Old Fire Station
40 George Street, Oxford, OX1 2AQ
T: 01865 263980
www.oldfirestation.org.uk
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate release, 18th February
Epic puppetry inspired by Beckett, the Bible and Ikea
house with BLind SumMiT present:
THE TABLE
11th March, 7.30pm at the Old Fire Station, George Street, Oxford
Fringe First Award Winner 2011
Winner of the Grand Prix at Kontrapunkt Festival Poland 2013
Moses is a cantankerous 2 foot high puppet, with a cardboard head, who lives on a table. And he's got a problem.
All he ever gets asked to perform is fairy tales or children's birthday parties, and he's fed up with it. He's an artist!
He's a serious puppet! So tonight, for one show only, the table is his and he is going to perform an epic story. The
final 12 hours of the life of Moses, in real time, on his table.
This March, the Old Fire Station presents this unique and very funny improvised puppetry show unlike any you may
have seen before. Our table-top philosopher explains the nature of puppetry, has disagreements with his
puppeteers, shows off his dancing skills, examines the bible and has an unfortunate mishap with an invisible
running machine. Along the way he gains a theatre full of fans who then watch his painful attempts to rescue his
show from chaos. This is award winning, epic puppetry inspired by Beckett, the Bible and Ikea.
The Table premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2011 where it won a Fringe First. Since then it has gone on
to tour the world - including the UK, Europe, China and the USA - winning critical acclaim and awards.
Blind Summit are the puppetry innovators (geeks?) behind Moses. Their work pushes the boundaries of puppetry in
their own productions (1984, Low Life, Pirate Puppetry) and in international collaborations (Bregenz Festival,
Complicite, Barbican, Royal Opera House, MET Opera). Their work puts the puppetry centre stage and is dedicated
to developing the role of puppetry in adult theatre. They have brought to life a singing dog in Simon McBurney's A
Dog's Heart, a three year old boy in Anthony Minghella's Madam Butterfly, and a 18 metre high firework-firing
Voldemort in Danny Boyle's Olympic Opening Ceremony.
****The Guardian **** The Times ****The Telegraph ****The Scotsman
****The Independent ****The Evening Standard ****Metro ****Time Out
One of THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'S "Top 5 modern puppet shows"
Press Quotes:
“Beckett meets Tommy Cooper... Brilliantly Funny” TIME OUT****
"Astonishingly accomplished" THE TELEGRAPH****
“Blind Summit once again prove that when you’re working in miniature you don’t have to think small” THE
GUARDIAN****
"When he made his exit, part of my heart left with him" METRO****
Cast:
Mark Down, Sean Garratt, Irena Strateiva
Puppet: Nick Barnes
Director: Mark Down
ENDS
----------Notes to Editors
- For further press info, high resolution images or interviews please contact Anna Munday, Marketing Officer,
Arts at the Old Fire Station anna.munday@oldfirestation.org.uk / 01865 263988
- The Table is on 11th March, 7.30pm
- The Table was created by Blind Summit Theatre, inspired by an original commission by JCC/YAD Arts
and a supported by JACKSONS LANE
- Tickets are £12, Concessions £10
- All tickets can be purchased via Tickets Oxford – www.ticketsoxford.com / 01865 305305 / or Oxford
Playhouse Box Office on Beaumont Street.
Arts at the Old Fire Station
Arts at the Old Fire Station is a charity and social enterprise offering performances and exhibitions for all to enjoy,
support for emerging artists and enterprising ways to sustain and develop art as a business. We have a shop, a
gallery, a theatre and a studio and we work closely with Crisis Skylight Oxford to enable homeless people to access
training and work. We aim to help artists make and showcase work, to entertain and engage the public and to help
homeless people develop skills and confidence.
Website: www.oldfirestation.org.uk
Facebook: www.facebook/artsattheoldfirestation
Twitter: @ArtsatOFS and @ShopatOFS
Blind Summit Theatre
Founded in 1997 by Mark Down & Nick Barnes, Blind Summit's mission is to present new puppets, in new places, in
new ways to new audiences.
Blind Summit draws on the traditional Japanese form of Bunraku puppetry in which 3 puppeteers combine to
operate one beautifully crafted puppet. The puppets communicate through finely detailed movement and gesture,
creating an intimate and intense personal world where the characters’ thoughts become physically realised in the
action on the stage. The power of puppetry is in the simplicity of their movements combined with the complexities
of their implications. They live in a world where everything may suddenly come alive, or suddenly die.
Productions include: The Heads (2013), The Call of the Wild (2010), 1984 (2009), Real Man (2007), Low Life
(2005), Pirate Puppetry (2004), Martin’s Wedding (2004), The Spaceman (2003), Mr China’s Son (2002) and
Tramping the Boards (2001)
Puppetry commissions include: The Magic Flute (Bregenz Festival 2013 & 14), London 2012 Olympic Opening
Ceremony (Danny Boyle), Master and Margarita (Complicite 2012), Angus Thongs and Even More Snogging (West
Yorkshire Playhouse 2012), Kommilitonen! (RAM 2011), Faeries (ROH2 2010), A Dog’s Heart (Complicite, DNO, ENO
2010, La Scala 2013), Puss In Boots (Gotham Chamber Opera, Tectonic Theater 2010), Shun-kin (Complicite,
Setagaya Theatre Tokyo, Barbican 2010), Madam Butterfly (ENO, Lithuanian National Opera, Metropolitan Opera
2006/2007/2008/2011) and Ramayana (Lyric Hammersmith, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Bristol Old Vic 2007)
Website: www.blindsummit.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/blindsummit
Twitter: @1blindsummit
Email: info@blindsummit.com
Tel: 020 7272 9020