CLOWNING AROUND IN STRATFORD – RSC WELCOMES TWEEDY’S MASSIVE CIRCUS & I, MALVOLIO FOR MAY HALF TERM
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The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is offering families a host of exciting activities over the May Half term including a visit from Tweedy the Clown; award-winning actor and director Tim Crouch in I,Malvolio; and family-friendly events from storytelling to circus skills.
Suitable for ages 3-93, Tweedy’s Massive Circus will transform the Avonbank Gardens with its very own little ‘Big Top’ from 24 May – 2 June. The production opens in Stratford-upon-Avon and then tours to Salisbury, Henley-on-Thames and Cheltenham throughout the summer, with dates in London and Edinburgh to be announced soon.
The star of Giffords Circus, Cirque Beserk, and the Cheltenham Everyman pantomime Tweedy the Clown and his friends Sam Goodburn, Reuben Greeph and Loren O’Dair attempt their own circus show in their ‘little’ big top this summer. What could possibly go wrong?
Tweedy is a contemporary vaudeville style clown who performs in theatre, circuses as well as TV and film. He is an expert in traditional circus and plays multiple musical instruments.
In January 2023, Tweedy was named in the King’s New Year Honours List for his services to Circus and local community, being awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal).
Commenting on his latest show, Tweedy the Clown said: "Clowns have always been a big part of Shakespeare's work, appearing in most of his writing in some form or another so I am very excited to be kicking off the tour for my brand-new show ‘Tweedy’s Massive Circus’ in Stratford-upon-Avon as part of the RSC programme”.
Also on sale, Tim Crouch’s critically-acclaimed one-man show, I, Malvolio visits the Swan Theatre for four performances on Thursday 30 and Friday 31 May.
I, Malvolio is a charged, hilarious and sometimes unsettling rant from a man adrift in front of a cruel audience. Inspired by William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, part abject clown, part theatre-hating disciplinarian, Malvolio asks his audience to explore the pleasure we take in other people’s suffering in this timeless story of bullying, prudery and practical jokes.
Tim Crouch said: “I, Malvolio is the fourth in a series of solo plays I’ve written looking at things through the eyes of Shakespeare’s lesser characters. I’ve been a bit obsessed with Malvolio ever since I played him in a production of Twelfth Night years ago. As a character he resonates around ideas of order and anarchy, cruelty and compassion, around the vulnerability of love, the tragic consequences of self-delusion. I like the irony that he is a theatre-hating puritan stuck inside a play – prone to all the random chaos an audience can inflict on a performer. Twelfth Night is a maze of plot. Rather than trying to explain every twist and turn, I have let Malvolio run a little free. He would hate me for it.”
I Malvolio is written and performed by Obie award-winning Tim Crouch (An Oak Tree, The Author, Adler & Gibb, Beginners and Truth’s a Dog Must to Kennel) and designed by Olivier Award-winning Graeme Gilmour. The recommended age guidance is 11+
Family friendly workshops and activities during Half Term include a week of Creative Upcycling inspired by the RSC’s upcoming production of Kyoto in which participants will create items to take home using different techniques from applique, sewing, painting and decoupage.
Visitors to the RSC can also take part in skills-based drama workshops inspired by William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Macbeth, interactive workshops in Circus Skills and Clowning, Mask and Puppet-making and Prop-Making and Performance alongside Family Storytelling and interactive play sessions for ages 4+ inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest and, back by popular demand, Blood, Guts and Gore interactive make-up demonstrations.
For full event information, visit www.rsc.org.uk/events/may-half-term-activities
ENDS
For further enquiries, please contact: Kate Evans 07920 244 434, email: kate.evans@rsc.org.uk
X: @TheRSC
Instagram: @thersc
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LISTINGS INFORMATION
I, Malvolio
Thursday 30 and Friday 31 May
Swan Theatre
Tickets from £10
World renowned artist Tim Crouch visits the Swan Theatre with his acclaimed solo show I, Malvolio.
I, Malvolio re-imagines Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night from the point of view of its most notoriously abused steward. It’s a charged, hilarious and sometimes unsettling rant from a man adrift in front of a cruel audience. Part abject clown, part theatre-hating disciplinarian, Malvolio asks his audience to explore the pleasure we take in other people’s suffering.
I, Malvolio has toured the world from Shanghai to Sydney, from Moscow to Manilla.
This is a rare chance to see a performance by ‘one of the most important writers and theatre makers in the UK’ The Stage.
Tweedy’s Massive Circus
Friday 24 May – Saturday 2 June
Tickets from £15
Avonbank Gardens
Join Tweedy The Clown for his very own MASSIVE circus. Well kind of… unfortunately the tent has shrunk and Tweedy hasn’t a clue.
Join the much loved star of Giffords Circus for over 15 years, as him and his friends create their very own circus show.
Expect a show filled with magic, mirth and mayhem. What could possibly go wrong?
Website - tweedysmassivecircus.com
Show Instagram - @tweedysmassivecircus
Tweedy Instagram - @tweedyclown
Creative Upcycling
PACCAR Room, Level 2, Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Open daily, 28–31 May
10am–4pm
FREE, drop in event
A creative week of re-using and upcycling items from the theatre’s museum collection. Visitors will be able to drop-in and create something to make and take home or contribute to pieces that will go on display and be used in the theatre. Each day will focus on a different technique from applique and sewing, painting and decoupage using recycled fabric scraps from the RSC’s costume department and reusing trimmings such as beads, fringes and buttons. With items from boots to hats, there is something for everyone to make uniquely yours.
Creative Upcycling Showcase
Friday 31 May, 4pm
On Friday, we invite everyone that has taken part in the week to come back and join us to go down the catwalk or put your item on display for all to see and celebrate what you’ve created.
Act Shakespeare
Tuesday 28 May, 10am – 12noon (The Tempest), 1-3pm (Macbeth) Ages 8-11
Wednesday 29 May, 10am – 12noon (The Tempest), 1-3pm (Macbeth) Ages 11-14
£15
Dive into Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Macbeth with an exciting, skills-based workshop. Look at key moments and scenes, play games, meet new friends and have fun! Perfect for budding theatre makers!
Making Monsters & Mischief Workshop: Masks, Puppets & Performance
Thu 30 May
10am – 12noon
£15
Suitable for age 8+.
Prop-Making & Performance Workshop: Daggers, Poisons & Other forms of Mayhem
Thu 30 May
1pm – 3pm
£15
Suitable for age 14+
Get creative with our tactile workshops, for those interested in the design and making side of theatre, plus a chance to get up and perform for those interested.
Family Storytelling: The Tempest.
Thu 30 May,
45-minute sessions at 10am, 11am, midday and 2pm.
£3.50
Enjoy affordable, bitesize storytelling sessions, suitable for the whole family. Take a journey through The Tempest with storytelling and interactive play. Suitable for age 4+
Circus Skills Workshop
Friday 31 May
10-12noon (Ages 8-11) 1-3pm (Ages 14+)
£15
Join a morning or afternoon Circus Skills & Clowning workshop - have fun, learn new tricks and skills, with all equipment provided. Beginners welcome!
Make-Up: Blood, Guts & Gore
Fri 31 May
12-1pm
£3.50
Enjoy a demo workshop and learn to make fantastic characters, looks and gruesome injuries through costume and stage make-up. Includes 'make-it-at-home recipes' for all demo'd looks. Suitable for age 8+
NOTES TO EDITORS
The RSC is supported using public funding by Arts Council England
The work of the RSC is supported by the Culture Recovery Fund
The RSC is generously supported by RSC America
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)
The Royal Shakespeare Company creates exceptional theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, London and around the world, performing plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries, as well as commissioning a wide range of original work from contemporary writers. Our purpose is to ensure that Shakespeare – and theatre as a whole – is for everyone, and we do that by unlocking the power of his plays and live performance, and with our learning and education work throughout the UK and across the world.
Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk.
Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council developed a £160 million Emergency Response Package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. We are also one of the bodies responsible for administering the Government’s unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund, of which we delivered over £1 billion to the sector in grants and loans. Find out more at www.artscouncil.org.uk/covid19.