For the witty, attractive, discerning and continent theatregoer: KOBAL Theatre Company welcomes you.

“There’s plenty of potential for KOBAL to become the next big thing”
Lianne Steinberg, The Big Issue in the North

Our most recent production was Dave & Jeff Versus the Crazed Corpse-loving Consultant from Cardiothoracics as part of “Four of the Best of 24:7” in the Bill Naughton Studio at Bolton Octagon on Thursday 4th and Saturday 6th September.

NEWS


Postmortem: After Dave And Jeff
October 31st 2008

Life can be a little on the dull side, which is why we at Kobal like to mix things up occasionally by living dangerously. Not really dangerously, nothing that might actually cause a strain on the resources of our already overstretched emergency services, just little things; like going to the toilet in the dark, having extra chillies and hot sauce on our mixed kebab or flouncing IT Support’s advice and NOT saving our work often. It seems this latter ignorance has slipped onto our updates as it has been far too long since we filled you in on the Kobal gossip – sorry.

We’ve made up for this lack of information though by providing a veritable avalanche of stuff. First up, news: “Four of the Best at 24:7” went extremely well, so well in fact that we’re currently planning a North West tour of “Dave & Jeff Versus the Crazed Corpse-Loving Consultant from Cardiothoracics” for late next spring! In vaguely related news Dark Smile productions have finished recording the short radio play “Dave & Jeff Versus the Maniacal Cannibal Orderlies on the Missing Floor” with an eye to an early 2009 release. More on these two items as soon as we have it.

If you missed our very own Catherine Manford in “The Elephant Man” at Catford’s Broadway Theatre then worry not, because you’ll soon be able to catch her in the interestingly (and provisionally) titled “Field of Corpes” which is currently filming. While on the subject of our new Creative Manager, here’s what she had to say on her new role within the company:“I’ve worked with Kobal on various projects over the last couple of years, and have always enjoyed their style of popcorn theatre. I am thrilled to have been invited on-board to the management team of Kobal. After the success of our latest production, "Dave and Jeff Versus..." it looks like it’s going to be an exciting year and I look forward to working with the boys on future projects, lending my support and of course my female intuition to the rest of the team!”

In other news Paul Bowles, Stephen Michael Lowe and Marleen Lowe have submitted their pieces to AccentUK Comics for inclusion in their “Western” Anthology, due for release early 2009.

Moving on from the news, if you look around the site for a moment you’ll find a few additions and even a couple of alterations dotted about. In the “Dave & Jeff Versus...” section you’ll now find a slew of production photos and some waffle from writer Stephen Michael Lowe about the project.

“Introducing the Management” (About KOBAL) has been updated to reflect the recent changes and in the “Beer!” section you’ll find a scan of the Big Issue’s interview with co-writer/director Mark Distin, held just prior to the premiere at Contact.

Finally, a hearty congratulations to the 24:7 folk nominated for a Manchester Evening News Theatre Award - fingers crossed that the nominations turn into something more tangible on the 2nd December!
More news and such soon folks!

We're Wandering to Bolton
August 13th 2008

The top dogs and fat cats (who aren’t really canine, feline or obese – although they are, as Mancunian’s circa 1996 would say, “top”) of 24:7 Theatre Festival and Bolton Octagon have officially announced that KOBAL are one of the “Four of the Best at 24:7” and as such will be performing “Dave & Jeff versus the crazed corpse-loving consultant from cardiothoracics” in the Bill Naughton Studio on the 4th and 6th September.

If you missed the production at 24:7 Theatre Festival, let us fill you in. Given four stars by the Manchester Evening News and described by NothingChronicle.com as “A roller coaster of slapstick humour, witty wordplay and larger than life characters”, the show follows nightshift morticians Dave and Jeff as their evening of slacking is interrupted by the arrival of an re-animated bride and the trouble that follows her.

It appears that people took heed of UKTheatre.net’s review – “everything the mad-cap title promises and absolutely in keeping with the spirit of fringe theatre. Book now.” – as the show was a sell-out success. It is because of the audience support, great reviews and immensely positive feedback that we have been invited to participate in “Four of the Best”, so thank you to everyone who has seen – and enjoyed – the production.

If you want to be join the group of intelligent, witty and sexy people we call our audience then visit www.octagonbolton.co.uk or ring their box office on 01204 520661. The production is on Thursday 4th and Saturday 6th September (along with “Ways to look at fish”), starts at 7.30pm and costs £10 (£8 concessions).

It's over already?  Encore!
August 1st 2008

After all the hard work and effort over the last seven months, it's hard to believe the 24:7 Theatre Festival is over already. What a week - sixteen brilliant shows in four venues over seven days. Don't worry if you missed it though as the Bolton Octagon will be showcasing "Four of the Best" between the 4th and 6th September; an official announcement of which four shows will come on the 11th August, but you can guess from our happy demeanour that we already know one of them.

Sorry we haven't been keeping you updated as the festival week went on but the tangled web that is the internet has been giving us some technical issues to contend with, as if we weren't busy enough. Despite this we've fought through the quagmire of techno-jargon to provide you with reviews on"Dave & Jeff Versus the Crazed Corpse-Loving Consultant from Cardiothoracics" from various sites (available on the "Autopsy" section of the Show page), as well as a round-up of the production week from our Technical Manager Matt Lever.

Speaking of managers, it is our pleasure and privilege to announce that our long-time collaborator Catherine Manford will be stepping into the role of Creative Manager, which was recently vacated by stand-up extraordinaire Marcus McMillan. We've no doubt she'll prove herself to be as much an asset behind the scenes as she does on the stage.

So there you have it, sorry there's not much else to add at the mo, what with official announcements still pending and the technical problems currently beleaguering us we unfortunately can't bring you more. However be sure to come back on the 11th August, when we'll have photos from 24:7 and big news about "Four of the Best". In the meantime keep an eye on www.247theatrefestival.co.uk and we?ll see you soon!

Production week ahoy!
July 19th 2008

The 24:7 Theatre Festival starts on Monday, showcasing 16 shows of new writing, presented by a whole heap of talent, not least us. KOBAL (if you didn't know already) are performing and to tickle your fancy in these last few hours to our first show on Monday, we've added biographies of the cast and director to their headshots, along with a few more rehearsal photos, all of which can be found in the shows section of the website.

Also, if you're were unlucky enough to miss it on the telly, visit www.channelm.co.uk and watch City Life to see a feature on us and 24:7.

We'll bring you more over the course of the production - we hope to see you there!

Cooking up a great Show
4th July 2008

Things are moving thick and fast here at KOBAL. Rehearsals are progressing apace and the promotion for the production has kicked up a gear with the arrival (and indeed distribution) of the posters and flyers. However amidst all this activity Producer Mark and Tech top dog Matt have managed to squeeze in time to not only write up their experiences on the show so far, but cook up a recipe for the perfect fake blood and also take some rehearsal photos. Not at the same time obviously, but they have been busy nonetheless.

Also new to the site is the article from Friday 20th June’s Manchester Evening News detailing Vicky Binns’ move from simply supporting the 24:7 Theatre Festival to actually being in our production.

More photos and info to follow shortly, including details of Dark Smile’s radio production featuring Dave & Jeff and of course plenty more about the 24:7 production.

KOBAL goes multimedia!
18th June 2008

Following the media launch of 24:7, brand spanking new video footage can be found in the Gallery section of the Dave And Jeff page.

Busy like busy bees
7th June 2008

It’s been a busy couple of months for KOBAL, due to 24:7 Theatre Festival gearing up for their media launch on the 16th June. We’ve attended their producer’s day and the organised chaos that was “the Big Gathering” – to which we thank the hundreds of actors and technicians who queued to offer their services. It was fantastic to see so much passion and commitment for fringe theatre.

After a chance to catch our breath we set about short-listing the two hundred plus CV’s we’d received, before choosing a cast of seven from the fifty fantastically talented people we auditioned over the course of two weeks. Again, we want to thank everyone who made the effort to come to our auditions and call-backs at Sunshine Studios – especially those who attended the evening of Wednesday 14th (word to the wise, don’t hold auditions in the centre of Manchester when the city is hosting the UEFA Cup final) – you made the experience an enjoyable one for the production team.

It was a ridiculously difficult decision but we finally selected our very own Magnificent Seven; a good mix of new blood and old faces whose names can be found here. We assembled our band of daring doers last weekend at TV21 for the first ever read-through of the script and it was such a success that the show’s writer had tears of joy welling up behind his jam-jar specs on more than one occasion. In fact you might be able to spot the big Jessie weeping in the photos on the show’s brand new webpage here.

While we’re on the subject of the website, several sections have been updated and added, including pages for “Dave & Jeff versus the crazed corpse-loving consultant from cardiothoracics” and last summer’s festival short “Little Tin Rock God”.

Elsewhere in the world of KOBAL it’s been a pretty mixed bag. On the bright side independent comic publishers AccentUK released their “Robots” Anthology, which features “Teruo”, written by perennial KOBAL actor Paul Bowles and drawn by our artist/web designer Marleen Lowe. Every silver lining seems to have a dark cloud however, and floating above our shiny world like a dirty sheep filled with helium comes the sad news that our Creative Manager Marcus McMillan has left us to focus on individual projects. In this we wish him every success and say a big thank you for all his hard work over the last couple of years.

Anyway, less of this melancholy – onwards and upwards! With 24:7’s media launch only a few days away I’m sure there’ll be more news and updates coming thick and fast – keep an eye out!

Hello and welcome to 2008!
6th February 2008

Granted, we’re just over a month into the year but we have nary had a chance to look up from our work to notice. However, our toiling away has led to confirmation that our application has been received – Kobal have submitted a new play for this year’s 24:7 Theatre Festival in Manchester.

2007 went incredibly well for us. Coming off the back of “Beer!” at Contact in Manchester during December ’06, we performed an adapted “half pint” version at Buxton Fringe Festival and a new piece “Little Tin Rock God” at Oldham Coliseum’s “Wordsmith ‘07” festival and “Blue 5” at Manchester’s Royal Exchange theatre. You may already know this, heck you may have even seen them; but it helps to know where we’ve been to help see where we’re going.

It seems appropriate then that, five years to the week after we premiered “Dave & Jeff Versus the Evil Blood-Sucking Zombie Clowns from the Nth Dimension” that we’ve submitted “Dave & Jeff Versus the Crazed Corpse-Loving Consultant from Cardiothoracics” to 24:7. This isn’t a sequel or a rehash of the sketch-based movie parody play, but rather a whole new script by Stephen Michael Lowe centring on the titular morticians. Partly because they’re such versatile and amusing characters but mainly because Steve’s not very creative and tends to fall back on past glories.

So with our fingers crossed for good news from 24:7 in April, we turn to see what else has been happening in the world of Kobal.

First up is a belated hip-hip-hooray to luminous talent Catherine Murphy and her fiancé Jason who got married in October! Then there’s the news that our perennial dogsbody Paul Bowles and our resident artist/web-designer/genius Marleen Lowe will have their comic “Teruo” included in Accent UK’s “Robot” Anthology to be published this spring; a feat to be repeated in Accent’s subsequent anthology “Cowboy”, which will include Marleen and her brother Stephen’s first comic collaboration “The Legend of El Burro”. Details on the anthologies can be found at www.accentukcomics.com.

Finally, man among men Wes Thomas proved to the world that his wiggly little loin army know how to march when his girlfriend Andrea gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Aimee, in October. Congratulations to everyone.

Oh and by the way, a belated happy new year to you all from Kobal!

Archives

Check the Archives for news of KOBAL's activities from 2004-2007, including the run-up to (and immediate aftermath of) the Manchester début of Beer!...