The Enormous Room

Type of production: Indoor

In this epic production, we follow a father and daughter gradually coming to terms with the loss of Jackie – their wife and mother.

Combining exquisite detail in movement with evocative text and design, The Enormous Room takes the audience somewhere in between this world and the next.

Thoughtful, moving and uplifting, this is a show about saying goodbye and moving on.

Dave Toole sits in a cupboard, pink and blue lights tint the image.

[Image Description: Dave Toole OBE on the set of The Enormous Room. Dave is white, has short dark hair and a beard, he is a disabled dance artist. He sits within a wooden side cabinet, a lace curtain behind him, clutching a mug in his remarkable hands. He rests on his forearms, a knowing look in his eyes inviting us in to his homely cupboard, his onstage world. To his right sits a red tea jar and cream kettle. Dave wears a light blue Led Zeppelin t-shirt over a long sleeved grey top. Pink light catches the old static filled tv atop the cabinet and the wallpapered wall behind.]

Trailer

Reviews

  • An absorbing encounter with grief and loss ★★★★

    Bachtrack

  • A wonderful exploration that comforts and provokes long after the piece has ended

    Exeunt

  • Work that can take dance into a new genre

    Disability Arts Online

Production images

  • Photo from The Enormous Room - Christian reaches towards Hannah as she leans out from an open cupboard.
  • The Enormous Room - Nadenh mischeviously balances himself on the arms of an armchair, looking directly to the camera.
  • A photo from above of Dave and Meri laying on the floor together.
  • The Enormous Room - Amy and Meri lay mirrored, one on top and one below a low wooden table.
  • Group photo from the Enormous Room

Your reactions

https://twitter.com/MoiraSinclair1/status/837421297244188672 https://twitter.com/RobertaZuric/status/837422286345015296 https://twitter.com/SueBuckmaster/status/837435899789131777 https://twitter.com/MartinDaltry/status/837421206689234944 https://twitter.com/hedleyswain/status/836707097907712006 https://twitter.com/knockback78/status/837447754796445696

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Credits

Lucy Bennett
Artistic Direction & Choreography

David Toole
Performer - Dave

Hannah Sampson
Performer - Sam

Amy Butler
Performer - Sam's mum

Meritxell Checa / Elia Lopez / Hannah Rotchell
Performer - Dave's wife (role share)

Nadenh Poan
Performer - Chock

Christian Brinklow
Performer - Sam's friend

Anna Jones (Curious Space)
Theatre Design

Chahine Yavrovan
Lighting Design

Dougie Evans
Composer

Lou Cope
Dramaturge

Sho Shibata
Executive Producer

Charlotte Mackie / Callum Graham
Assistant Producers

David Stothard
Production Manager

Francois Langton
Technical Manager

Alexandra Anzemberger / Ethan Duffy
Stage Manager (role share)

James Lewis (Tin Shed)
Set Builder

Rosey Morling
Costume Supervisor

Jane Clark
Curtain Maker

Laura Jones / Siobhan Hayes
Rehearsal Directors

Tour Administration
Joy Ralph

Cherie Brennan / Millie Clark
Access Officer / Assistant Stage Manager

Floyd Konde
Production Assistant

Creative input during research & development

George Adams (La Petite Mort Theatre), Ben Duke (Lost Dog), Dan Huxley (ethnomusicologist), Caroline Leroy & Michael Pallandre (Collectif Pret a Porter), Thomas Noone, Chris Thorpe (Unlimited Theatre), Lenka Vagrenova and Dan Watson

Musical score

“Smalltown Boy” Written by Steve Bronski, Jimmy Somerville and Lawrence Cole. Published by Bucks Music Group Limited and BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited

“Grinding Halt” and “Hanging Garden” written by Simon Jonathan Gallup, Robert Smith, Laurence Tolhurst, Michael Stephen Dempsey (for Grinding Halt) and used by kind permission of Fiction Songs Limited

Supported by

Arts Council England, Farnham Maltings, New Theatre Royal Portsmouth, PASS – Circus Channel (Interreg), Pavilion Dance South West, The Point, University of Chichester (Department of Theatre) and University of Surrey

Additional thanks

St. George’s Church Portsmouth, Frensham Heights School, Joel Brown, Aya Kobayashi, TJ Lowe, KJ Mortimer, Femi Oyewole and all those who donated to our crowdfunder to get the set rebuilt following the theft of our touring van.