H E L E N T E N N I S O N
DOGGERLAND
Returning to performing: what does it mean to perform?
What does it mean to perform??
A few weeks ago, in the Netherlands, I started making a solo show. I’m returning to performing after years focused on directing and teaching and I find I’m asking completely different questions about what it means to be moving, talking and telling stories in front of people.
Things I notice:
1. All the directing and teaching facilitation has made me interested in how to facilitate the audience so that they can be more central and visible than me. I’m interested in how I shape an environment and experience for others through my actions, through my presence and my non-presence.
2. My creative process works very differently moving directly through my performer body than when it moves through director me. It feels like a long-lost mega-beast that’s finally been invited out of its cave and to a party.
3. When it came to sharing the work I wasn’t as nervous as I expected. I mean, I was nervous, but not in a bad way. This was a relief. I’m taking it as a good sign. I was just really fascinated by and held in the world of the show, ‘Doggerland’.
Miniblog October 2021
UPDATES '23
Writer/Director
Navigating Margaret - a fairytale about Dementia
produced by ArtsUplift performed at Malvern Cube
Featuring a community and professional cast
Feb/March '23
Director
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Vienna's English Theatre
May '23
Director
Much Ado About Nothing
Site Responsive Performance in an Adventure Playground.
CreationTheatre
July '23
Director
R&D Forgive Me
Devised performance featuring pole dancing exploring the relationship between autism and gaming.
Lowry, Manchester July '23
One Minute Creative Prompt Series
UPDATES '22
An absurd lecture-performance for a small audience.
Following successful previews at the Brighton Fringe,
Doggerland played Oslo & Stockholm
Nominated for Best Show of the Festival STOFF Stockholm Fringe 2022
'She takes us on a journey we will not be able to forget' - Roy Jonasson, Oslo Fringe.
Funded by Arts Council England with support from Het Zuidelijk Toneel, Netherlands, Bathway Theatre & AOD.
Hecuba
In June I wrote and directed a new adaptation of Euripides Hecuba, with a few its of Trojan Women thrown in, especially for students at Vienna's English Theatre .
Shirley Valentine
CPC Best Actress Award for Vivienne McKee!! Whoop!
Earlier this year I had the pleasure of directing Vivienne McKee in Shirley Valentine at Teatret ved Sorte Hest, Copenhagen.
Dirty Corset - Bang Average
Winners of the Bergen Fringe WOW Award.
The wonderful Bangers bought our Restoration remix to The Pleasance, London for a three week run.
UPDATES '21
Your Body and The Furniture
A series of online workshops to free your physical and emotional connection to furniture, increasing the potential for creative stimulus, confidence, depth and truth in your performance work.
I provide frameworks for your personal exploration and individually tailored feedback, making these workshops accessible to those with limited mobility and to those with extensive movement experience.
Full info and to book click here
YOUR BODY AND THE FURNITURE PART 1
YOUR CREATIVE BODY
The focus is on you, making discoveries about your body, getting comfortable with your uniqueness and gaining the tools to get creative with your body in relation to the furniture.
NOVEMBER 13th & 14th
2-5pm UK (3-6pm CET / 9am-12 EST)
YOUR BODY AND THE FURNITURE PART 2
TOUCH AND STORY
How much is said in the way we touch an object?
What stories do we tell with our physical relationship to the furniture of a room?
Gain the skills to tell clear stories in your bodies relationship to objects.
DECEMBER 11th & 12th
2-5pm UK (3-6pm CET / 9am-12 EST)
YOUR BODY AND THE FURNITURE PART 3
CREATING PERFORMANCE MATERIAL
Tools to build movement material for performance, suitable for all bodies.
JANUARY 8th & 9th
2-5pm UK (3-6pm CET / 9am-12 EST)
Full info and to book click here
Doggerland
R&D Het Zuidijlk Toneel, Tilburg, Netherlands
Mentor/Directors Arjan Gebraad & Roel Swanenburg
new devised solo show about borders and connection, created for office spaces, meeting rooms and institutions booking for touring now.
The Wonderful World of Dissocia
Birmingham University
Directing 3rd Year BA students.
November/December '21
Dirty Corset - Bang Average Theatre
Award Winning Devised absurdist take on Restoration Theatre.
Playing Bergan and Stockholm Festivals Autumn'21
Blue Stockings - Vienna's English Theatre Academy
Performed at Vienna's English Theatre May '21
Magnetic North
Writing and Direction, a show created entirely on and for Zoom as part of a virtual Artist in Residence post at the University of South Florida Jan-March '21
forthcoming:
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Performed by Actor-Musicians
Produced by Vienna's English Theatre
Spring 2022
Suitcase Stories- Arts Uplift
A fairytale about living with Dementia for a communicaty cast.
Writing and Direction.
Spring 2022
EDINBURGH FRINGE FIRST WINNER 2019
Everything I See I Swallow - Touring
"Director Helen Tennison excels at combining text and
movement, and the show’s beauty lies in how the movement
mirrors, contrasts and accentuates the emotional struggles
of its characters." -Stav Meishar Circus Diaries *****
Devised with aerialists Tamsin Shasha and Maisy Taylor
Co-produced by The Lowry
Playing Summerhall, The Lowry and mid-scale tour
feminism and sexuality through the lens of a mother, daughter relationship.