Heart Productions is about presenting Theatre in a way that touches people. It's also about actors and audience together discovering, what makes us tick and hopefully feel good.
Heart Productions is a professional Theatre Company formed in 2002.
Our motto ‘theatre with a beat’ kind of says everything about the nature of our approach. Good Theatre, we believe, can only be delivered if we first listen, and listen very hard at that, to the beat that is inherent in the writing, for it is this pulse that drives the rest of the work –acting, direction, design, music, scenery & props, in fact everything we do. It is the energy that flows from this that the audience should feel, for touching the hearts and minds of the audience is what it’s all about.
It all started with our very first production Time after Time. Using a mixture of Shakespeare's original words and new ones written for the piece, the play was a glorious romp through the night time dreams of William Shakespeare, where characters from his plays and real life fused into one long dream sequence.
This was followed by another Shakespeare inspired new play. Romeo & Juliet For all Time is effectively a sequel to the original tragedy, and its performances in Buxton Festival Fringe earned it a nomination of Best Writing Award. Next, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with 2 four-star reviews and then a Hairline Highlight Award for being one of the top ten plays that stood head and shoulders above other reviewed plays.
In 2005 we featured two new plays, again by Frank Bramwell. The first, Love Hurts is a contemporary piece that explores the very nature of Love and its impact on the two characters Sally and Phil. The second, Macbeth Killing Time, is in the same mould as Romeo and Juliet For all Time - this time Macbeth, who has been waiting for 400 years, is tried for the crimes of the original tragedy by two jobbing Angels, Kramm and Delos. The plays were awarded three and four stars by reviewers.
2006 saw another new Shakespeare sequel, Tempest fugit:Prospero’s Will , this time based on The Tempest, the third in the line of Frank’s specially written plays to re-energise Shakespeare’s plays. Prospero is marooned on the magical Island, and is soon joined by Caliban, Ariel, Miranda and Ferdinand, there follows a deep exploration of the original play’s inner workings as we go through Prospero’s mind.
In 2008, after a short break, another new play by Frank Bramwell, Shooting Clouds, and another joint production, this time with Not/Applicable Theatre Company (who had previously performed Frank’s play The Accidental Lives of Memories in 2007 at the White Bear Theatre, London). The setting for this play was Georgia USA, and the year in question was 1958; the Pearson family follow their dreams, and in the process see their hopes frustrated. It seems that some things are forever with us, no matter what the passage of time brings. 2009 saw another Shakespeare inspire new play Time Out of Joint, performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Here we meet William Shakespeare and the Dark Lady of the Sonnets, Isabella. Things are not going well for Will - he's had a falling out with Isabella, he is struggling to complete Hamlet, and his Theatre Manager is conspiring to manipulate Will's efforts. We witness a mixture of pathos and comedy as Will attempts to bring everything to a satisfactory conclusion. If you would like to find out more about what we do, please click here Tim Clarke - General Manager
Heart Productions is:
Arnaud Mugglestone – Associate Director
Marcus Fernando - Associate Director
Tina Hofman - Associate Director
Victoria Grainger - Associate Director
Frank Bramwell - Writer