Winning a Time Out Live Award three weeks ago for Best Production on the Fringe couldn’t have come at a better time for Shunt, says the show’s Director, David Rosenberg. ‘That was fantastic for us,’ he enthuses. ‘It was such a great boost.’ The announcement preceded the quirky theatre group’s new and improved season of last year’s critical successs (and now award-winning show), Dance Bear Dance.
Obviously, winning recognition from the entertainment bible of London means Shunt’s performances, which are perhaps better described as ‘live events’, could draw a whole new audience over coming weeks. When Dance Bear Dance first opened last summer, it was largely through word-of-mouth that audience numbers began to creep steadily up from the initial single-digit attendances, Rosenberg recalls. It certainly impressed Battersea Arts Centre’s Artistic Director, Tom Morris, who told the Independent newspaper it was the most surprising theatrical event of 2002. ‘The whole thing felt like being inside the head of a drunken genius,’ he commented. ‘And there really was a bear, and it really did dance.’ Clearly, when it comes to mystery and intrigue, a Shunt event has all the ingredients to get people talking.
