Kicking and Screaming developed from the phenomenal response to Push in 2014. It takes a sideways look at how we cope with our children – and how our parents coped with us. 

Kicking and Screaming will tour to nine venues around the North East of England as part of an initiative to increase the range of contemporary theatre on offer to audiences in the region. This involving and physical show also includes a live score played on children’s instruments. The tour will include ‘baby-friendly’ matinee shows at two venues, to make it easier for parents to attend.

The tour is commissioned by REACH, a project bringing new theatre to the North East and managed by Stockton Arts and Dep Arts, funded by ACE. Tour dates:

5 March, 7.30 & 6 March, 1.30: Arts Centre Washington

0191 219 3455   www.artscentrewashington.co.uk

9 March, 7.30: Bishop Auckland Town Hall

03000 269 524   www.bishopaucklandtownhall.org.uk

10 March 7.30: Alnwick Playhouse

01665 510785   www.alnwickplayhouse.co.uk

11 & 12 March, 7.30: Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Hexham

01434 652477   www.queenshall.co.uk

13 & 14 March, 7.30: Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre

01429 890000   www.destinationhartlepool.com

17 March, 7.30 & 18 March, 1.30: ARC Stockton Arts Centre

01642 525199   www.arconline.co.uk

19 & 20 March, 8pm: The Customs House, South Shields

0191 454 1234   www.customshouse.co.uk

21 March, 7.30: Seaton Delaval Arts Centre

0191 237 5460    www.seatondelavalartscentre.com

22 March, 7.30  Saltburn Community Theatre

01287 624997   www.saltburnarts.co.uk

Did you see Need A Little Help by Tangled Feet at The Half Moon Theatre last month? Flossie Waite did, and here is her review.

Tangled Feet unstitch and re-sew Spalding’s famous history of trade, shipping, forging and flowers. Mixing physical theatre, music, fire, pryotechnics and dance alongside the fabulous South Holland landscape Tangled Feet dig into the past to explode the present.

Over two days characters appeared in and around Spalding, searching for a means to survive and thrive, to work and to rest. They discover and celebrate water, plant seeds and dance with flowers, trade their wares in the market and make metal bend at the forge.

Aug 2nd and 3rd, Spalding

Tangled Feet are unsuccessful in application to join Arts Council NPO

Tangled Feet are disappointed to not be joining the Arts Council’s National Portfolio. We are a small organisation and charity who have been achieving big results on project-by-project funding for some time, which we will continue to do.

We are one of a very few physical theatre ensembles in the UK, and one of only a handful working both indoors and outdoors.

We had hoped to have our unique contribution and impact recognised as part of the National Portfolio.

Tangled Feet believe that theatre is for everyone – not just for a metropolitan cultural elite. Our dedicated ensemble of artists tour free-to-access, highly visual performances for thousands in audiences all across the country, and run dedicated participatory programmes with hundreds of young people, including those at risk, in care and with SEN. We create paid training opportunities in the arts to those who might otherwise be unable to afford high university fees.

As a small company reaching big diverse audiences on limited means, it is frustrating to see large amounts of investment going to expensive buildings which already have the ability to leverage significant income from corporate and commercial support.

The financial stability that NPO funding could have brought us would have allowed us to realise some big ambitions and to attract support from other sources. Furthermore, it would have been a welcome recognition that the outdoor arts have the power to transform places, bringing exciting, inspiring, sophisticated performance right into the centre of people’s lives.

There are a large number of arts organisations in the sector who are lean, agile and creating excellent yet often undervalued work in a huge range of contexts.

It is these organisations, often working outdoors, that will be reaching the audiences of tomorrow.

The biggest investment in TF comes from the people we work with; from the continued commitment of our artists and from our large family of audience and participants. It is this long-term investment that has fortified us for a decade of making work, and will see us well into the future.