Three's Company Blog

Having to pay extortionate amounts to be ignored on public transport, people being thrown into confusion at the sight of Scottish banknotes, and... some days without rain...

It can only mean one thing: yes, it's the end of our Summer Tour for another year, and our return to London.

This year, Play On Words and Adventure Time visited the Buxton and Edinburgh Fringe - the fourth year now that we've 'done the double' (as we like to refer to it*). The award-winning, pun-tastic tragi-comic Play On Words had five performances in Buxton (at Underground Venues) and 27 in Edinburgh - where we were pleased to get a slot at the Pleasance (the undisputed home of new theatre talent in Edinburgh). After a warm-up in Buxton, we let the audience choose which of us played which part for the whole run. Adventure Time (episodes 3 & 4) also played for six nights in Buxton and was the invited to perform a special charity gig at the Pleasance to close the Fringe.

So how did it all go? Let's have a look:

• Play On Words nominated twice for Best Actor (Michael Grady-Hall & Meriel Rosenkranz) at the Buxton Fringe Awards
• Three's Company awarded the 'Fringe 30' award for their contribution to the Buxton Fringe
• Play On Words called "undeniably unmissable" and Adventure Time "a hugely entertaining show" by Buxton Fringe Review
• Critics in Edinburgh also had lots of lovely things to say about our flagship production Play On Words: "Outstanding" All The Festivals, "Wonderfully witty" Three Weeks, "Fresh and alive" Remote Goat, "Sophisticated and extremely funny" The Spectator
• In Edinburgh we got our largest total audience yet, with over 1200 people coming along to join in the fun
• Adventure Time saw seven audience members take to the stage to play the part of Miss Claret in our 'live' recording
• 6 roles of gaffer tape, 4 spare legs, 1 tube of wood glue and 3 heavy-duty clamps were employed to provide rolling support to our battered desks
• We were pleased to welcome our first animal co-star - Chris the fish - who made an impromtu appearence in Adventure Time (ah well... cod move in mysterious ways)
  

Our thanks go to our wonderful co-stars Meriel Rosenkranz and Kayleigh MacDonald; our production team including Neil Keating, Bekki Coward, Ben Cooper; the staff of Underground Venues and Pleasance Edinburgh; all the members of our Support Scheme who made the whole tour possible; Beth, Derek, Colin and Caroline for their hospitality and, of course, the people of Buxton and Edinburgh without whom it would have been a bit of a waste of time...

Here's to 2010!


*Okay, only I like to refer to it as that. T

Labels: 2009 tour, adventure time, play on words, support

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Seen Play On Words? Got an opinion?

As you know, we really like to hear what you think of the shows we do. Your feedback keeps our shows alive: criticisms mean we're able to keep improving and praise means we're able to keep happy!

So if you want to help us out, leave us some feedback on Play On Words. You can do so in the following ways:

• Leave a review on the official Edinburgh Fringe website - it's quick and easy, and it helps attract us many more audiences.
• Add a review on the Broadway Baby website - you can quickly sign in using your facebook login details.
• Email us - feedback@threescompany.co.uk
• Leave your mark on our facebook page, or give us a shout through twitter.
• Meet us in Brooke's Bar after the show - we're always there from around 2.45pm for at least one beer...
• Or, simply comment on this blog post!

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...

Labels: 2009 tour, edinburgh, play on words, reviews

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Just a quick one - happy to announce* that second day out of previews and we've had our first full house!

And if that's not enough, we've also got our first review - and it's five stars.

In other news, we're having a great time: the Pleasance is excellent, venue staff are lovely, our house is very nice (though leaky), and we've already seen some top shows. So all is looking pretty rosey for the month ahead...

Hmmm... I hope we don't use up our full allocation of good luck in the first week...

We'll keep you posted. Follow @ThreesCompany on twitter for more regular updates.

PS: Ticket sales for the days ahead are looking pretty good too, so book in advance if you're planning to come along.

*read: 'show off'

Labels: 2009 tour, edinburgh, play on words, reviews

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After a hard month of negotiations, we're very proud to announce confirmed plans for Three's Company's 2009 Summer Tour.

By popular demand, 2007's award-winning, sell-out hit Play On Words will return, starring all three of Michael Grady-Hall, Tom Crawshaw and Yaz Al-Shaater. We're over the moon to be performing a full show together again for the first time since 2005! In an act of reckless hubris, we have further decided to rotate the three male roles (Fred, Eddie & Jonnie) so we each play a different part each night.

We are particularly pleased to announce that the show has been chosen to appear at the Pleasance Dome at the Edinburgh Fringe - a venue which has hosted such internationally famous acts as Cheek By Jowl, The Royal Shakespeare Company, The League Of Gentlemen, Bill Bailey, and The Mighty Boosh. We'll be there, as part of the world's biggest arts festival, every day from 5th - 31st August.

Of course we'll be bringing the show home to the Buxton Fringe in July as well - where we'll also be running a cracking line up at Underground Venues - and to London in June (venue tbc). There also plans to take the show further after Edinburgh.

We're very proud to welcome Mariam Bell (who you may have seen in our mini-play Dreams May Come) who will be taking the role of Jen for the tour.

This does not, however, mean that our other work on Adventure Time and the development of Auditorium has been put on hold. Workshops will continue over the next few months - so look for announcements soon!

Finally, our thanks to all those in our all-new Support Scheme - who have made, and continue to make, this work possible.

Labels: 2009 tour, announcements, buxton fringe, edinburgh, play on words

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