SHIT A LONG A MUPPETS

Fuck October! And fuck November! It's December and that only means one thing. The thing everyone thinks of when they hear 'December'. The thing that transcends religion and class, that everyone can recognise, celebrate and pay to participate in:

CAMDEN PEOPLE'S THEATRE. SUNDAY 14th DECEMBER.

TICKETS HERE

Sh!t November

COLCHESTER,

CHELSEA,

CANS OF STELLA.

Guinea Pigs
thanks to the wonderful people of Essex who filled out one of our very favourite venues in the country for our first show of Guinea Pigs on Trial since the Fringe. And more thanks again to the literally tens of people who came out on rainy Friday & Saturday nights in November to see us open the SACRED Festival at Chelsea Theatre. We've been going to SACRED since we were 19 and it was a proper honour.


Gays and Women
We also lived it up big time in November at Bird La Bird/Niranjan Kamatkar's cabaret night for Gaywise Festival and at LiveWire for the Underwire Festival at the Yard. Everyone who was on those nights was bloody brilliant so please go see Mzz Kimberley, Sophie Henderson, Lou Sanders, Katia Kvinge, HOOT! Theatre and Natasha Demetriou if they are ever near you.



If you missed Guinea Pigs in Colchester & at the Chelsea, fear not, there will be a tour at some point next year and we are also putting together our audio documentary version. For now, here's our interview with the charmers from Radio Summerhall that we forgot to post during the Fringe:

Burger Van in London - one night only!

ONE NIGHT ONLY 'Burger Van' in London! Our smash hit Edinburgh show moved from the Phones 4 U to an unlabelled hotel room and now to Bethnal Green...

A two man, two woman, multi-sausage exploration of life as emergent service workers.
Meat puppets, live music. And now for one night only, an actual stage! 

Written by Tim Hopkins, Phil O'Shea, Louise Mothersole, Lewis Church and Rebecca Biscuit and performed by Tim Hopkins, Phil O'Shea, Louise Mothersole and Rebecca Biscuit. 
We really need a company name so we don't have to keep typing all that out.


Friday 3rd October, 9pm. Rich Mix. 
Book tickets



"The Office rejuvenated for a new generation... a wonderful example of how theatrical skill, commitment, and a bit of style can make magic in the most unlikely of places"
-Total Theatre
http://totaltheatre.org.uk/tim-hopkins-co-burger-van/


"reminiscent of Kevin Smith’s Clerks...intensely silly yet also makes a serious point" 
-The Stage 
http://www.thestage.co.uk/edinburgh-reviews/73533/burger-van/


"Talking puppet burgers, cigars made from sausages and sitcom-style banter conceals a more serious message about the erosion of workers’ rights ...invigorating stuff"
-The Scotsman
http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/08/23/burger-van/

September reviews!

Some great early reviews of 'Women's Hour' from the first week of Calm Down, Dear Festival of Feminism!
We're on 1st-2nd, 4th and 8th-11th October with loads of other great feminist theatre:


Exeunt

"whip-smart and relentless...part theatre, part comedy, part performance art and loads of fun to watch"

WhatsOnStage

"swaggering, smart and side-achingly funny"

A Younger Theatre
"incredibly necessary, and a riotous evening at the theatre"

Women's Hour at Calm Down, Dear 2014

This is the day before our show Women’s Hour opens at Calm Down Dear Festival of Feminism. Today we have to figure out how to gaffa tape roller blades onto our feet, decide whether or not Emma Watson needs a mention, and actually learn our lines.

We’re nervous about headlining a festival about women – there’s a certain pressure to get it  ‘right’ – make sure we are saying the right things, or attacking the right things. That pressure has sort of helped shape the show – how do you sum up WOMEN in 60 minutes? We are not a separate species, number one, and the experience of being a woman and the particular pressures and prejudices that women face cannot be summed up in an hour, or 24 hours.

The angle we take for most of the show is that the way women are portrayed/talked about in the media – and therefore society - is just pretty funny and therefore shocking. But funny. Which is shocking. And that’s funny. But shocking. Mostly funny. We have to laugh right? But it’s pretty shocking. That’s how to show goes at the moment.

As the witch Emma Watson pointed out, there’s not a single country in the world where women are equal to men. There is of course a scale, but when that fact is true – not a SINGLE COUNTRY IN THE WORLD- there’s still a lot to say about the small things as well as the big.

We know that as far as women’s experiences go in the world, we have it easy. But that is not an excuse to ignore feminism in the UK. Feminism is necessary until all sexes and genders etc. are equal. Almost equal is still not equal. We also want to laugh at feminism. In the same way we like to laugh at people we admire (Dolly Parton, David Attenborough), to humanize and put a friendly face to them. And in the same way a child might pick on or laugh at a child they fancy in school. Because we are immature and don’t know how to process our emotions.

Please come see our show. There are naked women.

Sh!t Theatre at Summerhall

Just got back from Edinburgh last night so we're lacking sleep and perspective. How is everyone? What have you been doing? We missed you. This year at the Fringe I think we had what is known as a Good Run (?). We had people come to see the show with minimum begging, got some nice reviews and press and somehow got shortlisted for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award which is an incredible (literally) honour.

Here's some links to some write ups of the show ★★★★ OH oops there's some stars getting in the way of me typing, many apo★★★★logies.

Scotsman: http://www.wow247.co.uk/blog/2014/08/19/guinea-pigs-on-trial/

Exeunt: http://exeuntmagazine.com/reviews/guinea-pigs-on-trial/

Fest: https://www.festmag.co.uk/theatre/102210-guinea_pigs_trial

The Stage: http://www.thestage.co.uk/edinburgh-reviews/72764/guinea-pigs-on-trial/

A Younger Theatre: http://www.ayoungertheatre.com/edinburgh-review-guinea-pigs-on-trial-summerhall/

Broadway Baby: http://www.broadwaybaby.com/shows/guinea-pigs-on-trial/702453

TV Bomb: http://www.tvbomb.co.uk/2014/08/guinea-pigs-on-trial/

Apparently it's now etiquette that you shouldn't re-tweet or blog about praise you receive, but I'm pretty sure you have to be able to pay your rent before that rule is enforced. Megalomania is part of our schtick so we're going to continue to go on about how brilliant we think we are until we're in the Guardian OH WAIT

Guinea Pigs write up in the Observer: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/aug/17/horizontal-collaboration-light-ad-infinitum-guinea-pigs-on-trial-light

and here we are being described as 'uneven' by Lyn in her final week tips:

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2014/aug/18/final-week-tips-theatre-edinburgh-festival

REVIEW REVIEW

Our favourite write-ups:

RUNNER UP: The wonderful Mumble Theatre:

http://mumbletheatre.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/guinea-pigs-on-trial/

There seemed to be a trend this year of reviewers referring to female performers as 'girls'. We had many discussions of whether this was a bad thing or not, and came to the final conclusion that if you have been menstruating for over a decade and a half, you have earned the term 'woman'. However, will be using the quote 'a distinct lack of proper entertainment' on all our posters from now on.

WINNER: The now legendary Derek Hogg who left this review on our EdFringe ticket booking page:

https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/guinea-pigs-on-trial

derek hogg16 days ago

The true story of how the plays’ protagonists, 2 unemployed students, were seduced by an advert in the job centre to participate in a drugs trial. Seeing an opportunity to top up their dole money and arts council funding, they applied….and were rejected….for perfectly sound medical reasons. But seething with anger from their perceived interpretation that the pharmaceutical industry is biased against women, they produced this vitriolic play, using a script partly written by maverick physician Dr Ben Goldacre. The majority of the piece is constructed using audio soundbites and selected text from Goldacre’s books and speeches. As a consequence, rather than being a balanced look at how the pharmaceutical industry tests new drugs, it comes across more like a science story in the Daily Mail – sensationalist, inaccurate, and biased. From a theatrical standpoint, the play benefits from the unusual surroundings of the Summerhall lecture theatre, but offers little else. Frankly, it came across as a rather silly student song and dance routine. But, as it says on the flyer, it is ‘Shit Theatre’.

The best thing about the Fringe this year was the number of shows we saw that we loved and were inspired by. By no means a full list, but these included:

Looking for Paul by Wunderbaum

The Christeene Machine by Christeene

You Are Not Alone by Kim Noble 

Don Quixote by Little Soldiers

Show Off by Figs in Wigs (go QMUL)

Enter the Tonezone by Tony Law

Jessie Cave's work-in-progress

Near Gone by Two Destination Language
Hug by Verity Standen
Put Your Sweet Hand in Mine by Andy Field & Ira Brand
Mental by The Vacuum Cleaner
Lungs by Duncan MacMillan

prob missed a load of shows off that. But it really was a great year.

Edinshitter

Massive thanks to Jen who has been blogging about our fundraisers & previews while we have been too busy panicking. Panic is over. Now is time for Fear.

EDINBURGH FRINGE 2014
It's our fifth year at the Fringe as Sh!t Theatre and, like a sort of Scottish Stockholm Syndrome, we've come to love our weird art prison. Probably because we've known nothing else since we were 18.
We leave on Weds morning, taking our new show Guinea Pigs on Trial which we've been going on about for ages to Summerhall's Anatomy Lecture Theatre on alternate days at 3.30pm throughout the Fringe:

OTHER FRINGE GIGS

• Burger Van- our non-Sh!t collaboration with the brilliant Tim Hopkins & Phil O'Shea is every day on the Freestival, Phones 4U (yep, really) on Princes St at 5.30pm. It's a To Do List 'Unmissable Show' along with Guinea Pigs! http://todolist.org.uk/edinburgh-fringe-2014/

• we're also appearing in the following shows every day or only once or something inbetween: 

WitTank's Old School Secrets (The Pleasance Above)

This Is Your Trial (Assembly George Square)

Tricity Vogue's Uke Of Edinburgh Awards (New Empire Bingo Hall)

Alice Sanders & Lynsey Bonnell's Heartbreak Motel (Annexe, The Liquid Rooms)

if you're up there, follow us on Twitter @shittheatre for actual dates and times and stuff

Sh!t Theatre @ Pink Fringe

Sh!t Theatre are heading down to Brighton this weekend!

We will be performing two Edinburgh previews of Guinea Pigs on Trail at the lovely Malborough Theatre.

Here's a link to ticket buying!
http://www.pinkfringe.org.uk/2014/05/guinea-pigs-on-trial/

5th July: 7:30pm
6th July: 7:30pm

Tickets: £6:50/£5:50

Come over, give us some feedback and have a drink!

Edinburgh Previews 2014!

In case you hadn't heard, we are taking our new show, Guinea Pigs on Trial to the Edinburgh Fringe. We are on at Summerhall (oooooooo) in the incredible Anatomy Lecture Theatre!

Tickets are available right here:

http://festival14.summerhall.co.uk/?s=guinea+pigs+on+trial&submit=Search

Even more excitingly, we are sharing this space with the wonderful Ellie Stamp, who will be performing her brilliant new show, Are You Lonesome Tonight on the days we aren't doing ours.

Here is a link to Ellie's tickets:

http://festival14.summerhall.co.uk/?s=are+you+lonesome+tonight&submit=Search

Won't be in Edinburgh? (Or want to see it before everyone else?)

We will both be holding previews at Theatre Delicatessen 9th and 10th July at 7:30pm.

Click up there to buy tickets

Holy Shi!tStamp @ Theatre Delicatessen

LET'S HAVE A PARTY!

We are holding a massive fundraiser party at Theatre Delicatessen on 11th July 2014 7:30pm-midnight and want to see all of your beautiful selves there.

Featuring new performances by:

Andy Field and Christopher Brett Bailey

Ira Brand

Foxy&Husk

Sublime and Ridiculous 

Gaia Harvey Jackson

Ellie Stamp 

Sh!t Theatre

AND MORE!

Performance, Drinks, DJs, Dancing and A RAFFLE!?!?!

If that's not enough to make you want to party your pants off, we will also be offering you the chance to buy/bid for original artworks from performance legends, Julia Bardsley, Bobby Baker, Lois Weaver and Peggy Shaw!

If  THAT'S not enough, here is a bit of  info about one of our amazing performances, you lucky minxes!

First and Second Wilderness

A new piece by Andy Field and Christopher Brett Bailey.

Previously conceived as part of a residency with Blast Theory, created by Forest Fringe's Andy Field and performance artist/musician Christopher Brett Bailey (This is How We Die & Made in China's Gym Party), First and Second Wilderness is about war games and war films. 
It is about myths and cliches. It's about how we produce our own experience on things happening very far away.
In this immersive piece, teams of participants will have the opportunity to make a produce a war of epic Hollywood proportions.

More details to come, but for now....

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/737317 - 

Buy a ticket, turn up and have fun!

More Sh!t pitches from Chichester

Day Three 
In which Sh!t Theatre have a breakdown

Day Four
In which Sh!t Theatre have been drinking  away the pain

Day Five
In which Sh!t Theatre are in bed with Wetherspoons-related hangovers

The University of Shitchester

We're at the University of Chichester, on our second residency and third re-write of Guinea Pigs on Trial.

We're here to make the show make sense. We know why all the stuff's there, we know, we understand. But do you? What's Wendy Craig got to do with it? Why the subplot about Richard Gere? Why all the moths? ART. This week we're trying to synthesise all our patterns and ideas into one proper shit. And to aid that, at the end of every day we're practising an elevator pitch for the show.

An elevator pitch is something our publicist Steve suggested we learn to do in order to sell out show at the Fringe. You have to be able to communicate what the show is about in 20-30 seconds. It's a bidnis term. You gotta sell it kid, sell it before the boss gets outta the elevator. GEDDIT?? Come back tomorrow.

We'll be posting daily pitches here or on our Sh!t Theatre Facebook, summing up what we think Guinea Pigs is about by the end of each day.


Sorry, Steve.



Monday

Tuesday

Sh!t riders: an End of mini-tour mini-photo album

we've become very demanding

Press and Pigs

Here are some nice reviews of our JSA shows at Behaviour Festival, Glasgow

http://middlemusic.net/wp/?p=5488

http://www.list.co.uk/article/59725-sht-theatres-job-seekers-anonymous-explores-the-frustrations-of-unemployment/

http://www.scotsman.com/mobile/what-s-on/theatre-comedy-dance/theatre-review-job-seekers-anonymous-1-3373788

http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts-ents/stage/review-behaviour.23927660

We had a great time at The Arches

Evidence of great time

End of Evidence.

The Glasgow audiences lived up to their reputation and we got the whole package- stage invasions, drunks, live commentary of the show and a very.late.night. Brilliant fun. The Arches treated us so well, and are putting on an incredible festival. SCOTLAND - Please don't leave us.

GUINEA PIGS

Thanks to everyone who came to our preview at the Pleasance, and to Claire Nolan for filming Sh!t Theatre with a proper camera for the first time in 3 1/2 years of making work. See that guinea pig? Stay tuned for more Claire Nolan magic featuring the pig.

old school Sh!t

We're back at the Stockwell Grosvenor this Sunday for an All Women's Comedy Night, raising money for OPAWC (the Organisation Promoting Afghan Women's Capabilities). Headlining is Kate Smurthwaite with The News At Kate which is always a sell out at the Fringe. Today Kate was on BBC Radio 5 talking about armpits (her armpits?). Anyway, she's been on BBC radio which is a nice easy link to the fact we're doing 30 mins of our brand new Women's Hour. 

SEAMLESS


We used to play at the Grosvenor for Guy Smallman's 'Acoustic Insurgency' night quite regularly when we first started being sh!t. It was always one of our favourite places to gig and we're really excited to be back, especially in support of one of Afghanistan's most radical and active women's groups.  


MORE
Here's a picture of us on a boat

Apologies if this is your boat.


Claire Nolan has been working with us to get some Mulder & Scully images for Guinea Pigs on Trial. Here's some of the wonderful photos she took of us in our pyjamas in the park:
http://claireenolan.wix.com/pitkincollaborations#!blank/c42h


Guinea Pigs on Trial is next on at the Pleasance Theatre Islington, April 14th at 8pm. Tickets are only £5, you can come and see how the work-in-progress is going whilst at the same time ensuring I don't humiliate myself because I also work there and if we don't sell any tickets I will not live it down:
https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/guinea-pigs-trial


WHAT ELSE?
My mum and her friend Sylvia are coming to see Job Seekers Anonymous in Ipswich for PULSE Presents. Are you??? East Anglia homecoming gig at The New Wolsey, next Thursday night:
http://www.wolseytheatre.co.uk/shows/jsa/

The first ever full-length version was supported by PULSE back in 2012, it has completely changed since then and we never expected it would do as well as it has. It's really lovely to bring it back to the New Wolsey this year.


BEHAVE YOURSELF GLASGOW
Sh!ts and International Tour Mum Jen Smethurst heading up to Glasgow with Job Seekers Anonymous for Behaviour Festival and we're in very good company:


Elsewhere in the programme, there is a notable politicised edge. A strong feminist seam includes Alan Bissett, Bryony Kimmings, Rosana and Amy Cade, Sh!t Theatre, Silvia Gallerano and Cristian Ceresoli. Each approach the subject from different perspectives and, taken cumulatively, they represent a fierce anger at the inequality inherent within our global economic systems and its specific impact on women.


http://www.thearches.co.uk/events/arts/behaviour-festival-2014

Mon 7th and Tues 8th April. See you up there.

Party Like Sh!t's 1994

This Saturday Camden People's Theatre are 20 years old! Happy Birthday to lovely CPT. As part of the celebrations, we are performing this Saturday at their birthday party - there's a bunch of us doing one-off, nineties-themed turns.

Here's a picture of Kevin Spacey with the head of a tiger. It's a clue about our 90s performance. Sort of.

NEXT WEEK

We're heading dahn sarf again, this time with Job Seekers Anonymous 2014 to The Point in Eastleigh. A brilliant excuse to get out of London, and an even better excuse to watch Claire Nolan's promo film again:

tickets here, we're also doing a free post-show chat: http://www.thepointeastleigh.co.uk/whats-on/theatre/jsa-job-seekers-anonymous-20.aspx

More Sh!t scratches

TONIGHT in BRIGHTON-

the first ever full-length version of our other brand new show 'Women's Hour', written specially over the last 4 days for Pink Fringe at the Marlborough Theatre.

Brightonites - it's Women's Hour (literally, it's 10am, turn on the radio)

Tickets here: http://www.pinkfringe.org.uk/2013/12/womens-hour-by-sht-theatre-2/

Sh!t Scratches

The new show we haven't written yet previews next week at The Yard in Hackney Week, Tues 25th-March 1st every night at 9pm. You can get tickets for our show and Carolyn Defrin's show The Balloon at 7.30pm for just a tenner: http://theyardtheatre.co.uk/whats-on/in-the-theatre/now-14/

Guinea Pigs on Trial is about our ongoing attempts to sell ourselves to medical science. It's also about the X Files, self-worth, money, drug companies, drug taking, Whoopi Goldberg, money, 1970s BBC TV series Butterflies, conspiracy theories, money, actual butterflies, money, ambition and megalomania. And money.

Come see our show please

THIS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 7TH & 8TH FEBRUARY 2014
at the Chelsea Theatre, 8pm as part of 'Fresh Blood' season:

Sh!t Theatre's JSA (Job Seekers Anonymous) 2014 for the LAST TIME IN LONDON EVER seriously never doing it again, our multi-award winning Edinburgh extravaganza.

Tickets here: http://www.chelseatheatre.org.uk/project/jsa-2014-by-sht-theatre/

Wonderful Claire Nolan of The Making of Falsettos fame has made us a promo video for our Chelsea show featuring Reggie. It is called CAT PUTS WOMAN IN BIN:

Go on please come see the show. It's Louise 26th Birthday on the 9th, so Saturday night after the final show we will all be getting drunk at World's End. Friendships will be seriously reconsidered if you are not there.

Whitstable is not Sh!t

Hello from The Expansionists in Whitstable where we are on residency starting work on our new show Guinea Pigs On Trial.
Today we learnt to play the spoons, and last night we watched the 2005 straight-to-TV movie Side Effects starring Katherine Heigl. So it's going well.

Here's a photo of Louise's new sh!t instrument:

Expect to see 'Child Prodigy Midget Accordion' in all our upcoming shows.

We have actually being getting lots of work done here (as well as the spoons thing) (and the Katherine Heigl thing). We have the whole lovely flat to ourselves and the space and sea air are perfect for working on new ideas and getting some serious research done. Highly recommend to anyone who needs some time away to think to apply to the Expansionists residency: http://www.theexpansionists.org/

Louise just asked 'have you mentioned Katherine Heigl yet? Yes, twice. Three times now.

When we're back from residency in a week or so, we have a few gigs coming up:

January 22nd: JSA (Job Seekers Anonymous) 2014 at Black Box Banter, Pinter Studio + after show Banter (QMUL students only)

January 25th: LOCO Comedy Film Festival at BFI Southbank, we're doing a turn as part of their 'Satire Day'

January 31st: Who The Fuck Is Alice? performing a section of Women's Hour  + TWO Sh!t DJ sets

ALSO

Please come to the Chelsea Theatre and see JSA (Job Seekers Anonymous) 2014 as part of 'Fresh Blood'. http://www.chelseatheatre.org.uk/project/jsa-2014-by-sht-theatre/

Last JSA in London. First public JSA show following Edinburgh mega-success (that's the official term for it). We love the Chelsea Theatre and we would love it more if it was full of you. 7th & 8th February. Here's the link again so you don't even have to read back over the last 4 lines: http://www.chelseatheatre.org.uk/project/jsa-2014-by-sht-theatre/