'Welcome aboard The Flying Machine and get ready for a wondrous adventure!'
The Flying Machine was HandMade Theatre's very first production. It was born out of a year long residency project working with some of the hardest to reach children at Rosehill School in Nottingham for children aged 4-19 on the autistic spectrum.
The idea was to create an interactive theatre experience in collaboration with young people and have the ability to totally transform school environments into a range of interactive environments.
A team of young people supported our professional artists to plan, devise and build The Flying Machine. We worked with Craftsman Ben Thomas to design the structure which had to be tactile, robust and highly flexible, He brought his love of natural wood and traditional methods to the piece which became a key aspect of the company style.
The Flying Machine developed into an exciting tool to invite participants on a journey of adventure. Led by the musical Captain and dramatic First Mate we could explore fascinating new destinations both real and imaginary. The participants became the crew, flapping the wings, working the controls, steering the captain’s wheel and contributing ideas to our destinations, stories and songs.
A live musician supported the adventures providing an improvised soundtrack to immerse the audience, generating a truly a sensory experience. The music enhanced the sense of travel and movement, it adding tension and drama when encountering different weather and centred us in different countries and cultures when we reached a destination. We worked with the wonderful Matt Marks in the development of this important aspect.
The Flying Machine toured schools, festivals, theatre venues and community settings between 2012-2018, its versatile nature meant it could be transformed into new projects and was constantly evolving.
Performer/Creator/Director: Suzy Gunn
Performer/Creator/Designer: Amy Nicholson
Music: Matt Marks
Set Build: Ben Thomas
Props: Emily Corkhill
Inspiration & collaborators: The Children of Rose Hill School
HANDMADE THEATRE WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2011 AND SINCE THEN WE HAVE DEVELOPED A NUMBER OF KEY PRODUCTIONS DEVELOPING OUR UNIQUE INTERACTIVE STYLE AND BRAND.
It all began with The Flying Machine which was a creative project originally developed in collaboration with Rosehill Special School. This went on to become a popular family show touring to festivals and events nationally and set us on track as a successful touring company.
We are proud of all the unique productions we have created exploring a wide range of themes from history to transport, adventure to nature. Sadly as ideas and performers move on, not all our wonderful shows can remain in our current touring vocabulary and must be archived. That is the very nature of producing live events. But a little glimpse at our past work can be found here.
