• Silence

    From urban noise to rural emptiness, through rationalism to spirituality,
    from Russia to the UK, Silence is the latest collaboration between Filter
    and RSC Associate Director David Farr.

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    RSC in association with Filter.
     
    Created by Filter and David Farr.
    Devised by the company.
     
    Left alone in an unfamiliar land, Kate struggles to silence the noises
    inside her head and begins to question her own sanity.

    In London Michael listens carefully to a conversation recorded twenty
    years ago. Can he hear a third silent person on the tape?

    In a small Russian town, Irina searches desperately for her missing friend, piecing together fragments from his life.
     
    Silence played Hampstead Theatre, London in May 2011.
     
    Created by Filter and David Farr
    Director: David Farr
    Designer: Jon Bausor
    Lighting: Jon Clark
    Music & Sound: Tim Phillips
    Video Designer: Douglas O’Connell
    Cast: Oliver Dimsdale, Christine Entwisle, Mariah Gale, Paul Hamilton, Richard Katz, Jonjo O'Neill, Ferdy Roberts, Patrick Romer, Katy Stephens
     
     
    "A production bursting with invention, high-tech effects, rock and roll
    and rave music. Farr’s production moves at a cracking pace, cutting from
    scene to scene with film-like bravura. What’s remarkable is that the complex
    narrative remains lucid, while creating a vivid impression of the chaos and
    confusion of history. The play is also deeply poignant...Silence proves
    largely golden, and grips throughout"
    Charles Spencer / Daily Telegraph ★★★★

    "Filter once again demonstrate their enormous flair for flashing between
    concepts and cultures and dramatic conceits with a synaptic speed,
    they are here pressing a stethoscope to the human heart"
    Paul Taylor / The Independent ★★★★

    "This is an ensemble piece of theatre brilliantly executed by a company
    that understands connectedness. Silence examines expression and the
    inexpressible, conversation and the inaudible. It’s a postmodern theatrical
    masterpiece of eternal miscommunication."
    Adrian Hilton / The Spectator
     
    "The method of inter-cutting fragmented scenes, past and present action, and all done with great technical ingenuity, suggests a new way of writing plays."
    Michael Coveney, What's On Stage
     
    "A bracing blast of experimental theatre yields rewards"
    Libby Purves, The Times

  • Water

    With the strange beauty of a dream, Water cuts between powerful individual stories, exploring man's desire to push himself to the limits in an increasingly unstable world of climate change.

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    A Filter and Lyric Hammersmith production in association with
    Warwick Arts Centre.

    Created by Filter and David Farr.
    In Canada two half brothers clash over the legacy of their dead father. Meanwhile a young female special advisor tries to push through a deal at a political summit, whist in Mexico a young Englishman prepares to dive the deepest freshwater cave in the world.

    Water opened at the Lyric Hammersmith in 2007, before touring the UK.
    The show was revived  in 2011 at the Tricycle Theatre, London, and will
    tour Australia in 2012.

    Director: David Farr
    Designer: Jon Bausor
    Lighting: Jon Clark
    Music and Sound: Tim Phillips
    Video Design: Andi Watson
    Production Designer: Seamus Benson
    Cast: Oliver Dimsdale, Victoria Moseley, Ferdy Roberts
    “The gripping narrative, beautiful soundscapes and knack of combining
    strong personal emotion with a political dimension all help to ensure that
    Water emerges as one of the most refreshing productions of the year.”
    Charles Spencer / Daily Telegraph ★★★★
     
    “The influence of Complicite and Robert Lepage is strongly felt in Water…
    But the Filter folk have digested the lessons learnt from these great
    forebears with such insight, and built upon them with such creative bottle
    and considered bravura, that Water is a distinctive and distinguished piece
    of theatre. You emerge after an unbroken 90 minutes feeling that you have
    been therapeutically immersed in an absorbing, vivid and scrupulously
    coherent new world. Highly recommended.”
    Paul Taylor / The Independent ★★★★
     
    “Outrageously ambitious and gobsmackingly well-orchestrated drama…a gripping fusion of high-tech wizardry and lo-fi, hands-on set manipulation. The plot leapfrogs through time, space and memory but never threatens to leave the audience behind thanks to superb acting and mind-blowing attention to detail…a triumph of both style and substance.”
    Mark Powell / Metro ★★★★★
     
    “A seriously clever, technically seductive stab at theatrical storytelling that couples the personal and the political”   
    Donald Hutera, The Times

  • Three Sisters

    Filter and Sean Holmes re-imagine Chekhov's Three Sisters as a hymn to memory, sound and character.

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    Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters, adapted by Christopher Hampton.

    A Filter and Lyric Hammersmith Co-Production.
    Created by Filter Directed by Sean Holmes.

    Three Sisters played the Lyric Hammersmith,
    London and toured the UK in 2010.

    Director: Sean Holmes and Filter
    Design: Jon Bausor
    Lighting: Paule Constable
    Composer: Chris Branch
    Sound: Nick Manning
    Filter Director: Oliver Dimsdale
    Cast: Paul Brennen, Jonathan Broadbent, Jim Bywater,
    Nigel Cooke, Clare Dunne, Romola Garai, David Judge, John Lightbody,
    Poppy Miller, Ferdy Roberts, Gemma Saunders, Mark Theodore,
    Sandra Voe, Paul Woodson.
    “A lively, modern, bold staging of Chekhov...this approach encourages
    us to look at this great play with fresh eyes and acknowledge that Chekhov’s
    wisdom and humanity are timeless...there is also a strong sense of ensemble
    and a revealing detail to individual performances...the spontaneity and daring
    of this Three Sisters make for an eye-opening production.”
    Charles Spencer / Daily Telegraph ★★★★

    “A thoroughly modern Chekhov. Warmly recommended."
    Paul Taylor / The Independent ★★★★

    "With each act punctuated by a radio-dial mash-up of ironically chosen
    contemporary pop songs, a luminous cast lend things a throwaway archness
    on a set of battered pianos and live art micro-phones. It’s a party to die for."
    Neil Cooper / The Herald ★★★★

  • Twelfth Night

    Filter's radically-cut, fast-paced version of Shakespeare's much-loved comedy
    where classical verse meets riotous gig, directed by Sean Holmes.

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    Created by Filter in asscociation with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

    Filter’s explosive and irreverent new take on this story of romance, satire and mistaken identity combines dynamic narrative drive with a torrent of sound and music creating one of the most accessible Shakespeare productions of recent years.  

    Originally commissioned for The RSC’s Complete Works Festival in 2006, Twelfth Night has performed at The British Council Showcase in Edinburgh,  The Tricycle in London, and toured Europe (Holland, Germany and Spain) and the UK extensively.

    NOMINATED FOR BEST SHAKESPEAREAN PRODUCTION (Whatsonstage Awards 2008).

    Created by Filter  
    Directed by Sean Holmes
    Music and Sound: Tom Haines and Ross Hughes
    Cast (2006-Present Day): Alex Avery, Paul Brennan, Jonathan Broadbent, Kirsty Bushell, Oliver Dimsdale, Sandy Foster, Polly Frame, Tom Haines, Ross Hughes, Syreeta Kumar, Russell Marsh, Poppy Miller, Fergus O'Donnell, Alan Pagan, Ferdy Roberts, Gemma Saunders, Nicolas Tennant, Paul Woodson.
    "Rock-and-roll Shakespeare's a blast"
    Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph ★★★★
     
    "The most hardhearted purists would melt at Filter's 90-minute reworking of this play, directed with passion, panache and precision by Sean Holmes. For newcomers to Shakespeare I can't think of a better introduction. The music is ferocious, fiery and funny: at times, it makes the Stones look like a group of genteel clergymen. This is not a send-up: it's a celebration – mad, wild, loving and hilarious."
    John Peter, The Sunday Times ★★★★
     
    Filter's lo-fi, 90min remix of Shakespeare's comedy infects the audience with the play's celebratory spirit of madness from the start...You leave feeling slightly changed yourself.
    The Metro ★★★★
     
    "This modern staging makes the Bard's timeless comedy of mis-matched romantic desires burst with fresh irreverence."
    The London Paper ★★★★
     
    "Fresh, fast and very funny.... Chaotic, creative and zinging with vibrant irreverence."
    The Times
     
    "A thoroughly invigorating draft of fresh air."
    Daily Mail

  • The Caucasian Chalk Circle

    An inventive and exciting production of Brecht's classic tale for the National Theatre, marrying text, sound and video images, directed by Sean Holmes.

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    Written by Bertolt Brecht.
    In a version by Frank McGuinness.

    National Theatre in collaboration with Filter.

    A servant girl sacrifices everything to protect a child abandoned in the heat of civil war. Order restored, she is made to confront the boy's biological mother in a legal contest over who deserves to keep him. The comical judge calls on an ancient tradition – the chalk circle – to resolve the dispute. Who wins? 

    A morality masterpiece, The Caucasian Chalk Circle powerfully demonstrates Brecht's pioneering theatrical techniques.

    Caucasian Chalk Circle toured the UK in 2007, finishing in the NT's Cottesloe Theatre.

    Director: Sean Holmes
    Designer: Anthony Lamble
    Lighting Designer: Paule Constable
    Music/Sound Designers: Leo Chadburn, Chris Branch, Tom Haines
    Video & Projections Designer: Lorna Heavey
    Music Consultant: Tim Phillips Cast: Leo Chadburn, Oliver Dimsdale, John Lloyd Fillingham, Thusitha Jayasundera, Ferdy Roberts, Gemma Saunders, Mo Sesay, Nicolas Tennant, Cath Whitefield
    “Rush to this production…fresh, energetic and intelligent,
    it acknowledges the demands of epic theatre while remaining
    gleefully irreverent and bracingly modern. Thrillingly theatrical…
    exciting and startling… heart-stopping drama in a production
    where the moral message emerges powerfully and, above all,
    playfully. Brecht for the 21st century”.
    Benedict Nightingale / The Times ★★★★
     
    ‘Stunning moments…this evening combines the clarity
    of Sean Holmes’ storytelling with the energetic musical
    inventiveness of Filter’
    Lyn Gardner / The Guardian ★★★★

    "A joyful theatrical experience that stays in the mind long
    after leaving the stalls...the cumulative sensory assault
    often feels more like being at a rock concert than at
    the theatre...Rarely has an old classic felt fresher".
    Alice Jones / The Independent ★★★★
     
     "One of the strongest ensemble casts I've ever seen."
    Kerry Beading, Warwickshire Telegraph ★★★★★

  • Faster

    Inspired by science writer James Gleickʼs bestselling book, “Faster, or the Acceleration of Just About Everything”, the show is about the acceleration of everyday life.

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    With twenty-four scenes in seventy minutes and instantaneous changes of location, Faster takes you on a thrill ride through the bustle of the modern world. Will, Ben and Victoria are embroiled in an age-old love triangle, played on a bare stage at inhuman speed. They go through their day, getting up, showering, rushing through breakfast and hurrying onto the tube while the musicians – using synthesizers, percussion and guitar – dictate the tempo of the characters actions with music and sound effects, creating a rich and often comical landscape. Shifting between anguished lyricism and driving rhythms, the sounds of Faster create what one reviewer called ʻaural cinemaʼ. As the day of a crucial advertising pitch approaches, the characters struggle to cling on to their friendship, their jobs and their sense of who they are. 

    Developed and premiered at London's Battersea Arts Centre in 2003, Faster toured the UK and played in Germany and New York".

    Director: Guy Retallack 
    Scripted by: Stephen Brown
    Lighting: Guy Kornetski
    Music and Sound: Chris Branch, Tom Haines, Tim Phillips
    Originally Scripted by: Dawn King and Oliver Wilkinson
    Cast (2003-5): Will Adamsdale, Oliver Dimsdale, Rachel Edwards, Victoria Moseley, Ferdy Roberts, Gemma Saunders, Wole Sawyerr
    “Faster is aural cinema, this is a show that will make you hear things
    you’ve never seen before.”
    Patrick Marmion / Metro_ Critic’s Choice ★★★★
     
    “The most astonishingly confident debut show I have seen in a long time,
    all the thrill of a rapid ride at the fun-fair, as well as the ache you feel in
    your heart when you know that something is missing in your life.”
    Lyn Gardner / The Guardian ★★★★

    “A fiercely significant 21st century theme, thoughtfully handled by
    a young company with passion and skill to burn.”
    Joyce McMillan / The Scotsman ★★★★

    “Thrilling: Filter Theatre’s devised piece is a frenetic take on our rush-rush modern lives, it’s loud, pacey, and funny.”
    Madeleine North, The Independent on Sunday

    “This physically and emotionally punchy little production is quite brilliant. A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it perfect fringe experience.”
    Neil Cooper, The Glasgow Herald
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