Open Call: Tip of the Tongue Theatre Company

After a successful month at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2011, followed by a sell-out run in the Carriageworks earlier this year, Tip of the Tongue are beginning work on their next project, and looking for new members to join their cast and creative team!

As a young company based in Leeds we are focused on contributing to regional theatre through devising honest, universal and emotionally energetic work; incorporating real stories of our own and others around us. Our next project will explore the idea of memory and its documentation within the two worlds of reality and fantasy, through the telling of one story embedded amongst hundreds of others. A full brief of this project will be presented at the audition.

Seeing as we devise our own theatre, we have no limitations with regards to numbers, gender, or age of our cast.  We are therefore looking to hear from everyone including performers, musicians, designers, directors, managers, and, ultimately, real people with real stories!

If you think you have the creativity to contribute to our next project, we want to hear from you!

Key Dates

Audition: Saturday 16^th July at 6pm

Main devising period: 2^nd – 13^th July (Mon-Fri 9-5) *

Rehearsals: July-November (evenings and weekends to be agreed once cast is decided)

Production: early November (dates TBC)

There are also further plans for the project which will be discussed at the audition.

This is an unpaid opportunity.

Auditions will be held in the Carriageworks, Leeds Millenium Square (meeting room TBC). Please bring along clothes you are comfortable to move about in, personal stories you are willing to share, and any instruments (serious and silly!) you can play that are transportable.

To sign up for the audition, or if you have any questions about the project or the audition, please email us at tipofthetonguetheatre@gmail.com or give Alison a call on 0113 225 3393.

Thanks for your interest and we will look forward to seeing you there!

Tip of the Tongue Theatre Company

tipofthetonguetheatre@gmail.com

www.tipofthetonguetheatre.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/TipoftheTongue

@tipottongue

* From 2^nd – 13^th July we have been granted free rehearsal space as part of Stage@Leeds’ Professional Artist Development Programme. While we don’t expect the whole company and cast to be there all day every day (don’t worry, we have work commitments too!), we will appreciate as much time as you are willing or able to contribute during this period. This can be discussed further at the audition. 

33 Ways To Stay Creative

As Emma and I begin to plan for Tip of the Tongue's next project (due to commence in Autumn 2012), perhaps these 33 suggestions might give us some inspiration:

The Leeds Guide

Five young strangers sit in front of us, telling stories from their lives and punctuating each tale with a homemade musical segue. Household lamps, a chest of drawers, miscellaneous armchairs and a couple of stools make up the homely set from which the members of Tip of the Tongue recount their bitter and sweet anecdotes. And that’s it. That’s If Walls Could Talk in its entirety. And it’s just great.

Tom Black kicks things off with a story which blends a lingering obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine with the difficulty of having to ‘share’ his birthday with 9/11; Alison Ford explains why, sometimes, trusting strangers in risky situations can be a rewarding endeavour; Emma Lawson is haunted by a tenacious, hideous pair of jeggings. Each story is simple and each storyteller has their own, naturalistic sparkle.

The production tackles the ridiculously-specific as well as the poignantly-universal. Louisa Beadel in particular manages to find a way to blend her dry-as-a-bone wit with a lovable vulnerability – gliding adroitly from a comic obsession with tomato ketchup to an ever-present struggle with an eating disorder. Will Barwick, too, has a familiar, schlubby quality which belies the frank tenderness at the heart of his borrowed memories of his grandparents’ fated union.

Throughout the play there are small interactions with the audience and we are frequently reminded that we’re an important part of this cosy collection of sincere accounts. Whether by passing round a saucer of custard creams or by inviting a guest storyteller from the audience onto the stage, this company understand their business.

The storytelling is careful yet manages moments of apparent revelation and spontaneity. The makeshift musical ensemble is charming, giving the production a real sense of harmony and balance. 


Tip of the Tongue are certainly a company to watch for the future.


Adam Z Robinson

And another guest storyteller...

The Company just before our final show in Edinburgh:

Guest Storytellers

26 shows in a row can, at times, feel somewhat tasking. If Walls Could Talk featured a different Guest Storyteller every day of the run (almost). We had a whole host of fantastic, remarkable, horrifying, anecdotal, spectacular, embarrassing, and heart-warming stories.

From having the blood of a Viking God; sibling rivalry reconsidered; confronting fears; messy birthday parties; making the first move; pheasant chaos; acting on impulse (and saving a life); "Dad's in charge"; wise words of war; fondest Fringe memories; to the life-changing decision a Mother and Father had to make...our fantastic storytellers gave us a unique show every single day, and we found ourselves as awe-struck and inspired as anyone else listening.

So, a huge thanks to each and every one of our wonderful Guest Storytellers:

Henry, Jamie, Tom, Jobi, Alec, Janet, Craig, Louise, Alexa, Clint, Lauren, Sam, Oli, Patrick, David, Stephen, Anna, Christine, Devauna, Pete, and last but certainly not least, Ekow.

For giving every audience a different show, and allowing us a glimpse of someone we either know, knew, or may never meet again.

Broadway Baby

Forget Walls, I Was Floored

The premise of If Walls Could Talk is deceptively simple. Five twenty-somethings sit around and each tell two real stories from their life, and a guest speaker is also invited from the audience to share a story from their own lives. As I said, deceptively simple.
   Astonishingly, this simple format provides for some of the best theatre I have not only seen at the Fringe, but some of the best theatre I have seen this year. It is heartfelt, passionate, funny and inspirational. The selection of stories the young cast have chosen to share are perfect (and some are particularly brave). They are punctuated with spurts of live music by the talented cast. If Walls Could Talk has a lovely home-made feel about it and by the time you leave, you feel like you've made five new friends. The actors laugh and cry with their friend's stories. The performance was completely devoid of pretension and the atmosphere was very relaxed.
   Usually this is the paragraph in which I point out flaws in the performance; but to criticise anything in this show would be pedantry of the highest order. The relaxed nature and direct relationship with the audience means that this show can be forgiven for faults other plays may be criticised for. The sheer power of the performer's storytelling is enough to outweigh any possible criticisms. I only give five-star reviews to shows that either keep me thinking for hours afterwards or affect me emotionally in some way. If Walls Could Talk did both - I laughed, I cried and I spent hours wondering how something so simple could be so powerful.
   I absolutely implore you to go and see this show at any cost, you will be as surprised as I to see how something so basic can be so impressive. It is a testament to the cast that just by telling stories for an hour without high dramatics they can produce something far more incredible and entertaining than a big-budget, over-rehearsed production.

Stephanie Bartlett

ThreeWeeks

Damp and dreary, the Edinburgh weather wasn’t putting many smiles on Festival-goers’ faces. So Tip Of The Tongue’s production of ‘If Walls Could Talk’ is just the happiness-boost to get people grinning. This bunch of student storytellers are far from damp and anything but dreary, and their short tales are heart-warming and personal without being overly gushy, quite a feat considering the range of issues covered, from ketchup stains on white trousers to watching a family member endure Parkinson’s Disease. Don’t expect the most visually astounding or hard-hitting of performances from this show, but do expect something completely charming. Definitely make the most of this sunny little Festival mini-gem.

Ciara Knowles

Scotsman

They say you should write about what you know and this young storytelling company has done just that - sharing with us their cherished tales of childhood.

We are welcomed into the theatre by a smiling circle of performers, playing sweet, folky music on a stage covered by a rug scattered with toys, suitcases and chests of drawers.

One by one memories are unpacked: the tale of a treasured teddy bear, of terrible presents, of childhood superstitions. There are family stories, how a grandfather and grandmother first met and of the moment world events suddenly interrupted the peace of a childhood birthday party.

Not all the memories are sunny ones; there are stories of illness and confusion which will move you to tears. But all the tales are told with a light heart and ready humour and the young storytellers share their memories with warmth, simplicity and charm.

After telling an embarrassing tale from his youth, one of the performers unexpectedly ends his story by going up to his mother in the front row and planting a kiss on her cheek.

It just goes to show you don't have to have an unhappy childhood to have an interesting story to tell.

Claire Smith

U-Review (in collaboration with The Stage)

Entering the space for If Walls Could Talk was like walking into someone’s living room, complete with homely furnishings and two “Guess Who?” sets on the rug. A snug setting for the storytelling session that was about to begin.

Our five yarn spinners each told, with great linguistic dexterity, two anecdotes from their own pasts, some trivial, others deeply personal, but all heartfelt. There was plenty to relate to – sibling rivalry, favourite teddies and revolting Christmas presents – yet each tale had its own uniqueness. Both ends of the emotional spectrum were touched; the idea of Will Barwick’s playground re-enactment of the film The Full Monty triggered a hearty chuckle, whereas Alison Ford was met with reverent silence as she bravely told us about her grandfather’s battle with Parkinson’s disease.

The individuals’ stories were garnished with illustrative activity from the group which enhanced the theatricality, although this sometimes felt a little forced. What did provide an interesting visual dimension was the way objects present onstage had their significance gradually revealed. The musical accompaniments were competent rather than virtuosic, but this seemed appropriate to the relaxed context.

Tip of the Tongue’s enthusiasm for shared human experience is admirable; they open up their show to anyone with a tale to tell, with one guest storyteller per performance. They were friendly and approachable both before and after the piece, which felt more like a family gathering than a performer and audience scenario.

Not exactly a tour de force, but certainly a very pleasant hour.

Steve Graney

Ravenrock's EDINblah featuring Tip of the Tongue

Wouldn't you?

This time last year (to the very date) I was stood on the side of a road with four other girls in an East African country we had been in for less than a day. We had no food or water, and none of the correct currency. The road was bare; there seemed to be no mode of transport available to us whatsoever. Just as we all began to lose hope, a big silver Land Rover pulled up, and out stepped a man. In faultless English, he offered us a lift to the nearest town.

He seemed perfectly friendly.

So we took him up on his offer.

Wouldn't you?

IF WALLS COULD TALK

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