Incubator 2023

After a four-year pause, we are excited to welcome you back to Bath.

What can you expect?

The work (in progress) spans all age ranges from babies to families and includes:

Toby Thompson - The Little Prince

Former Incubator artist Toby Thompson developed I Wish I Was A Mountain in 2018 and has continued to tour it across the UK, Ireland and China since then, despite the pandemic. Now he turns his mind to an adaptation of The Little Prince, finding joy in its most poignant parts, and creating a child-sized entry point to this profoundly philosophical elegy to loneliness and friendship.

This project is in its earliest stages. At showcase, Toby will present you with his words and the gentlest notion of what’s to come in terms of production design. The Egg intends to commence fundraising immediately.

Little Bulb Theatre – The Four Seasons  

Four Seasons is a theatrical love letter to nature for children aged 3-7 and their families.  It is a celebration of the wonder and weirdness of nature and our place within it, all set to a score of seasonally inspired tracks including Vivaldi’s iconic score.  When you see us we will be in the midst of the piece’s creation, doing a series of pilot performances in the South West this Spring before a Christmas run at Bristol Old Vic Studio followed by a national tour in Spring 2024.  

The Egg’s Christmas early years’ show, Midnight Mole (in VR!!!)

From the creative team behind The Egg’s 8-year success story, Snow Mouse, comes Midnight Mole, for ages 6 months – 4 years, with another immersive environment designed by Edwina Bridgeman. With a nod to Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, Madame Ranevsky is saying goodbye to her favourite place before moving house. Under the silvery light of the moon, Mole bursts from his mound to join her. With a fascination for found objects, Mole leads her on an adventure of rediscovery, above and below ground, which allows her to see the orchard afresh and embark on her new journey.

Midnight Mole is ready to tour and is best running for a full week, x3 performances per day. The Egg sold 2,650 tickets throughout December over 52 performances, with extremely positive feedback and a pleasing amount of attentive spectatorship.

Spilt Ink – Nest

New, local company Spilt Ink have their roots in clown and present here their first show together. Nest is co-created through workshops with migrant children from a local East Bristol primary school.

A brave young girl goes on a quest in search of her roots and on the way finds adventure, danger and a feathery friend. Nest combines physical theatre with puppetry, to ask the question, ‘what does home really mean to us?’

They will be presenting an extract to give a feel of the style and story of Nest, rather than a whole show. Their main desire is to find a producer who would like to work with them in the long term, taking Nest to the next stage of development, with a tour booked in at the end. They are also looking for a micro commission from a venue who would support the development of the show for another 2 weeks, with a new director.

HurlyBurly – You Are The Sun

HurlyBurly launches its new opera for 0-2 year olds and grownups that explores the magic of nature. Combining the joy of gentle classical singing and sensory play it is an invitation to see beauty in the smallest things and to let plants be our guides. Audiences will help us to celebrate the gift of nature as we conjure a world out of breath, water, sunlight and soil. You Are The Sun is available for touring from May onwards.

Jenni Jackson - Thank Heavens for Little Grrls

Jenni Jackson shared an early stage R and D of this piece in partnership with The Place and The Lowry at the last Incubator Showcase before the pandemic. Since then, The Egg has continued to invest in its development, introducing a digital provocation that has served to analyse its dramaturgy, its viability and its core conceit. In this new incarnation, Jenni will be in the play, juxtaposing her voice of adulthood against the voice of possibility: childhood. What results is a poignant recognition that with experience comes the loss of ability to play.

This production needs venues as partners to commit to and invest in the project. Jenni (with The Egg) will create a workable template which will enable all partners to engage with local girls.

Kilter Theatre – The Library of Superpowers

Bath-based Kilter Theatre have been Egg associates for many years. Sharing The Illuminating Times of the Darkling Society at a former Incubator Showcase, and presenting The Last Post in the confines of a post office van (a mobile sorting office) at Take Off Festival 2015, here they are developing The Library of Superpowers. As robots replace the human workforce, what space is there for neurodiversity? Meet Roberta, a dyslexic robot that feels invisible but has a unique set of skills to offer the world.

Kilter has been playing with AR to investigate new ways to represent a dyslexic experience. During the showcase, using an emerging concept for a show, we plan to share the constraints & opportunities we’ve discovered for digital tech in immersive, site-specific, participatory work. 

Rob Myles – Shakespeare on Hologauze

Rob shares his exploration into rehearsing spontaneously  across two continents using Hologauze and projection. Come and see the illusions!

Booking Information 

Tickets to the showcase are £45. Including breakfast, lunch, dinner and hot drinks across the period.

The showcase begins on Thursday 16^th March, arrivals at 6pm for a 7pm start.

The event wraps up on Friday 17^th March at 5.45pm.

If you have any access needs you would like to discuss, please contact the Incubator Producer, Laura Knight: [email protected]