Behind The Scenes: Company Paradiso
We were fortunate enough to welcome Artistic Director, Tamsin, of Actors of Dionysus into the studios this past week. She has been touring with her team for 21 years now, taking their productions across the globe. We were curious to find out more about what they’d been up to!
Can you tell us a little bit about what you’ve worked on recently at the Copperdollar Studios?
It’s an aerial commission for The Lowry called Everything I See I Swallow for their festival Week 54 in May, the theme of which is Coming of Age. It’s inspired by a poem by Sylvia Plath called Mirror and our devised piece centres around a mother/daughter relationship and is about female sexuality and sexual politics in a changing world, using shibari (the ancient art of Japanese rope bondage) as our inspiration.
How did you hear about the studios?
I’ve always been curious about the space, living locally and I bumped into Kt before Xmas and I was reminded of it. Swallow seemed the perfect opportunity to work in it.
What do you like most about the Copperdollar Studios and what would you say makes it different from other studios you’ve used?
It’s got a really good positive vibe and is clean and friendly and well located in lovely Kemptown. It was also good to be able to get in the air (aerially) for some initial play. I really love the signage on the front too!
How did you start working in this field and what advice would you give to people wanting to go down the same path as you?
Gosh that’s going back a bit! I love collaborating and creating new work. Having run aod – Actors of Dionysus for many years it’s just so refreshing to be afforded the time and space to research and develop a new project and something so different. My advice would be to go where your heart is but also gain as many skills in the profession as you can, be they singing, aerial circus, dance, puppetry, mime, etc and also have something that pays the rent as a backup!
What inspires you to create shows?
Collaboration is something I love and working with people whose work I respect. The opportunity to say something different and new, even though nothing is ever completely original. To reinvent things. To share thoughts and ideas with an audience and to possibly change their opinion about something, provoke them or to make them think differently perhaps….
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us, Tamsin.
If you’re looking to find out more about Actors of Dionysus, check out their website here.
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