Walk The Plank Says Goodbye To The UK's Only Theatre Ship

01 April 2010 09.36 BST

North West based arts organisation Walk the Plank has said its farewells to the MV Fitzcarraldo, the UK’s only theatre ship, which has been sold and left the UK for a
new life in Holland as a floating venue yesterday.

Brought to Britain from Norway in 1991 by Liz Pugh and John Wassell, producers for Walk the Plank, the ship spent 18 years touring the coast of the British Isles, delivering critically acclaimed theatre shows to hundreds of ports in the UK and Ireland, in towns that often lacked a dedicated theatre space. More recently, the ship played host to music and cabaret nights during Liverpool's reign as European Capital of Culture.

During the months of rest when touring was over for the year, the Fitzcarraldo enjoyed bases in Salford and Liverpool. Liz Pugh, producer and co-founder of Walk the Plank said: “It’s sad time for us, we’ve had some great times delivering some outstanding theatre on the ship and will miss her dearly but her sailing on Tuesday will mark the beginning of a new chapter. Walk the Plank has evolved and grown and we have generated a great reputation creating land based touring shows and large scale creative events. Another two of which, we are currently working on for the North West this summer…”

On Sunday June 20, Manchester will celebrate the very first Manchester Day Parade (www.themanchesterdayparade.co.uk). Created by Manchester People, commissioned by Manchester City Council and produced by Walk the Plank, this large scale event will highlight the creativity and diversity of the city. The company will work with hundreds of individuals and community groups in the Manchester region to create floats, performances, costumes and music celebrating what is ‘Out of the World’ (this year’s theme) about the city.

The parade will be closely followed by On the Waterfront, where Walk the Plank as creative producers will work with Culture Liverpool (Liverpool City Council’s culture service), to deliver two weekends of free live events on Liverpool’s waterfront.

The weekend of the July 16-18 will feature live street theatre, visual spectaculars, Pirate palavers and new commission ‘A wave to Picasso’, a Picasso-inspired performance created by Walk the Plank’s artists and pyrotechnicians. After that, an ambitious weekend of dance will take place from August 6-8, showcasing the best of international outdoor
dance and featuring an extravagant mass tea dance.

In more good news for Walk the Plank, Liz Pugh (Producer and Co-founder) was also identified as a ‘Woman to Watch’ by the Government-funded Cultural Leadership Programme (www.culturalleadership.org.uk/w2wlist/). The organisation recognised Liz as being at the top of her field and praised for her ‘consensual and collaborative’ leadership style.

www.walktheplank.co.uk

Photos by Mark McNulty