The Gramophones are a theatre company based in Nottingham, who specialise in witty, interactive theatre with a twinkle in its eye. Their work is informed by clowning techniques and as a result is very playful, fun and engaging. They place the audience at the centre of their performances and regard them not only as voyeurs but as players in the work. All members of The Gramophones have a wealth of experience working within theatre as both performers and practitioners. They are an all female company who came together in 2009 through the chance discovery of notes in cafes. They read ‘Looking for quirky performers for a theatre project’. They we’re placed there by Hannah Stone, Artistic director to bring a group of like-minded theatre makers together.
In 2009 The Gramophones were commissioned by HATCH Nottingham to make a piece of theatre for their HATCH:Abroad event which was a performance event that took over the whole of Broad Street in Nottingham for a night of the unexpected. The piece created was the starting point for their show Anything to Declare, a hilarious quirky comedy on the theme of holidays, which went on to recieve a five star review at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2011. This show will be touring rural venues in 2013.
In 2o10 they were invited by Theatre Writing Partnership to take part in their Crossovers scheme to develop a new piece of theatre. They worked alongside TWP and Claire Duffy of Unlimited theatre to create their children’s show, Wild Duck. This show will be touring primary schools later in the year.
The Gramophones most recent project is End to End. In April 2011 The Gramophones will make a journey from Lands End to John O’Groats as part of Theatre Writing Partnerships Making Tracks scheme. They will endeavor to travel to John O’Groats within a tight budget using a variety of different modes of transport including walking, canal boat, bus, bike, tandem bike, skateboard, train, rowing boat, hot air balloon, steam train, unicycle, wheelchair, motorbike, stretch limo and horse. They will limit themselves to 18 days, which is the average time it has taken world record breakers on all modes of transport to complete this journey.
