Blank Canvas

We recently hosted our first Scratch Night. It was an opportunity for artists to meet and work with each other on short scenes around the theme of the New Year. We were really excited by the amount of applications we received, and it was great to have creatives from all different disciplines working together. The finished performance was set in an immersive ‘Resolutions Anonymous’ meeting, for those of us who had failed at keeping our resolutions. It was a madcap evening and big thank yous to everyone who came along for the ride. Particular praise to the wonderful Ruth for hosting us in her glorious creative space, Canvas Cafe. Check her out here: www.thecanvascafe.org (and make sure to sample the greatest Mocha in the world – genuinely, I think it might be my soulmate).

We’re currently pondering how to progress with the project, so check back in for further news…

We are Chimaera Theatre, and we’ve failed at keeping our resolutions x

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How’ve you been?

As you may have noticed, Chimaera have been on a little hiatus for the last six months. Everyone’s been very busy. Natty’s almost finished her Masters at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She’s also been interning in the Big Apple with amazing organisation Girl Be Heard. Check ’em out here: http://girlbeheard.org/ (do, they’re doing great work). Ellie’s in the middle of an internship with the world famous Belarus Free Theatrehttp://www.belarusfreetheatre.com/ and was in the magical and moving Red Forest at the Young Vic http://www.youngvic.org/whats-on/red-forest. If you get a chance to catch it again, you must. Jenny’s been acting in a number of exciting projects, including immersive production The Surgery with Washing Line Productions http://jlmoule.wordpress.com/, a short film with award winning director Gsus Lopez http://cargocollective.com/gsuslopez and is currently devising a piece for under 4s at the Clapham Omnibus http://www.omnibus-clapham.org/events/colour-3. BUT a Chimaerenaissance is on the horizon, and we’ll be back shortly with exciting news of future developments. Keep your eyes peeled, your ears open and your imaginations wild.

But enough about us, how’ve you been?

C x

Dream Harvest Soundscapes

For ‘Snooze’ we commissioned the marvellous Xavier Velastin and Hannah Ashman to create soundscapes from the audio recordings of The Dream Harvest initiative. These were integral to our production, but are also beautiful as stand-alone works and so we wanted to share them with you in all their zany glory.

The Chess Boxing Soundscape by Hannah Ashman

The Waitress Waltz Soundscape by Xavier Velastin

The Dream Circus Soundscape by Xavier Velastin

Please check out Xavier’s incredible sounds here, and check out Hannah, Ellie and Susie’s work with SHE Collective here.

Another Great Review for Snooze

Alice Taylor of ThreeWeeks gave us this wonderful review, and a very appreciated four stars. Read the original copy here.

The Circus of Dreams is surreal, mysterious yet strangely magnetic. The Ringmaster, Dolly and Ariel invite you into the Circus as both a spectator and an employee. Interestingly the action is informed by actual dreams collected in a series of workshops, adding an element of truth, importance and intrigue to the action. Following this vein, the show takes on the form of a dream: confusing, ever ungraspable yet enthralling and all-consuming. The acting is truly brilliant with sincere, believable improvisation and playful interaction with the audience. Chimaera Theatre have combined those two essentials- an intriguing concept and a spectacular cast- into one wonderful show. The Circus of Dreams awaits your arrival.

Laughing Horse @ City Cafe, until 8 Aug, 12.30pm.
tw rating 4/5 | [Alice Taylor]

Another Review of Snooze

Jules Sanderson of Broadway Baby gave us a very kind review.

“If this all sounds a bit disjointed it is a credit to the actors involved that the production runs as smoothly as it does. Matching the fluidity of a dreaming mind, scenes bend and transform so effortlessly it’s almost impossible to look away … praise should go to the actresses here, whose pitch-perfect performances really elevated the show at a point … I left the venue with a smile on my face.”

 

Come and find us at 12.30 in City Cafe, Blair Street, Edinburgh until the 8th of August.