At a time of year when many of us are preparing to dress up to scare the neighbours, Full Circle theatre company are exploring how Mexico celebrates the Day of the Dead with a new play at ARC called Los Muertos.
Full Circle is an ensemble of learning disabled actors.
The company of actors have been together for almost ten years, supported by Stockton Borough Council Adult Services and more recently ARC Stockton as well as Teesside’s disabled-led professional theatre company Little Cog, which was founded in 2011 by Vici Wreford-Sinnott, a professional theatre director.
Los Muertos has been commissioned as part of Cultural Shift, a comprehensive three year programme of dynamic arts activity involving disabled people delivered by ARC in partnership with Little Cog.
Vici is the Disability Agent of Change for Cultural Shift and is working with Full Circle to develop and deliver the play, she said: “Once the group had developed work for the larger stage at ARC, and experienced full houses, they knew they wanted to continue to develop their unique devising style where the whole ensemble contributes equally to the ideas of the piece and it is completely original work.”
Annabel Turpin, Chief Executive of ARC said: “It’s brilliant to see Full Circle continuing to develop new theatre shows here at ARC. I love the way they create work, and I am particularly excited to see what they do with the Day of the Dead – it’s such a great theme!”
And so that’s what the company have done, again working with Vici as part of a new programme of activity at ARC called Cultural Shift which aims to challenge how disabled people are perceived.
Vici continued: “Cultural Shift is a three year programme, funded by the Spirit of 2012 Trust, committed to ensuring the creative voices of disabled people are heard and their unique cultural contributions are showcased. Full Circle’s work is at the heart of the ethos of the programme and we are very excited to see this new work developing.”
Los Muertos is a lively and at times dark story with comic elements, exploring lost love, dark forces and ghosts from the past. The White Lady, a traditional Mexican ghost, is seeking her lost love, while the Puppetmeister, a Full Circle creation, works his dark magic to ensure they are never reunited.
The brand new show uses physical theatre, a very visual style, stylised set and costume combined with digital screen work and a thumping sound track to create a unique exciting piece of work.
Los Muertos will be performed on Wednesday 4 November at 1.30pm and 7.00pm, tickets are Pay What You Decide and can be booked here or by calling the Box Office on 01642 525199.