Artichoke

Artichoke is a creative company, based in London. Artichoke puts on extraordinary shows that change the way people look at the world, working with the best creative minds to produce events that live in the memory forever. The company works in unusual places: in streets, public spaces or in the countryside, putting on shows which, though technically complex and ambitious, speak to the widest possible audience.

Artichoke’s most recent project, in May-June 2008, was the brainchild of the visual artist, Paul St George, The Telectroscope.  A strange optical device installed at both ends of a secret tunnel between London and New York enabled people to see through the earth to the other side. During the month long installation over 50,000 people looked down the Telectroscopes in London and Brooklyn to reunite long lost family members, make new friends or simply to gain a glimpse of life on the other side of the Atlantic.

In May 2006, the company mounted the biggest piece of free theatre ever seen in London. Hundreds of thousands of delighted spectators followed the show, set against the city’s magnificent landmarks. Created by French theatrical magicians, Royal de Luxe, The Sultan’s Elephant featured a vast, time-travelling mechanical elephant, and a giant girl, twenty feet high.

Artichoke was founded by producers Helen Marriage and Nicky Webb. Before Artichoke, they worked together at the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), and launched the first arts programme at Canary Wharf in the early nineties, before transforming the Salisbury Festival from a local event into what The Times called ‘a miracle of modern British culture.’

Artichoke Trust
Toynbee Studios, 28 Commercial Street, London E1 6AB

Telephone: 020 7650 7611

  • www.artichoke.uk.com

Registered in England. Company registration 5429030. Registered Charity No 1112716.


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