Programs

Arthropoda

World Premier Manipulate Visual Theatre Festival February 3 & 4 2023 Manipulate Website Tickets

For over 200 years, humans have used lobster pots as a device to trap the creature after it crawls in to reach bait. The entrance to the pot never closes; it remains open, but once inside, the lobster just can’t find its way out again.  Arthropoda is a show about how we identify our traps, and if we manage to do so, how we can find ways to escape them.

This gripping and visually arresting piece of circus theatre tells of the unravelling of a relationship, entangled in the psychological pitfalls of societal and systematic sexism.

The piece explores the way in which toxic and abusive dynamics can remain hidden to those experiencing them, when experienced amidst the complex mass of other relationship dynamics. Through an array of stunning visual theatre and circus techniques including Cyr wheel, and aerial theatre Arthropoda navigates challenging questions about whether we can or should support a partner with dark and violent emotions, and how to identify when those emotions spill over into something altogether more dangerous.

Production Credits: Writer, Director and Co-Production Designer: Sarah Holmes Mentor/Dramaturge: Clive Andrews Performers: Constanza Ruff and Lee Partridge Co- Producers: Melanie Purdie and Nikki Kalkman Musical Director and Musician: Bado Reti Lighting Designer: George Tarbuck Co-Production Designer: Ingrid Scholes Production Stage Manager: Grace Turner Musician: Joseph Weisberg Deputy Stage Manager:  Lucy May Wilson Sound Technician: Lucy Planet Image Credit: Colin Hattersley Graphic Design: Kate George

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A Wire Apart

A Wire Apart is a modern love story set in the surreal environment of our digitally connected world. Distanced by a world of wires, two lost individuals work on finding each other, but in doing so must first find themselves. Using dance, physical theatre, tight-wire walking and original music, A Wire Apart explores the impact modern communication has on our mental health and ability to connect authentically with one another. Donate Here  for Online Viewing of the Production. Link to Production Donate to get your password!

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Egg

Highlighting themes of choice, chance, science and mortality, an autobiographical tale about a young woman who gave her eggs. With live music and aerial choreography on plastics, Egg explores the physical distortion and discomfort of the effects of hormones on the body, and the complexity created through the use of science to make a family.

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Warped

Warped asks you to stare directly into infinity and embrace the mysteries of Time.  This aerial theatre production illuminates our complex relationship to our own mortality. Confronted with the inevitable death of a loved one, one man is propelled into a world of suspended gears, cranks, levers, and ropes that move and morph like the inner mechanisms of a giant clock. There he will contend with the true paradox of order and chaos in his quest to stave off Death. Join these four quirky characters in their odyssey of relativity through this strikingly visual production in true Paper Doll Militia fashion. 

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USA Production
Recipient of Creation Fund by National Performance Network
Co-Commissioning partners: 7 Stages, Dance Mission Theatre,
Host Of Sparrows & The Modlin Center, On Fife Theatre

UK Production
Recipient of Open Fund by Creative Scotland
Work in Progress Showing of development March 16, 2018

Loopsend

The performers envelop you into their otherworldly environment where gravity is more a suggestion than a law. LoopsEnd features Paper Doll Militia’s most edgy and dynamic short form works to date, retaining the dark and magical quality the company is most known for. Appealing to audiences of all ages and languages, the show has it’s foundations in universal human concepts, told with enticing visuals and non-verbal unfolding narrative. With a diverse use of mediums and aerial apparatus, the stage is continuously transformed. A true journey of the human spirit, LoopsEnd shows us a mirror of our own experiences reminding us of our collective grit and strength.

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The Twisted Tale

This modern fairytale for adults fuses aerial acrobatics, original music, animation, and shadow puppetry. With airborne physicality, this dark tale describes a strange encounter between a misfit little girl and an unpredictable and crass incarnation of the Devil. Join us in this magical and violent performance with high octane aerial arts on monkey bars, a streetlamp, and a chain swing.

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Please visit our show website for more information, reviews, and tech specs. www.ThisTwistedTale.com

Crossroads

Crossroads is an ensemble aerial theatre short that explores the characters' as they are caught in a “crossroads” in their lives. Incorporating the beauty and skill of five aerial silks artists and one stilt walker combined with innovative and theatrical storytelling, Crossroads is a balanced blend of mystery, grace, and emotional imagery.

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Duality

A physical theatre aerial piece that utilizes mask work.  Duality explores the energy of opposites.  Once you peer behind the veil to the Dance of Duality you will see the two oppositional forces pulling and tugging at each other, creating a tension that creates a perfect equilibrium. Original Apparatus design by Circus Gear Concept, Choreography & Original music by Rain Anya

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Surrender

A film made during the coronavirus pandemic shelter-in-place by Rain Anya. circa 2020.

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Duo Hammock

Both dynamic and sultry, this Aerial Hammock act will magnetize you into the spiraling wold of performers Rain Anya and Lena Alani.

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Unchained

Suspended on two spinning loops of steel chain, The Paper Doll Militia move with precise synchronization and impressive partner work, hanging from each others' limbs from their inventive apparatus.

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Unhinged

A stunning aerial theatre short where world class aerial acrobatics merge with vivid theatricality to create a whimsical, dark and dynamic performance.

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Ashes

The concept for Ashes juxtaposes the seeming weightlessness of aerial and the tangible weight of the polpe [pole+rope], a rope weighted with a 25-pound sack. The polpe, a Paper Doll Militia original apparatus, provides both stability and the unpredictability of free-flying weight. This element makes precision of choreography and movement imperative and imbues an underlying feeling of chaos.

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Their Secret Steps

This visually stunning aerial act depicts the intense physical journey of two women on a floating ladder, suspended 15 feet in the air. Enter into our dream-like world where captivating aerial acrobatics blend seamlessly with emotional choreography that is timeless...both vintage and modern. With seemingly impossible physical feats, Their Secret Steps will delight and surprise any audience.

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Seretide

Inspired by breath or lack thereof, “Seretide” is the name of an asthma medication. The Multi-Cordes attachment to the ribs is a call back to that. Original apparatus designed with 12 strings for the 12 ribs that wrap the lungs.

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Clank

Paper Doll Militia offers a truly unique performance using the rare specialty apparatus of Aerial Chain. Both industrial and supple, the aerialist dances with ease on the steel chains as if they were silk.

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Solo Silks

This is a refined and powerful performance, mixing the grace of aerial dance with the excitement of dynamic twists and falls. The audience will be entranced by punctuated rhythm and unique theatricality of this silks performer. Witness this classic aerial art performed with stylistic flare, this is a Paper Doll specialty.

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