Romcom (or, the distance love can be maintained between any two diverging points)
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
Concept by Ant Hampton
Text by Glen Neath
Video work by Britt Hatzius
Showreel by Susanne Dietz
Creative production by Katja Timmerberg
Versions in English, German (translated by Karen Witthuhn) and Cantonese (translated by Joanna Lee)
Sur-titled versions in Spanish (by Hugo Salas), Portuguese and Polish (by Patryk Czaplicki)
Revised, rewritten and re-edited version for 2011, co-produced by Kaserne, Basle, Switzerland
Performances to date of 2011 version:
Kaserne, Basel, Switzerland (German language premiere)
Isabelle Menke & Andreas Storm - 13 October 2011
Susanne Abelein & Silvester von Hösslin - 14 October 2011
Cathrin Störmer & Matthias Breitenbach - 15 October 2011
Forest Fringe residency, The Gate Theatre, London, UK (UK premiere)
Neil Callaghan & Karen Christopher - 22 April 2013
Christopher Brett Bailey & Ira Brand - 23 April 2013
Nigel Barrett & Season Butler - 24 April 2013
Thom Tuck & Caroline Williams - 25 April 2013
Sam Booth & Jess Latowicki - 26 April 2013
Chris Thorpe & Lucy Ellinson - 27 April 2013
4 Days: Curtain Call, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK
Jodie Hawkes & Peter Phillips (Search Party) - 15 September 2013
Alexandra Zierle & Paul Carter (Zierle & Carter) - 15 September 2013
Jenna Watt & Shaun C Badham - 15 September 2013
New Vision Festival, Kwai Tsing Theatre, Hong Kong (Cantonese language premiere)
Pichead Amornsomboon & Grace Wu - 31 October 2014
Au Yeung-chun & Karrie Tan - 1 November 2014
Lau Shau-ching & Anna leong - 2 November 2014
Yau Ting-fai & Wong Wai-chi - 2 November 2014
Performances of original 2003 version:
291 Gallery, Hackney Road, London, UK
Finlay Robertson & Amber Sealey - 15 March 2003
David Rosenberg & Gemma Brockis - 16 March 2003
West End Centre, Aldershot, UK
Martin Huggan & Camilla Greene - 25 March 2004
The Arches Festival, Arches, Argyle Street, Glasgow, Scotland
Paul Blair & Alison Peebles - 15 April 2004
Ross Stenmore & Judith Williams - 16 April 2004
Neil Francis & Michaela Dunne - 17 April 2004
Garage Festival, Stralsund, Germany
Jens Bohnsack & Linde Engelhardt - 12 August 2004
Plateaux Festival, Mousonturm, Frankfurt, Germany
Jerry Killick & Elyce Semenec - 14 October 2004
Lars Rudolph & Caroline Peters - 15 October 2004
Live Brits Festival, Hebbel an Ufer, Berlin, Germany
Tilo Werner & Sussane Sachsse - 7 January 2005
Bastian Trost & Bettina Grahs - 9 January 2005
Phoenix Theatre, Exeter, UK
Marcus Bartlett & Katie Beswick - 3 May 2005
Sexy Machinery #11, Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, London, UK
Sophie Okonedo & Greg McLaren - 29 May 2005
Hackney Empire, London, UK
Sean Hughes & Hannah Ringham - 17 July 2005
Grand Theatre, Noorderzon Festival, Groningen, The Netherlands
Gerry van der Laan & Sarah van Steenderen - 20 August 2005
Mirjam Stolwijk & Jochem Koole - 21 August 2005
Project Space, Dublin Theatre Festival, Eire
Lisa Lambe & Karl Shiels - 29 September 2005
Katherine O'Malley & Wolfgang Hoffmann - 30 September 2005
Ruth Negga & Tadg Murphy - 1 October 2005
Theaterhaus Gessnerallee, Zurich, Switzerland
Fabienne Hadorn & Martin Zimmerman - 22 January 2006
Barbara Maurer & Thomas Wodianka - 23 January 2006
Poole Civic Centre, Poole, UK
Laura Griffin & Lee Hart - 14 March 2006
Elkafka Espacio Teatral, Buenes Aires, Argentina (with Spanish surtitles)
Bárbara Togander & Pablo Messiez - 23 March 2006
Soledad Galarce & Diego Leske - 24 March 2006
Elena Gowland & Mariano Caligaris - 25 March 2006
Shunt Vaults, Joiner Street, London, UK
Greg Henderson Begg & Emily Mytton - 24 January 2007
Matt Rudkin & Emma Macfarlane - 25 January 2007
Neil Edmond & Melanie Wilson - 26 January 2007
Escrita Na Paisagem, Evora, Portugal (with Portuguese surtitles)
Dora Bernardo & Tiago Porteiro - 5 July 2007
Krakowskie Reminiscencje Teatralne, Krakow, Poland (with Polish surtitles)
Michal Kocurek & Monika Radziwon - 24 April 2008
Marta Wardynska & Jakub Snochowski - 25 April 2008
Stoke Newington International Airport, London, UK
Bill Aitchison & Tania El Khoury - 24 October 2009
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