Pegabovine
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Pegabovine is a comedy-theatre company based in London and Exeter, which performs in London and on the Edinburgh Fringe, built around a core of four writer/performers: Luke Kennard, Jenny Sutton, Matthew Henry Johnson and Davis Wateracre.
"A Meeting About Laughter", was created in 2001 in Exeter, England after Matthew Henry Johnson and Davis Wateracre, two students in the Drama department at Exeter University had the idea of setting up a comedy company. Using the basement of a local pub[1], they held a fortnightly open forum for comedy writers (including Luke Kennard, poet and winner of an Eric Gregory Award [2]) and performers.
Their show "The Freudian Slip" at the National Student Drama Festival in 2003 won two awards - a Judges' Commendation for Comic Writing, and the Festgoers' Prize for most popular play [3].
In early 2005 the company renamed itself "Pegabovine" and relaunched with a series of projects.[4]
The name "Pegabovine" comes from their adaptation of "Woe From Wit". In Act Four, the character Repetilov decides to read some of his poetry to the main character, Chatsky:-
REPETILOV: Will you hear ‘The Turkey Takes Flight’ or ‘Occurrence in a Nunnery’?
CHATSKY: I really couldn’t choose.
REPETILOV: I’ve also a short dramaticule called Pegabovine about a flying cow. But I’ll begin with ‘The Turkey Takes Flight’. "Oh turkey, with your strange beard of flesh / And yellow eyes knowing nothing of your destiny / How art thou? And how dost thou dance?"
Their play "Pegabovine: The Slush Pile"[5] performed at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival at the Pleasance Dome.
In August 2007, Pegabovine returned to the Pleasance for the Edinburgh Fringe with their new show "Pegabovine: Coat Of Arms".[6][7]
In February 2008 a podcast, "Pegabovine: House Of Mirth" was started is also syndicated on the renowned Comedy 365 podcast. The podcast follows hot on the heels of an appearance on Radio 4's 28 Acts in 28 Minutes.
