ABOUT
Praise for Bag of Beard
“A modern masterpiece that could define the future of fringe theatre.”
★★★★★
Theatre Weekly on ‘A Triptych of Plays’
“A tour de force”
★★★★★
Broadway World on ‘Cratchit’
"Shocking and superb. Compulsive watching"
★★★★★
London Pub Theatres on 'A Triptych of Plays’
"This is a play to savour"
★★★★★
North West End on 'December'
"Bag of Beard show themselves to be at the forefront of contemporary theatre"
Theatre Weekly on 'Renaissance Men'
Bag of Beard are a multiple award winning theatre collective, creating work for theatre and film, with original words and original music.
Working collaboratively, often with the process of devising and scripting what has come out of that process, with elements of poetry, gestural and physical theatre, as well as dark humour. Their work has encompassed farcical comedy, real world war stories and reimagined Christmas classics, and has met with critical acclaim.
Their plays are published by PlayDead Press.
Bag of Beard was formed when, sat in a rehearsal room in South London, working on a classical play, we started discussing how we would do it differently. What would we do with it?
The ideas we threw around were stylised, surreal, almost grotesque versions of these classical characters - pulling at any threads of naturalism and distorting them into an abstract shape. It was from this discussion that the idea behind the company came together.
We've yet to make our abstract version of that particular Jacobean tragedy, but ever since we've been creating theatre that is darkly comic, uses elements of physical theatre and poetry, and offers a comment on our generation, and how we engage with the world.
Joint Director
Alexander Knott
Joint Director
Ryan Hutton
Alexander Knott is a London based theatre director, writer, and creative producer working across new writing, adaptation and contemporary performance. He is former Artistic Director of the Old Red Lion Theatre, where he led the programming and development of grassroots new work.
His directing credits include an award winning reimagining of Private Peaceful, staged at the Barn Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic, alongside productions at Theatre Royal Stratford East and Underbelly Edinburgh. As a writer, his work includes Loop, Renaissance Men, Cratchit, Ballooniana! and The Messiah Complex, with productions both in London and touring the UK.
Ryan is a performer and theatre-maker.
Acting credits include:
'Footsteps' (Park Theatre), 'Blackstar' (Arcola Theatre), 'Staunch' (53two, Manchester), 'Penthouse' (Scintilla Theatre/Edinburgh Fringe), 'Comedy of Errors' (Sam Wanamaker Festival, Globe Theatre).
Ryan has worked with such award winning theatre companies as Grindstone, MAP Productions and Bruntwood Prize winning writer Anna Jordan.
Ryan originated and performs the role of Rodney in 'Only Fools and Horses: The Musical', and other credits include work for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the West End revival of 'People, Places and Things'.