Action Hero are a touring theatre company featuring the artistic duo of Gemma Paintin and James Stenhouse. As part of the project Action Hero were developing The Talent a multi-media performance in collaboration with Deborah Pearson.
The Project provided a residency for Action Hero in which they were provided studio space and unlimited technical support, which was highly important for their highly digital and technical performance. Action Hero were very pragmatic in the development process and did not require dramaturgical assistance, however, workshop opportunities were provided in order to experiment with notions of speech, words and people’s perception of phrases. Speech, being a very charged and complex form of communication, offer lots of avenues for exploration which was done through the workshop SlapTalk.
The residency ended with a research and development presentation, strengthening the project’s insight into development practices and from increased The Talent marketability as professionals, including John Luther, could sample the work and make suitable networking and marketing decisions.
Artists Response
“The residency time provided by Reading University has been invaluable, the progression of the work in that period means that the team is on track for the premiere after a very long period of interruptions due to COVID-19. The residency provided the chance for the artists to explore their existing content, create new content, and work.
[…] with sound and lights with the finished set for the first time. The two weeks provided the team with an opportunity to explore the structure of the piece and to test material with a supportive live audience and receive feedback.”
Process: Slap Talk workshop
In March 2021, Action Hero led an online workshop for students at the Department of Film and Theatre, exploring their previous work Slap Talk. Here is some of the documentation…Read More >
Reflections: Slap Talk workshop review
Second year film student Conor Chamiec attended a workshop delivered by Action Hero as part of the Work in Progress project. The workshop focused on their previous work ‘Slap Talk’…Read More >
