Archive for the ‘Stan’s Cafe’ Category

By lunchtime on Day#1 we knew that the warm, comfortable facilities of the Rep rehearsal space just wouldn’t cut it. It wasn’t that the luxuriousness of the green room had blunted our purpose but rather a lack of ceiling height finally put paid to the idea. So back to the ‘Australia’ room at AE Harris […]


On this night, 12th April, twenty years ago, Stan’s Cafe premiered the company’s second full-scale piece of work, Memoirs of an Amnesiac, to a sizeable and appreciative audience at mac, Birmingham. The show was presented as part of “Towards the Millennium”, a ten-year Festival initiated by Simon Rattle (then Principal Conductor of the CBSO) as […]


Long ago, in the days before the AEHarris venue even a twinkle, Stan’s Cafe were resident on the top floor of an abandoned factory building on New Canal Street in a largely derelict part of Digbeth. There was a vibrant alternative cultural scene here, not to mention activity of the established giants; UB40’s studio round […]


still moving

05Jun11

Four days of buzzing between B’s… Berlin>B’ham>Balham>Bristol. …strictly speaking the Berlin part was actually elegant Potsdam, full of Schloss und Wasser, where the excellent Fabrik Tanztage played host to a visit of Stan’s Cafe’s The Cleansing of Constance Brown last week. We were looked after, fed gloriously and leave lovely friends behind. After a sleepless final night of de-rig, […]


There’s no smoke without fire… …so I think we must be on fire. “…one of the most gripping, unforgettable 70 minutes-worth of theatre I’ve seen in years… No one with the slightest interest in imaginative, groundbreaking theatre should even contemplate missing it.” – Terry Grimley, Birmingham Post (link to Birmingham Post review) “…this is a fascinating […]


Here’s a Link to some images of The Cleansing of Constance Brown, taken by Graeme Braidwood this week. Performances are twice nightly, at 6.30pm and 8.30pm at the Stan’s Cafe space – AE Harris Factory, Northwood St, Jewellery Qtr, Birmingham.


The Cleansing of Constance Brown takes to the stage this evening at the AEHarris factory, Birmingham. Stan’s Cafe begin a three week run of the full-sized ‘7-door version’ of the show which features new cast member Amy in the role first created by Jan (and more recently performed by Alex). Such is the nature of […]


A selection of excellent images from this month’s premiere of The Cardinals, as captured by photographer Graeme Braidwood. In this particular scene, Adam & Eve are expelled from Eden. They cover their shame to face a life of toil in punishment for Man’s first disobedience. The current plan is to present The Cardinals in Edinburgh this […]


tour de france

14Feb11

It’s Valentine’s Day. Craig and I get to share the van journey home from Montpelier to Calais and beyond. A lunch in the Rhône-side Roman town of Vienne, south of Lyon; a dinner in Reims, regional capital of the Champagne. Me playing Adam to his Eve, Judaean Slave to his Moses or Doubting Thomas to […]


The Cardinals are in Montpellier, modeling their unique vision of Chaos to a seemingly faithless world. Stan’s Cafe premiered the show here at Domaine d’O on tuesday night to a lively and appreciative crowd. It’s become a performance cliche that the ‘Classic’ devised show normally rolls in at 1 hour and 10 minutes. On rare […]