A Christmas Carol – Venue Marketing Pack

Box Clever
A Christmas Carol – Venue Marketing Pack
Box Clever
A Christmas Carol – Venue Marketing Pack
1. Introduction and Company
A brand-new adaptation of Dickens’ atmospheric Ghost Story of Christmas
brought to life for theatres and venues with Box Clever’s characteristic cocktail of
textual accuracy, fun, lively action, music and audience participation.
As our actors bring to life Scrooge, squeezing, wrenching, grasping, hard and
sharp as flint, the audience will join him on the journey that he is forced to make
through his past, present and future, until laughter and goodness replace the ice
in his heart.
This unique adaptation will be the ideal winter performance to get audiences
flocking to see this reworking of this classic Christmas story.
Box Clever Theatre
Box Clever is a London-based, independent, professional theatre company with an established
reputation in theatre and in education for original writing, for the quality of productions and for
imaginative approaches to the making of plays.
Box Clever
A Christmas Carol – Venue Marketing Pack
2. Marketing resources
2.1
Copy
Tag line:
A fun, dynamic adaptation of Dickens’ ghostly Christmas classic.
Main copy (100 words):
A Christmas Carol
Family audiences
By Charles Dickens
Director Iqbal Khan
Designer Rhys Jarman
Adaptation Michael Wicherek
Sound Kaja Bjorntvedt
Duration: 60 minutes
A brand-new adaptation of Dickens’ atmospheric Ghost Story of Christmas
brought to life through Box Clever’s characteristic cocktail of textual
accuracy, fun, lively action, music and audience participation.
As our actors bring to life Scrooge, squeezing, wrenching, grasping, hard
and sharp as flint, the audience will join him on the journey that he is
forced to make through his past, present and future, until laughter and
goodness replace the ice in his heart.
Long copy
A Christmas Carol
Family audiences
By Charles Dickens
Director Iqbal Khan
Designer Rhys Jarman
Adaptation Michael Wicherek
Sound Kaja Bjorntvedt
Duration: 60 minutes
A brand-new adaptation of Dickens’ atmospheric Ghost Story of Christmas is brought to
life by a cast of three for theatres by Box Clever’s characteristic cocktail of fun, lively
action, music and audience participation.
The appearance of two singers, busking carols on the streets of modern-day London,
immediately engages the audience. We watch as Scrooge coldly dismisses their appeal
for a charitable donation. This is the action which prompts his terrifying encounter with
his long dead partner Marley and the Christmas Spirits, created by the buskers through
puppetry, music and physical theatre.
The set of Scrooge’s house is magically transformed into the school of his childhood,
Box Clever
A Christmas Carol – Venue Marketing Pack
Fezziwig’s warehouse party, the home of Bob Cratchit and finally the location of his own
lonely and dismal death. Traditional carols intermingle with reggae and rap to provide the
soundtrack to the journey Scrooge, squeezing, wrenching, grasping, hard and sharp as
flint, is forced to make through his past, present and future, until laughter and goodness
replace the ice in his heart.
Audience participation is facilitated throughout by the buskers as they recreate
Fezziwig’s party and Christmas word games while Dickens’ original text provides the
majority of the dialogue.
This unique adaptation will be the ideal winter performance to get family audiences
flocking to see this reworking of this classic Christmas story.
Images:
The main image for the performance will be made available to venues.
Production images are available at the following link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/clevertheatre/sets/72157647748864374/
Video
A promotional video is available from Box Clever’s Vimeo page, which can be embedded
using the following code:
<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/115046513" width="500" height="281"
frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
Or viewable from the following address:
https://vimeo.com/115046513
Social media
Facebook: www.facebook.com/boxclevertheatre
Twitter: @clevertheatre
Flickr: search Box Clever Theatre
LinkedIn: hwww.linkedin.com/company/box-clever-theatre-company
Email marketing template:
An email-marketing template is available for the performance. Box Clever will issue this
email-marketing message to our databases but can develop a venue-specific message on
request that will be supplied as a HTML file. Alternatively we can issue email marketing
campaigns on behalf of venues if supplied with suitable targeted mailing lists.
Box Clever
A Christmas Carol – Venue Marketing Pack
Print
50 x A3 posters and 2500 x A5 flyers available for promotion of the performance. All print
will either be preprinted with a full or tour or venue specific.
Audiences will be given a free copy of the performance programme.
Box Clever
A Christmas Carol – Venue Marketing Pack
3. Target audience
Young people and older audiences, regardless of their familiarity with the original text, enjoy this
performance. Often set as a KS3 or GCSE text, this production in particular will be attractive to
schools and students, encouraging them to visit your venue
Key themes: Dickens: spoken word; classic literature; live music, GCSE revision; mixed media
theatre (music, theatre, spoken word)
Key audience groups
Family audiences
Years 5-9, 10-11
English students
Drama audiences
Spoken word audiences
This is beautiful performance for Christmas time and will bring
family audiences to your theatre.
The performance is relevant for students in Years 5-9, 10-11
bringing to life this classic text.
The performance is also relevant for those preparing to study or
studying Dickens or any classic author.
The performance is equally relevant to modern and classical
theatre audiences.
Owing to the language involved in the production, we strongly
recommend that you develop marketing campaigns focused
towards spoken word audiences.
Box Clever
A Christmas Carol – Venue Marketing Pack
4.
Cast and company biographies
Director: Iqbal Khan
Iqbal returns to Box Clever this season after directing the company’s recent tours
of Time for the Good Looking Boy and Romeo and Juliet. He trained at the
National Studio, Leicester Haymarket Theatre, Middlesex University and The
Academy Drama School. Box Clever is delighted to welcome him back as he is a
creative, versatile and dynamic director with critically acclaimed performances for
both the National Theatre (Harold Pinter’s A Slight Ache and Landscape and Ayub
Khan-Din’s Rafta, Rafta) and the RSC (Much Ado About Nothing). He returns to the
RSC to direct Othello next season.
Designer: Rhys Jarman
Rhys was one of the winners of the 2007 Linbury Biennial Prize, for his designs of
Varjak Paw for the Opera Group. Recent work for opera includes Cycle Song, an
opera for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad; Hot House for the Royal Opera House
Education, main stage, and The Barber of Seville for ETO. Theatre projects include
Missing and Number 5 for Gecko Theatre; Diary of a Nobody for the Royal and
Derngate Theatre. Designs for television include set designs for series 5 of Dr Who
and Young, Autistic and Stagestruck, for Channel 4. Previous designs for Box
Clever have included Feet First, directed by Amit Lahav, and Time for the Good
Looking Boy, directed by Iqbal Khan.
Writer: Michael Wicherek
Michael is Box Clever’s Artistic Director and Writer-in-Residence. He graduated in
History, has an MA in screen-writing and trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
He founded the company in 1996 in order to create and bring exciting theatre to
young people, the audiences of the future, and to involve them fully in the
dramatic experience as audience members, participants and co-creators.
Michael’s plays have won awards (The Prince Michael of Kent award for
innovation for The Buzz and a Fringe First at the Dublin Fringe for Sixteen) and
have toured extensively in the UK and abroad. He currently sits as Vice-Chair on
the Board of the Independent Council and on the Board of Gecko and is a Fellow
of the Royal Society of Arts.
Composer & Sound design: Kaja Bjorntvedt
Kaja is a Norwegian composer with international engagements. She creates
acoustic and electro-acoustic soundscapes for contemporary dance, theatre, artinstallations and films, as well as writing acoustic music for various ensembles.
In her work she explores the connection between sounds, movements and
visuals, whilst searching for different ways of presenting music to the audience.
Her music is published by Musikk-Husets Forlag with pieces included in the
syllabus of Trinity Guildhall Examination Board.
Box Clever
A Christmas Carol – Venue Marketing Pack
Production manager: Pip Thurlow
Pip is a highly experienced freelance stage manager, lighting designer and sound
de- signer. Since graduating from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 2006, he has
worked on a wide variety of productions for a diverse range of companies,
ranging from His Dark Materials for Sixth Sense Theatre to Animal Farm for
Theatre Royal Bath, and regular seasonal pantomime and musicals for Phoenix
Theatre Arts. He is a regular production and stage manager for Box Clever,
returning this autumn season for The Hate Play and A Christmas Carol.
Dramaturgy: Callie Brown
Callie has a background in the field of education, having taught for a number of
years in Hertfordshire. She graduated from the University of Wales with a BA in
English Literature then moved to the Department of Education at Oxford for her
PGCE where she completed her teaching practice at Oxford High School. She
joined Box Clever over six years ago and is currently their Director of Intelligence.
Box Clever
A Christmas Carol – Venue Marketing Pack
4. Press release
Box Clever present a fun and unique adaptation of Dickens’ classic
Christmas Tale
Box Clever Theatre Company will be performing at <insert venue and date>, with their new
touring production, A Christmas Carol.
Adapted by Box Clever’s Artistic Director, Michael Wicherek, the company’s production
interweaves the traditional story with modern interpretation. A cast of three brings the
revolving stage set to life with puppets and music.
Crammed full of dramatic scenes and characters, from Marley’s ghost to the saintly Tiny
Tim and Ebenezer Scrooge himself, A Christmas Carol depicts a truly British Christmas
filled with joy, eating too much, family reunions and goodwill.
The performance brings together National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company
director Iqbal Kane with award winning set designer Rhys Jarman.
David Ajao rejoins the Box Clever team to bring to life a squeezing, wrenching,
grasping, Scrooge. The audience will join him and the rest of the cast on the
journey that he is forced to make through his past, present and future, until
laughter and goodness replace the ice in his heart.
A Christmas Carol is open to schools, youth groups and individuals with tickets starting
from just <insert ticket price>.
<insert venue information>
Box Clever
A Christmas Carol – Venue Marketing Pack
5. Reviews and feedback
All reviews are uploaded to the Box Clever website and can be accessed at the following link:
http://www.boxclevertheatre.co.uk/?page_id=1923
Audience feedback from November – December 2014 tour
“The interactive nature of the performance allowed pupils to experience with Scrooge
the events of the novel. The flexibility of the actors in their response to pupils’ input
was impressive and inclusive. There was a good balance between original text and
modern interpretation.” Bromley High School (GDST), English teacher
“I really liked the modernisation because students could identify with it much more
easily. I liked the use of multi-roles and music, especially the use of instruments.
The set was really imaginatively used.” John Whitgift Academy, English
teacher
“Extremely valuable-it really brought the story to life. Students study themes and
character-it will help them understand the story in a modern context in English. Lots
of drama techniques for students to write about in their essay.” John Whitgift
Academy, Head of Expressive Arts
“It was really good. You should do more.” Year 10, John Whitgift Academy
“I thought it was all kinds of amazing and brought a new perspective to Scrooge and
Dickens’ work.” Year 10, John Whitgift Academy
“I absolutely loved the play and it was really good to watch. Scrooge was the best
character!!!! And I love the house.” Year 7, Bromley High School
“I knew who Charles Dickens was; I just didn’t know he was such a good author. It
changed my mind as I thought he was a bit boring but now he’s better than David
Walliams!” Year 7 University Academy Holbeach
“I thought that Dickens and his novels were very old school and forgotten. The show
has changed my mind and made me think that it is still alive.” Year 7, Bromley
High School