imitating the dog to Present THE TRAIN

imitating the dog, one of the UK's most original and innovative performance theatre companies are set to bring their latest theatrical vision to the stage this winter with the UK premiere of The Train, a new immersive theatrical venture which will take its audience on unforgettable journey in a moving auditorium.

The new play will premiere from the 21-25 January at Lancaster Arts at Lancaster University and then visit The Castle Wellingborough from the 19-21 Feb. The production will have an extensive UK tour in autumn 2016.

Imagine a world that exists solely as a train. Imagine a woman who is given a job that she knows will put her life in jeopardy, one that takes her on a journey into her own heart of darkness. Find yourself moving through carriages witnessing the strange encounters with people who would seem have much more information about what is happening than you do. Imagine entering a terrible nightmare in which those who you assume are dead tell you what your future might bring you. Imagine you are at a door and you look at the moving tracks and you jump. Again and again. Imagine this and you are in The Train.

Having been performed for over a month at the Marche Teatro in Ancona and garnering outstanding reviews, The Train is now set to make its English-speaking debut in spring. The production is a unique combination of immersive theatre and philosophical fairground ride, an audience of 12 listen through headphones and sit in an electrically powered moving auditorium which pans and tracks as it follows our heroine's journey through a multimedia landscape that is both beautiful and disturbing. Part detective thriller and part philosophical meditation on loss and human isolation, The Train takes you on a journey you will never forget.

The Train is co- directed and written by imitating the dog founder members Pete Brooks and Andrew Quick (A Farewell to Arms, Kellerman and The Zero Hour, Imitating the dog and Soul Sister, Savoy Theatre). The production's projection and video design is designed by fellow original founder member Simon Wainwright (The Life and Times of Mitchell & Kenyon, Dukes Theatre). The cast will feature regular imitating the dog performers Morven Macbeth, Laura Atherton and Matt Pendergast.

The production's creative team will also include regular collaborators, Stage Designer Laura Hopkins (Black Watch and Peter Pan, National Theatre of Scotland), Lighting Designer Andrew Crofts (Trash Cuisine, Belarus Free Theatre and The Young Vic) and Composer Jeremy Peyton-Jones.

Co -director and playwright Andrew Quick said about the new production:

"We are very excited to be staging The Train in the UK. It has just had a very successful run in Italy. People loved being placed right at the heart of the action, moving from scene to scene in a motorized carriage, being only a few inches from the performers and the action. It's a great experience but it has its serious side. It throws us sensually into a disorientating world as we watch and hopefully relate to our heroine's search for the truth about what has befallen her and how she might overcome the loss of loved ones."

Since 1998, imitating the dog has devised performances that experiment with the role of story-telling and narrative in a contemporary theatrical context that are performed both in the UK and Internationally. Through the innovative combination of digital media, design and physical performance, the company creates off-kilter worlds within which public and private obsessions - identity, death, love and sexuality - are explored. Made in close collaboration with associate artists, including the highly respected designer Laura Hopkins, their highly visual and technological productions present a unique and memorable experience for the spectator. The company's recent acclaimed productions have included A Farewell to Arms, The Zero Hour, Six Degrees Below the Horizon and Hotel Methuselah, as well as co-productions with Oldham Coliseum on The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Mist in the Mirror and The Life and Times of Mitchell & Kenyon at the Dukes, Lancaster.

The production is supported by funding from the Arts Council England.

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