Upswing's THE RAMSHACKLE HOUSE Coming to Stratford for Christmas

Following a critically acclaimed UK tour of their award-winning family show Bedtime Stories, Upswing creates a tale of a family creating, building, inventing and reinventing to achieve their goal of living happily and safely together.

The Ramshackle House, directed by Vicki Amedume, will run at Forest Arts Centre 19th - 21st Oct; Gulbenkian 24th - 26th Nov; and Stratford Circus Arts Centre 4th - 24th December 2017.

Reflecting a world on the cusp of big change, the bright and growing young family use all their skill and ingenuity to keep their rickety house together in show about solving problems and never giving up. Three multi-skilled circus artists will balance, climb, juggle, swing, slide and swoop to tell the story of the family's ups and downs and, with a little bit of pluck and courage, things will turn out right in the end.

A tale without words, The Ramshackle House makes us consider the dynamics of family life and how adults and children help each other negotiate the changes that are within our influence and those that are beyond our control. The show has been created and developed with families across the U.K to tell a story which audiences can relate to, reflecting contemporary society today. A diverse, international cast who are experts in aerial, acrobalance, rope and trapeze have been selected to perform in The Ramshackle House, carefully chosen to represent a multi-talented and multi-cultural Britain.

Upswing's Artistic Director Vicki Amedume says, "I wanted to make a show that speaks fluently to both adults and children. So we have decided to make a piece of work with no words but rather uses movement, humour and tenderness to celebrate family life even through the complexity and instability we can, at times, feel in the world around us. We want the show to touch on these challenging themes but at the same time be full of the joy, thrills, excitement and danger that we look for in circus."

Upswing, a diverse led contemporary circus company founded by Vicki Amedume in 2004, are committed to exploring relevant and thought-provoking themes across all their work. The Ramshackle House will explore big questions in a way that is fun and accessible, living up to Upswing's reputation as a creator of high quality theatre for families. The Ramshackle House is the second instalment of Building Stories, Pushing Boundaries, a project seeking to develop new audiences for contemporary circus. They also provide classes and consultancy for companies including the National, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Cameron Mackintosh, for whom they supplied performers as well consultancy for Barnum. In 2015, Upswing were awarded the Family Art Festival 'Best Family Event Award' in the Get Creative Family Art Festival.

International award-winning set designer Becky Minto, who recently won the Silver Award for Space Design at the World Stage Design Awards 2017, is creating the scenic world for Upswing's production. Her set design for The Ramshackle House promises to be both striking and bold, with a power to truly illuminate this story's narrative whilst providing all sorts of intriguing and astonishing challenges and opportunities for Upswing's artists to curiously explore and share their circus skills.

The Ramshackle House has been selected to be this year's Full Hearts Full Tummies show. Full Hearts Full Tummies is Stratford Circus Arts Centre's campaign to offer a magical Christmas treat to families in Newham who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford a seasonal treat. Last year hundreds of disadvantaged children and their parents enjoyed a hot meal and a ticket to a family show for just £1.

Visit upswing.org.uk for more information. Running Time: 50 mins | Suitable for ages 3+.

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IF YOU GO:

Upswing presents

THE RAMSHACKLE HOUSE

Directed by Vicki Amedume
Devised by Upswing
Designed by Becky Minto
Original Music by James Atherton

Cast: Delia Ceruti, Renato Dias and Matthew Smith

19 - 21 Oct Forest Arts Centre, Walsall

Hawbush Rd, Walsall WS3 1AG

Thurs - Fri 10.30am & 1.30pm, Sat 11.30am & 3.30pm

£6-£5.50, Family ticket £20

www.forestartscentre.co.uk | 0300 555 2898

24 - 26 Nov Gulbenkian, Kent

University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NB

Fri 10.30am & 1.30pm, Sat - Sun 11am & 2.30pm

£1 - £8

www.thegulbenkian.co.uk | 01227 769075

4 - 24 Dec Stratford Circus Arts Centre, London

Theatre Square, Stratford, London E15 1BX

4 - 16: Mon - Fri 10.30am & 1.30pm (no performance Fri 15), Sat 11am & 2pm

17 - 24: Tues - Sun 11am & 2pm

£12 - £10

www.stratford-circus.com | 0844 357 2625