Escape For Dummies, The Courtyard Theatre
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Space Hopping Theatre‘s Escape For Dummies is a show for lovers of comedy and physical theatre, or maybe lovers of the works of Nick Park and Aardman. The show about two shop dummies trying to escape first saw life in 2017, but they are now back with an updated version especially for Camden Fringe.
Escape For Dummies will play at The Courtyard Theatre on 16, 17, 23 and 24 August, tickets available here.
We caught up with the team at Space Hopping Theatre; Laurence Cuthbert (Creator/Director & Composer), Josh Mallalieu (Creator/Director), Sam Morris (Playing ‘Old Dummy’ & Movement Director) and Alice Simmons (‘Playing ‘New Dummy’) to find out more.
What can audiences expect from the show?
JM – A unique show that blends impressive physical theatre, action scenes, fantasy and comedy that can be enjoyed by all ages. It grabs your attention in the first minute and transports you into the mindset of a living dummy for whom the typical shop-floor presents a maximum-security maze of obstacles and adversaries.
SM – Yep, and this Old Dummy’s world is changed by the arrival of a New Dummy on the shop floor. And together they hatch a plan to get past the security guards, burglars, lasers and the unhinged floor manager to escape and explore the outside world. It’s mad, but full of heart. In that way, I’ve always seen it as like ‘Aardman on stage’.
LC – It’s got rip-roaring laughs, and larger-than-life characters. Audiences will learn how to escape retail prison and fall in love with our two determined dummies… all without a single word being spoken.
Is Camden Fringe going to be the show’s first time on stage, or have you already performed elsewhere?
JM – We first Staged the show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017. We’re very proud of that version of the show, what it achieved and the audience responses to it. But we see bringing it back with the Camden Fringe as a fantastic opportunity to build on the promise of the show’s first run. We’re utilising the skills we’ve honed as performers, writers and directors in the years since, and hope to bring audiences something even better in 2025.
What was your inspiration behind the show?
LC – [Don’t just say Chicken Run] As a tonic to so much darkness and division in the world, we were determined to create something hilarious and heartfelt, with a broad appeal for families.
JM – We’ve always loved inventive stories, and strived to create the kind of show we see ourselves enjoying as children as much as adults. We’ve huge admiration for skilled physical performers and their ability to communicate whole worlds and personalities in total silence.
LC – As well as Pixar and Aardman being heavy influences [Don’t just say Chicken Run] the incredible physicality of early silent filmmakers Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, along with many slapstick and clown productions have inspired the show [Don’t just say Chicken Run].
JM – With Escape for Dummies, we’ve set up world that lets us explore many of these elements in storytelling and theatre that excite us, and hope that same enjoyment comes across for those in the audience!
LC – We also really love Chicken Run [dammit]
Is this version how you originally envisioned it or has it changed drastically since you first put pen to paper?
LC – In the eight years since the play was first staged, all of us have gained more experience in theatre, writing and comedy. So this version is much slicker (smarter and dumber at the same time).
We leave a lot of room in the show for the devising process, and as our new cast members get to grips with the roles we expect further changes as they have fun and put their unique stamp on the story.
What was it that drew you to this show and role?
AS – After several years thinking of myself as a serious actor, I fell head over heels for slapstick comedy and all things silly across multiple trips to the Edinburgh Fringe. Escape For Dummies is a perfect opportunity to channel this obsession, and it’s a great challenge as a performer to place all the emphasis on physicality and facial expression. I haven’t played a role like this before, and feel like I’m finally graduating from being typecast as “Main character’s best friend” to being typecast as “dummy”!
SM – For me, as well as the challenge of performing this role again, I’ve come on as the show’s movement director. It’s a balancing act of refining the style of the show, making everything readable and clear without sucking the life out of the performances, but also to push and challenge the cast more than the original run – allowing the movement to grow and take on more meaning.
What is it about your character that you most enjoy?
SM – I enjoy the naivety of the dummies. It makes for some wonderfully dumb sequences like trying to distract security by dancing to Dolly Parton. They only have glimpses of the outside world, so they’re endlessly fascinated by all the people coming and going from the store.
AS – It’s great fun and very freeing to play a silly, curious dummy. I love having the chance to spend a few hours a week seeing the world through that lens of innocence and excitement.
What brought you all together?
JM – We all met through the thriving student theatre scene at The University of Nottingham, frequently acting opposite or directing each other in a variety of plays; some bad, some worse.
LC – We were weary of “gut-wrenching”, “hard-hitting” cliches, and instead shared a love of slapstick comedy and vibrant physical theatre for families.
JM – What continues to bring us together years later, outside our shared history as friends, are our similar instincts about what makes for great storytelling and theatre, as well as a constant compulsion to try to make each other laugh.
LC – That, and our shared ability to recite “Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-rabbit” from beginning to end.
Being a fringe festival, we all know sets have to be bare minimum, how have you got around this with your set and props?
LC – This has been a real challenge for us, as there’s always a temptation to overload with props! This time round, we’re relying much more on our medium of physical theatre to tell the story, heightening the distinctions in characterisation for our multi-rolers. That said, audiences can still expect what might be one of the largest prop catalogues at the Camden Fringe this year…
SM – Christmas dinner. Rich, tasty, filling and maybe the only meal that gets the whole family around the table.
JM – I would say more like an empty plate. But one from which we’d mime the most delicious three course meal being prepared and eaten, which would be so delightful to watch that you’d be convinced of the real thing.
If your show had a soundtrack what songs would definitely be on it?
SM – Perhaps this is a cop out, but the show already has an incredible soundtrack, composed by Laurence!
LC – As well as our original soundtrack, we’re very happy with our inclusion of Tina Turner and Dolly Parton – name a more iconic duo.
What is the weirdest or most unconventional prop used in your show?
LC – In our original 2017 run, our producer spent an inordinate amount of time making a mouldy sandwich with green paint, bread, fluff and coco-pops. It was then lost backstage early in the run and did not resurface until the end of the month, by which time it was impossible to tell where the fake mould ended and the real mould began…
What’s the most valuable piece of advice you’ve received during your career, and how has it influenced your work on this show?
SM – One that’s stuck in my time training is “Changing rhythm is what brings the drama”. It’s perhaps clear how that applies to movement, but it’s also true (I think) for the highs and lows of life.
It’s made rejection easier, treasure the moments where I can perform and connect with people more, and not be so nervous to try. I now think of it as “Change brings life”.
Many thanks to the team for a great chat. Escape For Dummies will play at The Courtyard Theatre on Saturday 16, Sunday 17, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 August.
