Beautiful Evil Things

As we come to the end of this tour of Beautiful Evil Things we want to take a moment to celebrate and thank everyone involved in this production.

Starting with the amazingly talented Deb Pugh: Deviser, Performer and Co-composer. “Her performance is variously adrenaline charged, roaring and delicate. She brings tears to your eyes and raises your heart rate” (The Guardian). Couldn’t have put it better ourselves!

On the road with Deb throughout this tour, and providing incredible Technical Stage Management and more, has been Fergus Waldron. What a dream team!

The wonderful creative team on this project has been Director and Co-creator George Mann, Associate Director Megan Vaughan-Thomas, Sound Designer and Co-composer Sam Halmarack, Lighting Designer Ali Hunter, and Set and Costume Designer Katie Sykes. We had “exhilarating sound design” (The Guardian) and “hauntingly atmospheric lighting design” (Morning Star), and it was such a pleasure to work with you all.

As one audience member said, “integrated BSL interpretation is wicked! Deborah and Kyra’s delivery was so engaging and the stories could have been yarns amongst mates down the pub!" Huge thanks to the amazing interpreter Kyra Pollitt and BSL Consultants for this show, Mary-Jayne Russell de Clifford and Lynn Stewart-Taylor.

We couldn’t have done any of this this without such excellent Production Management from Ethan Hudson, Frontseat Media. Big thank you also to Emily Darley (Stage Manager in Bristol), Lydia Morgan (SM in R&D) and Lily Ball (Assistant Workshop Facilitator).

The fabulous Camilla Adams created our awesome trailer and produced so many beautiful photos we’ve been spoiled for choice. And a big shout out to Mobius PR & Emma Berge for all their work.

A very special thank you to all the supporters of this project which was co-commissioned by Tobacco Factory Theatres with support from The Wardrobe Ensemble. Made possible through funding from Arts Council England.

The Learning & Engagement project was supported by funding from Theatre Orchard and Culture Weston; ‘Into the Arts’ administered by Quartet Community Foundation and The Nisbet Trust.

And of course, THANK YOU to all our audiences! It’s been an absolute pleasure to share these stories with you, as always. And this isn’t goodbye from Medusa, just a ‘see you later’…

NPO announcement

We're very pleased to announce that we have been successful in our bid to join the Arts Council England national portfolio for 2023-26. Through this investment we'll collaborate with exceptional artists and companies to create new, experimental productions over the next three years and tour our critically acclaimed shows to places across the country and the world. Encompassing learning, engagement and sector development, our programme of activity will work with partners locally and internationally to foreground the experiences of underserved and underrepresented artists, communities and audiences.

Thank you to our board, collaborators and partners for your ongoing support, advice and creative brilliance. We can't wait to get started.

Ad Infinitum’s Co-Artistic Directors Nir and George said:

When we founded Ad Infinitum back in 2007, arriving at this point seemed like a distant dream. We have had the generous support of an extraordinary Board of Trustees who have guided the organisation from strength to strength. After 15 years of making what has sometimes seemed like the impossible actually happen - bringing a diversity of voices and a collective of incredible people, artists and creatives together in collaboration; growing our brilliant and massively dedicated core team; working flat out; finding the funding project by project; touring the world with our theatre shows, learning and engagement work and many other events; and getting through those tough pandemic years and emerging more determined and resilient than ever - becoming an NPO is a truly pivotal moment in Ad Infinitum’s journey.

While we feel hopeful and excited about this announcement, we’re also simultaneously aware that it arrives within the context of major challenges to the wider arts community, including over a decade of damaging cuts to funding, following CV-19, and as we are all dealing with the energy and cost-of-living crisis to mention just a few - so for us it’s also a moment of heartfelt solidarity with friends and colleagues, especially those facing a very different outlook to ourselves.

Arts Council England’s NPO investment will ensure we can now look further ahead strategically with more stability. Most excitingly, we will be able to continue developing our inclusive work, and reach more people - artists, participants and audiences, here in the UK and around the world. We know there’s a great amount of potential to unlock - and we just can’t wait to get going!

Phil Gibby, Area Director, South West, Arts Council England said:

It’s great to be welcoming Ad Infinitum into the 2023-26 National Portfolio. The company is well-known for its playful, disruptive, inclusive productions, and their significant contribution to opening the doors for local artists and performers in the south west. Their shows, such as Extraordinary Wall Of Silence, have been very well received for their universal themes, and the broad audiences they attract - so we’re pleased to invest in their long-term plans, which certainly contribute to a more representative portfolio and help us achieve the vision we set out in Let’s Create.

Chair of Ad Infinitum’s Board of Trustees, Lauren Clancy said:

I couldn’t be more thrilled that Ad Infinitum will become an NPO in the 2023-26 funding period. It’s something the organisation has been working towards for a long time and it follows an extensive period of collaborative organisational development - and a lot of hard work from our dedicated team.

Ad Infinitum now begins a new chapter full of creative growth and development. As Chair, I’m looking forward to continuing to work with my fellow trustees to deliver strong governance and strategic direction against a culture of radical inclusivity.

Images

Bucket List
Photo by Alex Brenner, Design by Max Johns, Lighting Design by Peter Harrison, Sound Design by Chris Bartholomew.

Extraordinary Wall of Silence
Photo by Alex Brenner, Set & Costume Design by Anna Orton, Lighting Design by Jo Palmer, Sound Design by Sam Halmarack.

Ballad of the Burning Star
Photo by Alex Brenner, Costume Design by Serena Montesissa, Set Design by Francesco Gorni, Lighting Design by Peter Harrison, Musical Director Adam Pleeth.

We're recruiting a Producer!

Ad Infinitum is looking for a driven, passionate and hardworking Producer to join the company from September 2022. 

This is an exciting time for us as we emerge from two years of working through the pandemic and spring back to full operations and a varied programme of in-person activity. As our Producer you will collaborate with the team to create and deliver Ad Infinitum’s productions; to inspire, ask pertinent questions and be a vital and dynamic force seeking out opportunities to devise and present Ad Infinitum’s work.

• This is a part-time role, for 24 hours a week, with flexible hours

• The salary is £27k - £30k per annum (pro rata) depending on experience

• Remote working opportunity

We are very interested in finding the right person for this position that would fit our collaborative way of working and our team, so we would be open to a discussion about the hours and working patterns of the role, working on a freelance basis, start date or other specific requirements you might wish us to look at.

We actively encourage people whose backgrounds, lived experience and skills are underrepresented in the sector to join us and positively impact our working practice. Any candidate who self-identifies as Deaf, deaf, hard of hearing, disabled or neurodiverse, and/or as a person of colour and who meets the person specification, is guaranteed an interview, as these individuals are under-represented in our current workforce.

Please visit our vacancies page by clicking here for further information and to download a recruitment pack.

The deadline for applications is 10am on Wednesday 27 July 2022.