Balloon play launches in time for fiesta | This is Bristol

A NEW piece of touching, funny and beautiful theatre celebrates Bristol people and one of the city’s most celebrated industries.

After three years of interviews and research across the ballooning community, from pilots and organisers to security staff and visitors, factory workers and balloon spotters, Myrtle Theatre’s Hot Air promises to be an all singing, all dancing extravaganza about hot-air ballooning.

​Hot Air is a new show that celebrates the balloon industry in Bristol.

Hot Air launches on July 25, in the run-up to the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta. And the Tobacco Factory Theatre will be transformed into Ashton Court on Fiesta day.

Bristol set designer Chris Gylee even has the challenge of fitting a life-size basket into the theatre and landing it in a muddy field.

Hot Air follows a group of balloonists who take to the air for the flight of their life. Audiences are invited to ride the highs and lows of the dream-making process with them and witness a mass ascent from a different perspective. Share the buzz of the people who make it happen and gaze down on the crowds stuck on the ground wishing they too could escape.

This much-anticipated show boasts an impeccable pedigree thanks to a talented creative team.

It is based on an original concept by Bristol’s acclaimed director Heather Williams, co-director of ACH Smith’s Up The Feeder Down The Mouth And Back Again, and written by Mike Akers, who recently penned Bristol Old Vic hit Treasure Island.

Heather said: “I am amazed a show about ballooning has not been made in Bristol before. It is synonymous with the city, for the people who live here and the people who visit.

“Don Cameron of Cameron Balloons Ltd built the first modern hot-air balloon in this city and has since pioneered hot-air ballooning internationally, building an industry in Bedminster. I wanted to make this show as I am passionate about the city and bringing the wonderful Bristol voice to a wider audience.”

The production uses verbatim excepts from the many interviews undertaken by Bristolians to express what hot-air ballooning means to them.

Heather said: “Having been involved in several shows about the people of Bristol, I love how the Bristolian sense of humour, the colourful range of accents and special turn of phrase works so well on the stage. Over the course of three years I interviewed more than 100 people at the fiesta, pilots, factory workers and the community. People were very generous with sharing their stories and experiences.

“We had so much material that it was a task to choose what to include. Mike has invented a story for the play informed by these interviews but I am excited that we have also included some of the interview material which musician Kieran Buckeridge has set brilliantly to music.”

Cameron Balloons Ltd, the world’s largest manufacturer of hot-air balloons, is located in Bedminster, half a mile from the Tobacco Factory Theatre.

The firm’s founder and director, Don Cameron, who is known as the father of modern-day hot-air ballooning, was a consultant on the project and gave permission for Myrtle Theatre Company to talk to employees about their experiences.

He said: “We have been delighted to be a part of this project and cannot wait to see the results.

“There are so many facets to the industry, many of which the public do not get to observe. Hot Air may well give people a chance to see a bit more than the iconic balloons.

“It is also fitting that this play, about one of Bristol’s most celebrated industries, is held down the road from the Cameron Balloons factory. We look forward to its maiden ‘flight’.”

Bristol writer Catherine Johnson – Myrtle Theatre Company’s patron and the writer of hit screenplay Mamma Mia! – has provided invaluable support to the company and the project.

She said: “I am excited that Myrtle Theatre Company are bringing their thrilling skills and stagecraft to create a show about the Bristol Balloon Fiesta.

“As a locally-based, community-driven company, who better to launch a production celebrating one of Bristol’s biggest attractions? It promises to be a soaring experience.”

Whether you have been up in a balloon, crave the hubbub of the fiesta or just love watching from afar, Hot Air promises to be comic, moving and inspirational.

via Balloon play launches in time for fiesta | This is Bristol.