In The Big Room was a small-scale, touring theatre company founded by four 1989 University of Exeter Drama graduates (Lesley Davis, Naomi Goodman, Daniel Jamieson and myself). 'In The Big Room' refers to both the theatre building and the world in a wider sense. As company-in-residence at Exeter & Devon Arts Centre, we produced two experimental theatre pieces that toured the UK in the early 1990s.
Headland
Toured to UK venues in 1991 and 1992. Performed as part of the 1992 ICA Live Arts 'Summer Exhibitionists' programme.
Financially supported by South West Arts, Exeter Arts Council and Dayspace.
Suppose that happiness is not just a reaction to circumstance. Suppose it is a creative faculty called fantasy... And maybe we can conjure happiness out of the air just by naming it. Mary has a tape recorder to keep her company. Jack has a pair of rubber gloves for kicks. Suppose Mary and Jack were to meet... And discover the magic of playing with something that plays right back. They might just fall smack bang in love. So what next? Games for two include sharing in matrimony, sharing a bed, sharing a dream, and sharing a deadly nightmare. The stakes are high: belief in each other and in the strength of their love. The loss of this belief could threathen life itself... The prize, if their nerve holds, is stark, real happiness.
Very powerful stuff it is. Such immediate and unpredictable theatre challenges the onlooker in a way which can be disquieting. - Exeter Express & Echo, 14 December 1991
Total theatre, reminiscent of companies like Triple Action, the impact comes from visual imagery, building to set pieces where movement, lighting and sound combine to produce an effect that could not be achieved by dialogue alone... They have grasped the concept of visual surprise... It is a pleasure to see a new company who are trying to extend the range of stage performance. - The Guardian, 16 September 1991
The Tale of Doctor Zeissman
Prelude
Manoeuvres
The Meet
Consequences
Bedroom Game
Serious Game
Deadly Serious Game
Off Shore Off Beam Left Over Left Out
Inspired by themes arising from the UK's move to strengthen ties with Europe in 1992, Off Shore Off Beam Left Over Left Out was commissioned for the 1992 Exeter Festival. The work subsequently toured to UK venues in 1992.
Financially supported by South West Arts, The Paul Hamlyn Foundation, The Mark Ward Memorial Fund and Exeter City Council.
Many thousands of years ago, an island sailed away from its native coastland and found a suitably seperate spot in the Atlantic Ocean, where it has been anchored ever since. Until recently that is. Now some strange turn of the tide has set this island drifting back towards Continental waters. The islanders are alarmed, but there's no escaping the perils and pleasures of the return journey, nor the eventual, inevitable collision... Off Shore Off Beam Left Over Left Out took the European dilemma as its starting point, exploring the voyage of four somewhat eccentric individuals as the dealt with the confusions of identity and reconciliation.
This new Exeter based company received some rave national reviews for their first show, and this second one, showing just as much skill and inventiveness, is stronger in its material and more tightly structured. Stresses, strains, collision and a lot of laughs ahead. - Event South West, July 1992
The good ship 'Unapproachable'
Crew member #1
Crew member #2
Crew member #3
Crew member #4
The interrupted tea break
The storm
