Dumbshow are a London-based theatre company composed of actors, musicians, writers, dancers and designers.
Dumbshow is known for its visual creativity and colourful aesthetics. The company brings together the art of highly accomplished traditional theatre with a more anarchically expressive, colourful innovative style of performance.
Mark Radcliffe, of BBC Radio 2, labelled them “fabulous" and "so visually inventive." In 2010 Lyn Gardner described them in a review as "a fledgling company who may yet soar" and included them in The Guardian Guide's 'Pick of the Week.'
Dumbshow began life at the University of Warwick in 2006 where their shows were performed in the Warwick Arts Centre Studio Theatre; they have since grown to become an established and respected company of professional performers and writers. Dumbshow has performed at a wide variety of venues and theatre festivals across the UK, including Manchester's Royal Exchange, the Edinburgh Fringe, the Stafford Gatehouse and London's Cochrane Theatre. In July 2011 they will be performing as part of the International Youth Arts Festival at the Rose Theatre in Kingston-Upon-Thames before taking three shows up to C Venues at the Edinburgh Fringe. Two new shows will be added to Dumbshow's repertory at the festival, the new play Roar and a retelling of Sophocles’ ancient myth, Oedipus: A Love Story.
Their productions often have a magical, high-octane, mythical feel, with a strong focus on story-telling and new writing. Dumbshow's creative process is firmly rooted in the devised theatre tradition. Past productions have included To The End Of The World (one of the Scotsman's Hot Shows) and Clockheart Boy, both of which received their world premieres at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Dumbshow is also notable for its active interest in drama and theatre education, and contains a number of trained teachers and education practitioners.