Fourplay presents CYCLE will take place at Théâtre de Verre in Paris
on the 25th & 26th October 2019.
The Artwork
London-based artist Cleopatra Thompson‘s practice engages with the process of decolonising the mind; experimenting through visual art how to unlearn whilst simultaneously discover.
She aims to create work that is playful and provocative, often using fashion as sculpture and collage to subvert and satirise our emotional responses to the world.
For this year’s Fourplay poster, she was inspired to use recycled images of washing detergent from the ’60s, as well as motifs of hands representing actors’ gesticulations.
The Props
The props for Fourplay presents CYCLE have been donated by other Paris-based theatre companies working with new writers to create community and cultural exchange.
All four props have previously been used on stage. For this year’s Fourplay, writers are challenged to recycle and reinterpret them.
CLOCK
This clock was used as one of the props for the first iteration of Fourplay – Fourplay presents NOW – which took place in Belleville in in November 2015.
It was interpreted in four different plays. Click here to find out more.
ABOUT THE BIG FUNK COMPANY
Under the direction of Julie Delaurenti, Tiffany Hofstetter, and Clarence Tokley, The Big Funk Company’s intent is to bring American theatre to France and to present multilingual productions of theatre and film to the French- and English- speaking communities using works from great American authors. The BFC presents plays in English and French while working with actors from a variety of cultural backgrounds.
GIANT TEDDY BEAR
This giant teddy bear has featured in
numerous Big Funk Company productions,
especially around Christmastime. It’s
stage debut was a starring role in
Shit on Her Doorstep by Cary Gitter,
the story of teenagers playing pranks on one another.
ABOUT GOOD CHANCE THEATRE
Good Chance Theatre began by working with the residents of the Jungle refugee camp in Calais in 2015, with a view to creating new kinds of communities with theatre and art, empowering artists from across the world and connecting people, stories and cultures.
Good Chance Theatre has since brought its theatre dome to Paris, working in partnerhship with Emmaüs Solidarité in La Bulle, the city’s largest migrant welcome centre.
In December 2017 Good Chance Theatre debuted its first Paris production, The Jungle, written by the company’s co-founders, Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, in a co-production with the National Theatre and the Young Vic, receiving critical acclaim.
Good Chance takes its name from a saying that took hold in the Jungle camp in Calais: Good chance or no chance? It meant the likelihood of crossing the border to the UK on a given night.
Good Chance Theatre exists to provide a different kind of good chance.
MASK
This mask and masks like it are used in most Good Chance Theatre productions. For many of the people performing with the company, being on stage is a new experience. These painted masks offer a way to break through inhibitions when faced with an audience, eventually giving them the confidence to perform without the mask in the future.
ABOUT LOLINE STAGE & FILM
Founded in 2018 by Fatima Cadet, Loline Stage & Film is a hybrid film/television production company and theatre company aimed at creating diverse and eclectic narratives. As well as a variety of stand-alone productions, Loline Stage & Film organizes the annual Lemonade 10-minute play festival.
PACK OF CIGARETTES
This pack of cigarettes featured in the 2019 production of The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, staged at the Fondation des Etats-Unis during Black History Month. The play takes place in the now infamous room 306 at Lorraine Motel, where Dr Martin Luther King Jr spent his final hours. Shortly after delivering a riveting speech, Dr Martin Luther King Jr engages in a prophetic conversation with one of the hotel’s employees. Conversation is sparked when the two share a cigarette together.
All of the cigarettes were smoked by Dr Martin Luther King Jr during the play’s run.
www.facebook.com/LolineStageAndFilm
The Plays
Lunchbox
by Hannah Polinski
Shay is responsible for cleaning the house, cooking family meals, and keeping her employer’s shameful secrets. When Josie, a student just looking to fund her Italian holiday, gets hired under the same roof as a nanny, everything that Shay has worked hard to maintain begins to unravel.
Killing Time
by Lewis Wren
Zoe hates her brother. He lies and cheats and gets everything he wants in life, whilst her honesty and hard work have gotten her nowhere. She has take drastic action and arranges to
have him killed on the dark web, but things don’t go exactly to plan.
Trying
by Milly Unwin
The play is inspired by Emilie Pine’s essay ‘From the Baby years’ and explores the issue of infertility. It centres around an Irish couple – Sinead and Ronan – who have been trying to conceive for some time at the play’s opening. They become increasingly desperate, and we see the impact that trying for a baby has on their relationship, and their individual mental and physical health.
Navigating Consciousness
by Emily Guernsey
fourplaytheatre.com 