Walk the Plank are a British group of artists, theatre makers, pyrotechnicians and event engineers who specialise in outdoor arts/theatre, touring performance and
pyrotechnics.
Their shows are on land and on water and often mix performance, music, lighting, visual images, fire, and
fireworks
Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...
. The company was established by John Wassell and Liz Pugh in 1991, who identified a
niche market
A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focused. The market niche defines the product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that it ...
for a touring theatre ship, and other aquatic shows on the waterways. The company's work began when the pair purchased a touring
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
ship, the MV ''Fitzcarraldo''. The company's work has now extended far beyond the ship and they work on delivering shows and events, varying in scale from intimate to epic. Walk the Plank have produced work for Toronto’s
Wintercity Festival,
Singapore Festival,
Euro 2004,
Tall Ships 2005
Tall commonly refers to:
*Tall, a degree of height
**Tall, a degree of human height
Tall may also refer to:
Places
* Tall, Semnan, a village in Semnan Province of Iran
* River Tall, a river in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Arts. entertainmen ...
,
Centerparcs
Center Parcs Europe (formerly Center Parcs) is a European network of holiday villages that was founded in the Netherlands in 1968, and is currently operated by Pierre & Vacances and owned by Blackstone Group.
History
Dutch entrepreneur Pie ...
, Sir
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
, the
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
, as well as multiple city and local councils. Perhaps their most well known credit are the opening and closing ceremonies for Liverpool's Capital of Culture celebrations.
Their administrative base is in
Salford,
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
and they have workshop facilities in Ramsbottom and Rawtenstall.
Their work often involves community engagement and they are known for scheduling and leading participation elements which fit the context of the event they are organising.
Event management and consultancy
The company's Senior Management Team (including co-founders John Wassell and Liz Pugh and Project Directors Andy Stratford and Billie Klinger) are trusted advisers in the areas of outdoor arts and cultural events.
MV Fitzcarraldo
The ''Fitzcarraldo'
was built in 1971 in
Sandnessjøen
Sandnessjøen is a town and the administrative centre of Alstahaug Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. Sandnessjøen was granted special trading privileges in the late 1600s and it received town status in 1999. Sandnessjøen is located on ...
, Norway for
TFDS
Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskap or TFDS is a defunct Norwegian shipping company that also has activities in public transport and tourism. Based in Tromsø the company was one of the two operators of the Coastal Express and also operated a number of ...
as the MV Bjarkøj. She was 20 years a general cargo and passenger ferry working the islands around
Tromsø
Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø.
Tromsø lies ...
in north
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
.
In 2000, 's co-production (with Company) of "Moby Dick" won Best Fringe Production at the
Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards. Jim Burke also won the Best New Play award for this adaptation.
In 2003 the ship went on a national tour to 19 ports with a stage adaption of
Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea
''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne.
The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-Ju ...
, to positive reviews. At first the audience sits on the
quayside, and the ''Fitzcarraldo'' represents the ''Abraham Lincoln''; later they sit in the ''Fitzcarraldo''s hold, which represents the inside of the ''Nautilus'', or occasionally the seabed.
Due to prohibitive expenses the MV Fitzcarraldo was sold in 2010 to Dutch owners who plan to turn it into a floating nightspot. Walk the Plank continue to focus on delivering large scale outdoor events, creating touring performances and providing pyrotechnics and firework displays to both public sector and private corporate organisations.
Liverpool Echo
8 May 2013.
References
External links
* http://www.walktheplank.co.uk
* http://www.walktheplank.co.uk/burn-it/summary/
{{authority control
Theatre companies in England
Community theatre
Floating theatres
Touring theatre