house presents Greg Wohead with
The Many Apologies of
Pecos Bill
Marketing pack
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Contact Details
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Marketing Resources
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Tour Dates
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Background Information
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Selling Points and Target Audiences
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Brochure Copy
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Online Marketing
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Press Quotes
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Audience Responses
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Artist Q&A
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Template Press Release
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Template Mail Out
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Artist Bio
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contact
details
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Marketing contact:
Sarah Wilson, house Marketing and Engagement Coordinator
[email protected] / 01252 745 419
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Artist contact:
Greg Wohead
[email protected] / 07908 470 744
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marketing resources
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This production is supported by posters and flyers as agreed by
contract, which will be delivered directly to your venue.
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! Website links:
! gregwohead.com
! housetheatre.org.uk
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! Vimeo links:
http://vimeo.com/55719372
http://vimeo.com/78865555
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Podcast interview with the artist (including music from the show):!
https://soundcloud.com/ditch-show/the-many-apologies-of-pecos
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Video documentation of the development of the show:!
http://vimeo.com/49085655
http://vimeo.com/49476083
http://vimeo.com/51714703
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Blog posts on the development of the show (including images and
writing about a research trip to the Texas desert:
http://gregwohead.com/category/the-many-apologies-of-pecos-bill/
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Twitter:!
@gregwohead
@housetheatre
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Downloadable production images:!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/o1puo2enhcu4avc/rqTuI1Vd6o
NOVEMBER 2014 tour dates
7th
Lyric Theatre, Bridport
8th
Marlborough Theatre, Brighton
13th
South Street Arts Centre (Studio), Reading
21st
Little Theatre café, Sheringham
26th
The Place, Bedford
27th
West End Centre, Aldershot
28th
Letchworth Arts Centre
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background
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information
The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill is a show about Texas, cowboys and wide open spaces,
written and performed by Texan Greg Wohead with live music by non-Texan Mat Martin.
It’s an investigation of tall tales, an evocation of big skies and Greg Wohead’s attempt to find
his way back to Texas using true storytelling, live music and a cassette player.
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Pecos Bill is a show about being far from home; an international piece about two Texans:
Pecos Bill, who was raised by coyotes, used a rattlesnake as a lasso and grew up to be the
greatest cowboy of all time, and Greg, who once passed out from exhaustion during a 3-mile
hike.
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Pecos Bill is about how identity can be connected to a place and how that place (and identity)
warps, stretches and grows as a result of distance and time.
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The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill was developed through residencies and work-in-progress
showings at The Yard, The Basement and BAC. It was also developed through a residency with
Waleslab, National Theatre Wales artist development initiative. As part of the process, the artist
took a research trip to the West Texas desert, an account of which can be found here: http://
gregwohead.com/2012/11/27/pecos-bill-rides-again/
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selling
points &
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target
audiences
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SELLING POINTS
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TARGET AUDIENCES
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•It’s a warm, accessible show about being far from home;
something most people can relate to. The show has had an
emotional resonance for audiences.
•It’s an international show by a Texan artist, and it’s a
piece with real Texas flavour; desert landscape, cowboys
and banjo music.
•The show incorporates live music. It was developed in
collaboration with musician Mat Martin, and original music
as well as traditional campfire tunes and contemporary
Americana songs are performed in the show.
•It’s a show by a rising artist. Greg Wohead has recently
won the Flying Solo International Commission to develop his
next show with Contact Theatre, MC Amsterdam, Fuel and
The Albany and that show will premiere in Amsterdam and
Manchester in 2014.
•Contemporary theatre audiences are a core audience,
being familiar with performance work that plays with form.
•Music fans. Specifically those interested in Americana
and bluegrass. The show was performed for a primarily live
music audience at Performance in the Pub in Leicester
(including some audience members who had never seen
any contemporary theatre), and they reacted
enthusiastically not only to the live music itself, but to the
almost gig-like style of the performance.
•Storytelling fans. This show uses (and plays with)
storytelling forms, both traditional and contemporary
autobiographical styles.
•Americans in the UK. The show is about an American
who lives far from home, something that will resonate
particularly with Americans who are living abroad.
brochure
copy
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Company/Credit!
house presents Greg Wohead with
Long Copy !
(150 words)
This is the true story of two Texans.
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Show Title!
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Medium Copy!
(100 words)
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The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill
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One Texan falls in love with a cowgirl who rides on the back of
a giant catfish. His name is
Pecos Bill. He was raised by coyotes, used a rattlesnake as a
lasso and grew up to be the greatest cowboy of all time.
The other Texan once passed out from exhaustion on a 3-mile
hike. His name is Greg.
This is where Bill and Greg meet, merge and swap stories.
The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill is a show about being far
away from home. Using true storytelling and live music by Mat
Martin, Greg will attempt to reach backward across an ocean.
made with (and with music by) Mat Martin
“A clever evocation of the ways in which we internalise and
idealise the places we come from”
The Public Reviews
“Funny, smart and moving”
Everything Theatre
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This is the true story of two Texans.
One Texan falls in love with a cowgirl who rides on the back of
a giant catfish. His name is
Pecos Bill. He was raised by coyotes and grew up to be the
greatest cowboy of all time. The other Texan once passed out
from exhaustion on a 3-mile hike. His name is Greg. This is
where Bill and Greg swap stories.
The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill is a show about being far
from home. Using true storytelling and live music by Mat
Martin, Greg will attempt to reach backward across an ocean.
!
This is the true story of two Texans: Pecos Bill, the greatest cowboy of
all time, and Greg, who once passed out from exhaustion on a 3-mile
hike. Using true storytelling and live music by Mat Martin, Greg will try
to find his way back to Texas
Short Copy!
(50 words)
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Alex Brenner
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13+
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65 minutes
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Photography credit!
(production images)
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Age Suitability!
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Running Time!
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Online Links
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gregwohead.com
@gregwohead
#pecosbill
@housetheatre
housetheatre.org.uk
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Online
MArketing
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The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill is a storytelling show with live music about Texas,
cowboys and being far away from home. All these aspects of the show can be leveraged
in online marketing.
We would recommend a social media campaign using Twitter and Facebook and to post
videos and images of the show as well as posting questions and provocations to followers
around the idea of home, a universal theme.
The longer lead in time to initiate the campaign, the more genuine this engagement will
appear. It is also recommended that only 1 in 10 updates during the campaign should
directly sell the show, the remaining 9 should be based on content sharing and periphery
show/venue information.
Twitter accounts: @gregwohead @housetheatre
Performance hashtag: #pecosbill
Campaign hashtag: #pecosbillVENUENAME
Content provided:
•production images
•Q&A with artist
•Links to development blog posts
•Links to development videos
•Show trailers
•Press quotes
•Audience quotes !
Messaging: •A flavour of Texas; the landscape, the food, the music
•An original, personal performance
•Storytelling with live music
•A funny, warm, friendly show about nostalgia
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press
quotes
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Critical Responses:!
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“A great amalgamation of dialogue and sound.”!
-The Londoneer
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“A clever evocation of the ways in which we internalise and idealise the places we come
from”
The Public Reviews
“Funny, smart and moving”
Everything Theatre
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Critical responses to other projects:!
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“A fearless lead performance by Greg Wohead”!
The Stage on The Air Gap
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“Gentle and richly evocative”!
Total Theatre on ...and other safe places
Audience
responses
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A collection of audience responses via Twitter can be found at the following link:
http://storify.com/gregwohead/the-many-apologies-of-pecos-bill
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“Loved @gregwohead’s Pecos Bill show @YardTheatre last night, lovely stories evoking Texas
and distance from home. See if u can.”
-Brian Logan, Camden People’s Theatre
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“Fascinated by and a little bit in love with Pecos Bill and @gregwohead. A beautiful piece of
theatre that will stick with me for awhile.”
-Christina Handke
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“@gregwohead’s show @ YardTheatre is a piece to fall in love with/fall in love to. Go see.”
-Vera Chok
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“@gregwohead’s new show, Pecos Bill, is wonderful: exquisitely structured, surprisingly
poignant. London folk, go see this week!”
-Catriona James
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Artist
Q&A
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Greg Wohead brings his storytelling performance, The Many Apologies of Pecos
Bill to <VENUE> on <DATE>. We caught up with the artist and talked about
Texas, home and tall tales of the Wild West.
This performance is an autobiographical show. How did it develop and why
did you make it?!
I started thinking about making this piece around the beginning of 2012. I’m
originally from Dallas, Texas, but at that time I had been living in the UK for around
7 years or so. During that time, whenever I met new people and told them I was
from Texas, that always came with a set of assumptions--some good some bad-and I started thinking about how I identified myself and what that had to do with
the place I was from. I was also thinking a lot about the idea of distance through
physical geography, since I had been living across an ocean from the place I
grew up, but also distance through time. It had been 7 years since I had lived in
Texas. So many things change in that time, both in a place and in yourself, and it’s
both these ideas of distance that are at the heart of the performance, for me.
There’s a strong musical element in the show, can you tell us about that?!
From the beginning, I knew I wanted there to be a strong musical presence in the
show because it has so much to do with memory and nostalgia; how a certain
tune or type of music can take you right back. There’s also a certain type of music
that is associate with the idea of Texas, both in reality and stereotypically, and I
was interested in playing with that idea. I worked with Mat Martin, who is a
wonderful composer and multi-instrumentalist, to develop the musical aspect of
the show. He has worked on the piece from near the beginning of development
and he now plays live in the show. The musical element is something that’s really
important to how you can feel your way through the show, and it’s something that
everyone seems to enjoy.
The title of your show is The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill. Who is Pecos
Bill?!
This is a great question! I love Pecos Bill. He’s a mythical cowboy; part of the
genre of American Tall Tales, like Paul Bunyan and John Henry. It’s a story that’s
told in many forms, but basically, Pecos Bill is the greatest cowboy of all time. He
used a rattlesnake as a lasso and he hogtied tornadoes, or so the story goes. I
was interested in playing with the idea of exaggeration and tall tales as it relates to
autobiography, and how the stories you tell other people about who you are and
where your from can get distorted or exaggerated as time goes on. In the show,
my own story and the story of Pecos Bill get mixed up and confused.
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Your work often deals with autobiography or begins from an
autobiographical story. Can you tell us about that?!
One of the first theatre shows I made actually started out as a 10-minute true
story I told at a few cabaret nights. Before that even, it was a story I always
pulled out at the pub for fun. I like that idea of connection; of telling people
something about yourself in the hope that they will recognise something in it and
feel connected. Earlier on, my performances were basically funny true stories
that took place in Texas. There’s still an element of that in The Many Apologies
of Pecos Bill, but there’s also a more fantastical streak there.
What has your experience of performing the show been like so far?!
I’ve loved it. It’s such a fun show for me to do because it’s so relaxed. I’m just
talking straight to the audience the whole time, and there’s a comfort in the
directness, I think. I don’t put anyone on the spot, but I do like to look at people.
In that way (and because there is live music throughout), the show has some
things in common with a music gig. We have even performed the piece in a few
cafe bars with candlelit tables, and that has added a nice atmosphere.
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gregwohead.com
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Template
Press Release
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house presents Greg Wohead with!
The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill!
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Release date
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<VENUE> are excited to welcome international artist to <PLACE> in <MONTH> through South East
touring scheme house.
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Texan writer and performer Greg Wohead collaborates with musician Mat Martin to consider
identity and a shifting sense of place in a charming autobiographical show
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The performance will take place <where> <what time>
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A true story with a healthy amount of exaggeration, The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill explores the
universal topic of home and leaving it
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Using true storytelling accompanied by banjo and guitar music, Texan Greg Wohead creates a compelling
performance about being far away from home: about how identity can be connected to a place, and how
that place (and identity) warps, stretches and grows over distance and time.
The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill is made up of interweaving Texas tales told to the audience by Greg.
As the lines between truth and exaggeration begin to blur, banjo and guitar music, by turns gentle and
exuberant, provides a pathway through the confusion; sometimes in the background painting a picture of
the desert landscape, other times punctuating the story with old-time songs sung by Greg and Mat.
Greg Wohead said: “for me, this is a very personal show. It’s about the idea of home and being far away
from a place to which your identity is linked. I started making the show when I had spent enough time
away from home to forget a lot of things about it and to make up a lot of things about it. I loved that, so I
made a show that’s basically a tall tale about real life”
This is the story of two Texans. One Texan falls in love with a cowgirl who rides on the back of a giant
catfish. His name is Pecos Bill. He was raised by coyotes, used a rattlesnake as a lasso, and grew up to
be the greatest cowboy of all time. The other Texan once passed out from exhaustion on a 3-mile hike. His
name is Greg. This is where Bill and Greg meet, merge and swap stories.
Event listings:!
Date
Time
Venue
Running Time: 60 minutes | Suitable for ages 13+
ENDS
Notes to editors:!
Greg Wohead is a London-based writer and performer originally from Texas. His work so far has been strongly rooted
in autobiography and usually takes the form of hybrid pieces of theatre, live art and storytelling, sometimes involving
drawings, pico projectors or cassette tapes. Greg has shown original work at BAC, Ovalhouse, Wales Millennium
Centre, The Basement and The Yard, where he is an Artistic Associate.
The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill was developed at Battersea Arts Centre, with support from The Yard, The
Basement and public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Developed in part through
Waleslab, National Theatre Wales artist development initiative.
Written and performed by Greg Wohead
Created by Greg Wohead with Mat Martin
house is an initiative supported by Arts Council England to improve the range, quality and scale of theatre
presented across south east of England.
gregwohead.com | @gregwohead
housetheatre.org.uk | @housetheatre
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Further Information:!
Please contact INSERT NAME, JOB TITLE, COMPANY NAME, ADDRESS
Telephone: INSERT TELEPHONE NUMBER
Email: INSERT EMAIL ADDRESS
Template
mail
out
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Dear theatregoer,
Re: The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill by Greg Wohead
The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill is storytelling show with live music about Texas, tall tales
and cowboys. This personal show invites you to consider the experience of being far away
from home in a fun, inviting atmosphere.
With live music by Mat Martin and a journey through deserts, roller coasters and state fairs,
The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill brings the sights and sounds of Texas to <THEATRE>.
“A clever evocation of the ways in which we internalise and idealise the places we
come from”
The Public Reviews
Performed and written by Greg Wohead with Mat Martin, we’re excited to welcome this
critically acclaimed artist on <DATE>. This show has already been performed in London,
Cardiff, Exeter, Bracknell and Margate, and received rave reviews from critics and
audiences alike:
“A beautiful piece of theatre that will stick with me for awhile.”!
Audience Member
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“Really touching and well crafted performance”!
Audience Member
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“Funny, smart and moving”
Everything Theatre
The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill will come to <VENUE> on <DATE> <TIMES> and tickets
are <PRICE>.
We hope that you’re able to join us for this special performance in our venue. You can book
tickets by calling our box office on <NUMBER> or visiting <WEBSITE>.
Thank you for your time and we look forward to welcoming you to <venue name> soon. With
warmest regards,
<Director name & signature>
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artist bio
Greg Wohead is a London-based writer and performer originally from Texas. His work is
strongly rooted in autobiography and usually takes the form of hybrid pieces of theatre, live art
and storytelling, sometimes involving drawings, pico projectors or cassette tapes.
His performances are charming, disarming and spontaneous, and have a strong sense of
place, playfully evoking his personal Texan mythology. Prevailing themes so far have been
home, the passing of time, distance, nostalgia, American-ness, Texas and masculinity; always
explored with a sense of fun and a DIY visual style that is at once endearing and loaded. He’s
curious about how we remember things, realness and fakery, and inspired by the power of
simplicity.
Greg has shown original work at BAC, Ovalhouse, Wales Millennium Centre, The Basement
and The Yard, where he is an Artistic Associate. He is also this year’s winner of the Flying Solo
International Commission by Contact Theatre, MC Amsterdam, Fuel and The Albany.