HORSE + BAMBOO: PAST TOURING PRODUCTIONS

Horse + Bamboo toured from 1979 using horses to pull drays and wagons that carried our shows. The first shows were performed outdoors, in specially created theatre spaces made of cloth. Later the shows took place in a marquee. In the mid-1980's we started taking our shows into community spaces - normally village halls.

The horses and carts helped us make links with the communities we visited, and created a way of life on the road that helped create a strong bond within the touring company. However, by the mid 1990's changing in funding patterns, and the growth of motorised traffic on the roads, came together to make horse-drawn touring very difficult. We continued for a number of years, touring in Ireland and Eastern Europe, but in 2000 we finally stopped our horse-drawn work - which lives on in our memories, and in our name.

1979:
'PICTURES FROM BREUGHEL. Performed entirely out of doors, the staging being adapted for each different landscape. The show told the story of Peter Breughel the Elder, taking the form of a morality play, and using imagery from his own paintings and engravings.

1980:
'THE HOME-MADE CIRCUS. A Circus influenced by the writings of the American poet Gary Snyder. This show toured in a pristine white tent-walled space.

1981:
'SMALL HEADS (DON'T WEAR BIG HATS)!'. A strange, complex, story again based on the writing of Gary Snyder. The tent-walled space now had a sheltered seating area for audiences.

1982:
'THE WOODCARVER STORY'. Bob Frith drew on his personal experience of a mentor, Harry MacDonald - 'The Woodcarver of Woolmer Green'. The production, performed in a marquee for the first time, told the story of the woodcarvers' life and death, and the destruction of his life’s work by unscrupulous developers. The tour culminated in a procession to Harry MacDonald's graveside.

1983:
'NEEDLES IN A CANDLEFLAME'. This production was in three sections. Firstly, a 16mm black and white movie about early cinema tricks; secondly, a story in which female magicians terrorise a man; and finally a coda, performed with bunraku-type puppets, about a woman overcoming her fears.

1984:
'SEOL'. Commisioned by the Scottish Arts Council to tour the Outer Hebrides, a story which combined traditional themes (foretelling, and odyssey) with current issues (militarisation of the islands, and pollution of the waters by nuclear waste). Seol, means 'sail', or 'quest'.

(In 1985 we took a summer out to move to new premises)

1986:
'TALES FROM A MASKSHOP'. We once again started the show with a 16mm black and white movie. The story was based on Kenneth Patchen's terrifying and wonderful novel 'The Journal of Albion Moonlight', a spiritual journey set in an apocalyptic landscape.

1987:
'AN ROTH'. A second invitation to take our wordless theatre to a Gaelic speaking culture (the Irish Gaeltacht). The story of two men delivering a wheel to a distant village.

1988:
'THE WHEEL'. An English version of 'An Roth'.

1989:
'THE PLAITED PATH'. An idiosyncratic version of 'Rapunzel'. The company took the big step of abandoning the marquee, and taking our work to the audience's own space - their village halls.

1990:
'THE WISH'. A wish is made by a childless woman, which has a powerful effect on herself and her community. A powerful show adapted from an Indian story.

1991:
THE FLOOD. A formalised, puppet-based show, created in particular contrast to 'The Wish'

1992/3:
A STRANGE (AND UNEXPECTED) EVENT! A tumultuous show about J.G Posada, the Mexican revolutionary printmaker and folk hero.

1994/5:
'DANCE OF WHITE DARKNESS'. The story of Maya Deren, the American film-maker, and her journey to Haiti in the 1940's to study voudoun.

1995/6:
'VISIONS OF HILDEGARD'. The story of Hildegard of Bingen, for which the company developed a technique of mobile, hand-held lamps to extend the potential of shadow puppetry.

1997/8:
‘THE LEGEND OF THE CREAKING FLOORBOARD’. After a trilogy of shows about historical characters, Bob Frith wrote an entirely original show that proved to be one of the most popular touring shows.

1999:
‘HARVEST OF GHOSTS’. A major change for the Company. A collaboration with Nigerian author, Sam Ukala, and an outdoor production. The play is an exploration of the circumstances of the execution, three years ago, of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the prominent Nigerian writer and environmentalist.

"Without the use of dialogue the show brilliantly captures the mood of the Nigerian people faced with the cynical brutality of ruthless multi-nationals.... Horse and Bamboo have established themselves as a leading force in accessible visual theatre and this show highlights their talents brilliantly."
(....from the'Manchester Evening News' 22.5.99)

2000/2001:
‘THE GIRL WHO CUT FLOWERS’. A sort of partner piece to 'The Legend of The Creaking Floorboard' inspired by the paintings and etchings of Paula Rego.

2002 - 6:
‘COMPANY OF ANGELS:THE STORY OF CHARLOTTE SALOMON

2005:
A STRANGE (AND UNEXPECTED) EVENT! A reworked version of the 1992/3 show