TAMED
or It's Hard To Get A Real Horse
An all-female cast gathers to rehearse a radical new adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew. As they take turns embodying Kate and versions of the tamed and untamed woman - the boundaries between rehearsal and reality blur.
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TAMED or It's Hard To Get A Real Horse is a multi-disciplinary theatre work that interrogates how we are shaped, controlled, and 'tamed' by the structures around us and systems we belong to.
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Through a blend of text, movement, multimedia, and original composition, the production examines the push and pull between the tamed and the untamed, the conformer and the rebel, the collective and the individual.
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Rather than traditional touring, TAMED embeds in a community, creating a site-responsive version unique to venue and locality. The process involves local women as a community chorus, whose voices become integral to the artistic fabric, exploring how women's experiences of being 'tamed' vary across age, background, and circumstance.
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The show was first made in, and with the people of, Great Yarmouth (UK). We are exploring further options for the show, with a view to also take it internationally.
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Director
Sarah Calver
Producer
Eleni Kyriacou
Designer (Set & Costume)
Mayou Trikerioti
Video & Media Designer / Dramaturg
Rory Willats
Sound Designer / Composer
Garth McConaghie
Lighting Designer
Pablo Fernandez Baz
Production Manager
Lucinda Bray
Movement Director
Anthea Lewis
Assistant Costume Designer
Jacqueline Rose Barker
Production Support
Tim Lacey
Creative Engagement Associate
Julia Devonshire
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Performers
Anna Martine Freeman, Isabella Leung, Denise Stephenson, Aleksandra Stojak, Samantha Manzur
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Community Chorus
Clare, Beta, Victoria, Mandy, Kayla, Vee Kay.
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TAMED or It's Hard To Get A Real Horse was in partnership with & supported by Norwich Theatre (Beyond Stages).
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Funded by Arts Council England, People's Postcode Lottery, Geoffrey Watling Charity & Norfolk County with additional support from Norwich Theatre. Council.
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“In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and that nothing was true." [Arendt]
For booking and partnership enquiries:
Sarah Calver, Artistic Director
Email: info@flightoftheescales.com
Eleni Kyriacou, Creative Producer
Email: producedbyeleni@gmail.com
Project previously developed in association with Norwich Theatre in 2022.
Creative Team: Director - Sarah Calver, Video & Media - Rory Willats, Composer and Sound Design - Garth McConaghie, Set & Costume Designer - Mayou Trikerioti, Assistant Designer - Denisha Parmenter, Lighting Designer & Production Manager - Lucinda Bray, Stage Manager - Jamie Woodhouse, Social Media Manager - Denisha Parmenter, Community Engagement - Tassa de Paris. Performers: Danielle Meehan, Keziah Joseph, Joey Holden & Megan Treadway.
Produced by Alice Venessa Bever.
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With additional material created with ​Kate Sagovsky, Dallas Fields, Jennifer Jackson, Angela Clerkin, Carolina Valdés, Jessica Murrain.
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​​​​This project has been previously funded by Arts Council National Lottery Funding and Norfolk County Council.
It has been supported by Fourth Monkey, Southwalk Playhouse, DanceEast, Norwich Theatre and The Cut.​​