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Romany Theater Company

Year of foundation of the theater	2003
Place:	Cambridge, UK
Leader of the theater:	Daniel Allum
Main artists:	Daniel Allum – artistic director

"There's a brooding, bloody power in Dan Allum's three-hander about Gypsy life, using music and ritual to hypnotic effect."

- Lynn Gardner, theater critic, about Our Big Land show, Guardian, 2014

About the theater

The Romany Theater Company (RTC) creates rich, powerful and inspirational theater and radio with truth and passion at its core. RTC's work is rooted in Romany people, their culture and the centuries-old struggle for equality, with a strong emphasis on challenging negative views of Romany people and the lives they lead. RTC are equally committed to empowering Romany people by involving them in theater and performance, increasing their knowledge and awareness of their own culture, thus creating pride in their heritage and a willingness to celebrate their identity. RTC's aim is to encourage Romany people to reach out and break down the barriers of ignorance and fear by engaging and educating the general public, and moving towards a positive relationship of confidence, trust and community cohesion.

AWARDS

2018
Bus Stop was Award Winner at the INK Drama Festival

2014
THADDEUS CAIN was Co-Winner of Hothouse First Film Script Program

2003
Winner of a Community Champions Award for Excellence in the UK

1997
First play wins Best New Play, Outstanding Innovation, Best Actor, Best Actress Awards at The Brantham Play Festival.

Main productions

2018
Dan Allum, Georges Bizet: Carmen – The Gypsy
*musical*
D.: Romany Theater Company

Carmen the Gypsy is the Romany Theater Company's adaptation of Bizet’s Carmen, which is an opera about a doomed romance between a Spanish soldier and a Gypsy woman. Carmen – The Gypsy is a contemporary story set among the British Gypsy Traveller community and features cage-fighting and forbidden love. It is written, directed and performed by members of the Romany Gypsy culture and features original Gypsy music and songs.

Romany Theater Company, Reading Rep Theater,
Nick Thompson Productions, New Wolsey Theater, National Theater Studio
London, UK

2012
Dan Allum: Yellow Dress
D.: Dan Allum

27 Romany and non-Romany participants took part in the project which was a mix of group training sessions and tutorials on creative writing, devising, performance, sight-reading and poster & programme design.

Romany Theater Company, Hat Factory Arts Center
Luton, UK

2005-2014
Dan Allum: Our Big Land
*musical drama*
D.: Janeena Sims, Amy Hodge

It is a provocatively dark atmospheric piece of theater with the culture clash between Romany and non-Romany communities at its core. The style has a poetic beauty mixed with gritty realism, while the songs and movement transport us to a world rarely seen on stage before. The themes of family bonds, cultural loyalty and love crossing cultural boundaries are to be found at its center, while echoes of yearning for freedom, choice and lost love resonate throughout

Sir John Mills Theater/Ovalhouse Theater
Ipswick/London, UK

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Guest performances

Dan Allum, William Shakespeare: Lear and His Daughters
2019
-> New Wolsey Theater
Ipswich, UK

Dan Allum: Bus Stop
2019
-> Tristan Bates Theater
London, UK

1998
-> Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh, Scotland

-> Fisher Theater
Dublin, Ireland

Dan Allum, Georges Bizet: Carmen – The Gypsy
2018
-> UK tour

2017
-> National Theater Studio
London, UK

2014
-> Royal Opera House
London, UK