Skip to Content

programme listing

Welcome to SIRF 2010, which promises to be an extrordinary year even for Stockton’s extraordinary festival. No fewer than 38 companies  are here, offering amazingly diverse experiences for you to combine into your own personal festival journey.

In a few short days you can join an audience of 700 in an authentic Nineteenth Century theatre; take your seat for a game of gangsta srabble; watch a pianist launch himself and his piano into space; see the spirit of Buster Keaton live again on Stockton High Street; thrill as the world’s best bboys battle for supremacy… Many journeys are possible and this listing is your route map.

Add in one of the UK’s largest carnival processions and the huge music and stand up comedy programme on offer down at the Fringe and only one conclusion is possible - Stockton at festival time is unique.

All shows except Circus of Horrors are FREE to the general public.

A number of shows require tickets (marked ‘T’) or have limited capacity (marked ‘R’). A FREE ticket for limited capacity performances can be obtained in advance from SIRF Central at the Shambles on Stockton High Street. Persons with a free ticket can only be guaranteed entry if they arrive 15 minutes before the advertised start time of the performance; otherwise places will be allocated to anyone queuing on a first come, first served basis.

Tickets for Circus of Horrors can be obtained from the Arc Box Office (01642) 525199 or at a box office in Parish Gardens open 30 minutes before each show.

Please remember to have a warm coat with you for evening performances!

View the A to Z of festival highlights, download a text version of the programme (.doc / 55K), view the full 2010 programme or browse by date below.

Please note : Programme events may change at short notice due to circumstances beyond our control.

Jack Drum - A Feather in the Sky image

Jack Drum - A Feather in the Sky

Fred and Ted are old friends. They love gardening and they love the wild birds that perch on top of their allotment shed. When one of their feathered friends has an unfortunate accident, they decide to give it a ‘right good send off’ with songs, stories, slap-stick, African-style drumming and community singing to the accompaniment [...]

Read more about Jack Drum - A Feather in the Sky

Tai Chi - Workshop

Read more about Tai Chi - Workshop
Wet Picnic - The Dinner Table image

Wet Picnic - The Dinner Table

A foodilicious extravaganza hosted by the divine Ursula Harrington Carrington Barrington Farrington Larrington and her posh friends. Together they’ll take you on a 20 minute crash course in how to behave at table. A fun show where all the guests learn a little something.

Read more about Wet Picnic - The Dinner Table
Metro Boulot Dodo - Whispers from a Rickshaw ® image

Metro Boulot Dodo - Whispers from a Rickshaw ®

Runs to 17:00.
SIRF favourites Metro Boulot DoDo present their new show ‘Whispers from a Rickshaw’, an intimate experience that asks the essential question: Where are you going?
Play a game of choice and chance to create an experience unique to you, and take a ride in the “Whispers” rickshaw. As you spin through the city streets, [...]

Read more about Metro Boulot Dodo - Whispers from a Rickshaw ®
Les Ateliers Denino - Le Grand Théâtre Mécanique ® image

Les Ateliers Denino - Le Grand Théâtre Mécanique ®

Le Grand Théâtre Mécanique is a real machine, with machine noises in a big box. Created in 1900 by Atelier Denino, the Mechanical Theatre was presented at the 1900 Paris Exhibition. Later this fairground attraction was forgotten and ended up in a storeroom, full of dust. It was later re-discovered and fully restored by the [...]

Read more about Les Ateliers Denino - Le Grand Théâtre Mécanique ®
Cie 1 Watt - Perfect Working Order (Parfait état de Marche) image

Cie 1 Watt - Perfect Working Order (Parfait état de Marche)

‘Perfect Working Order’ is a solo street show created in 2003 by Pierre Pilatte, a Belgian clown. Once a week he goes out of his house and his mind. Somewhere. In a square. He walks, moves, floats, shouts and finally dares to do something. He lets go of himself, drops his burdens. He runs away [...]

Read more about Cie 1 Watt - Perfect Working Order (Parfait état de Marche)
Fairly Famous Family - Anyone for Tennis? image

Fairly Famous Family - Anyone for Tennis?

Wimbledon comes to Stockton with a pristine court, posh umpire and highly strung player looking to take on all- comers. A hilarious but thrilling “one-setter” is played out with all the drama of the real thing including slow motion replays, heated line calls and live commentary.

Read more about Fairly Famous Family - Anyone for Tennis?
Frenetic Engineering - Femmes Fatal image

Frenetic Engineering - Femmes Fatal

All the way from Las Vegas via Slough. The glamorous and professional Milly has to make do with the nervous and excited Janice, the stand-in assistant who lives next door, who is making her stage debut.
Hilarity ensues as warm-hearted Janice is led through a show of dangerous pursuits for which she is not quite prepared. [...]

Read more about Frenetic Engineering - Femmes Fatal
Les Ateliers Denino - Le Grand Théâtre Mécanique ® image

Les Ateliers Denino - Le Grand Théâtre Mécanique ®

Le Grand Théâtre Mécanique is a real machine, with machine noises in a big box. Created in 1900 by Atelier Denino, the Mechanical Theatre was presented at the 1900 Paris Exhibition. Later this fairground attraction was forgotten and ended up in a storeroom, full of dust. It was later re-discovered and fully restored by the [...]

Read more about Les Ateliers Denino - Le Grand Théâtre Mécanique ®
Les Apostrophés - Passage Désemboîté image

Les Apostrophés - Passage Désemboîté

Created in 1997, by the juggler Martin Schwietzke and the musician Jérôme Tchouhadjian, Les Apostrophes combine music, juggling and dance as well as incorporating the numerous bits and pieces found in towns.
Discreetly surprising, unusually disturbing, five very stylish guys play around with everyday items… a forgotten book on a public bench, a hat caught in [...]

Read more about Les Apostrophés - Passage Désemboîté

© SIRF 2010
website design by Hype Type Studio