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A Timeline of Original Company Shows 1986-2001

The Great Rock 'n Roll Dance, 1986
Two rival musical gangs battle it out for the right to support a visiting rock star.

Performed once as the final piece to a multimedia participatory arts project at The Albany Centre, then again, in it’s own right, two months later.

Pino’s dream to be a famous singer started us off on this, our first show.

‘A singer’s coming to town and he needs a band!’
As two rival musical gangs battle it out, the singer falls in love with the sister of one of the gang leaders. He refuses to allow this love and she runs away. Isolated by his anger, the gang leader, (Geoff), pours out his feelings of loneliness in a gut busting blues song. Moved, the singer brings the gangs together and they celebrate at the Great Rock ‘n Roll Dance.

Performers – Pino Frumiento, Geoff Goodall, Winston Green, Andy Bridle, Stevie Dawson, Stefan Nowak, Mark Snead, Cheryl Lyte, Sue Hoban, Mandy Lewsey, Eddie Goodman, Donna McTigue, Shirley Jones, Gillian Burns,
Band – Mark Williams, (bass) Jan Jodelko, (drums) Mel (guitar) Rikki Jodelko (guitar)
Music Director – Mark Williams.
Theatre Director – Alix Parker.
Performed in February 1987 in it’s own right. Bringing Rikki Jodelko into the band as guitarist.

The Longest, 1987
Set adrift, performers struggle to make their way back into society.
This show opened to a three performance run at the Albany Theatre. Tour to local day centres and institutions.

Talking about how we feel is vital to the way we work. One day Pino came in depressed, he said with a sigh that the problem was ‘ordinary people don’t want to know us.’

Geoff turned away, ‘I know what I am Pino, don’t go on about it.’
Pino rolled his eyes, ‘Oh don’t be daft, Geoff, it’s a fact; they don’t want to see people like us. It makes them feel sad.’ Then his eyes welled up, ‘I just wish they’d give us a chance, that’s all.’

The whole group shared Pino’s expression of his isolation. That was our starting point.

Many years ago a pier breaks away from land, taking with it the group of performers who live on it.

A traveller is looking for them; she wants to bring them back. All of a sudden she hears the rhythms of their music.

They are scared. What if she doesn’t like them, what if no one likes their sort of music? They hide but she persuades them to tell their story.

Encouraged by her reaction they rebuild the pier to reach the audience and celebrate their return to land with a cabaret that shows their talents.

Performers - Pino Frumiento, Geoff Goodall, Winston Green, Andy Bridle, Stevie Dawson, Stefan Nowak, Mark Snead, Cheryl Lyte, Sue Hoban, Mandy Lewsey, Eddie Goodman, Gillian Burns,
Band – Mark Williams, Jan Jodelko, Rikki Jodelko, Ned Smith (key board)
Designer – Maureen Pepper
Music Director – Mark Williams
Theatre Director – Alix Parker

Peace On Earth, 1988-1989
Contestants pit their wits against the dastardly Geoffrey Cash and his game show that aims to humiliate.

Opened at The Albany for a run of three evening performances and two matinees. The show then toured to theatres and festivals around the south of England. Notable gigs were at Covent Garden at the NDAF Disability Arts Festival and in Vejle, Denmark, at the EUCREA festival.
The experience of our tour to large institutions had affected us all and everyone was shaken by some of the things they had seen. One day we were trying to relax, Mark was playing some chords on his guitar and then in a moment of inspiration, Pino started to sing, ‘Peace on earth, love and peace on earth...’ His song changed the mood in the room to one of hope and we had the starting point of our next show.
Pino and Sarah are watching the News at Ten, ‘there’s been no good news for years, it all ends up in tears.’ They want to change the world. Pino has a song, Peace on Earth, ‘if people hear it,’ he reasons, ‘things will change.’

The Geoffrey Cash Show – an open mic pop stars kind of show – where Cash humiliates contestants, seems to be their only chance of getting their song heard.

Cash laughs openly at their naivety. The song however moves his workers to rebel against him. He throws them into the archives.
It is here that they face their deepest fears; being hidden away forever. They sing of their desolation at being so misunderstood. They make Cash see that he is no different to them.

The piece ends with Geoffrey Cash, a reformed man. The song gets another airing and the chance to change the world seems perfectly possible.

Performers - Pino Frumiento, Geoff Goodall, Winston Green, Andy Bridle, Stevie Dawson, Stefan Nowak, Mark Snead, Cheryl Lyte, Sue Hoban, Mandy Lewsey, Sarah Stevens, Gillian Burns,
Band – Mark Williams, Jan Jodelko, Rikki Jodelko, Ned Smith.
Designer/Production Manager – Tamasin Gilbert.
Lighting Steve Munn
Sound – Ted Barrow
Music Director – Mark Williams
Theatre Director – Alix Parker

The Dungeon Of Love 1990-92
The love devil traps his slaves in the sickly sweet caresses of his dungeon.

We opened this show with a week’s run at the Albany theatre, and then went on to tour to theatres, festivals and events around England, and as part of our involvement with EUCREA, to Germany and Belgium.
We really let ourselves go with this show. More individuals in the company were starting to shine, wanting more responsibility. Inspirations came from getting to know each other on tour. One particular incident was when, in Belgium, we were refused entry into a night club – they said we were too scruffy, but when we returned, spruced up and ready to party, they still wouldn’t let us in…
With this show we felt that we were beginning to express something that hadn’t been said before. The designs that Tam created added a further depth and humour to our work. The audiences responded to the raw energy and the power the performers expressed.

The Love Devil collects people who have been ‘loved too much’. Trapped in his Dungeon of Love, prisoners are swamped by sickly sweet caresses.

Two new comers arrive. The Love Devil trapped them at their own wedding, ‘Love?! What do people like you know about love!’ He slams the door, they are trapped.

The Love Devil has to stuff his prisoners full of sweets and even hypnotise them to keep them under control. It’s not until he forces two members from the audience into his hug machine that they realise that they have to stop this nonsense. Faced with their strength of opinion the Love Devil crumples, his dungeon dissolves.

Performers - Pino Frumiento, Geoff Goodall, Winston Green, Andy Bridle, Stevie Dawson, Stefan Nowak, Mark Snead, Cheryl Lyte, Sue Hoban, Mandy Lewsey,
Band – Mark Williams, Jan Jodelko, Rikki Jodelko, Ned Smith.
Designer/Production Manager – Tamasin Gilbert.
Lighting - Trish Winfield.
Sound – Ted Barrow.
Music Director – Mark Williams
Theatre Director – Alix Parker

The Experience, 1991
A changing show, musical highlights. Performed with the Heart ‘n Soul band and featuring our favorite songs this show reflects the wide-ranging musical styles, delivered with the ‘Heart ’n Soul pizzazz!’
Toured around Britain and Europe to theatres, festivals, music venues and clubs.

The experience is a show that is regularly updated and changed to allow us to tour our work to as many places as possible. In whatever format the Experience is always a fast moving, turbo powered ride of music and performance.

The Power Of Life 1991
Earth Woman is sent on a life-affirming trip across the universe, celebrating the power and vision of people who are different.
This show opened for a week’s run at the Albany Theatre, then toured around Britain and Europe, including, Luxembourg, Germany and Belgium.

We were having fun now! If the last show had whetted our appetites for the surreal, we were really rocking with this one. Our experiences of traveling together, the long bouts of sitting on coaches, in hotel rooms and back stage had given us plenty of time to talk about what we wanted out of our lives and our art. We wanted a better world, a world where we had more control.

People gather to watch Big Mamma Earth (Cheryl) fight to the death with Papa Pollution (Stefan). Just as the fight reaches its climax, Earth Woman (Sarah) is pulled into a cosmic vortex.

Her journey leads her to discover that the effects of pollution, greed and power are destroying the universe. She collects a group of individuals who want to put a stop to this carnage.

She falls in love with a Vigtig – a green monster, played by Geoff, who is isolated because of the way he looks. They join forces with a sunflower, (Mandy) and a cosmic singing cowboy, (Pino) they meet drowning his sorrows in a bar.

It’s not until the Black Magic Man (Winston) and the Doctor of Science, (Andy) combine their forces that they see that they all have the power of life within them. Big Mama is returned and Papa Pollution is redeemed. The travelers realise that the future is up to them.

Performers - Pino Frumiento, Geoff Goodall, Winston Green, Andy Bridle, Stevie Dawson, Stefan Nowak, Mark Snead, Cheryl Lyte, Mandy Lewsey, Sarah Stevens.
Band – Mark Williams, Jan Jodelko, Rikki Jodelko, Ned Smith.
Designer/Production Manager – Tamasin Gilbert.
Lighting - Trish Winfield.
Sound – Ted Barrow.
Music Director – Mark Williams
Theatre Director – Alix Parker

The Heart ‘n Soul Roadshow, 1993
A small scale touring show, with live PAs, comedy and disco!
Toured around the U.K. to community centres, AGM’s, parties.
This show was devised in response to the many requests we were receiving to perform at small-scale venues and events. It was a lot of fun, both to devise and to perform as it gave free reign to comedians like Andy and dancers like Gillian who really let go and showed their talents. Songs, performed to pre recorded backing tracks held the show together and audience participation was key to the show’s success. Every time the event ended in a party.

Hearts On Fire 1994
Captain Reality traps the cosmic crew in the cyberspace game of life
This show opened to a weeks run at the Albany theatre and then toured across Britain and to Luxembourg. The cost of touring this show meant that our European touring was limited to Experience gigs.

This was an ambitious project, collaboration with Joseph, a visual artist from Luxemburg and experiments involving video performance with performance artist Pascal. It proved rather difficult to have so many creative people adding to the mix and the process was often fraught with difficulties. The thing that kept us together was the shared vision that we wanted to push ourselves and try something new. As Mark Snead put it, this show was about ‘a new reality. It’s about love and respect. It’s about the soul. It is the future.’

Once people were equal and lived in paradise. Then a couple was torn
apart, their love denied. The man’s despair turns to anger. He writes the Book of Rules, setting out segregation for all those who are different.

His power reigns over centuries as he becomes Captain Reality, (Geoff) with his trusty servant Stardust, (Andy).

The cosmic crew, led by Captain Conscious, (Winston) set out on a mission for freedom and respect. But find themselves trapped inside Reality’s Game of Life. He humiliates them all, destroying their hope, then turns on his sidekick, locking him away too.

Alone, Captain Reality is forced to see his own bitterness and loneliness. His ‘heart is on fire’. The cosmic crew joins up with Stardust and destroys the Book of Rules and so put a stop to Reality’s game.
Captain Reality disappears and the man he once was runs back in to the theatre, to reclaim his love and his friends.

Performers - Pino Frumiento, Geoff Goodall, Winston Green, Andy Bridle, Stefan Nowak, Mark Snead, Cheryl Lyte, Sally Ann Middleton, Janet Bobin.
Band – Mark Williams, Len Lawrence, Rikki Jodelko, Angus Babb.
Designer – Tamasin Gilbert. Joseph Pletsch.
Lighting - Trish Winfield
Sound – Ted Barrow.
Video Design – Pascal Brannan
Video Editing – Pax Vision
Music Director – Mark Williams
Theatre Director – Alix Parker

Unplugged, 1995
An acoustic set that featured the musical talents of the company members.

Toured around the U.K. to small-scale theatres music venues and events.

We devised this show because we wanted to showcase the musical talents of the Heart ‘n Soul members. Our songs translated well to being stripped down musically to feature the special instruments we used to devise in the workshops. The show also inspired the musical development of more experimental work for the performers.

Roar! 1996
A ten-year retrospective, celebrating the distance we had traveled.
This show was devised as part of a two-week festival we hosted at The Albany Theatre, to celebrate our ten years of working together. It ran for a week, alongside performances from artists renowned in the Disability Arts world throughout Europe. We wanted to create a show that celebrated our past and looked to our future, involving as many elements of the organization as possible and reflecting individual stories and experiences.

Starting inside the mouth of a giant clown, Pino tells us ‘this is my story, this is our story.’

A group of travelers leave their past behind as they set out on a ship to the future. The feelings of freedom soon break down. They argue, throw one of the team, (Mark Snead) overboard and try to kill a mermaid.
The nightmares begin. In the kingdom of fear, monsters and mermaids compete for attention and power until the monster is revealed as the man pushed overboard. His song, ‘A life of my own’, turns the piece around.

‘Too many people stop us enjoying ourselves, why, oh why?
All I want, is a life of my own…’

The simple honest power of that song brings the company back together. They rejoin Pino in the clown assuring us that the future will be a place where everyone will enjoy themselves.

Performers - Pino Frumiento, Geoff Goodall, Winston Green, Andy Bridle, Stefan Nowak, Mark Snead, Cheryl Lyte, Sarah Stevens, Sally Ann Middleton, Janet Bobin.
Heart ‘ Soul Too – Mark Burgess, Danny Smith, Faith Harding, Roy Packer
Directed by Hannah Kent and Charles Hayward
Band – Mark Williams, Len Lawrence, Rikki Jodelko, Ned Smith.
Production Manager – Annie Wharmby
Designer – Tamasin Gilbert.
Lighting - Trish Winfield.
Sound – Ted Barrow.
Music Director – Mark Williams
Theatre Director – Alix Parker

Large, 2001
True stories that lay bare the experiences and dreams of people with learning disabilities.

This show opened at The Albany Theatre, then went on to tour around the UK to mid scale venues as part of our Arts Council project New Audiences Project.

Set in magical club like space, performers take us on a journey to explain why they perform, where they have come from and what they want. Large tells it how it is, at times, shocking; at times hilarious it is always poignant. The stories reveal personal and private experiences that have made us who we are.

As Janet says ‘My dreams haunt me, my dreams scar me, but we are here and we wont hide away.’

Performers - Pino Frumiento, Geoff Goodall, Winston Green, Stefan Nowak, Mark Snead, Cheryl Lyte, Sally Ann Middleton, Janet Bobin, Lizzie Emeh, Gillian Williams, Hannah Marvelly.
Band – Mark Williams, Len Lawrence, Rickki Jodelko, Ned Smith.
Production Manager – Rachel Walsh
Designer – Lisa Ducie
Costumes – Kevin Freeman
Lighting – Dan Lloyd
Sound – Dennis Grey
Music Director - Mark Williams
Theatre Director - Alix Parker

Heart 'n Soul - The Beautiful Octopus Club, 1995
A cabaret and club designed and run by and for people with learning disabilities.

Originally based at The Albany Theatre the club celebrates the art and culture of people with learning disabilities. As well as continuing it’s success at The Albany Theatre, we now run a Squidz Club for the under 25’s and several satellite clubs around London and the U.K.

Our shows have always started and ended with DJs setting up a party atmosphere so it made perfect sense to launch a nightclub for people with learning disabilities to celebrate their art and culture. As Heart ‘n Soul grew we became increasingly aware of the lack of opportunity for people to perform their work or to simply go out and enjoy themselves. The Beautiful Octopus Club provides a performance platform for professional disability arts companies, individual artists and DJs, as well as an exciting social event for who ever wants to come along and experience an amazing night out.

The Clubs have allowed Heart ‘n Soul to expand their vision, opening the doors to a vital development of learning disabled culture. Training for crew members to organise and run every aspect of the club, opportunities to perform and opportunities to experience such an event have helped us to realise our original dream to change the world.