PREVIEW: Birthday in Suburbia

UK Premiere of dark visual comedy Birthday in Suburbia, devised by The Upstairs Brigade combining spoken English with elements of International Sign Language and directed by Ally Cologna.

The Upstairs Brigade present a devised production inspired by the ever popular film, It’s a Wonderful Life.

Stanislav Novak has a nice house, nice family and nice job. His life is complete. Today is his 40th birthday and the party is just warming up. But what’s up with Stanislav? He’s locked himself away and won’t come out… A kaleidoscope of mundanity and the surreal, Birthday in Suburbia invites the audience to follow the descent of an average man into an extraordinary, ridiculous personal crisis. Birthday in Suburbia deftly merges clown, dark comedy and memorable visual imagery in this one-act tour de force. Showing as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival.

The Upstairs Brigade is a brigade of theatre makers that share a passion for telling stories that move, create laughter and resonate. The group met in 2015 on the Physical Theatre MA at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, where director Ally Cologna also teaches.

Birthday in Suburbia is their first professional production. Their mission is to become a new creative force in the world of visual theatre.

Ally Cologna trained at the Jacques Lecoq school. She was co-artistic director of female clown/visual theatre company Brouhaha 1990-2004. As an actor she has collaborated with Marcello Magni, Paul Hunter, John Wright and Jan van den Bosch.

♦ “A talented ensemble of comedic and physical actors. Visually exciting, unpredictable, moving and hilarous.” Mitch Mitchelson, stalwart theatre practitioner

The Upstairs Brigade is an international company (with more than 12 languages between them) based across London, Brighton, Olso and Helsinki. They are a cast of one deaf and eight hearing actors, hence their interest in using especially visual and physical theatrical language.

Cast: Anja Bibby, Camilla Nervi, Jan Kramer, Dawn Jani Birley, Pawel Jackiewicz, Nathalie Czarnecki, Joe Carter, Catherine Self, Ami Moulton.

Director: Ally Cologna, Set and costume design: Lucy Wilkinson, Lighting design: Kerri Mcgimpsey.