Time flies when you’re having fun!

Long time no speak! The last time we spoke like this our Badger and Fox were out in the beautiful Kew Garden’s over Christmas. Apologies that our first blog of the year is…6 months into it, but hey, good things come to those who wait, and we’ve got LOTS of things to tell you. Might want to grab a cuppa…and a biscuit. Or two. Where to start? #We spent a frivolous weekend in Newbury at the 101 Creation Space for the annual gathering of Outside Artists; a weekend of inspiration, creation and fun, a chance to recharge and re-connect, hosted by NASA UK – National Association of Street Artists. This was a chance to meet new friends, new collaborators, see new ideas and have a BIG feast too. We attended some inspiring workshops including Non-Verbal Communication, Writing an Artistic Manifesto, Lighting Design and Inclusion. Gareth has now been voted in to join the steering group for NASA UK. *insert party poppers and fireworks* which will allow him to implement change to large collection of outdoor artists e.g: connectivity and skill sharing. It also opens The Fabularium’s opportunities to connect with new people and events. He’s very excited to bring his […]

Past, Present and Future – Final Blog of 2018

Hey everyone, welcome to the final Fabularium blog of 2018! As it’s the last blog of the year, I’m going to update you on what we’ve been up to recently, what we’ve achieved over this past year, and what our plans are for next year. Sound cool? Awesome! Then let’s get to it! What we’ve been up to recently This December has been pretty busy for us, we’ve been working on new things in the run up to Christmas, as well as a fun venture northwards with Reynard the Fox… Last Reynard performance of the year We had our final performance of Reynard the Fox this year up in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire. We performed the indoor version of the show in the Festival Hall to a lovely, warm welcoming audience, and we were joined by the amazing Anna!     Many thanks to Market Rasen Town Council and Live & Local for bringing us back up to Lincolnshire, and to our great audience! We had such a lovely evening performing, and it was a great way to end this year’s tour of Reynard the Fox. Though Reynard himself isn’t quite finished this year, because… Kew Gardens …he’s now in Kew […]

There Be Monsters on the horizon!

The Big Blog Post Hello World! It’s been a little while… Apologies for the continued radio silence, we’ve been exceptionally busy, but if you’ve been tuning into our social media feeds then you’ll know just how crazy and exciting things have been recently! So, here is one of our infamous BIG UPDATES to give you an insight into what The Fabularium has been up to over the Summer. There Be Monsters! The biggest piece of news came a few months ago when we were fortunate enough to recieve Arts Council funding for our new Don Quixote-based promenade/walkabout performance There Be Monsters! We also recieved support from the wonderful people at the Birmingham Hippodrome, Deda Derby’s Offsite Programme, and Appetite Stoke. We spent June and July working with Jim and Matilda, two freelance actor-musicians we auditioned, to devise a new production that would promenade around the streets of Birmingham at Summer In Southside. This show was a step in a new direction for us, as we wanted to create a show away from the Animal Headpieces and exploring a roaming show, but still maintaining our key features of storytelling, live orignal music and mask work. On this show we also worked with Director […]

The best things in life are THREE!

        Allow me to virtually introduce myself… I’m Jessica (Jes) the new co-company manager of The Fabularium *cue pyrotechnics and trumpet fanfare* I’ll be the one on the team (minus Lou, of course) without the unruly facial hair, but hey, I’ll try my best. – I’m absolutely thrilled to join Gareth, Josh and the team on this exciting journey into creating and help manage all things Fabularium. I have worked with the company since 2014, straight after graduating from Coventry University.  Since then, I have been fortunate enough to tour with the company on their productions of ‘The Town Band of Bremen’, ‘Reynard the Fox’, ‘Carnival of Animals’ ‘Animalia’ at Just So Festival and currently our new show, ‘There Be Monsters!’ More about that soon…stay tuned! – In addition to all those wonderful adventures, I am also a freelance actress/facilitator and choreographer. I have been work-shopping in community settings and schools for the past year and am looking forward to seeing what The Fabularium can explore in the area of learning and participation. I have a passion for comedy, devising, dance, singing, a good roast dinner and not forgetting, my little doggie Maisie. – It’s been a […]

Our Summer and Autumn Shenanigans

How’s it going Fabu-followers? If you’ve been keeping tabs on our social media then you’ll know that our Summer Tour has been absolutely incredible, and Autumn has proven to be just as busy! Here’s an update on what we’ve been up to since our last blog: The Reynard Spring/Summer 2017 Tour The Reynard Spring/Summer 2017 Tour has been a very adventurous one, and we were ecstatic to hear so many great comments from our audience members! Reynard visited 18 events, with a total of 40 performances! All of which had a cracking turnout, so a HUGE HUGE HUGE THANK YOU for your everlasting support! You can check out our Facebook and Instagram feeds to see all the photos from the tour and see our usual shenanigans!   Summer tour photos: Cambridge Folk Festival (left) and Summer in Southside (right) BUT!!! It would appear Reynard isn’t quite finished yet- Reynard in Autumn and Winter That’s right: you have 2 more opportunities to catch the rogue with red fur this year: Sunday 19th November – Wolford Wood, East of Cheltenham – 3pm (2:30pm walkabout) Sunday 10th December – Fulstow Village Hall (Lincs Rural Touring), Louth – 6:30pm  (indoor version) More information for […]

End of New Landscapes, Start of Animalia, and Summer in Southside

Good afternoon! We’re extremely busy as always; prepping for tour, working with students, doing charity bike rides, but let me break this down for you: New Landscapes So, sadly, the New Landscapes module has come to an end, and it drew to a close with an almighty BANG! The Cautionary Tales for Children Considering Ill Behaviour was a resounding success, with great audiences on both show days. Thank you to all who came to see the show, the students did a magnificent job and we can’t believe our time with them is over, but we couldn’t be prouder of what they have all achieved!       There are plenty of pictures and videos to see, just head to our social media pages to check them out (we took a lot of Boomerang videos on our Instagram, check them out! @TheFabularium) Animalia Rehearsals We got back in the rehearsal space this week with a group of Cov Uni theatre students and members of the Fabularium pool to prepare for our return to the Tales of Animalia at Just So Festival this Summer! We’re currently cycling through our repertoire, introducing the students to the animal characters, sheep, peasants, Cyclops and Trees, as well as rehearsing some […]

The BIG Update

Good morning all! Firstly, a huge apology on the delay of our blog posts, it’s been a manic time for us with a mixture of different things in the pipeline that are coming to fruition, so I’ve been swept up in the whirlwind of it all and thus focusing on the paper trail that the whirlwind has scattered everywhere. But now, WE’RE BACK! So here is the BIG update! Arts Council Funding Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, People, Players and Peasants alike: WE GOT OUR ARTS COUNCIL FUNDING!!! We applied for funding to proceed with Phase 2 of Reynard the Fox; developing the show into an indoor version that is fit for rural touring venues. Alongside running New Landscapes in March, we returned to the rehearsal space ourselves to refresh Reynard and extend the length of the performance, playing with the script and characters and set. This also saw the return of our outside eye, the wonderful Niki McCretton from Stuff and Nonsense Theatre, who spent a few days with us to help explore the intentions of our characters and tighten all the nuts and bolts. Niki McCretton and our friend Maria joining us for our dress rehearsal The end result was a […]