An immersive play featuring ASMR, sensory play and puppets will tour the country this autumn in the latest show from award-winning theatre company Concrete Youth.
The Whispering Jungle, created for young audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), premiered to rave reviews and sell-out audiences last summer.
The story follows Turtle, Monkey and Bird as they are forced to leave their homes in the jungle to make way for men in big, bright yellow jackets who fell their trees.
It was developed following Concrete Youth's pioneering ASMR Project, an international research project which brought together academics, artists and professionals to explore the impact of autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) on people with PMLD for the first time.
The project proved so pioneering that Concrete Youth have been invited to speak about it at this year’s Prague Quadrennial.
We're delighted to return with The Whispering Jungle. It’s such a rich, beautiful production with accessibility at its heart, bringing together a production team at the top of their game combing sensory theatre, ASMR, live foley and puppetry in the most exquisite ways.
Daniel Swift, Concrete Youth's CEO & Co-Artistic Director said:
“Having seen overwhelming success with our previous touring production To the Moon and Back in April, we're thrilled to tour a show for the second time this year.
“This production was a delight to create last year and we're so excited to share it on a larger scale to even bigger audiences this autumn".
Hull-based Concrete Youth is a multi-award-winning charity dedicated to creating ground-breaking and exciting multi-sensory theatre for audiences living with PMLD.
The charity's education department provides Artsmark accredited sensory stories, workshops, parties and sessions designed for those with learning disabilities in schools, care settings and hospices throughout the UK.
The Whispering Jungle begins its tour in Colchester, before touring to Barnsley, Knaresborough, York, Hull, South Shields, Nottingham, Leicester, Didcot, Dorchester, Halifax, Salford, Norwich and London, with further dates to be announced.
The Whispering Jungle is in association with Mercury Theatre, Colchester and supported by Arts Council England, Hull City Council and Back to Ours.
Tickets and booking information for The Whispering Jungle can be found at www.concreteyouth.co.uk.
The Whispering Jungle
Devised by the company, in collaboration with 750 people labelled with profound and multiple learning disabilities
Music, lyrics and musical direction by Frew
Direction and lyrics by Belle Streeton (Co-Artistic Director at Concrete Youth)
Creative Production by Daniel Swift (CEO & Co-Artistic Director at Concrete Youth)
Set design by Lu Herbert
Sound design by Tom Smith
Production Management by Isabel Potter
Audience Development by Annabelle Lee (Head of Education & Outreach at Concrete Youth)
Puppet design by Amy Nicholson
Set build by Matt Stirk
Further cast and production team members to be announced at a later date.
Dates (further dates to be announced)
Colchester, Mercury Theatre – 28th-29th September
Barnsley, Barnsley Civic – 4th October
Knaresborough, Henshaws Arts & Craft Centre - 7th-9th October
York, York Theatre Royal – 11th-12th October
Hull, Hull City Hall – 16th-17th October
South Shields, The Customs House - 23rd October
Nottingham, Nonsuch Studios – 25th-26th October
Leicester, Attenborough Arts Centre – 2nd November
Didcot, Cornerstone Arts Centre – 4th-5th November
Dorchester, Dorchester Arts Centre – 7th-8th November
Halifax, Square Chapel Arts Centre – 11th November
Salford, The Lowry – 12th November
Norwich, Norwich Theatre – 15th November
London, Applecart Arts – 17th-20th November
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