Out with the old...

Insane Root made its mark in 2015 with a somewhat audacious staging of a classic Shakespeare play, and so far our reputation has been for making engaging and exciting performances of classical text.

We are, in fact, right now creating a set of Shakespeare-themed pieces for a corporate event - to be performed at the stunning Underglobe (literally underneath the reconstructed Globe Theatre in London). The company will be made up of Insane Root stalwarts BEN CRISPIN (Macbeth) and ZACHARY POWELL (Banquo/Murderer), with music by ELLIE SHOWERING and costume design by SARAH WARREN. We are also welcoming new faces in the form of JACK WHARRIER (who also took part in our Othello R&D), AMY BARNES, NADIA CLIFFORD and singers VERITY STANDEN and JENNY MINTON.

Adding to this, we have begun work on our next large-scale Shakespeare production (to be announced in the new year): creating budgets and selecting a preferred venue. The script edit begins at the end of November and promises to be our biggest production to date.

But, with one toe kept firmly in the Shakespeare camp, we are also very excited to be turning to new writing and commissioning the work of some truly excellent female artists.

This evening, for example, we finished the read-through of the first draft of a reimagined folk tale that we will be bringing to woods near you next summer (funding permitting). It's a magical, dark and rhythmic script created by our own REBECCA NEWMAN (who you may remember from Macbeth and her own blog posts!).

We have also set in motion a new interpretation of a classic Greek myth, inspired by the geography of an iconic Bristol landmark. This will be scripted by local playwright ALISON FARINA, whose prolific body of work includes Fertility Objects, The Persistence of Memory, The Bronte Season, The Bluebird, Snow Child and many more.

We hope you'll be as thrilled by this new season of work as we are, and to reimagining classic stories in new locations in 2017 and beyond.