The Pleasance announces winners of Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund for theatre as Unpolished Theatre.
Elliot Warren and Olivia Brady’s Unpolished Theatre, established in 2016, is announced as the winner of Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund for theatre. Its first ever show Flesh & Bone will premiere at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2017.
At the very heart of the Pleasance’s curated programme at both the Festival Fringe and at the Pleasance in London, is the development arm of The Pleasance Theatre Trust, Pleasance Futures. The Pleasance’s enduring mission is to provide a launch pad for the very best emerging talent and the brightest new ideas. The Pleasance Theatre Trust has provided financial support to up and coming talent both on and off stage through a number of Pleasance Futures projects such as Kidzone, Young Pleasance, XYP, Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund and various co-productions.
The Charlie Hartill Special Reserve is a designated, rolling Fund towards the production costs of bringing selected projects to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and consists of two strands: comedy and theatre.
The Pleasance is delighted to announce the winners of the Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund for theatre as Unpolished Theatre, selected from the largest ever number of applications.
Unpolished Theatre was created by Elliot Warren and Olivia Brady in 2016 alongside the idea of their first production Flesh & Bone which they will now premiere at the Pleasance this coming August.
Flesh & Bone was performed at the Etcetera Theatre in December in its initial version, but the company are planning extensive re-writes before the Fringe. It will be the company’s debut on the Fringe.
Elliot and Olivia studied together at Drama School in Bournemouth and forged a brilliant working relationship and friendship creating work throughout and afterwards. In early 2016, both back home in London, Elliot wrote a short film called Stick Up which Olivia produced and which garnered quite a bit of attention, going viral on the internet and gaining 2.2 million views on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/stickupmovie/). In the same year, both Elliot and Olivia were in a production of East by Steven Berkoff and remembered their shared love of his style. Once the run had finished they were afire with ideas and energies that needed put onto a stage, igniting a similar style to Berkoff but with contemporary ideas and subject matters.
And so Flesh & Bone was conceived. Flesh & Bone gives the gritty residents of an East London Tower Block a stage, through their wickedly eloquent voices and their outpourings of uberly bloated tongue, we are thrust into their stories, held by the scruff of the neck, and made to listen.
Anthony Alderson, Director of the Pleasance said: “Having received over 100 applications, we are thrilled to announce Unpolished Theatre’s Flesh & Bone as the recipient of this year’s Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund. As a company making their ambitious first show, they will benefit from not only the experience of presenting it at the Edinburgh Fringe, but also developing their company with support and mentoring from the full Pleasance team. Flesh & Bone has an electricity and eloquence rarely seen from such a young company.”
Elliot Warren, writer, co-director and performer in Flesh & Bone said: “This fund seriously means the world to us. We have never performed at Edinburgh and it is a life-long dream to be at The Pleasance. The fund allows us to create a fantastic show and dedicate our time to making it the best it can be on and off the stage. We don’t have investors and we don’t have much money, just a show that is itching to be seen!”
The purpose of the Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fund is to offer financial support to the writers, directors, technicians, producers and performers of the future to give them an opportunity to hone their talents and present a show at the world’s biggest arts festival.
The Fund was established in 2004 in memory of Charlie Hartill, a writer, performer and for eight years a Festival Fringe director, who died in January of that year.
The recipient of this prestigious Fund is awarded a prime slot at the Pleasance during Edinburgh Festival Fringe, mentoring from the Pleasance’s administration and technical team, and in-kind support up to the value of £10,000.
The winners of Charlie Hartill Special Reserve Fun for comedy will be announced soon.