Tell
us about your show Spooky Tales – coming to Burnley Youth Theatre on Wednesday
30th October?
Edward Creep had the accolade of being Edward the Evil and
Edward the Mighty; until he had an accident which turned him “soft”. Now to the
utter disgust of his sister Martha, he’s scared of his shadow, wants to go to
Disneyland and admires the music of One Direction!
Martha will enlist the help of the brave audience, to watch
their collection of putridly performed short stories, and when they are
finished and Edward remembers what fun It is to terrify, then she hopes he will
be cured!
You’ll hear about a school for Witches, a haunted rocking
chair, a gruesome twosome and a banshee trapped in a bottle and you’ll have the
offer of a bogie omelette! Who can resist? Only for brave kids and adults!
Where do the shows protagonists Edward and Martha Creep come
from?
Edward and Martha Creep come from Creep Hall, where they
collect stories of the magical, macabre and downright nasty!
Martha and Edward first featured in piece about Victorian children’s
gangs in Liverpool performed in the aptly creepy dungeons of St George’s hall.
Since then, The Creeps have created havoc at several site
specific venues such as Port Sunlight village, and Croxteth Hall; there is a
whole family of them included Great Uncle Bertha Creep and Meredith Creep
amongst others!
Petite
Ullaloom is the little sibling of Ullaloom, where did Petite Ullaloom come
from?
Liverpool based Ullaloom were formed in 1999 by members of
the Hope St Physical Theatre Programme. The company have a penchant for the
dark and the mysterious.
Previous work includes ‘Macabre’, ‘Bram Stokers’
Nightmare…Dracula’ and ‘The Dark Room’, all have toured locally and nationally.
Petite Ullaloom is the younger sibling of horror based
ensemble Ullaloom Theatre Company and came into being as a means of creating
interactive work for children and as a vehicle to create new writing with a
dark twist.
Past commissions include the Liverpool Biennial, Croxteth
Hall, St George’s Hall, Port Sunlight village and National Museums Liverpool.
We also co-produced the highly successful ‘Snow Queen’, ‘The
Red Shoes’ for the Unity Theatre as well as the original ‘Spooky Tales’ plus
two family shows at haunted Croxteth Hall.
So basically, it is macabre theatre for children and young
people! But equally as scary! I felt that Petite had a nice ring to it than
“small” Ullaloom!
On that note, what on earth does Ullaloom mean!?
Ullaloom is featured in an Edgar Allen Poe poem, But were
stopped by the door of a tomb –
By the door of a legended tomb;
And I said: "What is written, sweet sister,
On the door of this legended tomb?"
She replied: "Ulalume -Ulalume -
'Tis the vault of thy lost Ulalume!"
However, ours is spelt differently!
Spooky
Tales is part of the Big Imaginations Children’s Theatre Festival; do you think
making theatre for young audiences is important?
Highly important! In my book and experience , children and
young people have the most vivid imaginations and respond so well to theatrical
experiences, especially shows with some danger such as Spooky Tales, there is a
sense of comradeship and a willing to immerse themselves in the show that
you simply don’t get with adults and the
audiences are so unpredictable that no show is over the same which makes it so
exciting for an actor!
Adults sometimes stop using their imagination, or stop
playing! In my book the best kind of adults never loose site of this! And learn
from young people!
Some of the stories that have been created in the after show
workshop have put me as a writer to shame!
Trick
or treat?
Treat, but something like a bat shaped cream cake or a good
old horror film! So I can be greedy and have the best of both worlds!
