ABOUT
A body grappling with its environment, in its hand an axe, to cut away at reality, hewing ideas to the sinews of the human form to redefine the boundaries of its existence.
The acheulian hand axe is the earliest tool found to have been created and used by our species, over two million years ago. Acheulian points to theatre as a tool for unpicking our existence, chipping away at the status quo to inscribe contemporary themes with earlier intelligence.
Acheulian Theatre is a meeting between physical theatre artist, Philippa Hambly and performance-maker and art writer, Samantha Jayne Williams. Experienced collaborators, both work internationally and between cultures and disciplines.
Using techniques of theatre, writing, and visual art, we seek emergent forms that bleed reality and fiction. Through playful experiments, we make work that responds to current experience.
Acheulian
/əˈʃuːlɪən; -jən/ (a - shoo- lian)
noun
1 (In Europe) the period in the Lower Paleeolithic, represented by the use of soft hammerstones in handaxe production made of chipped stone, bone, antler or wood.
2 dates from the Riss glaciation
3 (In Africa) the period represented by every stage of hand axe development
adjective
4 of or relating to this period
SAMANTHA JAYNE WILLIAMS
PHILIPPA HAMBLY
e.