Split Knuckle

Romania

2007-12-05T17:54:00.001Z

Here are some of the scenes as you walk through the city.

2007-10-21T22:50:00.000+01:00

Hello Friends, Family and Comrades,
First, I would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, support and prayers for Split Knuckle Theatre over the last year. It’s an amazing feeling to have so many people helping to make a long time dream of mine come true. Over the last year Split Knuckle has performed in Buenos Aries, London, Edinburgh and as some of you already know Split Knuckle Theatre has recently returned from Bucharest, Romania, where we played the Pearl for an international festival. If you haven’t checked out our website there are many photos and reviews from our travels. WWW.splitknuckletheatre.org . Apparently the Romanian Minister of Culture traveled to Edinburgh last August to see the festival and invited shows that he or his committee liked to come to Romania. I was told he travels incognito and never tells anyone who he really is, so we did not even know he was in Scotland at the time. I'm not sure how true the incognito part is and I wonder if the Romanians were having a go at the Foreigners. It felt like being a rock star being picked up at the airport and driven where ever we needed to go. Their hospitality was overwhelming. The theatre space is relatively new and it is the first independent theatre in Bucharest. All the rest are National theatres that are considered to be linked to the old traditions. There was an old lady who was our dresser who took a shine to our company. She saw the first show and was crying afterwards and trying to talk to my mother. Neither one of them could speak each other’s language. Despite this, they tried desperately to communicate with each other that they thought the show was very moving. Afterwards I had many long conversations with her where I could not understand anything she said except "Oh Michael! Oh Michael! She seemed very happy to be working with us. You could tell this woman had spent her life working in the theatre and helping actors. Here are our thoughts for the future. We have recently been invited to play the Pearl at the New Jersey State Theatre next year. This will be our US premier. For those who could not make it to Argentina, the UK or Romania you are all invited to see us in the most exotic of states, New Jersey.
This company continues to amaze us all. Every time we sit down to dinner together in another country, all from so many different parts of the world, we are all surprised that we made it to the same room again. Somehow it seems right and people continue to love the work we are bringing them. I hope all is well, that you are healthy, happy and passionate about life. Thanks you again. Love Michael Toomey

The Future of the Pearl

2006-11-07T16:19:00.000Z

Hello, world, and we've missed you. This is just a short note to let you know that we're currently scheduling the return of the Pearl to the international scene. The details aren't set yet, but keep yer eyes peeled and yer ears open, as news will be coming soon...

ON TOP OF THE WORLD

2006-08-25T14:20:00.000+01:00

When we first arrived- We went to the top of Arthers Seat an amazing meandering hill walk where you can see the entire city- at the time Juan kept saying- We are on top of the world! I think the rest of the company has finally caught up with him after the success of the last week

Look at the window!

2006-08-25T14:16:00.000+01:00

So what did Split Knuckle do before the 5 star review to get people in?? Well they spent two days a week in the window of John Lewis- a Department store here- enacting the play out for passers by- after the review they decided the fun had to stop and cancelled their window gig!

A Lovely Sight

2006-08-23T12:57:00.000+01:00

The Price of a Complimentary Ticket

2006-08-23T12:56:00.000+01:00

So you want to visit, do you? Get to work! These flyers won't label themselves.

Fog Blog

2006-08-23T12:53:00.000+01:00

Here's a selection of views from last Friday, when the great fog descended on the city. It's midday in August! I can't imagine what it's like here in winter.

Four Sell Out Shows

2006-08-23T11:37:00.000+01:00

Split Knuckle has sold out the last four shows. In a festival where the average audience is said to be six people I think that is amazing. The word is spreading and the reviews have been very helpful. We are also on the recommended list for the Scotsman which appears every couple of days. I am determined to sell out the rest of the week. I am just about to head out to do more flyering. Pack em in baby! Wish us luck.

Scotsman Review on line

2006-08-21T12:27:00.000+01:00

Thanks to that lovely review, we sold out both shows over the weekend and we've gotten a good head start on the week. If you'd like to read it, it's online now.

Here as well is a link to our reviews page at edfringe, where you can read audience reviews from people who have seen the show. Word-of-mouth is helping us a lot.

Split Knuckle sells out

2006-08-20T10:42:00.000+01:00

Amazing what the Scotsman will do for you; we sold out yesterday's show (including about 10 folding chairs added to the normal seats) and are well on our way to selling out today, too. We'll be doing all we can to keep the momentum going for the rest of the week. Keep spreading the word!

Also, Seth has posted the review at the website, so you can go there and check it out if you haven't yet been able to.

5 STARS WELL DESERVED

2006-08-19T13:11:00.000+01:00

So the show received a five star review from The Scotsman news today with a photo of the show- this is HUGE- it is a prestigious paper and they rarely give out five stars- this means that the show is in the running for the Festivals Fringe First award- needless to say all of us involved with the show are absolutely giddy today. It is so cool to see all the hard work of the past months come to fruition.
last evening we had a lovely gathering of folks to eat and discuss the Fringe and the future and life in general. We were saying hello to Christina who is here to do a street show with Seth and we celebrated the fact that Tomoko got her visa extended and gets to stay in the country yahoo! the following are photos of various in depth theatre chats

***** 5 STARS FROM THE SCOTSMAN!

2006-08-19T10:54:00.000+01:00

Today's Scotsman has their review of the Pearl, and it's a doozy--5 stars and a great picture of the show. Here are some good quotes:

"The five performers work in impeccable harmony, bringing every moment of the story into perfect focus."

"This resourceful and intelligent production transforms Steinbeck's tale into an elegant, humorous and tremendously moving drama."

Have had some trouble finding the whole review on line, but as soon as we've got it, we'll get it up here.

Spread the word!

A Rainy Day in Edinburgh

2006-08-18T10:25:00.000+01:00

Most days here are a mix of gray and dark gray, but there's usually at least a peek of sun, and once in a while a whole day's worth of it. Yesterday we only got a peek. Here's a glimpse of Michael hard at work putting labels (which read, "***** UNMISSABLE Edinburgh Guide") on flyers.

Here's a glimpse of Andrew hard at work sitting at a Starbucks.

As for the flyers, here's a little look at what happens when they go bad--mismatched colors, odd shapes and miscuttings. Still good coasters, though, or in Scot-speak, "beer mats."

Below are some photos of the gang relxaing after our show for the monster crowd. Note the relief in our eyes that they didn't turn violent. Fortunately we lulled them into a satisfied stupor with our drama.

What a crowd!

2006-08-17T18:20:00.000+01:00

Who knows where they all came from, but somehow we packed the place today with over 50 people! Amazing, right? There were very few empty seats and a very appreciative bunch. We're hoping this is a harbinger of good things to come. Fortunately friends of Michael's from Shakespeare & Co. are bringing a good bunch tomorrow, so we should get another lot for Friday. Spread the word!

This RD Laing character

2006-08-16T17:28:00.000+01:00

Is it a defect in my education or cultural awareness that before the Festival I had no idea who R.D. Laing is? For those similarly ignorant, he is a psychoanalyst who has inspired no less than 3 Fringe productions. I'm not sure if there's a particular vogue for his work, or if more performers are having psychoanalysis, but I consider it a slightly weird coincidence that so many shows feature either his work or his theories. The only one that I've seen is an Irish dance-theatre piece called "Knots," and if it's anything to judge by, I'm not interested in what he has to say. Maybe it just doesn't translate well, but the play's attitude toward relations between the sexes (which is the general subject of "Knots," as in tying them) is pretty superficial.

But maybe this is just like what happens in Hollywood, when suddenly there are three WW2 movies in one year, or thirteen films about Steve Prefontaine--suddenly an enthusiasm becomes contagious and inescapable. If you're a Laing fan, this is your year.

Some thoughts about Now and the Future

2006-08-15T18:15:00.000+01:00

The show is going well, with the house numbers growing everyday. It's lovely to be able to talk to people after the shows and have a drink and hear their thoughts about the Pearl. Today we got our first comparison to Complicity which is a theatre that I have a lot of respect for and started in a very similar way as Split Knuckle. The original members all trained together at a physical theatre school in Paris and then decided to take their show to the Edinburgough Fringe. Some of the comments, particularly from theatre people, make me belive that Split Knuckle is in a world that is new and surprising to people. Something that people have not seen yet but have a deep intrest in how it turns out. One actor from Beligium called the show a pray. I have never been a show described that way. Our goal as a company is to bring the world of physical theatre/storytelling and classical theatre training and texts together to tell beautiful stories. I belive this will take our whole careers to achieve but this moment, here, now, this project, this group of people is an amazing begining. Sorry about the spelling I'm Dyslexic and the spell check is broken.

I saw a hedgehog!

2006-08-15T12:19:00.000+01:00

Not exactly Split Knuckle-related, but last night as I was standing in a phone booth I looked out and saw a wee hedgehog poking around. Really very cute creatures are hedgehogs. It was an exciting moment. I thought about taking a picture, but I was in the phone booth and couldn't get a good shot, plus I was on the phone. Maybe I can track the little varmint down later.

what does flyering mean??

2006-08-14T13:36:00.000+01:00

Well for those who have never crossed over to the Fringe side- there is a street named the Royal Mile where everyday of the festival you will find any number of strange creatures trying to get folks into their shows, generally this consists of costumed people running at you- Below you can see some examples of the blatant assault on theatre goers- masked inmates,choruses of dancing umbrella folks, odd banners on the backs of performers and of course period costumes. Split Knuckle is above all this of course- note the fine Irish lad who just happens to strike up conversations with people trying to decide what show to see- We have discovered Greg is a genius when it comes to Irish and American tourists- also note the spiffy Split Knuckle shirts that we all sport thanks to Seth.

Pressing on

2006-08-14T12:49:00.000+01:00

Well, we're almost halfway , unbelievably enough. This Wednesday, the 16th, marks the official midpoint of our run at Hill Street Theatre. It's also our day off, which we're all looking forward to. Not that our schedule is especially grueling, but it'll be nice not to have to do the show for one day, and it also means that we can see one of the several shows that we want to see and that occupy the same time slot. It's really unfortunate how many there are at 4:00 that we want to see. I think Seth and I are going to try to see Derevo, the crazy Russian theatre monks playing at Aurora Nova. I saw them a couple of years ago in London and they do very wondrous, beautiful, and mystifying things.

As for us, we're averaging 20-25 people per show, which is pretty good, although not quite as good as we'd like it to be. Our Edinburgh Guide review is definitely helping, and the Scotsman was in to see us on Sunday. Please keep your fingers crossed for us that they print a good review, and that they do it soon. That'll mean a big difference in getting more folks in.

More pictures to come soon. Thanks for reading!

Edinburgh Guide rates us "Unmissable"!

2006-08-12T12:00:00.000+01:00

Follow this link and scroll down the page just a bit to see Edinburghguide.com's review of the Pearl. According to their odd rating scheme, the fewer drams you need to get through a show, the better it is, and with none at all, we are officially unmissable. That means you are not allowed to miss the show. So you'd better get over here and see it, unless you want to be labeled a rule-breaker, and no one wants that.

House Enormous

2006-08-11T11:03:00.000+01:00

God knows where they all came from, but we had our biggest house yet for yesterday's show! To keep things in perspective, we should note that our biggest house yet consists of 33 people. But in a small theater at the Fringe, competing with 1800 other shows (and not having any reviews yet), that's really good. Given that the Hill Street Studio only seats about 65 or so, it was great to look out and see most of the seats taken. There was also another press person there today, and it's always better to have more people when press is there.

On the subject of press and reviews, we're a little frustrated. They've come, in at least one case they've said they liked it explicitly, and yet we're still waiting to see anything in print. To be fair, it's tough--the papers are sending reviewers to tons of shows, and doubtless there are reviews written that take days or weeks to make it into print. But they make such a huge difference (provided they're good, of course, which we are by no means taking for granted; but if they're not good, we'll move on and pretend they never happened) that we're antsy to have something to put on our flyers and posters, something with a lot of stars maybe. We'll let you know if and when we get 'em.

What we do in our free time

2006-08-11T10:59:00.000+01:00

We cook sand. In the course of each show, we end up dumping a lot of sand and very small rocks into big buckets of water. We don't have enough sand to get rid of it after every show, so we have to save the wet stuff and dry it (it doesn't work to use wet sand for what we do with it). Thus, we cook it. Presumably there's a better way to do it, but this has the virtue of being fast. And does it ever smell delicious. Declan, if you happen to come across this, please know that we will replace your wok. Anyone reading this at home, be forewarned--sand and very small rocks do not get along with Teflon.

Seeing Shows

2006-08-10T11:06:00.000+01:00

Two shows I've seen that I've liked have been Happy Hour - It Takes 3 and Spymonkey - Cooped. Both are basically clown shows, the first American and the second English. I mean clown in a pretty broad sense--no red noses or mime or tumbling, but plenty of slapstick and stupid, stupid behavior. Happy Hour are 3 guys who trained at Ringling Bros. clown college (according to Seth). The story of their show, such as it is, has them driving to California to become a boyband, but it's really just an excuse for them to do loads of little skits & gags with the audience. Plus there's a great encore performance with bathrobes. Spymonkey's story, or what counts as their story, is about a secretary going to work at an English manor where a suspicious death has just taken place. Again, that's just a reason for endless amounts of amusing stupidity. It took a while for me to get into their show; for a while I was thinking, "Oh, that's funny," without actually laughing. Then the bishop came onstage. There's a bit involving his ring that had me gasping for air I was laughing so hard. It's a very simple gag, but executed with such amazing craft that it absolutely kills. From then on, I was hooked and often found myself hooting in delight. The list of things I have yet to see is very long--at least a dozen--and it's growing, but fortunately there's time yet.

Getting People into the House

2006-08-09T11:07:00.000+01:00

This is a shot of one of the display windows of the John Lewis store on Leith Walk. They've been doing a promotion called Windows on the Fringe, which started on Monday with a preview performance of...The Pearl! We were in the window for 30 minutes performing selections from the show--the pearl-diving sequence, one of the beggars' scenes, Kino's visions of the Pearl, and a couple pieces of chorus text. They've got a speaker set-up just to the right of what's in the picture, so we could use music as well as text (there's a microphone stand in the left of the photo). Pedestrian traffic wasn't huge when we were there (11:00--11:30), but there were a bunch of people who wandered by, and Teresa was diligently flyering them all. Surprisingly, it worked--we got four people in the house just from that half an hour. Proof that when people see what we're doing, they like it.

Yesterday we did something similar on one of two small Fringe stages that are set up on the Royal Mile. That's the part of High Street that holds most of the show-promoting. It was a bit more daunting in that respect--very poor amplification (no big amps allowed) and lots of competition for people's attention, but nonetheless we managed to hold a crowd for the 20 minutes we were performing. That's good news. We'll be doing that again tomorrow, and the John Lewis window again on Friday.

Our crowds have been good so far, if not spectacular. What with these promo opportunities and a lot of diligent flyer-pushing, we've been getting people in. We've also had one producer and two reviewers in the house, with another reviewer coming today. As of yet, no published reviews, which is annoying, but we expect at least one in the next day or two. We'll post details as soon as we get them (if not sooner, pacinosomo). Thanks for reading!

Explosive! Powerful! Jaw-Dropping! Shattering! Brilliant! -- We Open!

2006-08-06T12:25:00.000+01:00

Technically we open today, actually, as the first two shows were previews, but for our purposes things actually got going on Friday.

The show went fabulously well, and we had a great house for a first preview. The staff at Hill Street have been fantastic, and it's a great, warm and welcoming place to do a show. We've been out flyering like mad since we got here, and it's starting to pay off with people in the house. We've also got three reviewers coming in the next four days, so hopefully we'll have some thrilling pull quotes for you soon, and we can plaster this space with stars.

Here at left is the gang as we got ready to go in for tech. Below that is the official introduction party where we got to talk to all the other folks performing at Hill Street. I've been able to sample our Polish bartender's drinks, and I can tell you that the Russian Tank and the Apple Pie are both fantastic.

Today we begin!

2006-08-04T13:18:00.000+01:00

Keep us in your thoughts today, as we open The Pearl at Hill Street Theatre at 4:00pm this afternoon.

We had a great opening meeting at the theatre this morning--Tomek and Laura, the husband and wife team who run the theatre, gave us an inspiring and exciting talk, and we also got to hear about the other shows running at Hill St, as well as meet the Polish bartender Edward, whose fame has spread far and wide. He will be keeping us in Polish vodka throughout the month.

Photos to come probably tomorrow--until then, here's hoping we break a leg, and we'll let you know how it goes!

Tech'd & Loaded

2006-08-03T17:14:00.000+01:00

The adventure continued as we got to Hill Street Theatre for our technical load-in and rehearsal, only to find that the power had gone out for the whole street. This is apparently par for the course, so we're hoping we've gotten our gremlins out of the way. It ended up being only a minor inconvenience--we got into and out of the space an hour late, and in the intervening four hours managed to put up the sets, build the light cues, do the cue-to-cue and get in a run. We love the space, the folks at Hill Street and very friendly, and what's more the bar promises a variety of interesting drinks. We're pretty well provided-for. Tomorrow, the opening!

THE BLACK PEARL

2006-08-03T12:15:00.000+01:00

Well the trip up North began calmly with the folks from Split Knuckle cramming their life and set into two cars. A lovely drive began..an hour and a half into the trip black smoke poured from one of the cars! the clutch was shot- Greg & Teresa had an adventure being towed to Birmingham airport- about 40 minutes away- note the life and set of Split Knuckle in the airport drive- but we were soon sorted with a larger car! Away we went- and got to Edinburgh in good time- we were greeted with a double rainbow- a positive sign

Journey to Edinburgh, or Disaster! on the Highway

2006-08-02T13:32:00.000+01:00

We had a lovely final day of rehearsal in the NY Pilates space in London. As a culmination to our whirlwind remounting, we had an open dress run of the show in the space. There was a great and enthusiastic crowd--here's a shot from house left:

Note the infectious glee that is a hallmark of our fans everywhere.

Afterwards we repaired to Pizza Teca to celebrate and to plan for the trip ahead:

Here Michael and Greg discuss the finer points of ripping a human heart still beating from your victim's chest.

Bright and early the next morning we began our journey to Edinburgh, fitting 7 people, all their baggage and all of our sets, costumes and props into two fine Peugeots (or at least, fine-seeming) Peugeots. Here's a look at the cars as we were about to embark. Just out of frame to the left Juan's foot emerges from the trunk. He's very bendy, fortunately for us all. Somehow we all made it into the cars, even that gray bag up top, and began our trek up the A1 toward Scotland. When we'd gotten an hour or so out of London, we stopped at a Roadchef to get some snacks. As we pulled back onto the highway, tragedy struck. The lead Peugeot, driven by the fearless Greg Webster, suddenly began to belch clouds of black smoke from under the hood. He and Teresa pulled over, while the rest of us waited to find out what was happening. In brief, the car was dead, thanks to a burnt-out clutch.

The unfortunate vehicle:

Below, Rogue Leader Greg Webster deals with the catastrophe:

While the rest of us continued on to Edinburgh, Greg and Teresa waited for the tow truck, which took them to the Avis station at Birmingham Airport, about an hour's drive north. Before long, they were in a new station wagon and back on the road. In the end, Greg and Teresa pulled into Edinburgh only a couple of hours after us, and not too terribly late at night.

After a day and a half in Edinburgh, we load in and tech tonight. More pictures to come after that. To finish, here's a picture of Gormley's Angel of the North, which we passed as we drove along the M1:

2 Very Busy Days

2006-08-01T14:12:00.000+01:00

In the last two days we've performed to an adoring crowd of flexible people in the Pilates studio, traveled 400-odd miles in three cars, one of which burst into flames on the highway, moved our set into and out of three different buildings, moved ourselves out of and into 6 or so buildings, ran into a former classmate walking a strange dog through the cobblestone streets of a strange city, had more coffee than was strictly necessary and discovered that our show is listed as playing at two different times. All of which has been a bit overwhelming. And yet somehow, courageous folk that we are, we've soldiered on. And we remain dedicated to bringing our experience to you, the great crowd of our supporters, or at least my mother and girlfriend who are reading this. But for pics and more details, you'll have to wait a few hours at least. You will doubtless quiver with anticipation until then, and rightly so, for we are Split Knuckle, and we thrust our strength against the mountain, and plunge our strength against the sea. Thank you for your attention.

Split Knuckle does Pilates

2006-07-30T10:51:00.000+01:00

Here are some photos from our quickie load-in to the second London rehearsal splace, the NY Pilates Studio at 20 Lonsdale Road.

The first is me crossing the road with about 50 pounds of sand and rocks. I'd bought the big bag at the construction store figuring I could just carry it on my shoulder. This was not the case. As I was staggering back to Darren's flat, where I'm staying, I saw a pram for sale in front of the charity shop and was struck by a bolt of inspiration. So I became the proud papa of a sack of rocks. People are very helpful when you're struggling with a pram on the tube, and only marginally less so when they discover there's no baby inside.

Here's a photo of us setting up the space for the show. This is the same place where we did our first performances last year as the thesis project for our graduation from Lispa. This installation went much faster; we're pros at moving Pilates equipment now. Note the abandoned baby in the middle.

Our resident exhibitionist and wearer of hats.

Tomoko averts her eyes from the spectacle. Really it's safer to look in the mirror when confronted by the white-hot genius of our drama.

Saturday Night

2006-07-29T23:04:00.000+01:00

Home from a long day of being in the NY Pilates studio Lonsdale Rd. London.
We have a benefit show tomorrow, an open dress rehearsal/open rehearsal.
the show is at a point where it needs an audience.. We need to be telling this story to someone, to somebodies, to many bodies. Tomoko our musician has been working hard to get up to speed with the music and in the second run of the show today it really showed, everything came together well. Now its like being at the top of a rollercoaster soon to creep over the top and enjoy the ride, screaming and laughing all the way.

working in the shunt space

2006-07-29T09:09:00.000+01:00

The Shunt space is cavernous! tucked away behind the London Bridge tube is this labrynth of areas to create in. Split Knuckle wasted no time and made 'The Penthouse' space their own- The Pearl lives again!

The Pearl in London

2006-07-28T12:36:00.000+01:00

Here we are, heading into the Shunt space for rehearsal. That's Michael up top, Juan at bottom, and in the middle Tomoko, who'll be tickling the plastic ivories with us for the Pearl's run in Edinburgh. She moves quickly, does Tomoko.

shun't pearl

2006-07-28T12:08:00.000+01:00

Split Knuckle is back in London and we're ready to go - almost. It was great to meet outside the London Bridge tube for our fist music rehearsal on Wednesday. Most of us had just flown into London - I'd literally just gotten off the plane from Madrid. We walked around the corner and stepped into Shun't whimsical space under the bridge. If you saw Tropicana on any of its earlier runs you must have dreamed of creating your own show down there. And yes, it is amazing to walk around those vaults: everything about that place is perfect inspiration. Having worked on site-specific theatre for nearly 7 years in Philadelphia I can't help but think that I've found the dream studio for a future show.
And if you haven't been down there, you don't know what you're missing.

Fast-Forwarding Several Months

2006-07-07T20:43:00.000+01:00

Here we are, the first week of July, and it's kind of mind-boggling how much has happened (and how much is on the way).

First things first--we did get a space (you'd hope we had one by now), the thrilling Hill Street Theatre! Check it out, and our listing in the programme there.

See also our sexy website, designed by our own Seth Bloom.

We'll have a lot more coming here soon--including photos, diaries and more--so check back often.

Thanks for stopping by!

Applications Are In

2006-01-17T21:47:00.000Z

Applications for spaces, that is, for Edinburgh 2006. Greg and Eva applied to four venues, so hopefully they'll be competing for our show within weeks. Keep your fingers crossed, friends of the Knuckle.

A bit more about the people behind the curtain...

2006-01-13T14:28:00.000Z

Split Knuckle began life at the London International School of Performing Arts, through a thesis project for six passionate performers: Seth Bloom, Andrew Grusetskie, Juan Mora y Araujo, Eva Sirp, Greg Webster, and Michael Toomey.

Our work began with an adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Pearl. Over several weeks, the team researched and adapted the text, presenting it in July 2005 in a studio in West London. The house was packed for three shows, and the response was terrific. Unwilling to let the project end there, the six of us have decided to remount The Pearl for the Edinburgh Fringe in August, 2006.

We're all thrilled to be working together again on a project we love. Thanks for coming here to check out our progress. We'll be posting regularly here with updates on what we're doing, what we're discovering, and where and when we'll be performing.

Who are we?

2006-01-04T20:24:00.000Z

Welcome to the blog of Split Knuckle, a new theater company dedicated to creating powerful, moving stories in unique and compelling new forms.

We're currently planning a residency in Argentina, followed by our Edinburgh fringe debut. Stay tuned for more information and details on our latest production!