The Gramophone gals
How do you make a journey from Lands End to John O’Groats? Car? Hot air balloon? Tractor? Pig? How about all of the above, plus every other mode of transport you can imagine thrown in for good measure, and all in a heart stoppingly short eighteen days? Well, this happens to be the plan for The Gramophones, a Nottingham based, all girl, theatre quartet. And they desperately need your help.
The Gramophones - Hannah, Ria, Kristy and Kath - formed in 2009 in a bid to dispel the fallacy that women aren’t funny, and trust us, they’re definitely putting paid to that falsehood. A mix of quirky, silly, dance-y and all out hilarious, the girls are proving that women can cause a stir with great theatre pieces. They’re resume so far includes working alongside Hatch on various Nottingham-based projects, performing at Lakeside for Nottingham’s little’uns and showcasing their latest project Wild Duck throughout the area, the girls are nothing if not prolific. The troupe even took their piece Anything to Declare? to the Edinburgh Fringe last year, receiving reviews so complimentary that they had to extend their run due to popular demand.
Their newest idea, the aforementioned epic journey, will be taking the girls from Lands End all the way to John O’Groats this April. Their trek along the famous route that connects the two farthest points in the country will form the foundation for their newest piece of theatre. The girls will use all their wiles to get from one end of the UK to the other with a budget of just £874 (that’s one quid for each mile), and in just over two weeks. The piece, which will be written on their return, will focus on documenting their journey, the people they meet, the scrapes they get into and the weird people that our great nation seems to spawn in abundance. Expect tales from boozy old men, wild rides on livestock and adventures in the wilderness.
Sounds exciting, right? So much so that I bet you can’t wait to see how you can get involved... To enable the girls to complete their new project they still need to raise a fraction of their £874 target by 22 January. It is imperative that this amount is raised, otherwise all the money pledged so far will be lost and a great idea will have to be put on the backburner. We realise it’s January, the month where you have to sell your Nana to afford a pint, however donations from as little as $2 would be greatly, greatly appreciated. Rewards are being offered to kindly benefactors, including the opportunity to have the resultant play performed in a location of your choice, or to receive a specially picked souvenir from their trip. The deadline for donations is looming, so go on, ransack the backs of your chairs, the underside of your sofas and the bottom of your pockets for anything that you can spare.
If you really are feeling a little too skint though, all is not lost. The Gramophones are also looking for offers of transport – so if you have a spare boat/helicopter/space hopper/unicycle give them a shout (on their website – any offers will be met with eternal gratitude.
So there you have it, the opportunity to be part of an excellent piece of theatre and have it played out for you on a raft at Holme Pierrepont, up a tree or, for those that just like to sit and relax while watching a good performance, in a pub. Excellent. If you need anymore tempting, have a look at the video below and then get those credit cards out. Safe travels, all!
The Gramophones website
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