Walk the Plank (theatre company)
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Walk the Plank is a firm who specialize in pyrotechnics and theatre and organizing events. Their shows are on land and on water and can include stage plays, music, lighting, visual images, fire, and fireworks. They were established by John Wassell and Liz Pugh in 1991 and identified a niche market for a touring theatre ship, and other aquatic shows on the waterways. They operate a touring theatre ship, the MV Fitzcarraldo.[citation needed] They have shown at Toronto’s Wintercity Festival, Singapore Festival, and Euro 2004. Recently in Britain they have run fireworks for Tall Ships 2005, Centerparcs, and Sir Paul McCartney, and lanterns for the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.
Their administrative base is in Salford, Greater Manchester, where they run a program of youth arts work in the North West, working with Trafford and Salford Councils, throughout the winter months.
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[edit] Community-based arts projects
They work with other agencies: the Youth Service, the probation service, the Children’s Centres, etc. They create artist-led projects with community involvement, or for particular target groups. Participants are usually drawn from Salford, Greater Manchester and the North West region; but they increasingly work outside that region.
[edit] Event management and consultancy
The company does occasional consultancy work for several clients: Salford City Council, Northern Stage, the Manchester Ship Canal Centenary partners, etc, and most recently Printworks. This work is sometimes the basis for a project, when they have got the money for it, and is an important part of the development strategy for community-based work. For example, Walk the Plank worked closely with Salford City Council and Trafford Council on Millennium Festival projects, and with the City Pride partners as consultants on the Millennium Waterfronts project, which both led to project-based work in 2000/2001.[citation needed]
[edit] MV Fitzcarraldo
The Fitzcarraldo [1] was built in 1971 in Sandnessjøen, Norway for TFDS as the MV Bjarkøj. She was 20 years a general cargo and passenger ferry working the islands around Tromsø in north Norway.[citation needed]
In December 1991 Walk the Plank purchased the ship, renaming it the Fitzcarraldo. The ship was registered British in 1992, the same year of its first British national tour. Its hold was adapted as a theatre.[citation needed]
Each summer the Fitzcarraldo sets sail from the Albert Docks, Liverpool and tours ports and harbours in Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales. Audiences of up to 125 people can sit the aft deck to watch as the hatches rise and the cargo holds are craned open.[citation needed]
To date, they have produced and toured 8 new plays nationally, and the ship has visited over 80 ports and harbours nationwide.[citation needed]
In 2003 the ship went on a national tour to 19 ports with a stage adaption of Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, to positive reviews.[1][2]
During the winter months the ship is in the Canning Dock, which is part of Liverpool's Albert Dock complex, and is used as a static venue for many events including parties, cabaret evenings, live music, and drama.[citation needed]
[edit] WTP Pyrotechnics
WTP Pyrotechnics is a limited company who donate all their profits to Walk the Plank. This is a major source of income for Walk the Plank other than arts grants and donations. WTP Pyrotechnics creates fireshows, firework displays, site-specific work, and outdoor spectacles – producing work in landlocked and waterside locations. They have created shows on canals and rivers, in harbours and parks and town centres in the UK and abroad.[citation needed]
Past projects include site-specific events, fireshows and aquatic spectacle, working with pyrotechnics, machines, music, large images, and mobile structures, performance, and fire; usually, one-off specially-commissioned pieces created for a particular site or occasion. The work is often on, near, or by water, but they work inland also.[citation needed]
