HISTORY

benchtours is a leading Scottish international touring ensemble. It is core funded by the Scottish Arts Council and has Approved Manager Status with the Independent Theatre Council. Over the past twelve years the company has produced some of Britain's most exciting visual theatre, touring extensively to venues and festivals throughout the UK and mainland Europe. Closer to home, benchtours is proud to be an active member of the Federation of Scottish Theatre.

benchtoursí mission is to convey its passion and principles by presenting challenging and engaging work that will entertain and entice audiences, create a lasting impression and a desire for more.

The company was created in 1991 by a group of six performers who had met in Paris whilst studying with Philippe Gaulier. An initial incarnation as Theatre Bouffon (1990) led to the Glasgow Streetbiz award winning production Exodus, the same production having been banned, two months previously, by The Glasgow Fair.

As benchtours the company quickly gained a reputation for a style of fast-paced visual theatre unique within Scotland, their early works securing enthusiastic reviews and attracting international attention. Their groundbreaking adaptation of Salman Rushdie's novel, Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1994-96) is a classic case in point.

In 1995 the company collaborated for the first time with Pete Brooks on Limbo (specially commissioned by The Tramway, Glasgow). This relationship led to two further productions: the award winning Peepshow (1996-97) and CARNiVALi (1998-99).

Recently benchtours has produced highly acclaimed versions of Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle (2000) and Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (2002) as well as the challenging and controversial How Many Miles to Babylon? (2001) and a new adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice novels (2002-03).

Throughout the lifetime of the company, education and outreach work has been a major part of the overall programme. This has recently involved the 18-month disability arts programme Explorers, in collaboration with The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen; a series of workshops with 3 Scottish secondary schools, based around Lewis Carroll's nonsense poem, Jabberwocky; and Mayhem, an innovative, large-scale community theatre project, involving over 100 local participants.

As part of the Edinburgh Fringe 2002, benchtours produced its acclaimed Chekhov farces, The Bear and The Proposal at the Brunton Theatre, which subsequently toured to venues throughout Scotland and Poland. This was followed by a highly successful tour of a new verse adaptation of Ibsen's Peer Gynt in Spring 2004 and by Babel, a collaboration with the Melanie Stuart Dance Theatre in Philadelphia, which featured this September in the Philadelphia Live Arts Festivsal in the USA.

benchtours has dedicated 2005 exclusively to new writing, with The Emperor's Opera, a political comedy by Michael Duke, which toured in May-June and Crowhurst, a multi-media piece exploring the drama of sailing, which premiered at the Tron in September before a full tour in March-April 2006.

For details of all benchtoursí productions - future, past and present - plus information on the company's education & outreach programme, please access the relevant pages on this website or call 0131 555 3585.