We will work closely with your marketing team to co-ordinate a campaign which will engage the widest possible audience. From Spring 2012, our website will feature a wide range of easy-to-download marketing materials for you to use whenever you need them. These materials will include box office briefing sheets, press releases, syndicated interviews, sample direct mailings, e-flyers, web and print resolution images, historical and contextual information about the production, design and style notes, and film trailers for your website.

We’ll also provide a quantity of flyers and posters for you to use at your venue and to distribute to your surrounding catchment areas. Our website will feature a dedicated section about the production with links back to your website for booking. We’ll actively engage our own growing mailing list, and the creative team will be happy to give interviews for media coverage and for venue campaigns.

• The production invites audience members to form their own opinions about the subject matter. Everyone’s differing perspectives are valued and respected and we actively encourage audiences to share their opinions through feedback and in post-show discussions.
• The production is being developed with input from specialists in several fields of science and from the Spiritualist community.
• The production explores fascinating parts of Houdini’s life and career which are very rarely featured in films, books or other media.
• The production has a strong, fast-paced visual style, featuring close-up magic, stage illusions, sleight-of-hand and interactive demonstrations.
• The production balances light-hearted, humorous and accessible scenes with more serious and thought-provoking issues.

• Anyone who has heard of and is intrigued by Harry Houdini (studies show 9 out of 10 adults in the UK and USA know who Houdini was and that he was a magician/escapologist). We used his name in the title for a reason!
• People who are interested in magic and illusion. The artform has had a huge resurgence in popularity over the last five years thanks in part to Derren Brown’s TV appearances. Street magicians like Dynamo and David Blaine has also introduced a younger generation to the world of magic.
• People who are fascinated by the supernatural and parapsychology, who enjoy reading ghost stories, watching TV programmes like Most Haunted or films like Paranormal Activity.
• People who are interested in history, particularly American and European history between 1880 and 1945
• Patrons who attend productions by other companies who produce work with distinctive narrative and visual styles such as Robert Lepage/Ex Machina, Kneehigh, Headlong, and Complicite.
• A-Level, BTEC, HND and degree students studying History, Psychology, Theology, Philosophy, Neuro-Sciences, English and Performing Arts.
• Members of specialist networks, clubs and groups: magic societies, paranormal research groups, book clubs, film clubs, ghost walk operators, psychic fairs and history societies.

Little Earthquake offers add-on workshops and events to compliment performances of The Houdini Exposure and enhance your audience engagement programme:

LITTLE EARTHQUAKE AFTERSHOCKS:
Members of the creative team (and at selected performances, some of the specialist collaborators) will provide a post-show discussion where audience members can ask questions and share their responses to the production.

WORKSHOP 1 – THE HAUNTED STAGE:
Join writer Philip Holyman to explore the challenges of staging ghost stories. In an age of movie special effects and shock tactics, how can you make spines tingle in more theatrical and imaginative ways?

WORKSHOP 2 – FOOTNOTES ON STAGE:
Little Earthquake’s Creative Director Gareth Nicholls will explore the company’s working practice of combining historical fact with fictional stories to create innovative and thought-provoking theatre.

AVAILABILITY:
The production is available for full UK touring in Autumn 2012 (subject to funding confirmation).

RUNNING TIME:
Approximately 2 hours 20 minutes, including one interval of 20 minutes.

TOURING PERSONNEL:
Six on the road (4 performers,1 stage/company manager and 1 technician).

VENUE REQUIREMENTS:
Suitable for mid- and small-scale venues. A flat playing area measuring a minimum of 5m x 5m is required.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:
A full standard lighting and sound rig should be available. Support from one venue technician during the get-in is required. Little Earthquake’s technician will operate lighting and sound during performance. Get-in can commence on the morning of an evening performance. The strike will take no longer than one hour after the final performance at the venue.

FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS:
Fees are available on request. Discounts are available for multiple performances (including matinees) at venues within the UK. Fees for workshops are to be negotiated separately. No fee applies for post-show Aftershock discussions.