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Preview by Paul Nelson
OVAL House Theatre is proud to welcome back the critically-acclaimed
Anglo-Brazilian theatre company, Dende Collective, with the world
premiere of onefourseven, by Mark O'Thomas, and directed
by André Pink.
The Dende Collective excels in hauntingly funny, surrealist Brazilian
theatre.
Their previous production for Oval House last Winter, The
Piranha Lounge, wowed audiences and critics alike, to the
extent that their run was extended by a further three weeks.
This latest piece has been produced through an intensive three-month
workshop process at Oval House involving an eclectic mix of international
actors' (UK, Brazil, France, Italy, Japan, The United
States, Spain and Nigeria); the resulting show, onefourseven,
promises to be their best yet.
Set in a series of waiting rooms, onefourseven is based
on those tiny moments in everyone's existence that are caught
in between waiting for the grander moments of Life: birth, puberty,
falling in love, ambition, marriage, death.
Using eclectic choreography, stories, absurdist humour, puppetry
and a powerful, inventive characterisation, Dende Collective's
onefourseven is an evening of polyphonic physical theatre,
full of strange people, beautiful images, some dogs and carrots,
and lots of numbers.
Dende Collective is an Anglo-Brazilian theatre company, founded
in 1998 with the purpose of
developing joint ventures between Brazilian and British theatre
practitioners.
The company's first project was a rehearsed reading of the Brazilian
play, Olimpo Dos Orixas, which took place in São
Paulo and London's Gate theatre.
Following this, the company commissioned and produced a translation
of the realist classic, Dois Pedidos Numa Noite Suja - Two
Lost Souls On A Dirty Night - by Plinio Marcos - which ran
at The Grace Theatre, for three weeks, in 2000.
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Viva Maria!, the first collaboration between Andre Pink
and Mark O'Thomas, premiered at the Oval House in 2001 and went
on to tour in Brazil.
Their subsequent piece, The Piranha Lounge, which was
developed and premiered at Oval House, received universal critical
acclaim and is about to go on national tour.
Dende Collective is one of Oval House's artist-in-development
projects, as well as being a flagship company for Decibel, the
Arts Council
England's campaign to promote culturally diverse arts.
Andre Pink was born in São Paulo, Brazil, where he trained
as a director.
There, he founded a physical theatre company and worked as both
an actor and a director, winning prizes for both activities in
Brazilian theatre festivals.
He relocated to London thanks to a grant given by the Brazilian
government to theatre practitioners that allowed him to train
with some of the best physical theatre practitioners in Europe.
He recently performed in The National Theatre of Tokyo's production
of The Good Person of Setzuan (in Japanese) and studied
Kyogen theatre there for six months with the Mansaku No Kai theatre
company, funded by the Japan Foundation.
He directed his first play in the UK in 2000 - Two Lost Souls
on a Dirty Night, by Plínio Marcos and then Viva
Maria, by Mark O'Thomas.
Mark Thomas had his first play commissioned and produced by Soho
Theatre Company, opening its new building in Dean Street with
the Food For Thought Salvador showcase of up-and-coming
writing talent.
This was followed by Salvador, at the Man In The Moon,
and Viva Maria!, at the Oval House and subsequent tour.
He programmes Brazilian films for the annual London Latin American
Film Festival and is currently under commission by the Royal Court
International Department as a translator and script reader for
its Brazil project.
Tickets £9/ £5 concessions. Box Office 020 7582
7680 bookings@ovalhouse.com Address: 52-54 Kennington Oval, London,
SE11 5SW. Transport: Oval Tube (one-minute walk Northern Line)
Access: Induction Loop, Upstairs Theatre is not wheelchair accessible.
Car park for disabled visitors, on-street parking nearby. Café:
Open theatre nights for wines, beers and meals. December 3 - 20,
Weds - Sat 8pm
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