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Vamos Theatre, the UK’s leading mask theatre company has announced dates for its new production, Boy on the Roof, which will tour from Jan-March 2024.
Created through Community Conversations across the UK, gathering people’s personal experiences of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), loneliness, aging, hearing loss, connection and community, Vamos Theatre’s Boy on the Roof has been two years in the making and premieres as one of only eight commissioned companies at Mime London 2024 (1st-4th Feb), before setting off on a six-week tour.
Boy on the Roof is the story of an unlikely friendship between Liam, a teenage boy with ADHD, and his 91-year old neighbour, Albert. Performed without words, it features three of the best physical theatre and mask actors in the UK; Gavin Maxwell, a neurodivergent theatre-maker and movement director whose extensive body of work includes five years as a practitioner for Frantic Assembly; mask specialist James Greaves, whose seminal work with Trestle Theatre has taken him across the world and renowned mask performer Alan Riley, a founder member of Trestle Theatre.
Previewing at Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton the tour takes in venues in London, Ipswich, Taunton, Plymouth, Newbury and more, before finishing at Vamos Theatre’s home town of Worcester .
With full face masks especially made for the show by Russell Dean of Strangeface, the production features a full-length score and sound design, innovative film projection and an inventive set. The production is accessible to deaf audiences without BSL interpretation.
Rachael Savage, writer and director of Boy on the Roof, comments, “This has been an incredibly exciting production to work on right from the off, thanks to everyone who helped shape it through telling us of their own experiences in our Community Conversations. We’re grateful to all the many people across the UK who have shared their experiences with us and helped us to understand many of the issues involved. Like all Vamos Theatre productions, the show highlights the importance of making connection, helping us all to better understand our shared humanity, and it seems fitting to announce this exciting new production during ADHD awareness month.
“We’re also lucky enough to be working with three fantastic mask performers who bring a wealth of experience and talent to the stage, and we’ve pushed ourselves much further in exploring ways film, sound and lighting tell stories and create worlds, and I think our audiences will be as excited as I am about how that works. We’re looking forward to getting feedback from our regular and new audiences.”
Vamos Theatre is well-known for its accessible and supportive learning and participation, and is offering workshops for schools during the tour, which give young people from KS3 upwards (12+) an insight into the show’s themes and characters, as well as learning about mask, physical theatre and devising. There are also learning support materials available before and after seeing a performance. Workshops can be led by a deaf practitioner for deaf students.
Boy on the Roof tours from Jan 26 to March 9 2024. See the latest tour dates at www.vamostheatre.co.uk/boy-on-the-roof