Standby for Tape Back-Up by Ross Sutherland

Show And Tell Standby For Tape Back-Up by Ross Sutherland

STANDBY FOR TAPE BACK-UP Written and performed by:

Ross Sutherland

Directed by:

Rob Watt

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Ross Sutherland is a poet, theatre-maker and Time Out award winner. Recent projects include Comedian Dies In The Middle Of Joke (Pleasance Edinburgh, BAC, Tobacco Factory Theatre) and Hinterland (Forest Fringe, Hide & Seek). He has released several poetry collections (published by Penned in the Margins) and is currently developing projects with the BFI and the NT Studio. Standby For Tape Back-Up was featured on BBC2’s The Culture Show and has played at international film festivals in New York, Austin Texas and Glasgow.

Much of Ross’ live literature work tries to combine poetry, stand-up comedy and multimedia visuals, thus he spends a lot of time collaborating with illustrators, animators and short film- makers. www.rosssutherland.co.uk

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

“Two years ago, I found a videotape in my loft. On it: one and a half films, one quiz show and two sit-coms. Somehow, it became the story of my life” (Ross Sutherland).

After a hard-drive crash and a near death experience, Ross Sutherland found himself house- bound with only one thing for company: an old videotape that once belonged to his granddad. Over the months that followed, Ross memorised every second of the tape. Slowly, he learnt how to manipulate the images into telling the story of his life. The videotape allowed Ross to open a dialogue with his late grandfather, and eventually helped him confront the illness that had nearly ended his life.

Standby For Tape Back-Up is the true story of one man’s journey into synchronicity and madness.

Tour presented by house: housetheatre.org.uk 1 Show And Tell Standby For Tape Back-Up by Ross Sutherland

MARKETING COPY

Company / Credit Show And Tell present Ross Sutherland

Show title Standby For Tape Back-Up

Long copy “Two years ago, I found a videotape in my loft. On it: one and a half films, one (150 words) quiz show and two sit-coms. Somehow, it became the story of my life” (Ross Sutherland)

‘Simply note down the booking number, because this is a must see show… extraordinary’ The Observer

‘Consuming, compelling, hypnotic… One of the stand-out shows of the Edinburgh Fringe’ ★★★★★ The Stage

‘Beautifully crafted, strikingly original’ ★★★★ The Telegraph

‘Dizzyingly clever’ ★★★★ The Independent

‘Beautifully poetic’ ★★★★ Time Out

This tour is presented by house: www.housetheatre.org.uk

Medium copy "Two years ago, I found a videotape in my loft. On it: one and a half films, one (100 words) quiz show and two sit-coms. Somehow, it became the story of my life” (Ross Sutherland)

After a near death experience, Ross found himself house-bound with only one thing for company: an old videotape that once belonged to his granddad. The true story of one man’s journey into synchronicity and madness.

'Simply note down the booking number, because this is a must-see show… extraordinary' Observer

'One of the stand-out shows of the Edinburgh Fringe' ★★★★★ Stage

'Beautifully crafted, strikingly original' ★★★★ Telegraph, Independent, Time Out

This tour is presented by house: www.housetheatre.org.uk

Tour presented by house: housetheatre.org.uk 2 Show And Tell Standby For Tape Back-Up by Ross Sutherland

Short copy "Two years ago, I found a videotape in my loft. On it: one and a half films, one (50 words) quiz show and two sit-coms. Somehow, it became the story of my life” (Ross Sutherland). The true story of one man’s journey through VHS into synchronicity and madness.

'This is a must-see show… extraordinary' Observer

'Beautifully crafted, strikingly original' ★★★★ Telegraph

★★★★★ Stage

This tour is presented by house: www.housetheatre.org.uk Photography credit None.

Age suitability 12+, some swearwords

Running time 65 mins no interval

Online links www.showandtelluk.com | @Show_And_Tell

@housetheatre www.housetheatre.org.uk

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AUDIENCE

The show caters to all theatre-going audiences due to its unique and mesmerizing nature. If being specific then the show will appeal to those who attend fringe-theatre, comedy, live music and spoken word events. Fans and students of multi-media productions will also find the show compelling due to its heavy use of video projection and high music production values.

TARGET AUDIENCES

Theatre audience:

The show has a broad appeal thanks to its uniqueness. Ross Sutherland’s intriguing use of video, music and commentary throughout the play keeps any theatre-going audience engaged. The expected age range it will appeal to the most is between 15 – 60. At times the messages are tongue-in-cheek and at other times poignant but the autobiographical nature of the show about a man who is dealing with depression, anxiety, fear and the loss of his grandfather has a universal appeal. People who attended the Edinburgh Festival Fringe are a target demographic.

Comedy audience:

The piece combines poetry, stand-up comedy and multimedia visuals. Therefore savvy comedy and fringe theatre-goers will certainly enjoy the show, such as fans of Simon Munnery, Daniel Kitson and Tim Key.

Students:

Drama, media studies and creative writing students should be contacted because the show combines poetry and prose with salvaged VHS footage that is littered with pop-culture references. One of the play’s achievements is viewing the media from a different perspective with clips from Ghostbusters, The Crystal Maze and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air included in the show.

SELLING THE SHOW

USP: Standby For Tape Back-Up is a unique, compelling and sell-out show about the true story of one man and his journey in to synchronicity and madness.

Other selling points:

• A sell-out critical hit of Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 where it received numerous glowing reviews across the board and from broadsheets • The play’s use of video footage and electronic music gives the show a layered and creative audio-visual element which is unique • This one-man performance combines stand-up comedy, poetry and autobiographical monologues about the nature of depression, anxiety, fear and the pain of dealing with loss

Tour presented by house: housetheatre.org.uk 4 Show And Tell Standby For Tape Back-Up by Ross Sutherland

TEMPLATE PRESS RELEASE

STANDBY FOR TAPE BACK-UP

Written and performed by:

Ross Sutherland

Following sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, at London’s Soho Theatre, in New York and on tour across the UK in 2015, Ross Sutherland’s one-man, VHS-inspired elegy plays heads back out on tour in Spring 2016 for a repeat viewing.

“Two years ago, I found a videotape in my loft. On it: one and a half films, one quiz show and two sit- coms. Somehow, it became the story of my life” (Ross Sutherland).

After a hard-drive crash and a near death experience, Ross Sutherland found himself house-bound with only one thing for company: an old videotape that once belonged to his granddad. Over the months that followed, Ross memorised every second of the tape. Slowly, he learnt how to manipulate the images into telling the story of his life. The videotape allowed Ross to open a dialogue with his late grandfather, and eventually helped him confront the illness that had nearly ended his life.

Standby For Tape Back-Up is the true story of one man’s journey into synchronicity and madness.

Standby For Tape Back-Up was one of the critical hits of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 – enjoying a sell-out run at Summerhall, numerous glowing reviews and featuring on BBC2 The Culture Show’s highlights of the Fringe programme.

The show sold out London runs at the Bush Theatre, Soho Theatre and Shoreditch Town Hall – along with touring the UK earlier this year. More recently, Ross worked with rising star filmmaker Charlie Lyne (Beyond Clueless, Guardian Guide columnist) on a film adaptation of the live show. This premiered at the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto in April to widespread critical acclaim and has since seen the show performed in New York, Austin, Toronto, Copenhagen and Turin.

‘Simply note down the booking number because this is a must-see show… Extraordinary’

The Observer

Tour presented by house: housetheatre.org.uk 5 Show And Tell Standby For Tape Back-Up by Ross Sutherland

‘The show is a vast pop culture re-imagining where the past pours forth and crashes on the banks of the present… An exploration of meaning and memory delivered by an artist at the top of his game’ Total Theatre Magazine

‘Consuming, compelling, hypnotic… One of the stand-out shows of the Fringe’ ***** The Stage

‘This is a wonderfully layered piece, touching, funny and linguistically thrilling’ ***** Exeunt Magazine

‘I’ve rarely found myself so rapt by a piece of theatre ***** Matt Trueman, Fest Magazine

‘Achingly beautiful, simultaneously soothing and stirring’ ***** A Younger Theatre

‘Dizzyingly clever’ **** The Independent

‘Startlingly original’ **** The Telegraph

‘Beautifully poetic’ **** Time Out

‘Poignantly ephemeral’ **** What’s On Stage

Directed by Rob Watt. Video design by Sam Meech. Music composed by Ross Sutherland. Produced by Show And Tell. Supported by Arts Council England. Development supported by the Roundhouse, Writers Centre Norwich, Southbank Centre and Metal Peterborough.

Show And Tell are an award-winning production company supporting a host of comedians and theatre-makers including Tony Law, Josie Long, Tortoise in a Nutshell, Simon Munnery, Kieran Hurley. www.showandtelluk.com

PRESS CONTACT: Tom Searle – 02073585372 / 07941766608 – [email protected]

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PRESS QUOTES

‘Simply note down the booking number because this is a must-see show… Extraordinary’ The Observer

‘Consuming, compelling, hypnotic… One of the stand-out shows of the Fringe’ ***** The Stage

‘This is a wonderfully layered piece, touching, funny and linguistically thrilling’ ***** Exeunt Magazine

‘I’ve rarely found myself so rapt by a piece of theatre’ ***** Matt Trueman, Fest Magazine

‘Achingly beautiful, simultaneously soothing and stirring’ ***** A Younger Theatre

‘Dizzyingly clever’ **** The Independent

‘Startlingly original’ **** The Telegraph

‘Beautifully poetic’ **** Time Out

‘Poignantly ephemeral’ **** What’s On Stage

Tour presented by house: housetheatre.org.uk 7 Show And Tell Standby For Tape Back-Up by Ross Sutherland

ONLINE MARKETING

The strategy for venues will be to share the trailer over all online platforms and to maintain a steady stream of social media posts which include press and review quotes and stars; production images and social media friendly images; and RTs of positive audience reactions and the Storify of audience reactions from 2015’s tour. All content is below.

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdMXh9AZaro

Storify link to Twitter audience reactions to 2015 Tour: https://storify.com/Show_And_Tell/ross-sutherland-s-standby-for-tape-back-up

Social media friendly images: (To be sent separately)

Production images: (To be sent separately)

REVIEWS & ARTICLES

The Guardian interview: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/apr/01/ross-sutherland- interview-video-double-act-grandad-stand-by-for-tape-back-up

The Stage interview: https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/interviews/2015/ross-sutherland- ive-no-theatrical-training-whatsoever/

4* Time Out review: http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/standby-for-tape-back-up

4* Independent review: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/edinburgh- festival/standby-for-tape-backup-summerhall-review-brilliantly-pulled-off-9671124.html

The Observer article: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/aug/10/edinburgh-festival- 2014-theatre-fringe-review

NARC article: http://narcmagazine.com/news-stand-by-for-tape-back-up-northern-stage- newcastle/

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EXAMPLE TWEETS

‘One of the stand-out shows of the Fringe’ ★★★★★ (The Stage) Standby For Tape Back- Up starts at @[insertvenue] tonight

‘Consuming, compelling, hypnotic’ ★★★★★ (The Stage) Standby For Tape Back-Up starts comes to @[insertvenue] + [insertbookinglink]

'Beautifully poetic' ★★★★ says Time Out on Standby For Tape Back-Up coming to @[insertvenue] http://bit.ly/1kvHM7U

The true story of one man’s journey into synchronicity and madness [insertbookinglink] Standby For Tape Back-Up. Not to be missed!

EXAMPLE FACEBOOK POSTS

‘One of the stand-out shows of the Fringe’ ★★★★★ The Stage

Ross Sutherland's Standby For Tape Back-Up comes to [insert venue] on [insert date]. Early booking advised [insert booking link] + image

“Two years ago, I found a videotape in my loft. On it: one and a half films, one quiz show and two sitcoms. Somehow it became the story of my life.” Ross Sutherland's highly- acclaimed Standby For Tape Back-Up comes to [insert venue] on [insert date]. Book now: [insert booking link] + image

The true story of one man’s journey into synchronicity and madness. ★★★★★ The Stage | ★★★★ The Independent | ★★★★ Time Out

Standby For Tape Back-Up coming to [insert venue] on [insert date]. Don't miss [insert booking link] + image

Tour presented by house: housetheatre.org.uk 9 Show And Tell Standby For Tape Back-Up by Ross Sutherland

BOX OFFICE INFORMATION

One simple line to describe the performance: The true story of one man’s journey into synchronicity and madness.

Duration: 60 mins

Are there any lighting & strobe effects? Yes

Age recommendation: 14+

Is there music or songs? There is electronic music but no songs

What does the set look like? See production images provided

How many performers? 1

Artist’s name: Ross Sutherland

To find out more visit his website: www.rosssutherland.co.uk | @rossgsutherland

The production company: Show And Tell

To find out more visit the co.’s website: www.showandtelluk.com | @show_and_tell

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