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Drew Colby (United Kingdom)

MY SHADOW AND ME

 

LU.CA - TEATRO LUÍS DE CAMÕES

 

23 May at 10.30am (Thu) 
24 May at 10.30am and 14.30pm (Fri) 

Sessions for Schools


25 and 26 May at 11.30am and 16.30pm (Sat, Sun)
Sessions for Families

 

Portuguese Premiere

TICKETS ONLINE

Technique: Hand shadows Language: Without words For audiences over: +4 Running time: 45 min.

 

Come and meet Drew Colby, a man whose shadow can do almost anything! 

He makes enchanting shadow animals and fabulous shadow lands and even funny shadow people, all with just two hands!

Be amazed as shadow crabs creep from the sea, a shadow dog chases a shadow cat and not one, not two, but three colourful shadow elephants trumpet the end of the show!

Are you ready to follow one of the masters of shadow art?

 

My Shadow and Me is like a cartoon created live out of nothing but darkness and light. One person (and his shadow) meet and go on an incredible, imaginative, shadowy journey where creatures emerge, engage and transform beautifully. The show uses minimal language in combination with electronic music, a kazoo, a shaker and non- verbal voice effects. Little encounters between characters are explored and tiny stories unfold. Many are funny, some are sweet. The ever fascinating and adorable hand shadow bunny makes an appearance as part of a simple magic trick...

 

A simple, theatrical blend of amazing skill, simplicity, humour and shadow magic. A fun and engaging show for children and family audiences made out of shadows and reflected light.

 

The production focuses on the idea of our shadows and our relationship with them, inspired by the poem "My Shadow" by Robert Louis Stevenson.

 

"Drew Colby's hand shadowgraphy was entrancing and like nothing I’ve seen before. It had me watching with true awe." - Alicia Britt, Animations Online

 

"A show that delighted children and adults alike (…). The result is free-form fantasy, and utterly enchanting (…). It was an utter joy to indulge my inner four-year-old for forty-five minutes on a Saturday afternoon. The four year olds clearly thought it was pretty good too." - Pamela Hall, The Croydon Citizen

 

BIO
Drew has worked with puppets for over 30 years. He began with glove puppets and marionettes at the age of 12, whilst at school in Namibia, performing regularly at functions. From 1995 to 1998 he worked at the Playhouse Puppet Company in Durban, South Africa. From this experience he developed work using open-stage short-string marionettes and rod puppets. The culmination of this period was a performance of "Madiepetsana and the Milk bird" at the 1999 International Festival of Marionette Art in Prague, Czech Republic.
Drew returned to the UK in 2000 and worked at the Little Angel Theatre, in London, notably with Steve Tiplady on "Jonah and the Whale" in 2002-2003. During this time, he also created "Little Red Riding Hood", a performance that contained his first exploration of hand shadows. The show had only one pre-made puppet, and this led Drew to explore “instant puppetry”, where there are no pre-made puppets, only everyday objects being brought to life to tell a story.
In 2011 Drew was awarded the Puppet Centre Trust professional development bursary to travel to Azerbaijan and work with Georgian hand shadow theatre Budrugana Gagra.
Drew has performed in venues and at festivals across the globe: Austria, Czech Republic, France, Finland, Germany, Romania, Slovenia, the UK, Egypt, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda, India, Turkey, Israel, Canada and Chile.
His hand shadows have been featured in television programmes on the BBC and Channel Four. He has also created shadow sequences for B&Q, Nintendo, Lodotra, Suso and Sainsburys.

 

 

CREDITS

Concept, direction and performer: Drew Colby Coproduction: Junction, Goole Support: Arts Council England

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