FRAY Comes To Sadlers Wells Lilian Baylis Studio This June

FRAY, a unique and game-changing new production that intersects hip hop dance theatre with gaming and a conceptual AI world, is coming to Sadler's Wells' state of the art stage at Lilian Baylis Studio for an exclusive two night run on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd June, with tickets on sale now here.

FRAY brings together an innovative team of creators, including writer/Executive Producer/Director Kate Duhamel of Candy Bomber Productions and the Olivier award nominated lyricist, dancer, director, founder of Breakin' Convention and maverick hip hop dance pioneer Jonzi D, who is FRAY's Artistic Director, with music supervision by respected UK hip hop artist Micall Parknsn, musical contributions by the award-winning saxophonist, composer and broadcaster Soweto Kinch, with choreography by dance captain Ola Papiór (Rihanna, Alexandra Burke, Olly Murs, X Factor, BRIT Awards, Netflix Dance 100).

FRAY tells the story of Tullio and Ziya, two deeply bonded brothers, whose connection frays as the elder brother Ziya is lured into a wondrous virtual game world by Lucious, a beguiling AI avatar character he conjures up for a gaming contest.  The contest calls for building a great puzzle game, but as Ziya's foray into AI blurs the line between real and virtual, the brothers are drawn into a real-life quandary in which restoring the frayed connections of their relationship means confronting the reality that people are the greatest puzzles of all.

FRAY features an exciting cast of eleven performers of dance and spoken word, including Kieran Lai (Britain's Got Talent, West End show & Juliet) as Tullio and Kailon Chéry (Raye, Aitch, BirdGang LTD, Avant Garde, Just Us Dance Theatre) as Ziya, with Emma Houston, aka ‘Shortbread' (finalist at Red Bull BC One UK Cypher, ZooNation, Boy Blue), Sean Edwards (George Michael, STOMP, Punchdrunk, Secret Cinema), Fi Silverthorn ((FKA Twigs, DJ Snake & Ellie Goulding, BirdGang LTD), Kelsey Miller (Kendrick Lamar, Stormzy, Little Mix, Giggs, Chase & Status, Raye, Boy Blue) and George Fairbrother (BBC headliner stage at Leeds festival, JD sports, Puma) and Jane Sekonya-John (Disney's The Lion King, Aeroplane Man).

The ensemble of dancers portray a variety of characters, across an exhilarating and moving 90 minute performance.  A vivid tapestry of music, dance, hip hop, spoken word and large screen vibrant visuals capture the real and captivating virtual worlds, as Tullio and Ziya struggle with what it means to love a brother, and with the very nature of what it means to be human.

FRAY is an ambitious, multi-platform experience that includes FRAY Game, a real-life, playable video game for PCs in which players take on the role of Tullio as he and Ziya navigate four challenging levels, dance battling cunning enemies and solving puzzles to reach an allegorical home.  FRAY Game will be released on STEAM on June 15th.

 

FRAY was originally conceived by Kate Duhamel of Candy Bomber Productions, the creator of  the successful show FURY (inspired by Mad Max: Fury Road) in 2018. FRAY is an ambitious multi-disciplinary production, which originally debuted in San Francisco in 2022, the show then premiered in the UK at Wilton's Music Hall last July to much critical acclaim.

 

Kate Duhamel, founder CandyBomber Productions said: “I'm excited to bring FRAY to Lilian Baylis Studio at Sadler's Wells, in collaboration with our incredible team including Artistic Director Jonzi D.  It's been a real journey developing this FRAY production that takes hip hop dance theatre in new directions as we explore the complex world of gaming and the uncharted territory of AI.  FRAY is a bold and unique cross-platform endeavour that tells a story through music, dance, spoken word, visual arts and technology.  We're stretching to create something distinctive that pushes the culture forward, and that inspires, not only for the quality and creativity of the performance on stage, but also for the message it leaves you with to
consider. "

Jonzi D, founder of Breakin' Convention said: “Developing FRAY in collaboration with Kate and the team has seen us create something really special and unmissable! We are incorporating new hip hop dance theatre and spoken word seamlessly into the narrative and bringing in exciting new visual AI elements. Hip hop has an endless ability to ‘bite', that is to sample and lend from popular culture, and in FRAY we collide these ideas with AI and its ability to ‘byte' from reality. FRAY has not been done before and needs to be seen! Get ready for FRAY!”

Alistair Spalding, Sadler's Wells Artistic Director & Co-Chief Executive said “Having led Breakin' Convention for the past 20 years, Jonzi D is now synonymous with hip hop dance theatre. Breakin' Convention is always such a success here, so it's going to be very exciting to see Jonzi turn his attention to the innovative in this new show FRAY. It's great that FRAY is showcasing the different elements of hip hop including dance theatre and spoken word.”
 

To post a comment, you must register and login.