The Ghost Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore

We're thrilled to announce that Bad Bat's next theatre production will be The Ghost Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore.

Five people are invited to a fancy dress party on a vintage steam train. The guests were told come in costume as their favourite monster... and every monster has a story to tell.

The Ghost Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore is a new portmanteau horror play, bringing to the theatre the flavour of vintage Amicus anthologies like Tales from the Crypt and Dr Terror’s House of Horrors. With segments written by acclaimed authors Christopher Fowler, Stephen Gallagher, Kim Newman, Robert Shearman, Lynda E. Rucker and Lisa Tuttle ... wraparound story by director Sean Hogan.

Produced by Ellen Gallagher and Steve Jordan for Bad Bat Productions.

The show will debut at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden, and will run 7 - 19 March 2016, Monday to Saturday. Tickets £15 / £13 concessions.

BOOK NOW!

Bad Bat at Fantasycon

Bad Bat founders Ellen Gallagher and Steve Jordan will be attending this year's Fantasycon (beginning Friday 23rd October). Here are the panels where you can find them!

Room: Conference Theatre - Friday: 7.00pm Funtasy: Comedy & Humour in Genre Fiction - Arguably the greatest legacy of Sir Terry Pratchett was to prove that fantasy can be funny without reducing its power to tell great stories and move readers. But it is a delicate balance — being funny can be a serious business. Our panel discusses uses of humour in genre. Hilarity ensues.

• what is the role and effect of humour in fantasy writing?
• what type of funny? Narrative tone, situation, language, character etc.
• different humour for different readers eg. humour for YA readership; ‘broad’ humour, matters of taste
• how can you tell it is funny when you write it?
• does a humorous book have to be a comedy? How to balance humour with action, suspense, tragedy, darkness etc.
• which genre writers make us laugh?

Moderator: Donna Scott
Panellists: Frances Hardinge, Steve Jordan, Heather Lindsley, Terry Newman, Craig Saunders

Room: Suite 1 - Saturday: 3.00pm Agent Charter: From Pitch to Deal and Beyond - How to know if an agent right for you, or if you are right for an agent. This panel shares its thoughts on their role as agents, and gives the low-down on interacting with writers and publishers.

• what do they look for and what have they seen way too much of?
• how to pitch to agents and why are they so hard to get?
• beyond the book deal: why else do you need an agent?
• the agent-writer relationship: when it works and when it doesn’t

Moderator: Jared Shurin
Panellists: Meg Davis, Ellen Gallagher, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Juliet Mushens, John Wordsworth

Room: Suite 1 - Saturday: 7.00pm Script & Screen: Writing Genre for TV & Film - Writing for the screen is uncharted territory for many fiction writers and requires not only different writing disciplines but an understanding of different markets. Our panel discusses the business and technicalities of genre scriptwriting.

• the marketability of genre material in the TV & film industries
• are trends in genre TV/film aligned with genre fiction? Do the big successes (eg. Potter, GoT, Marvel) dictate trends?
• key differences in writing prose fiction and scripts
• pitching & selling speculative scripts for TV or film
• adapting books for the screen: the process, copyright issues etc.
• how to get a screenwriting agent (and do you need one?)

Moderator: Catherine Hill
Panellists: Jason Arnopp, Ellen Gallagher, Stephen Gallagher, Stephen Volk, Gavin Williams

King Chaos reviews!

Reviews from the Camden Fringe debut of King Chaos.

★★★★ - 'Bad Bat have established themselves as seriously hot talent in sci-fi comedy and will surely continue to capitalise on that well-earned reputation. In space, no one can hear you scream. In the Tristan Bates, everyone can you hear you laughing. Because you are.' - Views from the Gods

★★★★ - '... the arguments made for 'pragmatism versus idealism when in power' make a lasting impression, especially as Tyler and Gary are essentially Trinculo and Stefano (from The Tempest) who find they unwittingly actually have the power to change things' - Female Arts

'King Chaos sets a cracking pace right from the start and never lets up. All (the cast) are excellent and clearly having fun – their enjoyment is infectious. Writer, producer and director, Steve Jordan has created a wonderfully silly and comic sci-fi universe that, with all its nods and winks to other works, stands very much on its own two feet.' - Camden Fringe Voyeur

'The small cast of four very contrasting characters are an absolute delight to watch. The entire hour of the play is joke after joke so there is very little pause between laughs... would make a great television show (Blackadder meets Dr Who) with its fun-filled adventures...' - A Younger Theatre

'King Chaos is, without a doubt, the nerdiest piece of theatre I have seen in a long time. And it was hilarious... possibly the best feature of this show is that, under its light-hearted, comical surface, it is a subtle but perceptive commentary on political manipulation and the dangers of extreme power. It is intelligent and uplifting, touching on intense themes whilst maintaining its playful nature.' - London Theatre 1

'The idea of absolute power corrupting absolutely, no matter what side you think you’re on, is neatly conveyed, the political points made clear but never upstaging the fun and spirit of the show... wonderful, clever comedy...' - Remote Goat

'The lovable characters and witty, at times deep, remarks on issues are the charm of the play... King Chaos absolutely succeeds in making the audience imagine the different settings of an imperial spaceship. Bad Bat Productions is playing to their strengths by not forcedly putting on a cheap sci-fi stage but focusing on doing justice to the script instead.' - West End Wilma

Honest to God with Bad Bat Productions

Steve Jordan (writer/director/producer), Ellen Gallagher (Producer), Cliff Chapman ('Tyler Smith') and Robert Dearn ('King Jeffrey') sat down with Views from the Gods to discuss all things King Chaos.

VFTG: ...has this been a difficult third album?

SJ: Pilgrim and King Chaos were essentially written back-to-back.  Chaos has had a lot of rewrites since, but I always saw Chaos to be the payoff for Pilgrim Shadow. Tonally it's a nice even balance between Pilgrim Shadow and Dead Static. The characters, as they've developed, you get those characters again but the situation they're in is the most important they have been in - their actions have deep, vast consequences for the entire galaxy, not just them. That instantly brings quite an edgy concept to it.

EG: It's quite satirical. That wasn't the intention when we started drafting it, but there's references to current affairs that have come about.

Read the entire interview HERE.

Female Arts interview Ellen Gallagher

Bad Bat co-founder and producer Ellen Gallagher was interviewed by Female Arts this week about the camden fringe, women in theatre and our new show 'King Chaos'...

'1. Tell us a little about Bad Bat Productions, their ethos and the work they make...

Bad Bat Productions was born from the 'DIY' ethos. Both myself and writer/director Steve Jordan wanted to get more experience in putting on plays on the London fringe theatre scene, as we'd had a lot of fun doing so as part of ManMoth Productions previously. So far, we've done arguably sitcom-influenced genre comedy work, as there aren't many outlets for that sort of material in theatre unless you're prepared to roll up your sleeves and get it out there yourself. The audience responses have been excellent so far, as sci-fi and fantasy fans are an enthusiastic and loyal bunch, which is wonderfully encouraging. We started out with two-hander plays for practicality's sake; we didn't want to bite off more than we could chew in terms of logistics and finance for our early work, but now we've hit our stride we're making plays with larger casts and, importantly, more female characters. Our first play's only female character was a voiceover, played by yours truly because we were really on a shoestring at that point, but we're redressing that balance these days.'

You can read the entire interview at femalearts.com

'King Chaos' Cast & Creative Biographies

Cliff Chapman (Tyler) is a professional actor and voiceover artist, represented by Meredith Westwood Management and London VO. Born in Leicester, brought up in the Isle of Man and escaping to London in 2009 to train, he has enjoyed a variety of roles across stage, screen and audio in the last five years, including a long standing association with Liar's League. He also writes and directs. He enjoyed working with Steve Jordan ever since he let him play an evil imaginary version of The Doctor in 2011 and looks forward to being a part of more adventures for Tyler and Gary. In 2015, he played the lead in forthcoming short comedy, The Battle of Ronaldsway, and Bad Bat's sketch show, Global Mega Incorporated. www.cliff-chapman.com, @CliffChapman.

Having acted from an early age, at 15 Adam Joselyn (Gary) landed a lead role in Who’s the Daddy Now, a pilot for Carlton television, where he acted alongside Lenny James. Aged 18, he got the part of Simon in the pilot episode of The Inbetweeners. Although much of the cast was later re-cast, E4 commissioned the first series of the popular show off the back of the pilot episode. More recently, Adam appeared in a FilmFour short film My Song. In the last 12 months he has also featured in commercials for PayPal and Coca-Cola, as well as playing Rick in webseries The Takeaway, and Giles in the feature film The Inbetweeners 2. This is Adam’s fifth collaboration with writer/director Steve Jordan, after successful runs of Dead Static in 2012, Pilgrim Shadow in 2013, The Probleming in 2014 and Global Mega Incorporated earlier this year. Adam is represented by BMA. @AdamJoselyn.

Since graduating with a degree in Drama from the University of Bristol, Emma Stirling (Sponge) has enjoyed working across the performance industry on projects ranging from film and television through to theatre and radio. Recent credits include First Date and Ball Talk, independent short films touring festivals this year; an ongoing community theatre project that has taken her to colleges and youth groups around the UK and Los Angeles; and voiceover work including radio drama The Lost and Found with Roundhouse Radio and content for the ongoing monthly podcast, The Bunker. Emma has been delighted to work with Bad Bat previously in The Probleming which premiered in 2014's Camden Fringe, and Global Mega Incorporated a sketch show at the Etcetera Theatre earlier this year. She is thrilled to be joining the team once again and can't wait for her third Bad Bat adventure! @em_thomson

Robert Dearn (King Jeffrey) has recently graduated from East 15 Acting School and is delighted to be joining Bad Bat for their new production, King Chaos. Credits: 'Joe' in Great Expectations (BBC Bitesize) 'Major Sholto' in The Sign of the Four (BBC Bitesize) 'Bob Crachit' in 'A Christmas Carol' (BBC Bitesize), 'Birmingham Male Voice' for The Accent App (Richard Ryder) and 'Boy' for Catcher Media (NHS Walsall). Credits Whilst Training Include: 'Willy Loman' in Death Of a Salesman, 'Vershinin' in Three Sisters, 'The Duke Vincentio' in Measure For Measure and 'Dennis' in 13. @robert_dearn.

Steve Jordan is a playwright, theatre director, producer, award-winning author of short fiction and the co-founder of theatre production groups Bad Bat Productions and ManMoth Productions. His plays have been performed in London’s West End and many Fringe venues across the capital to wide-spread acclaim. His short fiction has been published in KZINE, the Terror Tales horror anthology series, and also awarded a Watty Award in 2015. He also writes screenplays, audio plays and novels. www.thestevejordan.blogspot.co.uk, @stephenjordan.

Announcing our new show: King Chaos!

A new one-hour science fiction comedy play about morality, power and corruption (in space), and successor to the critically-acclaimed Future Boys stage adventures, ‘Pilgrim Shadow’ and ‘Dead Static’, written and directed by Steve Jordan.

The show runs at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden as part of this year’s Camden Fringe Festival, from Monday 10th August to Saturday 15th August 2015, 7.45pm. This will be our fifth Camden Fringe festival as contributors. Tickets are on sale now! Tickets are £12 (£10 concessions).

It's the future! King Jeffrey, compassion-vacuum and ruler of a evil galactic empire known as 'the Syndicate', commands the universe with an iron fist of idiocy and self-obsession. For years the Syndicate have hunted Tyler and Gary, two petty criminals turned freedom fighters. Having discovered their fortune and rallied an army to their cause, they embark on an audacious mission to capture the Syndicate throne and end Jeffrey’s reign of terror and incompetence. They succeed, but... what are they supposed to do now?

Will Tyler and Gary put their differences aside to make the universe a better place, or will their egos make things infinitely, impossibly worse? Just who are the good guys anyway? Power corrupts, and there is only room on the throne for one... You won't want to miss this fast-paced game of intrigue, cunning & stupidity!


Words about the Tyler and Gary’s previous stage adventures...

'Any time spent with these characters is a joy.' - Gareth Alexander, Views from the Gods, reviewing Pilgrim Shadow (★★★★), 2013.

'Exciting and hilarious science fiction…' - Tessa Hart, Remote Goat, reviewing Pilgrim Shadow (★★★★), 2013.

'Splendidly thoughtful and hilarious…' - James Bacon, Forbidden Planet International, reviewing Dead Static, 2012.

'The makings of a classic series.' – Alan Hindle, Snipe London, reviewing Dead Static, 2012.

Starring:
Cliff Chapman as ‘Tyler’
Adam Joselyn as ‘Gary’
Emma Stirling as ‘Sponge’
Robert Dearn as ‘Jeffrey’
Produced by Steve Jordan & Ellen Gallagher for Bad Bat Productions.

Global Mega Incorporated finishes.

That, as they say, is that. For now. Our new comedy sketch show Global Mega Incorporated was a fantastic success and a huge amount of fun. Thank you so much to everyone who came to our show last week at the Etcetera Theatre - a sell out run!

Congratulations to our hard working cast - Cliff Chapman (Jeremiah), Emma Stirling (Percy), Adam Joselyn (Edwin), Ellen Gallagher (Hyacinth) and Steve Jordan (Thomas). The show was directed and written by Steve Jordan, with sketch contributions by cast members Ellen Gallagher and Adam Joselyn, plus Graeme Hurry, writer and editor of KZINE. Thank you to our technician and operator Tom Bexon, and to all the staff at the Etcetera Theatre - still the best place in London to debut new comedy.

Reviews from our three night debut at the Etcetera Theatre, April 2015.

★★★★ - 'Jordan's writing is carefully thought out, with the characters growing on you the more you spend time with them, so he does indeed manage to tick the truly funny box... The cast and creatives behind Global Mega Inc are perhaps better known on the fringe circuit for humorous sci-fi plays rather than sketch comedy, but this does seem like a natural sidestep, and one which they make with confidence and high-energy. You can tell they're all having a lot of a fun together in this show, and it seeps out into the performance. Whether you've been the wage slave at the bottom of the corporate pyramid or the evil manager at the top, Global Mega Inc is a relatable parody of big business which promises a good time.' - Shona Barker, Views from the Gods.

★★★★ '... absurdist humour that would have done the Monty Python team proud... not only was it funny, it was thought-provoking, while still putting across different points of view... on the strength of their latest material, Bad Bat have acquired a new found confidence and ‘maturity’ (if that’s the right word to use for comedy!) in their work as they broaden their material and write not only gags, but have something to say about today’s world.' - Michael Davis, Female Arts.

Bad Bat will now look ahead to this year's Camden Fringe festival in August when we'll be debuting a brand new comedy play by Steve Jordan at the Tristan Bates Theatre. More details soon!

Global Mega Incorporated debuts!

Global Mega Incorporated - a comedy new sketch show! Etcetera Theatre, Camden Town. 16th, 17th, 18th April 2015. 7.30pm.

Bad Bat Productions presents ‘Global Mega Incorporated’ - a new comedy sketch show about the tribulations of a wayward corporation on the brink of destruction.

Led by the bombastic and slightly mental Jeremiah Baptiste, the eponymous company does a bit of everything, from investigating people’s past lives to launching missions into outer space. Consider the show a grand tour of the world’s most ludicrous enterprise. Is the company destined for success? Doomed to failure? IT MATTERS.

So, what should you expect? Think the traditions of Monty Python, Fry & Laurie and The League of Gentlemen, mixed in a lunch box with some bats and the worst job you’ve ever had – but mostly just the lunch box. From the team that brought you comedy plays The Probleming (★★★★ - Views from the Gods) and Pilgrim Shadow (★★★★ - Remote Goat).

The show will run at the Etcetera Theatre in Camden, London for three evening performances - Thursday 16th, Friday 17th and Saturday 18th April 2015. 7.30pm. Tickets are £9 (£8 concessions) and available at www.etceteratheatre.com. BOOK NOW (or later, just eventually).

Starring Cliff Chapman, Emma Stirling, Adam Joselyn, Ellen Gallagher & Steve Jordan. Written by Steve Jordan, Ellen Gallagher, Adam Joselyn & Graeme Hurry.

The Good Death Guide & Other Tales

We've surprised everyone, including ourselves, by publishing something. The Good Death Guide & Other Tales is a small collection of three short stories for Kindle by Steve Jordan, writer of Bad Bat productions The Probleming & Pilgrim Shadow. The collection also features a story co-written with Ellen Gallagher, star of the The Probleming.

Available exclusively for Kindle via Amazon - free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

Since being published, the eponymous short story has won a 2014 Watty award, awards presented by Wattpad that recognise the best in digital storytelling!