: Unpacked is one of the resident companies this year with the Puppet Centre Trust at the Battersea Arts Centre, developing a new piece, The Show Must Go On, which we will be taking to the Barnstaple Fringe; and we have been commissioned by the Dome in Brighton to produce their Christmas show 2010, Robin and the Big Freeze. There are also a few Jumping Mouse dates before we tour it again in the autumn.

Unpacked founder member Sara Ekenger will be running a one week course in puppet making at Central St Martins College of Art & Design this summer, from 19th-23rd July 2010, Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm. It's an opportunity for anyone interested in learning how to make puppets for performance use rather than just play to have a go. No prior experience is required. For further details and how to apply please check the Central St Martins website here.

We are currently taking bookings for 'Funeral Games' and 'Jumping Mouse'.

Robin and the Big Freeze

Funeral Games

Jumping Mouse

No Obvious Trauma

The Fourth Violin on the Left

Unpacked was formed in 2004. The company tells theatrical stories, using high-octane physicality, new writing, object animation and a distinctive puppetry aesthetic.

Our work uses interactive play with human bodies, a distinctive puppetry aesthetic and real physical challenges. Our search for originality in form, style and character technique is inspired by frequent work with invited practitioners of all disciplines from directors to scientists, athletes to welders.

We aim for all audiences to take something home with them, be that a memory, a smile, or a desire to start animating their umbrella.

The five core members of Unpacked, Clare Dunn, Darren East, Sara Ekenger, Zoë Hunter and Gilbert Taylor met and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Unpacked offer workshops on physical theatre and movement, puppetry, object manipulation, group choreography, devising, adapting texts for visual theatre, supporting and extending curriculum work and other theatre processes. Please contact us for further information.

Unpacked
29a West Hill Road, Brighton, BN1 3RT.
E-mail: contact@unpacked.org
Gilbert Taylor, Tour Manager, Tel: 07903 018 310.
Zoë Hunter, Tour Manager for Scotland, Tel: 07944 460 500.

Unpacked is a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales No. 06060841.
Unpacked is a member of ITC.

Gilbert trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and is a founder member of Unpacked. He performs in Jumping Mouse, Funeral Games, No Obvious Trauma and The Fourth Violin from the Left for which he was nominated for the Best Actor Award at the Brighton Fringe Festival 2005. He performed in Paramour for Chopped Logic and has collaborated with Quiconque and Nitty Gritty. Other theatre work includes: the opening ceremony of the European Indoor Athletic Championships in Birmingham with Prodigal's Urban Playground Team (2007), Antarctic (2005) at The Space, Ferry Tale (2004) with dANTE OR dIE aboard HMS President, and Macbeth (1998) in Southampton. He has done voiceovers for the BBC and Xenophile Media. He recently worked at the Nightingale Theatre, Brighton as assistant Theatre Manager.

As part of Unpacked, Darren has performed in The Fourth Violin from the Left, No Obvious Trauma and Funeral Games, and directed Jumping Mouse. Other theatre includes Me & The Sea (in development with TouchedTheatre), Russian National Mail (Sputnik Theatre) and puppet-making and puppetry direction for Richard III (Tangram/Southwark Playhouse). Film work includes the music video for Beth Orton's Conceived. He regularly runs workshops on theatre and puppetry for all ages, and has taught puppetry for the Central School of Speech and Drama, and physical theatre at Kingston University. He worked for several years as Baobab Puppets, performing using a wide range of puppetry styles and running many educational projects and workshops; shows for adults included Case No. 402 and Step. He is on the editorial board of Animations Online and writes for AO and Total Theatre. He has an English degree and trained at the London School of Puppetry and the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Clare Dunn works as a director and devisor. As part of Unpacked, Clare has directed The Fourth Violin from the Left, No Obvious Trauma and Funeral Games. Other directorial work includes: Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, (movement director), EM Forster Theatre, Tonbridge (2007), Nitty Gritty's Quest to Coyote Canyon, Chats Palace, Southampton Live (2006), assistant director for Quiconque's Biscuits of Love, Dublin fringe festival and Irish tour (2004), director for Androgynous production of Cleansed, Edinburgh Fringe (2003). Clare took part in The Dah Teatar International Research School in Belgrade (2007). She is currently a resident practioner at Tonbridge School. Jumping Mouse is her first performance role with Unpacked.

Zoë Hunter's theatre work outside Unpacked includes Russian National Mail (2006-2008) with Sputnik Theatre at the BAC and Russia, Bluebeard's Wives with Spid Theatre (2005), A Tin Drum (2004) for the Place, The Bethlehem Diaries (2004) for the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT) and several productions for Rowan Tree Theatre company including the one woman show Nancy Sleekit and playing Jeannie the highly acclaimed The Journey of Jeannie Deans based upon Sir Walter Scott's The Heart of Midlothian. Film work includes Real Flowers (1996), Esrafil (2005), The Princess Tower (2006), Run Fat Boy Run (2007), 28 Weeks Later (2007) and The Filth and the Wisdom (2007), a short film directed by Madonna featuring Gypsy Punk Band Gogol Bordello. She played the lead in the short Julia (2008) and is currently the Metro London girl. She has a law degree from Glasgow University and an MA distinction in performance from Central School of Speech and Drama. She has gymnastic training and her expertise spans classical to physical theatre and puppetry. Other work includes working regularly with the Ambassador Theatre Group running drama, movement and puppetry workshops for young people including the position of education officer for their touring production of Stuart Little in conjunction with Polka Theatre and directing the Larkin About site-specific show in September 2007.

Sara Ekenger works as designer, puppeteer and performer. As a part of Unpacked Sara has performed in The Fourth Violin from the Left and designed No Obvious Trauma and Jumping Mouse. As a freelance designer Sara makes puppets on commission under the name EekNGrr and has run drama and craft workshop programmes in collaboration with the Education Department of Richmond Theatre and the educational arts organisation TARU. She was awarded the Puppet Centre Trust/Arts Council bursary in 2006. She is a research supervisor at Brunel and a short course leader at Central St.Martins College of Art and Design.

With suitcases and satnavs the birds are getting ready to leave town. Robin remains, he's got lots to do like tweeting at anyone who comes near his patch and posing for Christmas cards. But the snow is on its way and lots of it... is everyone ready for the big freeze?

A festive feast of a show with fantastic puppets, live music, and birdwatching for everyone who is going away for Christmas or staying at home!

Suitable for families and anyone aged 4+

Currently under development, Robin and the Big Freeze is a new show commissioned by the Dome in Brighton.

The Show Must Go On is a new show currently under development.

We showed work so far as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival on Saturday 2nd May.

The Show Must Go On will be at the Barnstaple Fringe at the end of June.

A tale of tea stains, stiffs and brotherly love. Two brothers reunite to bury the dead and dig up the living. A darkly comic story of a dying father, a family firm and a lost childhood.

Keith, the estranged son, has returned, bringing a whole lot of trouble with him for his long-suffering brother Henry.

Dad, the head of funeral directors Hall and Son, looks set to need his own services very soon and, to Henry, it seems a little white lie might be enough to get rid of his short-tempered, live-wire brother.

Unfortunately, nothing goes quite how he planned as the interloper decides he wants to join the family business. Disaster ensues.

Shortlisted for a Total Theatre Award for best emerging company in Edinburgh 2007.

"innovative, sometimes brutal, physical theatre... An impressive show" - Three Weeks

"An excellent performance that sets a high standard for fringe theatre. Go and see" - Fringe Report

"Filing cabinets have never been put to better or more varied uses... lovely moments of physical theatre" - The Scotsman

Created, devised and produced by Unpacked.
Performed by Darren East and Gilbert Taylor.
Directed by Clare Dunn.

Runs approximately 70 minutes. Click Here to download Technical Requirements and Lighting Plan.

Supported by the Arts Council, Developed with the Nightingale Theatre.

Gorgonzola! Set on a red double-decker, Jumping Mouse is a totally full-throttle adventure guaranteed to get you absolutely revved up.

Jump on the second bus! The driver's saved you a seat. Come with us and meet a bull frog blues band, a clapped-out bison, a forgetful wolf... and a most unusual little mouse, who's about to have a very big adventure.

Unpacked use live music and songs, puppetry, high-octane physicality and bits of a London bus to tell a magical story of growing up, adapted from a well-loved Native American folk tale.

Created, devised and produced by Unpacked.
Performed by Clare Dunn, Zoë Hunter, Gilbert Taylor.
Directed by Darren East.
Design by Sara Ekenger.
Music and songs composed by Ben Glasstone.
Dramaturgy by Beccy Smith.

Runs approximately 60 minutes. Click Here to download Technical Requirements and Lighting Plan.

Click Here for the Jumping Mouse Education Pack PDF.

Trains shriek through the night as the memory of a love affair floats through the walls of an isolated institution. A mysterious patient questions her identity and doctors track the fragile line between madness and desire.

In an isolated psychiatric institution, Dr. Weaver is haunted by the memory of a lost love affair. It is 1932, and a new patient arrives with little more than a name tag and a tattered ribbon. Unable to communicate anything of her past, she is assigned to Weaver's colleague Dr. Crawley. But as memories return, identity is mistaken, emotions are kindled and treatment undermined.

Although dealing with serious subject matter, drawing on Freud's work on hysteria and Charcot's catalogue of hysteric imagery, No Obvious Trauma is a gripping and highly entertaining story told with a vibrant combination of visual storytelling, energetic choreography, atmospheric shadows, character and ensemble acting, object animation and puppetry.

"Breathtakingly beautiful... every single second a visual feast" - Three Weeks Brighton

"dazzling physical theatre... extraordinarily imaginative" - The Scotsman

"this is a fantastic production, which manages to be entertaining, provocative and haunting" - British Theatre Guide

No Obvious Trauma appeared at the Pleasance in the Edinburgh Fringe 2006, where it was nominated for a Total Theatre Award. It transferred to the Croydon Warehouse straight after Edinburgh, and toured the UK in Autumn 2007.

Created, devised and produced by Unpacked.
Performed by Darren East, Zo? Hunter and Gilbert Taylor.
Directed by Clare Dunn.
Lighting Design by Henry Dawn.

Runs approximately 70 minutes. Click Here to download Technical Requirements and Lighting Plan.

Supported by the Arts Council.

Four spooks fill the time in peculiar ways while awaiting their final orders. Infiltrating puppets, twisted romance and cruel tortures occur as their paranoia, suspicion and lunacy escalate to breaking point.

With expressive physical theatre and characters pieced together from found objects, Unpacked take you into a fraught environment of conflict, mistrust and competition, where people are disposable and events unpredictable.

Unpacked's critically acclaimed debut show The Fourth Violin from the Left toured the UK and Europe in 2004-6. The show was popular with all audiences, from first-time theatre-going London teenagers to lifetime physical theatre fans. There is a possibility of a special reworked version at some point... watch this space.

"Unpacked's visceral piece fuses together puppetry and physical theatre with astounding dexterity" - The Stage

"Waiting for Godot meets Reservoir Dogs" - Audience Member

Created, devised and produced by Unpacked.
Performed by Darren East, Sara Ekenger, Zoë Hunter and Gilbert Taylor.
Directed by Clare Dunn.

Funeral Games

9th-11th May 2007:
Nightingale Theatre, Brighton.

7th-9th June 2007:
Camden People's Theatre.

13th July 2007:
Latitude Festival, Suffolk.

1st-27th August 2007:
Edinburgh Fringe, Pleasance.

16th September 2007:
Steiner School, Brighton.

5 April 2008:
Pound Arts Centre, Wiltshire.

8 April 2008:
Brewhouse, Taunton.

10 April 2008:
Trestle Arts Base, St.Albans .

11 April 2008:
Bedford School Theatre, Bedford .

12 April 2008:
The Riverfront, Newport.

16 April 2008:
Truro College, Truro.

17-18 April 2008:
Burton-Taylor, Oxford.

21 April 2008:
Prospect Theatre, Farnborough.

22 April 2008:
Trinity, Tunbridge Wells.

23 April 2008:
Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon.

24-25 April 2008:
Pleasance, London.

26 April 2008:
Yvonne Arnaud Mill Studio, Guildford.

30 April 2008:
West Wing Arts Centre, Slough.

19 July 2008:
Big Youth Theatre Festival, Chingford.

15 September 2008:
E.M. Forster Theatre, Tonbridge.

20 September 2008:
East Harptrees Festival, near Bristol.

25 September 2008:
City of London School for Girls.

9 October 2008:
Mary Tavy Village Hall, Devon.

10 October 2008:
Manor Hall, Berrynarbour.

11 October 2008:
Pilton Hall, Barnstaple.

17 October 2008:
Upton-Pyne, Devon.

18 October 2008:
Stockland, Devon.

19 October 2008:
Sandford, Devon.

14 November 2008:
Brinkworth Village Hall, Wiltshire.

15 November 2008:
Dilton Marsh Village Hall, Wiltshire.

18 November 2008:
Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

21 November 2008:
Wadham School, Crewkerne, Somerset.

22 November 2008:
Mark, Near Bridgwater, Somerset.

24-26 November 2008:
Nuffield Theatre, Southampton.

28 November 2008:
Charfield, South Gloucestershire.

29 November 2008:
Old Sodbury, South Gloucestershire.

4 December 2008:
The Lakeside, Colchester.

5 December 2008:
Prema Arts, Gloucestershire.

6 December 2008:
Norwich Puppet Theatre.

2nd April 2009:
Northbrook College, Brighton.

3rd April 2009:
Little Angel Theatre, London.

9th May 2009:
Limelight Theatre, Aylesbury.

16th April:
Oldham Coliseum.

Jumping Mouse

7th February 2009:
Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury.

19th February 2009 :
Nuffield Theatre, Southampton.

4th April 2009:
New Wolsey, Ipswich.

8th April 2009:
The Clocktower, Croydon.

18th April 2009:
Stratford Circus, London.

19th April 2009:
The Albany, Deptford.

21st April 2009:
2pm, City of London School for Girls.

26th April 2009:
11am and 1pm, Tobacco Factory, Bristol.

2nd May 2009:
2.30pm, North Bradley, Wiltshire.

10th May 2009:
2pm, Edington Parish Hall, Wiltshire.

15th May 2009:
7.30pm, Great Bedwyn Village Hall, Wiltshire.

16th May 2009:
6.30pm, Oaksey Village Hall, Wiltshire.

17th May 2009:
2pm, Jacksons Lane, London.

18th May 2009:
2pm, Bedales Olivier, Petersfield.

26th May 2009:
2pm, Churchill Theatre, Bromley.

10th July 2009:
Noadswood School, Southampton.

7th - 31st August 2009:
11.30am, Edinburgh Fringe, Pleasance Two.

4th September 2009:
Lochside, Castledouglas.

14th September 2009:
The Red Shoes Theatre, Elgin.

16th September 2009:
Eastgate, Peebles.

19th September 2009:
Byre, St. Andrews.

3rd October 2009:
Broadway Theatre, Catford.

8th October 2009:
EM Forster Theatre, Tonbridge.

10th October 2009:
Wiveliscombe Primary School, Somerset.

24th October 2009:
Farnham Maltings.

25th October 2009:
Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells.

8th November 2009:
Pavilion, Brighton.

14th November 2009:
Terry O Toole Theatre, Lincolnshire.

15th November 2009:
Salisbury Arts Centre, Salisbury.

19th November 2009:
South Brent Primary School, Devon.

20th November 2009:
Thorverton Village Hall, Devon.

21st November 2009:
Whimple Village Hall, Devon.

22nd November 2009:
Kenn Centre, Kennford, Devon.

28th November 2009:
Tabernacle, London.

3-5th December 2009:
Camden People's Theatre, London.

6th & 7th January:
Clwyd Theatr Cymru.

16th January:
Ridley Hall, South Warnborough, Hampshire.

23rd January:
Norwich Puppet Theatre.

24th January:
Trestle Theatre, St Albans.

13th & 14th February:
The Egg, Bath.

16th February:
The Carriageworks, Leeds.

19th February:
Phoenix Theatre, Hampshire.

20th February:
Plough Arts Centre, Devon.

21st February:
The Junction, Cambridge.

24th & 25th February:
The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen

6th March:
Lyric Studio, London.

20th March:
Citizens, Glasgow.

21st March:
Brewery Arts, Kendal

27th March:
Darlington Arts Centre

5th April:
Maltings, Berwick-upon-Tweed

10 April
Mill Studio, Guildford

17 April
Greenwich Children's Theatre Festival, Greenwich Theatre

18 April
Quarterhouse, Folkestone

15th May
Malvern Theatres, Worcestershire

5th June
Newbury Corn Exchange

12th June
The Spring, Havant

No Obvious Trauma

11th-12th May 2006
Camden People?s Theatre.

24th-25th May 2006:
Nightingale Theatre, Brighton.

July 2006:
Central School of Speech and Drama.

2-28 August 2006:
Edinburgh Fringe, Pleasance,.

8-24 September 2006:
Warehouse Theatre, Croydon.

3 November 2006:
MAC, Birmingham.

15-16 July 2007:
City of London School for Girls.

5 October 2007:
RiverHouse Barn, Walton-on-Thames.

6 October 2007:
Yvonne Arnaud Mill Studio, Guildford.

10 October 2007:
Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

14 October 2007:
EM Forster Theatre, Tonbridge.

25 October 2007:
Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

15 November 2007:
Lakeside Theatre, Colchester .

11-12 March 2008:
Nuffield Theatre Studio, Southampton.

26-30 May 2008:
Warsaw, Poland.

22 October 2008:
Carlops Village Hall.

23 October 2008:
Eastgate Theatre, Peebles.

24 October 2008:
The Byre Theatre, St Andrews.

25 October 2008:
Lochside Theatre, Castle Douglas .

26 October 2008:
Bowhill Theatre, Selkirk.

30 October 2008:
Gordonstoun School, Elgin.

31 October 2008:
Lonach Hall, Strathdon .

1 November 2008:
Red Shoes Theatre, Elgin.

24 February 2009:
Prospect Theatre, Farnborough.

31st July 2009:
The Maltings, Berwick-upon-tweed.

1st August 2009:
The Wynd, Melrose.

5th September 2009:
The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen.

9th - 12th September 2009:
The Tron, Glasgow.

17th September 2009:
Mull Theatre, Isle of Mull.

The Fourth Violin on the Left

29th July 2004:
Paupers Pit, Buxton Festival.

14th August 2004:
Earthy Delights, Southwark.

23th-28th August 2004:
Edinburgh Fringe.

27 October 2004:
Visions Festival Brighton.

7 November 2004:
Diorama Theatre, London.

22-23 November 2004:
City of London School for Girls.

26 November 2004:
Central School of Speech and Drama, Oval Studios.

27-29 January 2005:
Paupers Pit, Buxton.

21 February - 5 March 2005:
Arcola Theatre, London.

25-29 May 2005:
Brighton Fringe, Polar Central.

26 June 2005:
Central School of Speech and Drama, Swiss Cottage.

14 July 2005:
Little Angel Theatre, London.

3 October 2005:
Tournai, Belgium.

24 November 2005:
Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

8 March 2006:
Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

7-8 April 2006:
Burton-Taylor Theatre, Oxford.

15 April 2006:
Yvonne Arnaud, Mill Studio, Guildford .

Jumping Mouse clips coming soon!