IMAGINARIUM

FROM THE PRESS:

"revolutionary creative form"

- RAZZ Mag ★★★★★

"I was swept away"

- LondonTheatre1 ★★★★

"poeticise ... in a way that brings me to real tears"

- A Younger Theatre ★★★★

"open up the senses outside of the obvious"

- The Reviews Hub ★★★★

"an audio journey filled with imagination and play"

- Thespyinthestalls ★★★

"a highly surreal experience from start to finish"

- North West End UK ★★★

"a celebration of synchronicity"

- LondonGrip

“an incredibly pleasant retreat”

- ArtsCulture

Imaginarium is an experimental, immersive

audio show designed for the audience to

experience in their own bedrooms.

The audience are invited to examine and reimagine their everyday surroundings,

whilst moving, exploring and dancing

with the awareness that other people are

doing the same things at the same time.

With homes transformed into

new theatre playgrounds,

we celebrate the freedom of human imagination and explore ways to

connect with each other in a time of isolation.

FROM OUR AUDIENCE:

"It was exactly the kind of lovely, connective experience ... that I needed!"

“1 hour seemed long but then I was in the moment and couldn't believe how short it seems to be!”

"... really encourages you to disconnect from technology and get in touch with yourself and your immediate surroundings in a refreshing way."

"the concept, text and execution were all fantastic. I absolutely loved it. Such joyful escapism."

"a very soothing, meditative and uplifting experience."

"I loved how immersive it was... it allowed me to fully delve and play in a way that I have not in a long time."

“Calming and thought provoking.”

The year 2020 will always be remembered as the year of isolation. How are we supposed to deal with such a crisis? How are people supposed to feel free in their hearts and minds when they are imprisoned in their homes? How can art remedy our suffering when it is under the same constraints? To begin to answer such questions we must start within the four walls of our minds.

(pics: Haylin, Harry, and Ting in their bedrooms)

Coming out of the lockdown in Wuhan, Haylin started to write the first draft of the script in April 2020. She interviewed people from various backgrounds and experimented in her own bedroom. Soon, Harry joined to develop and rehearse the script as he was getting into lockdown in London. Then our sound designer Ting, also in London, joined the team—she experimented with objects and instruments in her room, collected snippets from the streets, adding enticing soundscapes to the performance.

(pic: Haylin, Harry, and Ting having an online rehearsal)

A work-in-progress showing of IMAGINARIUM was streamed at BOND International Virtual Live Performance Festival in early October 2020, with specially choreographed movement combined with BSL interpretations. The full production premiered later that month at Dazed New World Festival and received fantastic reviews. Supported by French-German Cultural Fund for Wuhan, we adapted the original English production to Chinese, German, and French versions and streamed them to international audiences in November.

Having organised a second round of streaming in December 2020, we are making plans to bring IMAGINARIUM to an even wider audience in 2021.

TEAM

Artistic Direction / Main Writer: Haylin Cai
Voice Actor / Co-Writer: Harry Dean
Composer / Sound Designer: Tingying Dong

for Exit Music
Composer / Arranger / Bass: Håvard Tanner
Guitar: Joe Perkins
Drums: Jeremy Paul

Marketing Producers
For UK: Elizabeth Benbow (Jul-Nov 2020), Simon Paris (Nov-Dec 2020), Adèle Reeves (current)
For China: Peter Chen
For USA: Alison Yueming Qu

for Chinese version

Translators: Yingxue Zhang, Haozhe Jiang, Bingxu Wang, Lynette Yuan, Shel, Yibin Wang, Alison Yueming Qu, Haylin Cai

Director: Haylin Cai

Voice Actor: Yingxue Zhang

Sound Designer: Tingying Dong

for German version:

Director: Harry Dean
Voice Actor / Translator: Melanie Müller

Sound Designer: Tingying Dong
Associate Sound Designer: Anne Marie Himmelmann

for French version:

Directors: Haylin Cai & Harry Dean
Voice Actor / Translator: Alexis Danan

Sound Designer: Tingying Dong
Associate Sound Designer: Anne Marie Himmelmann

Associate Producer: Adélaïde Golis