Preview: Going Viral at Washington Arts Centre

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New show from award-winning Daniel Bye goes viral…

Going Viral

Washington Arts Centre

Thursday 26^th November 2015

From the award-winning creator of The Price of Everything and How to Occupy an Oil Rig comes a new show from the frontline of an epidemic comes to Arts Centre Washington on Thursday 26^th November.

Daniel Bye’s latest solo show delves into the terrifying knowns and unknowns of epidemics, how they spread and how society reacts. Created with the support of scientific advisor Dr Mark Booth, Going Viral explores the spread of disease, of panic, and of ideas.

“Fascinating, terrifying and thought-provoking.” Lyn Gardner, The Guardian

Daniel Bye is a theatre-maker from Middlesbrough and Associate Artist of ARC Stockton. His recent touring work includes The Price of Everything, which has been performed over 100 times in the UK and internationally, and the award-winning How to Occupy an Oil Rig.

“This solo show is both a captivating and at times illuminating insight into the science behind infection.” The Independent

Daniel said: “The contemporary obsession with disease is grisly. Maybe it's because we've nothing real to worry about. But still, it's totally fascinating. And in a world where we're more connected to each other than we've ever been, it's only going to get more pressing.”

Dr Mark Booth, Senior Lecturer in the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health at Durham University, commented: “Public awareness of how infections can enter our bodies, easily spread across populations, cause illness and confusion. We all benefit, I think, from the synergistic results of combining art and science. Dan's work is an important contribution to this process as it seeks to shift people's perceptions and increase their knowledge about epidemic disease through strong and effective dramatisation - something that an academic paper alone cannot achieve.”

Tickets:

Daniel Bye presents Going Viral at Arts Centre Washington on Thursday 26 November at 7.30pm. Tickets are priced £8.50 / £6 (conc) and can be purchased from Arts Centre Washington at www.artscentrewashington.co.uk or by calling 0191 219 3455. 

Review: Error 404 at Newcastle Northern Stage

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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Error 404

Newcastle Northern Stage

Thursday 29^th – Friday 30^th October 2015

A 10 year old boy is, not surprisingly, very upset when his best mate dies. His Mum comes to the rescue and appears with a robot that wants to be his best friend. But can a robot be a friend? How will his friends at school react? How much empathy will he get? The younger members of the audience are asked for their input in determining the direction of the plot of this modern tale.

North East Theatre Guide favourite Daniel Bye (Review Link) is an engaging storyteller. Clearly the time spent as a philosopher in residence at a Wimbledon primary school has helped refine the necessary skills.  Daniel is comfortable asking for suggestions from the young audience. There is no guarantee about what they’ll say and he is skilful at making each contribution feel valued. The kids in the target 8-11 age range are also far more perceptive than their years suggest.

The colourful set features 5 small tv screens that help illustrate the story and are able to cope with the suggestions as they fly in. In addition to the quick fingers behind the scenes changing these scenes we also have Daniel using numerous loops to provide the musical score. Whilst the screens help the narrative, the sounds help set the atmosphere.

The show does cover some big philosophical questions including “What is reality”. The children lap them up and come up with erudite observations and contributions to the later questions.  The 12 year old who came along with me to see the show said it was a cool show and he really enjoyed it.

Interactive Jackanory it may be. Daniel is a captivating narrator who delivers a show that will appeal to a wider age range than the target key stage 2 audience. 

This review was written by Stephen Oliver for the North East Theatre Guide from Jowheretogo PR (www.jowheretogo.com). Follow Jo on twitter @jowheretogo, Stephen @panic_c_button or like Jowheretogo on Facebook www.facebook.com/Jowheretogo

Cast & Creatives:

Written and performed by Daniel Bye

Directed by Alex Swift

Design by Fiammetta Horvat

Lighting by Katharine Williams

Musical director: Tom Adams

Dramaturgy: Sarah Punshon

Read the original North East Theatre Guide preview: http://nomorepanicbutton.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/preview-error-404-at-newcastle-northern.html

Tickets:

Error 404 appears at Newcastle’s Northern Stage on Thursday 29^th  & Friday 30^th  October 2015 at 11am & 2pm

Book now: 0191 230 5151 / www.northernstage.co.uk

Recommended age: 8+

Running time: 1 hour

Adults £10.50 Children £8.50

Remaining tour dates:
 
Thursday 29th - Friday 30th October, 11am+2pm, Northern Stage, Newcastle.  http://www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/error-404  
Friday 27th November, 10.30am + 1.30pm; Saturday 28th November, 11.30am + 2.30pm, ARC, Stockton. http://arconline.co.uk/daniel-bye-error-404

Preview: Error 404 at Newcastle Northern Stage

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HALF TERM TREAT FOR AGES 8+

Error 404

Newcastle Northern Stage

Thursday 29^th – Friday 30^th October 2015

 A show for little audiences that asks some big questions

There’s a boy who is about 10 years old. We bet you know someone just like him. He’s lost his best friend and is very sad. This boy’s mum is a scientist and one day she brings home an unusual parcel to try and cheer him up. Things start getting weirder and weirder after that.

Could his new best friend be a robot? How would that work?

“Superbly performed...captures the audience’s imagination  (both big and small) right from the off” MUMSNET

A sixty minutes show filled with laughter, music, games and chances to join in and change the end of the story, Error 404 asks you to look again at things you thought you knew.

“Fascinating and innovative.”  THE GUARDIAN

The writer and performer Daniel Bye said: “I spent time at Norton Primary in Stockton-on-Tees and Pelham Primary in Wimbledon, creating short stories to tell the children, and asking them philosophical questions arising from those stories. The results were incredible.

With little prompting, the children grasped often very complex philosophical ideas. It was thrilling to witness. The stories that the children found most compelling form the basis of Error 404. It’s been one of the most rewarding writing and creative processes I’ve ever been through.”

Tickets:

Error 404 appears at Newcastle’s Northern Stage on Thursday 29^th  & Friday 30^th  October 2015 at 11am & 2pm

Book now: 0191 230 5151 / www.northernstage.co.uk

Recommended age: 8+

Running time: 1 hour

Adults £10.50 Children £8.50

News: Going Viral receives a Fringe First Award

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Going Viral receives a Fringe First Award

A play that has been produced by ARC and written and performed by Middlesbrough born Daniel Bye has received a prestigious award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

A Scotsman Fringe First Award has been awarded to the brand new show Going Viral which received a series of 4 star reviews last week at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The awards are one of the most long established at the festival and are only awarded for new pieces of work.

Photo: Alex Brenner

The show has been praised for Bye’s trademark blend of comedy, storytelling and performance lecture and explores the spread of disease, panic and ideas. Drawing on science and social study, it is performed solely by Bye himself and delves into the terrifying knowns and unknowns of epidemics, how they spread and how society reacts.

Dr Mark Booth, Senior Lecturer in the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health at Durham University is the scientific advisor for the show and has helped to inform its material and structure through his background in epidemiology of parasitic infections in developing countries. Dr Mark Booth commented: “ARC in Stockton on Tees and Durham University have a history of collaboration so I wasn't surprised when Annabel Turpin got in touch and asked if I would like to work with Daniel Bye on his new work around the origin and spread of an epidemic condition. Public awareness of how infections can enter our bodies, easily spread across populations, cause illness and confusion, and also lead to inequalities in terms of personal, institutional and national wellbeing can make a significant contribution to discussions about the value of scientific research.”

Writer and performer Daniel Bye said: “Winning a Fringe First is about as big as it gets, so I’m absolutely thrilled.”

ARC's Chief Executive and producer of Going Viral, Annabel Turpin commented: "Winning a Fringe First is a huge accolade and further evidence that some of the UK's best new theatre is being made right here in Stockton."

Bye’s recent work includes The Price of Everything, How to Occupy an Oil Rig as well as Story Hunt; a show which took the form of a treasure hunt-meets-walking-tour of town centres which has been performed in Stockton, Middlesbrough, Gateshead and Berwick as well as other towns around the UK.

Tickets:

Going Viral will be performed at ARC on Thursday 3 December at 7pm and is priced as Pay What You Decide, tickets can booked person at ARC, via www.arconline.co.uk or by calling the Box Office on 01642 525199.

Running Time: 70 mins. Suitable for ages 14+

Company Information

Written and performed by Daniel Bye        Directed by Dick Bonham

Designed by Emma Tompkins                    Lighting design by Katharine Williams

Scientific Advisor Dr Mark Booth                Dramaturg Sarah Punshon    

Preview of Northern Stage in May 2015

Preview of Northern Stage in May 2015

Nigel Barrett as Cyrano - Photo: Robert Day

Cyrano de Bergerac

Wed 29 Apr - Sat 16 May, 7.30pm, Sat Matinee 2, 9 & 16 May, 2pm, Mon Straight From Work 11 May, 6pm

£24, £19.50 & £14.50 / Students & U21s £12

Nigel Barrett as Cyrano- with NORTH ensemble

Photo: Robert Day

Cyrano de Bergerac: a poet and a soldier, blessed with being brilliant at everything, cursed by having the biggest and ugliest nose in all of France. This swaggering epic fills the stage with passion, bravado, joy and heartache. A new Northern Stage / Royal & Derngate production directed by Lorne Campbell and written by Edmond Rostand, based on Anthony Burgess’ translation.

Read the Jowheretogo Preview

www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/Cyrano-de-Bergerac

National Theatre Connections

Tues 28 April – Sat 2 May, 7pm

£5

New plays performed by young people from across the North East from ten writers commissioned by the National Theatre.

www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/national-theatre-connections-2015

First in 3

Thu 7 May, 7.30pm

 £5

Our popular scratch night showcasing local theatre-makers’ upcoming work

www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/first-in-3-Oct

Big Red Bath

Photo: Shaun Armstrong, Mubsta Photography

Big Red Bath

Thu 7 - Sat 9 May, 7 May - 1.30pm & 3.30pm, 8 & 9 May - 10.30pm & 1.30pm

£8.50 adults, £6.50 children

A quirky, vibrant and humorous adaptation for 2-5 year olds of Julia Jarman’s popular children’s picture book.

www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/Big%20Red%20Bath

Greg Wohead - The Ted Bundy Project

Photo: Alex Brenner

The Ted Bundy Project

Tues 12 – Wed 13 May, 8pm

£10 / £8 concs

Texan writer and performer uses death row confession tapes of serial killer Ted Bundy to make a new performance about morbid curiosity. Recommended age 16+

www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/The-Ted-Bundy-Project

  

Where the Bear Sleeps

Wed 13 May, 8pm

£9 / £7 concs

Merging myth, epic and fairytale, storyteller Nick Hennessy delivers us from Northern Stage to the snow-swathed, Finnish far-North.

www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/where-the-bear-sleeps

Phoenix Dance Theatre

Phoenix Dance Theatre: Shadows

Thu 28 May, 7.30pm

 £24, £19.50 & £14.50 / Students & U21s £12

An exhilarating mixed programme including a double bill by renowned choreographer, Christopher Bruce CBE.

www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/Phoenix%20Dance%20Theatre

Sean Campion and Scott Turnbull

in Gods Are Fallen All Safety Gone

by Greyscale - Photo by Idil Sukan

Gods are Fallen, All Safety Gone

Thu 4 - Sat 6 Jun, 8pm

£10 / £8 concs

Intimate and funny, an investigation into what happens when we discover that our parents are flawed human beings, and that at some point, sooner than we think, they are suddenly going to disappear from our lives.

Read the Jowheretogo Preview 

www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/gods-are-fallen-all-safety-gone

The Six O' Clock News

Fri 3 Jul, 7.45pm

 £10 / £8 concs

Whatever the headlines that day, Daniel Bye and a team of specially-selected artists will digest and respond to them for your viewing pleasure, creating an evening of urgently topic contemporary performance about the big issues of today.

www.northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/the-six-o-clock-news

Tickets:

Box Office:  0191 230 5151

Website: http://www.northernstage.co.uk/

Review: How to Occupy an Oil Rig - Newcastle Northern Stage

How to Occupy an Oil Rig

Northern Stage: Stage 2 

11/3/2014

 

Resistance is futile?

A story about protesting is the latest production from Middlesbrough’s Daniel Bye who is ably joined on stage by Kathryn Beaumont and Jack Bennett.

Daniel met the audience as they arrived via the stage and urged everyone to take some plasticine and to make a representation of themselves protesting. Thus the stage, comprising mainly of big Lego blocks, is completed by figurines of the audience. At the start the crowd revealed that their protesting has generally been limited to signing online petitions. The story carries everyone on a high speed tour of protests from those petitions to hanging banners off oil rigs via far more contact with the boys in blue than is normal.  Lucy Crimmens’ Lego set is manipulated by Daniel, Kathryn and Jack as they interact with the story and the audience. An invitation to hold a protest results in 3 of the audience kicking some of the set.

The performance was never intimidating which is always a worry when actors try to get interactive. A thoughtful performance had both lighter moments and an undercurrent of a need to make a difference to society.  The music by Jamie Fletcher helps the segue between incidents and is not intrusive. The actors’ personable performance is never patronising or found to be lecturing. All in all an entertaining and thought provoking performance.

The show continues on tour:

Tues 11 - Thur 13 Mar, 8pm, Northern Stage, Newcastle

Fri 14 Mar, 8pm, Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal

Tues 18 Mar, 7.30pm, Alnwick Playhouse, Alnwick

Wed 19 Mar, 8pm, Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Thur 20 Mar, 8pm, mac, Birmingham

Fri 21 Mar, 8pm, Derby Theatre, Derby

Sat 22 & Sun 23 Mar, Camden People's Theatre, London

Tues 25 Mar, 7.45pm, Harrogate Theatre, Harrogate

Wed 26 Mar, 7pm, ARC, Stockton on Tees

Thur 27 Mar, 7.30pm, Arts Centre Washington, Washington

Sat 29 Mar, 7.30pm, Barnsley Civic, Barnsley

This review was written by Stephen Oliver for Jowheretogo PR (www.jowheretogo.com). Follow Jo on twitter @jowheretogo, Stephen @panic_c_button or like Jowheretogo on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Jowheretogo