The idea for Postcards came about some time in 2010 after sitting down at home to watch some 40 DVDs that had been sent to Jacksons Lane for consideration. Every year circus, cabaret, theatre and dance artists come to me with a huge array of shorts, outdoor work and one-off performances that they either have in their repertoire or want to develop and show. But often they don’t know where or when or how. There are various festivals in the UK that show shorts – some brilliant initiatives like ROH Firsts and Roundhouse Circusfest – but there seemed to be a gap in the market for smaller scale, experimental w
ork and also a way of supporting circus and cabaret artists outside the commercial and club circuit. So we got to thinking…
Two years ago we curated several days of a new initiative called ‘Secret Theatre’ which was all about emerging artists and short work. We always planned to try and repeat this within a circus/cabaret context (Secret Circus anyone?). The idea of Postcards grew out of this.
The name Postcards came out of a collaboration idea that we had with the brilliant aerialist and director Catrin Osborne. She had been working on some ideas around an adaptation of the Carrie Fisher book, Postcards from the Edge. The production was postponed, but in that time our Associate Producer Flora Herberich came up with the idea of the name Postcards. It seemed to work – lots of buzz words that applied to our ideas – short, visual, unexpected, saucy (!), sent from close to home, or from afar…it all helped to create the aesthetic and approach of the festival.
Then we were faced with – how long, when and who? When? Well with a name like Postcards it had to be Summer. How long? Initially a weekend but now extended to six weeks. Who? We approached some dream names – Bryony Kimmings, Gisele Edwards, Marawa the Amazing – and ‘amazingly’ they all said yes. Then we returned to some artists we had been planning to work with and support – Stefano Di Renzo, Dodgy Whiskers, Frederike - found them a whole load of space to develop the work, and integrated them into the festival. We then turned our head to bringing some artists over especially for Postcards. Ireland was calling so we asked the brilliant Pony Dance and Tumble Circus. Then we got a bit too confident and asked Cirque du Soleil’s Mooky to come on board as a special guest, and she agreed.
On June 10 we get really ambitious and have 40 artists taking over the entire building in our Late Night Cabaret, including many from within the festival. Overall, we have artists from 15 different countries appearing in Postcards so it’s also a seriously international affair.
We’re getting very excited and can’t wait for it to start. Now we ask the rest of London to come and join us for what we hope will become a much-anticipated annual fixture in the festival calendar.
Adrian Berry, May 2011
Postcards Festival runs from 8 June – 31 July.
All tickets £10 / £35 Festival Pass
£5 early-bird tickets available until 30 May
www.jacksonslane.org.uk Box Office 020 8341 4421
