Simon Wainwright Archives - North West End UK

imitating the dog’s Andrew Quick talks about their new version of Frankenstein

31Jan

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Interviews

imitating the dog’s Andrew Quick talks about their new version of Frankenstein

imitating the dog is a company who have developed an international reputation for high-tech reinventions of classic movies and texts, so it’s not surprising they’ve taking on Mary Shelley’s Gothic classic Frankenstein. This time Co-Artistic Directors Pete Brooks, Andrew Quick and Simon Wainwright are bringing their trademark multimedia experience to rethink this timeless novel as a psychological thriller that asks the eternal question – what is it to be human? In this version a couple are forced to confront their own fears about impending parenthood in a version of the Frankenstein myth that erupts into life as everyday objects are transformed into glaciers, a ship at sea, a dissecting room and a house on fire. imitating the dog’s two-hand...

Casting announced for imitating the dog’s Frankenstein

14Jan

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Casting announced for imitating the dog’s Frankenstein

imitating the dog’s two-handed version of Frankenstein will feature RSC actor Georgia-Mae Myers and Nedum Okonyia. This time Co-Artistic Directors Pete Brooks, Andrew Quick and Simon Wainwright offer their trademark multimedia exploration of Mary Shelley’s timeless classic novel as a psychological thriller asks the eternal question – what is it to be human? In this version a couple confront their own fears about impending parenthood as they recreate a version of Frankenstein that erupts into life as everyday objects are transformed into glaciers, a ship at sea, a dissecting room, and a house on fire. Set and Costume Designer Hayley Grindle has created a transformative space j housing the digital tricks and video-mapping t...

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Liverpool Empire

14Nov

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Liverpool Empire

If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have probably read the Roald Dahl story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or at least watched one of the two films based on the book (team Gene Wilder over here!). It tells the story of Charlie Bucket, who comes from a poor family and never dreams of winning one of the five golden tickets to enter Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory – until it happens. We then get to go on a magical journey as Charlie and the other four golden ticket winners (and their parents) get to see the wonderous and sometimes scary, workings of Wonka’s factory. If you are used to the book or either film, then make sure you go into the musical with an open mind. Bar two songs from the 1971 film (The Candyma...

Dracula: The Untold Story – Liverpool Playhouse

14Oct

By Carole BaldockNo Comments

North West

Dracula: The Untold Story – Liverpool Playhouse

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and here we are on Route 66 (or should that be 666?), since that's their year (read on...), and a young lady has just walked into a police station to confess to murder. But she says her name is Mina Harker... And goodness, can she name drop - an affair with Picasso? And literally, because many of the people she encounters hit the deck. But is she as it were victim turned vigilante, seeking to rid the world of evil? Or does Dracula actually have a hand in this, not that the title isn't a dead giveaway. Yet having slayed Dracula, she is seemingly possessed by him. Mina travels the world hunting down the people from her nightmares who are plotting some kind of uprising. The police officers are bewildered by the murder of unknowns (keep rea...

Dracula: The Untold Story – Leeds Playhouse

4Oct

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Dracula: The Untold Story – Leeds Playhouse

For over a century Count Dracula has been part of our popular culture so it’s smart of imitating the dog to make him a peripheral figure in his own play. Instead, they cleverly switch the focus to Mina Harker who in Bram Stoker’s gothic classic not only had her neck bitten but pulled together all the threads to create the myth of the immortal Transylvanian bloodsucker. They’ve also updated the story to 1965 as Harker walks into a London police station confessing a murder to two police officers, and we learn that she has used her immortal superhuman power for what she thinks is the greater good as the Count lurks around the piece as the embodiment of eternal darkness. As usual the team deploys a wide range of high-tech digital tricks, including two video cameras and stage side gree...

imitating the dog take on the Prince of Darkness

30Apr

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

imitating the dog take on the Prince of Darkness

imitating the dog are back with a radical new adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula telling this gothic classic from the perspective of the novel’s heroine Mina Harker. Written and directed by imitating the dog’s co-artistic directors Andrew Quick and Pete Brooks, Dracula: The Untold Story will open at Leeds Playhouse from 25th Sept – 9th Oct ahead of a UK tour. New Year’s Eve 1965, London, England. Just before midnight, as revellers celebrate the beginning of another year, a young woman enters Marylebone Police Station and confesses to a brutal murder. She claims to be Mina Harker, the last living survivor of the intrepid group that brought about Count Dracula’s destruction some 70 years before. But Mina Harker has not been seen since 1901, and if she were alive she would be ninety...

Dr Blood’s Old Travelling Show – Leeds Playhouse

12Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Dr Blood’s Old Travelling Show – Leeds Playhouse

imitating the dog are a company who make things difficult as part of their creative DNA so it’s not much of a surprise they are the first company to try a national tour in the midst of a pandemic. The audience are placed on socially distanced cones outside Leeds Playhouse, sans cover, as are the three strong cast also exposed to the elements playing a gang of ghoulish vigilantes who travel the country righting wrongs. This time they are on the trail of a crooked mayor, a bent chief constable and a dodgy headteacher who are conspiring to build the biggest casino in the UK before pocketing in the profits. Some critics who like to over intellectualise work will no doubt bemoan the slight narrative, and the chance to rub their chin reflectively. The rest of us are just grateful it’s o...