"This has been the greatest year of my life" | 2023 Year Round Up Blog
Dear Partners, Collaborators and Friends,
Another year is approaching its end, so it’s time for our yearly tradition of taking a second to thank you for your work and support over 2023. It’s difficult to put into words just how fundamental this year has been to us as a company, and that could not have happened without your help. Here is a list of the wonderful work we’ve done together this year:
After 5 years of development, BIG STRONG MAN debuted at Cast in June 2023 to fantastic audience reception. We were able to make the show we wanted on our terms whilst being inspired by our community - putting them first. In finally bringing the show to life, we formed new connections with wonderful artists, including Jonny Wakeford, Pierre Flasse, Morgandy McKinnell and Ellen Ryan. We also were able to rekindle collaborations with Tommy Carmichael, Swans Events, Rasha Kotaiche and Lena Kennard.
Image by Rasha Kotaiche - featuring all the main cast and design by Lena Kennard
We became Associate Artists of Cast in Doncaster, further developing our relationship with them and solidifying our commitment to support artists and audiences in Doncaster, South Yorkshire and the wider North of England.
Happy: Facilitated workshops for Morven Robinson and her project, Happy, which was done in collaboration with Andy’s Man Club and GSD.
TGH DIGITAL: We launched our Digital work with BIG STRONG MAN On Demand - click the link now to see our show for just £6.50. We’ll be developing this part of our work next year with new on demand workshops, so stay tuned (Like Share Subscribe)
Hosted a special, one-off Open House for our collaborators to offer support as we all weather the current issues facing our industry and the wider world.
Applied for a bunch of residencies and opportunities (not all of them successful, but all worth doing). Learning, improving, growing out.
Received two successful Arts Council England bids, one for BIG STRONG MAN, and one for a new non-verbal Children’s show that will integrate BSL to create a unique and beautiful movement.
Learning, working with and connected with amazing artists, creatives and people across the country and the world!
So all in all, a pretty good year! If you haven’t seen it, we are starting 2024 strong with a new R&D and the live show of Tales at Twilight! If you are an artist of any discipline based in South Yorkshire then make sure you apply now.
Comment below and let us know what you are proud of from this year and what you’re excited about for 2024.
Thank you for coming with us on this journey. We can’t wait to continue learning, creating and growing out with you next year. Keep an eye on all our socials for news and announcements for BIG STRONG MAN, Tales at Twilight, Play House and more in 2024.
Don’t Grow Up, Have a Happy Festive Season,
Christopher, Peter and Sam
The DGUGO Boys