BANTAM OF THE OPERA STAGE ~ THEATRICS BY DAY
With bewitching theatre and interactive workshops to really get the playful mind involved, the Bantam of the Opera Stage has grown into a forum for engaging performance and experimentation. Nozstock has hosted cutting edge dramatic pieces from nationwide theatre groups and some closer to home….
The music line-up may be fantastico but the Dingle will be calling at Nozstock this year- come exploring and be rewarded with a weekend of sweet treats in the Bantam of The Opera tent. By day we offer a myriad of theatrical yumminess to kick back, relax and watch; or throw yourself into head first. You can learn to bellydance; break dance too if that’s more your thing – or how about a bit of circus? You’re never too old (or young!) to learn some acrobatics. We’ve got workshops just for the little ones to get stuck into, we’ve got shows for less sensitive ears come dark…We’ve got mesmerizing puppets and hilarious physical theatre, rounded off by a 7 Fringe Award-winning comedy poet that will make you chuckle tears into your wellies. Are we spoiling you? Yes. Yes we are. But then you dear Nozstockers are worth it.
LINE UP: TBA
THE VELVETINE VALLEY ~ CABARET BY NIGHT
When the sun goes down over the farm the bright lights of the Velveteen Valley sparkle and shine in the Bantam of the Opera. Once the clock strikes twelve we bring you two nights of decadence and delight.
Fabulous Friday brings you a plethora of all things burlesque. From vaudeville to cheesecake prepare yourselves for a tasty evening of tassels and glamour, seduction and comedy. Burlesque beauties will titillate and tempt you.
Saturday late is set for an intriguing mash up of variety cabaret for your entertainment and amazement. Your ring mistress Ophelia Bitz will bring her own brand of fabulous filth as she leads you through a naughtily behaved night. Expect disarming, weird geekiness from Owen Niblock. Presenting a rounded programme of humour, song and music, let us take you on a journey along the incredible, the dark and the downright electrifying.
LINE UP:
Ophelia Bitz
Time Out London said that “Bitz may have the voice of an angel but she also has the mouth of a filthy gutter-slut.” Our ring mistress for Saturday night, Ophelia brings her own brand of fabulous, sexy comedy. Original and versatile she has shared a stage with the likes of Mika, Tim Burton and Derren Brown. Nozstock, we give you the alluring, the alarming, Ophelia Bitz…
Owen Niblock
Musical comedian, massive geek, and a bit of a weirdo, Owen Niblock has played all over the UK peddling his strange ditties and surreal jokes. A favourite at festivals, he brings his particular brand of silliness back to Nozstock after a stonking performance in 2011.
Glitter Kittens
Manchester’s saucy, seductive troupe of professional rock burlesque entertainers. Blending the two very different worlds of cabaret and rock, Zelda Saint-Wilde has given The Glitter Kittens a distinctive edge in burlesque’s world of glamour and decadence.
Amber Rosia
Give her a slinky costume and a pole and she’ll give you a burlesque pole show… She worked in MTV, performed at the Spiderman 3 premier after-party and modeled fetish gear in Las Vegas! She also performs in a variety of clubs in London such as Candy Bar and Aphrodisiacs. Amber-Rosia is also one of the founding members of the Ragdoll Rebels, creating nights of Polesque entertainment- a mix of classic burlesque and with a blend of modern-day pole dancing. She trained in flying and static trapeze in Circus Space, London, and got hooked on being inverted. She progressed to swinging and hanging upside down on a pole as they’re easier to find then a trapeze!
Oh! Carolina
Neo-burlesque with a comedic touch, it is both quirky and eye-catching, with excellent scenery and props.
Betsey Blaze
Betsey is characterised by her energetic and creative performances. She mixes the classical art of striptease with contemporary ideas creating bizarre and artistic routines. Her routines often feature a narrative or explore passionate reactions, such as intense love. Betsey’s inspiration comes and mixed of sources. She loves the glitz and glamour of show-girls, whilst at the same time being inspired by artists and philosophers.
INTERACTIVE WALKABOUT
And don’t miss the walkabout interactive performances all weekend. They’ll be surprises round every corner. Be amazed by the Ballz Out Circus Troupe and Gogs, firedancer extraordinaire! Let your eyes be boggled by the mind-bending performance artists who weave, wind, twizzle and sizzle their way through the weekend for your pure pleasure and astonishment.
The Goblins
The Goblins have arrived! Prince Oddness and his servant Grotsick are questing to find a new Princess, auditioning members of the public they bring their topsy-turvy perception of our world into magical life. But whose foot will fit the enchanted glass slipper?
Arch of Starch
Ten tentacles tickled twice twisted round his tonsils thrice. An orb full of eyeballs will lure you into witnessing the whirling of florescence that is Croctopus Chris. He bursts out of the bubbling mash and his squidy suckers suck you squelching upwards! This visual performance will cause you to erupt with excitement and leave you longing to realize your true identity.
The Satyrs
Austere, dignified and very regal. These furtive characters are cheeky and flirtatious, with feathers at the ready.
Toybox Theatre
Toybox Theatre is a UK based, strikingly beautiful visual performance company that creates a vintage story book, vaudeville style strolling show. Roaming around on their giant tandem tricycle pumping out show time tunes of jazz, swing and electro blues from their pedal powered over sized gramophone and their own clock work lungs, bringing a touch of class and a harmonized note of magic to any given location and event.
Boadicea
Singing her way to victory, Boadicea will delectably warble her way through time to strum your ears with her rumptious operaticic voice. Prepared to be amazed.She is armed.
The Peggys
Dear oh dear, look at the state of you lot!’ This year the Peggys are on strike. With chants of ‘Scrubbers rights!’, ‘who shot JR?’ and ‘Jif not Cif’ as they come collecting fellow Nozzers to go on strike.
TENT OF TEMPORARY THOUGHT
Featuring wisdom, debate and opinion from all corners of the globe, come and test the bounds of your mind in this tent, here one minute, gone the next. Thought has never felt so fleeting, or maybe it has?
LINE UP:
Rachel Rose Reid
Dubbed Queen of the New Wave of storytellers by BBC Radio 3, and a “rising star” by the Independent on Sunday, Rachel Rose Reid is making
a mark as a unique voice, blending spoken word, storytelling and song, that combine oral tradition and urban influence. RRR has created collaborations with Dizraeli and the Small Gods, The Roundhouse Experimental Choir and the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as touring her own acclaimed solo shows. “Immense skill and breathless conviction…there’s no faulting Reid’s comannd of her craft” (The Times)
Ifor Thomas
Ifor has performed his poetry all over the UK at venues as diverse as the Hay Literary Festival and the Tunnel Club. In 2012 he can be seen at the Laugharne Festival and the Dinefwr Festival. His latest book Stalking Paloma, Parthian 2011, has attracted critical acclaim: “Stalking Paloma is a highly intelligent, beautiful crafted collection” ~ Sarah Coles, Planet Feb 2012. His previous collections include Body Beautiful, Parthian 2005. This collection was shortlisted for Welsh Book of the Year.
Adam Kammerling
Adam Kammerling confronts the boundaries that lie between rap and poetry, defining and blurring them equally. His pieces celebrate the finer, and grimier, points of everyday life, from the police state to cake to long train journeys with undesirables. Adam uses elements of theatre and comedy to create immersive, engaging works that challenge audience’s perceptions of spoken word. Adam is the National Hammer and Tongue Slam Champion 2010 and the Hackney Champion 2011. He is also the winner of the Shambala Slam and Valentines Anti-Slam in 2011.
Catherine Brogan
Numerously lauded and winner of the BBC Edinburgh Fringe Poetry Slam 2011, Catherine moved to Belfast Jan – Jun 2008 and got her first big break in Belfast, running poetry workshops, supporting Scroobius Pip vs Dan le Sac and Skinny Man and winning the Belfast Poetry Cup. Since moving to London in June 2008 she’s thrown herself into the poetry scene, hosting monthly night Speech Motion “Catherine is witty, wise and a great entertainer. Her poetry makes the personal political & the political personal” ~ Paul Burston, Time Out
Christian Watson
Christian Watson writes all day and occasionally performs poems on stage. “Full of witty word play, banterish boyish lines and a seductively comedic edge… blew my mind with the ferocity of words spilling out his lips, at a speed and craft I’d never before witnessed… a definite showstopper.” ~ BeeBee By the Sea. Falling in Public quotes “Don’t be fooled by the disheveled attire and facial hair, for his words are as sharp as tuxedos.”
Amy Acre
Amy Acre writes love-struck, impetuous and lecherous rhymes to reclaim a soul she sold for a career in advertising. She’s featured at poetry events all over London and in locations as exotic as Melbourne, Kerala and Essex. She hosts the monthly Poetry Jam at the Tea Box in Richmond. She has received commendations from Magma and South Bank Poetry magazines and been published in Rising. She is one fifth of a poetry collective called Dirty Hands. “A sexy, soul-enriching little wordsmith, who cuts to the quick of your heart in full sight and rifles around in your guts while you’re not looking.” ~ Katie Bonna
Andreas Grant
Andreas Grant, celebrated bon vivant & mixologist of tipular fixings kicked off his career in 2009, since then performing at: Dark Carnival, Old Vic Tunnels 2010, Standon Calling, Hammer & Tongue, Writer’s Block and Hackney Empire. Andreas has run his own performance nights in the West and East ends of London. “Dylan Thomas meets X-factor” ~ The BIG ISSUE. ”Poetry is a brave expose’ of one’s vulnerability and Andreas Grant set a contagious tone….Indeed, it was an unforgettable occasion.” ~ An Audience With Oliver James
Huw Dylan Ellis
Huw Dylan Ellis , License to rhyme, Give him a lemon, he’ll shit you a lime
Nathan Thompson (host)
Finalist at the Cheltenham Literary Festival Slam 2011, and at the ‘Hammer and Tongue’ Camden Slam and Jawdance Featured Poet; Nathan Thompson uses his background in rap to build rhythms and ideas into a flow that is funny, weird and delightful. He is a professional blogger, writer and runs workshops in slam poetry.
PLEASE NOTE: Nozstock’s theatrics are kid-friendly all day until 8pm, with some specific children’s workshops and performances. Please bear in mind that programming after 8pm could contain profanity and graphic imagery.
