Forced Entertainment

Forced Entertainment

     A touring theatre ensemble known as ‘Forced Entertainment’ has been exploring new styles and meaning of theatrical performances since their beginning in 1984.  Critically acclaimed the ensemble, has given audience members across the UK and Europe their strong, powerful and complex crossovers of performance strategies and presentation elements. 
 

     Beginning in 1984 the ensemble came together, all sharing a love and passion for drama.  Working together in performance and drama games they all expressed their love for the subject.  Then began to pursue an ambition of create a new form of production work.

     “Britain’s most brilliant experimental theatre company.” – The Guardian.
 

     The company of the ensemble is set up of six performers, four administrators, four tech associates, and five board managers.  Plus the ensemble occasionally works with local professionals to support their projects.  Together each ensemble member brings forth multiple ideas for any script and performing strategies/techniques, and then beholds improvisation sessions that “look(s) or feel(s) for the work”.  This is their rehearsal process, and that creates the basics for the plot of their upcoming project, and they work together to collaborate ideas to make their project bigger in structure.  It is then in their final month before the opening of the project that they establish a minor script for the production, and they work with their own improvisation technique to create a satisfying shape for their project. 

     “An enormously influential creative force.” – Time Out.
 

     While the ensemble has endured succession and positive reviews it their supportive funding that has allowed them to bring their own unique performance visions to life.  Like many great and successful theatre companies, ‘Forced Entertainment’ has received regular funding’s from the ‘Arts Council England’.  Although with the ensemble taking touring activities across the UK, Europe and sometimes globally, the company does gain supporting fees from local, and successful, theatre companies.  Plus it is through these funding supports that ‘Forced Entertainment’ is able to combine performing art’s elements such as dance choreography, digital media, filmography and larger stage structures for any of their future projects. 

     “A collective with a reputation as one of Europe’s leading experimental companies.” – The Big Issue.
 

     One key aspect of their project work is their unique style and policy of their performances.  As mentioned earlier their main performance policy is of their strong work with improvisation.  ‘Forced Entertainment’ has a tendency of creating new forms of performance art, and starting from scratch, creating script plots, stage settings and characters.  While from this policy, audience members could be surprised that the ensemble doesn’t bring forth loads of productions exploring different themes, different genres and different characteristic styles.  ‘Forced Entertainment’s’ key goal/ambition when beginning a new project is to always explore “the highs, lows and complexities of modern life.”  They do so with strong and constant involvement with their audience members.  “Questioning, stretching, breaking and pushing theatre to see what can be made from the wreckage”.  Hence keeping a strong relation between each of their projects, as they all share similar characters, setting and performance stage structures.  All of which has a strong reflection of modern life and keeps audience members intrigued to their unique style.
 

     But what holds ‘Forced Entertainment’ together and keeps their succession to a high standard is their devising methods and starting points.  Constantly working together in free-play improvisation offering and sharing multiple ideas they precede a process that gets them to their grand succession.  Plus with their abilities to try out and experiment with new methods using many forms of production presentations, they bring forth brilliant forms of theatre that are vastly popular and entertaining and build on the world of stylistic theatre.

     “What is refreshing about Force Entertainment is that, even after all this time, it is playing with theatre… Searching for new metaphors.” -  New Statesman.