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Big Up!

A Theatre-Rites co-production with 20 Stories High in 2019.

What happens when a beatboxer, a singer and a puppeteer arrive on stage, but nothing is ready?  No set, no instruments, no puppets. No rules. 

Come and watch as they create a world full of joy and chaos, where objects come to life and everything is possible.    

Big Up! celebrates the power of music, the power of play and the power of our imagination. A perfect show for little people who want to be Big, and Big people who …  just might have forgotten how to play.    

The show was created in 2019 in collaboration with 20 Stories High, It was developed through research with young adult parents, young carers and their children, from working class and culturally diverse backgrounds.  

After a successful UK tour in 2019, Big Up! was due to tour again from April 2020 with original cast members Clarke Joseph Edwards, Dorcas Sebuyange joined by Grace Savage and Teele Uustani. Unfortunately, the tour had to be cancelled at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Cast

Creative Team

Sue Buckmaster

Co-Director

Two puppeteers manipulate a puppet made of pink and yellow foam shapes. A circle, and 5 rectangle shapes make up the figure of a stick man. They puppeteer this figure on top of a freight case with joyful expressions.
“ a captivating live theatre experience for little ones, and a reminder to the rest of us of how much fun there is to be had when you let your imagination run wild. ”
Star rating: 4 stars
The Stage
“ I can’t award the number of stars suggested by my five-year-old fellow critic (‘one thousand, one hundred and eight’), but have no hesitation awarding five. ”
Star rating: 5 stars
Remote Goat
“ Funnier, more engaging and more inventive than virtually any theatre production aimed at young children I’ve ever seen. ”
Star rating: 4 stars
Northern Soul

A performer pokes their head out of a freight case on stage under a smoky white spotlight.

©Helen Murray

Two performers sing into microphones on stage looking at each other with playful expressions. The set behind them has the neon words 'Big Up'

©Helen Murray

Two puppeteers manipulate a puppet made of pink and yellow foam shapes. A circle, and 5 rectangle shapes make up the figure of a stick man. They puppeteer this figure on top of a freight case with joyful expressions.

©Helen Murray

4 performers on stage smile at the camera. The set behind them has the neon words 'Big Up'

©Helen Murray

Three performers puppeteer a puppet made of lighting rods with a bright white light as the head. They manipulate the figure on a black freight case.

©Helen Murray

Two performers puppeteer a grey puppet of a little person. The puppet has a large round head and wiry green and yellow hair and green shorts. It stands on a freight case.

©Helen Murray

Two performers puppeteer a grey puppet of a little person. All their heads poke out from behind a black freight case. The puppet has a large round head and wiry green and yellow hair.

©Helen Murray

Previous Slide
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A performer pokes their head out of a freight case on stage under a smoky white spotlight.
Two performers sing into microphones on stage looking at each other with playful expressions. The set behind them has the neon words 'Big Up'
Two puppeteers manipulate a puppet made of pink and yellow foam shapes. A circle, and 5 rectangle shapes make up the figure of a stick man. They puppeteer this figure on top of a freight case with joyful expressions.
4 performers on stage smile at the camera. The set behind them has the neon words 'Big Up'
Three performers puppeteer a puppet made of lighting rods with a bright white light as the head. They manipulate the figure on a black freight case.
Two performers puppeteer a grey puppet of a little person. The puppet has a large round head and wiry green and yellow hair and green shorts. It stands on a freight case.
Two performers puppeteer a grey puppet of a little person. All their heads poke out from behind a black freight case. The puppet has a large round head and wiry green and yellow hair.
Previous Slide
Next Slide

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