Our show Home Of The Wriggler is going out on tour again in February and we’re looking for two actors to join us for the revival. We made the show back in late 2005, inspired by the community around Birmingham’s Longbridge car factory. We were interested the many lives woven together by the factory, its history and community. We were also interested in the idea of a ‘post-oil’ world. These two concerns led to a show in which a cast of four act out and narrate an episode from a vast soap opera featuring dozens of characters in a mosaic of fragmentary scenes whilst powering the lights live on stage using stationary bikes and hand-cranks.

It was a demanding show to perform but the team enjoyed it. When Amanda wasn’t available for then UK tour Bharti took her place and when Heather couldn’t go with the show to Beijing we auditioned dozens of young women and found Amy, who has worked with us regularly ever since. Now we are auditioning again for two female actors one early 20s the other 40+. We are particularly interested in performers with South Asian heritage – due to characters reprented in the play. Further details, including dates and how to apply can be downloaded here.

There was an elegant symetry to the coincidence that the last performances of Home Of The Wriggler were in China where the MG Rover plant ended up. We’re destroying that symetry because now more old car factories are threatened with closure and ‘post-oil’ has become ‘zero-carbon’, it feels like Wriggler time again.

PS: Although cars badged MG are again being built in Longbridge thier ‘revival’ is of a different nature to ours. When MG Rover Group went into administration the MG brand identity was its major asset and this was sold to SAIC Motor (a Chinese state owned car manufacturer). MG is back at Longbridge but it is a different company. Home of the Wriggler is back and it’s still Stan’s Cafe.