Fourth Monkey Theatre Company

Fourth Monkey Theatre Company

Theatre Logo
Formation	2010
Type	Theatre group
Purpose	Actor Training, Ensemble Theatre, Repertory Theatre
Location	The Monkey House, 97-101 Seven Sisters Road, London N7 7QP
Artistic director(s)	Steve Green (Founder)
Website	http://www.fourthmonkey.co.uk/

Fourth Monkey Theatre Company is both a repertory theatre company and an actor training provider for young actors.

UK-based Fourth Monkey provides an alternative^[1] to traditional conservatoire training or drama school. In addition to receiving training in London, Fourth Monkey's actors travel and perform throughout the UK and overseas in a repertory style.

In September 2015 the company announced they had set up their own premises "The Monkey House" in Seven Sisters Road near Finsbury Park where they plan to stay permanently, having previously taught in locations such as Jacksons Lane.^[2]

Background

Sherwood Alexander in Fourth Monkey's February 2014 performance of The Peculiar Tale of Pablo Picasso and the Mona Lisa, by Steven Green

Fourth Monkey (the name is a variation on the three wise monkeys pictorial maxim) was began by Steven Green, the company's Artistic Director. His intention was to create a hands-on alternative to drama school training.^[3] Initially only a one-year course (“The Year of the Monkey”) was offered. A two-year course is now also offered (“Two Year Rep”) . The Fourth Monkey Ensemble is the professional touring arm of the company. Born out of the training programme, this will (from 2014) deliver original, physical theatre nationally and internationally.

Currently, the company consists of over 100 students, split equally between the one-year “Year of the Monkey” course, and the “Two Year Rep” course.^[4] Two full scholarships are being offered in partnership with The Stage.^[5]

List of productions and performances

The Kitchen: from Fourth Monkey's May 2014 performance of Arnold Wesker's play

Fourth Monkey has a long history of both audience and critical reviews for their ^[6] performances of established texts and company-devised projects. Notable recent performances include those of the Marlowe450 season.^[7] A full list is:

2014

• The Elephant Man (touring)
• Alice (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
• Treasure Island (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
• The House of Bernard Alba (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
• Can't Stay Away (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
• The Sad Story of the Sun and the Moon (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
• Rhesus (Trinity Buoy Wharf, London)
• Lysistrata (Trinity Buoy Wharf, London)
• The Kitchen^[8][9] (Jackson's Lane, London)
• Vinegar Tom^[10] (Jackson's Lane, London)
• The Iceman^[11] (Jackson's Lane, London)
• Yerma (Trinity Buoy Wharf, London)
• Our Country's Good (Trinity Buoy Wharf, London)
• The Good Person of Szechwan (Trinity Buoy Wharf, London)
• Faustus^[12][13] (Marlowe Studio, Canterbury, part of Marlowe450)
• The Massacre At Paris^[14][15] (Canterbury Cathedral crypt, part of Marlowe450)
• The Jew Of Malta^[16] (Marlowe Studio, Canterbury, part of Marlowe450)

2013

• The Peculiar Tale of Pablo Picasso and the Mona Lisa^{[17][18][19][20]} (Edinburgh Fringe Festival; The Brockley Jack Studio, London 2014)
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest ^[21][22][23] (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
• Sans Salomé^[24][25][26] (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
• Paradise Lost^{[27][28][29][30]} (Trinity Buoy Wharf, London)
• Project Colony (Trinity Buoy Wharf, London)

2012

• 4.48 Psychosis (Theatro Technis, London; Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
• Elephant Man (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
• Nights at the Circus (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
• The Erpingham Camp (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
• Divine Words (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
• Minotaur (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)
• Lord of the Flies (Theatro Technis, London)
• The Bacchae (Theatro Technis, London)

2011

• Antigone^[31] (Theatro Technis, London)
• The Love of the Nightingale (Theatro Technis, London)
• The Threepenny Opera^[32] (Theatro Technis, London)

2010

• A Clockwork Orange (Theatro Technis, London; Edinburgh Fringe Festival; Croydon Clocktower 2011)

Awards

Notes

Links

• Fourth Monkey Theatre Company website