Horse + Bamboo is one of Europe?s leading visual theatre companies. For more than 25 years it has created high-quality and original theatre, using masks, mime, animation, puppetry and music, and established an unrivalled reputation in its field.
The company?s mission is to create and tour theatre productions which are acclaimed for their excellence, innovation and artistry, with an emphasis on reaching audiences who do not customarily have access to professional theatre.
In the past, in order to reach and attract rural audiences, the company has used horse-drawn transport for a proportion of its touring programme, a practice that has given the company its name.
Since 1996, however, the company has, increasingly, moved towards touring to middle-scale theatre venues but with a sharp focus remaining on delivering theatre to community and rural locations. In 2005, the company will be unveiling a new form of intimate theatre, called InsideOut, which will be ideal for festivals, street theatre events and celebratory programmes. InsideOut will draw on the company?s unique approach to visual theatre and will create a short, magical theatre experience in its own intimate space but in a public setting.
The company, which was founded by its current artistic director, Bob Frith, in 1978, is based at the Horse and Bamboo Centre in Rossendale, Lancashire. As well as earning national and international recognition for its groundbreaking touring programmes, the company is committed to serving the local communities of Rossendale and Lancashire.
The well-equipped Centre houses a wide-range of arts projects, including professional training work, a Youth Theatre, arts festivals, special exhibitions plus a highly acclaimed and totally unique programme for people with learning difficulties and special needs known as ?Guided Imagery?.
Horse+Bamboo is renowned for working in partnership with other arts organisations and educational institutions as well as providing a platform for collaboration for artists from many disciplines and backgrounds including music, puppetry, mask making, painting, poetry and performance.
The Horse+Bamboo Theatre has toured original work extensively throughout England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Holland, Hungary and Slovakia.
Actress, Jane Horrocks, is the company?s current President and its Patrons include triple Oscar winning animator, Nick Park, the UK?s leading classical composer, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, top fashion designer, Betty Jackson, actor Bernard Cribbins and pop diva, Lisa Stansfield.
The Guardian
?Compelling and eloquent? ?An unforgettable theatrical experience? ?The diabolically inventive Horse & Bamboo touch a chord the West End wouldn?t know existed? ? A theatrical spell which is quite unique?. And accessible to everyone?
Daily Mail
?There?s something about the Horse + Bamboo Theatre Company which makes people happy?
The Herald
?Memorable for its sheer rich inventiveness, its visual power ? unforgettable?