Concept by Ant Hampton
Text by Glen Neath
Video work by Britt Hatzius
Following BLOKE, and some experiments in late 2002, Ant Hampton and Glen Neath created ROMCOM (or, the distance love can be maintained between any two diverging points). Two performers meet on stage before an audience and enact the story of a relationship. The performers, different for every performance, agree in advance to do the show, but have absolutely no idea what is expected of them; they simply turn up and put on a set of headphones through which instructions are given to them about what to say and do. It's important they haven't been told anything about the show's contents beforehand. The two tracks - one for each performer - are started simultaneously with a video track. The video (which also contains the music for the show) doubles up as the lighting: there are no other light sources. The three separate machines (two audio, one video) then run on for 50 minutes without any human intervention; the entire stage business in ROMCOM - blackouts, titles for scenes, sound cues, music, lighting - is therefore automated, using very simple means. The structure is totally automatic and ‘closed’, thereby foregrounding the variable, human process of negotiating and carrying out the instructions
The show premiered:
291 Gallery, Hackney Road, London, UK, 15-16 March 2003
Finlay Robertson & Amber Sealey; David Rosenberg & Gemma Brockis
There were further presentations at:
West End Centre, Aldershot, UK, 25 March 2004
Martin Huggan & Camilla Greene
The Arches Festival, Glasgow, Scotland, 15-17 April 2004
Paul Blair & Alison Peebles; Ross Stenmore & Judith Williams; Neil Francis & Michaela Dunne
Garage Festival, Stralsund, Germany, 12 August 2004
Jens Bohnsack & Linde Engelhardt
Plateaux Festival, Mousonturm, Frankfurt, Germany, 14-15 October 2004
Jerry Killick & Elyce Semenec; Lars Rudolph & Caroline Peters
Live Brits Festival, Hebbel an Ufer, Berlin, Germany, 7-9 January 2005
Tilo Werner & Sussane Sachsse; Bastian Trost & Bettina Grahs
Phoenix Theatre, Exeter, UK, 3 May 2005
Marcus Bartlett & Katie Beswick
Sexy Machinery #11, Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, London, UK, 29 May 2005
Sophie Okonedo & Greg McLaren
Hackney Empire, London, UK, 17 July 2005
Sean Hughes & Hannah Ringham
Grand Theatre, Noorderzon Festival, Groningen, The Netherlands, 20-21 August 2005
Gerry van der Laan & Sarah van Steenderen; Mirjam Stolwijk & Jochem Koole
Project Space, Dublin Theatre Festival, Eire, 29 September-1 October 2005
Lisa Lambe & Karl Shiels; Katherine O'Malley & Wolfgang Hoffmann; Ruth Negga & Tadg Murphy
Theaterhaus Gessnerallee, Zurich, Switzerland, 22-23 January 2006
Fabienne Hadorn & Martin Zimmerman; Barbara Maurer & Thomas Wodianka
Poole Civic Centre, Poole, UK, 14 March 2006
Laura Griffin & Lee Hart
Elkafka Espacio Teatral, Buenes Aires, Argentina (with Spanish surtitles by Hugo Salas), 23-25 March 2006
Bárbara Togander & Pablo Messiez, Soledad Galarce & Diego Leske; Elena Gowland & Mariano Caligaris -
Shunt Vaults, Joiner Street, London, UK, 24-26 January 2007
Greg Henderson Begg & Emily Mytton; Matt Rudkin & Emma Macfarlane; Neil Edmond & Melanie Wilson
Escrita Na Paisagem, Evora, Portugal (with Portuguese surtitles), 5 July 2007
Dora Bernardo & Tiago Porteiro
Krakowskie Reminiscencje Teatralne, Krakow, Poland (with Polish surtitles by Patryk Czaplicki), 24-25 April 2008
Michal Kocurek & Monika Radziwon; Marta Wardynska & Jakub Snochowski
Stoke Newington International Airport, London, UK, 24 October 2009
Bill Aitchison & Tania El Khoury
In 2011 Kaserne, Basle co-produced a revised, rewritten and re-edited version
Kaserne, Basel, Switzerland (German language version by Karen Witthuhn), 13-15 October 2011
Isabelle Menke & Andreas Storm; Susanne Abelein & Silvester von Hösslin; Cathrin Störmer & Matthias Breitenbach
And there were further presentations at:
Forest Fringe residency, The Gate Theatre, London, UK (UK premiere), 22-27 April 2013
Neil Callaghan & Karen Christopher; Christopher Brett Bailey & Ira Brand; Nigel Barrett & Season Butler;
Thom Tuck & Caroline Williams; Sam Booth & Jess Latowicki; Chris Thorpe & Lucy Ellinson
4 Days: Curtain Call, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK, 15 September 2013
Jodie Hawkes & Peter Phillips (Search Party); Alexandra Zierle & Paul Carter (Zierle & Carter); Jenna Watt & Shaun C Badham
New Vision Festival, Kwai Tsing Theatre, Hong Kong (Cantonese language version by Joanna Lee), 31 October - 2 November 2014
Pichead Amornsomboon & Grace Wu; Au Yeung-chun & Karrie Tan; Lau Shau-ching & Anna leong; Yau Ting-fai & Wong Wai-chi -
Click here for reviews
The Poltergeists
Performed by Lizzie Clachan & Glen Neath (with the voice of Oscar Heath Stephens) at the Shunt Cabaret, London, 20 July 2003
The third party
Sketch performed by Gemma Brockis & Heather Uprichard at the Shunt Cabaret, London, 20 July 2002. Foley by Tom Espiner. Directed by Glen Neath
Didn't you...
Sketch written, performed and directed by Louise Mari & Glen Neath at the Shunt Cabaret, London, 14 October 2001
The pain, in two parts
Sketch performed by Amber Sealey & Hannah Ringham at the Shunt Cabaret, London, 14 October 2001. Directed by Glen Neath
The reason to go on living
Sketch performed by Hannah Ringham at The Shunt Cabaret, Bethnal Green, London, 29 July 2001 and 14 October 2001. Directed by Glen Neath
The Shunt Arch, London, UK, 23,24 February & 2,3 March 2001
Ormsby brings a woman home, but only so she can witness a battle that will decide who has killed his mother... himself, his brother, his sister, or his Father, who is already serving time for the crime
Cast: Simon Kane, Esther Coles, Tom Lyall and Hannah Ringham
Designed by Lizzie Clachan
Directed by Glen Neath
The eminent naturalist Wilberforce B Whitby's problem reconciling the things he finds in his garden with his belief in God
Sketch performed by Lizzie Clachan with the voice of Andrew Rutland at the Shunt Cabaret, London, 15 October 15 2000. Directed by Glen Neath
The Last Inch
Sketch performed by Hannah Ringham and Gemma Brockis at The Shunt Cabaret, London, 8 October 2000. Directed by Glen Neath