WHAT ARE WE UP TO?
FLITCH
Can a couple conclusively prove they haven’t argued all year?
Since 1104, Great Dunmow has hosted the Flitch Trials, an otherwise lost tradition. In the trials, married couples convince a mock court that they haven’t argued for one year and one day. Upon satisfying the jury, they win a flitch of bacon.
FLITCH follows 6 married couples, alongside costumed townsfolk performing roles of the court. In this world where pop-meets-medieval and Kurt Weill meets Lily Allen, we’ll give couples permission to argue, provincial traditions permission to evolve, and communities the opportunity to celebrate their absurd histories.
FLITCH was presented some work at Into the Works with Music Box Theatre on the 11th and 12th February. Check it out HERE.
Recordings available upon request.
FLITCH was selected as one of 29 shows (out of 265 pitched) to be showcased at BEAM2023. Footage is available upon request.
Find out more here.
IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD MADGE
16th-17th June
Wandsworth Arts Fringe
The Arches @ St Mary's Church
27th October
Electric Theatre - TICKETS ON SALE NOW! BOOK HERE
“Who knows but after my honourable burial, I may have a glorious resurrection in following ages” - Margaret Cavendish 1655
Samuel Pepys called her ‘a mad, conceited, ridiculous woman’. Virginia Woolf said her plays were ‘intolerable’. They all called her ‘Mad Madge’. Her name? Margaret Cavendish.
Born 1623. Writer. Playwright. Scientist. Philosopher. Uneducated. Depressed. Duchess of Newcastle.
Margaret’s plays were never performed in her lifetime. To make up for it, we’re giving Madge her own one-woman musical.
This won’t be a dramatised Wikipedia page. This won’t even be a loose biopic. This will be a live resurrection.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad Madge is available for touring. A full video is available upon request.
Written by Packham & Kealy, in co-creation with Anna Hale
KILLING TIME IN DARKMINSTER
A dark-comedy musical. Thomas Darlington, a 19th century boy, is sent to a mysterious Victorian chorister school in the fictional town of Darkminster. Jenny Warlock, a 21st century girl, is the daughter of Darkminster’s choir master. Thrust together, they learn of a murderous conspiracy which threatens the lives of the choristers. Combining tropes of 21st century musical theatre, the Victorian school novel and contemporary young adult fiction, Killing Time in Darkminster is a comedic criticism of the decline of arts education.
Killing Time in Darkminster was a finalist for BYMT's New Music Theatre Award, and NYMT's Musical Theatre Workshop.
This show is co-written with our wonderful collaborator, Andy Simpson.
Want to hear it? Check out our demos HERE.
IN DEVELOPMENT
We are also currently dwelling on an experimental opera about Y2K, and a musical for young people entitled 'Ipswich Witch'. Want to hear more? Pop us an email.