Following sold-out runs at Soho Theatre, London and the Sophiensaele, Berlin, Dance and Theatre combine in the latest show from Encounter. Directed by Jen Malarkey, with writer Lee Mattinson and movement director Simone Coxall, I Heart Catherine Pistachio is a dangerously dark physical comedy about a square-eyed young girl stuck in a suburban swamp of abuse.

This moving and thought-provoking physical performance is inspired by themes from Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Bruckner’s Perpetual Euphoria. Relationships are built upon layers of beauty, secrets, surprises and misunderstandings.

The story follows two couples in their journey to understanding and discovering happiness. The result is a breathtaking, striking performance; one that doesn’t answer questions, but makes observations that can double as solutions.

Performances from August 18th – 21st followed by a 45 minute workshop for children aged 4-9, using movement, music, images and props to explore the idea of what makes bodies different.

Tickets for the workshop are available through Eventbrite here

Part of Made in Scotland Showcase.

Fascinating and seductive, Ariadne is a modern woman infused with the myths of the past. In Thread, the performers reflect the twists and turns through Ariadne’s complex path while each interweaving his or her own labyrinth of life.

Four dancers explore the fragility and humour of touch. How are we connected even when separated by distance, time or context? How do we touch without touching? We question the limits of the body, and the mind’s connections.

Without ever leaving your seat, you are called to inhabit the same imaginative space as us in an invitation to participate in an empathetic, exhilarating, imagined touch.

“A fascinating journey to the way tactility moves our bodies.” Field Works WTP # 5, Workspace Brussels

Smash it Up is an engaging and poignant theatre show that has been developed on the streets and around the building sites of a city in transition, a city like any other in the UK. Smash It Up asks what else is being destroyed and what will you do about it?

“The more you reflect on it, the more it delves deeper into the realms of female empowerment, vulnerability, intimacy and control.” ★★★★ Mary Brennan, The Herald

Winner of 2015 Summerhall Autopsy Award for experimental performance.

Poker Night Blues combines the energies and talents of the US-based theatre company, Theatre Movement Bazaar and Chinese-based Beijing TinHouse Productions. This highly stylised production merges two theatrical traditions to create a new form for contemporary audiences.

Lost Dog’s restaging of the creation of everything. Inspired by Milton’s epic poem with less words, more dance and never before seen levels of divine incompetence. A show for anyone who has ever created anything (a child, a garden, a paper aeroplane) and then had to watch that wonderful thing spiral out of control. As God himself once said ‘in the beginning it all seemed like such a good idea.’

“A triumphant gallop through the story of creation” ★★★★ The Guardian

“Comic yet touching” ★★★★ The Times

Islands spits in the face of polite, political debate. Incandescent with rage, it hurls out images of the putrid end times of ultimate freedom and the rotten, violent underbelly of offshore finance.

“The year’s most talked about piece of theatre” Andrew Haydon

Created in consultation with Tax Justice Network. Commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre and Harlow Playhouse.

British Council Edinburgh Showcase 2015