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Rational Madness has a portfolio of productions, all of which is available for performance. We premiere our work in our home town of Brighton, UK, and then our shows play venues in the UK and overseas.
Win, Win, Win! Was our first major creation - a one-person show based on the business Guru, Alan Winner.
The piece premiered in Brighton at the Nightingale Theatre and then transferred to the Komedia. Described at the Edinburgh Festival by The Stage as “a fine satire” the show explores the themes of competition, values and the purpose of work. Since then, Wn, Win, Win! Has played over 60 performances in the UK, Ireland, Denmark and as far a-field as Slovenia!
During 2001-5, Win, Win, Win! continued to tour playing to audiences of over 200 people at places as diverse as The National Housing Federation, APEX Housing, and GN Netcom in Denmark. It is now in the hands of Dave Mounfield (SKY TV, Radio 4)
Bunk is a comedy about creativity in life and at work. The pay premiered in 2000 at the Pavilion Theatre Brighton. Starring Peter Eillis (from TV’s “The Bill”) as part of Theatre and Beyond’s successful festival of innovative new work. The Evening Argus described Bunk as “by far the strongest piece”. The play also received developmental support from Pier Playwrights.
Re-Engineering the Cheese, and its sequel Re-Inventing the Cheese are sketch format shows taking both serious and humorous looks at the world of working life. These shows appeal to a broad audience, not just the world of business and organisations. Re-Engineering the Cheese, in cabaret format, premiered in 2003 at the Komedia Brighton and starred the cast of the cult “Treason Show” which received glowing reviews at Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival 2003.
Re-Inventing the Cheese and Empowering the Cheese are also recent productions, in a slightly more theatrical format, premiered as part of Brighton’s F Festival in 2005 at the Marlborough Theatre Brighton, showcasing at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival at the Komedia Roman Eagle Lodge. The show also was commissioned by the Brighton and Hove Leadership Forum and the Freeman Centre, as ell as playing to a packed house in Hastings as part of Profitnet. Empowering the Cheese premiered in 2006 as part of The Critical Incident. We then developed Death by PowerPoint which premiered in the Brighton Festival Fringe in 2007 and then went on to play in Lewes, Worthing and Belfast. We are currently in discussions to play the show in Edinburgh and Canada.
We also regularly tour short pieces of commissioned work. For example, “Exactitude”, which starred, amongst others, Martin Sadler (from TVs “Shelley” and “’Allo ‘Allo) has toured all over the UK as part of a diversity development workshop). Our series of short plays commissioned for Eurotunnel won the 2005 Arts and Business Insight Award. This is an award for art which has a significant impact on change in an organisation.
Impactful theatre is what we are all about.
Currently in development and creation stage is our new piece “Photocopier”. This is a series of very short pieces looking at the theme of “life and work”. Each piece takes place at the queue to a photocopying machine and plays out themes on the human condition: life, purpose, enjoyment, money, morality, relationships, boredom and belief. We are also shooting some of the pieces as short films. An early version premiered in Brighton in 2007.
Our newest show, currently in development is “One of a Kind”, based on “Photocopier, an on-site piece set at a photocopier, exploring issues around sustainability, which has been commissioned and funded by Legal and General.
Also in longer term development is “The Hundredth Monkey”, a devised piece about synchronicity and connection. This piece has been workshopped with members of Theatre Lab and also in collaboration with a choreographer.
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