Hello! Thank you for watching our film. There’s a bit more information on Idiot Child and our show here…
Who are we?
We are Idiot Child - a theatre company making playful and peculiar work in the South West and beyond. We are Anna Harpin, Susie Riddell, Jimmy Whiteaker and Luke Emery. We formed in 2009 and drawing on autobiography and memory, we devise darkly comic tales that emerge from the facts, oddities and objects of our own lives. We make work that is concerned with comedy and theatricality, and always place the audience at the heart of our performances. Our previous shows include You’re not doing it right, which played at the Tobacco Factory in 2011:
‘A hugely enjoyable odd-ball tale that is laugh-out-loud funny but also shockingly sad’ **** GUARDIAN on You’re Not Doing It Right
What is I Could’ve Been Better?
I Could’ve Been Better is the story of James - a 33 year old signalman who enters an over-tens swimming competition to defeat his nemesis, 11 year old Veronica Barr. Encouraged by his pen-friendship with swimming legend and national treasure, Duncan Goodhew, James takes the audience with him on the swim of his life. I Could've Been Better combines movement, film, story-telling and stand-up to explore the life of a lonely man in an engaging, hilarious and heart-wrenching hour
Why Edinburgh?
We have been given the opportunity to take our show I Could've Been Better to the Edinburgh Fringe, performing at Pleasance Courtyard for the whole festival. This is a great chance for us to share our playful and peculiar work with a whole new audience and allow us to grow as a company making unique, inventive and entertaining theatre. Lyn Gardner (theatre critic for The Guardian) has chosen our show as a hot tip for Edinburgh this year, which will hopefully encourage audiences to try us out!
‘wonderfully unique and beautifully heartbreaking. Idiot Child are becoming a company not to be missed’ TOTAL THEATRE
'hilarious and poignant in turns and captivating throughout…a gem of a show, Idiot Child is a company to watch’ **** WHAT’S ON STAGE
'Tender and hilarious. The interactions with the audience are sweet and inclusive; it’s a rare show that makes me wish I’d been picked out of the audience **** EXEUNT
Why we need your help…
The only snag is that producing a play in Edinburgh is hugely expensive and without financial support we're going to struggle. We're hoping that you've enjoyed our film and like the sound of the show! Any amount will help us enormously and we have some lovely rewards for donations. We also hope that the Sponsume experience will introduce us to a few new friends along the way.
It's fun being an Idiot Child. Go on, join us...
Susie, Anna, Jimmy and Luke x
(Special thank you to Matt Collins for filming and editing our funding film. See more of his ace work here: www.crushimages.co.uk)
The Company
Anna Harpin (director/writer)
Anna is a writer, director, and academic. Recent writing credits include I Could’ve Been Better (Idiot Child, Bristol Old Vic), You’re not doing it right (Idiot Child, Tobacco Factory) and Isle of Shame (Idiot Child, Tobacco Factory). Recent directing credits include You're Not Doing It Right (Idiot Child, Tobacco Factory), Choking Hazard (Idiot Child, Ferment), Nostalgia (Theatre West), The Wonderful World of Dissocia (Corpus Playroom).
Jimmy Whiteaker (writer/performer)
Jimmy is a writer and actor. His recent writing credits include You’re Not Doing It Right and I Could’ve Been Better (both Idiot Child), Nostalgia (Alma Theatre) and Choking Hazard (Bristol Old Vic). Recent acting credits include I, Caliban (Bristol Old Vic), I Could’ve Been Better (Idiot Child, Ferment), Knife Act (Hearth Theatre Company) and Dr Faustus (Splendid Productions). His play Nostalgia was shortlisted for the 2010 Meyer-Whitworth Award.
Susie Riddell (producer)
Susie is an actress and producer. She trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. For Idiot Child, Susie has appeared in Choking Hazard (Bristol Old Vic Ferment) and You’re Not Doing It Right (Brewery, Tobacco Factory), which she also produced. Susie plays Tracy Horrobin in BBC Radio 4's The Archers and has been a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company. Her extensive radio work includes roles in Ulysses, Frankenstein, and 1984. Television includes Saxondale, Gavin and Stacey, Emmerdale and Doctors. Stage includes roles for the Birmingham Rep, Ice and Fire and Oddsocks Productions. She sings with the City of London Choir.
Luke Emery (producer)
Luke is an independent producer with a background in theatre, music and visual arts. He is Associate Producer at Theatre Bristol and Creative Common. As well as working with Idiot Child, Luke also works with curious directive and Tristan Bernays. In the past he has worked with Bristol Ferment, the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, Artichoke, Norwich Playhouse and Odd Comic. He produced and curated BETA, the first platform for regional artists at the Norfolk and Norwich Festival. He has lectured at Norwich University of the Arts on Producing and Project Management.
The owner of this project has not made any updates yet.
