Physical Fest is Tmesis Theatre’s international physical theatre festival. A celebration of the rich variety of local, national and international contemporary physical work, the only festival of its kind in the UK.

We are very pleased, after a difficult year for the arts, to be back with our festival, celebrating exciting new contemporary physical theatre, continuing to support emerging and female artists and producing our own site-specific piece, Memoria. Thank you to our partners, our funders The Arts Council of England, Liverpool City Council and the Granada Foundation and the festival team for making it happen.

This year, we sadly lost our friend and festival photographer, the lovely Mark Loudon. I would like to dedicate this year’s fest to Mark, who was an integral part every year, who loved the festival and who will be very missed.

Elinor Randle Artistic Director- Tmesis Theatre & Physical Fest

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Physical Fest 2021 Brochure-Interactive

4 extracts of exciting new work- 1 night!

Rewind- Ephemeral Ensemble

Deep down under this earth we walk on are unheard voices. Echoes from the past. Through analyses of injuries to bones, science led a revolution in how human rights were investigated. On this visual journey we unearth some of the stories of people who dared to resist.

Ephemeral are an immigrant led physical theatre ensemble who make work that shines a light on current hidden social issues.

“Physical Theatre at its finest” Everything Theatre. ★★★★★

www.ephemeralensemble.com

Unbroken- Facing North Theatre- Conceived & Performed by LANE PAUL STEWART

“I’m leading a double life, a simple, honest warehouse worker by day, by night a dynamic tsar of the underworld, Mother.”

Unbroken seeks to explore what is it to feel restrained, to contain every impulse of pleasure and to tether the need for adventure.

Lane Paul Stewart, a graduate of RADA’s MA Theatre Lab, seeks to interrogate the relationship between narrative and abstract form creating a theatre of playful critique.

Rowena Gander- Barely Visible

Barely Visible is a work in process that grapples with the complicated terrain of female queerness by asking what will happen if gay women continue to live in the shadows.

Rowena Gander is an international performance artist who creates physical works that question and negotiate themes of sexuality, power and objectification in women. 

www.roweangander.com 

The Secret of Cerise- Tipsy Cow Productions

They’re red, they’re hot, and they’re on the run. The Secret of Cerise is a hilarious take on the classic film noir genre, an energetic physical comedy about love and murder.

Tipsy Cow Productions is a female led physical comedy company who would describe themselves as professionally ridiculous. They combine crazy characters, with ridiculous situations to create chaotic and hilarious productions.

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Collective act of golden manifestation, sacred laughter bath and ceremonial mess-about orchestrated by a preposterously dazzling goddess. Very golden, mostly truthful. Sacred as holy hell.

Lucy Hopkins is an award-winning clown, creative consultant and High Priestess of Idiot. 

★★★★ ‘Hopkins is utterly present… an otherworldly vision in gold… in this extraordinary transformative happening’ Scotsman

www.lucyhopkins.com

 ‘Outstandingly original… Lucy Hopkins is a golden-goddess revelation in this extraordinary power hour of one woman’s improvisation and the healing power of comedy’

★★★★★ ToDoList

Memoria is a poetic, visceral exploration of memory and nostalgia.

What do past lives leave behind? What lives within walls and what lives on in our collective present?

An immersive, physical piece set in a beautiful hidden gem, the Albert Walker Hall at the Linacre Methodist Mission.
Built in 1909 it has been recently restored thanks to Heritage Lottery funding, this will be the first event in the new space.

Tmesis Theatre create, develop and share passionate and playful physical theatre and have toured their award-winning productions nationally and internationally since 2003.

www.tmesistheatre.com 

‘Entertaining and disturbing food for thought’ The Stage ★★★★ (for Beyond Belief) 

‘Energetic, vibrant and inspirational physical theatre at its best.’ Northwestend ★★★★ (for Wicked Women)★★★★

LINACRE MISSION- Linacre Rd, Litherland, Bootle, L21 8NS – entrance on Bowden St. Nearest train station- Seaforth & Litherland, 10 min walk from station to venue.

PLEASE NOTE – THIS PERFORMANCE HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

Joli Vyann present an innovative fusion of circus, dance and theatre – blurring the boundaries of dance and circus skills. 

Lançe moi en l’air is about the sensitivity and connection between two people, bringing about compatible contradictions. It explores a mixture of strength and weakness. Humanity emerges and acrobatic prowess speaks between bodies. In a mixture of abandonment and accountability this piece is sensitive, bodies just fit together. An exciting mix of dance and partner acrobatics, this show stuns children, the elderly and everyone in between. 

www.joli-vyann.com 

FREE 25 MIN OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE

‘Commissioned by Without Walls, Out There International Festival of Circus & Street Arts and Winchester Hat Fair. Co-commissioned by Bournemouth Arts by the Sea Festival and Bristol Harbour Festival.’

This conceptual performance piece asks whether or not the monolithic concept and representation of Blackness leads to the erasure of individuality, a plethora of cultures and the fight of intersectional peoples.

By addressing how educating on ‘Blackness’ can lead to a subsuming of one’s identity, Gold hopes to probe how the Black Body is viewed and formed.

Gold Maria Akanbi is a British-Nigerian multidisciplinary artist that focuses on neurodiversity, epigenetic trauma, alternative healing modalities and ecological relationships. Gold has also recently released her new book ‘Woman3rd’.

www.goldmariaakanbi.com

Blinded, with cords around arms and legs, weaving new movement, like a duet with the dancer. The car centres around desire, drive, persistence, knocked over to move forwards again. The female character will take the audience on this transformative journey with her. Immersive, Inclusive and Intimate.

This piece is performed by & created with Jenny Rees, directed by Kate Jackson.Kate has worked as a Dance Theatre performer for 18 years, working with world class companies punchdrunk, The Royal Opera House, The Royal Exchange Theatre and now creates her own unique work.

Dusky Seaside Sparrow, Cinnamon-coloured Cryptic Tree Hunter, Problematic Flasher, Fire Millipede From Hell…

Performer Tom Bailey attempts to explore 26,000 other species via his body in an award-winning, tragicomic exploration of life in an age of extinction.

Created by Herald Angel award-winning Mechanimal, in collaboration with zoologists, Vigil premiered at Summerhall, Edinburgh 2019. 

**** – “memorable… a requiem against a clock counting down” – The Scotsman 

www.mechanimal.co.uk

“BEAUTIFUL, CONTEMPLATIVE…A REMARKABLE AND URGENT SHOW”

THE GUARDIAN

COMMISSIONED BY BE FESTIVAL

Five years ago, I walked for 10 days between Coventry in Warwickshire and Treherbert in South Wales. It was a homemade pilgrimage in search of roots, retracing the movement of my ancestors. I spread my grandparents’ ashes along the way and recorded the sound from the unfolding adventure.

This is an invitation for you to get lost in that sound, whilst you give yourself an hour outside and reconnect to where you came from.

International Art Clown Jamie Wood is a performer, director and teacher renowned for creating striking and accessible theatre. His work reflects a training in fine art, theatre, clown and dance.

www.jamiewood.org.uk

★★★★ “JAMIE WOOD IS A PERFORMER TO FALL IN LOVE WITH.”

Exeunt on O No!

Unity Theatre, 1 Hope Place, Liverpool, L1 9BG

Toxteth TV- 37-45 Windsor St, Liverpool L8 1XE

Linacre Mission-

Linacre Rd, Litherland, Bootle, L21 8NS – entrance on Bowden St. Nearest train station- Seaforth & Litherland, 10 min walk from station to venue.