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Where are they now?
Richie Smith – Associate director
Richie is currently (Spring 2026) living just outside Penzance in a rural idyll. Surrounded by nature, close to the sea, he is living the dream.
Always grateful for opportunities which have come his way, he took up a job with Penwith Landscape Partnership in 2018 which lasted for 5 years (Heritage Lottery funding came to an end) and now works part-time for Cornwall Heritage Trust as a Practical Tasks Officer leading groups of volunteers maintaining many ancient archaeological sites across West Penwith.
He regularly plays a side drum with the mighty Raffidy Dumitz Band, playing raucous Cornish folk tunes and attending various events at midsummer (Golowan), midwinter (Montol), and various Wassails and other Cornish celebrations around the seasons.
He has a project called Cymbalology (https://cymbalology.wordpress.com/) which involves hitting many cymbals and encouraging other people to do so too. A recent offshoot of this project is his new trio – Kymboss. 3 people, 24 cymbals. Look out for them – coming to a weird art/music venue near you soon.
He still makes award-winning, top quality Trinity Cider with his great friend Deekey McLuckie.
He recently found himself with a spare room, which is now gleefully populated by his drum kit and many other musical instruments, including a recently acquired synthesiser (which he is still trying to tame).
Listen to what he is up to here – https://soundcloud.com/richie-smith-607253611/sets/pillocks
He is one half of the experimental metal band The Daily Biggle with Dylan Bradley-Peer (https://thedailybiggle.bandcamp.com/album/mr-flyingboxes-sticklesbird AND https://soundcloud.com/richie-smith-607253611/sets/splinter)
He was recently part of an ensemble performing ‘Funeral’ by Ontroerend Goed theatre in Redruth.
He is now a member of the board of Wildworks.
In 2024 he re-vamped the infamous Balloon Toss at Lafrowda Festival, St. Just, as Cap’n Cliché aided by the well-dodgy Tremenheere Jen.
Richard Headon – Artistic Director
Since 1996 Richard has been a core element in evolution of Desperate Men.
He has devised & led much of the Company’s work over the years and remains on the bridge steering it along whilst it blasts into its 46th year.
This year he will be out and about with Desperate Men’s latest creation, ‘The Composter’.
He will also be offering his performance & writing skills to the wider outdoor arts and events sector.
In the last year he has provided ideas, dramaturgy & direction to the ‘Wye Valley River Festival’, street performers ‘Jones & Barnard’, circus creator ‘Charles Brockbank’, arts input on the MV Balmoral with educationalists ‘My Future, My Choice’ whilst also inventing with the students at Circomedia.
He also has continued his fruitful theatrical relationship with Cirque Bijou.
He is a regular contributor through them at Camp Bestival and at a range of large theatrically immersive parties.
In recent performance work he has worked with Cat & Mouse Theatre & Fair Play
He also continues his medical, dental, pharmacist & vet role play work with Bristol & Bath Universities.
Shirley Pegna – Musical Director
She is making sound and music projects and collaborating with different artists and performers based in Bristol. As well as working with Desperate Men most recently The Composter, she has enjoyed collaborative work with Will Pegna and Louie Pegna 1st generation Desperate Men, being the sons of Richie Smith (co-founder of Desperate Man – now living and working in Cornwall) and her … they were watching or actually in Desperate Men shows since birth!
Listening to the writing cut into the Rock Record
All Terrain Training – artist/choreographer Will Pegna’s first extended show using her recordings of seismic and weather field recordings. A durational show involving usually a minimum of 8 dancers, the show toured to London, Milan, South Korea and Bristol’s Arnolfini.
https://arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/allterraintraining/
https://www.pgna.studio/honeymoon
https://www.pgna.studio/sunset
Seoul airport touring with ATT
Collaborating with Louie Pegna, an intermedia artist working between printmaking and installation, Earth Din was installed and performed at Arnolfini Bristol and filmed here in a Bristol warehouse. More recently collaborating on Underscore a live performance combining sound sensitive visuals and subterranean field recordings.
Shirley is a member of BEEF (Bristol Experimental and Expanded film. Notably making BEEF funded project Calling Calling – a yearlong project exploring expanded voice.
As an improvising musician she has been playing cello with musicians at the Cube Bristol, Tom Lobban at the Louisianna Bristol, with Dominic Lash and Angharad Davies. Also touring from Glasgow to the ICA, London, as a vocalist with a composed vocal piece by Yas Clarke called The Thicket.
Radio receiver explorations – Svalbard Arctic
ACE funding for a DYCP research project called Geological Time and Stone turntable has allowed her to more hands on with material/rock. The research encompassed work on the Lizard Cornwall with choreographer Kyra Norman. Watch here and research in Greenland.
@shirley.pegna
Aboard the Skydancer on the West coast of Greenland with the shotgun mic
The Composter
Now available to book our new Co-Creation between The Wye Valley River Festival & Desperate Men!
‘The Composter’ – A dynamic superhero show that is bold, startling & down to earth.
Compost Mentis: of sound mind, memory & understanding
A 30 mins show (up to 3 times a day)
This interactive walkabout show connects people with the value of composting. Having slipped into an allotment bin in 1973, The Composter now emerges, part man, part worm, part banana. Utilising a fantastical costume with built in sound system, smoke machine & lights, they have been seeped in old copies of the Guardian newspaper, the music of prog rock and 80’s pop. Are they equipped to face the current new world order and to face their nemesis, micro & nano plastics? Will this unlikely super hero be overwhelmed or will they overcome these pernicious villains & rise victorious to fight another day?
Since its premiere at The Wye Valley River Festival, The Composter has visited the Hellens Garden Festival, Grow Devizes, Radstock Fayre, Surge Festival Glasgow and The Festival of Thrift, Billingham.
Perfect for Garden Festivals, Agricultural shows, Allotment celebrations, Outdoor green themed events & Festivals.
Contact The Composter Bin C/O office@desperatemen.com
Creative Team
The Man who soiled himself – Richard Headon
The Make – Jenny Brent Costume Productions
The Sound – Shirley Pegna
The Film & Artwork – Hugh Clifford
The Worm – Nicky Scott
The Felt Maker – Yuli Somme
The Photos – Jenny Brent & @ryan.murphy.photos
Festival Quotes
Loved the funky Compost Man in Hereford last weekend… hilarious informative, entertaining and great message!
Jane Cross, Hereford’s Happening, Wye Valley River Festival
Thanks so much for coming. We loved the Composter being part of this year’s festival, definitely brought some edgy humour to the event and was great for both children & adults.
Soesen Edan, Hellens Garden Festival
Thrilled to have the wonderful Composter!
Festival of Thrift
Fitted the vibe perfectly!
Radstock Fayre
A joy to host you!
Surge Festival, Glasgow
The Rise of The Composter
Booking now for 2026
A hardy annual superhero tale for our times.
Click here for more info.
Ghosts – Something Rotten
Do you believe in Ghosts?
In a new specially commissioned show for the PASSAGE Festival, Aug 3rd-5th, Desperate Men return to Helsingør to investigate reported otherworldly psychic paranormal phantasmagoria.
From the ‘other side,’ 3 spectral specialists on a spiritual pilgrimage attempt to investigate trace phenomena, such as Hamlet’s ghostly father, poltergeist activity, and reports of the UK haunting Europe.
Delving into Shakespeare, Dracula, the after-shocks of Brexit,16th Century English song, and a fine collection of coiffured wigs, these experts will weave storytelling, apparitions, and apparent disinformation that is being spouted to lay bare the truth about what is actually going on.
More Scooby Don’t than Scooby Do.
Devised & Performed
Sarah Corbett
Angus Barr
Richard Headon
Musical Direction
Shirley Pegna
Direction
Susie Donkin
Photos/Art work
Sarah Corbett
Producer
Richard Headon
This film here is the tryout on MV Balmoral, Bristol Harbour Festival 2023 (Film by Aneta Skut)
Recorded at The PASSAGE Festival, Helsingor, Denmark – 04.08.23
Devised & Performed by Sarah Corbett, Angus Barr & Richard Headon
Music Shirley Pegna
Artwork/Photos Sarah Corbett
Directed by Susie Donkin
Commissioned by Helsingor Teater
The Dadaist Ghost with The Desperate Men is unmistakably British. With snippets of the standard “These Foolish Things” as a leitmotif, three ghosts, a captain, a card fraudster and a make-up seller from the duty-free shop, combine the variety show with the disaster film in a story where the ship that goes down is also an image of today’s England.
iscene.dk
Washed Up – FREE to view
Washed Up, Rough Glory Films’ award winning short film about Desperate Men is FREE to watch! This bleakly comic study takes an unflinching look at the combustible tension that drives Desperate Men to keep making vital street theatre when some days they are barely on speaking terms. Seeing how we have lasted 25 years without killing one another may inspire people to keep going through these bleak times. Click here to watch for free.
Washed Up
We are making Washed Up available to watch FREE during the coronavirus crisis. It’s a cinematic film so watch on the biggest screen you can find (with popcorn if available) and please let us know your thoughts!
Washed Up is a tender, witty documentary showing a creative relationship in crisis. What drives two veterans of outdoor arts to keep making vital street theatre when some days they are barely on speaking terms? The creative mechanics of Desperate Men’s fractious but fruitful partnership are laid bare, as they reflect on personal and collective mortality, ecological precarity, and their unique legacy of desperation.
This poetic and painfully poignant film was directed by Nathan Hughes of Rough Glory films and won Best Edit at Close Up: Edinburgh Docu Fest 2019. It was also officially selected by The Dumbo Film Festival in New York and the Buenos Aires Film Festival.
It just took 40 minutes of my life and repaid me with beauty, heart, art, love, humanity, soul, warmth and wisdom. I wish I could embrace you both and weep for life passing, art made and tides turning.
Tim Crouch
To book a screening email info@roughgloryfilms.com or head to the official website for more details about the film and how it was made. Q&As with the Desperate Men & director Nathan Hughes are also bookable. You can view the trailer below or read this longer article in Theatre Bristol.
A
Absurdity
Desperate Men’s early work played with absurdity, surrealism and all manner of physical preposterousness.
Audiences
Desperate Men are adept at welcoming the audience in to shows and animations and inviting them to play, as this clip from Builth Wells Hobby Fair demonstrates.
Animals
Audiences can include animals.
B
Background
Jon and Richie discuss the background and origins of the Pipe People on these early videos.
C
Creating characters
War (Jo Kessell) from The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Pestilence (Vic Llewellyn) from The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Famine (Jo Smith) from The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Death (Richard Headon) from The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Costume
Creating costumes for The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
BBC Inside Out follows Battle for the Winds costume designer Sarah Dicks
D
Directing
Richie Smith discusses the skills involved in directing Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Disturbing
Some of our work addresses serious issues – Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse aimed to leave audiences feeling unsettled.
Desperanto
We invented our own polyglot comedic language, Desperanto, for The Fountain.
E
Eggs
Eggs played a significant role in Desperate Men’s early work.
Engaging with audiences and communities
Engagement and participation play a huge role in our work, whether we’re drawing audiences into a story or engaging the communities who take part in large-scale pieces like the Severn Project or Battle for the Winds.
Engaging audiences with The Severn Project
Engaging the community with The Severn Project
G
The Ghastly Family
Gatherings
The lead-up to Battle for the Winds saw Wind Gatherers collecting wind across the South West.
Generations
Here is the official film of the 2022 Generations project featuring the full show from the last day of the tour at Greenwich & Docklands International Festival.
Ghosts – Something Rotten
Desperate Men return to Helsingør to investigate reported otherworldly psychic paranormal phantasmagoria.
H
History and Heritage
We are particularly skilled at bringing history and heritage to life, whether by animating historical characters or creating work that responds to and illuminates local landscapes, industries and communities.
History and Heritage in The Severn Project
Heroes
Our heroes come in all shapes, sizes and species, from the Bear in the Miracle Show to the valiant River Inspectors (and indeed the Sturgeon) in the Severn Project.
The Breathers – Battle for the Winds. Breathe Company, formed of 64 disabled and non-disabled artists, represented the crucial South West Wind in Battle for the Winds, and their breath helped defeat stone – hearted Doldrum. This documentary, produced by Colourburn, charts Breathe Company’s journey to Weymouth.
Bruno – The Miracle Show
The River Inspectors
I
Improvisation
The ability to improvise is essential when you’re working outdoors with a live audience.
Musical improvisation at Builth Wells.
… and here’s the video for the original song:
Impossible ideas
We like to make impossible ideas possible.
L
Landscape
As outdoor artists, we have to be able to respond to and work with the landscape – whether it’s urban, rural, on land or aquatic.
There’s nothing artistic about the humble urban bin – until you climb into one carrying a torch and wheel it through the streets of Valladolid in Spain.
Landscape in the Severn Project
Lada
For years the Lada was a faithful standby for Desperate Men shows, until it was blown up live on TV by Richard Hammond.
M
Music
We incorporate music into our work wherever possible – choral, instrumental, orchestral, folk, classical, jazz, banjos, ukuleles, euphoniums, pianos, strings, a capella – and many Desperate Men shows feature original soundtracks by our musical director Shirley Pegna.
Desperate Men’s musical director Shirley Pegna discusses the music from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Music from The Lighthouse
Music from The Fountain
Early work – Hair
Marshmallows
Marshmallows form an unusual instrument of torture in this clip from In The Arms of an Angel.
O
Our Lady of the Bears
Our Lady of the Bears was the miraculous, milk-spurting saint of The Miracle Show.
P
Propaganda – early work
Play
Jon discusses the importance of play at Footsbarn Theatre’s 25th anniversary bash.
We also tried playing around with video in our early days (Fish Song).
Q
Questioning
We like to question aspects of life that people take for granted or never usually think about. In the Miracle Show, which followed a family of refugees, we asked audiences for their identity cards before they could enter and performed random checks on them.
R
Royal Marines
The Royal Marines supported Battle for the Winds, providing the most spectacular entrance for Doldrum.
Re-interpretation
Portugal’s Teatro Del Mar put together their own production of The Fountain, complete with a Portugese-influenced version of Desperanto.
S
Sensational
Sensational ending to The Severn Project 2007
Science
CSI Clowns, Everything Gets Eaten and Darwin and the Dodo are all science-based shows.
Darwin and the Dodo at Lyme Regis Fossil Festival
CSI Clowns
T
Tragedy
Tragedy in The Fountain
Tragedy in The Lighthouse
Torch Waders
Battle for the Winds ended with the awesome, primal sight of 2012 volunteers wading into the sea with torches. This video shows the first tryouts for the torch wading.
This BBC footage gives some idea of the scale of the final Torch Wade on July 28.
Testimonials
U
Unexpected
Part of the joy in creating shows and animations is in unleashing the unexpected onto audiences. Life is always improved by the sudden introduction of an exploding tomato or a bunch of pipe-worshipping eccentrics into a quiet afternoon.
Exploding tomato
Becoming a mermaid (The Lighthouse)
Pipe People at Builth Wells Hobby Fair
V
Villains
We’ve had some great villains in Desperate Men shows over the years. Here’s The Mayor being dastardly in The Miracle Show.
Doldrum emerges at Lyme Regis Fossil Festival
The Sturgeon Hunters from the Severn Project
W
Working together
Putting together large-scale shows like The Severn Project and Battle for the Winds requires bringing many different partners and agencies, from local authorities to community groups, to the same table. This can be of great benefit to all these stakeholders, creating links between local, regional and national groups who might otherwise never interact. We are experienced in facilitating these link-ups and helping people work together.
Working together / collaboration – The Severn Project
The Wye Valley River Festival
X
Xtreme!
Rick Dick and Vic – Extreme! – Towel dance
Rick Dick and Vic – Extreme! – Jane Fonda – inspired routine. Check out the dance-off at 2 mins 15.
Y
Why do we do it? For the beer and the mermaids! And because we love performing, creating shows, inviting audiences to play, as these clips from the Festival of Desperation show.
Z
Zephyrs
Aeolus calls the winds to gather for Battle for the Winds
Geoff Dunlop’s beautiful Windscapes videos, inspired by Alice Oswalds’ Conversations with the Wind poems which we commissioned for Battle for the Winds
Festival Of Desperation
In Autumn 2010, we celebrated 30 years of being Desperate Men with the mighty three-day Festival of Desperation. We took over Bristol with street theatre performances and an exhibition showing three decades of our work, plus a party, cabaret and film show at the Cube Cinema.
On Sunday the festival decamped to Bristol Old Vic for a day of performances, talks and discussions. We also worked with eight young and emerging artists to help them create shows for the festival, some of which have subsequently been commissioned by other festivals including the Winchester Hat Fair.
Here’s a selection of feedback and letters we received after the Festival:
What a brilliant bash: I’m very sorry I couldn’t attend more of it but enjoyed meeting so many old (and less old!) muckers Friday night and Sat. afternoon/evening. The Desperate History Exhibition was extraordinary: there was stuff in there I’d forgotten and stuff I’d never seen: an enormously impressive archive of terrific and precociously varied work. I’m proud to have played a very small part in a most honourable undertaking (I mean, being Desperate occasionally), and very glad and happy to have been able to Angelise the Evening of Fragile Reality. Thanks for it all. You really are a continuing inspiration.
Ric Jerrom, Natural Theatre Company
Well done and what a great weekend! I have received lots of reports back from friends who were wandering around Bristol over the weekend and they all experienced Desperate acts and thought it was really great. I think the whole city felt strange and twitchy and edgy throughout the festival and people really noticed which is fabulous.
Claire Teasdale, Bristol City Council
A truly fandabbydozy weekend and true to the spirit of us all!
Ian Smith, Mischief La Bas
Bloody brilliant.
Paschale Straiton, Artistic Director, Red Herring Productions
Thank you so much for a wonderful weekend, I am now recovered from aching stomach muscles and have flushed from my body the slight over-indulgence of Guinness. Well done to all of you for your hard work and generosity in putting together an unforgettable few days.
Laura @ Belle Tents
Wonderful weekend. I had such a lovely time.
Ned, Creature Feature
Thank you all. It was wonderful! Desperately hoping for an annual event?
Cathy Peace, SWANK
It was an absolute pleasure, and we’ve posted up our street show on youtube.
Roy Hutchins
Thank you. You are all Stars and yes please lets do more …
Bec Applebee
Aaaaah!!! Yeahhh!
Kevin Dennis
It was a wonderful event and I am very happy to be part of the cabaret. I was very overwhelmed to be there among my very dear and old friends and colleagues.
Angela de Castro
Many thanks for all your hard work last weekend. We had a ball in the Bear Pit and at the parties afterwards.
Clare Thomson, Hurt Club
I had a great time at the festival and thank you and the team. Come and do it in Amsterdam!
Rob Hahn
What an utterly fabtastic Fest it was! Well, I had a great time seeing the best of the Streets, so thanks a load Desps!
Jo Smith
I had a great time. Lovely to see some old friends and to see all of you having a ball. WELL DONE! Here’s to the next 30 …
Jenny Sanderson / Bocadalupa
Thanks for photo of silly cake, and thanks for being so desperate for so long and so brilliantly. I didn’t realise the immensity of the cannon of work and I really felt wistful (and delighted, intrigued, entertained and envious) to see all that hilarity in the exhibition and to know that I had missed it all – off being busy and oblivious. I hope you could sense all the love and admiration from everybody at the festival. It was a real treat and thanks to everybody who made it so.
Maria, The World Famous
Cheers Desperates! You pulled off a fantastic event that was of course very special. Great to see a wonderful bunch of folk in one place and celebrate a mighty 30 years. Had a ball, had a blast.
Dave ID, Splott Bros
Was a wonderful weekend. The shows were fantastic and the enthusiasm of so many to take part a testament to your artistic influence and inspiration. I will wear my Desperate Artist badge with pride.
Neil Butler, UZ Limited
Thanks to you guys for a truly brilliant weekend!
Rosa Gracie Spoon
A fantastic festival – thanks a lot. Really enjoyed being part of it.
Sameena Zahra, Utter Nonsense Theatre
A huge thank you for inviting me to your wonderful birthday party. The only failure was a lack of desperation – everyone seemed so full of joy and hope!!! It was a gas, a ball, a trip, a hoot and a timely occasion to catch up with an amazing peer group all hanging in there with varying levels of desperation.
Rowan Wylie
Thank you all so much for an amazing weekend we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Lemmings Theatre
Was humbled and delighted to be a tiny part of the EMPIRE of Delight that is Desperate Men – hopefully all that warmth and good-feel factor that was overflowing at the weekend will keep you all buoyant and dimpled for a few more years.
Jo Bousfield / Theatre Officer Glos City Council
Thanks so much for the invitation to contribute to such an amazing event. I am sure this weekend will be remembered by many for a long, long time. Thanks for your inspiration and thoughtfulness in bringing it all together, and here’s to another 30 years!
Kyra Norman
Thanks for a lovely time, was proud to be part of it.
Annabel Holland, Frenetic
Just to say what a fabulous time the Fest of Desp was, although it seemed to fly by! Thanks for the opportunity to show Horse and for looking after us all so well. Here’s to next one!!
Flick Ferdinando Artistic Director, Company FZ
Great weekend – and lovely to see all our crinkly faces! As I like to say, our hysterical is becoming historical.
Ian Smith
What a lovely weekend! Lots of my favourite people from past and present – just gorgeous. Thanks all and thanks Desperates.
Kim Tilbrook
Thanks to each and everyone for being there, and thanks to Jon B, Richard, Richie, Ursula, Liz, Emily, Ben and all the ones I have not mentioned, and who have put so much heart in getting it together. This Festival will remain the best event I took part to this year. Yes, despite of the little financial help you received you succeeded at organizing a festival based on Artists, people, communication and inter-activities. And it was not surprising to see on the “Festival Plazza” so many people meeting, talking, exchanging, a true platform of human response to the coldness of this market economy era that dominates our lives. Yes, I think that the amount of genuine community work and positive vibrations you have spread around you showed up during those few days on the faces of the people I met there, young and old: sharing, being together, celebrating life and arts rather than wars, money, right wing politics and fanatical religious beliefs. A good society is a society where all people, small and big, young and old, dare going out again and share with one another the infinite possibilities that the street can offer, a fair society where young people are allowed to squat and provocate speculators, a society that take cares of all. Plus, we were so proud and happy to be invited to perform there and to receive such a true feedback from everyone. Bravo, thanks again, and please keep on the good work in cultural and social Bristol! Au revoir!
Daniel Rovai
A fantastic weekend was had by all, Daniel I couldn’t put it in such eloquent words but wholeheartedly agree, so glad I went for the full experience … old Vic an’ all …
Tina Banks
A good time was had by all. Been walking ’round with my “artist” wristband like a saddo all week.
Tall Paul
Back home safe & sound. Totally exhausted, lost voice, but all lovey’d up after an amazing w/e of Desperation in Bristol. Lovely to see all you lovely lovies – well done to all involved. Thanks for an unforgettable time.
Linda Carel
That was fab, I had so much fun. Thank you very much.
Imogen Pettitt
Bet you must be completely wiped out from all the shenanigans. But smiling with a stack of wonderful memories. What a great night and from the bits I saw, great weekend. Well done y’all.
Deeky
Fantastic weekend thank you Desperates – the sheer number of artists and performers who wanted to join in, the 300 sparklers and exploding cake said it all. The shows were fantastic and the enthusiasm of so many to take part a testament to your artistic influence and inspiration. I will wear my Desperate Artist badge with pride.
Neil Butler, Director UZ Events
Thanks so much for the invitation to contribute to such an amazing event. I am sure this weekend will be remembered by many for a long, long time. Thanks for your inspiration and thoughtfulness in bringing it all together, and here’s to another 30 years!
Kyra Norman
ACTS OF DESPERATION (BRISTOL) – Young and emerging artists
Thank you so much for having our post van as part of the Festival of Desperation. We had such wonderful time. It was a really exciting and inspiring weekend and we are so appreciative of the support and encouragement that everyone gave. It was amazing to have the opportunity to develop our piece with an audience and talk to people about it and get feedback. Hopefully we can build on this. I loved seeing your exhibition and the footage of your work and the talk and performances on Sunday were brilliant! Quite a mix. I feel very lucky to have been part of it.
Alice Ellerby, Jilted Pig
Me and Denise wanted to thank you and the desperate men for a brilliant weekend and for helping us make a piece that we hope to use again in the future. Still on a high. It was really great. We had an amazing time with our toilet piece and have a piece of work we will use in future thanks to you guys. We thought the festival was brilliant!
Carly Etherington
Thanks so much for all your help with my shows, and for the opportunity to be involved! I had such a brilliant time at the festival, think it was an amazing event and I’m really glad to have been a part of it. Hope you all enjoyed the weekend. Please let me know if you need any help with future projects.
Eleanor Fogg
Thank you for selecting me to be involved with your festival of desperation, I very much enjoyed myself and generated lots of rich material.
Becky Hall
I’ve been banging on to everyone I meet about how good the cabaret was. It was the best event I’ve been to in a very long time. Can it happen every week please?
Kid Carpet
I had a great time volunteering on the Friday of the festival, I had a lot of fun! I just wanted to pass on the comments I had from people. I was stewarding on the Post De Resistance van. One of the students we coerced into the back of the van asked me afterwards if there was a petition she could sign! She said she thought it was a brilliant way of raising awareness about the post offices closures! I also had a guy come out saying it was the most amazing experience of his life and another say it was the most bizarre experience of his!! Needless to say everyone that went in a little bit unsure at what I was trying to get them to do came out having loved it! Shame I didn’t go in myself!! I did tell the girls at the time what comments I was getting but feel free to relay this message to them.
Rachel Groom, volunteer
On behalf of Bristol Old Vic, I just wanted to say that it was a pleasure to be a part of this event. There was a great feeling of warmth and generosity to it all, and I’m glad we were able to facilitate some of that. Great that it was so lively here. You must be moved by the gathering you made. And, quite frankly, knackered.
Kate Yedigaroff, Bristol Old Vic
Thanks for an excellent event last week. It seemed to be very well attended. Thanks also to all your team for being such a pleasure to work with.
Brendan Tate, CoExist/Hamilton House
Pearl Farm Project
The Pearl Farm project was a chance for artists and creative people from different cultures and countries, who live and work in Bristol, to create work together. Performances took place at The Bristol Do, Stapleton Rd Festival, and Mivart Street Open Studios, and included elements of installation, performance, film, dance and music.
Artists came not only from all kinds of artistic disciplines but also from as far afield as Portugal, Greece, Iran, Iraq, India, Zimbabwe, Peru and Senegal.
Audience comments included:
“It was so un-contrived, so natural”
“I felt like I really knew something about them…”
“I didn’t ever think I’d see you make grown people cry.”
The project was funded by Awards for All and Bristol City Council.
Dancing Bear Cheese
Case study: Dancing Bear’s Cheese (2005)
This spoof food product was a sensation at the Soil Association Organic Food Festival,with many convinced it was a real product. The team was congratulated for rescuing dancing bears from Eastern Europe and relocating them to disused wartime bunkers in The Ardennes Forest. Given Anti-Dance therapy they are lovingly cared for and gently milked to provide the dreamy creamy ingredient that is central to that unique yet bearable flavour that is Dancing Bear’s Cheese.
See intrepid food journalist David Rears track down the origin of the unique gourmet delight in this episode of What’s in your mouth.
Case Study: Mermaids At The Dive Show
“The event was a huge success. The Desperate Men mermaids had everyone in stitches and were the talk of the show. Astonishingly, more than 10% of the 16,000 people at the show came to our tiny stand and signed our petition.
The actors were incredibly enthusiastic, energetic and hard-working, keeping the show going all weekend long, and they worked very effectively with the campaign team.”
Lisa Chilton, Marine Development Manager, Wildlife Trusts
Kippered … (2006)
With the smoking ban imminent, Desperate Men rolled up with a comic take on how to ease the cold turkey. Commissioned by Falkirk Council, “Kippered” was a fabulous, fishy, performance.
No longer able to smoke in their cosy smokery, the kipper twins perambulate the streets, looking for a place to puff.
One kipper says to the other “are you still smoking?” The other replies “No, I’m cured.”
The Miracle Show (2005-2008)
A tale of travelling outsiders searching for a better life in their rather miraculous Lada! An eccentric family arrive in Britain presenting a road show from the back of their ramshackle vehicle. Supported by Arts Council England with co-commission investment from Zap Art in Brighton and the Big in Falkirk Festival.
Performers: Vic Llewellyn, Huw Johnson, Agnieszka Blonska, Jenny Sanderson, Dani Landau, Jon Beedell
Original Director: Luci Gorell Barnes
The Miracle Show – review
“We arrive at Brighton’s Town Hall Square via a mock passport control into a charmingly surreal scene – a traveller’s encampment, with a van, a yurt-tent and a resident family of refugees. The opening creates a brilliantly warped sense of another culture in the celebration of The Feast Day of Our Lady of the Bears.
The repeating bear absurdity works with great charm to portray the madness and precious fragility of this imaginary cultural alienation. Was the play inspired by Shakespeare’s infamous stage direction ‘Exit pursued by a bear’?
The visual, physical and verbal elements of the narrative radiate delightfully from a small core of images. This is how theatre poetry should work! Some members of the audience are invited into Ursula’s tent for ‘the cinema of the lost and found’, and others into the van for storytelling washed down with a swig of something heart warming, while outside the main play continues without loss of tempo and with exquisite comic timing, as when Grilho (Jon Beedell) finishes his pantomimic mourning the loss of his son with the mundane question ‘What’s the time’?
Strong performances all–round created a convincing world in which exploration of the plight of refugees was combined with a delightful sense of a dysfunctional family culture and very un-English feelings of volatility and warmth. Agnieszka Blonska’s tremendous energy and vivacious performance as Krusza was nothing short of sensational. From her entry to the end she held the audience in her palm. One needs to see The Miracle Show more than once to get it all – I hope I do get that opportunity.”
Paul Miskin, Total Theatre Magazine, Autumn 05
Short promo film for The Miracle Show
Full length film of The Miracle Show and The Big House, as performed at Brighton Festival 2006
A Stroll in the Park (2005)
And a walk in the dark … Desperate Men worked with Cirque Bijou and Blackout Arts to create this outdoor event in Castle Park, Bristol. A commission from Bristol City Council. Participants were invited to interact with left Brian and right Brian, and think about the value of creativity. Blackout Arts filmed the proceedings and showed it again that evening, remixed and re-invented!
Summerhill Olympics (2004)
Desperate Men were asked to work with Summerhill School to bring a new twist to sports day. Tying in with the 2004 Olympics in Athens, all kinds of strange competitions took place, transforming sports day as years 4, 5 and 6 invented new games for the sports day, based on the elements of earth, water and wind.
Wildstreet 1 (2001) & 2 (2004)
In Foster Street, focusing on the theme of home. We used our theatrical expertise to inspire and encourage the ‘real voices’ of the residents to be expressed. About 240 people were involved in making the event happen and over 1,000 came to visit on the evening.
Conceived and co-ordinated by Shirley Pegna.
Wildstreet by film-maker Paul Gilbert
Middeldam (2001)
Oerol Festival, Holland.
10 day residency co-ordinated by Richie Smith. Working with international street groups including Grotest Maru, Mevrouw Bakker, Fairplay, and Schuurpapier, among others, the main street of Midsland, Terschelling Island, was transformed into an animated garish tourist trap. Workshops with local schools led to a grand “Parade of the Sea” incorporating a local choir and brass band, where the “tat” of tourism was swept away by the “tide”.
Rick, Dick & Vic … Extreme! (2002 –2003)
Set to a pounding, ethereal soundtrack, our 3 lifestyle consultants spin, frolic and soar to the beat of their hearts and souls. In true comic desperate style, Rick, Dick & Vic celebrate friendship and confront illness and despair. They delve into, wrestle with and spit out the bonds we all share.
Performers: Richard Headon, Vic Llewellyn, Richie Smith, Jon Beedell.
Music: Shirley Pegna. Choreography: Ginny Farman. Design: Sarah Salaman.
‘Tender poignancy underlies the physical bravado … there’s humorous sincerity and touching extremity …’
Total Theatre Magazine
‘Zen and the Art of street theatre no less … works wonderfully well …’
Total Theatre Magazine.
‘Most daring piece of street theatre I’ve seen that worked – beautiful and poignant.’
Arts Officer, London
4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1999-2001)
Our hapless horse trainer gets a nasty surprise as Sugar, Trigger, Peter and The Other One fulfil their biblical destiny. Complete with raining fish. Guaranteed to scare the kids.
Devised by the company with script help from Paddy Fletcher. Designed by Sean Donahoe. Soundtrack by Shirley Pegna. Funded by A.C.E. Hugely successful touring in the UK and Europe over 3 seasons.
Performers: Jo Kessell, Jo Smith, Richard Headon,Vic Llewellyn, Jon Beedell and Richie Smith.
Music: Shirley Pegna. Lyrics: Paddy Fletcher.
‘Most perverse thing seen all weekend…..certainly captivated its audience.’
On Tour (British Council)
‘One of the most talked about shows of 2000.’
Streets Ahead / Manchester
‘The audience was spellbound as they took every humour hurdle by storm.’
Aachener Nachrichten, Germany
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse showreel
The Lighthouse (1996-1997)
Our second Comic Street Opera, celebrating 300 years of manned lighthouses. Murder, mayhem, mermaids and pipe smoking at sea. Devised by the company.
Funded by Bristol City Council, A.C.E., S.W.A . Toured the UK and Europe.
‘A true deluge of visuals and sound poured out over an unsuspecting audience.’
Rotterdam Dagblad, Holland
Performers: Jo Smith, Vic Llewellyn, Jo Kessell, Richard Headon, Dawn Burden, Richie Smith, Jon Beedell, Rowen Wylie.
Music: Shirley Pegna.
The Lighthouse – complete version
Os Aviadores 1998 – Alentejo, Portugal
One off spectacular for the Concelho de Odemira. (District Council) A celebration of an historic flight from Portugal to Macau in 1920. Directed and co produced by Jon Beedell with Teatro ao Largo and Teatro do Mar.
Included 100 local people, bands, horses, canoes, fireworks, a crucifixion, and a life size aeroplane travelling through the streets atop a mobile crane.
What on Earth? (1995)
Natural History Museum, London
A collaboration with Small World Productions, commissioned by the Natural History Museum, with four highly skilled circus performers – an adventure in the wonders and mysteries of the natural world. Performed in a big top on the front lawns of the Museum.
‘Topics which can strike terror in the hearts of adults or spell interminable boredom for kids are tackled with humour and panache.’
Time Out, London, UK
‘Their experience and ability showed time and again … a lesson in how to make good circus theatre.’
Catch magazine, UK
Light up the Longest Night (1994-1998)
St. Werburghs, Bristol. An annual event conceived by Richard Headon with The Crew- Fergus Mercer, Bronwen Gwilliam – a celebration of the Winter Solstice with local groups. Lantern parade, music, pyrotechnics, art installations, projections etc, en route.
In the Arms of an Angel (1995-1996)
A radical, bizarre, detailed indoor event concerning three corrupt bastards in a war-torn warehouse making the arms deal of the century. Meticulous, stylized, with a rich and engaging soundscape of live music and triggered recorded sounds.
Directed by Tom Critchley. Premiered at the Bristol Old Vic. Toured the UK.
‘A strange, evocative and thought-provoking piece of theatre.’
Venue Magazine
The Formicators (1994)
Commissioned by Zap Productions to produce a mobile tribe for ‘The Coming’. The result was a mobile analysing co-operative of 5 red ‘ants’ and their inside-out office.
Toured the UK and Europe.
