The Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award

Alan Fielden with JAMS:Marathon

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20—29 Sep 2018 The Pit

Sun 18 Nov

Inua Ellams Pit PartyJoin the prolific poet-playright as he mingles hip-hop, dance, recital and film

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The City of London Corporation is the founder and principal funder of the Barbican Centre

Barbican Centre BoardChairman Dr Giles ShilsonDeputy Chairman Tom SleighBoard Members John Bennett,Russ Carr, Simon Duckworth, David Graves, Gerard Grech, Wendy Hyde, Emma Kane, Vivienne Littlechild, Wendy Mead, Lucy Musgrave, Graham Packham, Trevor Phillips, Judith Pleasance, John Tomlinson, Jenny WaldmanClerk to the Board Gregory Moore

Barbican Centre TrustChairman Emma KaneTrusteesRichard BernsteinDr Geraldine Brodie Sir Roger GiffordSir Nicholas KenyonKendall Langford Professor Dame Henrietta MooreJohn MurrayAlasdair NisbetJohn PorterDr Giles ShilsonTorsten ThieleSteven TredgetRegistered charity no. 294282

DirectorsManaging DirectorSir Nicholas KenyonChief Operating and Financial OfficerSandeep DwesarArtistic Director Louise JeffreysDirector of Learning and EngagementSean GregoryDirector of Operations and BuildingsJonathon PoynerExecutive Assistant toSir Nicholas Kenyon Jo Daly

Theatre DepartmentHead of Theatre Toni RacklinSenior Production Manager Simon BourneProducers Marie Curtin, Jill Shelley, Angie Smith

Production ManagersJamie Maisey, Lee TaskerTechnical Managers Richard Beaton,Tony Brand, Steve Daly, Jane Dickerson, Martin MorganStage Managers Lucinda Hamlin,Charlotte Oliver Technical Supervisors Kevin Atkins,Martin Coates, Nik Kennedy,Jamie Massey, Stevie Porter,Tom Salmon, John Seston,Chris WilbyPA to Head of Theatre David GreenAssistant Producers Lauren Hamilton, Alex Jamieson, Bernie Whittle Theatre Administration Trainee Hannah LordProduction Administrator Caroline HallTechnicians John Gilroy, Burcham Johnson,Christian Lyons, Josh Massey,Lawrence Sills, Neil Sowerby, Charlie MannSystems and Maintenance TechniciansAdam Parrott, Charlie ArnoldTheatre Production ApprenticesRobert Arnall, Paige HolmesStage Door Julian Fox,aLbi Gravener

Creative LearningHead of Learning, Barbican / Guildhall School of Music & DramaJenny MollicaCreative Learning Producer Kirsten AdamAssistant ProducerLauren Brown

Marketing DepartmentHead of Marketing Phil NewbyDeputy Head of Marketing Ben JefferiesSenior Marketing ManagerMatt SaullMarketing Manager (Theatre) Niharika JainMarketing Assistant (Theatre) Lani Strange

Communications DepartmentHead of CommunicationsLorna GemmellSenior Communications ManagerAngela DiasPR Consultant Bridget ThornborrowCommunications OfficerFreddie Todd FordhamCommunications InternRosie Evans-Hill

Audience ExperienceHead of Audience Experience,Operations & Sales David DuncanAudience Experience ManagersMark Fleming, Sheree MillerTicket Sales Managers Lucy Allen,Oliver Robinson, Ben Skinner,Jane Thomas, Will Warnock,Andy WilliamsonCentre Managers (Delivery)James Carruthers, Robert Norris, Mo ReidemanCentre Manager (Planning)Pheona KiddAudience Event & Planning ManagerFreda PouflisVenue Managers Fiona Badgery,Lucy Dunn, Gary Hunt,Nyah Farier, Elizabeth WilksAssistant Venue ManagersHelen Knights, Richard Long Crew Management Drew Burke,Dave Magwood, James Towell Access and Licensing ManagerRebecca Oliver

DevelopmentHead of DevelopmentLynette Brooks

Freesheet editor Emma GosdenFreesheet designer Stephen Brown

The Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award 2018 MarathonAlan Fielden with JAMS

1 hour 10 minutes/no interval

Director and Performer Alan Fielden Co-creator and Performer Sophie Grodin Co-creator, Performer and Technical Malachy Orozco Co-creator and Performer Jemima Yong

Producer Natalie Raaum

Presented and co-produced by the Barbican

Welcome to the Barbican

The Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award supports the development of emerging practitioners engaged in bold, challenging and innovative performance. For more than 10 years we have worked with the Award to stage a new production annually, based on a prize-winning proposal. This year’s winners are Alan Fielden with JAMS, a group of young artists who experiment with form to deliberately create disruptive and unpredictable experiences. Their new Barbican co-production, Marathon, is theatre for our generation, as we become ever more overloaded by information in the age of digital technology and rolling news.

Toni Racklin Head of Theatre, Barbican

Writing long books is a laborious and impoverishing act of foolishness: expanding in five hundred pages an idea that could be perfectly explained in a few minutes. A better procedure is to pretend that those books already exist and to offer a summary, a commentary.” (Jorge Luis Borges)

Marathon is the story of a messenger on the front lines of a conflict between two countries. He is told by his General to take word back to the King: “We’ve lost the war, the enemy is coming”. This is the story of his journey through his country, of the people he meets, and the tales they tell of their corrupt King that lead him to question his faith in the mission. This show contains haze and pyrotechnics. Welcome. JAMS

Together we champion bold, ambitious work. Please give generously.Text ‘BARB99 £5’ to 70070barbican.org.uk/support-us

Confectionery and merchandise including Jude’s ice cream, quality chocolate, nuts and nibbles are available from the sales points in our foyers.

Please turn off watch alarms, phones, pagers etc. during the performance. Taking photographs, capturing images or using recording devices during a performance is strictly prohibited.

If anything limits your enjoyment please let us know during your visit. Additional feedback can be given online, as well as via feedback forms or the pods located around the foyers.

JAMSJAMS is a group of four international artists from a variety of backgrounds and interdisciplinary practices, unified through an appreciation for collaboration, experimentation and liveness in performance.

Jemima Yong (Malaysia / Singapore), Alan Fielden (South Korea / UK), Malachy Orozco (Ireland / USA), and Sophie Grodin (Denmark) have worked together for six years, and this relationship forms the basis from which their performances are built.

A constant thread through their work is the engagement of audiences’ imaginative agency, embracing the communality of the theatre experience. Influenced heavily by musical processes, a core element of their practice involves ‘jamming’, which they do regularly to yield new material, leading to performances that are scored rather than scripted.

The Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award The Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award (OSBTTA) supports the development of emerging practitioners engaged in bold, challenging and innovative performance. Since 2007, the Barbican and the OSBTTA have worked together annually to stage a new production, based on a prize-winning proposal, for The Pit or a site-specific location. Previous winners include Mars.tarrab, Nigel Barrett and Louise Mari, Dickie Beau, Davy & Kristin McGuire and You Me Bum Bum Train. This year, JAMS are mentored by award-winning British choreographer Jonathan Burrows, and Karen Christopher (Haranczak/Navarre Performance Projects).

With thanks to All staff at The Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust and the Barbican Our mentors, Karen Christopher and Jonathan BurrowsJane Greenfield, Sarah Wilson-White, CJ Mitchell, Theatre Peckham, Duncan McKenna, Ellie Stamp, Kendell Foster, April Wernham, Rob Heppell, Daniel Somerville and Jane George at Worcester University Lene Shepherd, James Tristram, Max Morris-Doherty and the friends and loved ones of JAMS who’ve supported us over the making of Marathon.

Photo by: Jemima Yong

Photo by: Sophie Grodin

Photo by: Jemima Yong